Stinger226

I was completely shocked when his name popped up in the 4th round. No Combine or Senior Bowl invite but the more you know about him, his interviews are great and 4.39 speed for a MLB. People were saying probably a UDFA but clearly a few teams had him on their radar. His first year will be at SLB but he will earn more and more playing time as the year goes on. He could be the reason Edmunds leaves after this year.( could pick up 15 mil in cap space) Then maybe Edmunds shines under DA so we have a great problem of to many good LBers. Productive in college mature work ethic High football IQ burning speed 4.39 I watched every highlight I could find on him and the best thing I see on tape is when teams go to the outside zones he runs people down with ease. I think the scouts do a great job of identifing good talent. Everyone has the best players on their radar but Hyppolite, Zak Frazier , Luke Newman and Monangai could be all future starters and wasnt given much hype.

He's a good QB but nothing special.

Definitely their defensive backfield is suspect. Minny has basically a rookie QB and the Lions have two new OL starters with new OC and DC. The stars are lining up for us to move the standings.

Instead of focusing on spots that may be weaknesses (we dont know yet) lets look at whats better, QB (arrow pointing up), new coaches( huge arrow pointing up), Thuney-Dalman-Jackson ( a couple of former all pros in that group), weapons (DJ-Rome-Kmet-Loveland-Burden-Swift-Monangai-Zacckeaus) are all capable of big plays. I will give you Swift is not a top 15 RB but last time BJ was his play caller this was his stat line 5.5 yards a carry, 48 receptions , 8 TDs with a total of 931 yards on 34% of the snaps. If he matches those totals with Kyle gets 40% of snaps and Roschon getting 20% it will be considered a successful year. 34.4% 0.0% 99 542 5.5 5 48 389 8.1 3 0 0 Defensively Brisker and Billings are back. Sweat had minor injuries last year and is healthy now. Added Jarret, Dayo, Turner, Hippolite, and Frazier. Dexter and Booker both added weight and should keep improving. I will agree another pass rusher would be great but no one else is coming. DA blitzes with his LBers a lot. Hippolite with his speed could add to the sack total. When Edmunds was at Buffalo , they used him as a pass rusher. He had 7.5 sacks, 32 TFL, 18 QB hits, 11 pressures. All of this in as a part time blitzer. With a new DC, one that believes in putting pressure on the QB, Allen will have sacks coming from many different positions. The defense is not complete but the overall picture looks good going forward. We are not the same old Bears. Had we had a better coach last year odds are we would have had a winning record with not as good as a roster.

Of course there are questions, the biggest question is at QB. Caleb had some moments last year but held the ball to long, rarely threw to checkdown option and took sacks. Many times bailed on a pocket and run into a sack. 1/3 of his sacks was on him last year. Threw into a crowd instead of hitting open players. We have players to fill every position, yes it still has to be proven but just look at last year in comparison. Dalman or Shelton, Thuney or Jenkins, Jackson or Nate Davis. LT is still a question but at least we have 3 options to project, last year it was just Braxton. You liked Banks but had we drafted him, he would still be a question mark> 50% of all first round picks fail. So he would still be a question mark. We have Dayo, Sweat at DE starters, we have a draft pick last year that is promising (Booker) and BJ mentioned Dom Rob. We have 8 bodies that still need to prove itself but at least Its not the same group we rolled out last year. Pass rush can come from the DT also, Jarrett, Shemar Turner, Dexter has gotten better every year, Billings is healthy,Cris Williams had some flashes. RB does not have an all pro back there but Swift is better than people think, Kyle has some game, Roschon can play better. With a better OL, every position will be upgraded. Thuney will make who ever plays LT better. Better play calling, getting the ball out quicker all contributes to better play from our LT, RB. Had we drafted Banks, you would say that position is good, or drafted Trevon Henderson at RB but the truth is they are rookies that still would have to prove themselfves. From this point in time, this is the players we are going to war with, there is nobody coming to make a position look better. If we acquired Nick Chubb, he is a huge question mark. Why Im optimisic , better coaching, hope that Caleb takes a big step forward, an improved OL, new bodies on the DL, and a wealth of new weapons for Caleb.

Not your normal interview

I go by what the coaches say. BJ doesnt seem to be the type that blows smoke up your dress. I believe he is making honest statements. PLUS, they arent going out and adding people at those posistions. The pads will be the truth but I think things are looking up by the positive coaching statements.

So what did we learn from the preseason? BJ is a leader and hard ass, both good traits for a coach. I think that the worries at LT, RB, and DE appear to not be as needy as original thought to be. We have yet to see Burden and Loveland on the field, so there may be a slow start to their NFL stat line. I think the team is buying in to the new culture that BJ has instilled in this team. I think our depth is going to be solid. 3 players that could play LT will leave us in good shape for backups. I think players like Tyler Scott, Zach Pickens and Ryan Bates could be cut and add to our cap space. If Burden has nagging injuries to start the year, I think we are good hands with Zaccheaus and Duvernay.

I think we have the personal to do what this tape show us on BJs offensive scheme. What Caleb needs to do is stay in the pocket and dont hold the ball. Goff is good at getting rid of the ball quickly. Caleb is the key to making this work well. Cant hold the ball like last year.

When Nagy came here he was made out to be an offensive mind, coming from a winning program and changed the culture to a more positive outlook. He went 12-4 and was coach of the year. The truth was we were winning due to defense and led the league in TOs. The next 3 yrs Pace gave away 2 first round picks, a second and drafted Justin Fields. He screwed up our ability to add talent for a team that had a lot of old players and Tribusky as their QB. Pace failed our team and Nagy had to rely on offense that wasnt very good when Fangio left. BJ comes with more fan fare than Nagy had and Poles actually has built a good roster. We have much excitement because we have a potential top rate QB. If you watch the tape on Caleb last year , he has a lot to learn. I think we have the right combination of talent and coaching to succeed this time but that still has to show up on the field. Of course I think it all ends well, but I understand anyone that is still skeptical.

BJ was talking about 4 players that stuck out during OTAs. Surprized seeing Dom on that list. Maybe we do have 4 DEs on the field. Dom Robinson/DE Ruben Hyppolite/TE Joel Wilson/TE Kyle Monangai/RB

I think Trapilo is the future but Braxton having 3 yrs of starter experience at least give him the spot until Kiran or Ozzy take it away. BJ says all spots are open but a rookie still has a lot ot learn , he has to prove himself having been a RT for the last two yrs.

Braxton cant practice yet but he is attending. I think because of 3 yrs of starting at LT, he will be running with the first team when ready. As much as he has to improve, he will get to show if he has progressed. I suspect why Trapilo looks good because he is learning the playbook and moves well. When the pads go on the truth starts. I hope he does well. It seems obvious that Kiran has a long way to go , essentially this is his rookie year as far as practicing. I think when its said and done, whoever plays LT, we will be fine there. Playing next to Thuney has to help all of them. Monangai gets rave reviews by whoever you talk to. I think he has taken away the cry (we need to add a RB). I think he will shine once we start hitting, he has a great YAC stat and is physical. Plus, has never fumbled. Ben stated that it will probably be our biweek before we get the offense running smooth. That does not mean we cant win a couple of our first 4 games. We will run the ball and play good defense that will give us a chance.

Im not positive on this statement but I think rookie QBs have a tendency to lean on TEs in thier first years. Shorter throws, quicker release. I think the problem with Waldron was to dump all the offense on Caleb all at once and let him choose downfield routes that take longer to develop when we had a shakey OL. That resulted in so many sacks. In turn in Washington, they had more quit reads that amounted in first reads or run type of scheme. Proved to me more successful for the rookie,

Spot on CJ Stroud was ranked 10, Caleb 19 and Daniels was 27. Bo Nix didnt even make the top 32.

Both are true, I think maybe it will take one year but we could be a top 5 offense in the league. Of course that solely rests on Caleb's shoulders, if he is the projected franchise QB, oh boy will this be fun.