One of the themes in this thread is the idea that no new faces means no improvement.
I think that's a false assumption. And here's another false assumption:
Adding more, better talent guarantees improvement.
Since they arrived, Fisher and Snead have been steadily improving our talent level.
And each year--until this one--Ram fans have drawn the conclusion that adding players X, Y, and Z will turn us around.
It hasn't happened because improving personnel is only 1 piece of a complex puzzle. Every year, in all sports, teams add and subtract players, often in failed attempts to improve a squad. Sometimes, it's because a player who throve in a different system can't thrive in this one. Sometimes, it's because that guy's particular talent package really isn't what the team needed. Sometimes, of course, it's injury.
But often, it's a matter of team discipline. Suppose you add a run-stopping LB to a defense that can't stop the run. And suppose the guy really is good at it. Yet the guy might make little impact because of how he is used, because the rest of the defense is misused, because the coaches don't prepare the unit to play, etc.
We have seen our immensely talented defense play like dominant giants one game and like morons the next. Same talent. Completely different results.
Now, obviously, you need talent to win. A team with marginal players or lacking in play makers, can only go so far. Improving a team's talent level raises its potential ceiling.
But getting to that ceiling is a completely different matter. And this works both ways. Adding real talent guarantees nothing. But not adding talent also does not determine decline.
Look. Brian Quick is what he will always be. Not much. But, retaining him on the team does not guarantee failure. We've actually seen him be productive, albeit with a fragile competitive ego.
Yet, even if he doe no more than what he has done, there is STILL an opportunity for passing improvement. Improved OL play. QB stability. Improved rookie talent in Higbee, Spruce, and, perhaps, Cooper. An OC who does seem to be a bit more creative in calling integrated plays. (Remember Marshall in PS G1 or 2 talking about play sequences that played well in stressing the defense?)
Now, that's not a guarantee of improvement. We may suck again in the passing game, and, with Keenum out there, I can't us improving by more than a few notches.
I am saying that, positively or negatively, the addition or subtraction of talent does not necessarily determine achievement. It's important to raise a team's talent level. But ultimately, it will be more about what the coaches do with the talent and how much the team comes together to play with coherence and discipline. Football is the ultimate team game, and team trumps talent.