BDL Discussion Thread 2023

[EaglesPeteC]

Welcome to my final FA signing Jack Conklin 

[EaglesPeteC]

	Last Game Starter	Project Starter
QB	Kyler Murray	Bryce Young
RB	Christian McCaffrey	Christian McCaffrey
WR	Jarvis Landry	Courtland Sutton
WR	Robert Woods	Michael Thomas
WR	Isisah McKenzie	Diontae Johnson
TE	Mark Andrews	Mark Andrews
LT	Laremy Tunsil	Jordan Mailata
LG	Landon Dickerson	Landon Dickerson
C	Mitch Morse	Connor Williams
RG	Issac Seumalo	Issac Seumalo
RT	Jordan Mailata	Jack Conklin
DE	Danielle Hunter	Danielle Hunter
DT	Sebastian Joseph Day	Jalen Carter
DT	BJ Hill	BJ Hill
DE	Jermaine Johnson	Josh Sweat
LB	CJ Mosley	Shaq Leonard
LB	Quay Walker	Quay Walker
CB	Darius Slay	Darius Slay
CB	Marcus Peters	Kristian Fulton
CB	Elijiah Molden	Avonte Maddox
FS	Quandre Diggs	Justin Reid
SS	Mike Edwards	Budda Baker

[Ragnarok]

Pete gonna screw around and win some games this year.

[Blue]

Raleigh definitely has better receivers and defense this year. Young probably not better than Murray this year and RT obviously isn't as good, but it's definitely a good team at this stage of the offseason.

[RedGold]

Glad to add Donovan Smith to the OL group at that cost,   Thought it would be slightly more costly but can see the reservation.  Should maintain 80-85% of this group as starters and depth for multiple years. 

LT:  Ronnie Stanley / Donovan Smith / Jaelyn Duncan
LG: Joe Thuney / Dylan Parham / Liam Eichenberg
C Mason Cole / Josh Myers / Joe Tippman
RG: Alijah Vera Tucker/ James Daniels / Cody Mauch
RT: Tytus Howard / Anton Harrison / Dawand Jones 

 

[WFLukic]

[Blue]

Cancun Offense Offseason Review

My top priority in the offseason was to improve our offensive line situation. After starting Yosh Nijman the last couple seasons, we replaced one elite pass protector in David Bakhtiari with Laremy Tunsil, the league's best pass blocking left tackle. Apart from him, it's a whole lotta youth. Draft picks Broderick Jones and Ricky Stromberg should start sooner rather than later. In the end, we only bring back one preferred starter from last year's line (Zion Johnson) but feature better talent and depth at the tackle spots we've been struggling with for two years, as well as two good rookie starters at guard IRL who should improve in Year 2.

We have the best quarterback in the league.

Moving on, we also have the best one-two punch at running back, with two 1000 yard rushers who are both good receivers out of the backfield with complementary skillsets. Depth is an issue although we roster the only two fullbacks in the league, but we should have a strong run game. Kyle Jusczcyk is probably overpaid but provides a ton of versatility in how we line up with his ability to play fullback, h-back, and traditional tight end.

Receiver and tight end were big areas of need and I feel like we addressed those despite limited resources. We completely revamped the top of our tight end depth chart with a Jumbo receiver in Mike Gesicki going to a tight end-friendly scheme, a blocker and redzone target in Foster Moreau, and a contested catch safety net in Michael Mayer. There's not a true stud among them but it's a great trio of complementary skillsets. At receiver, Chris Olave is primed for a monster year, Elijah Moore is in a great position to finally make good on his draft position, and DJ Chark gives us a physical outside/downfield receiving threat. The depth isn't good but we'll be featuring a lot of two tight end/two running back sets, so it's not a huge concern.

Frankly, I wanted to do more on this side of the ball in free agency than we ended up accomplishing, but we'll be going to the Shark Tank with around $25k to spend. We're not done adding to the skill positions or offensive line, just a matter of seeing how depth charts in training camp and preseason shake out.

[Scoundrel]

9 minutes ago, Blue said:

Cancun Offense Offseason Review

My top priority in the offseason was to improve our offensive line situation. After starting Yosh Nijman the last couple seasons, we replaced one elite pass protector in David Bakhtiari with Laremy Tunsil, the league's best pass blocking left tackle. Apart from him, it's a whole lotta youth. Draft picks Broderick Jones and Ricky Stromberg should start sooner rather than later. In the end, we only bring back one preferred starter from last year's line (Zion Johnson) but feature better talent and depth at the tackle spots we've been struggling with for two years, as well as two good rookie starters at guard IRL who should improve in Year 2.

We have the best quarterback in the league.

Moving on, we also have the best one-two punch at running back, with two 1000 yard rushers who are both good receivers out of the backfield with complementary skillsets. Depth is an issue although we roster the only two fullbacks in the league, but we should have a strong run game. Kyle Jusczcyk is probably overpaid but provides a ton of versatility in how we line up with his ability to play fullback, h-back, and traditional tight end.

Receiver and tight end were big areas of need and I feel like we addressed those despite limited resources. We completely revamped the top of our tight end depth chart with a Jumbo receiver in Mike Gesicki going to a tight end-friendly scheme, a blocker and redzone target in Foster Moreau, and a contested catch safety net in Michael Mayer. There's not a true stud among them but it's a great trio of complementary skillsets. At receiver, Chris Olave is primed for a monster year, Elijah Moore is in a great position to finally make good on his draft position, and DJ Chark gives us a physical outside/downfield receiving threat. The depth isn't good but we'll be featuring a lot of two tight end/two running back sets, so it's not a huge concern.

Frankly, I wanted to do more on this side of the ball in free agency than we ended up accomplishing, but we'll be going to the Shark Tank with around $25k to spend. We're not done adding to the skill positions or offensive line, just a matter of seeing how depth charts in training camp and preseason shake out.

Good stuff Blue I want to do one of these when I can find some time and put some real thought into it

[Blue]

4 minutes ago, Scoundrel said:

Good stuff Blue I want to do one of these when I can find some time and put some real thought into it

I love seeing other people's thought processes behind how they approach the offseason, even when I vehemently disagree with it. Gives me some insight going into the process myself next year.

[Scoundrel]

2 minutes ago, Blue said:

I love seeing other people's thought processes behind how they approach the offseason, even when I vehemently disagree with it. Gives me some insight going into the process myself next year.

Agreed. Always fun to see and what makes this league special are all the ways to team build and how much everyone is willing to share. The discord has taken that to a whole other level as well.

[RedGold]

In regards to a full off-season.   I went into the offseason really struggling at some the key areas of BDL;   QB, WR, and Edge.     Coming out the FA break,  I am struggling at QB, WR, and Edge lol.     

My main area of focus this off-season were to keep building a foundation on the rebuild.  We want to be a tough, physical team in Seoul,  one that will be able to grind out victories while we figure out the future at QB.

With just 8 roster spots left and 42k going into Shark,  we will look to add some key vets at QB, WR, Edge, and LB.. along with a few rookies that we still like.   

QB- Anthony Richardson,   The plan is to not start him..  but as soon as it was announced he was declaring, we knew he was a main target for us.  I'm ready to be wrong,  but I believe his passing ability is much further along than the Florida showcased.  Many things to correct though.     The further along the offseason went,  the higher we felt we needed to jump up.   

RB- Too me,  it's the easiest position to scout.  And we feel very strong with our 3 headed monster (as soon as Javonte comes back).   For the cap we are spending,  this is likely our strongest area of the team.  

WR- Pickens will need to make a big jump for this group to even be considered average.   I like most of the players as depth and situation guys,  but finding a solid #3 option off Kelce/Pickens was a fail. 

TE - I mean, I didn't do anything here for obvious reasons.  McBride has an opening to make a nice jump with the Ertz injury (if it's capable for anyone to do anything in that dumpster fire offense)

OL -  Another area I feel we are very strong with starters and depth.   I have always been pretty aggressive with cap space and draft cap in regards to the OL,  and I think it's starting to pay off in regards to starters plus depth for multiple year runs.  

Edge - There is a lot of guys.  I keep placing quite a bit of draft cap into this position and right now,  it's all potential.   We stayed out of FA for Edge for the sole purpose of not carrying 10+ for multiple years.   We will look to add some juice to this group in Shark.   

Int -  I do like some meat on the interior.  I do believe Lawrence and Reader both would thrive next to each other from both a Run Stopping and Pass Rushing prospective.   Foley/Gaines/Saunders bring some solid depth and speak to my philosophy are trying to play a physical brand of football.   

LB -  This will be a shark tank area,  Damone has a great chance to step up with Micah wanting to play Edge full time... and I do think Kwon will have situational packages with whatever team he decides to sign with. 

CB -  Development will be key here,  and might not be done adding guys.. but I am pretty comfortable with my Top 5 of McDuffie/Elam/Hobbs/Moore/Gordon

S-  Really need Daxton or Cook to take a step further as a deep guy.  Grant and Joseph were nice last year, but neither really provide that type of skillset at this time.  

 

So far this offseason has went according to plan.   I like the outline of the roster,  just missing the most important cogs of BDL.    With 42k left for shark tank,  we are going to be very aggressive targeting vets that can help us grind out some wins with this young squad.   

 

[Ragnarok]

Berlin Offseason Defensive Review

My goal this offseason was to maintain/upgrade what I thought was a very strong center of my defense(DT, LB, S) and rebuild the edges(DE and CB).  I've accomplished that to an extent.

Defensive End - Trey Hendrickson, Yetur Gross-Matos, Nik Bonitto, Adetokunbo Ogundeji, Alex Wright, Patrick Jones, Trevis Gipson, Baron Browning, Zach Harrison

Aside from Hendrickson, we have a lot of youth and potential, but very little proven.  We wanted to add a rookie earlier than Harrison, but the board didn't fall that way.  The two-year plan was to add a lot of bodies and hope one pays off, so we will see if that happens.

Defensive Tackle - Quinnen Williams, Derrick Brown, Mazi Smith, DeMarvin Leal, Khyiris Tonga, Kurt Hinish, Ta'Quon Graham, Tommy Togiai, Siaki Ika

I think Quinnen and Derrick will be the best DT tandem in BDL this year.  Add in Mazi and a number of other promising, young DTs, and I'm very excited for this group going forward.

Linebacker - Tremaine Edmunds, Kyzir White, Jordyn Brooks, Chad Muma, Terrel Bernard

Tremaine in the key here.  If he drops off in a new system, I'll be hurting.  After him, it's just seeing who plays the best out of the remaining 4 LBers on the roster, all of whom should get a fair amount of playing time or at least a shot.

CB - Devon Witherspoon, Benjamin St-Juste, Deonte Banks, Eric Stokes, D.J. Turner, Christian Benford

This was my obvious area of rebuild this draft season.  Spoon, St-Juste, and Deonte could be a studly CB trio by the end of the year.  That said, their rawness will hurt me early on.  Stokes still isn't healthy, and while Turner will get an opportunity early, Benford may get moved to safety, so those first 3 proving their worth quick will determine a lot of this season.

S - Juan Thornhill, Antoine Winfield Jr., Camryn Bynum, JL Skinner, Jammie Robinson

Winfield is one of the best in the game when he is healthy and Thornhill fits exactly what our scheme calls for in a deep middle FS.  Bynum is a passable backup, Skinner is a hybrid LBer, and Jammie is more NB. 

[Scoundrel]

Okay I found some time…

Anchorage Off-Season Offense

First I’ll start will Losses and Additions

Losses:

QB- Taylor Heinicke 

RB- Josh Jacobs

RB- JK Dobbins

RB- Mark Ingram

RB Zonovan Knight

RB- Tyler Badie

RB- Tyrion Davis-Price

WR- Brandin Cooks

WR- Donovan Peoples-Jones

WR- Zay Jones

WR- Mack Hollins

WR- Paris Campbell 

WR- Tyler Johnson

TE- Kyle Pitts

TE- Jordan Akins

OT- Rob Havenstein

OG- Dalton Risner

OG- Austin Corbett

 

Additions:

RB- Tyjae Spears

RB- Roschon Johnson

RB- Kendre Miller

RB- Breece Hall

WR- Jaxon Smith-Njigba

WR- Treylon Burks

WR- Josh Downs

WR- A.T. Perry

WR- Laviska Shenault

WR- Jalen Reagor

TE- David Njoku

OT- Spencer Brown

I lost some key Championship contributors in Jacobs, Cooks, DPJ, Havenstein, Risner and Corbett as well as some other veteran presence at WR. And I don’t think I did anything to really replace the immediate impact of these players as I added a youth movement at RB and WR and just promoting a second year player to starting guard in Salyer. Still always looking to the future while trying to remain competitive in the present is my motto. 

QB:
I ride or die with Burrow. I don’t have the roster build or cap to be able to play the BDL winning capable backup QB. So no real offseason change here except losing a below average backup in Heinicke who I picked up off waivers last year perhaps I go to waivers again but as far as I’m concerned  the ship goes down with Burrow and if it happens let’s hope it’s early enough in the season to get higher picks in the draft…

RB:
Major loss in Jacobs. I won’t even front. He carried our running game after JT got hurt. He was well worth the trade deadline trade that also included Jaycee Horn and even as a half season rental I’d do it all over again. The gains here are in three rookie RB’s that will all be in backup roles starting out. They were players I knew would likely not be instant contributors based on where I picked them and where they went in the draft and were more of future dart throws on three prospects I liked with my two main backs both on the last year of their deals. I wanted youth and various skill sets and traded some future draft capital to take the gambles. Tyjae has an elusive style and is a plus pass catcher, Roschon more a tank with passing game chops both receiving and blocking and Kendre a mixed bag of skills with a deadly one cut and patience as a runner I haven’t personally scouted since LeVeon Bell. The hope here is JT and Dobbins stay healthy (and Dobbins doesn’t hold out) which are big question marks but we like the odds that one of our rookies can be a bigger contributor by mid to late season. Edit: Dobbins now is in Baltimore and Breece Hall is now here in Anchorage. It was costly for a player coming off a torn ACL and hasn’t proven much with an IRL first as part of the deal but Hall was a player I loved last year in the process and hope he can provide us with some future stability at the position if he can rebound from injury and reach his full potential.

WR: 
I didn’t really come into this offseason with a plan at this position other than do everything within my power to land JSN. This was clearly very obvious to some individuals from the get go (Blue and Mwil for starters). I did that and then continued to build from there. I lost Cooks who came back healthy at the perfect time in the playoffs and DPJ I let go for a draft pick as I wasn’t sure the role he will have with Elijah Moore taking some targets. He was definitely one I considered matching though as he was a draft favorite of mine and we appreciate what he brought for us in the championship run. I retained Hollywood Brown on a 5th year tender after the Jameson Williams suspension. I was already contemplating it but it became a for sure move for me after the Jamo news. Continuing the position build I traded up for Josh Downs and AT Perry respectively in the draft. Both different skill sets and two prospects I really liked in the process even though I started to doubt Downs’ size I am excited for his slot opportunity in Indy. He and JSN give me two young inside weapons that should contribute early. While I liked these new slot additions, after the draft I wanted to continue to build up my outside receivers at X and Z where I had Chase, Brown, Suspended Jamo, 7th round rookie Perry, 5th wideout Erik Ezukanma and two players I accepted in a three down package but never three downed in Laviska Shenault and Jalen Reagor. I just didn’t know how I would do this after the draft as I knew I wouldn’t be able to compete financially with most of the receiver bids in FA. Then along came a Ted with the opportunity to continue to build to the outside receiver position. After some discord banter I received a message inquiring about Kyle Pitts with serious interest. The conversation lasted about 10 minutes, I wasn’t really seeing anyone that I would trade Pitts for that I thought Ted would actually trade. I let Ted know this and he brought up Treylon. We took about 3 more minutes to think on it and we agreed that the deal met needs for us both as I already had a bid out on Njoku (I’ll cover more in the TE section) and Ted has a great complimentary receiver corps but not a TE. Treylon was a prospect I liked a lot and while I don’t like his situation necessarily I like his skill set and that he is currently the number one receiving target for his offense. I had already been watching some OTA highlights (yes I know it’s just OTAs) but Burks looked in better condition and he snapped off breaks quicker and just was playing faster. Treylon was the young and talented outside piece I was looking for. 

TE: 
This takes me to TE. Losing Pitts was tough. I probably gave up on him too soon, judging by others reactions Ted got the better end of the deal and I already felt that way based on the potential of Pitts. He’s a unicorn. He’s a player I was super high on and took 4th overall just two drafts ago. I grew frustrated with his usage and while it was difficult to move him I am happy with the move and who I got to help my offense as I had to remind myself I didn’t need Pitts to win a championship. Now originally I already had a bid in on Njoku and was planning to pair some two tight with Pitts but I was mostly going to use Pitts as that outside receiver I felt I was missing and run some more two tight with Njoku and Likely. Now I can still do that with those two and utilize both as move tight ends. I felt Njoku allowed me to also part with Pitts because he fits more of the traditional TE role with his blocking and that is something I wanted in my offense. I lost Akins as well and he contributed for me after Pitts injury pairing with Likely. I look forward to the continued growth of Likely and development of my TE room with a young Cole Turner and the blocking Tremble. 

Oline:
I lost three players here who were contributors. Havenstein lost his job early on in the year to Steele but he was a contributor this season and came back into the lineup including the Bizz Bowl when Steele tore his ACL. Risner was riding pine at the end of the year but he too was a contributor. Austin Corbett was quite the tank pickup for me as he ended up being a plus starter at RG for us. The only player I added this offseason was Spencer Brown the highly athletic RT who struggled last year and could lose his job to Brandon Shell. But he’s cheap depth with starter experience and worth a gamble to see if he can turn it around. Other than that the group stays in tact, Salyer as previously mentioned gets his chance to start. Logan Bruss is back healthy getting some reps at RG and RT for the Rams. Jon Runyan Jr was retained with a RFA tag and Ragnow will start the year and training camp at LG as McCoy mans the center. We will give Ickey first crack at RT as Steele heals and Andrew Thomas is entrenched at LT with Humphries as the swing with experience at both tackle spots. I was unable to compete in the guard market in FA so we will wait for injuries to try and grab a tank or waiver wire guy for depth as our plan wasn’t to do much to the line after 3upping McCoy from the beginning. It’s not the most flashy group but quite a few mainstays from our championship run and we look toward continued development from the young guys.

Overall we lost some valuable vet fire power but we added some youthful potential and kept most of our core intact. Looking forward to how this offense progresses throughout the season and the continued growth of our young players. 

[Blue]

I think you could have retained Marquise Brown for cheaper in FA given the other contracts handed out, but it is what it is.

[Scoundrel]

11 minutes ago, Blue said:

I think you could have retained Marquise Brown for cheaper in FA given the other contracts handed out, but it is what it is.

I agree. But it is what it is