What can we realistically do this offseason to protect Cam?

[Jeremy Igo]

Disagree about LG. Turner/Norwell are the future. Two new tackles without question though

[Peppers90 NC]

I don't think Cam needed to assume the pocket would collapse every play, because it was actually happening.  He merely had to recognize the pocket collapsing every play.  But your point is valid, looping out to keep the run open as an option has been a tendency of Cam's since he's been here.  It's why he's been able to have so many highlight reel amazing plays in the past, often times converting 3rd and longs with his legs.  I think that needs to be coached out of him and pretty much all designed runs for him need to be thrown out the window.  Let him take off if the defense gives it to him, but he can absolutely be a pure pocket passer if he has a pocket.  Once he has a real OL, focus on weaning the team off of relying on Cam running.

 

take out last night, back when Amini(who is the worst G in the league and needs to be cut today) missed a couple games and we had other guys, there were actually pockets. of course not every single play, but I am not just looking at last night, I am thinking about all games played. Cam(most or all mobile QB's) dont move as well inside the pocket because they are used to their legs running around. last night, i agree the pocket collapsed quickly a lot of the times, but it seemed like when it did hold up, he had already dropped back 7-9 yards and the edge rush gets around the T easily(that would happen with any T too). to be honest, the script was written on how to defend Cam last year in Arizona. put heavy pressure up the middle, while the outside rushers go wide, because we drop back so far and we dont make hot reads to get rid of it quickly when the obvious blitz is coming. 

 

i am not one to single any one guy out(other than Amini), this has been a snowball because Cam was sharp inside the pocket for the first few games. this has been a total team collapse from bad coaching, preparation, blocking, running, passing and defense.

[TheRumGone]

Disagree about LG. Turner/Norwell are the future. Two new tackles without question though

 

possibly. still need to look at all options though. we don't know about turner yet. (people including myself were saying the same thing about amini) Norwell has looked strong and love his attitude.

[blackcat]

landmines. they still legal?

 

yep, thanks Princess Dianna!

[Mr. Scot]

Disagree about LG. Turner/Norwell are the future. Two new tackles without question though

 

I can sign on to this.

[Frizzy350]

First, get a new oline coach that can actually properly evaluate talent before live bullets start flying.

 

Norwell is playing better than anyone on this line, no reason he wasn't in at the start of the season.

 

Bring in a small militia of linemen.  Seriously bring in 10-12 new bodies to compete via draft, free agency and UDFA.  Explore all possible avenues. Get a mix of high profile draft picks and starter quality FAs, along with a whole bunch of nobody's and go from there.

[Leeroy Jenkins PhD]

Sometimes the answer is not on the roster

[Jeremy Igo]

possibly. still need to look at all options though. we don't know about turner yet. (people including myself were saying the same thing about amini) Norwell has looked strong and love his attitude.

Turner came from a legit college football program. I have more confidence in him than I ever did Amini.

[TheRumGone]

Turner came from a legit college football program. I have more confidence in him than I ever did Amini.

 

for sure. and i want to believe he will be good. hes been injury plagued this season though.

[WUnderhill]

We have to get very serious about the oline, not just drafting a mid-round guard and thinking we did enough. A good oline is a multi-year process and we keep delaying it because of what I don't know. We need to bring in a bunch of competition at Tackle and Guard (especially Tackle) through the draft and free agency and have guys actually compete for their starting roles instead of just gifting spots to guys who have earned nothing.

 

Because of the reduced practice time teams get with players, it takes longer to develop a lineman. In general, we need to be consistently drafting o-linemen every single draft to develop behind our starters. But right now, we need to load up and hope some guys stick as starters.

[Mr. Scot]

Turner came from a legit college football program. I have more confidence in him than I ever did Amini.

 

I'm done with the "small school gems".

[ncfan]

La'el Collins: 1st

Flowers: 2nd

Laken Tomlinson: 3rd

 

[Nick_81]

our defense has been put in tought spots the past couple of weeks. I wouldn't go as far as to say they suck (they're not great) but we need that ying and yang back in 2015.

This is true.  I feel like our defense has stepped back up.  However, with the amount of time they're on the field, I feel like they're just getting too tired to stop anything.  

 

As for your original question... I feel like we can make a significant impact this offseason.  People may not like what I'm about to say though  .  I'll go ahead and take my whoopin' first.  Get rid of CJ, and forget about Hardy.  We'll save about $6 million cutting CJ, and of course have the $13 million back from Hardy.  To me, Ealy has shown pretty well for the situation he's in, and I think Alexander(I'm betting on us keeping him) will be as good as CJ, plus he's cheap and will be playing for a new contract next season.  Horton/Addison will suffice for backups, as usual.    I think we will have a lot of other monies off of the books after this season as well.  

 

Now that the hard part is out of the way, let's move on to the secondary.  It will depend on how the rest of this season plays out.  So far, I think we can all agree that Benwikere will be pretty good.  If Norman continues to play as well as he has, then we're good on one side.  White is worth keeping around as a backup, but I don't think he's starter material, and Cason needs to go bye-bye(boy, I was wrong about him).  Harper... see ya!  I feel DeCoud is serviceable for another year though.  He's pretty good with a decent supporting cast.  If I'm not mistaken, there are going to be some pretty damn good corners and safeties in the draft this year, which I don't mind getting those positions there.

 

On the o-line, I would like to see at least the LT be filled by a guy with experience, and that has been mostly successful.  I'm not too sure what will be available in FA during the off season, but I'd feel much more comfortable than just hoping a rookie pans out there.  You can't get top tier, but you can get second tier talent for a decent price, which would be an enormous upgrade.  There's a possibility you can get a good rookie for the right side, that can develop into a LT over the course of a couple of years.  The interior looks good right now, if you have Norwell at LG, Kalil at C, and Turner at RG.  Silatolu should be nothing more than a backup.  Norwell is already light years better than him.  

 

Other than that, they should be looking at a solid #1/#2 receiver, that has good speed.  There's going to be a few in the draft that should demand attention, and the way it's looking right now, we may be in a position to snag one in the first two rounds.

 

I truly feel that they can lock up Cam and still be able to make some pretty positive changes after this season.  They'll have to hold off on Luke's contract, and pick up his 5th year option though, which isn't a bad thing.

[Nick_81]

Turner came from a legit college football program. I have more confidence in him than I ever did Amini.

I've said before that everyone involved in our scouting should have, in bold, brightly colored letters, at the top of their clipboards, "Big time players come from big time programs" before they ever consider another Silatolu mistake.