Nine Weak Positions On A Non-playoff Team - Not Bad

[n1997y]

Weak positions or unproven:

QB
The entire OL
RB
WR
MLB
The entire secondary
K

I think we need to take a more nuanced view. Unproven means just that, unknown. An unproven player could turn out to be a strength or a weakness. Being strong at a position means having lots of NFL proven high quality depth. Being weak at a position means having lots of players with NFL experience who have not shown themselves as high quality performers. Unproven means players who have not yet had enough experience to show whether they are strengths or weaknesses.

At both CB and WR we have a mix of weak vets and unproven rooks, and few if any proven strengths.

At CB I’m not sure even Gonzo is a proven strength, because of the limited extent of his experience before he was injured. He looks like he is an elite QB, but he needs more of a body of work to show it on the field. The Jones boys, both Jon and Marcus, are quality CBs. Behind them are unproven rookies and journeyman vets. There is enough promise to expect some of them may emerge as quality players, so it seems pessimistic to call the group “weak”; a better evaluation would be “unproven”.

At WR we do not have any proven elite players, on the level of Moss or Cupp or Jefferson. We have several proven vets: Bourne, Osborn, Pop Douglas, Juju, with health concerns for Bourne and Juju. Behind them are vets (including second year players) that have thus far failed to stand out enough to see the field regularly, and unproven rookies. Because of the health concerns, especially Juju, and the vets that have already not seized their opportunity this group seems weaker. There are also several unproven rookies, a couple of them quite promising. Overall it seems to me that we need two or three WR prospects to step up or this is a weak point. I do think there are enough players with enough promise so that will happen, but until then I’d call it weak and depending on unproven players to emerge.

That said, I’m not as worried about either CB or WR as weak points for the team as I am about the OL.

 

[n1997y]

I think you and a lot on this board are making to big of a distinction between outside corners and nickel corners. My opinion is you need at least one bigger physical corner like Gonzo to deal with bigger receivers and one smaller quicker corner to deal with smaller quicker receivers. In an ideal world you'd have a back up for each our best backup corner is more suited for the slot/smaller quicker receivers and I think that's where people get concerned. But I'm not that worried about size because of Gonzo and because our safety group is pretty physical too so you can use them to pitch when you run into teams with multiple big physical WRs.

I think when we compare WR to CB on this team I think both have a decent amount of depth but only corner as a true stud in Gonzo. I think Jonathan Jones as CB2 is as good if not better at his position than any WR we have. Then I think Marcus has as much if not more upside than either rookie WRs we have.

I don't even really think it's close our CB position is one of the better CB groups in the league. Where as the WR group has a few decent WR 2s and a couple of intriguing rookies but nothing as good as Gonzo or Jonathan Jones.

I generally agree, although I would like two CBs with size enough to take on big WRs, and I would like at least one of them to also have speed and agility to be able to stick with shifty WRs. To me any CB under 6’ is at a significant disadvantage against taller WRs, for both jump balls and overall catch radius.

So I think Jon Jones is not as well suited to play on the outside as I’d like. Good news is that we’ve got several rookies and recently acquired vets to compete for that slot. I think we will find a good performer out of them, so we will have Gonzo and ???? outside, and Jon and Marcus inside, and that will be one of the best CB rooms in the league.

 

[Vindicate]

Just because there are two positions listed with the secondary, and only one with WR, does not equate to the secondary being in worse shape as some have read here.

A unit that has their #1, such as the Pats CB unit, gives them more leeway to work with than a unit that might be buttoned up to the 2, but is lacking a WR1. We've seen this over and over.

At least this is how I read the original post.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

I know this is what we do in the offseason, but we have a lot unknowns that may whittle that list down a bit, of course we could make a trade or two in the meantime, that would help also.

 

[captain stone]

...Note that some of these are the bottom player of a position group (TE3, RB3 and S4). Also, I consider nickel back as a separate position and in solid shape with Jon Jones and Marcus Jones (and even Wade if we choose to keep him).

WEAK POSITIONS
LT
LG
WR1
RB3
TE3
CB2
CB3
S4
K

If you consider CB2 & CB3 as outside positions, then I agree and would add CB4 as well.

I also would change S4 (whatever that is) to Free Safety and would add FS2.

IMO, we should be considering addressing some of these in free agency, now or anytime through Week 2, including RB, CB and S.

Agree.

 

[IcyPatriot]

I would like to see them add a quality 3rd RB ... and a 4th for the practice squad. ...
We need strong backs for Van Pelts offense ... axe Harris and Hasty ... both useless.

 

[JohnJH]

I see us with these weak positions, many fewer than one would expect from a team likely to finish 4th in their division and in the bottom ten of the league. Note that some of these are the bottom player of a position group (TE3, RB3 and S4). Also, I consider nickel back as a separate position and in solid shape with Jon Jones and Marcus Jones (and even Wade if we choose to keep him).

WEAK POSITIONS
LT
LG
WR1
RB3
TE3
CB2
CB3
S4
K

IMO, we should be considering addressing some of these in free agency, now or anytime through Week 2, including RB, CB and S.

I regret that we did not address the RB position in this draft. There were 2 or 3 possible solid finds to be had.

 

[captain stone]

I regret that we did not address the RB position in this draft. There were 2 or 3 possible solid finds to be had.

I liked Jaylen Wright from Tennessee at pick 103.