hypothetical theory speculation: defense first

[Anonymous]

Rams are not going to overnight develop an offense that will score on anyone. They CAN develop that just not overnight.

They have to kind of shelter the offense, really. It will be better but it will still be coming along. (New system, young players, young qb, and they will be counting a lot on more rookies.)

But if your offense will be better but will just be coming along, you don't want to pressure it. It won't hold up. Too young at too many spots.

The only way to not pressure it is to keep scoring down.

Which means the D has to be brought along first. We can call this the Harbaugh/Smith approach to team-building. For that matter, Seattle is doing the same thing. NFC West games are going to be brutal slugfests.

So it's probably better to do without a piece or 2 on offense this year, rather than defense.

I figure they absolutely need, in the next 2 years:

CB (though there's lots of options already)
LB
DT

OG
ROT
TE (the in-line guy to set up the Kendricks)
WR

To get quality with all of those spots, that's a 2 year job.

Plus you can count on Fisher getting another RB. So that's another draft pick.

BTW, all that's assuming (and I do assume this) that the 4 draft picks from last year just had rough rookie seasons and will be good ones.

I also assume that J.Brown can be turned around. Last year he was an out of shape lockout victim with some "friction with the coaches" issues and I think he can be put back on track.

If not add OC to the list which makes it all harder still to explode on offense in Year One of the Fisher Era.

 

[-X-]

Sounds good in theory. We're going to have to see how active they are in free agency, what the level of attraction to St Louis is going to be FOR free agents, and how they approach the draft. Let's try another hypothetical, though, and see what we can make of the offense.

Say Brandon Lloyd stays, and somehow, remarkably, they land Vincent Jackson. Now they have two legit wideouts, Amendola, and an emerging Pettis & Salas to go along with Kendricks and a returning Hoomanawanui. That's a nice receiving corps right there. Bordering on sick.

Now say they draft Kalil and let Saffold move to the right side. He was drafted to be a RT anyway, so why not. Maybe they cut Jason Smith because of lingering concussion issues and an uncertainty for his future. Bring in another lineman or two (the list is very long) and draft one in the later rounds. Mix up the competition and shake it out. Say they settle in on a solid OL that way.

Fisher wants another change-of-pace back. So get one. It's not hard. Plenty of free agents, and RBs can be found anywhere in the draft. You already have Steven Jackson, so that's not even really an area of huge concern. QB? Done. Already have Bradford and Clemens, and the playbook is going to be easier to digest. OTAs, off-season, it's all there. Plenty of time to work on it. The coaches are going to hammer it home for several months. We don't need an explosive offense, and Fisher doesn't really want one. Just a decent one to augment the offense Fisher is going to run.

On defense, we need a DT. Two, actually. Someone to swallow up middle of the line like a black hole. I don't know who's out there, but we need to find that guy. Add a couple of linebackers or have Gregg Williams get every ounce of linebacking prowess he can out of who we've got. Get the secondary back to full health (Fletcher, Bartell, Murphy) and sign Finnegan. Get a backup safety somewhere because Mikell and Stewart are the real deal. Add a little depth. Boom. Defense. Score 24, limit the scoring to 20. Done deal. Turn the D into a turnover machine and score on defense too. Score 31 that way. I'm good with that.

Now. Find a leprechaun. Maybe a Warlock too. See if the International Union of Genies (the IUG) has someone on the bench who wants to be a member of the Rams. We need one of those entities to prevent injuries. It might give the Rams one of the more expensive coaching staffs, but it's a necessary expense. Because if we don't prevent injuries, and have another one of those seasons where injuries fuck up the entire team on multiple levels, then it doesn't make one bit of difference how we approach team building this year or next. It'll all be an exercise in futility. Want to dupe the 49er model? Have their same quantity of injuries throughout the course of the year. That's the way to do it.

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds good in theory. We're going to have to see how active they are in free agency, what the level of attraction to St Louis is going to be FOR free agents, and how they approach the draft. Let's try another hypothetical, though, and see what we can make of the offense.

Say Brandon Lloyd stays, and somehow, remarkably, they land Vincent Jackson. Now they have two legit wideouts, Amendola, and an emerging Pettis & Salas to go along with Kendricks and a returning Hoomanawanui. That's a nice receiving corps right there. Bordering on sick.

Now say they draft Kalil and let Saffold move to the right side. He was drafted to be a RT anyway, so why not. Maybe they cut Jason Smith because of lingering concussion issues and an uncertainty for his future. Bring in another lineman or two (the list is very long) and draft one in the later rounds. Mix up the competition and shake it out. Say they settle in on a solid OL that way.

Fisher wants another change-of-pace back. So get one. It's not hard. Plenty of free agents, and RBs can be found anywhere in the draft. You already have Steven Jackson, so that's not even really an area of huge concern. QB? Done. Already have Bradford and Clemens, and the playbook is going to be easier to digest. OTAs, off-season, it's all there. Plenty of time to work on it. The coaches are going to hammer it home for several months. We don't need an explosive offense, and Fisher doesn't really want one. Just a decent one to augment the offense Fisher is going to run.

On defense, we need a DT. Two, actually. Someone to swallow up middle of the line like a black hole. I don't know who's out there, but we need to find that guy. Add a couple of linebackers or have Gregg Williams get every ounce of linebacking prowess he can out of who we've got. Get the secondary back to full health (Fletcher, Bartell, Murphy) and sign Finnegan. Get a backup safety somewhere because Mikell and Stewart are the real deal. Add a little depth. Boom. Defense. Score 24, limit the scoring to 20. Done deal. Turn the D into a turnover machine and score on defense too. Score 31 that way. I'm good with that.

Now. Find a leprechaun. Maybe a Warlock too. See if the International Union of Genies (the IUG) has someone on the bench who wants to be a member of the Rams. We need one of those entities to prevent injuries. It might give the Rams one of the more expensive coaching staffs, but it's a necessary expense. Because if we don't prevent injuries, and have another one of those seasons where injuries freak up the entire team on multiple levels, then it doesn't make one bit of difference how we approach team building this year or next. It'll all be an exercise in futility. Want to dupe the 49er model? Have their same quantity of injuries throughout the course of the year. That's the way to do it.

Honestly? Personal opinion? I see the logic but to me think drafting Kalil and signing Jackson would be a mess. I mean I get the attraction, but Saffold isn't a true right OT, not for a coach anyway who liked Runyan at ROT, and V.Jackson has up and down years because of injuries. Even with Jackson, they would still be predominantly young, in a new system, with a qb who is still developing after a setback year. They would have a young qb, no true TE, 2 young OTs, probably a young OG.

So I just see them as GROWING on offense. Regardless what they do, or who they sign. McD rushed them ahead of themselves last year and in contrast Brian S. looks like the type who stresses execution at the expense of expanding the offense, which is kind of the opposite of McD.

On defense, they could USE 2 but I see the absolute NEED just being one. The other guy then becomes a useful rotation grunt. Fisher's DTs never got much in the way of sacks so I don't know that he needs 2 studs. Not right off.

I just don't think you put a young qb in a new system and then fix the OL and the WRs and TE to the point of high-scoring efficiency all in one year. I don't think they become a team that scores a lot and can handle having a developing defense--that puts pressure on them. I think they will expand slowly on offense, regardless who they have, and field a defense that keeps scoring down and allows the offense the room to grow.

Bear in mind, as of right now, Bradford has not yet reached the point where he plays well when behind in winnable games. (In 2011, his qb rating when behind by 1-8 points was 67.6; in 2010, his qb rating when behind by that margin was 67.7.) That's for 2 solid years. So IMO you Alex Smith the guy until he has his feet solidly under him and then has the deep inner confidence to grow into more.

The 9ers model is based on a tough front 7 and controlling the ball. It's all trenches stuff. Whether they got injured or not was just a matter of chance...I am talking about the plan. They planned on using a tough front 7 and and a grinder OL. The injuries or lack thereof determined the record, but not the initial plan. The Rams can do that to start but then longterm they have the qb neither Seattle nor SF does. So while they may start like SF 2012, they end up like Dallas 91-93.

I don't think Lepruchans make good pros. Warlocks are notoriously injury prone. So on that stuff, IMO, you're just not being realistic.

 

[-X-]

I just don't think you put a young qb in a new system and then fix the OL and the WRs and TE to the point of high-scoring efficiency all in one year. I don't think they become a team that scores a lot and can handle having a developing defense--that puts pressure on them. I think they will expand slowly on offense, regardless who they have, and field a defense that keeps scoring down and allows the offense the room to grow.

Yeah, but see, I didn't say "high-scoring efficiency." I said a "decent one" to augment Fisher's offense. Which would obviously be tench war, pound the ball kinda stuff. I don't expect them to score a lot either. I think 24 points a game (avg) is fair, and in line with what you typically see from Fisher's offenses. Maybe 24 is on the high side, but it's still all this team needs with Fisher/Williams handling the defense. And it's not outside the realm of possibility with the changes I outlined. Not saying it would happen - just something along those lines would be sufficient enough to give you an efficient offense.

Regarding Bradford, I'm not going to get into 4th quarter situational statistics with an injured sophomore QB with next to zero offensive support for two straight years. Year one - green. Year two - out the window as far as I'm concerned. Those stats don't tell me anything. Sure he still has to "prove" that, but you know what? Up until last week, fans were demanding Eli prove it. Even with a previous SB under his belt. To me, it's more about giving him some tools to be able to prove it, rather than looking at numbers and saying he hasn't done it yet. I'm not a huge statistics guy. They're misleading more than they are informative.

Agree about DT. I didn't say I wanted a stat machine. I'd rather have a giant fatbody in there plugging up the hole by virtue of his mass and circumference. He can just stand there for all I care. Everyone else around him will benefit. Still don't see who that guy is, but I maintain we need to find him. Somewhere. And naturally, without saying, I wasn't suggesting the Rams duplicate the 49ers lack of injuries by design. Of course that was by chance. And chance in that regard typically determines how far you advance. Fisher is going to have the same plan as Harbaugh, but he of course did it first. Harbaugh has a Fisher plan, as it were.

All in all, I think we're on the same page for the most part. Defense is going to come along faster than the offense simply because of the relative inexperience on that side of the ball. It'll come along slowly. Probably. But you never do know. Everything could "click" and it would be efficient enough to allow the defense to play Williams-style chance-taking attack-mode because they have a lead. And that's really all I care about. Get a lead. Keep it. Let the defense go out and crack some skulls.

And warlocks aren't injury prone. You're thinking of necromancers.

 

[Angry Ram]

DTs and LBs don't score TDs, outside of INTs/freak plays.

It happened pretty much every game last year, defense plays its heart out for 3 qtrs, then gets exhausted in the 4th.

Bad playcalling like shotgun draws on 3rd and 10 or the wildcat on 3rd and 3. What? Or calling deep shot after deep shot to Lloyd, w/ no other legit WR. Or lack of adjustments and TE involvement. Or giving the ball to Steven Jackson only once in 6 attempts from the goalline on national television...

We need TDs.

Oh yeah, there's def. (ahaha get it?) needs on the D. But I think O should be a much more priority. Even the 49ers had Vernon Davis, who's basically a WR in a TE body.

The best teams had both good Os and Ds. It's why the Giants won it all: Both their O and D played well and every other team lost. Either bad offense (Falcons, Ravens) or bad defense (Packers, Saints, Patriots).

 

[Anonymous]

DTs and LBs don't score TDs, outside of INTs/freak plays.

It happened pretty much every game last year, defense plays its heart out for 3 qtrs, then gets exhausted in the 4th.

Bad playcalling like shotgun draws on 3rd and 10 or the wildcat on 3rd and 3. What? Or calling deep shot after deep shot to Lloyd, w/ no other legit WR. Or lack of adjustments and TE involvement. Or giving the ball to Steven Jackson only once in 6 attempts from the goalline on national television...

We need TDs.

Oh yeah, there's def. (ahaha get it?) needs on the D. But I think O should be a much more priority. Even the 49ers had Vernon Davis, who's basically a WR in a TE body.

The best teams had both good Os and Ds. It's why the Giants won it all: Both their O and D played well and every other team lost. Either bad offense (Falcons, Ravens) or bad defense (Packers, Saints, Patriots).

The offense improves over last year either way, for many reasons. And while the defense may have played its heart out last year, it did not keep scoring down because it has clear deficiencies.

It's at least a 2 year job to fix the team as a whole no matter how they do it. Next year they can:

* end up mediocre on both sides of the ball, which does not help offensive development

* end up with more resources on offense than defense, which means they play from behind or in shoot-outs with an offense that won't be ready to carry them

* end up highlighting defense, which for a year anyway means allowing the offense to grow at its own pace without having to win shoot-outs

Long term the best bet, IMO, is option 3.

They are not going to turn into a high scoring offense overnight, no matter who they draft or sign. There's too much developmental stuff throughout the whole squad for that to happen.

 

[Anonymous]

This offense doesn't do squat until they fix the O-line. It's the TOP PRIORITY.

 

[SunTzu.v.Camus]

FA...is key and will show which way the team will go.

IF...
WR Lloyd is re-signed, I think he's a #1 and would stabilize Bradford for 2-3 years and buy time while our young WRs grow.

OR Lloyd goes...
Rams sign a big WR FA (Jackson, Colston, etc) to stabilize the WR corps with vet leadership.

There will be a bunch of FA middle class signings that could go a LONG way for the Rams' defense.
DT Jones, SLB Tulloch, CB Finnegan, etc....all players Fish knows and can plug in immediately with solid results.

I think ZN's point about the Rams looking like the 49ers is the most likely to happen.
Establishing a running game is safe unlike the passing game, although I must say Bradford takes very good care of the football and rarely throws INTs...even when his passes are bad and that is encouraging. The staff is gonna trust Bradford but Bradford will need to start slow&easy (ala AlexSmith) to get his confidence back. That's why the running game is KEY!!! That will continually move the offense without the risk of having to pass defend on 3 & LONG.

If you had SJ and could draft a APeterson-type, would you? RB TRichardson may make ALOT of sense in a trade down considering there are other WRs that are in Blackmon's class(Wright/Sanu) imo....than there are RBs in Richardson's class. TR is a TOP 3 BPA in this draft. imo
Drafting TR really ties into the type of offense that will be central to rebuilding Bradford's confidence. Without a running game, you have no choice but to pass. That's why drafting TR is central, not only giving us a quality RB to spell SJ, but if SJ goes down the Rams will still have a violent running game. Also, TR will be with Bradford for the next 6yrs-8yrs.

As for our OL?
Our OL is better than it appears. Last year was just BAD. Put it away and start fresh.
The key's to me will be the 2 Jasons....Smith & Brown.
If those two can come back strong and play avg...it'd go a long way on draft day and FA.
Even if ONE Jason comes back strong...it's big!! That's gonna be on Boudreau...he's GOTTA make his money this year!!

 

[libertadrocks]

This has been a good discussion so far.

I would say, I dont think we are too far away from having a good defense.

I agree with X when he said we need 2 DTs, although I think we could get away with only signing one this year. I think bringing in Jason Jones to start along side Robbins would be wise. If our CBs all come back healthy(which is a big "if"), then our only real weakness on D is at OLB. Find a play maker there and we have a stout D IMO.

On offense I think we can improve more rapidly than yall suggest. We need explosive players. I dont see us bringing in a guy like VJax. I think Lloyd is a possibility as is Colston tho along with us snagging a WR in the first 2 rounds. The second part of our offense that needs to be improved is the oline, obviously. Kalil automatically improves the line significantly.

Kalil - Bell - x - Dahl - Saffold

Center is a question mark for me. I dont have any idea what we'll do.

 

[-X-]

This has been a good discussion so far.

I would say, I dont think we are too far away from having a good defense.

I agree with X when he said we need 2 DTs, although I think we could get away with only signing one this year. I think bringing in Jason Jones to start along side Robbins would be wise. If our CBs all come back healthy(which is a big "if"), then our only real weakness on D is at OLB. Find a play maker there and we have a stout D IMO.

On offense I think we can improve more rapidly than yall suggest. We need explosive players. I dont see us bringing in a guy like VJax. I think Lloyd is a possibility as is Colston tho along with us snagging a WR in the first 2 rounds. The second part of our offense that needs to be improved is the oline, obviously. Kalil automatically improves the line significantly.

Kalil - Bell - x - Dahl - Saffold

Center is a question mark for me. I dont have any idea what we'll do.

How do you feel about Wragge? Last year can't tell you much because he was a late addition, but what do you think about him anyway?

 

[bluecoconuts]

This has been a good discussion so far.

I would say, I dont think we are too far away from having a good defense.

I agree with X when he said we need 2 DTs, although I think we could get away with only signing one this year. I think bringing in Jason Jones to start along side Robbins would be wise. If our CBs all come back healthy(which is a big "if"), then our only real weakness on D is at OLB. Find a play maker there and we have a stout D IMO.

On offense I think we can improve more rapidly than yall suggest. We need explosive players. I dont see us bringing in a guy like VJax. I think Lloyd is a possibility as is Colston tho along with us snagging a WR in the first 2 rounds. The second part of our offense that needs to be improved is the oline, obviously. Kalil automatically improves the line significantly.

Kalil - Bell - x - Dahl - Saffold

Center is a question mark for me. I dont have any idea what we'll do.

How do you feel about Wragge? Last year can't tell you much because he was a late addition, but what do you think about him anyway?

Personally I think he's a bit overmatched. As a backup or a rotational guy? Sure I can dig it. Starter? No, I think we can upgrade there.

 

[SunTzu.v.Camus]

Kalil - Bell - x - Dahl - Saffold

Bell?? I know Fish had him as a player but I wouldn't put Bell over Jason Brown or Jason Smith.
Both have been said to be willing to redo their contract and re-establish themselves...
I think those are two SOLID guys to bring back.
I do think adding a mid-round OL is smart and also signing a FA for depth.

If they Rams would go OT in the Top 10...it'd be Reiff over Kahlil. imo
Reiff is more complete and a better run blocker...just my opinion.

I just don't think OT is the BPA in the Top 6 picks....
and it would be a mistake to R-E-A-C-H.

 

[bluecoconuts]

Kalil - Bell - x - Dahl - Saffold

I just don't think OT is the BPA in the Top 6 picks....
and it would be a mistake to R-E-A-C-H.

Kalil is the 2nd highest rated player behind Luck in most places I have seen. There's a huge drop off between him and anyone else in terms of ready to play in the NFL as a LT. In fact if we didn't trade down, Kalil would be the pick, because Blackmon at #2 is a huge reach. Blackmon at 4 is probably a bit of a reach, but given the class it's going to happen. If he went last year, he probably would have gone 6th or later.

 

[libertadrocks]

This has been a good discussion so far.

I would say, I dont think we are too far away from having a good defense.

I agree with X when he said we need 2 DTs, although I think we could get away with only signing one this year. I think bringing in Jason Jones to start along side Robbins would be wise. If our CBs all come back healthy(which is a big "if"), then our only real weakness on D is at OLB. Find a play maker there and we have a stout D IMO.

On offense I think we can improve more rapidly than yall suggest. We need explosive players. I dont see us bringing in a guy like VJax. I think Lloyd is a possibility as is Colston tho along with us snagging a WR in the first 2 rounds. The second part of our offense that needs to be improved is the oline, obviously. Kalil automatically improves the line significantly.

Kalil - Bell - x - Dahl - Saffold

Center is a question mark for me. I dont have any idea what we'll do.

How do you feel about Wragge? Last year can't tell you much because he was a late addition, but what do you think about him anyway?

Personally I think he's a bit overmatched. As a backup or a rotational guy? Sure I can dig it. Starter? No, I think we can upgrade there.

I agree with BC. I think he is a good back up interior lineman talent wise. So much a good oline as to do with chemistry tho IMO. So whos to say he doesnt end up gelling with Dahl and whoever the other OG ends up being

 

[superfan24]

Sounds good in theory. We're going to have to see how active they are in free agency, what the level of attraction to St Louis is going to be FOR free agents, and how they approach the draft. Let's try another hypothetical, though, and see what we can make of the offense.

Say Brandon Lloyd stays, and somehow, remarkably, they land Vincent Jackson. Now they have two legit wideouts, Amendola, and an emerging Pettis & Salas to go along with Kendricks and a returning Hoomanawanui. That's a nice receiving corps right there. Bordering on sick.

Now say they draft Kalil and let Saffold move to the right side. He was drafted to be a RT anyway, so why not. Maybe they cut Jason Smith because of lingering concussion issues and an uncertainty for his future. Bring in another lineman or two (the list is very long) and draft one in the later rounds. Mix up the competition and shake it out. Say they settle in on a solid OL that way.

Fisher wants another change-of-pace back. So get one. It's not hard. Plenty of free agents, and RBs can be found anywhere in the draft. You already have Steven Jackson, so that's not even really an area of huge concern. QB? Done. Already have Bradford and Clemens, and the playbook is going to be easier to digest. OTAs, off-season, it's all there. Plenty of time to work on it. The coaches are going to hammer it home for several months. We don't need an explosive offense, and Fisher doesn't really want one. Just a decent one to augment the offense Fisher is going to run.

On defense, we need a DT. Two, actually. Someone to swallow up middle of the line like a black hole. I don't know who's out there, but we need to find that guy. Add a couple of linebackers or have Gregg Williams get every ounce of linebacking prowess he can out of who we've got. Get the secondary back to full health (Fletcher, Bartell, Murphy) and sign Finnegan. Get a backup safety somewhere because Mikell and Stewart are the real deal. Add a little depth. Boom. Defense. Score 24, limit the scoring to 20. Done deal. Turn the D into a turnover machine and score on defense too. Score 31 that way. I'm good with that.

Now. Find a leprechaun. Maybe a Warlock too. See if the International Union of Genies (the IUG) has someone on the bench who wants to be a member of the Rams. We need one of those entities to prevent injuries. It might give the Rams one of the more expensive coaching staffs, but it's a necessary expense. Because if we don't prevent injuries, and have another one of those seasons where injuries freak up the entire team on multiple levels, then it doesn't make one bit of difference how we approach team building this year or next. It'll all be an exercise in futility. Want to dupe the 49er model? Have their same quantity of injuries throughout the course of the year. That's the way to do it.

Sounds hella good to me. Not too concerned about the D except of course we need a huge DT to stuff the middle.

 

[Anonymous]

Regarding Bradford, I'm not going to get into 4th quarter situational statistics with an injured sophomore QB with next to zero offensive support for two straight years. Year one - green. Year two - out the window as far as I'm concerned. Those stats don't tell me anything.

Well, cap'n, I begs to differ.

Those stats are universal across the situation, including when he is healthy, including when the OL only allowed 5.4% sacks, and including when he had guys like Amendola, Clayton, Lloyd, Big Mike, and a "could play and was actually productive that day" healthy Alexander.

It's pretty uniform.

I just don't think he was ready to play under that kind of pressure yet. The redzone stats echo that too btw.

Compare it to Eli.

His first year, Eli's qb rating 62.6 when the Giants were behind by 1-8 points. In 2011, it was 99.1. So a fella can grow into that role, but, it takes more than weapons--you gotta have the kind of confidence that comes from having done it. Experience. (It's the same paradox as job hunting. How do you get a job without experience.)

Bradford's college numbers in clear comeback situations are very mixed.

I don't think Bradford is a "born elite" kinda guy like Peyton or Marino. I think he's a "grows into the role" kinda guy like Aikman.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't think Bradford is a "born elite" kinda guy like Peyton or Marino. I think he's a "grows into the role" kinda guy like Aikman.

"born elite"? I have no idea what that means re: NFL QBs. Even Peyton got a rude welcome to the NFL and the knock against him for many years was he couldn't bring in a winner stretching back to college.

 

[Angry Ram]

DTs and LBs don't score TDs, outside of INTs/freak plays.

It happened pretty much every game last year, defense plays its heart out for 3 qtrs, then gets exhausted in the 4th.

Bad playcalling like shotgun draws on 3rd and 10 or the wildcat on 3rd and 3. What? Or calling deep shot after deep shot to Lloyd, w/ no other legit WR. Or lack of adjustments and TE involvement. Or giving the ball to Steven Jackson only once in 6 attempts from the goalline on national television...

We need TDs.

Oh yeah, there's def. (ahaha get it?) needs on the D. But I think O should be a much more priority. Even the 49ers had Vernon Davis, who's basically a WR in a TE body.

The best teams had both good Os and Ds. It's why the Giants won it all: Both their O and D played well and every other team lost. Either bad offense (Falcons, Ravens) or bad defense (Packers, Saints, Patriots).

The offense improves over last year either way, for many reasons. And while the defense may have played its heart out last year, it did not keep scoring down because it has clear deficiencies.

It's at least a 2 year job to fix the team as a whole no matter how they do it. Next year they can:

* end up mediocre on both sides of the ball, which does not help offensive development

* end up with more resources on offense than defense, which means they play from behind or in shoot-outs with an offense that won't be ready to carry them

* end up highlighting defense, which for a year anyway means allowing the offense to grow at its own pace without having to win shoot-outs

Long term the best bet, IMO, is option 3.

They are not going to turn into a high scoring offense overnight, no matter who they draft or sign. There's too much developmental stuff throughout the whole squad for that to happen.

Of course not, and I don't even care if it's high scoring GSOT. But the point is the offense was so bad last year b/c of numerous reasons I mentioned, that even a 2 TD improvement would be huge. Like it or not, scoring these days is more needed than ever. Can't ask any D to not allow less than 13 PPG.

 

[JdashSTL]

When looking at the defense. The biggest issue is still the run D. That has to be fixed ASAP. How do we do that? Start in the trenches. Robbins will be 35, and Bannan will be 33 when next season starts. Need some youth there.

 

[Anonymous]

When looking at the defense. The biggest issue is still the run D. That has to be fixed ASAP. How do we do that? Start in the trenches. Robbins will be 35, and Bannan will be 33 when next season starts. Need some youth there.

Absolutely!