The pace Juju was on it would have killed our cap, since we will likely miss playoffs now anyway...could be a good thing he had a down year. Now we can give him a long term contract for much cheaper.
All of this #1 talk because of AB was stupid. He had to constantly hear about it, and eventually got to him. First it wasnt his fault with BB playing injured(Pats and Seahawks games) and then Mason first coming in. Randy switching the offense to ultra conservative. Then he fumbles in OT(new QB again btw ) on a catch from Duck against the Ravens and all went downhill from there. Then injured.
Some will ignore his past two seasons(or the fact they were his first two in the league and he broke all time records as a WR beating Randy Moss) and just look at this one. Thats fine, as long as Colbert doesnt(which he wont) and uses this as an opportunity to get him locked in to a longterm deal.
As for being labeled a #1. Who cares? As long as he, Washington, and Johnson all do well . Just wait til next season when we start off the season with DJ and JW not having to learn all year. If teams double Juju, one of the other two will be wide open and there is 6 points.
If its not Ben thats throwing to them, Im still betting that Mason can be that guy. But definitely need to have insurance. With the bad luck I saw him go thru this year who knows if that will ever end lol.
Ben will likely be back tho. Not buying into the report Monday that there is doubt he will return. Plan should be for Ben as starter, Mason as backup. See if they can trade Duck for a 6th rounder, we will include the rubber duck fan hats. Giving us two 6ths we can use to trade up. Get a vet QB as the 3rd. I doubt its Paxton Lynch since they still wont play him over Hodges who is by far the worst starter in the league. If Steelers do somehow make the playoffs(would require the Texans to play their starters even after seeing the Chiefs game result, and for Our D to score 3 TDs or do whatever it takes to make up for the negative impact Hodges has)...then we need to get lucky and have no other choice than to start Lynch in the playoffs. Thats how bad Hodges is. Id take someone who hasn't started in 2 seasons over him. All he'd need to do is not throw an INT(or get sacked...or fumble) while in FG range 100% of the time.. And we would have a chance.
This year aside...
Focus should be on... Tomlin being traded or not. Hopefully yes. Second, do we upgrade the OLine? We obviously should, with their being some much better options at guard who are entering FA over Ramon Foster(save 4 mil in cap by letting him go or trade him like we did Gilbert for a 6th or 7th). Then if we do get those higher picks from the Skins, we draft Pouncey's replacement. We could even trade Mark himself for an early 2nd and get his replacement that way. Oklahoma Center Creed Humphrey is projected to go late 1st/early 2nd. The 2nd rated center behind Wisconsin's Tyler Biadasz. Cant pass up that name for Center either.
The Draft Network
LT Villanueva - LG FA/ Feiller - C Creed - RG DeCastro - RT Feiller / Banner/Chuks .
Foster and Pouncey have been our leaders. It was a great run with our OLine, Ben and the rest of the Bs...but time for a new start. Villanueva(while we will replace him eventually too we don't need to lose everyone at once) and DeCastro step up as the leaders. Feiller gets re-signed, hes the real deal. Can play RT or move inside and play either guard. We'll see what happens Banner and Chuks. Really need Chuks to take that next step. Losing Munchak hurt that. And then Creed steps in as a rookie like Pouncey did. Will be hard to fill his shoes immediately but we can keep Finney around for now. Creed would eventually be a top C in this league. Hes only a soph but eligible, he'd be top ten if he stayed in college.
Then we will have a new coach which means new OC. Sorry Ben.
If we do get a RB like Dobbins, Etienne, Taylor, Hubbard in this year's draft to go with Conner(you just accept that he's an injury risk and if he wants to stay it has to be for much less, and you make sure if he does get hurt it doesnt impact the team like it has the last two years), Snell, and Whyte Jr. Samuels should be used in the passing game. Can label him a RB..FB..TE...Idc. But hes much better at catching the ball while already in open space and then making people miss. He should be able to run routes like a typical TE. Not just a RB out of the backfield. We def haven't been using him right. We could get so much more out of him. Hes not a power back. The runs up the middle were complete waste of downs. While he is big, hes more elusive....get him the ball in space. That would also solve our lack of TE prob. Having Nix back will also help the run game btw.
This offense is going to be better next year regardless if we change anything or not based on experience alone. And the bar they set this year , almost touched the ground. Shouldnt take much to have an offense than can complement our D well.
Only prob is health. Will our D stay healthy (other than Tuitt we were lucky with that) like this year? Or will next year be filled with injuries and that be a reason we lose again? I'll choose to think they'll be fine(draft and sign some depth to make sure of it too, just in case).
This could be a great off season or a complete mistake. It's for sure one that could change our next 10 years or so. The path this team will head down. If done right we win a few more SBs and players want to come here(along with coaches). If not, the opposite. We keep seeing coaches leave to get away, along with players going elsewhere for more pay because this team doesnt win anyway to make it worth staying for a little less.
Up to Rooney to get them back to where they were in the past. All it takes is a simple "yes" to Dan Snyder. Then we keep Colbert/Khan and sit back and enjoy the rest.
