I’ve seen fan projections all over the board from 3 to11 wins and everywhere in between.
Let’s try to set aside our recency bias after all those catastrophic injuries of ‘22, where even then they managed 5 wins.
And yeah, no question that the losses of some quality vets is gonna hurt.
But I’d like to approach this on a comparison of position groups year-to-year basis.
QB. Stafford is back and reportedly 100% healthy and Bennett is a huge upgrade at backup QB. Upgraded position.
RB. Akers closed our the ‘22 season as best RB in the league and now Evans has been added. Upgraded position.
OL. Everybody is healthy now plus Avila and McClendon added. Huge upgrade.
TE. Higbee healthy and Long and Allen have been added. 12 personnel can now be easily employed. Significant upgrade.
WR. Kupp and Jefferson now healthy. AR gone but Nacua added. Atwell and Skowronek more experienced. At least a push vs last year.
Edge. Floyd and Hollins gone, but Young, Hampton, and Mathis added plus a slightly more experienced Hoecht is back. I dunno, but I’m thinking at least a push.
DL. Gaines and ARob gone but Bobby Brown seems ready to step up plus Turner and Johnson added. Slight downgrade if only because of experience.
IOL. Wagner gone and that hurts, but Jones is no slouch. Downgrade here but let’s acknowledge that Wagner’s play had slipped a bit so it’s not a chasm at all.
CB. Ramsey gone and that’s huge. But I’m very high on this Tomlinson kid and Durant shows great promise, too. Still, it’s clearly a downgrade from last year.
S. Healthy Fuller and more experienced Yeast and Lake. Plus Taylor added. Push vs ‘22, I think.
P. Ethan Evans is an upgrade over Dixon, don’t you think?
PK. Loved Gay, but these 2 rookies sure look like capable replacements for a fraction of the price. Ever so slight downgrade and only then because of Gay’s experience.
On top of the above we have 26 udfa’s that will surely fill in some gaps and provide depth.
Last, but by no means least we have a rejuvenated McVay and his 11 new asst coaching hires, some of whom I suspect will be huge upgrades over last years editions.
So, what to conclude? I come up with 4 upgraded position groups, 3 downgraded (some only slightly), and the rest pushes.
Also, ST has a huge upgrade at P and slight downgrade at PK with a push at LS and Returner.
Best HC, QB, WR, and DL players in division and all motivated and hungry after last season? Hmmmmm…
I think I’ve talked myself into a 9 win season, y’all. And if they gel quickly, maybe even better.
Thoughts?
