So now my Predictions:
Jets: This will be a rough start of the year and prolly a better ending. They are switching all the systems and are doing it with a lot of player up heavel. OL rookies are very talented but will be prone to gaffs early in the season. The most shocking thing is that they will come into the season with both their QB, and RB coming of injuries.. it is entirely possible that chad will never be the same but early reports say he is ahead of last year as he had the surgery earlier and has had more time to re-hab. Another huge gap is their Defensive line and lb's situation with the switch to a 3-4...Overall i see them finishing third, but not challenging for the division...
No QB has ever returned to pre injury form after suffering 2 labrum injuries. Even Chad was a little down on his chances this week. He won't see the field unless they carry Patrick Ramsey off it - which is still entirely possible. And then there is the matter of Noodle's pre injury form...
Bills: This will be a very rough year. They have arguably the worst DL's and OL's in the league...and if your foundation is shaky so will your team. It apears they are preparing for some shoot-outs cause they have some speedters ar WR...Price, Evans, Davis, Parrish...Perhaps the fastest bunch in the league..and they will need to be fast cause their O-line will give up sacks! The QB situation looks like a re-run of the sureal life- The mediocre vetran, the ****y Youngster, the dimwit who thinks he's good, and the Camp arm... RB- until Willis shows he has that second gear again he will NEVER be the best back inthe league...i see the bills as bad as 2-14 and as good as 5-11....
On this we seem to basically agree. I think even Bills fans would sadly.
Fins: Lots of changes this year... In now are 2 new fomrmer head coaches but without their systems. It will be interesting to see how they adapt to calling plays they did not design...it could be good, or it could be bad. Gone is ricky so this will be a marquee yer for ronnie brown. the biggest question is can he carry the load and who will back him up. The front runner is Sammy moris with his career 4.0 carry avg followed by possibly Kay Jay Harris, or travis minor. The FB will be better used with the pick-up of Fred Beasley. TE's have been revamped considerably as mularkey has switched them from the H-back mold to the True TE mold. Justin Peele will be an excellent compliment to Randy. OL was a HUGE surprise last year..they cut their sacks down by almost 50%...all of the starters return but their is much more depth this year. Center is the biggest question mark.... Lb's are fine except sor the SLB...Saban really wants a dominant pass rush guy to take some pressure off JT on the opposite side. Unluckily yhere are only some mediocre guys with Hiodge, Spragan, and Newman- No defense will plan for any of these guys. Expect the Fins to try and pick up a LB in the suplemental Draft. Secondary is a complete different unit, but there is a lot more talent and depth this year. Gone are the PS scrubs and in come the VETS Renaldo hill, deke Copper, Will allen, Jason allen (R), and returing from injury Will poole... All the players here fit sabans mold and have talent. If they can gel they should be able to improve the pass defense that was lit up by the likes of Brooks Bollinger, Holcombe and losman... Mare was back to his old form last yeat, and Donnie Jones was a pleasant surprise as one of the best punter last year (12th in gross, 3rd in net) And the biggest gain is at QB with Daunte Culpepper and Joey Harrington. As of now it appears Daunte will play vs pittsburg. At the recent mini camp daunte was Running, scrambling, throwing, jumping on loose balls and even punting with his bad leg! This Guy is a freak of nature! no one is supposed to be able to come cack this quick from a triple ligament tear. Before the camp the general thought was Daunte may come in aound week 3...Now after doing 2 a days with no setbacks it appears he will be ready for pre-season. Add in the fact that since the fins kept Linehans system and he doesn't have to learn anything new Daunte should hopefully return to his 2004 or 2004 form...
The two HC's running their predecessor's systems is pretty telling. Linnehan couldn't wait to exit Miami, and these two will be right behind him quietly pointing the finger at Saban if they fail with one hand tied behind their backs. If you view Culpepper (let alone Joey) as anything more than a consolation prize (Saban would have much preferred Brees but the shoulder was scarier than Daunte's knee) Nick grasped for in desperation you are in full rose colored classes mode. Daunte is not a leader. He's also not a prolific talent minus a freak like Randy Moss strapping him on his back. He doesn't accept responsibility or deal well with criticism, so a rough start could derail the entire experiment. It's easy to look good in mini camp drills. Rodney probably could have too but BB never panics and takes the long view where a rehabbing valuable asset is concerned. If Daunte starts the opener he likely won't face Ben, but then he never does - he'll face the Steelers D which is quite different from what he is facing in mini camp or will face in TC.
Pats: Pats had a Bad FA outing But had an EXCELLENT draft. I see the pats bringing in a vetran qb to be the 2 or 3 guy..cassel is coming along great so QB is not a worry. WR is the most deficient area right now. Branch is holding out, Brown is aging, Reche caldwell only has had one good season, and historically Rookie WR do not produce for 2-3 years...TE situation is exclellent and depth is much improved with the new rookies. OL didn't lose much and is a young group with good depth. The developent of the talent should easily outgain the loss the FA. RB depth is much better. If dillon can get rid of his injury bug from last year it should allow the pats to be more balanced. This is especially important with the WR situation.... Defensive line is greath. the only lacking part is depth at NT. LB is a question. If beilsel can step up and allow Vrabel to move back outisde then the unit should be fine. If not then expect to see some more 4-3 looks to get better production. There are three LB's in the supplemental draft and the pats should be in the thick of it. Secondary will be an area of concern. Mainly because the unit as a whole has not been able to stay healthy for years. Kicking will be a question mark, but its not that bad. BB likes to go for it when the team is on the other side of the 50 so generally it means kickers don't have to go for anything more than 43 yards. Either of the guys should be an upgrade on the kickoff over AV. Punting is excellent.
I don't think the Pats had a bad FA outing so much as it was a piss poor FA crop by and large. Branch is holding out early, he won't be AWOL late because he has no leverage. And as Brady says it's not like they don't already have this dance down pretty good. Jackson doesn't have to produce like a stud to be successful in his rookie season here - he just has to produce similar to what Givens provided. And even do that in tandem with Caldwell. And Troy Brown is aging like a fine wine. Check out Jerome Solomon's piece on that in today's Boston Globe. We may be thin at WR, but we have a QB who can adapt to and work with whatever BB throws at him, including two intriguing TE's and an intriguing rookie TE. Dillon and Maroney project at this point at least as well as Williams and Brown did last season. And we can add to that with Faulk and either Pass or the best projected FB in the draft. On defense if we only play as well as we did late last season we will be fine. I think we will be better with Beisel playing Will beside Bruschi's Mike from day 1, and Colvin and Vrabel manning the outside. Not to minimize Willie's loss but Colvin was intended to eventually replace him before he was injured. DL is not a problem, it's a real strength. The secondary will be better even if they don't reel in Ty Law because Belichick will have had an offseason to coach it up. Hobbs is a talent, Samuel is in his contract year, Warfield represents veteran depth, and if Gay can get back on the field it's a bonus. Rodney will return whether out of the gate or off the bye. Kicking will be adequate even without projecting improvements from guys who have never kicked in these elements. The best approach to improving the odds is to eliminate the need for clutch kicks to the greatest extent possible by converting on 3rd and 4th downs, and I think that is another reason Maroney was drafted.
Overall on paper the teams are almost Neck and Neck. As of now i'm calling it a tie....Hey calm down! When you start playing chess both players have the same amount of pieces...it's what the chessmasters do that determine the outcome...I expect to see some real chess matches now that the firepower has been evened out. Goodluck all!
