One thing I would point out about our turnovers last season, we led the league with 29, but it wasn't, historically, a high number.But are they so great if you just ignore the INTs for a second...? Because blitzing so much did come at a price as the Fins were giving up 8 yards per pass attempt, which is 4th to last in the NFL in 2020. The fact Howard got all those INTs kind of made it moot, but is Howard likely to replicate the INT numbers in 2020? History strtongly leans towards no, and if thats the case, then the whole thing looks a whole lot different.
Now the additions on D really seem to hit the nail on what they actually needed to be able to get the same pressure output while blitzing less which is great. But I really dont expect the Fins to be top 5 in takeaways next season and they'll have to improve on the other 95% of plays where there arent any TOs to really remain in the top 10 in scoring D. Or maybe Howard is just the GUY that flat out dominates and he gets another double digit INT season, maybe he is the Cam Wake of the secondary... At some point, we're bound to get another one of those...
2019 Pit led with 38, and 29 would have been 5th.
2018 Chi led with 36, and 29 would have been tied for 4th.
2017 Bal led with 36, and 29 would, again, have been 5th.
My point is, our 29 was not a huge number in context.
I do doubt that X has another double digit INT season, but there's no reason we can't be close to the same number, and easily top third of the league.
I also do agree that the TOs did mask some other deficiencies, but I fully expect those areas to be addressed to some extent.