I think a big reason for why our defense is so great is the stability and continuity. Top to bottom, everyone knows their role inside and out. They know the scheme, their responsibilities, and they do 'em.

That's what happens when you string together six years of the same scheme and coaching and it's why they'll be good even with the current CB room. It's gonna take a sharp minded CB to come in and get the scheme down on the fly. No blown coverages from misunderstandings. Not impossible but something to think about.

Spags being as good as he is and not getting poached and/or promoted to HC somewhere else is a literal cheat code. Brain Drain is supposed to be a big part of rebalancing the good teams back to average/mediocre teams, but we kinda side step that.

We should all be thankful he was such a bad head coach.

And he’s pretty old. It seems there is pretty strong preference to hire coaches below age 55 around the league. Hell, many of the head coaches lately seem to be younger than 45.

Yeah, always both comforting and concerning when something like that matches the eye test like it does.

Comforting in that I'm not crazy. Concerning in that I'm not wrong and we may have a real problem on our hands at CB2.

He's my faint hope.

He showed out so well at times last year that we may just have to deal with the inconsistency and hope he finds his form or at least doesn't suck when it matters most.

There's ability there. And the tools match our scheme so well. But CBs are like goalies in hockey - they're just erratic as hell unless they're elite and when they get in their own heads that they're struggling, they're going to continue to struggle.

One really strong game may be all it takes to get Williams back on track. And against a battered WR corps, this may be a good time for exactly that. I'd lean pretty heavily into Williams and get a baseline for how bad our need truly is as the deadline approaches.

Because I really don't think Johnson is the answer. I've never quite understood the fascination with him.

Ultimately we may just end up needing Connor to step up somehow and put Hicks in at the 3rd safety. That's vaguely terrifying, but I do think Connor has the tools to play the position.

Probably. Sucks for Watson because he was a 7th round pick playing his way into a good contract somewhere.

Obviously hurts the team because if we play the Ravens or Lions down the road, CB depth will be a major factor to cover their multiple weapons.

Williams has not been good. Nazeeh has struggled too. Roland-Wallace has been in the right place but is still not turning his head at times.

I think we need to get a corner badly. Doesn’t mean it’s an expensive move, but this is a real problem that I think could potential end our season.

That’s how bad it is right now and Spags/Merrit are masking it, but I think it will show up against good teams with good QB’s

Well, they get to see a good QB on Monday night. He might be without his top two weapons but if our CB is that bad, he will exploit it.

Get the DL really going and you can mask it a bit. But yeah, you probably need a CB.

Is there much left on the trade block that could help us?

Do we have the ability to absorb a contract with our cap space?

I think you have to operate as though he is.

I don't think his injury is actually a ton worse in terms of recovery time than Cook's was last season. And it took place, what, 6 weeks sooner? I think there's a non-zero chance he could come back for the post-season.

But you can't bank on it. Ankle injuries are bizarre animals and very dependent on the individual. Because I don't think this is actually a bone issue - the fracture will be healed by the end of the regular season. I think it's a ligament issue. Part of that ankle fracture would almost certainly have been a hellacious high ankle sprain and THAT'S where your real unknowns are found.

There's always someone.

I mean I mentioned Mike Jackson from Carolina a couple weeks back. I think he'd be damn near free to acquire and he's a cheap veteran who has been a pretty credible player for quite awhile.

He could absolutely help, IMO.

And there are a dozen guys out there just like him. Get a list of 6-8 guys and start making calls. First guy that says yes to a 7th gets the deal made.

You'll get someone to bite.

Even if Watson could come back, for him to be a savior when he probably won't run until New Year's means we are ****ed anyways.

It's weird how the NFL will treat certain coaches as "damaged goods" because of a bad stint somewhere. Oh well, more for us.