jarntt
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Way too early thoughts on draft picks. If feel like sans the injuries we should be better at most spots on defense than last year and that is in part to the draft picks. I think Parsons is as advertised and possibly the best defender in the draft. I am an abashed backer of BPA and he was the guy for me. Time will tell but he may be a star and what our defense needs more than suring up weak spots is a couple of stars who are big impact, game changing players.
Osa and Bohanna also seem like good picks that should strengthen the DL and both (with Gallimore out) may start or at least play significant minutes at some point this year. Bohanna even played some 3 tech last game and showed a lot of quickness and lateral movement in the first two games for his size. Osa looks like a good early down 3 tech with the ability to play a couple of spots. Questions are can they combine with our other players to stop the run and can they get a push up the middle in the nickel.
We really need Joseph or Wright to step up. I wasn't a huge fan of either pick because both felt forced but the need was there no doubt so fingers crossed one or both can contribute year 1. Once we didn't go corner in round 1 the team seemed to have locked in on that spot in round 2 no matter who was left there or at other spots. Joseph missed a lot of time so far but doesn't look even close to a week one starter - which is fine for a rookie and not telling of what he may become. Way too early to declare what he is and hoping to see improvement from him in the next month or two. I do like that he seems aggressive. Wright has exceeded expectations and is ahead of Joseph right now IMO. Wright also has looked good on STs so good chance he is active on game day. Canady seems to be impressing in camp but he has been around enough to know we can hopefully do a little better. Lewis and Brown are JAGs. Both have done some good and some bad since they have been here. Having one or both play significant minutes isn't the worst thing in the world but is part of why our defense has stunk lately. If we cut Brown we save over $4M this year. My problem all along has been resigning our own mediocre players and not bringing in good to real good free agents and then being surprised that we aren't improving. The cap hit of these two this year is over $10M. That gets you a pretty good player. If the young guys step up Brown could be cut at some point. If they don't he is likely our week 1 starter. Diggs looks like he is getting better. I think many overrated how he played last year. He got beat a lot. But, overall, he was OK and showed his potential. Looks like from what we see and hear that he has improved even more which is what you hope for a second year player. He is our chance to have a real good corner this year and it will be huge for the team if he becomes that and I feel like he is going to either this year or next.
Cox is the guy I (and most of us) have felt was going to be one of the steals of the draft. I'm not sure he is what you want to run out there on early downs (at least not yet) and neither is Neal so that keeps Jaylon around and having a role at least for this year. His speed is already evident and he has played a lot of snaps this preseason which I think will really help him. I think he is ready for a week 1 nickel role and I think he and Neal are going to be specialty players that will fill that hybrid safety/LB role that many teams use nowadays. I think he also allows us to move Neal back to an in the box SS if things don't work out back there. With so many mobile QBs in the league today and so many teams running those jet sweeps, playing guys like him can be a huge asset for a defense.
Gholston looks like an IR stash at this point so no idea what he is and the CB/safety has shown a little bit and I'm intrigued by him. I hope he is a good STs guy because I'd like to see him stick around. PS at worst for him. Ball looks like an IR guy and Fehoko I'm not sure. PS at worst but I don't know if he can make the roster unless the team really loves his STs ability more than some other guys. I guess if Brown is cut he could be that blocking WR but I don't think he has a role if Brown is on the roster. I haven't seen the speed he is supposed to have and something looks off when I watch him. Can't judge him on a dozen plays though.
Osa and Bohanna also seem like good picks that should strengthen the DL and both (with Gallimore out) may start or at least play significant minutes at some point this year. Bohanna even played some 3 tech last game and showed a lot of quickness and lateral movement in the first two games for his size. Osa looks like a good early down 3 tech with the ability to play a couple of spots. Questions are can they combine with our other players to stop the run and can they get a push up the middle in the nickel.
We really need Joseph or Wright to step up. I wasn't a huge fan of either pick because both felt forced but the need was there no doubt so fingers crossed one or both can contribute year 1. Once we didn't go corner in round 1 the team seemed to have locked in on that spot in round 2 no matter who was left there or at other spots. Joseph missed a lot of time so far but doesn't look even close to a week one starter - which is fine for a rookie and not telling of what he may become. Way too early to declare what he is and hoping to see improvement from him in the next month or two. I do like that he seems aggressive. Wright has exceeded expectations and is ahead of Joseph right now IMO. Wright also has looked good on STs so good chance he is active on game day. Canady seems to be impressing in camp but he has been around enough to know we can hopefully do a little better. Lewis and Brown are JAGs. Both have done some good and some bad since they have been here. Having one or both play significant minutes isn't the worst thing in the world but is part of why our defense has stunk lately. If we cut Brown we save over $4M this year. My problem all along has been resigning our own mediocre players and not bringing in good to real good free agents and then being surprised that we aren't improving. The cap hit of these two this year is over $10M. That gets you a pretty good player. If the young guys step up Brown could be cut at some point. If they don't he is likely our week 1 starter. Diggs looks like he is getting better. I think many overrated how he played last year. He got beat a lot. But, overall, he was OK and showed his potential. Looks like from what we see and hear that he has improved even more which is what you hope for a second year player. He is our chance to have a real good corner this year and it will be huge for the team if he becomes that and I feel like he is going to either this year or next.
Cox is the guy I (and most of us) have felt was going to be one of the steals of the draft. I'm not sure he is what you want to run out there on early downs (at least not yet) and neither is Neal so that keeps Jaylon around and having a role at least for this year. His speed is already evident and he has played a lot of snaps this preseason which I think will really help him. I think he is ready for a week 1 nickel role and I think he and Neal are going to be specialty players that will fill that hybrid safety/LB role that many teams use nowadays. I think he also allows us to move Neal back to an in the box SS if things don't work out back there. With so many mobile QBs in the league today and so many teams running those jet sweeps, playing guys like him can be a huge asset for a defense.
Gholston looks like an IR stash at this point so no idea what he is and the CB/safety has shown a little bit and I'm intrigued by him. I hope he is a good STs guy because I'd like to see him stick around. PS at worst for him. Ball looks like an IR guy and Fehoko I'm not sure. PS at worst but I don't know if he can make the roster unless the team really loves his STs ability more than some other guys. I guess if Brown is cut he could be that blocking WR but I don't think he has a role if Brown is on the roster. I haven't seen the speed he is supposed to have and something looks off when I watch him. Can't judge him on a dozen plays though.
, but alas, he'll likely (at least for the beginning of the year) play a lot on run downs. It'll be Micah, LVE and Jaylon in our base I think. Cox and Neal really aren't likely to be early down LBs here. They can play it, but it won't be their strength and I think the team is going to try and play to the strengths of the players. I guess as often as we play the nickel when teams go 3+ wide, maybe he won't really get on the field much though because I don't think he'll play at all when we are in a 2 LB set.
