If you remember correctly, Olindo Mare last preseason missed like 5 field goals. I believe 3 or even 4 came in one game.
He went on to miss I believe like only what, one field goal this year? I'm not worried about him :)
Jason Taylor, Jay Williams, Rob Burnett, and Adewale Ogunleye is plenty to have rotating in the end positions...especially since Jason Taylor literally almost never comes off the field. That means either Adewale Ogunleye (who by the way, it has been said by the coaching staff, is probably having the best camp of any of the DL) or Jay Williams starts at LDE on run downs, and then we mix in a nickel passrush that involves Jay Williams moving to DT (something I feel he's very effective at), possibly even Rob Burnett moving inside to DT at the same time, and Adewale Ogunleye speedrushing at LDE. This four-DE front worked wonders against the Titans starting OL, except it was D.Bo who was playing End that time, but its A-O who is gettin all the preseason sacks.
Chester and Bowens are just being rested until the season, because thats when they will be needed. We know what both of them can do.
Dixon is ALREADY better than the two injured scrubs that we had over at LT, and he hasn't even really gotten back up to speed on the basics of the position. He's immediately a better run blocker than either Smith or Spriggs (way better in fact) and a better pass protector because of his athleticism. You'd be surprised how many people make such a big deal out of 1 single inch of height. Since his move his ankle seems to have made a miraculous recovery and he's looked like his old self (not a coincidence in my opinion). Jamie Nails is a stronger run blocker than Dixon would have been at LG. Put together the move seriously improves the run blocking of the left side of our line...something that needed serious improvement.
Fletcher will be a solid nickel man come season time. I'm positive of it. Don't forget that he played pretty darn well when Sam Madison came out with injury. Got beat a few times for not knowing too much about the position, but now he knows.
Ricky's yards will come. He just needs more than 5 carries in a game.
Jay still has 2 weeks to get in sync with his offense and thats actually more than enough time. Previous history has given us no indications that he will not get in sync with these guys.
And lastly, special teams play seems to be a lack of concentration. First off, all those penalties and I do mean all of them, were things the players didnt know they'd be penalized for so it looked ugly. The STs coach hasn't changed, and the STs players have not changed...in fact we've got the big gun that can beat TRIPLE TEAMS as a flyer on punt coverage back, Trent Gamble. I take preseason miscues in this department with a grain of salt.
Don't forget all the reasons to be optimistic. Oronde Gadsden and James McKnight and Chris Chambers are all having good camps and preseason. Then there's the constant unbelievable plays of Randy McMichael who doesn't just look like, but IS this year's Chris Chambers just at TE (and naturally at TE he wont get to make as many big plays as Chris but its all relative). Patrick Surtain has turned all-world all the sudden snagging like over a dozen balls out of the air.