I foresee some ups and downs in 09' season and it's always good to look ahead and try to avoid the bumps in the road. However I think we are headed for some potholes in the next 6 months and we are currently on a collision coarse.
Our defensive line is highly suspect. I have been harping on this subject from the moment the 08' season ended. Ellis is old, lazy and inconsistent. Jenkins is injury prone and is a one man show in the middle. Our RE spot will most likely be filled by Marques Douglas who is a non-factor, journeyman, stop gap option at this stage in his career. And thats it. Those are our big 3 names on the D-line.
Look at teams like the Steelers, Giants, Patriots, Chargers, and Titans. They are all built from the inside out, meaning they have strong Defensive and Offensive lines with depth. The Giants have 3 pro-bowl caliber DE's (Umenyiora, Tuck, and Kiwanuka) and they still paid Chris Canty, the former Cowboys 300lb DE, big free agent money. We didn't even sniff at any significant FA linemen. To put it simply, if Jenkins goes down our D-line is non-existent. In todays NFL you need 4 or five high quality players on your D-line.
So thats the bad news for our defense. The good news is that we enter the 2009 season with an offensive line that has the potential to dominate. They are savvy veterans who can protect the QB and get down and dirty run blocking as well. They showed great chemistry in the second half of the 08' season( they were the only highlight of the last 6 games). Our front office made the right move re-signing Brandon Moore who is not the most well known of that group but is an important piece to the puzzle none the less.
Our backfield is looking like a very dynamic group. Jones and Washington are a great one two punch and Mr. Greene should be able to contribute his rookie season in short yardage and small doses. Musa Smith, who is a former Raven who also appeared in our training camp last year, would be a nice addition for depth. I am not sure about the status of Jesse Chatman. He is no longer on our roster but I think we still have the rights to him. He has potential but he has struggled with a lot of 'off the field' issues.
Our D-line will cause what is a very talented defense to look second rate. Our O-line and dynamic backfield will most likely carry our offense.
I haven't mentioned the tight end position or the gaping hole in our WR corps either. Again I feel we dropped the ball in the draft. I saw some interesting young TE's WR's and DE's throughout the draft. Our lack of depth at these positions could have and should have been addressed via the draft. I am confident that Kellen Clemens is good enough to run the type of offense we are going to play in 09'. Instead of addressing the most important issues facing our team we made a flashy move for a GQ model from USC who can sell jerseys and hopefully PSL's.
Winning sells seats and merchandise. The front office has made some great moves in the past few years. I like Rex, I like our squad as a whole. But, I think Tannembaum's lack of respect for the value of draft picks and his misuse of them via trades (like the Vilma debacle or the foolish Favre trade) will eventually lead to his termination. And trust me when I say that I hope I can look back on this in 2 years and say I was dead wrong.
I hope Sanchez becomes the mexican Joe Namath and we sign Burress and he becomes the 'King of NY' by catching the Superbowl winning pass for BOTH NY football teams. I also hope Rex creates the most dominate defense since the 85 Bears (shout out to Buddy 'Big Daddy' Ryan!). But I can't help but feel the new stadium is more important right now to Woody and the entire franchise than creating a dynasty and winning championships, and that scares me.
J.Wagner
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