Can we expect to do better than 9-7-1 and a one-and-done loss in the wildcard round? There's still plenty of time for Gute to work his magic but these are the things we think about in May.
Mike Tanier is a pretty good writer. I'm never going to agree with everything any sports writer says, but he makes some good points that I think have all of us concerned. Nagler got into a fun beef with Tanier over this and made a bet (https://bsky.app/profile/miketanier.bsky.social/post/3mhgz3yn7x22q)
Summary:
We've lost starters at multiple key positions and, rather than replacing them with starters, we are relying on their backups stepping up to fill the void. Point is, no matter what we think about Gary, Walker and Jenkins, they were starters and starters are generally better than their backups. We're depending on Morgan, L|VN and Ryhan (or Belton at RG) to step up and play like starters.
Views Franklin for Walker an even trade at best
Calls Hargrave for Wooden an upgrade but obviously still not replacing Kenny Clark
Obvious issues at CB not addressed
Essentially, eating $17m, $17m and $4m respectively for the 'bums' we got rid of (Gary, Jenkins and Hobbs), but we may not like their replacements any better and the dead cap hinders our ability to replace them.
Hafley - Gannon is not necessarily a significant downgrade, but going to an unknown from our best DC in many years.
WR is thin after the starting group.
We were 8-3-1, then finished 0-5 due to several major injuries. Parsons, Kraft, Tom, Wyatt health status is uncertain - can't assume they all come back the same as in their prime last season and no upgrades were made to backups at their positions.
Predicts a possible return to the playoffs with another 7th seed, but speculates the downside risk is severe if Morgan fails at LT, one or more WR we're relying on don't pan out or are injured (with no backups), Parsons is ineffective or is easy to triple-team block due to nothing on the other side, Love misses 2-3 games again and we no longer have Willis.