Rolni Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 I think they made a mistake last year, when they arrived. They thought that they can be competitive with DC and that roster if they add D.Adams and C.Jones. I think they thought that they will be able to get a lot more out of the roster then Gruden and Co could. They were a bit cocky in that regard. During the season they realized that they misjudged Carr and the roster. They realized that they need a new QB and they need to rebuild the roster. What we see now is the rebuild and not a flashy one. If you check the roster this team starts to be pretty deep in most positions. We are still short in quality starters, especially in the Defense, but our overall depth is a lot better then anytime lately. We have a solid veteran guy at QB for a lot less then DC and we have a chance to add a young gun via draft. Check the skill positions...RB, WR and TE rooms are pretty stacked. At RB we have a star player, we have a capable veteran 3rd down guy, we have a bunch of young guys with some potential. At WR we have maybe the deepest and possibly one of the best groups in the NFL. Proven star #1 in Adams and then we have Meyers and Renfrow to form a possibly great 1-3. Then there will be a great battle for those 2, maybe 3 spots. We have 8 guys for that before the draft and Dorsett, Carter, Cole we have some young veterans in the mix too. In Carter (and maybe Turner) we have our returner(s) IMO, so Renfrow can stay at WR and stay healthy hopefully. At TE we have Hooper, who can be a nice under the radar pick up for us."Austin Hooper has made a career being an elite receiver between 0 and 15 yards of the LOS (career 89.7 PFF grade) Josh McDaniels love using the TE inside 10 yards, could be a career year for Hooper." Howard, Horsted and possibly Cam Sims could form a solid group behind Hooper and we can possibly add another guy during the draft. The OL is a risk for sure, but with a strong draft it could be a solid unit IMO. Kolton Miller is a fixture at LT and Elumunor looked like an average RT last year. If he can clean up his penalty issues he could be a solid RT. A full offseason at RT could be helpfull with those. The OT position should be alright with those guys and with Parker and Munford as depth. Andre James returns as a slightly below average OC, but with improved OG play he could be an average guy. Grasu is solid depth behind him, however Parham could be the OC if Andre misses significant time. Alex Bars can be an emergency OC too. Dylan Parham returns to start at LG or RG. He was a bit weak, but servicable as a rookie. A full offseason should help him take a step forward. Muti, Bars, Murray seems to be solid depth to me. As long as we come away from the draft with a day 1 starter OG we should be good IMO. Overall this offense is one good rookie OG away from being a competitive unit as long as Jimmy can stay healthy. The Defense is another story tho. That will still be a below average unit, but a strong draft class could help a lot here as well. At EDGE we have Maxx, a true star player and Jones, who should be alright as a situational player. We need another player who could rotate with Jones and be effective and depth. Jordan Willis could be the rotational piece or he could be a really good depth guy. Koonce could be ok depth. If we can get a good rookie, who fits the scheme and can help in year 1 that group could be alright. At IDL we have bigger issues. At NT we have Farrell and Jenkins, which is not a bad pair if Farrell can take the next step. After last years draft most of us liked his pick up and many of us envisioned him being NT1 by 2023 September. That is still in play and could be a solid option. His rookie year was quiet, but generally speaking DTs usually have quiet rookie campaings, especially true with a complex D, like ours. At UT we have bodies and some potential. Most probably we will add more potential via draft and then they will try to use a heavy rotation which is PGs preferred way anyway. Most probably our IDL group will still be below average, but the depth of this unit could help out PG. At LB we are pretty empty and we are taking a pretty big risk IMO. Spillane comes in and try to replace Perryman as the MLB, the thumper. Somewhat of a risky move, but could be a solid one with a little luck. Diablo seems to be the favorite for the other LB spot and while he is young, will return for a 2nd year in the system, still this could be an issue. We will rarely use 3LBs, but we definately need a rookie to come in and be able to give Diablo a run for his money as the cover LB. If we can get a steady rookie, then we should have alright depth with Masterson, Bolton, Butler and some rookies in TC. We need to hit that LB draft pick, but with so many picks we can move up in the 2nd or in the 3rd if we want to, so it is not mission impossible. At CB we seem to have a good bunch, which needs a true #1. Could we draft one early? Yeah I can see that move. Could we sign back a guy like Rock Ya-Sin? Yeah I can see that too. Could we sign him back and still draft an outside guy relatively early? Why not? Yeah we can do that... At S we seems to be set with Moehrig and Epps as the starters and then we have a deep group behind them too. Pola-Mao, Johnson, Teamer and Elliott is not a bad group before the draft IMO. I know some are sceptical with Epps, but I think he will be a steady starter for us. I have my questionmarks with Moehrig, however he is a talented guy, a consensus early draft pick, who already showed flashes in the NFL, who probably just needs a little more time in the scheme to look comfortable. Another offseason in it, should help. I think the fact that they only brought in Epps, who has clearly a different skill set, shows that the staff likes Moehrig as a starter. Could we still draft another S to increase the battle at camp? Yeah we can do that. We can also bring back Duron Harmon if Epps or Moehrig looks lost during OTAs and/or during the draft we can't get a quality S. I know it is pretty easy to **** on anything that the FO does, but I think we should just take a chill pill and be patient. We can get mad after the draft when we still have glaring holes . With a strong draft this could be the deepest and more balanced team we had in quite a while. Last year DZ&Co hit on Parham and Munford on the OL. The trio of White, Farrell and Butler is still unknown, but could be solid pieces. The Brown pick seems to be the only wasted pick so far and even he has still a chance to prove me wrong here, since he never got a chance last year. I'm much more optimistic about this upcoming draft then I was before any Grudock or McKenzie draft. I sure could be wrong here and DZ can easily f×ck up this whole draft, but something tells me that he will nail it and we will have a competitive and young team come September. Then still JMD would have to show he can coach, still PG would have to show that he can coach, still Jimmy would need to stay healthy, etc., but the situation right now is not that bad IMO and this constant negativity around here is somewhat surprising. I think this place was more positive during those brutal, unlogical and harmfull Gruden year. Just because he was a cool Raiders coach before? Because he was Chucky? I don't get it... 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big_palooka Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 Nice post @Rolni The depth looks good. Lot of quality role players. Thin in some areas (LB especially). The issues is and has been having a lack of franchise talent from striking out in the draft for years. FA is fun and all, but true star, franchise level guys rarely reach free agency. If you want those guys, you either draft them (Jacobs, Crosby) or trade for them (Adams). Downside of the trade, you generally have to pay them. Until the Raiders draft franchise type players that fit the scheme and culture the team will struggle. You can't fix it in FA with more role playing talents. You have to have the franchise level guys to plug the role players around. Otherwise, you end up with a Littleton situation. Overpaying a role player on a good defense and expecting him to be the star LB on your bad defense. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bucksavage1 Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 4 hours ago, Rolni said: I think they made a mistake last year, when they arrived. They thought that they can be competitive with DC and that roster if they add D.Adams and C.Jones. I think they thought that they will be able to get a lot more out of the roster then Gruden and Co could. They were a bit cocky in that regard. During the season they realized that they misjudged Carr and the roster. They realized that they need a new QB and they need to rebuild the roster. What we see now is the rebuild and not a flashy one. If you check the roster this team starts to be pretty deep in most positions. We are still short in quality starters, especially in the Defense, but our overall depth is a lot better then anytime lately. We have a solid veteran guy at QB for a lot less then DC and we have a chance to add a young gun via draft. Check the skill positions...RB, WR and TE rooms are pretty stacked. At RB we have a star player, we have a capable veteran 3rd down guy, we have a bunch of young guys with some potential. At WR we have maybe the deepest and possibly one of the best groups in the NFL. Proven star #1 in Adams and then we have Meyers and Renfrow to form a possibly great 1-3. Then there will be a great battle for those 2, maybe 3 spots. We have 8 guys for that before the draft and Dorsett, Carter, Cole we have some young veterans in the mix too. In Carter (and maybe Turner) we have our returner(s) IMO, so Renfrow can stay at WR and stay healthy hopefully. At TE we have Hooper, who can be a nice under the radar pick up for us."Austin Hooper has made a career being an elite receiver between 0 and 15 yards of the LOS (career 89.7 PFF grade) Josh McDaniels love using the TE inside 10 yards, could be a career year for Hooper." Howard, Horsted and possibly Cam Sims could form a solid group behind Hooper and we can possibly add another guy during the draft. The OL is a risk for sure, but with a strong draft it could be a solid unit IMO. Kolton Miller is a fixture at LT and Elumunor looked like an average RT last year. If he can clean up his penalty issues he could be a solid RT. A full offseason at RT could be helpfull with those. The OT position should be alright with those guys and with Parker and Munford as depth. Andre James returns as a slightly below average OC, but with improved OG play he could be an average guy. Grasu is solid depth behind him, however Parham could be the OC if Andre misses significant time. Alex Bars can be an emergency OC too. Dylan Parham returns to start at LG or RG. He was a bit weak, but servicable as a rookie. A full offseason should help him take a step forward. Muti, Bars, Murray seems to be solid depth to me. As long as we come away from the draft with a day 1 starter OG we should be good IMO. Overall this offense is one good rookie OG away from being a competitive unit as long as Jimmy can stay healthy. The Defense is another story tho. That will still be a below average unit, but a strong draft class could help a lot here as well. At EDGE we have Maxx, a true star player and Jones, who should be alright as a situational player. We need another player who could rotate with Jones and be effective and depth. Jordan Willis could be the rotational piece or he could be a really good depth guy. Koonce could be ok depth. If we can get a good rookie, who fits the scheme and can help in year 1 that group could be alright. At IDL we have bigger issues. At NT we have Farrell and Jenkins, which is not a bad pair if Farrell can take the next step. After last years draft most of us liked his pick up and many of us envisioned him being NT1 by 2023 September. That is still in play and could be a solid option. His rookie year was quiet, but generally speaking DTs usually have quiet rookie campaings, especially true with a complex D, like ours. At UT we have bodies and some potential. Most probably we will add more potential via draft and then they will try to use a heavy rotation which is PGs preferred way anyway. Most probably our IDL group will still be below average, but the depth of this unit could help out PG. At LB we are pretty empty and we are taking a pretty big risk IMO. Spillane comes in and try to replace Perryman as the MLB, the thumper. Somewhat of a risky move, but could be a solid one with a little luck. Diablo seems to be the favorite for the other LB spot and while he is young, will return for a 2nd year in the system, still this could be an issue. We will rarely use 3LBs, but we definately need a rookie to come in and be able to give Diablo a run for his money as the cover LB. If we can get a steady rookie, then we should have alright depth with Masterson, Bolton, Butler and some rookies in TC. We need to hit that LB draft pick, but with so many picks we can move up in the 2nd or in the 3rd if we want to, so it is not mission impossible. At CB we seem to have a good bunch, which needs a true #1. Could we draft one early? Yeah I can see that move. Could we sign back a guy like Rock Ya-Sin? Yeah I can see that too. Could we sign him back and still draft an outside guy relatively early? Why not? Yeah we can do that... At S we seems to be set with Moehrig and Epps as the starters and then we have a deep group behind them too. Pola-Mao, Johnson, Teamer and Elliott is not a bad group before the draft IMO. I know some are sceptical with Epps, but I think he will be a steady starter for us. I have my questionmarks with Moehrig, however he is a talented guy, a consensus early draft pick, who already showed flashes in the NFL, who probably just needs a little more time in the scheme to look comfortable. Another offseason in it, should help. I think the fact that they only brought in Epps, who has clearly a different skill set, shows that the staff likes Moehrig as a starter. Could we still draft another S to increase the battle at camp? Yeah we can do that. We can also bring back Duron Harmon if Epps or Moehrig looks lost during OTAs and/or during the draft we can't get a quality S. I know it is pretty easy to **** on anything that the FO does, but I think we should just take a chill pill and be patient. We can get mad after the draft when we still have glaring holes . With a strong draft this could be the deepest and more balanced team we had in quite a while. Last year DZ&Co hit on Parham and Munford on the OL. The trio of White, Farrell and Butler is still unknown, but could be solid pieces. The Brown pick seems to be the only wasted pick so far and even he has still a chance to prove me wrong here, since he never got a chance last year. I'm much more optimistic about this upcoming draft then I was before any Grudock or McKenzie draft. I sure could be wrong here and DZ can easily f×ck up this whole draft, but something tells me that he will nail it and we will have a competitive and young team come September. Then still JMD would have to show he can coach, still PG would have to show that he can coach, still Jimmy would need to stay healthy, etc., but the situation right now is not that bad IMO and this constant negativity around here is somewhat surprising. I think this place was more positive during those brutal, unlogical and harmfull Gruden year. Just because he was a cool Raiders coach before? Because he was Chucky? I don't get it... I forgot all about Palo-Mao. He’s an intriguing prospect who played well in limited action last year. We could see 3 safeties / 2 linebackers sets next season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 2 hours ago, big_palooka said: Nice post @Rolni The depth looks good. Lot of quality role players. Thin in some areas (LB especially). The issues is and has been having a lack of franchise talent from striking out in the draft for years. FA is fun and all, but true star, franchise level guys rarely reach free agency. If you want those guys, you either draft them (Jacobs, Crosby) or trade for them (Adams). Downside of the trade, you generally have to pay them. Until the Raiders draft franchise type players that fit the scheme and culture the team will struggle. You can't fix it in FA with more role playing talents. You have to have the franchise level guys to plug the role players around. Otherwise, you end up with a Littleton situation. Overpaying a role player on a good defense and expecting him to be the star LB on your bad defense. It’s crazy how you’re willing to move the goalposts to support the new regime. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humble_Beast Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 30 minutes ago, bucksavage1 said: I forgot all about Palo-Mao. He’s an intriguing prospect who played well in limited action last year. We could see 3 safeties / 2 linebackers sets next season That’s the trend In the NFL: 3 safety look. It’s a copycat league. I’m interested if Gabers, Webb, Malo, Masterson, Butler can develop. I think they are decennt depth. Making a jump would be amazing for the team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big_palooka Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 1 hour ago, NYRaider said: It’s crazy how you’re willing to move the goalposts to support the new regime. I've always supported building through the draft dating back to Reggie becoming the first GM post Al Davis. My favorite model franchise has been the Ravens. Draft well, develop well, work the compensatory pick system and rarely sign FAs. I'm giving this regime support because I support their approach. And I've not seen what they can do in the draft with their early picks yet. I was done with the Gruden/Mayock era the second they started reaching on obvious busts. If DZ screws up this draft, then my sentiment will shift. I am optimistic they will crush this draft. He told everyone he wants to build a roster through the draft, so let him. I am not going to sit here and bash them for not spending big FA money when they told us that's not the plan. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpaulthe1st Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 6 hours ago, Rolni said: I think they made a mistake last year, when they arrived. They thought that they can be competitive with DC and that roster if they add D.Adams and C.Jones. I think they thought that they will be able to get a lot more out of the roster then Gruden and Co could. They were a bit cocky in that regard. During the season they realized that they misjudged Carr and the roster. They realized that they need a new QB and they need to rebuild the roster. What we see now is the rebuild and not a flashy one. If you check the roster this team starts to be pretty deep in most positions. We are still short in quality starters, especially in the Defense, but our overall depth is a lot better then anytime lately. We have a solid veteran guy at QB for a lot less then DC and we have a chance to add a young gun via draft. Check the skill positions...RB, WR and TE rooms are pretty stacked. At RB we have a star player, we have a capable veteran 3rd down guy, we have a bunch of young guys with some potential. At WR we have maybe the deepest and possibly one of the best groups in the NFL. Proven star #1 in Adams and then we have Meyers and Renfrow to form a possibly great 1-3. Then there will be a great battle for those 2, maybe 3 spots. We have 8 guys for that before the draft and Dorsett, Carter, Cole we have some young veterans in the mix too. In Carter (and maybe Turner) we have our returner(s) IMO, so Renfrow can stay at WR and stay healthy hopefully. At TE we have Hooper, who can be a nice under the radar pick up for us."Austin Hooper has made a career being an elite receiver between 0 and 15 yards of the LOS (career 89.7 PFF grade) Josh McDaniels love using the TE inside 10 yards, could be a career year for Hooper." Howard, Horsted and possibly Cam Sims could form a solid group behind Hooper and we can possibly add another guy during the draft. The OL is a risk for sure, but with a strong draft it could be a solid unit IMO. Kolton Miller is a fixture at LT and Elumunor looked like an average RT last year. If he can clean up his penalty issues he could be a solid RT. A full offseason at RT could be helpfull with those. The OT position should be alright with those guys and with Parker and Munford as depth. Andre James returns as a slightly below average OC, but with improved OG play he could be an average guy. Grasu is solid depth behind him, however Parham could be the OC if Andre misses significant time. Alex Bars can be an emergency OC too. Dylan Parham returns to start at LG or RG. He was a bit weak, but servicable as a rookie. A full offseason should help him take a step forward. Muti, Bars, Murray seems to be solid depth to me. As long as we come away from the draft with a day 1 starter OG we should be good IMO. Overall this offense is one good rookie OG away from being a competitive unit as long as Jimmy can stay healthy. The Defense is another story tho. That will still be a below average unit, but a strong draft class could help a lot here as well. At EDGE we have Maxx, a true star player and Jones, who should be alright as a situational player. We need another player who could rotate with Jones and be effective and depth. Jordan Willis could be the rotational piece or he could be a really good depth guy. Koonce could be ok depth. If we can get a good rookie, who fits the scheme and can help in year 1 that group could be alright. At IDL we have bigger issues. At NT we have Farrell and Jenkins, which is not a bad pair if Farrell can take the next step. After last years draft most of us liked his pick up and many of us envisioned him being NT1 by 2023 September. That is still in play and could be a solid option. His rookie year was quiet, but generally speaking DTs usually have quiet rookie campaings, especially true with a complex D, like ours. At UT we have bodies and some potential. Most probably we will add more potential via draft and then they will try to use a heavy rotation which is PGs preferred way anyway. Most probably our IDL group will still be below average, but the depth of this unit could help out PG. At LB we are pretty empty and we are taking a pretty big risk IMO. Spillane comes in and try to replace Perryman as the MLB, the thumper. Somewhat of a risky move, but could be a solid one with a little luck. Diablo seems to be the favorite for the other LB spot and while he is young, will return for a 2nd year in the system, still this could be an issue. We will rarely use 3LBs, but we definately need a rookie to come in and be able to give Diablo a run for his money as the cover LB. If we can get a steady rookie, then we should have alright depth with Masterson, Bolton, Butler and some rookies in TC. We need to hit that LB draft pick, but with so many picks we can move up in the 2nd or in the 3rd if we want to, so it is not mission impossible. At CB we seem to have a good bunch, which needs a true #1. Could we draft one early? Yeah I can see that move. Could we sign back a guy like Rock Ya-Sin? Yeah I can see that too. Could we sign him back and still draft an outside guy relatively early? Why not? Yeah we can do that... At S we seems to be set with Moehrig and Epps as the starters and then we have a deep group behind them too. Pola-Mao, Johnson, Teamer and Elliott is not a bad group before the draft IMO. I know some are sceptical with Epps, but I think he will be a steady starter for us. I have my questionmarks with Moehrig, however he is a talented guy, a consensus early draft pick, who already showed flashes in the NFL, who probably just needs a little more time in the scheme to look comfortable. Another offseason in it, should help. I think the fact that they only brought in Epps, who has clearly a different skill set, shows that the staff likes Moehrig as a starter. Could we still draft another S to increase the battle at camp? Yeah we can do that. We can also bring back Duron Harmon if Epps or Moehrig looks lost during OTAs and/or during the draft we can't get a quality S. I know it is pretty easy to **** on anything that the FO does, but I think we should just take a chill pill and be patient. We can get mad after the draft when we still have glaring holes . With a strong draft this could be the deepest and more balanced team we had in quite a while. Last year DZ&Co hit on Parham and Munford on the OL. The trio of White, Farrell and Butler is still unknown, but could be solid pieces. The Brown pick seems to be the only wasted pick so far and even he has still a chance to prove me wrong here, since he never got a chance last year. I'm much more optimistic about this upcoming draft then I was before any Grudock or McKenzie draft. I sure could be wrong here and DZ can easily f×ck up this whole draft, but something tells me that he will nail it and we will have a competitive and young team come September. Then still JMD would have to show he can coach, still PG would have to show that he can coach, still Jimmy would need to stay healthy, etc., but the situation right now is not that bad IMO and this constant negativity around here is somewhat surprising. I think this place was more positive during those brutal, unlogical and harmfull Gruden year. Just because he was a cool Raiders coach before? Because he was Chucky? I don't get it... Very thoughtful and helpful write up. Thanks for the investment of time to share your thoughts and to counter the unrelenting and extremely negative sentiment espoused by the vocal few. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaidersAreOne Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 4 minutes ago, big_palooka said: I am not going to sit here and bash them for not spending big FA money when they told us that's not the plan. Nor should it be. Tons of free agency periods were fun as Raider fans, bringing in big named players to huge contracts. Celebrating our needs are filled for the next 3-5 years. How often did those splash signings ever truly benefit us? I get it. This FA group lacks star power and we haven't addressed a lot of our needs, primarily on D. But I too am not ready to axe our FO. The draft as you said is the most vital component to building a winning team. We owe it to Ziegler to give him an actual chance at a draft loaded with picks. Breath people, breath. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 10 minutes ago, big_palooka said: I've always supported building through the draft dating back to Reggie becoming the first GM post Al Davis. My favorite model franchise has been the Ravens. Draft well, develop well, work the compensatory pick system and rarely sign FAs. I'm giving this regime support because I support their approach. And I've not seen what they can do in the draft with their early picks yet. I was done with the Gruden/Mayock era the second they started reaching on obvious busts. If DZ screws up this draft, then my sentiment will shift. I am optimistic they will crush this draft. He told everyone he wants to build a roster through the draft, so let him. I am not going to sit here and bash them for not spending big FA money when they told us that's not the plan. I was referring to you calling guys like Shelley, Long, etc good role players when you've dragged our own JAGs. Ziegler said their strategy is to fill holes through free agency two days ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrOaktown_56 Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 35 minutes ago, NYRaider said: I was referring to you calling guys like Shelley, Long, etc good role players when you've dragged our own JAGs. Ziegler said their strategy is to fill holes through free agency two days ago. I actually do like Shelley and Long. Both are young with good scheme fit and good athleticism, especially long. We will see but those were savvy moves. I'm just lamenting not spending to get a LB or DT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 6 minutes ago, MrOaktown_56 said: I actually do like Shelley and Long. Both are young with good scheme fit and good athleticism, especially long. We will see but those were savvy moves. I'm just lamenting not spending to get a LB or DT. They were both role players on bad defenses last season though. We lose guys and it's meh they're JAGs, we pick up other JAGs and it's Ziegler = GOAT. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humble_Beast Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 (edited) 7 hours ago, Rolni said: I think they made a mistake last year, when they arrived. They thought that they can be competitive with DC and that roster if they add D.Adams and C.Jones. I think they thought that they will be able to get a lot more out of the roster then Gruden and Co could. They were a bit cocky in that regard. During the season they realized that they misjudged Carr and the roster. They realized that they need a new QB and they need to rebuild the roster. What we see now is the rebuild and not a flashy one. If you check the roster this team starts to be pretty deep in most positions. We are still short in quality starters, especially in the Defense, but our overall depth is a lot better then anytime lately. We have a solid veteran guy at QB for a lot less then DC and we have a chance to add a young gun via draft. Check the skill positions...RB, WR and TE rooms are pretty stacked. At RB we have a star player, we have a capable veteran 3rd down guy, we have a bunch of young guys with some potential. At WR we have maybe the deepest and possibly one of the best groups in the NFL. Proven star #1 in Adams and then we have Meyers and Renfrow to form a possibly great 1-3. Then there will be a great battle for those 2, maybe 3 spots. We have 8 guys for that before the draft and Dorsett, Carter, Cole we have some young veterans in the mix too. In Carter (and maybe Turner) we have our returner(s) IMO, so Renfrow can stay at WR and stay healthy hopefully. At TE we have Hooper, who can be a nice under the radar pick up for us."Austin Hooper has made a career being an elite receiver between 0 and 15 yards of the LOS (career 89.7 PFF grade) Josh McDaniels love using the TE inside 10 yards, could be a career year for Hooper." Howard, Horsted and possibly Cam Sims could form a solid group behind Hooper and we can possibly add another guy during the draft. The OL is a risk for sure, but with a strong draft it could be a solid unit IMO. Kolton Miller is a fixture at LT and Elumunor looked like an average RT last year. If he can clean up his penalty issues he could be a solid RT. A full offseason at RT could be helpfull with those. The OT position should be alright with those guys and with Parker and Munford as depth. Andre James returns as a slightly below average OC, but with improved OG play he could be an average guy. Grasu is solid depth behind him, however Parham could be the OC if Andre misses significant time. Alex Bars can be an emergency OC too. Dylan Parham returns to start at LG or RG. He was a bit weak, but servicable as a rookie. A full offseason should help him take a step forward. Muti, Bars, Murray seems to be solid depth to me. As long as we come away from the draft with a day 1 starter OG we should be good IMO. Overall this offense is one good rookie OG away from being a competitive unit as long as Jimmy can stay healthy. The Defense is another story tho. That will still be a below average unit, but a strong draft class could help a lot here as well. At EDGE we have Maxx, a true star player and Jones, who should be alright as a situational player. We need another player who could rotate with Jones and be effective and depth. Jordan Willis could be the rotational piece or he could be a really good depth guy. Koonce could be ok depth. If we can get a good rookie, who fits the scheme and can help in year 1 that group could be alright. At IDL we have bigger issues. At NT we have Farrell and Jenkins, which is not a bad pair if Farrell can take the next step. After last years draft most of us liked his pick up and many of us envisioned him being NT1 by 2023 September. That is still in play and could be a solid option. His rookie year was quiet, but generally speaking DTs usually have quiet rookie campaings, especially true with a complex D, like ours. At UT we have bodies and some potential. Most probably we will add more potential via draft and then they will try to use a heavy rotation which is PGs preferred way anyway. Most probably our IDL group will still be below average, but the depth of this unit could help out PG. At LB we are pretty empty and we are taking a pretty big risk IMO. Spillane comes in and try to replace Perryman as the MLB, the thumper. Somewhat of a risky move, but could be a solid one with a little luck. Diablo seems to be the favorite for the other LB spot and while he is young, will return for a 2nd year in the system, still this could be an issue. We will rarely use 3LBs, but we definately need a rookie to come in and be able to give Diablo a run for his money as the cover LB. If we can get a steady rookie, then we should have alright depth with Masterson, Bolton, Butler and some rookies in TC. We need to hit that LB draft pick, but with so many picks we can move up in the 2nd or in the 3rd if we want to, so it is not mission impossible. At CB we seem to have a good bunch, which needs a true #1. Could we draft one early? Yeah I can see that move. Could we sign back a guy like Rock Ya-Sin? Yeah I can see that too. Could we sign him back and still draft an outside guy relatively early? Why not? Yeah we can do that... At S we seems to be set with Moehrig and Epps as the starters and then we have a deep group behind them too. Pola-Mao, Johnson, Teamer and Elliott is not a bad group before the draft IMO. I know some are sceptical with Epps, but I think he will be a steady starter for us. I have my questionmarks with Moehrig, however he is a talented guy, a consensus early draft pick, who already showed flashes in the NFL, who probably just needs a little more time in the scheme to look comfortable. Another offseason in it, should help. I think the fact that they only brought in Epps, who has clearly a different skill set, shows that the staff likes Moehrig as a starter. Could we still draft another S to increase the battle at camp? Yeah we can do that. We can also bring back Duron Harmon if Epps or Moehrig looks lost during OTAs and/or during the draft we can't get a quality S. I know it is pretty easy to **** on anything that the FO does, but I think we should just take a chill pill and be patient. We can get mad after the draft when we still have glaring holes . With a strong draft this could be the deepest and more balanced team we had in quite a while. Last year DZ&Co hit on Parham and Munford on the OL. The trio of White, Farrell and Butler is still unknown, but could be solid pieces. The Brown pick seems to be the only wasted pick so far and even he has still a chance to prove me wrong here, since he never got a chance last year. I'm much more optimistic about this upcoming draft then I was before any Grudock or McKenzie draft. I sure could be wrong here and DZ can easily f×ck up this whole draft, but something tells me that he will nail it and we will have a competitive and young team come September. Then still JMD would have to show he can coach, still PG would have to show that he can coach, still Jimmy would need to stay healthy, etc., but the situation right now is not that bad IMO and this constant negativity around here is somewhat surprising. I think this place was more positive during those brutal, unlogical and harmfull Gruden year. Just because he was a cool Raiders coach before? Because he was Chucky? I don't get it... There’s been so many questionable moves like paying Nichols, Chandler, Renfrow… We are coming off another lousy season… I do think the depth isn’t bad QB: Gabers has potential. I like him. Still could use a guy RB: Zeus a solid RB2. Abdullah a decent 3rd down back / special Teamer. Brown/McCormick have potential. WR: we brought in alot of guys to compete for 4-6 Carter, Dorsett, Sims, Johnson, Cole, Turner TE: Howard might suck.Horsted is more a TE3. We could use another guy to push Howard as TE2 T: Parker, Munford - are fine tackle depth. I like Parker a lot better as a LT2 then on the right side. G: Muti is fine depth. Could use another guy. Herron is a sleeper center: have nothing. Grassu is a practice squad player. Need someone to challenge James DE: Koonce has proved himself but has looked good in preseason. Willis a decent backup DT: Jenkins a NT2. There’s potential UT2 in Tillery/Butler LB: Masterson might be decent. Nothing else. Need depth CB: Amik, Fracyson, Hall, Long. Webb all decent backups and be competitive in camp S: Johnson is more of an end of the roster guy/special teamer. Malo has potential but has to earn it. Could use another guy for competition. over all depth isn’t bad. Plus an entire draft class and hopefully we add talented UDFAs Edited March 30, 2023 by Humble_Beast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bucksavage1 Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 28 minutes ago, jpaulthe1st said: Very thoughtful and helpful write up. Thanks for the investment of time to share your thoughts and to counter the unrelenting and extremely negative sentiment espoused by the vocal few. @Rolniagreed. Good write up.The draft is in 30 days and the season is in 5-6 month. Good work looking at the positives which I believe is a lot 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 9 minutes ago, Humble_Beast said: There’s been so many questionable moves like paying Nichols, Chandler, Renfrow… We are coming off another lousy season… I do think the depth isn’t bad QB: Gabers has potential. I like him. Still could use a guy RB: Zeus a solid RB2. Abdullah a decent 3rd down back / special Teamer. Brown/McCormick have potential. WR: we brought in alot of guys to compete for 4-6 Carter, Dorsett, Sims, Johnson, Cole, Turner TE: Howard might suck.Horsted is more a TE3. We could use another guy to push Howard as TE2 T: Parker, Munford - are fine tackle depth. I like Parker a lot better as a LT2 then on the right side. G: Muti is fine depth. Could use another guy. Herron is a sleeper center: have nothing. Grassu is a practice squad player. Need someone to challenge James DE: Koonce has proved himself but has looked good in preseason. Willis a decent backup DT: Jenkins a NT2. There’s potential UT2 in Tillery/Butler LB: Masterson might be decent. Nothing else. Need depth CB: Amik, Fracyson, Hall, Long. Webb all decent backups and be competitive in camp S: Johnson is more of an end of the roster guy/special teamer. Malo has potential but has to earn it. Could use another guy for competition. over all depth isn’t bad. Plus an entire draft class and hopefully we add talented UDFAs Garbers is a practice squad player. Muti has hardly ever played as a former 6th round pick. Koonce has barley played at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humble_Beast Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 13 minutes ago, NYRaider said: Garbers is a practice squad player. Muti has hardly ever played as a former 6th round pick. Koonce has barley played at all. -I view Gabers as more of the QB3 but i think he has potential. Still need another QB -I'm higher on Muti than most. Still need another guard - We still need another impact DE/Edge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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