Goldfish's Slightly Too Early 2019 Season Predictions - All 32 up

[Thomas5737]

2 hours ago, Nabbs4u said:

My post was more about Bakers reactions to OBJ or Landry when not if they start complaining on or off the field when things dont go well, aren't the focal point of the offensive game plan in a loss, not targeted? 

He going to shoot from the hip in his post game PC or on the sidelines because "he isn't a BS'er"? If so then what? You honestly think either of those two won't respond? To be clear I didn't have a problem with what he said about Duke. It's refreshing! Try that with OBJ and it will be comical watching the Smitt Storm that will follow!!!

You keep things "In House". That's all I'm getting at.

If they are losing and someone complains about targets he won't say anything negative towards them I don't think, they are on the same side. With Duke not wanting to be here his us vs them mentality makes Duke a them. He basically just said he needs to be with us instead of them.

I'm sure there will be internal discussions but I don't foresee any bad blood type of stuff as long as everyone wants to be here. We'll see though, Baker has been pretty universally loved by his teammates and not so loved by his opponents. I suspect that trend to continue.

[Ray Reed]

4 hours ago, SBLIII said:

Flacco was an elite break dancer in high school

Edited July 6, 2019 by Ray Reed

[wackywabbit]

On 7/5/2019 at 3:34 PM, Thomas5737 said:

Yeah I don't think anyone set Baker straight. Baker is honest, just like his coach and his teammates know that he has the back of those that want to be here. Duke needs to change his mentality, not Baker. I know it was reported that some players talked to Baker but I don't think he feels he did anything wrong and I don't see anything changing with him. You are either with or or against him, no middle ground. Just ask Hue.

Sounds like a great leader. Should go swell.

[Thomas5737]

1 minute ago, wackywabbit said:

Sounds like a great leader. Should go swell.

So far so good. Honestly leadership looks to be his strongest attribute. While his opponents may not like it he takes an us vs them mentality and as long as his teammates are pro Browns he will be pro his teammates.

[goldfishwars]

10. Pittsburgh Steelers

What’s New in 2019:

The biggest move on the coaching side is the promotion of Shaun Sarrett to offensive line coach who was Mike Munchak’s assistant line coach in 2018. On the playing personnel side, the Steelers moved up in the draft to land Devin Bush who was the most Ryan Shazier-like prospect in this year’s class and most-likely finally filled a gaping hole on their team in doing-so. Some quite, but potentially potent FA moves saw Donte Moncrief, Steven Nelson and Mark Barron come in and they can contribute right away.

Roster Strengths:

Quarterback – Big Ben, for all of his faults, can still sling the pill and we’ll see just how good he is without the best receiver in the league

Offensive Line – One of the more dominant units around the league for the past few seasons, they’ve lost their talisman coach Mike Munchak in the off-season and we’ll see how much that impacts them

Defensive Line – In the opposite trench, the trio of Heyward, Hargrave and Tuitt has been consistently stout and disruptive

Elsewhere – Ju-Ju Smith-Schuster has established himself as a vocal leader of the offense in two excellent seasons, we’ll see if he can emerge further as a focal point for the offense with Antonio Brown out of the picture. James Conner has ensured the loss of Le’Veon Bell hasn’t really hurt them and TJ Watt has a dominant stretch of games to round out last season, finishing the year with 12 sacks.

Roster Weaknesses:

Secondary – Good secondary play continues to elude them. Joe Haden is obviously the team leader back there and should be solid again if he can get a stretch of good health which has eluded him of late. New FA Steven Nelson could be a nice pick-up, he was a lone bright spot on a Chiefs defense last year. Justin Layne is raw, but has high physical potential coming out of the draft and Mike Hilton is solid in the slot. Artie Burns and Cameron Sutton has just not been up to the task. At Safety, it’s likely to be Terrell Edmunds, who should step into Morgan Burnett’s role full-time, and Sean Davis. The latter made modest improvements last year, but both need to get better.

Breakout Player:

James Washington – He had a rough start as a rookie, but the Steelers rarely miss on their receiver picks and he stands as much to gain by Antonio Brown’s departure than anyone. Apparently he lost 15 pounds at the end of the season and has drawn positive reviews for performances in OTA’s this far.

How they can win in 2019:

They already have the blueprint on offense, sustain the offense through their volume runners and be ready to hit big plays in the passing game. They just have to prove they can do that without Antonio Brown, easier said than done. There are some interesting new names in the passing game outside of Ju-Ju and Washington in Donte Moncrief and draft pick Dionte Johnson. Plus they still have Eli Rogers and Ryan Switzer,who do their best work inside. Vance McDonald had a breakout year of sorts last season with 50 receptions and four touchdowns, he’s a danger to potential tacklers when roaming free as a runner.

On defense, they should see improvements at linebacker if Devin Bush can hit the ground running. The whole front seven could be really good in 2019, that’s including Bud Dupree who may decide to show out in a contract year. It really does come down to the secondary, if Haden can stay healthy and whether Nelson can land the spot opposite and play well. A second year surge to prove why he was taken in the 1^st round would do Terrell Edmunds and the whole defense the world of good. 

Predicted record 2019:

10-6* – There’s still too much talent on this Steelers team to not expect a bounce-back season where the focus should be on 'team first' and let's not forget this coaching staff are probably coaching for their jobs this year. 

Edited July 23, 2019 by goldfishwars

[43M]

Good assessment for the Steelers.   10-6 is a very safe prediction.  Not saying safe as bad thing...just that they should definitely been in that range.   OLine should still be very good since we had no turnover, but losing Munch was a huge blow.

Secondary is still a concern, especially safety, but our pass rush WITHOUT BLITZING needs to improve.  

Losing Brown will hurt, mainly because Ben had become so adapted to having him....but Ben had plenty of success before Brown, so I don't think the loss will hurt as much as some think.    We really need someone to step up though.

 

 

 

 

[SBLIII]

I agree with that. I got the PIT in the playoffs. Anything beyond that depends on Big Ben and the secondary.

[jvmillion83]

I wouldn't be shocked if they win the AFC North.  They had a stretch since the end of November where they dropped 4 out of 5 games by a touchdown or less during the AB lockeroom turmoil and Conner being out.  If they take a few of those games, they probably win the North.  This year will be different.  The offense should be more balanced, the defense has improved and the distractions from last year are gone (Bell-holdout, AB).  

[ManningGM]

Indy in the top 10.....I like that....I like that...

[TENINCH]

5 hours ago, ManningGM said:

Indry in the top 10.....I like that....I like that...

Indy has a good team. Wouldnt be surprised to see them winning the AFC

[goldfishwars]

9. Green Bay Packers

What’s New in 2019:

A lot is new on the coaching side, finally. Matt Lafleur brings the Shanahan offense to Green Bay as head coach, updating the previous regime's outdated programme. Nathaniel Hackett goes from Blake Bortles to Aaron Rodgers as the team's new offensive coordinator. Big money was spent on two free agent pass-rushers in Preston Smith and Za’Darius Smith and that’s a very un-Packers thing to have done and very solid safety Adrian Amos joins from arch rivals the Bears. A fairly controversial draft class was brought in, spearheaded by Rashan Gary who nobody seemed to like coming out despite his enormous athletic potential and Darnell Savage who nobody caught onto in time to be prepared for his 1^st round selection. 

Roster Strengths:

Quarterback – He hasn’t not quite been his God-tier self for three seasons now, but Aaron Rodgers is still not bad at football man

Defensive Line – Kenny Clark has emerged to become a monstrous new prototype at nose tackle and Mike Daniels causes constant disruption. Around them, Dean Lowry has been very serviceable, Montravius Adams is still on the roster and they go pretty deep at this spot with Rashan Gary potentially playing a dual inside/outside role and both FA pick-ups in Preston and Za’Darius Smith have some flex to move around

Depth – The Packers go pretty deep at most roster spots, they are built for a deep run on both sides

Elsewhere - David Bakhitari has quietly lifted himself into an elite tier of pass blockers and Davante Adams one of the most reliable wide receiver targets around the league

Roster Weaknesses:

Wide Receiver – Not an obvious weakness per se - but there's a lot of names, not many sure things outside of Davante Adams and a host of recent draft maybes from recent years to work through

Inside Linebacker – Blake Martinez has turned himself into a solid contributor, but they’ve got to find him a running mate from Oren Burks, who didn’t play much in his rookie season, James Crawford (who?) and Ty Summers is a 7^th round pick from this year’s class

Elsewhere – Lane Taylor was barely okay last year and new FA pick-up Billy Turner threatening to also start inside if new draft pick Elgton Jenkins can’t beat either out. The Packers need to find their corners outside of Jaire Alexander who was great in his first season. Recent high draft disappointments Kevin King and Josh Jackson will have to turn it around.

Breakout Player:

Aaron Jones – He’s been underutilised to this point, despite looking very serviceable when called into action. He’s an angry runner who should be a really nice fit for this new outside zone run game and there should just be more opportunities for him to get the rock this year.

How they can win in 2019:

The previous coaching regime ended when Aaron Rodgers seemed to lose faith in Mike McCarthy and has already sent some shots across the bow with the new coaching regime around changing plays at the line. That relationship is one that is crucial to the team and Rodgers needs to accept the coaching, even at this point in his career. Equally, the coaches have to do what they can to gain his trust – that’s an art form in itself and no guarantee they can nail that first time with the inexperience at the top. To be fair to Rodgers, he seems pretty excited about the new scheme and whilst he is under center they always have a chance to be special. Outside of that relationship, they need to decide who their core group of receivers are. That’s something that didn’t become clear last year after they spent draft capital on some size-weight-speed guys. 

On defense, they could be really good up front and even better than that if the free agent rushers can heat up the opposition on the edges. That whole defensive front could be a real talking point if Pettine can get them fired up and ready to go. Whilst that would help the back-end a lot in theory, the coverage still needs to hold up and there’s a lot of combinations to find there. That shouldn't be a smoke and mirrors job because they have the young talent to get it right.  

Predicted record 2019:

9-7* - I think the Packers are a playoff team in 2019, the roster has been built really well and if Rodgers gels with the new offense this could be a very dangerous team. 

Edited July 23, 2019 by goldfishwars

[DawgX]

The Packers will be a really interesting team to watch this season. I think they're a little high for my liking, but it's hard to discount them when they have ARod and some other good pieces. I think the biggest question mark is LaFleur, who I'm a bit skeptical of.

[SBLIII]

Seems about right. Their defense should do the trick. Secondary should be much improved.

[BleedTheClock]

On 7/5/2019 at 8:34 AM, Danand said:

He is also going to bail his line out when they fail due to his athleticism and speed

If he can catch a snap.

[BleedTheClock]

On 7/5/2019 at 1:35 PM, NVRamsFan said:

That's a 2 dual edged sword though because at times he could, like most all scrambling QB's, make them look bad and cause holding penalties or ineligible lineman downfield penalties. We've seen it countless times in the past. He'll have some great plays and some that hurt them. He's dynamic and they should be better off for it but both will happen. 

Yup. Ask any OL if they'd rather play for a stud scrambler or someone that stays within the pocket. No OL wants Michael Vick back there. It's a nightmare for those guy to try and block not knowing where the QB is gonna be. And Lamar Jackson isn't Mike Vick.