Late night bullshit: finishing this team off.

[Direckshun]

Playoffs or no playoffs, this is still a team in rebuild.

I think I have a one offseason plan that can finish that rebuild and make this team a serious playoff threat (I don't think we are currently a serious threat in the playoffs), and with slight improvement and a future FA addition here or there to round us out, a Super Bowl contender.

Here's my plan. Flame away.

1. Lock up long-term the key talent. Bowe, Hali, and Flowers. Lock them up now. Carr can be locked up and dealt with next year.

2. Trade for Larry Fitz. I don't need to make the argument why. But the Cards can be raped in a trade: if Boldin can be had for a 3rd and a 5th, there's no reason why Fitz can't be had for a 2nd this year and a 3rd next year. Would you be willing to trade two 2nds for him? I might.

3. Draft thusly... Roughly something along these lines.

1. OLB
3. OLB
4. WR
5. RB
5 (Magee + 6th). S
6 (Page). QB
7. QB

This draft gives us a passrush to build on, with enough invested there to give us a serious shot at immediate improvement. In a perfect world, the first rounder would be an every-down guy, while the third rounder would be just a pure Dumervil-type specialist.

It also gives us some much-needed depth at the skill positions (we need a replacement for Thomas Jones, who is out of gas). We also get some depth at safety, and take some hard shots at finding a high-intangible backup at QB in the vein of Cassel himself.

4. Make the following roster adjustments:

• Drop Thomas Jones and Chris Chambers, two underperforming vets when there are young guys behind them looking for some running room.
• Make the starting defensive line Jackson-S. Smith-Dorsey. Edwards can serve in obvious passing downs, since he can rush the passer and Smith definitely cannot. An Edwards/Gilberry third down combo will join forces with our passrush to get more pressure on the QB.
• Keep Richardson at RT, and use O'Callaghan and Asamoah liberally for imbalanced, max protection lines.
• Use McCluster a TON more as a change-of-pace back. He should get 5-8 carries a game, combined with three targets a game downfield. The guy has been underwhelming as a receiver, but really impressive running the ball.
• Make sure the WR we draft is a one-dimensional speed demon in the vein of Mike Wallace or Jacoby Ford. We need a new KR, and he'll give us a dimension we don't have with Fitz or Bowe.
• Give the Thumper ILB job to Micah Johnson over Belcher. Belcher is undersized. Under Todd Haley's elite fitness regimen, Micah should slim down to a powerful 240 lbs, serving as a perfect two-down thumper.

Then I guess you should just hire me as GM.

[cdcox]

You can't ignore DL depth, especially at NT. Jackson is still a big ?
You can't ignore OL with the age of Wegman and Waters.

[Lex Luthor]

You pretty much ignored the fact that the offensive line is pretty old at three of the five positions. I'd work on that before I drafted TWO quarterbacks.

[Direckshun]

Because we're just ****ing around, here's the 2011 Direckshun's Perfect World roster:

QB: Cassel, 6th rounder, 7th rounder
RB: Charles, Battle, McCluster, 5th rounder
FB: Castille

WR: Fitz, Bowe, 4th rounder, McCluster, Tucker
TE: Moaeki, Pope, O'Connell

LT: Albert, Richardson
LG: Waters, Asamoah
C: Wiegmann, Niswanger
RG: Lilja, Asamoah
RT: Richardson, O'Callaghan

DE: Dorsey, Gilberry
NT: Smith, Edwards
DE: Jackson, Edwards

OLB: Hali, 3rd rounder
ILB: Johnson, Williams
ILB: Johnson, Belcher
OLB: 1st rounder, Studebaker

CB: Flowers, Carr, Arenas, Leggett, Daniels
S: Berry, Lewis, McGraw, 5th rounder

K: Succop
P: Colquitt
LS: Gafford
KR: 4th rounder
PR: Arenas

[alanm]

I think the first order of business to be dealt with in the offseason is doing their part to ensure that no lock out is coming.

[Hammock Parties]

Two OLB is overkill. Especially when Studebaker is showing some flashes.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by cdcox

You can't ignore DL depth, especially at NT. Jackson is still a big ?
You can't ignore OL with the age of Wegman and Waters.

Well... two things.

Fair point at DL. My post assumes that Jackson's development continues (which it will... DLmen take three years).

Offensive line is easier to patch down the road if we have to. Besides, the addition of Fitz will significantly ease the pressure our OL has to face right now with stacked boxes. Wiegmann can man the point for one more year. A high-grade center can be had in the 2012 draft.

As for Waters... we have Asamoah. Period.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Brainiac

You pretty much ignored the fact that the offensive line is pretty old at three of the five positions. I'd work on that before I drafted TWO quarterbacks.

I don't care about guard. We have Asamoah.

Center, like I said with cdcox, will have to do with Wiegmann for one more year. Not that hard of a struggle with defenses investing all their resources in the secondary with Fitz and Bowe.

But a backup QB is a high priority. Investing two picks in QB is what Green Bay did when they realized they had zippo behind Rodgers. And Matt Flynn is turning out to be exactly what they needed.

We need a Matt Flynn. You have to burn some resources to get one.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by alanm

I think the first order of business to be dealt with in the offseason is doing their part to ensure that no lock out is coming.

Ha.

Thread over.

[2112]

Direckshun jerks off to White house pictures. who is taking this thread seriously?

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Gif Horse

Two OLB is overkill. Especially when Studebaker is showing some flashes.

Studebaker is showing you what you're going to get. A few coverage sacks.

We need someone to get there while the getting's good. And while Sheffield is a complete question mark on IR, all we have is Hali.

We need a full-time guy across from Hali. All elite defenses have bookends. And a 1st round pick is the best way to get one -- even though the Belichek tree never drafts them. The third rounder is, I guess, to hedge my bets.

[Useful Idiot]

I'll pass on Fitzgerald, especially at that price. Bowe can be a solid top teir number one. Just fill up the rest of the corp with 2nd/3rd teir talent a la the Houston Texans' Jacoby Jones, Kevin Walter, David Anderson types. It has done wonders for Andre Johnson.

I just think you can address so many other positions with the picks you'd be giving up for Fitz.

[cdcox]

I definitely want to see a new C on the roster come September 2011. He doesn't have to start, but we need a plan B if Wiegmann hits the age wall. I don't want Niswanger on the roster. And another development player at OL depth.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Useful Idiot

I'll pass on Fitzgerald, especially at that price. Bowe can be a solid top teir number one. Just fill up the rest of the corp with 2nd/3rd teir talent a la the Houston Texans' Jacoby Jones, Kevin Walter, David Anderson types. It has done wonders for Andre Johnson.

I just think you can address so many other positions with the picks you'd be giving up for Fitz.

That's 100% fair.

But think of the seats you'd sell my way.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by cdcox

I definitely want to see a new C on the roster come September 2011. He doesn't have to start, but we need a plan B if Wiegmann hits the age wall. I don't want Niswanger on the roster. And another development player at OL depth.

I think you forget Asamoah is on this roster.

It sounds like you want Asamoah, a backup center with development potential, and a backup tackle with development potential.

Which is all fine and dandy, but you're going to have to rob up to two of my draft picks which were used to pad our depth at other positions to give you what we already have on this roster...