So although this season wasn't a playoff one, I thought it was productive, if anything to see what we currently have. Here's what I think about where we stand position wise. I will say though we're not 'just a QB away' from a championship, we need a little more help than that on offense IMO. But QB is a big piece of the puzzle.
QB - We had a chance to see two starting QB's other than Ben this year. I know that franchise QB's are hard to find, but both QB's looked like anything but future backups. Duck Hodges, love the story, love the underdog theme, until defenses figured him out. He's a good kid, but with his limitations, I see him being out of the league in a couple years. Duck mania faded as quickly as it started, really shows how long the average NFL career is for most low / undrafted players. Mason hasn't impressed me much at all, until the Jets game... And then he was knocked out. I've been waiting for a QB to throw laser passes between defenders and I felt like for the first time, Rudolph showed that ability. He at least proved his arm strength isn't an issue if he can keep his mechanics sharp. He probably could greatly benefit from a QB coach. Although I wasn't overly impressed with Rudolph, I think the guy still has a possible future and haven't given up on him entirely.
RB - I was one of the people who believed James Conner was gonna run wild this year, but he's made of glass. He's really gonna have to have a huge season next year if I'm ever to become a believer again. Snell is a good RB2 to give your main guy a breather, and I like him in short yardage. He's basically Isaac Redman #2, a good RB2 but not someone you want to center your offense around. I hope Whyte stays on the team, I like his potential and honestly think he's tough enough to possibly be a feature back (who knows, he's bigger than Devin Singletary and Christian McCaffery)
WR - Juju was the biggest disappointment of all. For the guy who was hungry to prove himself as a legitimate WR1, the guy totally shit the bed in key situations, which doesn't give me much confidence in his ability to become 'The guy'. He still hasn't proved anything to me other than he could be a dangerous #2 to complement a #1. Diontae Johnson is lighting in a bottle and I see a lot of AB / Sanders in the guy. I think he's our future WR1, and Drake was high on this kid for a reason. I already thought he was the best and most reliable WR out of our WR group, and he was a rookie. Expecting him to make the jump next year. Washington I think can be a quality #3. Maybe something more, but he's the type of WR that needs a better quarterback to really evaluate. Hard to make combat catches if passes are placed horribly or off the mark entirely.
TE - Has been a need since Heath was gone, and we replaced him with late round picks and signings off the trash heap. I'll be disappointed if TE isn't in the draft somewhere.
OL - Sadly, I think we've seen the best out of this current group, years ago. Pouncey I don't know what his issue is, or if the guy is washed up, but he's not been earning his paycheck. Probably leads the league in bad snaps, and his blocking hasn't been great either. Foster I'm guessing will be replaced by Finney. Time to look for future replacements as the group is getting a little aged.
Defense - Hope they can find a way to keep Dupree and Hargrave. My focus for this group would be to just keep it intact any way possible. Tuitt is the James Conner of D-linemen. Great when he's healthy, until he has some season ending injury in week 3-5. Sucks because we're on the hook with this guy for another couple years, so I hope by some miracle of god that he can last an entire season. Cutting him next year would be a 15M cap hit, and 9M the year after, so that probably isn't even on the table.
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Originally Posted by Edman
