Year 3 of the Saban Era is crucial...

[Canuck]

...that he and Mueller make the right FA and draft moves. An obvious statement but true just the same. Last year, IMO, we netted a diamond in the rough in the form of Roderique Wright.....the Texas Longhorn DT in the 7the round. He's a tweener for the 3-4 but would be great as a 4-3 DT. He, Roth and Jason Allen......yes.....that Jason Allen.....all will be counted on to make the defensive trasition from soon to be gone stalwarts, Keith Traylor, Vonnie Holliday and perhaps even Kevin Carter. This will make the defense younger and hopefully with little drop off in production (fingers crossed)

On offense, we'll (again hopefully) have a healthy Culpep open training camp and 1-2 additions up front to protect him. Eric Stenibach anyone? Jake Long? OL improvements and a healthy Culpep will make a huge difference. Ricky is at least suppose to be available to us too and was excellent in the 1-2 RB punch last year. And with the same offense buth with a new OC (see ya Mularky) we should be scoring points again. Perhaps we can rob Linehan of one of his assistants to promote them to OC in Miami.

The key to this team making a significant turnaround is at QB, no doubt. We brought Culpep in here to do that. He was not ready. He should be ready this upcoming training camp. If we can improve the talent on the OL, make the transition on D as noted above and get a better OC in here, this team can turn 6-10 into 10-6 without too much trouble. The 4th place sched won't hurt either. 10-6 is a playoff team. 07' is about laying the groundwork to Saban's kinda team. 3 years of his players, getting younger and getting better for years to come.

 

[Mogwai]

Things turnaround quickly in the NFL. The unexpected always happens. Jets in the playoffs? Psh. Madness. Saban hasnt really given us anything on this team that's promising. Whether we're getting younger and better is arguable. We have no young stars (except Ronnie). Unsettled at QB and OC. There are no real signs that it's going to get better. All we have is the hope that Saban is the real deal and that he was right about Pep. Year 3 is critical. It's when we need to see results.

 

[tmny99]

The key to this season will be starting off strong. Saban's teams have been bad in preseason and bad in the early part of the season. If Saban can't get the team to be playing well before it's too late for the third year in a row, then I think coaching must be questioned.

 

[RoninFin4]

Jake Long and Sam Baker are both going back to school.

 

[Finole]

There are a lot of reasons to be excited about next season. But after the disappointment of this year, I'm gonna try to keep my enthusiasm in check.

Here's what I'm hoping for:

1. Saban picks Levi Brown in the 1st round of the draft next year.

2. Saban picks the best Center available in the 2nd round.

3. We pick up a premiere LB or WR via free agency or a trade next year. And draft a premiere LB or WR in the 3rd round.

4. Trade McMichael.

5. Keep Holliday, Carter, and Big Daddy if we can.

6. Work Evans, Vickerson, and/or Wright into the rotation.

7. Start Jason Allen and Bell at safety.

8. Get rid of Mare. Draft a kicker in the middle to late rounds.

9. Ricky Williams doesn't quit or fail any drug tests.

10. Culpepper leads us to the playoffs.

 

[ATLFINFAN]

I am certainly not going to look forward to next year thinking we are going to be world beaters as some of us did this year. With 30 free agents coming up, we could have an even bigger turnover this offseason. That makes it very possible that we start off slow again next year. I am also not going to count on Saban signing any big name O linemen. That is what he brought in HH for IMO. So the OL will have to gel early next season to keep from having another slow start. I have to keep telling myself that we are rebuilding. Be patient.

 

[Rick 1966]

It's a key year all right. And if he doesn't improve his decision making and the team's record, it should be his last year as the Fins' coach.

 

[Brown42000]

He needs to get the team off to a good start next year unlike these past 2 seasons because the Fins won't make the playoffs again if they don't show up the first half of the season.

 

[Marino420TD]

There are a lot of reasons to be excited about next season. But after the disappointment of this year, I'm gonna try to keep my enthusiasm in check.

Here's what I'm hoping for:

1. Saban picks Levi Brown in the 1st round of the draft next year.

2. Saban picks the best Center available in the 2nd round.

3. We pick up a premiere LB or WR via free agency or a trade next year. And draft a premiere LB or WR in the 3rd round.

4. Trade McMichael.

5. Keep Holliday, Carter, and Big Daddy if we can.

6. Work Evans, Vickerson, and/or Wright into the rotation.

7. Start Jason Allen and Bell at safety.

8. Get rid of Mare. Draft a kicker in the middle to late rounds.

9. Ricky Williams doesn't quit or fail any drug tests.

10. Culpepper leads us to the playoffs.

Not bad. However, I don't think you can do both 5 and 6. If Evans, Vickerson, and/or Wright are playing significantly, it means you may have gotten rid of at least Carter and maybe Big Daddy.

 

[Prakk]

3 words for year 3

Start Winning Earlier

 

[jbond]

First, Saban has overturned 50% of the active roster already. As a whole, Saban has made the team younger although we have many old starters on the Defensive Line. Hopefully all his picks for DT will work out and Roth can start at DE. If so...our "old" D gets really young really quick minus ZT. The secondary? Much Younger and will be much better next year. This year most of the starters in the secondary were new to the system and with the growing pains and cohesiveness they've started to get they'll be 10x better at the beginning of next season compared to the beginning of this season.

Secondary - Younger
DT/E - "old" with "youth" in the wings (Wright/Evans/Roth)
LB - Younger as a whole (no Seau + Crowder). ZT will need to be replaced soon.
OL - same with some promise in youth
WR - getting older w/Hagan showing some promise
TE - McMike's not old, relatively speaking
RB - younger

Saban needs to get his ducks in a row next season. I have much higher hopes for next year then I did for this year. Another draft and round of FA and he should be able to get more youth and fill some more holes for us.

 

[nyjunc]

If Saban is back he needs a playoff year in '07 or he's done. Teams get good and bad in a hurry in this league and 3 years w/o a playoff spot(so far 2 w/o even competiing for one) would be enough to end Saban's term if he doesn't leave for 'Bama after this year.

 

[Canuck]

First, Saban has overturned 50% of the active roster already. As a whole, Saban has made the team younger although we have many old starters on the Defensive Line. Hopefully all his picks for DT will work out and Roth can start at DE. If so...our "old" D gets really young really quick minus ZT. The secondary? Much Younger and will be much better next year. This year most of the starters in the secondary were new to the system and with the growing pains and cohesiveness they've started to get they'll be 10x better at the beginning of next season compared to the beginning of this season.

Secondary - Younger
DT/E - "old" with "youth" in the wings (Wright/Evans/Roth)
LB - Younger as a whole (no Seau + Crowder). ZT will need to be replaced soon.
OL - same with some promise in youth
WR - getting older w/Hagan showing some promise
TE - McMike's not old, relatively speaking
RB - younger

Saban needs to get his ducks in a row next season. I have much higher hopes for next year then I did for this year. Another draft and round of FA and he should be able to get more youth and fill some more holes for us.

Good points on the cohesiveness in the young secondary. This system is tough for new players to learn and when you add youth to that, harder still. I expect a fully healthy Travis Daniels and a much more game ready Jason Allen. I also suspect our 1st rounder will be used at CB. From there, it's about bringing in the Wrights, Roths and Evans to replace aging veterans. I hope Carter stays on as he's so versatile and producing well. Holliay is too but I think Roth is going to be taking his spot.