Mock Offseason

[MKnight82]

3 hours ago, ovfd55 said:

Nice Work @MKnight82  
I don't think we'll be players on Samuel though just too many guys like him style wise already in the building

I kind of get what you're saying, but after watching this offense in action I think they want to key in on WRs that can catch the ball on short routes then get yards after the catch.  That would rule out bigger bodied guys. 

[MKnight82]

3 hours ago, lavar703 said:

I really enjoyed your write up dude but I do disagree with some aspects of it. There’s simply no way I’d go into next season with Kyle Allen as the starter and waste yet another year of McLaurin, Sweat, Payne, Gibson, Holcomb, Young, Fuller in doing so

Ok, then with the 10th pick in the draft and/or FA options who would you have as the starting QB next year? 

[turtle28]

23 minutes ago, MKnight82 said:

Ok, then with the 10th pick in the draft and/or FA options who would you have as the starting QB next year? 

You are right. Unless we get Lawrence or Fields it’s most likely that Kyle Allen is our starting QB next year - at least to start the season. He’ll have to continue to improve this year to get that spot and he’ll have to improve more next year in order to keep that spot.

[lavar703]

58 minutes ago, MKnight82 said:

Ok, then with the 10th pick in the draft and/or FA options who would you have as the starting QB next year? 

It depends. Was Lance available with the 10th pick? 

[MKnight82]

26 minutes ago, lavar703 said:

It depends. Was Lance available with the 10th pick? 

Yes.  But you’re putting a very raw QB behind a very shaken Oline. 

[turtle28]

12 hours ago, MKnight82 said:

Yes.  But you’re putting a very raw QB behind a very shaken Oline. 

I doubt Lance starts right away and our OL won’t be as bad next year, the left side would have a year of working together and have a year of some starting experience.

[lavar703]

13 hours ago, MKnight82 said:

Yes.  But you’re putting a very raw QB behind a very shaken Oline. 

In this situation Allen would start while Lance would sit for a time. My ideal first two rounds would be Lance/Fields and Jackson Carman in the second round. Maybe going after Jonnu Smith or finally dealing for David Njoku. But I do believe they’re going QB in the first round if Fields or Lance is on the board. 

[ovfd55]

2 hours ago, lavar703 said:

In this situation Allen would start while Lance would sit for a time. My ideal first two rounds would be Lance/Fields and Jackson Carman in the second round. Maybe going after Jonnu Smith or finally dealing for David Njoku. But I do believe they’re going QB in the first round if Fields or Lance is on the board. 

I don't think this team can draft a devolopmental QB in the 1st with the game plan to sit him behind Allen because 1st sign of Allen looking like Kyle Allen The Fans and Media would be Calling for him to play right away.Maybe if we got a vet QB in front of them like Cam or Tyrod.

Also don't think Rivera is going to draft someone in 1st with plans to sit him if he thinks team can win division.

I'd see Rivera and comp if bringing in a dev Qb would prob do it 2nd or 3rd round with Qbs like Jaime Newman,Zach Wilson,Kyle Trask,or possible day 3 with Kellen Mond.

All points a moot at mt moment though winning 3 or 4 more games most likely takes us out of top 3 QB range,Top OT range and Top WR range,which would put us in a spot where we'd prob pick Parsons or Moses to sure up the LBer spot or trade back and target end of 1st qb(To get the extra year on contract) or TE

[ripsean21]

22 hours ago, offbyone said:

Personally, I am not a big of drafting WRs high.  It is a position that has a huge learning curve from college to nfl and you see a lot of busts.  That is why I want one in free agency.  Yes McClaurin is good, but he would be better if teams had someone else to defend and what if he goes down?  What do we have then?

I am all for a TE.  Sign Hunter Henry or trade cleveland for a TE.  

That’s not something that generally translates. TE seem to really end up being home grown. Like the fact Njoku is always involved in trade articles should just emphasize he’s a disappointment. Can he get better elsewhere for sure but his team going out and getting another big money guy says a lot. This draft is the best draft for TE in a min I personally think we’re messing up not diving into that pool.
But I agree we need a number two. But I just think you can get multiple guys it is so indicative on the QB findings guys or throwing guys open. Yes the WR’s have to get open enough and earn the QB’s trust but I think we can get a pass catcher later in this draft again that could break out because again it’s deep. It does take time but we could have 3 #2’s they just haven’t been givin time or Simms is hurt we just don’t know what we have yet but we will. What if Simms finally gets a chance and shows he can be the jump ball guy. 

[ripsean21]

18 hours ago, MKnight82 said:

I feel like the 2nd and 3rd round is the sweet spot for WRs.  Looks at the WRs taken in the 2nd & 3rd in the past 3 drafts:

Tee Higgins

Michael Pittman Jr.

Laviska Shenault

KJ Hamler

Chase Claypool

Van Jefferson

Denzel Mims

Bryan Edwards

Devin Duvernay

 

Deebo Samuel

AJ Brown

Mecole Hardman

JJ Arcega-Whiteside

Parris Campbell

Andy Isabella

DK Metcalf

Diontae Johnson

Jalen Hurd

Terry McLaurin

Miles Boykin

 

Courtland Sutton

Dante Pettis

Christian Kirk

Anthony Miller

James Washington

DJ Chark

Michael Gallup

Trequan Smith

 

That is an insane amount of great WRs!

Completely agree but these last few classes have been loaded so I think Uber talented guys who are actually late one fringe talents are just falling because how many different skill sets there are and have been in these last 3 classes counting this one coming

[Woz]

On the whole, while I might not agree with the decisions you made, I understand your plan. I do think Kerrigan wouldn't accept that deal since he wants to play, but maybe the market dries up for him.

One thing I would quibble with would be the non-tendering of the ERFAs. They're cheap fodder for training camp at least, and maybe they turn into something. Given that they would be a RFA after the 2021 season, that's two years of possible cheap role players. I might also consider throwing RoFR tenders on the RFAs.

[e16bball]

Really appreciate the effort you put into this. I know how much time and thought it takes to put together something comprehensive like this, and all of us are benefitting from it by getting the chance to see some concrete ideas and bounce them around as we all work through our own daydreams for next offseason. Thank you!

Per both Spotrac and OverTheCap, we currently have $22M in unused 2020 cap space that we should be able to roll over to next season. That should vastly increase the amount of financial flexibility they’ll have to make meaningful additions. 

I’m really torn on Scherff and Roullier. Scherff is really pretty excellent when healthy, but can we really afford to pay him like a top 5 OG when he’s never staying healthy? I just don’t know. Roullier is a solid starting center, but do we really need to pay FA money for that level of play? I just don’t know. I want to invest in having an excellent OL, but I just don’t know if those guys are wise investments. Genuinely not sure what to do there. 

Not a fan of Samuel for this team. I think it’s realistic, based on what I’ve seen from them so far, but it would be disappointing. I don’t think you can win long-term with all the east-west stuff, the screens and the jet sweeps and all that. And that’s what Samuel is. They tried to use him as more of a downfield receiver last season, and he was quite poor. We definitely need a WR2, but I think it has to be a more complete receiver who (like McLaurin) can effectively attack the defense at each level in the passing game. Don’t think we can be shelling out FA money for a gadget player. 

Is Haason Reddick playing a 4-3 OLB type position? I thought he was essentially playing a 3-4 OLB spot with them. 

I like the Haskins trade, under the circumstances. I think a 4th and a player is about as good a return as they can expect given the way his value has been systematically destroyed. And I wouldn’t dare stand between a man and his VCU Ram.

I think Leatherwood to us will be a very frequently mocked combo on the way up to the draft. The positional need and his/our projected draft position match up pretty well. I don’t love him like I love Sewell, but there are some things I like about his game. I don’t have a lot of good ideas about how to address LT, so we’ll probably have to bite the bullet and grab one in the 1st at some point. Seems like he’d be a solid enough bet.

I like Freiermuth in the 2nd a lot. Hinges a little on how well he runs — yes, I’m THAT guy now, waiting for 40 times on TEs — but I like his game a lot. He impressed me big time last season. Seems like he’s been solid so far this year too. 

Overall, it’s a little conservative for me, but I think the team in reality is more conservative than I am, so it’s probably a good preview. We’d be a better team with these additions, I expect. Would the extra $22M (or the Kerrigan trade demand) change anything for you?

[Thaiphoon]

On 10/30/2020 at 3:23 PM, MKnight82 said:

I actually think there is a timeline, and that timeline is determined by your QB contract.  The minute you take a first round QB you are on a 5 year window to compete because as soon as they are eligible for a huge contract extension you are screwed.  That's why I think the best strategy is to build up a solid roster that is competitive, and then add a cheap talented rookie QB to that roster on a 5 year rookie contract.  

This is the correct strategy, assuming we don't end up with one of the top 2 picks.

If we end up with #1 pick, you have to take Trevor.

If we end up at #2, I think we should think long and hard about trading down or taking Fields. I'll be okay with either one of them. The rest of the season will decide what I want to do. 

Anything after that? You roll with Kyle in 2021, back him up with a decent player or two (a cheap veteran and a rookie) and build the OL, WR, TE, and the rest of the team. 

Overall, I like what you did here with the mock. It addresses needs and puts some good players in here to stock talent and it uses FA appropriately (not sure on Samuel but I'll take him on a cheap deal).

Just two quibbles:

1. I wouldn't draft that Texas QB that high
2. Not enough FCS players 

 

Thank you for putting this together @MKnight82

[ripsean21]

8 hours ago, e16bball said:

Really appreciate the effort you put into this. I know how much time and thought it takes to put together something comprehensive like this, and all of us are benefitting from it by getting the chance to see some concrete ideas and bounce them around as we all work through our own daydreams for next offseason. Thank you!

Per both Spotrac and OverTheCap, we currently have $22M in unused 2020 cap space that we should be able to roll over to next season. That should vastly increase the amount of financial flexibility they’ll have to make meaningful additions. 

I’m really torn on Scherff and Roullier. Scherff is really pretty excellent when healthy, but can we really afford to pay him like a top 5 OG when he’s never staying healthy? I just don’t know. Roullier is a solid starting center, but do we really need to pay FA money for that level of play? I just don’t know. I want to invest in having an excellent OL, but I just don’t know if those guys are wise investments. Genuinely not sure what to do there. 

Not a fan of Samuel for this team. I think it’s realistic, based on what I’ve seen from them so far, but it would be disappointing. I don’t think you can win long-term with all the east-west stuff, the screens and the jet sweeps and all that. And that’s what Samuel is. They tried to use him as more of a downfield receiver last season, and he was quite poor. We definitely need a WR2, but I think it has to be a more complete receiver who (like McLaurin) can effectively attack the defense at each level in the passing game. Don’t think we can be shelling out FA money for a gadget player. 

Is Haason Reddick playing a 4-3 OLB type position? I thought he was essentially playing a 3-4 OLB spot with them. 

I like the Haskins trade, under the circumstances. I think a 4th and a player is about as good a return as they can expect given the way his value has been systematically destroyed. And I wouldn’t dare stand between a man and his VCU Ram.

I think Leatherwood to us will be a very frequently mocked combo on the way up to the draft. The positional need and his/our projected draft position match up pretty well. I don’t love him like I love Sewell, but there are some things I like about his game. I don’t have a lot of good ideas about how to address LT, so we’ll probably have to bite the bullet and grab one in the 1st at some point. Seems like he’d be a solid enough bet.

I like Freiermuth in the 2nd a lot. Hinges a little on how well he runs — yes, I’m THAT guy now, waiting for 40 times on TEs — but I like his game a lot. He impressed me big time last season. Seems like he’s been solid so far this year too. 

Overall, it’s a little conservative for me, but I think the team in reality is more conservative than I am, so it’s probably a good preview. We’d be a better team with these additions, I expect. Would the extra $22M (or the Kerrigan trade demand) change anything for you?

Awesome post!!!!

[MikeT14]

2 hours ago, Thaiphoon said:

I wouldn't draft that Texas QB that high

I haven't dug through too much yet, but this was something I quickly noticed and agreed with.