Content Post My Remaining Off Season Wish List

[PatsFan2]

I'm wondering if Lowe might be OK as a stop-gap measure until a drafted player is ready. If I recall correctly he had a couple of decent starts along with some real stinkers. The key point is he doesn't seem a lot worse than Robinson, at least last year.



I checked PFF and the stats there aren't a lot different for Lowe. Overall ratings about the same as Bedard's.
PFF gives a small edge to Robinson. Of course in his prime Robinson was a really good player but last year was a downturn.

The issue is that last year the whole line was a disaster - chopping and changing who played where, never giving weaker players help when needed. So might Lowe improve with more stability and better coaching? I know it's not what anyone wants to hear - just trying to be realistic here.

NFC had way better Pass Rushers in 24: Lowe sucked Big time. Stop making excuses for that Scrub Patsfans.

 

[signbabybrady]

NFC had way better Pass Rushes in 24: Lowe sucked Big time. Stop making excuses for that Scrub Patsfans.

I don't think it's making excuses. More just reality setting in that he's probably our starting LT again.

 

[PatsFan2]

I don't think it's making excuses. More just reality setting in that he's probably our starting LT again.

And Maye will end up in a body cast.

 

[Real fan 02]

Cooks would be a waste of money. There's a reason why he's been on a Billion different teams so far (yes, that's a hyperbolic statement, but it makes a valid point). I like Trapilo after the 3rd Round. Agree with no more than a 4th for Aiyuk. But I'd actually go no more than a 5th given his knee is a mess and they'll have to pay him a big contract. If he pans-out, they could include an additional pick in 2026, a 6th Rd one ).

BA already got paid by SF so we'd just be honoring his current deal. We won't have to do anything more. I'm thinking a 4th as well for him.. he'd also likely be on PUP to start the season so we probably don't see him until mid season if anything.

Vederian lowe as I've posted is the winner this off season.. all the elite OTs are signed and Cam Robinson is basically an older version of lowe. So if loew can become a better player he stands a chance to make himself a lucrative contract and be the anchor on the Left side.

 

[Real fan 02]

And Maye will end up in a body cast.

Hey it's not my fault..

 

[Real fan 02]

And Maye will end up in a body cast.

Lowe is like a winning scratch ticket.. he got lucky!!!

 

[PatsFan2]

Cooks would be a waste of money. There's a reason why he's been on a Billion different teams so far (yes, that's a hyperbolic statement, but it makes a valid point). I like Trapilo after the 3rd Round. Agree with no more than a 4th for Aiyuk. But I'd actually go no more than a 5th given his knee is a mess and they'll have to pay him a big contract. If he pans-out, they could include an additional pick in 2026, a 6th Rd one ).

A Team might take Ozzie Trapilo at the end of the Second... Third Round the Latest.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

I think Lowe has proven that he isn't a viable starter long term. But it's not exactly the easiest position to add a viable long term starter to. Turn over every stone to upgrade him, even if only marginally, in the short term as well as for finding a viable long term starter. Maybe one guy accomplishes both (i.e. a draft pick who starts day 1) or maybe you have to go with two separate options (i.e. sign Cam Robinson or Jedrick Willis and draft a prospect to sit behind them at least at first).

Unfortunately, it's possible that their honest evaluation of the stop gap candidates is that they aren't improvements. It's easy to point to Cam Robinson's track record and write off last year where he was arguably as bad as Lowe as nothing. It's also possible to see him as a guy entering his 30s with some spotty availability history and effort concerns and think that he'll be even worse this year and into the future. At a certain price point, it's still worth taking the shot and seeing what he's got but if that's your evaluation then obviously there should be a limit to what you pay. Jedrick Willis is a reclamation project that maybe they don't believe in. Again, at a certain price point you should sign anyone for competition but obviously if you have a poor evaluation of the player then have to set reasonable limits.

It's also possible that the draft simply doesn't align for you this year and unfortunately you have to punt the long term fill at the position until next year. Sucks, but it is what it is. That's why you pursue a stop gap if you see one you like.

But most importantly, seeing how difficult it looks to be to upgrade Lowe in both the short and long term, they should be making every effort to simply mitigate how big of an issue he is. You play with 11 guys on the field at once, 5 on the OL specifically. Lowe right now is the 4th best offensive line starter on paper... make him 5th by adding one more good starter at LG or C (Strange at the other). Strange isn't even someone they should be married to so even if you can upgrade over him then do it, which means Lowe is still the 5th best starter but now surrounded by better help. Right now our WR starters are arguably weaker than Lowe is at LT - fix that if you can.

Even if Lowe ends up the starter again and plays no better than last year, better coaching (which they should have) and even marginal improvements around him should be pursued to simply mask that weakness a little bit better. Football is a team game. rising tide lifts all ships. If you improve anywhere on offense or defense then you improve everywhere on offense and defense because it's ALL connect in terms of how you can scheme things to mask biggest weaknesses and the more favorable matchups better talent elsewhere creates.

 

[JohnJH]

BA already got paid by SF so we'd just be honoring his current deal. We won't have to do anything more. I'm thinking a 4th as well for him.. he'd also likely be on PUP to start the season so we probably don't see him until mid season if anything.

Vederian lowe as I've posted is the winner this off season.. all the elite OTs are signed and Cam Robinson is basically an older version of lowe. So if loew can become a better player he stands a chance to make himself a lucrative contract and be the anchor on the Left side.

I just hope that possibly lucrative contract isn't with the Patriots, because we find our long-term LT solution either later in this draft, or next year.

 

[JohnJH]

A Team might take Ozzie Trapilo at the end of the Second... Third Round the Latest.

That's a very real possibility.

 

[Real fan 02]

I just hope that possibly lucrative contract isn't with the Patriots, because we find our long-term LT solution either later in this draft, or next year.

That or vederian lowe somehow becomes good. Cheaper to keep her

 

[PatsFan2]

That or vederian lowe somehow becomes good. Cheaper to keep her

Twin check WR Teta Mac threads.

 

[Real fan 02]

Twin check WR Teta Mac threads.

Thanks twin gonna check it out for sure..

 

[JohnJH]

That or vederian lowe somehow becomes good. Cheaper to keep her

If he does become even truly good, LT's like that will want top bucks. I'd rather draft and/or pay the extra bucks for great rather than good.

 

[Mike the Brit]

I think the easiest way to do this is to look at free agents and the draft separately as if the order didn’t exist. For example what should we do in FA assuming we can’t draft a WR, and what should we look for in the draft assuming we have not filled any hills with free agents.
Since we have more cap space that we can probably use this seems like a fair starting point.

Excellent OP, Andy.

My number one wish is a new GM.

I am even wondering if the reason that David Andrews was dumped is because at some point he told Eliot Wolf that a blind squirrel could have done a better job of O-Line personnel selection last season than he did. From a team-building standpoint, it makes no sense. If Andrews can't play at all, let him retire. Otherwise keep him as backup and a mentor for the younger players. If they could find a place for James Ferentz, they could certainly have used Andrews.

Beyond that, I have, reluctantly, come to a single thought.

They have to make LT their overriding priority.

My heart wants a difference-maker -- Hunter, Carter, even Ashton Jeanty -- but my head says that, if Will Campbell is the best LT in the draft, then they have to take him.

I relied on ChatGPT for data, which is a bad thing to do, but it named 11 tackles drafted in the last three years who have gone on to be starting Left Tackles: Evan Neal, Ikem Ekwonu, Charles Cross, Trevor Penning, Tyler Smith, Paris Johnson, Broderick Jones, Jaelyn Duncan, Olu Fashanu, Joe Alt, JC Latham. Of whom only one (Jaelyn Duncan) was drafted outside the first round. It may not be a sexy pick, but they can't afford to have Lowe as their LT for another season.

 

[TommyD4207]

I don't think it's fair to say Rham is on the decline.

He clearly has a fumbling problem.

But his play otherwise has been pretty consistent. Every year of his career he averaged above 50 yards rushing per game. His best season was only 60 per game and his 2nd best was last year at 53.

I think we all hoped he would improve in his 3rd and 4th season but I don't see a declining player yet. Just someone who has a flaw that's been exposed. Can he/Josh fix the flaw?

The good news is you can get out of his contract cheap after this year.

I'd love to have his replacement already here, to be honest.

 

[signbabybrady]

The good news is you can get out of his contract cheap after this year.

I'd love to have his replacement already here, to be honest.

Wether he's worth his contract is a different point altogether.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

I don't think it's fair to say Rham is on the decline.

He clearly has a fumbling problem.

But his play otherwise has been pretty consistent. Every year of his career he averaged above 50 yards rushing per game. His best season was only 60 per game and his 2nd best was last year at 53.

I think we all hoped he would improve in his 3rd and 4th season but I don't see a declining player yet. Just someone who has a flaw that's been exposed. Can he/Josh fix the flaw?

Note that Vrabel commented that some of those fumbles might have been due to poor run blocking. Would have to look at the film to see if he had a point or not or was just trying to encourage Rham.

Note that fumbles sometimes can come from simply trying too hard when you should just give up and go down.

 

[Patsfan1645]

I don't think it's fair to say Rham is on the decline.

He clearly has a fumbling problem.

But his play otherwise has been pretty consistent. Every year of his career he averaged above 50 yards rushing per game. His best season was only 60 per game and his 2nd best was last year at 53.

I think we all hoped he would improve in his 3rd and 4th season but I don't see a declining player yet. Just someone who has a flaw that's been exposed. Can he/Josh fix the flaw?

There were several games last year in which Gibson was running the ball between the hashes and was getting better yardage than Rham. Thats Rhams bread and butter not Gibson. I think its perfectly fair so say he does not look as good as he did when he became the feature back. He is a decent back not an elite one and maybe we get another year or two out of him. As forJosh, he cant fix a guy hanging onto the ball, he needs to figure out how to fix that himself and he has yet to do so.

I hope he has a bounce back year from his fumbles and if we can get better line play the running game should improve.

 

[Patsfan1645]

I am wondering if fumbles occur more with poor OL play. It seems reasonable to think that if the OL opened up bigger holes that there would be less fumbles. Getting to where there is more space seems like there would be less opportunities for stripping the ball out.

That applies to ever back, they all want bigger holes to run through and for no one to touch them. He is back that runs between the hashes, generally those are tiny windows to get to the second level. If he cant hang onto the ball thats more his problem then the line not allowing anyone to touch him.