kungfoodude

I think only Paradis and Moton are guaranteed starters. Camp could end up causing any of the rest of the two deep to shuffle a bunch. IMO, there probably isn't much separation in the top 2(or 3) of the rest of the OL spots. TBD. Even if our starters remain relatively static throughout the camp, I don't know if we will know exactly what that means for at least a few games of the season. I guess ideally even if they are subpar individually they can stay healthy and develop enough chemistry for the sum to be greater than the parts. That's the best case scenario.

That's the thing, I get the BPA but positional value factors in as well. I think the truth is that our team didn't have Slater or Fields rated higher than Horn. I definitely see the attraction to Horn, much more so now that I have seen so much more information on him post-draft. I even see that he is likely the best of the first round CB's. But....will he be better for us than Fields or Slater? TBD.

First round CB's are typically a relatively high bust rate(IIRC, similar to WR). Lower bust rate than QB's, certainly. At the end of the day, our bigger needs with much higher positional value were QB and OT. We will see how it works out but even if Horn is amazing(and I believe he can be), it will hurt for a long time if Slater or Fields become very good players. It's a matter of how much those positions are worth and how much they cost for top shelf players. And it isn't an overwhelming gulf between LT and CB, either. CB is definitely a top 5 position in the modern NFL. WR is still the second highest paying position in the NFL by top 10 average. Game breaking WR's do still hold a lot of value. There are far less stud LT's. The question is if it was a reach. If Fields is a top 10-12 QB in three years, he was the better player. If Slater is a top 5 LT in three years, he was the better player. Even if Horn is a top 5 CB. These are all "to be determined" questions. I personally value QB and LT much higher than CB. The team very obviously did not. And they may even very well be right in the long run but I definitely worry about Fields and Slater because those are guys I would have personally drafted ahead of Horn.

Well, that is a post season discussion more than a preseason discussion. Sometimes starting a rookie isn't necessarily a good thing. On our OL, starting may not mean that much.

He was off balanced but he still shouldn't get flattened at the point of impact by a CB who didn't even have a full head of steam. Make no mistake, that was really bad.

The thing that makes me so annoyed is that reportedly Slater(the guy I wanted in the 1st) is dominating against the Charger pass rushers in one on one's and 11 on 11's. I thought on draft night we would regret either not picking Slater or Fields and if either of them pans out, I still believe that. No disrespect to Horn at all and I think he will be very good for us, but QB's and LT's are extremely hard to find.

Agreed. That's why I have stated numerous times that I don't expect to see a LT on the roster with more than 8 starts. I expect it will be "by platoon" and not for good reasons. I think at least one guard spot will be stable. Probably Miller.

Maybe. Remember we had Wesley Walls, as well. Could be the next in a line of excellent Panther TE's.

Well, the ability didn't seem to be the question it was the availability. Even if he is looking better than expected, we mainly just need him to stay healthy. I think if that happens, he will be good for us even if he isn't looking as good as he does now.

Unreal that people don't understand this. Like when I hear people crying because a company drags them to HR for saying some offensive poo. Yo, your speech isn't free at work. It is at home and in the streets.

Well, I thought that this offseason too and it was very early not at all a priority(minus resigning Moton). I am trying to withhold some amount of judgement but it's hard when you see the type of moves they made on the line. Basically improved our backups but did nothing to improve the starters. That I still cannot wrap my head around. It's difficult to understand because the OL had such a clear impact on our struggles on offense last season. But, Darnold was pretty awful from a clean pocket statistically so maybe this is some form of 4D chess that I can't fathom. We will see what happens. I really just hate to see the OL continue to be neglected when we have so many offensive weapons.

All in on Trent Scott winning that LT job over the course of the season

I wouldn't because I prioritize the OL above the secondary.

This is basically a stream of excuses if this doesn't work out. The truth is, it will loon extremely foolish if it doesn't pan out and it will make them look like fuging geniuses if it does. Who did I want them to draft??? Literally top 3 rounds 100% OL. Not a joke. I said that pre-draft.

This is exactly what a bunch of us have been so worried about on that OL. The ability just does not seem to be a priority. This idea of versatility isn't invaluable but when you are sacrificing competency for that, it doesn't help. I think this is a clear example of our coaching staff not yet understanding what it takes to be successful in the NFL. It ends up looking like throwing poo against the wall to see if it sticks.

Can we get autographed vaccines?

Awesome write up. Big thanks.

Bro, Urban Meyer coaching and Jacksonville. Won't happen unless they make a splash hire after Meyer gets canned. He may torpedo them to the point that is an even more uphill battle.

It's only been since Cam left. That really wasn't that long ago. It only feels like a million years because we have sucked so much since then.

Injuries are an underrated possibility to torpedo our season. We loaded up on guys with rather suspect injury histories to go with a few of our other oft injured players. I can remember more than a couple of seasons completely derailed when the injury bug settled in to the team.

Well, there are a couple of obvious possibilities. TBD how it will go. About 44 days until we finally get a look.