sure!!
1. When does Houston come back ... how healthy? How long before he's his impact self?
2. When is Hali going to breakdown completely because of age?
3. Dee Ford is a major piece this year, what does he do? Has looked terrible thus far ... T.E.R.R.B.L.E.
4. Young secondary is a mess, does anyone step-up? Get/stay healthy?
5. If 1 or more of the above does not turn out well, is Sutton able to adapt?
I'll be brutally honest here, in spite of the pitchforks and torches that will result.
I don't trust Sutton.
He needs too many things for his defense to be good(Goonther Cunninham anyone?) You can measure his adjustment by the week, if not months ... when good DC's adjust by the Half, if not by the drive. Anyone think that Sutton will know how to deal with an Edelmann situation yet? I don't. If he can't just assign a man to the Edelmann's of the league and move on, he's lost. If Sutton doesn't have a ready-made pass rush he is almost incapable of generating pressure through scheme.
Theoritical defensive breakdown by steps:
1. Houston is gone and Hali has finally lost that last step that doesn't let him turn the corner anymore. Our automatic pass rush is all but gone.
Result: Sutton goes into a shell, rushes 4 and drops everyone else DEEP in coverage to prevent the big play. Our corners our 15 yrds off LoS. Our MLBs are bailing hard back into pass coverage at the snap. Sutton has down all this before, it's not speculation to think he will do it again.
2. Our young cornerbacks struggle in their initial NFL playing time.
Result: Sutton can't go man-to-man on the outside except for with Peters. Teams just throw away from Peters all game long until he gets frustrated and tries to do too much. To adjust Sutton throws more and more safeties out there on the field in an umbrella zone coverage. Again, Sutton has reacted similarly in the past.
3. Because of 1 and 2 teams just decide to wear us out on defense. Dink and dunk passes and run the ball against our outnumbered Dline. With everyone pulled back in coverage our front 4 will going against 5 Oline and a TE and RB chip blocks. We will start dying by a 1000 cuts. 4th quarter or defense will be worn out especially if Sutton continues to refuse to rotate his Dlineman.
4. Because of 1,2 and 3 our conservative offense will be forced to try to score 35+ points a game without benefit of defensive turnovers or scores. That means Uber Conservative will need to stop throwing sideways. Alex Smith will have to start taking hit,taking chances and air it out. That will almost certainly result and a few more turnovers, if not a bunch. That leaves our defense in a short field situation more than normal.
All theoretical, but if that snowball begins to roll down hill it
COULD get really ugly. There is precedence ... Sutton had done it before, Reid has done it before.
A full year of bend-don't-break defense that allows offenses to go the length of the field almost every drive. Counting on giving up field goals instead of touchdowns once they get to the red zone.
(ps i typed this really fast so forgive my many typos and slip-ups please)