by DeadRinger » Fri May 31, 2019 6:33 am
Yes, we've added a lot of talent, but most of it is young and needs a season to really latch on. Ferrell, Abram, Crosby, Mullen, Johnson, Arden Key, Mo Hurst, Renfrow, Moreau, Kolton Miller, ... All these guys are really young dudes. Even Trent Brown only has 3 seasons as a starter under his belt.
I think our LB corps is absolutely atrocious. Even with the additions of Marshall and Burfict, our LBs are really bad. So as I explained before, I expect - HOPE - to see a lot of Big Nickel / 3-safety looks with Joyner/Joseph/Abram or Joyner/Harris/Abram in there.
We have 2 MAJOR stumbling blocks in SD and KC. We could easily post 4 losses right there.
And we have the toughest schedule in the league.
Understanding that reality is a bitch and injuries happen, but assuming that Carr plays all year long, we'll go 8-8 this coming season. IMO unless we have MAJOR injury problems, we won't have double-digit losses again this season so I think 7-9 is probably our "realistic" worst case scenario. It COULD get worse if we start sending big names to IR.
I think Jacobs will be in the running for OROY and Ferrell in the running for DROY. Mayock's genius will be on display. He has never been able to do such a massive deep-dive with a single team before, to match players with scheme, culture, etc. I think he had a great draft and FA.
My BOLD prediction: We make the playoffs in 2020.
BETTER be a playoff win in 2022.