9 minutes ago, TEW said:

Heading into this past off-season, the two young defenders I thought could be sleepers were Ringo and Ojomo. Ojomo hit my realistic best case scenario, but we drafted Mitchell and DeJean, so obviously there wasn’t much playing time for Ringo.

I remain quite high on him though. He might have tighter hips than you’d prefer, but other than that he’s about as perfect a prospect as you could want. Big, fast, good tackler, ball skills, and the collegiate clutch gene.

CB coach Roy Anderson has beamed about him when asked to name which of the young DBs has looked great in practice. AJ Brown has said he gives him trouble in practice and thinks he has all-pro potential. Obviously take it with a grain of salt, but the fact that they are so high on him tells me it’s not just talking up their own book.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Ringo shocks a lot of people. Teams are going to throw at him since he’s the least tested, but it’s tricky. You’re not going to get explosive plays underneath because he’s such a good tackler. At 6’2” jump balls aren’t something you’d expect to exploit against him. He can run down field with just about anyone. And we play so much zone that it helps mask much of his weakness in turning quickly. And every time you throw at him you’re risking this…

 

I loved both the picks, especially Ojomo. And I thought Ringo looked good when he played in 2023. I'm ok with both of them winning starting jobs, but they need some competition. Don't just hand it to them.

Just now, greendestiny27 said:

Sanders is terrible now. Couldn't even start on the Panthers after a nice contract, easy pass. It's a good draft for backs. 

He was fine here.  3 years of over 1k yards from scrimmage.   It was obviously a "system” thing with him in Carolina.   
 

I’m not against drafting RB but it would be one of those 5th round picks - not a day one or two pick. 

30 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

The other thing to think about with all this change on defense -- it seems the team believes that Vic, along with Baun and the rookies, are the main reason for the improvement. We were 30th in scoring defense in 2023, and we added Baun, Q, Coop, CJGJ and Hunt as contributors. We lost Cox, both LBs and Byard. The only contributor we lost that was added in 2024 was CJGJ. Sweat and Williams were here in 2023 when we sucked. 

Clearly, Howie is high on Vic and the coaching staff's ability to get young guys to perform. We'll see if that confidence is misplaced, but Q, Coop and Hunt all came in and played well right away. Can they do it with Ringo, Brown an Trotter?

We do need bodies on the D line.

I've thought the same, about their approach.

The last 4 drafts have been solid and netted at least 2 starters. They are planning for key players to get extensions in the future. 

Just now, bpac55 said:

I'm not suggesting this year. I'm talking big picture, down the road. 

Down the road I think one key member of O is traded to make room for D signings.  Not this year but within 2 years

4 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

No, I mean who was Steen's replacement? Is that what you meant?  I'm confused how you worded that. 

When Dickerson moved to C he was fine at guard.

Say no way to Miles Sanders.

Bad pass catcher.

Suspect vision.

Bad pass protection. 

Mental errors in crucial moments.

Pass. He left Carolina because they couldn't agree on a paycut, so I don't think he's necessarily willing to play for cheap either. 

3 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Don't believe it, I trust Lord Brunson 

damn you closed-minded religious potlickers

Just now, Diehardfan said:

When Dickerson moved to C he was fine at guard.

If Steen played every week and was given a chance to improve I think he'd be a good guard

Just now, LeanMeanGM said:

Say no way to Miles Sanders.

Bad pass catcher.

Suspect vision.

Bad pass protection. 

Mental errors in crucial moments.

Pass. He left Carolina because they couldn't agree on a paycut, so I don't think he's necessarily willing to play for cheap either. 

If he doesn't get any traction on the open market, bring back Kenny G for 1 year, $2mm or something.

Just now, Diehardfan said:

When Dickerson moved to C he was fine at guard.

I gotcha. Yea, agreed, he was fine at LG.

1 minute ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Say no way to Miles Sanders.

Bad pass catcher.

Suspect vision.

Bad pass protection. 

Mental errors in crucial moments.

Pass. He left Carolina because they couldn't agree on a paycut, so I don't think he's necessarily willing to play for cheap either. 

Honestly makes more sense to bring Gainwell back since he has no market

1 minute ago, vikas83 said:

If he doesn't get any traction on the open market, bring back Kenny G for 1 year, $2mm or something.

I'm not the biggest Gainwell fan but if he's that cheap and not much guaranteed, that would be fine to at least head into the draft and then see what happens. 

Howie maybe gonna pay Carter early?

Just now, DawkinsOwnage03 said:

Howie maybe gonna pay Carter early?

He can't be extended until after this season.

A+ off-season so far.

- Stayed patient and avoided any bad contracts
- Added 2026 draft capital
- Receiving 2026 comp picks
- Lost only one defensive player that will really hurt (Milton). 

We're going to pick up some good vets for scraps as we are now a destination where players want to rebuild their value.

Just now, DawkinsOwnage03 said:

Howie maybe gonna pay Carter early?

He can’t pay him now even if he wanted to.  But he will pay him next offseason

1 minute ago, DawkinsOwnage03 said:

Howie maybe gonna pay Carter early?

Well he’s going to ask for double what Milt got unless he regresses. Doubt that happens though 

Just now, McMVP said:

He can’t pay him now even if he wanted to.  But he will pay him next offseason

Gotcha 

I wasn’t a big CJGJ fan, but add me to the group that isn’t even a little bit confident in Brown. He’s looked lost out there. McCollum is a scrub. I suspect we’ll be adding a vet. 

Let's check in on thicc n tired (nothing embeds anymore @VaBeach_Eagle)

https://x.com/britttlifts/status/1899481066387181675

 

I thought for sure that Azeez Ojulari would have been signed somewhere. He's still my #1 target for an outside FA. I want nothing to do with Justin Simmons. 

I should add that I like Green as a flyer, but this trade was essentially a salary dump. Green was maybe worth a 6th round pick. 

Just now, bpac55 said:

I thought for sure that Azeez Ojulari would have been signed somewhere. He's still my #1 target for an outside FA. I want nothing to do with Justin Simmons. 

He will wipe out one of our prized high comp picks 

24 minutes ago, Aerolithe_Lion said:

We banked on that from Nolan and Quinyon and Cooper and Zack and Cam and Isaiah and Nakobe last year. Part of normal team building is hoping unproven players prove themselves. Even when we are "loaded”, we have tons of guys that stepped up where no one expected them to. Playing inexperienced players isn’t just necessary, it’s the norm. The Chiefs do it every year, the Bills do it every year, the Ravens do it every year, the 49ers do it every year.

Think about what we didn’t know this time last year when we gave CJGJ his money:

Nakobe Dean broke out. He’ll get paid if he returns to form after injury

Zack Baun broke out, and got a monster deal.

Jalen Carter stepped up, was even better than rookie year and cemented a historic extension.

Nakobe Dean stepped up and is a very likely extension on a big deal.

Cam Jurgens made the pro bowl in year one, assuring his big extension.

Quinyon Mitchell broke out right away and is now only 2 years away from breaking the CB market

Cioper Dejean broke out, he’s a likely extension too.

Saquon Barkley was so good, he was underpaid by the big contract we gave him. So he gets another extension.

Oh, and if Mekhi Becton comes back, move him to the very top of the list of improbable money Howie didn’t expect to have to spend.

if you asked the FO last year, they probably assume not even half of these things happen all in 1 year. CJGJ became very expendable, as did Goedert. We need to free up as much money as we can in the immediate future. Unless you think we should keep CJGJ over Baun? Or Smith? Or Jurgens?

Howie is not perfect, but he is the best GM in NFL history at adapting to new circumstances. Gotta break some eggs

Yea getting pro bowl level production from literally every spot last year is really not a sustainable hope. The odds of that happening again are astronomically low. 

I don't mind letting Williams, sweat, and slay go. The CJ trade is the one that makes zero sense to me regardless of money saved the next two seasons. There is no replacement safety on the roster like there are for the other positions. Brown is a great ST player and that's it, Cine is an enormous question mark.

Maybe they sign a safety in the next wave, maybe they draft one. But they still need depth on the DL and at LB. Maybe that's what all the 5th round picks are for.

We'll see what the team looks like after the draft, as of now they really only have a huge hole at safety, and need a ton of depth on defense.

Just now, bpac55 said:

I thought for sure that Azeez Ojulari would have been signed somewhere. He's still my #1 target for an outside FA. I want nothing to do with Justin Simmons. 

I’m curious if Howie is waiting for Becton’s contract before he pulls the trigger on any outside FAs. He wants to know what the comp pick situation looks like.