George Siefert is out after the worst showing in nfl history, a record 15 game losing streak.
The owners opened up the checkbook for George, and he leveraged their future on numerous poor free agency decisions. So, not only did they have to boot out talent in the offseason to hit this years cap, they were unable to acquire any talent for the holes in a team which finished 30th offensively and dead last defensively.
John Fox is the new head coach, he comes over from the giants where as def. co. he had the second best defense 2 seasons ago and led them to the super duper. No NFL head coach experience though, and he's suprisingly left about half the record setting staff in place. Dan Henning, 2 time former head coach old timer will run the new offense. He's tossed the west coach offense away, instituted the shot gun, and will concentrate on power running, TE sets, and occasional downfield hail mary's. This could be too simplistic for todays game.
On the defensive side Jackie Del Rio makes his first start as defensive coordinator, and is very highly regarded.
Upgrade, as the breath of fresh air, if nothing else, motivates players.
QB.
Weinke's got himself a qb coach now, as Henning is well respected in this area. His trial by fire last year resulted in the lowest qb nfc rating, but I happen to think he's got a lot going for him. So does Henning, who passed up a couple ringer type Qbs in the draft to keep him.
Lots to work on, whether its his poor judgement with an 11/19 td/int ratio, poor downfield passing, 4.7ypp, an amazingly low #, or his accuracy at 54%. So the only way is up.
Nice sized upgrade.
RB.
Rickey Huntley didn't fit into the new power game, and has gone off to the bills. Too bad, he had some good skills. Retread Lamar Smith comes in from Mia, where he av. 3.1 ypr last year. Don't see any future in him. Biatbakatuka is history, but they have something in the fb position with return starter Brad Hoover, who came on last year, and catches well to boot.
Hope lives, in 2nd rounder Deshawn Foster from ucla, who is a MAJOR talent, unfortunately his fumbleistis is one of the worst cases ever recorded (4 in one game alone). If they can control him, he's pure money.
Condition stable 'til we see how deshawn does.
WR.
Does 4.7ypp mean the wr's are terrible, or the QB? Well, Mustin Muhommed had 102 catches 2 years ago under Buerlien, last year 50. That's an answer. He returns, but don Hayes, a guy I rate highly is off to the Pats. A couple guys fight it out to take his place, Issac Bird, last years #3 with 37 catches, but no upside and little speed, or the more likely candidate who's playing a lot with the first squad in training camp, Steve Smith.
Smith, in his 2nd year had just 10 catches last year, but made the pro bowl as a kick returner. Needless to say, he has BLAZING speed. In Hennings new scheme, he has to be the field stretcher, so watch his progress closely.
Jeffers is probably gone due to injuries. At TE Wesley Walls is back from offseason knee surgury, again, but the once former king (5 pro bowls) is 36 and slowed. Kris Magnum, no hands, will do most of the TE blocking.
A downgrade here until we see some development from Smith.
oline.
Siefert blew some big dough on this oline last year, after 2 seasons prior it had more sacks than a potato race in Idaho. They all return in tact, including key man Kevin Donally, who went down in game 6 last year with a blown out knee. In his 12th year, could be on a downslope, but still one of the best. Other highlights here are c Kieth Mitchel, stolen from the ravens after their super bowl. Top Drawer. todd Stuessie is former pro bowler for the Vikings, and huge talent. The 2 weaker links are Chris terry, who is average, and below average Jamar Nesbit. They have some depth as well, and last year part time starter Jordon may steal Nesbits spot.
This line is one of the better ones in the league, and oline coordinator Mike Mcoy, now in his 2nd year, should be able to improve their play, or get dumped right away. Last year they opened holes large enough to have a 3.9ypr average, decent considering the limited talent at rb. With Donally back, should become a serious force.
Stable at the top or even an upgrade.
dline.
Been fun watching this treadmill for the last few years, one mistake bigger than the next, whether it was the worst trade since hershel walker when they bought Sean Gilbert, or the return of Reggie White. Now they may have a new bonehead play to talk about.
Tiny Defensive end Julius Peppers, the #1 pick in the whole draft is supposed to be the new Jevon Kearse. Tiny is so small he used to play LB some at NCAR. However, he is very fast (no sh*t). There is a long highway leading out of the nfl strewn with these types.
Word last spring was he looked great in minicamps, and coaches have praised him highly recently, but with some reservation about his hands (this is a bad sign, usually coaches are singing the good song for reporters, unless they're trying to giddyup an underperfomer). Other players have said he looks lost. So noone knows for sure.
This squad gave up a very unhealthy 4.4ypr, 146yards a game last year, so what they need a tiny pass rusher for is beyond me. Oh I forgot, they only had 26 sacks, and lost repeatedly to late game big plays. Mike Rucker, the other end had nine of those sacks, so this could now potentially be a pass rush force.
In the middle however, Sean Gilbert is still there, and I don't know why (oh yeah, the cap). Just plain bad. Brenson Buckner made all the line plays, and returns. So this line is basically intact, unfortunately. However, they are not as bad as they appear, the linebackers were the big easy, which I'll get into.
condition stable, maybe upgrade, depending on Tiny.
Linebackers.
For 2 years running I've had this squad rated at the very depths of the league. Last year, when Dan Morgan arrived as a top pick, it looked like they had wised up, but Morgan battled injury all year, and then they lost Navies to inj. as well. So they plunged once again. In addition they had bad coaching. Too bad Sam Mills, lb coach, returns, but I'll give him another shot now that he has some talent, 3 years of experience, and a head coach who knows defense.
Anyway, Morgan is healed and in 2nd year so will be better, and has potential to be a big star. They also brought in Mark Fields, a longtime starter from the Saints, who then spent last year starting for the rams, and is solidly average. Hannibel Navies also returns from injury that cost him 12 games last year. He is pretty far below average but young so may mature. Lester towns gets demoted (thank you) and Brad Jackson comes in for depth. Coaches are also high on Will Witherspoon, rookie 3rd rounder.
So even though this squad is still slightly below average its a...
Big Upgrade.
Secondary
28th last year vs. the pass, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Remember the dlines 26 sacks? You can't hold those receivers for ever. Key player is s Mike Mintner, who led the team last year with 78 tackles. That's right, team leader only 78 tackles. Thats got to be some kind of record. I never like to see a safety with team high tackles but I've never seen a number like that before as top dog. The year before he had 116 tackles.
So I guess its safe to say this team needs some help in the tackling department.
Young Deion Grant is the other safety, a ball hawker who tackles poorly so....(okay geniuses) they should move him to cb, especially since they dumped their starting cb's, right? they thought about it but instead decided to spend camp begging him to hit people harder.
CB Rashad Anderson, former 1st rounder, who started quite a few as well last year, has been drug suspended for the year. So now what?
Terry Cousins comes over from mia where he played nickel back. He is solidly average and will start at cb, and thats an improvement. Then it might be Reggie Howard, who showed a lot so far in camp. Hes 3rd year.
To summerize, they have one money safety, who had a bad year last year and hopefully can come back. The other safety is a pacifist who doesn't like to hit. They pick up an average cb, and the last cb spot is a race among also rans.
So far this trouble area last year looks like an upgrade.
Stable at the bottom, possible upside.
Kicks.
Wow. A top rated squad. Saurbrun a pro bowl guy last year, major punting leg. Kick returner steve smith joined him there. Kasay although getting old, is like a rock on fg.
Conclusion:
For a study in psychological factors, last years season is a good case. This squad was so close on many occasions, but lost numerous games on big plays. If they scored 25 the other guy scored 27. If they held the other guy to 10, they scored 7. Until finally they gave up and got smoked the last 2 games.
The team was never very far out of it, and for setting a record, played teams a lot closer than other poor record squads.
With the bad blood of coach Siefert now behind them, I expect this team to beat some spreads early this year on effort alone. Many areas are upgraded, and expectations very low.
Obviously, generating a pass rush, solidifying the secondary, rebuilding the linebackers, and the improvement of Weinke are all key, but first indications are they are happening.
Most startling is the very poor tackling numbers, surely a sign of poor effort and coaching, so this team can change a lot of those close losses around just by attitude adjustment and coaching.
Expect a good preseason ats as effort will be high, and the opener vs. Baltimore could be a shocker. Unfortunately, this squad is still way short on talent, cap strapped, with unproven coaches, so there won't be any miracle turn around (that's going out on a limb
).
The owners opened up the checkbook for George, and he leveraged their future on numerous poor free agency decisions. So, not only did they have to boot out talent in the offseason to hit this years cap, they were unable to acquire any talent for the holes in a team which finished 30th offensively and dead last defensively.
John Fox is the new head coach, he comes over from the giants where as def. co. he had the second best defense 2 seasons ago and led them to the super duper. No NFL head coach experience though, and he's suprisingly left about half the record setting staff in place. Dan Henning, 2 time former head coach old timer will run the new offense. He's tossed the west coach offense away, instituted the shot gun, and will concentrate on power running, TE sets, and occasional downfield hail mary's. This could be too simplistic for todays game.
On the defensive side Jackie Del Rio makes his first start as defensive coordinator, and is very highly regarded.
Upgrade, as the breath of fresh air, if nothing else, motivates players.
QB.
Weinke's got himself a qb coach now, as Henning is well respected in this area. His trial by fire last year resulted in the lowest qb nfc rating, but I happen to think he's got a lot going for him. So does Henning, who passed up a couple ringer type Qbs in the draft to keep him.
Lots to work on, whether its his poor judgement with an 11/19 td/int ratio, poor downfield passing, 4.7ypp, an amazingly low #, or his accuracy at 54%. So the only way is up.
Nice sized upgrade.
RB.
Rickey Huntley didn't fit into the new power game, and has gone off to the bills. Too bad, he had some good skills. Retread Lamar Smith comes in from Mia, where he av. 3.1 ypr last year. Don't see any future in him. Biatbakatuka is history, but they have something in the fb position with return starter Brad Hoover, who came on last year, and catches well to boot.
Hope lives, in 2nd rounder Deshawn Foster from ucla, who is a MAJOR talent, unfortunately his fumbleistis is one of the worst cases ever recorded (4 in one game alone). If they can control him, he's pure money.
Condition stable 'til we see how deshawn does.
WR.
Does 4.7ypp mean the wr's are terrible, or the QB? Well, Mustin Muhommed had 102 catches 2 years ago under Buerlien, last year 50. That's an answer. He returns, but don Hayes, a guy I rate highly is off to the Pats. A couple guys fight it out to take his place, Issac Bird, last years #3 with 37 catches, but no upside and little speed, or the more likely candidate who's playing a lot with the first squad in training camp, Steve Smith.
Smith, in his 2nd year had just 10 catches last year, but made the pro bowl as a kick returner. Needless to say, he has BLAZING speed. In Hennings new scheme, he has to be the field stretcher, so watch his progress closely.
Jeffers is probably gone due to injuries. At TE Wesley Walls is back from offseason knee surgury, again, but the once former king (5 pro bowls) is 36 and slowed. Kris Magnum, no hands, will do most of the TE blocking.
A downgrade here until we see some development from Smith.
oline.
Siefert blew some big dough on this oline last year, after 2 seasons prior it had more sacks than a potato race in Idaho. They all return in tact, including key man Kevin Donally, who went down in game 6 last year with a blown out knee. In his 12th year, could be on a downslope, but still one of the best. Other highlights here are c Kieth Mitchel, stolen from the ravens after their super bowl. Top Drawer. todd Stuessie is former pro bowler for the Vikings, and huge talent. The 2 weaker links are Chris terry, who is average, and below average Jamar Nesbit. They have some depth as well, and last year part time starter Jordon may steal Nesbits spot.
This line is one of the better ones in the league, and oline coordinator Mike Mcoy, now in his 2nd year, should be able to improve their play, or get dumped right away. Last year they opened holes large enough to have a 3.9ypr average, decent considering the limited talent at rb. With Donally back, should become a serious force.
Stable at the top or even an upgrade.
dline.
Been fun watching this treadmill for the last few years, one mistake bigger than the next, whether it was the worst trade since hershel walker when they bought Sean Gilbert, or the return of Reggie White. Now they may have a new bonehead play to talk about.
Tiny Defensive end Julius Peppers, the #1 pick in the whole draft is supposed to be the new Jevon Kearse. Tiny is so small he used to play LB some at NCAR. However, he is very fast (no sh*t). There is a long highway leading out of the nfl strewn with these types.
Word last spring was he looked great in minicamps, and coaches have praised him highly recently, but with some reservation about his hands (this is a bad sign, usually coaches are singing the good song for reporters, unless they're trying to giddyup an underperfomer). Other players have said he looks lost. So noone knows for sure.
This squad gave up a very unhealthy 4.4ypr, 146yards a game last year, so what they need a tiny pass rusher for is beyond me. Oh I forgot, they only had 26 sacks, and lost repeatedly to late game big plays. Mike Rucker, the other end had nine of those sacks, so this could now potentially be a pass rush force.
In the middle however, Sean Gilbert is still there, and I don't know why (oh yeah, the cap). Just plain bad. Brenson Buckner made all the line plays, and returns. So this line is basically intact, unfortunately. However, they are not as bad as they appear, the linebackers were the big easy, which I'll get into.
condition stable, maybe upgrade, depending on Tiny.
Linebackers.
For 2 years running I've had this squad rated at the very depths of the league. Last year, when Dan Morgan arrived as a top pick, it looked like they had wised up, but Morgan battled injury all year, and then they lost Navies to inj. as well. So they plunged once again. In addition they had bad coaching. Too bad Sam Mills, lb coach, returns, but I'll give him another shot now that he has some talent, 3 years of experience, and a head coach who knows defense.
Anyway, Morgan is healed and in 2nd year so will be better, and has potential to be a big star. They also brought in Mark Fields, a longtime starter from the Saints, who then spent last year starting for the rams, and is solidly average. Hannibel Navies also returns from injury that cost him 12 games last year. He is pretty far below average but young so may mature. Lester towns gets demoted (thank you) and Brad Jackson comes in for depth. Coaches are also high on Will Witherspoon, rookie 3rd rounder.
So even though this squad is still slightly below average its a...
Big Upgrade.
Secondary
28th last year vs. the pass, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Remember the dlines 26 sacks? You can't hold those receivers for ever. Key player is s Mike Mintner, who led the team last year with 78 tackles. That's right, team leader only 78 tackles. Thats got to be some kind of record. I never like to see a safety with team high tackles but I've never seen a number like that before as top dog. The year before he had 116 tackles.
So I guess its safe to say this team needs some help in the tackling department.
Young Deion Grant is the other safety, a ball hawker who tackles poorly so....(okay geniuses) they should move him to cb, especially since they dumped their starting cb's, right? they thought about it but instead decided to spend camp begging him to hit people harder.
CB Rashad Anderson, former 1st rounder, who started quite a few as well last year, has been drug suspended for the year. So now what?
Terry Cousins comes over from mia where he played nickel back. He is solidly average and will start at cb, and thats an improvement. Then it might be Reggie Howard, who showed a lot so far in camp. Hes 3rd year.
To summerize, they have one money safety, who had a bad year last year and hopefully can come back. The other safety is a pacifist who doesn't like to hit. They pick up an average cb, and the last cb spot is a race among also rans.
So far this trouble area last year looks like an upgrade.
Stable at the bottom, possible upside.
Kicks.
Wow. A top rated squad. Saurbrun a pro bowl guy last year, major punting leg. Kick returner steve smith joined him there. Kasay although getting old, is like a rock on fg.
Conclusion:
For a study in psychological factors, last years season is a good case. This squad was so close on many occasions, but lost numerous games on big plays. If they scored 25 the other guy scored 27. If they held the other guy to 10, they scored 7. Until finally they gave up and got smoked the last 2 games.
The team was never very far out of it, and for setting a record, played teams a lot closer than other poor record squads.
With the bad blood of coach Siefert now behind them, I expect this team to beat some spreads early this year on effort alone. Many areas are upgraded, and expectations very low.
Obviously, generating a pass rush, solidifying the secondary, rebuilding the linebackers, and the improvement of Weinke are all key, but first indications are they are happening.
Most startling is the very poor tackling numbers, surely a sign of poor effort and coaching, so this team can change a lot of those close losses around just by attitude adjustment and coaching.
Expect a good preseason ats as effort will be high, and the opener vs. Baltimore could be a shocker. Unfortunately, this squad is still way short on talent, cap strapped, with unproven coaches, so there won't be any miracle turn around (that's going out on a limb
).