My season grades and offseason ideas

[Bear]

So, here's my take on the offense. The offense needs changes. We have a good core group players, but upgrades need to come, and they most likely won't be cheap. Unfortunalty, I don't know how much cap room we will have available this year, so it makes it kind of hard to decide which type of players to bring in at which position, but I'll do my best to sort it out. For arguements sake, I will assume that Moulds restructures his deal a bit to open a couple of million dollars up for this year. This should at least allow us one extra player.

As with my last post, I am going off the assumption that we can't bring in superstars at every position. (example: no way can we sign Burress or Porter to be our third WR..just isn't going to happen)

 

OFFENSE

 

WR

 

Moulds: Okay, anyone who says we need to let Moulds go and move Evans up to the number one spot is just as blind as the Atlanta GM who signed Price to be their number one guy! Why don't people understand that Moulds makes other WR's look better? Is it that hard to believe?

Now on to him as a player. Moulds ended with another 1000 yard season, and that is with Bledsoe having some very bad games and spending the first 5 or 6 games of the season locking onto him as soon as the ball was snapped. He CERTAINLY had is share of bad play (dropped balls), but he also made some big catches and overall had a very solid year. The offense as a whole sputtered, and Moulds was did a good job with what he was given. Even without a restructure, Moulds NEEDS to stay. With a restructure, he is one of my favorite players on the offense! Don't agree? Don't care.

 

Evans: WOW! This kid can really play the position. The way he runs and catches the ball are all outstanding! But, as stated above, I do NOT think he is ready to be thrown into the number one postion. He doesn't have enough experience or help around him to be good at in that spot. If the rest of the team does their part, Moulds and Evans have the potential to be the best duo in the league. At very least, they will very hard to stop and open up the run game.

 

Reed: Well, it's now time for me to change my opinion of Reed. I stuck up for him all off-season and all year, but he just isn't getting the job done. Hell, even if he caught the ball and fell down every time I would be able to stick up for him a little, but he just drops too many damn balls. A WR's job is to catch the ball, and he just isn't doing it with any amount of consistency. Sorry Josh, I thought you were going to be one of the better slot guys in the league, but you are just not performing.

 

Aiken: I think the 4 spot is the perfect place for Aiken. He can come in and play very well against a dime defense, and hold his own in the 3 spot against a nickel package. I would like to upgrade the 3 spot and leave Aiken at 4, but they can't find an upgrade out there I think Aiken is the better choice to be upgraded.

 

Grade: B+ Like I said above, Mouds and Evans as the 1 and 2 are an A. With a guy who can come in and CATCH THE BALL for our 3 man, this group is an A.

 

Off-season moves: Upgrade the slot WR. I don't know what's going to happen with T.J. Houshmanwhatzit from Cinci, but my guess is he will be asking a bit to much for us, and will desire a starting role. If not, he would be great. Corey Bradford, Tai Streets, Bill Shroeder, and James Thrash are a few more guys who have underachieved in their starting roles, but should be pretty good in slot roles.

 

RB

WM: This one is easy! WM is flat out looking GREAT! That stiff arm is simply a thing of beauty! Just give this guy the ball.

 

Shaud: I think Shaud is a perfectly suitable backup. He may be better off as the 3rd RB, but if not, he can play 2nd without too much of a problem. He really impressed me the few times we saw him this year.

 

Henry: Henry needs to be traded. I disagree with people who say if we don't get good value, keep him. He is disgruntled, and even if WM were to get hurt, he just wouldn't play hard. His heart isn't in it. I'm not making judgements right now, it's just the truth. I think we ca get a 3rd, but I don't care if it's a 4th or 5th. Lets get something for him and move on.

 

Grade: A+ WM is just damn good. I can't wait to watch him next year!

 

Off-season moves: I would like to bring in another solid backup. If WM were to get hurt for an extended period, I don't think Shauds frame can hold up. In this case, we need to have another guy that we can rotate in. I'm not looking for a stud, just a solid runner who can share the time.

 

Fullback Pretty simple. Shelton had a great year. Needs to stick around.

 

Grade: A

Off-season Moves: None

 

TE

There were a lot of posts popping up about needing a game breaking TE. As good as that sounds, I don't think it's neccessary. Before Cambell got hurt his game was really coming on. He was becoming a consistent target and a good weapon in the endzone. I think between him and Euhas, we have a pretty decent tight end duo.

 

Grade: C+ Because of a very slow start and all the injuries, this grade is low. If I could isolate those two or 3 games before Cambell got hurt, I would grade them a B+.

 

Off-season moves: Bubba Franks is a FA. If there is a possiblitly of bringing him in without killing our cap, I say do it. If not, stick with what we got.

 

O-line

This one is tough because they started to get better at the end of the season.

 

RT: Mike Williams was starting to become a force, and with some more training will get better. Keep him at RT and we are set there.

 

RG: Chris V is a solid RT. This spot is good

 

C: I would really like to keep Teauge at center. Before the season started I hated this guy and wanted him gone, but he really changed his game and became a strength. With him at Center, this spot is good.

 

LG: Unfortunalty I don't know much about this spot. I know L. Smith wasn't the answer, and Tucker upgraded the position when he came in. If there is one spot on the line that needs to be upgraded over last year, this is it.

 

LT: I would like to have Jenning back. Besides the fact that he knows the system and keeping as many players has possible is alway a plus, he improved his play has the season went on, and became a strength instead of a weakness.

IMO, he is probably gone. Either way, this positon needs to be filled.

 

OLine Grade: B- This could be a C+, but I think they really started playing better at the end, so I'm going with a B-. If the left sign of the line gets better, this unit can jump to a B+/A next season.

 

Off season Moves: The bulk of our money needs to be used on the line. Either re-sign Jennings or try and lure another top LT in here. Find a good replacement for Tucker. a pretty good LG can probably be had in the second round...no?

 

QB

Saved this one for last for obvious reasons. Here is my take...Bledsoe will NOT win us a Super Bowl...plain and simple. That's IS the goal, right? Whatever you think about Drew...his fault/not his fault, blame the line, the WR, the coaches, the defense...whatever. I don't care about the arguements because it all comes back to the same thing...he won't win us a Super Bowl. Ever.

 

Grade: C- If it weren't for the defense and ST giving the O GREAT field position, this grade would in the D's somewhere.

 

Off-season moves:

So, What to do? Well, we have two choices. As far as FA goes, Kitna is the only one worth a look. Can he go back to last years form? I say probably not, but if he did, he could take us deep into the playoffs. My guess is, he plays mediocre and can't get it done.

 

Second choice: JP. Duh. Why did we draft this guy anyway? To let him sit for two or three year? I don't think so. Everyone seems to be making opinions on him based on mop up duty. Totally wrong. I'm not going to make a bunch of arguments, but it seems pretty simple. We brought this kid in to play. He has a year of coaching and film watching...now he needs game time. Lets put this kid on the field and see what he can do.

 

 

Overall Grade of Offense: C

As I said in the beginning I think the offense has a good core of players, but the upgrades need to happen.

 

Overall off-season moves:

 

Trade Travins Henry

Restructure Moulds

Fill Left tackle with either Jennings or a FA

Upgrade LG

Upgrade Slot WR

Find another Backup RB

 

Make a push for Bubba Franks only if it doesn't hurt above actions.

[Rico]

Great read, thanks.