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I think thread I will do a team by team break down.. I will hit on every NON-Pats team in the AFC. I was thinking of doing one for the entire NFL... but 31 breakdowns seems like a lot... With that in mind. Lets start off with the Titans.
This team is honestly not that bad in certain respects.
QB - Cam Ward showed something as a rookie... he was kind of like a less impressive Maye in year 1... his OL was bad... his weapons were bad... and he got bad results. It is hard to be too hard on him due to this... But Maye proved 2 years ago even if everything around you is crap you should be able to hit near 2/3 passes in this league if you are good. Cam hit a hair under 60%. Maybe he takes a massive jump up but i don't expect it.
WR - They improved a lot here. Robinson was a free agent add. Ridley is old but had one of the worst years in his career in a small sample. Is he still close to that 1K WR he was just 2 and 3 years ago when he went back to back 1K yards? Maybe not quite... but there is a good chance he has 1 year left. Then there is #1 pick Tate. What will he be? No to mention the young Ayomanor is coming off a solid rookie year. Honestly... this room looks pretty promisng.
TE - Gunner Helm after a decent rookie year goes into year 2. Bellinger is a decent TE2... but they overpaid. Overall... not impressive... but something.
RB - A quietly solid room. Pollard is still solid. Spears is a good change of pace guy. What can Singleton give them? Maybe something. But again.. nothing here scares me. Like the TE room it is solid... they will be competitive but limited splash plays from either of those units i think.
OL - This is a head scratcher... They wanted to help their young QB. And did in the WR room. Good job. Then you took one of the worst OLs in the NFL... and basically overall left them one of the worse OLs in the NFL... no draft picks of note likely. No signings of note. This line does have some youth which can maybe improve... particularly at RT.. but IDK.. that interior seems sus to me.
Offense overall? WR room is good. Cam showed flash but limited consistency... he will get some support from the TE and RB rooms... but not much as far as game changing plays.. and again will need to do the heavy lighting with a bad OL. Overall one of the 3 worst offenses in the NFL last year maybe moved to the top of the bottom 10... at best.
While offense is flashier... the D saw more improvement. For context this offense was around 20th in YPG and 28th in PPG. And surprisingly they were not hampered by excessive give aways. But this will likely turn around.
DT - Simmons is arguably the best at his position right now in the league. Elliot and Thomas were decent adds here... but neither one alone moves the needle... however for a unit which last year seems like just Simmons and little else... they have a bit more this year.
Edge - The add of Myers is big. Johnson II are probably better than the lose of Key by themselves... Can't forget about Martin either. overall this unit is massively upgraded. While not one single splash signing make this unit elite... overall the quality and depth are leap years ahead... and this is before we even assume they get anything at all from their first round pick Faulk. So yeah... huge improvement here. I would mention Dre'mont Jones but they traded him half way through the year.
LB - The doors are open for Hill to start immediately. This unit isn't impressive... but they have options. Barton should hold down one spot here solidly. He's okay to pretty good. 2 young guys in Grey and Williams Sr. who knows?
CB - A very different room. Taylor and Flott were 2 FA adds and should instantly elevate this unit. Nickle could be 2nd year guy Harris or Williams. Another FA signing this year. So all 3 CBs could be FA guys. Interesting. Overall a far superior room... no one is elite... but from pretty much trash and 1 star to solid. Even with the loss of Sneed the overall group he is better. 1 star can not cover for 2 other trash spots, which is what they had last year. While this unit won't shut people down... they will be competitive more often with less massive hiccups.
S - Hooker is still one of the better safeties in the game overall. Winston is the 2nd year player who could turn heads though. His play last year was questionable at times.. but he flashed and his traits are elite. Adams is the reliable depth option.
Overall comparing this unit to last year looks a lot different.. it was pretty much Sneed, Simmons and Hooker trying to hold youth a few okay vets and scrubs together... and clearly they couldn't. This is a more balanced unit. If they were middle of the pack would it surprise me? Not at all. Of course it could go wrong. Maybe Winston is a bust. The DT adds turn out to not help at all so Simmons can be keyed on the inside.. the CB room is just weak enough everywhere to not consistency stop anything instead of being just strong enough to have some resistance... And maybe LB goes bad... Hill can't do it and there is no solution next to Barton. All possible. But i think things go the other way more than that.
IMO this is a mid defensive unit.. maybe slightly above.
I won't talk about special teams much.. but their return is among one of the 3 most dangerous guys in the league. I think the offense is slightly less pathetic... and the defense is mid to slightly above. While i still am not a believer in Ward i think they improve more than people think.
They go 6-11 to 7-10 I think. Doubling last years wins.
This team is honestly not that bad in certain respects.
QB - Cam Ward showed something as a rookie... he was kind of like a less impressive Maye in year 1... his OL was bad... his weapons were bad... and he got bad results. It is hard to be too hard on him due to this... But Maye proved 2 years ago even if everything around you is crap you should be able to hit near 2/3 passes in this league if you are good. Cam hit a hair under 60%. Maybe he takes a massive jump up but i don't expect it.
WR - They improved a lot here. Robinson was a free agent add. Ridley is old but had one of the worst years in his career in a small sample. Is he still close to that 1K WR he was just 2 and 3 years ago when he went back to back 1K yards? Maybe not quite... but there is a good chance he has 1 year left. Then there is #1 pick Tate. What will he be? No to mention the young Ayomanor is coming off a solid rookie year. Honestly... this room looks pretty promisng.
TE - Gunner Helm after a decent rookie year goes into year 2. Bellinger is a decent TE2... but they overpaid. Overall... not impressive... but something.
RB - A quietly solid room. Pollard is still solid. Spears is a good change of pace guy. What can Singleton give them? Maybe something. But again.. nothing here scares me. Like the TE room it is solid... they will be competitive but limited splash plays from either of those units i think.
OL - This is a head scratcher... They wanted to help their young QB. And did in the WR room. Good job. Then you took one of the worst OLs in the NFL... and basically overall left them one of the worse OLs in the NFL... no draft picks of note likely. No signings of note. This line does have some youth which can maybe improve... particularly at RT.. but IDK.. that interior seems sus to me.
Offense overall? WR room is good. Cam showed flash but limited consistency... he will get some support from the TE and RB rooms... but not much as far as game changing plays.. and again will need to do the heavy lighting with a bad OL. Overall one of the 3 worst offenses in the NFL last year maybe moved to the top of the bottom 10... at best.
While offense is flashier... the D saw more improvement. For context this offense was around 20th in YPG and 28th in PPG. And surprisingly they were not hampered by excessive give aways. But this will likely turn around.
DT - Simmons is arguably the best at his position right now in the league. Elliot and Thomas were decent adds here... but neither one alone moves the needle... however for a unit which last year seems like just Simmons and little else... they have a bit more this year.
Edge - The add of Myers is big. Johnson II are probably better than the lose of Key by themselves... Can't forget about Martin either. overall this unit is massively upgraded. While not one single splash signing make this unit elite... overall the quality and depth are leap years ahead... and this is before we even assume they get anything at all from their first round pick Faulk. So yeah... huge improvement here. I would mention Dre'mont Jones but they traded him half way through the year.
LB - The doors are open for Hill to start immediately. This unit isn't impressive... but they have options. Barton should hold down one spot here solidly. He's okay to pretty good. 2 young guys in Grey and Williams Sr. who knows?
CB - A very different room. Taylor and Flott were 2 FA adds and should instantly elevate this unit. Nickle could be 2nd year guy Harris or Williams. Another FA signing this year. So all 3 CBs could be FA guys. Interesting. Overall a far superior room... no one is elite... but from pretty much trash and 1 star to solid. Even with the loss of Sneed the overall group he is better. 1 star can not cover for 2 other trash spots, which is what they had last year. While this unit won't shut people down... they will be competitive more often with less massive hiccups.
S - Hooker is still one of the better safeties in the game overall. Winston is the 2nd year player who could turn heads though. His play last year was questionable at times.. but he flashed and his traits are elite. Adams is the reliable depth option.
Overall comparing this unit to last year looks a lot different.. it was pretty much Sneed, Simmons and Hooker trying to hold youth a few okay vets and scrubs together... and clearly they couldn't. This is a more balanced unit. If they were middle of the pack would it surprise me? Not at all. Of course it could go wrong. Maybe Winston is a bust. The DT adds turn out to not help at all so Simmons can be keyed on the inside.. the CB room is just weak enough everywhere to not consistency stop anything instead of being just strong enough to have some resistance... And maybe LB goes bad... Hill can't do it and there is no solution next to Barton. All possible. But i think things go the other way more than that.
IMO this is a mid defensive unit.. maybe slightly above.
I won't talk about special teams much.. but their return is among one of the 3 most dangerous guys in the league. I think the offense is slightly less pathetic... and the defense is mid to slightly above. While i still am not a believer in Ward i think they improve more than people think.
They go 6-11 to 7-10 I think. Doubling last years wins.
