Elky Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 Quarterback is a weakness for Minnesota. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leoric Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 7 hours ago, FinSting said: I'm still shocked that Joey Bosa turned out to be so productive, I thought he was overrated at OSU and would fade against NFL talent. I was very wrong. Sadly the Chargers are a great team but still viewed as nomadic and not yet accepted in their new L.A. home. A high school Texas team gets more paying fans in attendance than the Chargers heh. I think 5 is highly complimentary. Great write up though across all the positions. Only thing I would add is the stability we have in the kicking game now and how our kick returning unit has gone from steaming monkey pop to above average. Offensive line is a huge question mark for the Road Warrior Chargers. I didn’t know they were ranked so badly last year though. Average play out of them would be awesome. Come on Alamo, show us all why this board was so excited you were drafted. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldfishwars Posted July 9, 2019 Author Share Posted July 9, 2019 4. New England Patriots What’s New in 2019: The de-facto defensive coordinator left to become the head coach of division rivals Miami Dolphins and the Pats tried to fill it that spot with Greg Schiano who decided shortly after not to fill it. Jerod Mayo joined the defensive coaching team in some capacity, otherwise Bill Belichick is going to do some of the heavy lifting there. On the personnel side, Michael Bennett comes over from a brief spell with Philly to help on the edge and Mike Pennel helps with the roster depth at defensive tackle. The most intriguing addition comes via returning Jamie Collins who threatened to be something special in New England early in his career before tailing off. After a poor spell in Cleveland, it’ll be interesting to see if he can establish himself again. The Patriots made ten selections in the draft, which is something most people predicted would not happen. Roster Strengths: Quarterback – He’ll be 42 when the season starts and still his name wouldn’t be far away from most people’s lips if you asked them if they could rent one quarterback to play for their team for one season. It’s just insane, I just hope the wheels don’t fall off dramatically when he could have walked off into the sunset last year. Running Back – In terms of depth, it’s crazy they can cycle through Sony Michel (with one eye on his medical situation), James White, Rex Burkhead and Damien Harris this year. Offensive Line – Even with the departing Trent Brown, who they got in a contract year and were able to maximise his ability, four out of last year’s five who were dominant in 2018 are returning and last year’s 1st round pick Isaiah Wynn should be fully returned from his rookie injury. Corner – Their deepest crop at the position in years, with Stephon Gilmore locking down one side and being able to rotate through Jason McCourty, JC Jackson, Jonathan Jones and recent rookie selections Duke Dawson and Joejuan Williams elsewhere. Roster Weaknesses: Tight End – There’s an obvious gaping hole on the roster with no Gronk and assuming there is no conspiracy that he will make an appearance in 2019 (he's lost like 40 pounds already), they just haven’t filled it as you would expect. 38 year old Ben Watson comes in after a four game suspension, with some expectation he can play there. Matt LeCosse has slowly climbed the ladder in three years, but has shown very little to this point and fringe roster guys Andrew Beck and Ryan Izzo are considered blocking specialists. Defensive Line – It's fine, but lacking in star power. There’s no Trey Flowers in 2019, who was the only source of pass-rush pressure up-front in stretches. There’s also no Malcom Brown who was a prominent member of the interior line despite never delivering on his 1st round promise. They’ve bought in Michael Bennett to help and he should, even at 34 year old, coming off a productive year in Philly. Otherwise, they’ll be rotating through a cycle of decent depth players at tackle and end. Breakout Player: Isaiah Wynn – I think everyone is hoping he can come in and lock down the left tackle spot after last year’s 1st round selection. I love him coming out as someone who can flat out pass-protect, mirroring and anchoring down – he had it all. Scar came out recently and said how good he looked in Training Camp in 2018 before his injury, but this one will all depend on how far he is into his Achilles recovery. How they can win in 2019: On offense, we'll probably see an even bigger commitment to the ground game. The team have been stacking up on backs, have an ageing quarterback they can no longer load up on and an unclear picture at receiver. Having said that, that unclear picture at receiver needs to reveal itself when they do take to the air. The left tackle position could be an issue in theory, but the Pats have Scar to cover all of their issues there. We’ve been through a potentially troubling tight end spot, but replacing what Gronk gave them in the pass and in the run game is going to be far from easy and we've seen them have numerous struggles when their uncoverable star was hurt throughout his career. The receiver position is worth expanding on, because the picture is muddy. K’Neal Harry is the most conventional looking receiver they’ve invested in a while and whilst rookie receivers have a troubled history in New England, he's a bit further on in his development than some of their other draft forays at that position. He could be weirdly crucial to how this offense operates this year, given his size and inside/out versatility. Edelman should continue to be great at what he does, providing the injuries can stay away which they haven't in recent years. Phillip Dorsett has been around, but isn't particularly reliable and Dontrell Inman is shorthand for 'team's fifth receiver'. From there on, Josh Gordon is one enormous unknown and similarly Demaryius Thomas has some serious injury issues to work back from. Two guys to watch are last year’s 6th round pick Braxton Berrios who was shut down on IR last year and potentially Jakobi Meyers who has been getting featured reps and I still cannot believe went undrafted in 2019. In short, there’s a lot to sort out between now and the season starting. On defense, their main issues are up-front where they are probably going to favour a heavy rotation rather than settle for a core group unless certain players can separate themselves. They’ll be hoping Michael Bennett can pick-up the pressure slack left from Trey Flowers’s departure and that can be supplemented by a rotation of whoever wins jobs out of Deatrich Wise, 3rd round pick Chase Winovich, Derek Rivers and John Simon. They prefer to be stout on early downs and have a rotation of monsters inside who would probably not be clocking heavy snap numbers elsewhere. Linebacker looks better than it did at this point last year when it looked bad. It's a unit full of big dudes who seem to come into their own as the season progresses. The secondary should be fine and continue to be a bright spot on the defense, barring injuries. Predicted record 2019: 13-3 – Teams who win Super Bowls probably shouldn’t get schedules as (relatively, of course) easy as New England's looks and whatever roster perils they are suffering through now, they usually have a whole new identity sorted by late autumn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leoric Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 (edited) Pats too low IMO. They own that #1 spot and live rent free in 31 franchises heads. They will pull their usual and look mortal till about November when The Patriot real regular season starts. Edited July 9, 2019 by Boltstrikes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyMossIsBoss Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 Eagles top 3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadpulse Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 Chalk this up to @goldfishwars over compensating for potential homerism claims Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelKing728 Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 2 hours ago, Elky said: Quarterback is a weakness for Minnesota. We should not have relied on him so much last year, but Kirk is a solid QB, not a bad one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoboRocket Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 Danggg. So we know who the top three are, but not the order... I'm waiting to see where the Rams rank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckweath Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 (edited) I had not seen it but yeah, what a joke that Pats schedule. A walk in the park. Edited July 9, 2019 by Buckweath 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBURGE Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 Out of curiosity, will you adjust rankings if Tyreek isn't suspended? I can't imagine it would change a ton of other teams, maybe just the Chargers..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoboRocket Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 8 minutes ago, Buckweath said: I had not seen it but yeah, what a joke that Pats schedule. A walk in the park. I mean, we all know what fairness demands. I know it. You know it. There's only one way to make this right. One TRUE way. For 11 weeks of the season, the Patriots have to play all of the other playoff teams from last year. You may say, "wait, but Hobo! You can't do that! There are 16 games in a season and 6 of those have to be divisional matchups! To that, I'd suggest taking away one of the weakest division matchups. However, this is the AFC East, and we can never tell which of the three non-Patriots teams will suck the most in the upcoming season. Consequently, I came up with an alternative solution. You see, there are SEVENTEEN weeks in the NFL regular season. Instead of cutting out one of the AFC East Division games, you can just cut out the bye week. Level the playing field. Mwehehehe! This should drop the Pats' record down to the 10-6 range, and they just might lose a playoff game from fatigue! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldfishwars Posted July 9, 2019 Author Share Posted July 9, 2019 41 minutes ago, Deadpulse said: Chalk this up to @goldfishwars over compensating for potential homerism claims Nah, 13-3 is pretty bold for a team missing their biggest offensive chess piece. The other three teams look a little better on paper and have similarly great coaching setups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackstar12 Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 58 minutes ago, SteelKing728 said: We should not have relied on him so much last year, but Kirk is a solid QB, not a bad one. Barely above average lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBLIII Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 I feel more confident this year than last. LT and receiver are the question marks. What I'm always looking at is how good is your team at QB, coaching and coverage. QB and coaching has remained constant. Whenever the backend was elite they were really tough to beat. It's especially crucial in the playoffs. 2013 Broncos couldn't score on the Pats until Talib got injured. 2014 they had Revis. 2016 they had elite McCourty and Butler, last year Gilmore. 2001,2003,2004 obviously Milloy, Harrison, Law etc. Lack of elite coverage from 2005-2012/13 was their undoing. It looks pretty good on that front again this year especially if JC Jackson becomes a lockdown corner. Showed some signs last year, needs to be more consistent. They aren't more talented than the Rams, Saints or Eagles but elite players at key spots put them over the top for me. But it's nitpicking and not much to complain about in that write up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danger Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 1 hour ago, Deadpulse said: Chalk this up to @goldfishwars over compensating for potential homerism claims Honestly thought the same thing. IDK what it is, but Patriots fans around here seem to have a weird respect for the Eagles team over the last number of years, even before Super Bowl 52. It's weird to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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