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the push the team moves back into the elite.
Don't know about anyone else, but am tired of year after year watching Thompson draft for the front 7 on defense and not getting much back on his investment.
Meanwhile found McCarthy's comments very interesting at season's end on saying his Offense works best when He has 2 big targets on Offense, whether it be at WR or TE. His comments on Thompson's lack of using free agency was also interesting and leads one to wonder if maybe this is year we see Thompson do that with Rodgers being in his prime and the window starting to close.
IMO am still old school and believe games are won in the trenches on both sides of the ball. When our O-line was healthy the team had a chance. When the injuries hit, Rodgers had no time and took way too many hits.
One thing clear to me is that there are too many holes to fill with the draft alone. So with that premise, here are 3 possible players/positions that could not only fill gaps but improve each area of the team......
DT Damon Harrison..... One of the best 3-4 DT's in league. Perfect age at 27 and will command the money, but worth it?
or maybe
DE Malik Jackson who at 27 posted 3rd best grade among all DEs. There's no way Denver is going to be able to pay and keep everyone on that defense. My only question is that on that overly talented defense, is it pure talent or because of the sum of the parts? And there is some that think Denever will find a way to keep him.
Point here is that Thompson has gone year after year investing into the D-Line and the pay offs just haven't come through. This D-Line needs another stud besides Daniels.
Sticking with the front 7, would love to grab a stud OLBer and also move Matthews back to OLBer. Peppers isn't going to last forever and his future is uncertain at this time. But OLBers worth their weight don't just get free. So go to next best option and shore up a sore spot on this team at ILBer and move Matthews back to OLB. Already early Mocks have top LBers off the board before our pick. Here are 3 possible options....
Jerrell Freeman 29. Finished the season with the 2nd best grade out of all ILBers. There might be a youth movement in Indy which might make Freeman available to test the market.
Again back to Broncos. Winning has it's price and for them it's having key defensive players all available to the market at the same time. Doubtful they will be able to keep all the pieces intact. So odds are that either Brandon Marshall or Danny Trevathan will hit the market and either would be better then anyone else we have playing at ILBer not named Matthews.
The 3rd move isn't maybe a huge impact, but depth is of some concern on this team and loss of free agents is inevitable. Some think Thompson should make a play for a big name/stud OT. But looking at the age of the players on this O-Line unit, Sitton is the oldest at 28, which means this unit is still young. This is one of the better O-Lines when healthy, but depth is of a concern, especially at LT. So maybe picking up a serviceable stop gap OT vet wouldn't be the worst idea. The worst kept secret is we know Thompson will draft an OL player every draft, but trying to count on a young developing player has had it's up downs, so picking up a vet would seem to be a wise investment if possible.
So what have done here isn't a knee jerk reaction. This team suffered through too many injuries this past season and it caught up in the end. But what is disturbing is the record of this team losing close and overtime games w/o Rodgers getting the ball in his hands because the defense can't make a stop when it counts. We're not far away......
Don't know about anyone else, but am tired of year after year watching Thompson draft for the front 7 on defense and not getting much back on his investment.
Meanwhile found McCarthy's comments very interesting at season's end on saying his Offense works best when He has 2 big targets on Offense, whether it be at WR or TE. His comments on Thompson's lack of using free agency was also interesting and leads one to wonder if maybe this is year we see Thompson do that with Rodgers being in his prime and the window starting to close.
IMO am still old school and believe games are won in the trenches on both sides of the ball. When our O-line was healthy the team had a chance. When the injuries hit, Rodgers had no time and took way too many hits.
One thing clear to me is that there are too many holes to fill with the draft alone. So with that premise, here are 3 possible players/positions that could not only fill gaps but improve each area of the team......
DT Damon Harrison..... One of the best 3-4 DT's in league. Perfect age at 27 and will command the money, but worth it?
or maybe
DE Malik Jackson who at 27 posted 3rd best grade among all DEs. There's no way Denver is going to be able to pay and keep everyone on that defense. My only question is that on that overly talented defense, is it pure talent or because of the sum of the parts? And there is some that think Denever will find a way to keep him.
Point here is that Thompson has gone year after year investing into the D-Line and the pay offs just haven't come through. This D-Line needs another stud besides Daniels.
Sticking with the front 7, would love to grab a stud OLBer and also move Matthews back to OLBer. Peppers isn't going to last forever and his future is uncertain at this time. But OLBers worth their weight don't just get free. So go to next best option and shore up a sore spot on this team at ILBer and move Matthews back to OLB. Already early Mocks have top LBers off the board before our pick. Here are 3 possible options....
Jerrell Freeman 29. Finished the season with the 2nd best grade out of all ILBers. There might be a youth movement in Indy which might make Freeman available to test the market.
Again back to Broncos. Winning has it's price and for them it's having key defensive players all available to the market at the same time. Doubtful they will be able to keep all the pieces intact. So odds are that either Brandon Marshall or Danny Trevathan will hit the market and either would be better then anyone else we have playing at ILBer not named Matthews.
The 3rd move isn't maybe a huge impact, but depth is of some concern on this team and loss of free agents is inevitable. Some think Thompson should make a play for a big name/stud OT. But looking at the age of the players on this O-Line unit, Sitton is the oldest at 28, which means this unit is still young. This is one of the better O-Lines when healthy, but depth is of a concern, especially at LT. So maybe picking up a serviceable stop gap OT vet wouldn't be the worst idea. The worst kept secret is we know Thompson will draft an OL player every draft, but trying to count on a young developing player has had it's up downs, so picking up a vet would seem to be a wise investment if possible.
So what have done here isn't a knee jerk reaction. This team suffered through too many injuries this past season and it caught up in the end. But what is disturbing is the record of this team losing close and overtime games w/o Rodgers getting the ball in his hands because the defense can't make a stop when it counts. We're not far away......
