Simpleton
DCC 4Life
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2013
- Messages
- 19,066
We all know the situation with Dak, good but not great QB, overpaid but plenty good enough to get us in the playoffs as a high seed, but he's never going to elevate a flawed team by himself to a Super Bowl run. With all that said, we have two very special players in Lamb and Parsons who are top 3ish in the league at their respective positions and both likely future HOF'ers, health willing.
Lamb finished the season 9th in the league in receiving yards despite missing the last two games and playing half a season with a backup QB.
Parsons finished tied for 5th in the league in sacks in 13 damn games, and after spending about half the season down big, which means not many great clear pass-rushing situations to take advantage of. I think we led the league in sacks from the Eagles game onward when Parsons returned, and near the top in turnovers forced. This is regardless of personnel changes, injuries, the offense often sputtering, switching from Quinn to Zimmer, so on and so forth.
For me the focus of the offseason has to be finding "force multipliers" to accelerate the impact these two have, which is probably our best chance at making a Super Bowl run if things miraculously fall in place. We all know that's not happening in FA, at least not external FA, although I think a key part of supporting Parsons is bringing back a handful of the defensive FA's (Osa, Golston, etc.). So we're basically left with looking towards the draft for these additions:
Lamb - Like many have said, we need another playmaker on offense who changes the fact that the gameplan for most opposing defense is "Stop Lamb", and roll the dice with the rest. That needs to change ASAP, whether it's more explosiveness at RB, WR or even TE. It doesn't necessarily mean we need upgrades at 2-3 of those positions, but we need to find at least one potential gamebreaker at one of those positions. I don't really see how we can do that at WR or TE outside of the 1st (McMillan or Warren), although I think we could get a RB outside of the 1st who fits the bill (Hampton, Johnson, Sampson, etc.).
Parsons - The focus needs to be on adding either another pass-rusher (interior or edge) or another massive NT who can shut down the run and make Parsons' life easier by forcing teams into obvious passing situations. Obviously there will be guys available in the 1st who fit the bill, but I think there is depth through the 2nd and maybe even 3rd on the front 7. You should have interior guys like Tyleik Williams, Deone Walker, Shemar Turner, TJ Sanders and Norman-Lott on the interior, and guys like Ezeiruaku, Kennard, Josaiah Stewart and Landon Jackson on the edge dropping to at least the 2nd, and maybe even the 3rd with a few of them.
So what I'm getting at here is unless there's a clear and obvious BPA Lamb-like situation, this better be the focus in the first 2-3 rounds. Given our current roster I don't consider an OL in the first or someone like Starks much of a force multiplier, although I would consider going OL or DB in the 2nd or 3rd.
Lamb finished the season 9th in the league in receiving yards despite missing the last two games and playing half a season with a backup QB.
Parsons finished tied for 5th in the league in sacks in 13 damn games, and after spending about half the season down big, which means not many great clear pass-rushing situations to take advantage of. I think we led the league in sacks from the Eagles game onward when Parsons returned, and near the top in turnovers forced. This is regardless of personnel changes, injuries, the offense often sputtering, switching from Quinn to Zimmer, so on and so forth.
For me the focus of the offseason has to be finding "force multipliers" to accelerate the impact these two have, which is probably our best chance at making a Super Bowl run if things miraculously fall in place. We all know that's not happening in FA, at least not external FA, although I think a key part of supporting Parsons is bringing back a handful of the defensive FA's (Osa, Golston, etc.). So we're basically left with looking towards the draft for these additions:
Lamb - Like many have said, we need another playmaker on offense who changes the fact that the gameplan for most opposing defense is "Stop Lamb", and roll the dice with the rest. That needs to change ASAP, whether it's more explosiveness at RB, WR or even TE. It doesn't necessarily mean we need upgrades at 2-3 of those positions, but we need to find at least one potential gamebreaker at one of those positions. I don't really see how we can do that at WR or TE outside of the 1st (McMillan or Warren), although I think we could get a RB outside of the 1st who fits the bill (Hampton, Johnson, Sampson, etc.).
Parsons - The focus needs to be on adding either another pass-rusher (interior or edge) or another massive NT who can shut down the run and make Parsons' life easier by forcing teams into obvious passing situations. Obviously there will be guys available in the 1st who fit the bill, but I think there is depth through the 2nd and maybe even 3rd on the front 7. You should have interior guys like Tyleik Williams, Deone Walker, Shemar Turner, TJ Sanders and Norman-Lott on the interior, and guys like Ezeiruaku, Kennard, Josaiah Stewart and Landon Jackson on the edge dropping to at least the 2nd, and maybe even the 3rd with a few of them.
So what I'm getting at here is unless there's a clear and obvious BPA Lamb-like situation, this better be the focus in the first 2-3 rounds. Given our current roster I don't consider an OL in the first or someone like Starks much of a force multiplier, although I would consider going OL or DB in the 2nd or 3rd.
