Offseason Thoughts.. ...

Coaching: I'd be lying if I said Shell was my first choice, I was rooting for Wisenhunt cause he runs an aggressive offense commited to the run. However, I believe the game is won in the trenches and Shell should make Gallery and our youngsters on our line better. I am very dissapointed with Walsh at OC, but I have confidence the D.

Draft:
It's obviously too early to say but I think we had a good draft and with the exception of RB i think we filled a lot of holes. I like the Huff pick. I'm glad we didn't pickup Leinart cause we have Walter who is the real deal. I think either Howard or Bing will develop into a starter at LB and I like the OL the Red Mullet, this was a pick Shell felt good about. Why we chose a WR with the last pick is my biggest question.

Defense:
I think our D played average last year which is great considering we lost Woodson and Sapp early in the season. Our corners are not bad. Moss said last year, "Aso gave him his hardest challenge. Aso plays the deep ball and tackles above average. However we don't have depth at corner which is scary.
Besides Burgess, we are in desperate need of some playmakers on D. Clark and Morrison play solid but unspectacular. Shweagart took some bad angles at times and looked horrific. I'm counting on T. Kelly or and to a lesser degree Hawthorn (who had a strong ENFL season) to step it up and become impact players. Kelly plays very well at end or tackle, but it's been said he has conditioning issues. If Sapp is able to bounce back to the form he was playing in before the injury, our line play will be a force to be reckon with.

Offense
Despite the fact that our offense underachieved last year, we lost a lot of close games which we could have won if we made one more big play on offense. Assuming Jordan doesn't get hurt we should have a good ground game and we got the best WR corps in the league and you have to believe that our OL will get better with Shell's influence. I think Jordan is a big key cause he needs to block better, catch better and not get hurt, cause we have no depth at RB. Our line played poorly but we can blame part of that on Norvell bizzare play calling.

Special Teams
Carr played well, but Sea Bass sucked major ass. If Sea Bass can make field goals we will be OK.
Lechler is a pro bowl punter.

Overall I think the upside is we lost a lot of close games last year which could have went either way if we: eliminated stupid penalties, made a couple more offensive or defensive plays, managed the clock better or made our kicks.

So I'm excited for the upcoming season. I think we can win 10 games and make playoffs, but it will be a couple years before we become serious contenders.