Originally posted by TexasNiner:
I still want to know who thinks we have actually gotten better?
We have a WR who has motivation/legal issues who may or not be able to play when we need him most.
Otherwise, we have added players on the same level (more or less) as who they replaced.
We haven't gotten worse, which a week ago seemed like the case, but have we actually improved in any substantial way?
I'm glad we weren't stagnant, and relying on drafted rookies and UDFAs to take the spots of vets, but as a whole, we have basically the same level of talent as we had last year.
Meanwhile, pretty much everyone else in our division added talent and improved significantly.
Maintaining the status quo, and/or slight improvement is hardly enough to make me uber-positive.
I still look at our schedule and find it hard to think we will better than 8-8 at best.
I think how good the team will be is a different debate. Its infinite. It depends upon how good you think the players are that we lost, and how good the players are that we picked up.
Obviously, the coaching staff did not think highly of many of our players, such as Manny Lawson, Aubrayo Franklin, Nate Clements and maybe Takeo Spikes.
Lawson and Franklin could have been had for a reasonable price, but we obviously did not want to pay it.
What I like about our front office, is that they baalk at prices that are too high. For example, they did not feel it was worth it to pay Lawson 3 million for example. Maybe they thought he was worth a little less than that. We can argue about what we think Lawson is worth (and I liked Lawson), but our front office was not being "cheap" as some fans have suggested, rather, they pay what they believe a player is worth.
But to try and make a case, I would say...
1) They think fairly highly of Bowman.
2) They feel Sopoaga can play NT just as well as he can play end (despite the fact that he was tried there before).
3) They did not think Lawson was an every-down player and they feel Aldon Smith can become an every-down player at the same position.
4) They thought Goldson and Clements wanted too much money, so they brought in players with the same or better ability.
5) Free agency is not over, and because of the wise spending, we still have money left.
One of our main problems was pass rush, so we upgraded with McDonald (a pass rush specialist) and Sopoaga (a better bull rusher than Franklin). We also got Aldon Smith, who looks promising so far. We now have three D-lineman capable of pushing the pocket; Sopoaga was always much better at bull-rushing guards and centers, then he was bull-rushing tackles, and McDonald can apply pressure from the edge much better than Sopoaga. Throw Aldon Smith into the mix to replace Lawson, and we now have four players who can get after the quarterback. Before this we had, 1 1/2 (Smith, and part-time McDonald).
How will our run defense hold up? That is what remains to be seen. Can McDonald hold the edge? Can Soap hold the middle? Can Aldon learn quickly? I think we'll be OK, we have the underrated RJF to back up any position on the line. If Soap can play nose at least as well as RJF has played, we should be fine.
The team is trying to improve, and obviously did not see the value in keeping 3-4 players who could only be on the field as pass-rush (Laboy) or run-stop (Franklin) specialists.
[ Edited by BrianGO on Aug 4, 2011 at 10:11 PM ]
