So... where are we? Fair question. I think we are about to through a tough year... not an actual tank, but I just haven't found a QB who looks like a legit plug-in option for us. That's a tough position to just settle for a 24/27 guy with good cheistry and cohesion... but I fear that's exactly what we'll do. In another league this might set up for a quick free agent signing after the last round of cutdowns, but here that's not exactly on the table... it's a one-shot league.
So, the easiest thing for YOU to look at is my
Roster Needs page.
My takeaways, by position group:
QB: treading water at best, awaiting a savior
RB: Phelps signed for 2yrs, we're ok here... rookie FB Austin likely can't make move to TE, so he might end up RB2
TE: Thomason will be TE1, Peters is being sacrificed to the chem gods as a center this year, and we will patch over... not good
WR: Guthrie a solid WR1, Bailey a still-shaky WR2, and 1st round rookie Lester has WR3 potential... we'll put KR/ST/WR Don O'Neil out there a good bit too. Group is good for now, future not looking great if Bailey is merely okay.
OL: Chem saved by position switch. C Castillo, RG Dielman, and LT Woolford are build-around guys. Hoping rookie T Brennan becomes a long term asset, and we've got decent options for the other G slot. Chemistry and cohesion should make this an above average unit this year and beyond.
DL: We re-signed DE Tuholski, he's the build around guy going forward. We're strong with veterans for now, Rison is tailing off but we have 5-deep in quality players. Solid.
LB: Shaw remains out best guy, but he'd fading and there's no youth on the way. Ripe for a top pick next year if no QB/skill options stand out. We're okay, but probably below average in pure talent.
DB: CB Meadows is now our CB1/2 and chem leader (82 pers good not great), a super-important FA signing. We have lost (just through attrition) our super-deep super-talented group that was our best overall position group for the last several years. Young guys who project to stick around are CB1 Cooley, CB3/4 Wordehoff, and hopefully S2 Winslett, whom I forgot to re-sign while a RFA, and now I need to beat the market (dumb dumb dumb). So, I'm pretty optimistic about the group long term, we should be fine here and not in protect-the-lead mode as often as we have gotten used to.
Overall, if we got into the season with either Henson (7th, 23/29) or Howard (2nd, 11/23) as our starting QB, it would be hard to forecast a winning season. But, a credible running game and good WR talent behind a strong OL... maybe we could eke out 9 wins. Maybe. Don't discount the effects of chemistry.
If we manage to make the QB position credible, then I think the team could be back into contender status in a couple seasons. I should have cap space (especially after Rison leaves) to make a move, so we could be well suited to do a late-career rent-a-QB deal to turn things legit quickly.