State Of The Team

[Cardsfaninlouky]

we already have cap space to do that have for weeks.

I know we do, Kennard will free up even more though.

 

[QuebecCard]

I know we do, Kennard will free up even more though.

Golden is weak against the run; Kennard isn't.

If not Kennard, who is your primary backup OLB?

 

[BritCard]

I heard that Michell and Hurst might be available because of NE and Atlanta’s draft. Might be a good idea to use the extra comp picks to get them.

The more I think about it the more I think the Falcon's keep Hurst unless they get a great offer like the 2nd round pick they gave up for him.

Arthur Smith played the 2nd most 12 personnel in the league last year so there's going to be a bunch of 2 TE formations.

 

[Nate]

The more I think about it the more I think the Falcon's keep Hurst unless they get a great offer like the 2nd round pick they gave up for him.

Arthur Smith played the 2nd most 12 personnel in the league last year so there's going to be a bunch of 2 TE formations.

This. He has high Play action ratio as well, which works well with double TE sets where the TEs are good ball catchers.

 

[Chopper0080]

True, except in the last five years they’ve all either made the playoffs multiple times or the super bowl with many of their core pieces and we have . . . not.

And that is fair. I would argue that Seattle has lost more than it has added and it was a fringe team last year. Rams have lost talent but upgraded at QB. IF they can keep Stafford upright I feel it is fair to consider them the front runner. SF has lived and died by Jimmy's health. We have struggled due to limited coaching (or execution) and talent. We have upgraded the talent and now we get to see if it was the players or the coaches.

 

[Chopper0080]

You're undoubtedly right about the Seahawks corners. They also have enough general calamity that I think we're worth considering as the better team. However, their offense and coaching is enough to give them a bit of an edge. The Rams and 49ers have better situations though, and Murphy isn't a starter. A team can neutralize him by not playing a 3rd WR.

I haven't discounted CJ personally, but if we want to compare him and Bosa, there's nearly 10 years in age to consider.

DHop's my guy, but Kliff has been scheming him into weird decoy routes, so it doesn't matter who is covering him sometimes. The issue is, DK Metcalf has Tyler Lockett on the other side/slot. The 49ers have tons of speed and talent in Aiyuk and Samuel. We've got Hop and a kid who has barely played in two years that needs my help to reach the top shelf at the grocery store. Woods and Kupp are slower, so I think we can match up, but I hate the rest of it.

I like Green, but don't expect he'll replace both Fitz and Dan Arnold's level of productivity.

Watt's great... and also chronically unhealthy. The instant he spends a prolonged amount of time on the bench hurt, literally any football player is better. It would be a surprise if he played every game, and that's why it's hard to count on him.

You say this but the Rams best personnel groupings is 11 personnel. Rams chose to let Everett go and add another WR behind Van Jefferson.

The 49ers best group is 12 personnel but they will alternate between 12 and 11 personnel to use JuiceCheck and Sanu over 2nd TE Charlie Woerner.

And, I am not counting on Alford for anything other than the IR so ultimately, Murphy will start IMO.

Regarding WR, I agree that we have the best and then the 8th best WR in our conference right now. That isn't so different than what the Rams have in the secondary on defense though.

Again, I understand if people believe coaching will hold this team back. I understand if people don't believe Kyler can elevate AJ Green, Kirk, and Moore to be above average offensive weapons. I can understand if people don't believe we added enough players this offseason or that our roster is a house of cards waiting to fall due to age. All valid concerns. But the other stuff just feels like people are frustrated because we don't have top 16 talent at every position on the field and then a top 32 guy backing them up.

 

[football karma]

some perspective: the Cards arent alone in terms of what goes to DHop vs the rest of the WR corps

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[Cardsfaninlouky]

Golden is weak against the run; Kennard isn't.

If not Kennard, who is your primary backup OLB?

The outside one just drafted from Duke. He'll give us as much as Kennard & maybe more? The staff really likes him.

 

[juza76]

The outside one just drafted from Duke. He'll give us as much as Kennard & maybe more? The staff really likes him.

I guess they liked every picks they made

 

[Garthshort]

louky, I usually agree with most of your posts. And while I can't say you're wrong, but to compare the Duke guy (forgot how to spell his name) to Kennard is just a guess by you and our staff. I hope you both are correct, but I also root for Kennard like I rooted for his father. Time will tell and I hope the team waits until after rookie camp to make a move. And that includes:
1. Cost saving cuts.
2. CB
3. RB
4. TE
Hope we then have a more informed appraisal of where we stand.

 

[QuebecCard]

The outside one just drafted from Duke. He'll give us as much as Kennard & maybe more? The staff really likes him.

I'm not going to trust the job at this point to someone you can't name.

After this season, he (Victor Dimukeje) could be the answer.

 

[Chopper0080]

I know we do, Kennard will free up even more though.

I can't see one valid reason to cut Kennard at this point in time.

 

[football karma]

bearish case for each NFL West opponent:

SEA: a suspect defense looks worse rather than better. The offensive coordinator changed, and, it is his first year being an OC. SEA is a pretty avg. offense yardage wise -- 17th overall. They are 8th in points as a result of a top 5 redzone TD 5. Curious to see if this is sustainable or regresses to league average. Big picture: in a league where the gravitational pull is to 8-8: SEA statistically didn't look like a 12 win team and were 8-3 in one score games. I think they regress in terms of win total.

SF: Worst QB in the division, and now one with a bullseye on his back. D Coordinator and key assistants left. For the Cards worries about injury prone players, SF is dealing with the same risk for their best players: Garrapolo, Bosa, Samuel, Verrett, etc.

LAR: lost the defensive coordinator and key pieces of that staff, offensive pass and run game coordinator They had net personnel losses and are questionable at safety and inside linebackers. Overall defensive rankings tend to be the least consistent from year to year, and given their No. 1 rankings in yards and points, there is only one direction to move. The biggest question mark for them: Stafford. Is he a really good qb held back by a bad team, or, a QB who puts up empty numbers and was part of the problem? The Lions were 20th in points and yards last year with: Golliday and Marvin Jones at WR. A first round TE. DeAndre Swift at RB. A good set of tackles, and a very good center. What gives?

 

[Gandhi]

Offense-I'm very high on our OL, primarily because of the Hudson addition, and think that it will help us improve both running and passing. When the experts evaluate our running game all they seem to talk about are the guys running the ball and not the guys blocking. And, this will naturally help the passing game, but here I'm most excited by the two additions (Green/Moore). Sort of giddy by the thought of Rondale on jet sweeps, or on a fake, with him going one way and Kyler keeping it and going the other. Drake might be a better runner than Conner, but I have a feeling that Conner is better at 3rd and short.

Great post, Garth! Thank you.

I agree on the offensive line. I think that the center-position is generally underrated and that a very good center can lift the overall level on the offensive line tremendously. Do you have concern about the right side, both guard and tackle?

See you on Hard Knocks.

Do you think they will be on Hard Knocks?

 

[BigRedRage]

some perspective: the Cards arent alone in terms of what goes to DHop vs the rest of the WR corps

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For example though, the talent disparity from #1 and #2 in seattle is razor thin vs in AZ where it was a wide gap.

 

[BritCard]

I think there's too much certainty that Green is cooked.

There was a time people said the same about Larry and he went on to play several more quality years.

Injury is more a concern that level of play for me.

 

[football karma]

For example though, the talent disparity from #1 and #2 in seattle is razor thin vs in AZ where it was a wide gap.

yes

two takeaways:

three of the high concentration teams went to the playoffs. It says you can get there even with high concentration

while the dependence on DHop makes us fret, the Cards arent alone and not even the worst.

 

[Garthshort]

Gandhi, JMO, but at RG (Murray/Winters) and at RT (Beachum/Jones) should be okay. They weren't bad last year and the addition of Winters, plus the extra year's experience for Jones should make them better. And most posters on this board seem to think highly of the OL coach.

 

[DVontel]

I think there's too much certainty that Green is cooked.

There was a time people said the same about Larry and he went on to play several more quality years.

Injury is more a concern that level of play for me.

If they said this back in 2018 then they were right.

 

[Garthshort]

Will we have a rookie camp?

 

[Krangodnzr]

I think there's too much certainty that Green is cooked.

There was a time people said the same about Larry and he went on to play several more quality years.

Injury is more a concern that level of play for me.

I think so as well.

My floor for Green in my view is higher than Fitzgeralds ceiling...plus he will do that as an outside receiver.

What happens if he is even 80% of the player he once was? Fireworks.

 

[QuebecCard]

I think there's too much certainty that Green is cooked.

There was a time people said the same about Larry and he went on to play several more quality years.

Injury is more a concern that level of play for me.

At Geen's age Fitz caught a hundred balls.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

bearish case for each NFL West opponent:

SEA: a suspect defense looks worse rather than better. The offensive coordinator changed, and, it is his first year being an OC. SEA is a pretty avg. offense yardage wise -- 17th overall. They are 8th in points as a result of a top 5 redzone TD 5. Curious to see if this is sustainable or regresses to league average. Big picture: in a league where the gravitational pull is to 8-8: SEA statistically didn't look like a 12 win team and were 8-3 in one score games. I think they regress in terms of win total.

SF: Worst QB in the division, and now one with a bullseye on his back. D Coordinator and key assistants left. For the Cards worries about injury prone players, SF is dealing with the same risk for their best players: Garrapolo, Bosa, Samuel, Verrett, etc.

LAR: lost the defensive coordinator and key pieces of that staff, offensive pass and run game coordinator They had net personnel losses and are questionable at safety and inside linebackers. Overall defensive rankings tend to be the least consistent from year to year, and given their No. 1 rankings in yards and points, there is only one direction to move. The biggest question mark for them: Stafford. Is he a really good qb held back by a bad team, or, a QB who puts up empty numbers and was part of the problem? The Lions were 20th in points and yards last year with: Golliday and Marvin Jones at WR. A first round TE. DeAndre Swift at RB. A good set of tackles, and a very good center. What gives?

Just on the Rams a couple of nits:

yeah the ranking can go down from #1 on defense, but statistically it can improve. I’m pretty sure they didn’t up zero yards and zero points. So “only direction . . . “ comment is meaningless.

golladay played portions of four games. That 20th ranking of the lions is also meaningless.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I think there's too much certainty that Green is cooked.

There was a time people said the same about Larry and he went on to play several more quality years.

Injury is more a concern that level of play for me.

Which two years of Larry’s were missed entire season followed by worst statistical year of his career in his 30s?

 

[Krangodnzr]

You're undoubtedly right about the Seahawks corners. They also have enough general calamity that I think we're worth considering as the better team. However, their offense and coaching is enough to give them a bit of an edge. The Rams and 49ers have better situations though, and Murphy isn't a starter. A team can neutralize him by not playing a 3rd WR.

The Seahawks, even with adding a Gabe Jackson who appears to be on the decline, still can't run the ball the way they used to and pass block for Wilson. They also spent a buttload of money on Jamal Adams, who gives up like a 130 QB rating. They are likely moving on from KJ Wright who has been one of the best backers in the league for sometime...and if you look at their current trends, they haven't exactly been successful replacing all of the studs they drafted early in the Carroll era.

I haven't discounted CJ personally, but if we want to compare him and Bosa, there's nearly 10 years in age to consider.

And Bosa has had a BUTTLOAD of injuries over his very short football career. There was a reason that Murray was a slam-dunk pick....1) Because he was a good QB and significantly better player than Rosen 2) Bosa has a totally real injury history that is concerning. The kid has had like 5 major injuries that he has missed significant time over the past 7 years or so. I'll bank on Jones over Bosa, even considering his season ending injury and age.

DHop's my guy, but Kliff has been scheming him into weird decoy routes, so it doesn't matter who is covering him sometimes.

Outside of Ramsey, this just isn't true.

The issue is, DK Metcalf has Tyler Lockett on the other side/slot.

And an offensive line that averages like 50 sacks per year...

The 49ers have tons of speed and talent in Aiyuk and Samuel.

And Samuel is a walking MASH unit. He was injured like this in college too. And Samuel's best season is closer to AJ Green's worst season than it is to AJ Green's best season. Kittle also has gotten significant injuries, and it's a huge question mark of whether this is a new trend for Kittle. See how easy it is to start seeing OTHER teams flaws? The Niners have LOTS of injury question marks..

We've got Hop and a kid who has barely played in two years that needs my help to reach the top shelf at the grocery store. Woods and Kupp are slower, so I think we can match up, but I hate the rest of it.

So the Cardinals have a hall of fame, top 5 wide receivers and a bunch of guys who fit a role. AJ Green is the supersized, jump ball possession guy. Kirk should be moved over the slot, but can also play outside at a replacementish level. And Moore has super speed to burn.

I like Green, but don't expect he'll replace both Fitz and Dan Arnold's level of productivity.

He doesn't have to. Green, Kirk, and Moore could (and it's not a massive stretch) produce more.

Watt's great... and also chronically unhealthy. The instant he spends a prolonged amount of time on the bench hurt, literally any football player is better. It would be a surprise if he played every game, and that's why it's hard to count on him.

What's surprising about him playing a full season....he did it last year! And played over 1000 snaps!