Originally posted by fin-atic
Well here I go again. Why do I have to be the one to rain on the parade??
Guys we have picked up Junior Seau. Other than that we really have not done anything. Especially in addressing the area of need for this team. We have not signed Sammy Knight or Brian Griese. As of now my off season grade is a C-. Prior to Seau it was a D-.
As nice as it is to have Seau and even Knight, it doesn't solve our severe deficiency in the passing game. We still have no WR to offset Chambers. Thompson has not proven anything yet. His stats ar eno better than McNights and we still have not solved the O Line problem. If Griese comes in we may have a solution to the QB problem. If so, my grade goes to B-.
The defense was in the top 3, the running game near the top, the passing game almost at the bottom.
I am sorry, but to ask me to get excited about these draft picks is a little much. More often than not they do not make it. To expect that Moore, Tolver, Smith, and Lee are all going to be hits is far fetched.
So I am still waiting for us to get better in the areas we need. Until then I am holding fast to my C- grade.
I will enjoy being wrong about all of this if it plays out that way.
Don't worry about raining on the parade. But, I disagree with you about the passing game. It definitely needed improvement from the end of last year, but I think it's there.
First, it was the 1st year in a new system and the 1st several games we were discovering the running game and hadn't really gotten into a good rhythm with the passing game - it was coming along and the Denver game showed it.
Second, after the Denver game, we lost both starting WR's and our starting QB. Ask the Raiders what their season would have been like if the same had happened to them. Or the Bucs. Or any team. Had Ray Lucas been a decent quality backup, it would have been very different.
The rest of the year, consider: One, Chambers was never the same. He dropped a critical pass in the NE game. And, he just didn't show up much. Gadsden was gone for the year. Fiedler never got his rhythm and timing back. He was forced into the Bills game before he was ready, in a massive blizzard. He didn't have the same WR's as when the year started. I think the passing game takes a lot of timing and awareness and great WR play. I also think Fiedler is a slow starter. He showed that the last two training camps - looking awful early on, then coming around. That hurt him coming back - he never really did get back to pre-injury form.
This year? I think McKnight will be better. Thompson didn't get the PT at Washington, nor the QB play, that would have yielded him 70+ catches. He will be very solid and is just now coming round as WR. It usually takes 3-4 years for a WR to be effective (see Keyshawn, T. Brown, Moulds, etc.). So, Chambers and Thompson are about at that stage. McMichael should be improved and not fade away, so too, Donald Lee will add some depth. While I don't expect a lot out of rookie WR's, I think Tolver will contribute solidly as a # 4 WR. He could easily be a steal. I like him.
I know we can get overly optimistic, but I think we've made some good pickups, so far. The next key will be Griese, as last year proved you have to have 2 starting calibre QB's if you want to go all the way in this league. Knight will be icing on the cake if we get him as well.
The big X factor, however, is ALWAYS injuries. That almost invariable determines the season. If Zach and JT go down; if RW goes down; if the OL gets too banged up at key spots; if Surtain goes down - any of those could make it a long, long year. Unfortunately, you have to expect 2-4 players to be out for the year in camp and early on and then expect 2-4 starters to be hobbled during the year. That's the nature of the game. So, it all depends on where and when those injuries occur and how well the backups step up - last year, Ray didn't. Ward didn't. Dixon and Nails did (when Smith and Spriggs went down) - but, I think they would have been the starters anyway.
