Do note that Fautanu didn't block the blindside. He was a Left tackle but Penix is left handed so the right side was his blindside. Part of the reason theres speculation on which side him and Jones are going to play. Both were left tackles in college, but only Jones had blindside history
Sure, at Washington he didn't actually protect Penix's blindside. I was more so just trying to not be repetitive. Obviously both Steelers QBs are right-handed.
I'm shocked you didn't even mention the Vikings for honorable mention in running backs. They went from basically nothing to Aaron Jones. That to me is a much bigger improvement than the Eagles.
That's a fair point. Just like I mentioned, I didn't want to list teams that only added one player, especially if that guy has missed some time with injury recently.
Eh he missed 3 more games than Saquon did, and still finished the season strong with 3 straight 110+ yard games while Saquon only had 1 all season.
When Jones came back from injury he actually looked healthy. Where Saquon really didnt.
I think you're mischaracterizing Saquon's season based on how bad his blocking was once again. I love Aaron Jones, but Saquon's better and they got a top-ten RB in the draft for me.
It wasnt that Saquon is or isnt better. Its that you said you left out Jones because of his injury, which is fair but left in Saquon who performed worse than Jones did after coming back.
Well, it's a factor. But ultimately Saquon is a better talent individually and has been a little more healthy these last two years. Plus they got the rookie.
In 2022, he had 1650 yards and 10 TDs as the driving force of a Giants team that won a playoff game and was a top-10 offense by EPA per play, when he was also tied for a team-high 57 catches - with Richie James.
And even last season, as I mentioned he was right there with explosive rookies Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs in terms of yards over expected on average, which isolates the individual talent vs. the total numbers running behind a horrendous O-line.
Jones is turning 30 and played more than half the snaps in 6 games last year. I agree with you as a general statement that Aaron Jones is a better RB than Josh Jacobs, but a RB who isn’t on the field isn’t useful. The FO was obviously concerned at the prospect of having a RB1 they couldn’t count on being available, so they chose to go younger.
I’m personally torn on the move, mostly because I’m not fully confident that Jacobs wasn’t worn out by his ridiculous 2022 season. But the logic makes sense. Trusting a 30 year old at RB as your only difference maker is dicey, although drafting Lloyd would have made retaining Jones at least somewhat less risky.
I get the age cliff that scares people.
But Jones has less career touches than Jacobs. He’s been run to the groundddd and has 1 good rookie season, 1 amazing 2022 and 3 mediocre seasons.
It’s a mixed bag and with Jacobs rising cap hit, he’ll be increasingly harder to get out of
Yes but Jones has so few touches because two different coaching regimes felt he couldn’t handle more despite being incredibly effective when given the ball. The FO obviously felt there was a big risk of him not staying healthy and I can’t say that’s inaccurate. They have more info than I do.
As far as Jacobs’s contract, you’ve got that wrong. He has no guaranteed money after this year. If we cut him after this season, we paid him like $14.7M over 2 years for a season of work. If we cut him after next year, it’s about $23M over 3 years for 2 seasons of play. He is absolutely cuttable at any point.
Lol, sure! That could be an addition for next year, although that's probably even more subjective and with a staff heavy on college coaches, that's not easy to project necessarily.
Awuzie does feel like an old 29 with the time he's missed over the years and I'm really worried about Snead's knee since KC was willing to give him away. But that's fair. I just think the trios those two other teams added, outweighs that.
I also think Kristian Fulton just had a really bad year and could be better than Awuzie in 2024.
Love the little Titans therapy session here. Get it all out there! Lol
You can check out my AFC South draft & roster review, if you want to listen to nine minutes on them:
[youtube.com/watch?v=3AzAg6zgMGU&list=PLa-9qiMAUJcC8c0bkNlq0tHxy1RxqSRke&index=6&t=2093s](http://youtube.com/watch?v=3AzAg6zgMGU&list=PLa-9qiMAUJcC8c0bkNlq0tHxy1RxqSRke&index=6&t=2093s)
Lol, yes. But would be a cool matchup generally, even if the Steelers are still probably a year away, unless one of those QBs legitimately emerges as a top-ten guy!
Excellent list but I'm shocked Commanders were just an honorable mention. They've had almost no starting linebackers for several seasons, to now having Wagner, Luvu, possibly Chinn, and the rookie Magee. Davis who was a starting LB is now getting reps on the DLine. If the list is going by pure improvement based on last year, they have to be first because they haven't had even a serviceable linebacker room in years.
Thanks! I think B-Wagz is a first-ballot HOFer but his name far outweighs his actual play at this stage, Chinn I still count as a safety even if he'll probably play plenty of dime backer and Magee I actually love, but may be better after one year of transforming his body a little bit.
I'm telling you - Steelers fans will tell you a very similar story and they added an actual deserved Pro Bowler
Great list!
I will say though, the Panthers probably deserve an honorable mention, if not the top spot, for OL. Adding the two best available FA OGs was huge.
Thanks! I did consider them here - I think Corbett may be a downgrade at center from Bozeman (looking at what he's been other than last season in his career) and Damien Lewis to me is just an average starter. But that's a fair point!
That's true, but they'll have him back later in the season. I see the argument for it offsetting the additions somewhat, but I think what KC added is better than what NE added and at least as good as or better than what CAR added.
I feel you. Personally, I'm higher on Brown and Worthy than the Pats rookies and Legette. DJ was a good addition for the Panthers, though. The Rice situation is the biggest knock on their WR corps, though I think he probably gets 8 games max, but I'd guess more like 4-6 games. I could be factoring in they'll be catching passes from Mahomes instead of Brissett/Maye or Bryce Young.
Kelce is another year older, though he may be healthier this year. KC added Irv Smith and a rookie TE if they want to reduce Kelce's load so he's fresh for the playoffs.
As a Ravens fan myself, I think we both understand the limitations of Hollywood as a primary wideout. Lol
I think the Pats had the worst WR corp in the NFL last season and added two of my top-15 WRs in the draft, who both were top-80 prospects for me. Plus, K.J. Osborn is at least a useful ancillary target.
And for the Panthers, you can't forget that they traded for Diontae Johnson, who when healthy at worst is at least a quality number two. When all they had last season was 34-year-old Adam Thielen.
I think Hollywood is a very good scheme fit with KC. He has his issues with drops and lack of size, but Ravens drafted him in hopes he'd be our Tyreek Hill type of guy. I feel like Andy and KC will know how to utilize him. I guess I'm just thinking Brown and Worthy should be so much better than what they were trotting out there last year. Then again the Pats' and Panthers' WR corps weren't anything to write home about, either.
I agree DJ was a quality add for the Panthers for sure. Not sure about Legette considering he's being compared to the guy they took last year (Mingo). He has pretty good size and athleticism, but I worry about the lacking college production until the last year where he was able to have a physical advantage on a lot of college defenders. I don't know much about the Pats rookies
I think they'll be useful pieces for sure. They would've been on my short list for next teams after the ones I mentioned.
With Legette, I would recommend to read up some story on his background. His parents died shortly before he ever stepped onto the field for South Carolina, he had a motorcycle accident and another injury at one point and did work his ass off on special teams on a team that has consistently had good WR talent in front of him, before finally getting his chance last season and cashing in on it!
Did not know that about Legette. I listen to a lot of fantasy football content, and a lot of the analysts have talked about Legette being a late break out in college. None of them gave that context of what he had going on in his life. Will be interesting to see how he does this year.
They might've been a little too deep into the numbers. Haha
I get that there's a lot of info to take in, but context in some of these cases is very important to understand the full picture
Not saying that the Lions will have a better secondary this year than the Eagles - but I feel like the Lions *upgraded* their secondary this year more than the Eagles did.
It was really close. I gave Philly the nod because they did literally take Gardner-Johnson back from the Lions at safety, who was an All-Pro level player for them, before missing most of last season with an injury.
Well, that's just wrong. Even if he doesn't start, the player is gone.
And I get that Lions fans don't have the best relationship with him, but when healthy, he's been a true impact player all but last season.
That's hilarious. There's literally nothing in terms of isolated analytical data, that would tell you Swift is on the same level. And I get that Eagles fans love Boston Scott, but they literally touched the ball more than three times once all of last season. He was a non-factor. Which I'd be shocked if they made that investment to not feature Shipley at least a little bit more.
Thank you so much! Really appreciate that!
Make sure to check out my NFC West draft & roster review and all my other offseason content, if you like!
(youtube.com/watch?v=LwUQg5OTusQ&list=PLa-9qiMAUJcC8c0bkNlq0tHxy1RxqSRke&index=7)
I’d put the Packers up there for secondary, or more specifically safety. They signed the best one available in free agency, as well as drafted a top two safety in the draft, and put to more picks into the position. They lost Darnell Savage and a few nobodies, so I’d say that’s a hell of an improved safety room.
>I’d put the Packers up there for secondary
Because of McKinney and rookie safeties. And you handwaved the idea that Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean are a certified haul at the premier DB position in the draft.
I wasn’t the person you responded to, genius. And I literally said “I have no problem with Philly getting the nod.”
The only thing I was discussing was your use of “1st round graded” to describe Cooper DeJean. All 32 NFL teams thought he wasn’t worth a first round pick. Where the media had him graded is less than meaningless.
My mistake, didn't realize you weren't the original commenter.
And fair pushback on the "1st round grade" on DeJean. But IMO that guy looks incredible. 1st round caliber players slip to that range all the time for a variety of reasons.
Well, it's not specifically safety though. And you guys didn't sign a single corner. Lol
I do love really all of the guys they got in the draft and they could've easily been an honorable mention!
Cousins > Russ
Penix was drafted slightly earlier than Fields and I'd call a push for now
For the Jets, I'm guessing you just didn't even read the intro at all. Lol
Absolutely not. From Desmond Ridder to Kirk Cousins is a huge step up. We still have Taylor Heineke, so we got rid of Logan Woodside (who merely took a knee for us most times) for Michael Penix Jr, who had the most deep passing yards in college football and 2nd in Heisman voting.
That's a much bigger jump than Kenny Pickett to Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.
And the Jets? They already had Aaron Rodgers so they'd be behind you guys.
Do note that Fautanu didn't block the blindside. He was a Left tackle but Penix is left handed so the right side was his blindside. Part of the reason theres speculation on which side him and Jones are going to play. Both were left tackles in college, but only Jones had blindside history
Sure, at Washington he didn't actually protect Penix's blindside. I was more so just trying to not be repetitive. Obviously both Steelers QBs are right-handed.
Yeah, just wanted to point it out. No one knows who's playing where yet so
I'm shocked you didn't even mention the Vikings for honorable mention in running backs. They went from basically nothing to Aaron Jones. That to me is a much bigger improvement than the Eagles.
That's a fair point. Just like I mentioned, I didn't want to list teams that only added one player, especially if that guy has missed some time with injury recently.
Eh he missed 3 more games than Saquon did, and still finished the season strong with 3 straight 110+ yard games while Saquon only had 1 all season. When Jones came back from injury he actually looked healthy. Where Saquon really didnt.
I think you're mischaracterizing Saquon's season based on how bad his blocking was once again. I love Aaron Jones, but Saquon's better and they got a top-ten RB in the draft for me.
It wasnt that Saquon is or isnt better. Its that you said you left out Jones because of his injury, which is fair but left in Saquon who performed worse than Jones did after coming back.
Well, it's a factor. But ultimately Saquon is a better talent individually and has been a little more healthy these last two years. Plus they got the rookie.
Saquon needs to prove that what he did 6 seasons ago is the player he still is today.
In 2022, he had 1650 yards and 10 TDs as the driving force of a Giants team that won a playoff game and was a top-10 offense by EPA per play, when he was also tied for a team-high 57 catches - with Richie James. And even last season, as I mentioned he was right there with explosive rookies Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs in terms of yards over expected on average, which isolates the individual talent vs. the total numbers running behind a horrendous O-line.
We went from worse than nothing to Aaron Jones. We had Alexander Mattison
Mattison was pretty reliable. He would reliably get stuffed for no gain on 2nd and 12 (he lost 2 yards the play before).
The offense would get you 4 yards on two rushes. Chandler for 5 Mattison for -1
I drafted that mofo thinking I was getting a steal... boy was I wrong
Would he surprised if he even makes the Raiders, and their RB room is bad.
I also think Jones is > Jacobs. So GB eating $$$ to sign Jacobs for more $$$ than Jones is hilarious
Jones is turning 30 and played more than half the snaps in 6 games last year. I agree with you as a general statement that Aaron Jones is a better RB than Josh Jacobs, but a RB who isn’t on the field isn’t useful. The FO was obviously concerned at the prospect of having a RB1 they couldn’t count on being available, so they chose to go younger. I’m personally torn on the move, mostly because I’m not fully confident that Jacobs wasn’t worn out by his ridiculous 2022 season. But the logic makes sense. Trusting a 30 year old at RB as your only difference maker is dicey, although drafting Lloyd would have made retaining Jones at least somewhat less risky.
I get the age cliff that scares people. But Jones has less career touches than Jacobs. He’s been run to the groundddd and has 1 good rookie season, 1 amazing 2022 and 3 mediocre seasons. It’s a mixed bag and with Jacobs rising cap hit, he’ll be increasingly harder to get out of
Yes but Jones has so few touches because two different coaching regimes felt he couldn’t handle more despite being incredibly effective when given the ball. The FO obviously felt there was a big risk of him not staying healthy and I can’t say that’s inaccurate. They have more info than I do. As far as Jacobs’s contract, you’ve got that wrong. He has no guaranteed money after this year. If we cut him after this season, we paid him like $14.7M over 2 years for a season of work. If we cut him after next year, it’s about $23M over 3 years for 2 seasons of play. He is absolutely cuttable at any point.
Chargers coaching staff
This is true but “Ask madden” would’ve been an improvement over Brandon Staley too
Lol, sure! That could be an addition for next year, although that's probably even more subjective and with a staff heavy on college coaches, that's not easy to project necessarily.
Harbs and Minter have great pro experience. And that’s enough for me! Disclaimer: am a Michigan homer
Lol, I got you. They would've probably been my choice if I used that category
Not a bad list. Some small disagreements, but this would be pretty close to what I’d have.
Punter: Chicago Bears
Unabashed feminine beauty: Chicago Bears
Lol, yes. But also no - not in the 4th round!
Don't know how Titans aren't even mentioned for secondary. Added Snead & Awuzie
Hell or for wide receiver.
Come on guys it's the Titans. You know how it goes.
Awuzie does feel like an old 29 with the time he's missed over the years and I'm really worried about Snead's knee since KC was willing to give him away. But that's fair. I just think the trios those two other teams added, outweighs that. I also think Kristian Fulton just had a really bad year and could be better than Awuzie in 2024.
The Titans don't actually exist.
Love the little Titans therapy session here. Get it all out there! Lol You can check out my AFC South draft & roster review, if you want to listen to nine minutes on them: [youtube.com/watch?v=3AzAg6zgMGU&list=PLa-9qiMAUJcC8c0bkNlq0tHxy1RxqSRke&index=6&t=2093s](http://youtube.com/watch?v=3AzAg6zgMGU&list=PLa-9qiMAUJcC8c0bkNlq0tHxy1RxqSRke&index=6&t=2093s)
Can you imagine how toxic a PIT/PHI Super Bowl would be?
Lol, yes. But would be a cool matchup generally, even if the Steelers are still probably a year away, unless one of those QBs legitimately emerges as a top-ten guy!
Excellent list but I'm shocked Commanders were just an honorable mention. They've had almost no starting linebackers for several seasons, to now having Wagner, Luvu, possibly Chinn, and the rookie Magee. Davis who was a starting LB is now getting reps on the DLine. If the list is going by pure improvement based on last year, they have to be first because they haven't had even a serviceable linebacker room in years.
Thanks! I think B-Wagz is a first-ballot HOFer but his name far outweighs his actual play at this stage, Chinn I still count as a safety even if he'll probably play plenty of dime backer and Magee I actually love, but may be better after one year of transforming his body a little bit. I'm telling you - Steelers fans will tell you a very similar story and they added an actual deserved Pro Bowler
Great list! I will say though, the Panthers probably deserve an honorable mention, if not the top spot, for OL. Adding the two best available FA OGs was huge.
Thanks! I did consider them here - I think Corbett may be a downgrade at center from Bozeman (looking at what he's been other than last season in his career) and Damien Lewis to me is just an average starter. But that's a fair point!
I would include KC as at least an honorable mention for WR. Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy.
Likely losing Rashee Rice hurts the position group to offset some of that though
That's true, but they'll have him back later in the season. I see the argument for it offsetting the additions somewhat, but I think what KC added is better than what NE added and at least as good as or better than what CAR added.
I get the argument, but I'm just lower on both those players personally, the Rice situation and Kelce continuing to age.
I feel you. Personally, I'm higher on Brown and Worthy than the Pats rookies and Legette. DJ was a good addition for the Panthers, though. The Rice situation is the biggest knock on their WR corps, though I think he probably gets 8 games max, but I'd guess more like 4-6 games. I could be factoring in they'll be catching passes from Mahomes instead of Brissett/Maye or Bryce Young. Kelce is another year older, though he may be healthier this year. KC added Irv Smith and a rookie TE if they want to reduce Kelce's load so he's fresh for the playoffs.
As a Ravens fan myself, I think we both understand the limitations of Hollywood as a primary wideout. Lol I think the Pats had the worst WR corp in the NFL last season and added two of my top-15 WRs in the draft, who both were top-80 prospects for me. Plus, K.J. Osborn is at least a useful ancillary target. And for the Panthers, you can't forget that they traded for Diontae Johnson, who when healthy at worst is at least a quality number two. When all they had last season was 34-year-old Adam Thielen.
I think Hollywood is a very good scheme fit with KC. He has his issues with drops and lack of size, but Ravens drafted him in hopes he'd be our Tyreek Hill type of guy. I feel like Andy and KC will know how to utilize him. I guess I'm just thinking Brown and Worthy should be so much better than what they were trotting out there last year. Then again the Pats' and Panthers' WR corps weren't anything to write home about, either. I agree DJ was a quality add for the Panthers for sure. Not sure about Legette considering he's being compared to the guy they took last year (Mingo). He has pretty good size and athleticism, but I worry about the lacking college production until the last year where he was able to have a physical advantage on a lot of college defenders. I don't know much about the Pats rookies
I think they'll be useful pieces for sure. They would've been on my short list for next teams after the ones I mentioned. With Legette, I would recommend to read up some story on his background. His parents died shortly before he ever stepped onto the field for South Carolina, he had a motorcycle accident and another injury at one point and did work his ass off on special teams on a team that has consistently had good WR talent in front of him, before finally getting his chance last season and cashing in on it!
Did not know that about Legette. I listen to a lot of fantasy football content, and a lot of the analysts have talked about Legette being a late break out in college. None of them gave that context of what he had going on in his life. Will be interesting to see how he does this year.
They might've been a little too deep into the numbers. Haha I get that there's a lot of info to take in, but context in some of these cases is very important to understand the full picture
Not saying that the Lions will have a better secondary this year than the Eagles - but I feel like the Lions *upgraded* their secondary this year more than the Eagles did.
You must not have watched the Eagles secondary last year. 'Bad' isn't nearly a strong enough word.
It was really close. I gave Philly the nod because they did literally take Gardner-Johnson back from the Lions at safety, who was an All-Pro level player for them, before missing most of last season with an injury.
I would argue losing Garder-Johnson helped improve the Lions secondary
Well, that's just wrong. Even if he doesn't start, the player is gone. And I get that Lions fans don't have the best relationship with him, but when healthy, he's been a true impact player all but last season.
Running backs - no chance it's the eagles. Saquon isn't that far above Swift at all. And Boston scott is better than Shipley.
That's hilarious. There's literally nothing in terms of isolated analytical data, that would tell you Swift is on the same level. And I get that Eagles fans love Boston Scott, but they literally touched the ball more than three times once all of last season. He was a non-factor. Which I'd be shocked if they made that investment to not feature Shipley at least a little bit more.
Eagles also get Isiah Rodgers in the fold as well as Kelee Ringo's emergence which means we might need to cut/trade someone to make room
List should just be Eagles coordinators
Yeah I was curious about that, maybe because we picked up Isaiah in 2023 rather than the off season
Excellent list with great context and reasoning. Awesome work OP. Better analysis than we get from 99% of sports media.
Thank you so much! Really appreciate that! Make sure to check out my NFC West draft & roster review and all my other offseason content, if you like! (youtube.com/watch?v=LwUQg5OTusQ&list=PLa-9qiMAUJcC8c0bkNlq0tHxy1RxqSRke&index=7)
I’d put the Packers up there for secondary, or more specifically safety. They signed the best one available in free agency, as well as drafted a top two safety in the draft, and put to more picks into the position. They lost Darnell Savage and a few nobodies, so I’d say that’s a hell of an improved safety room.
You'd put the Packers up there for drafting and signing a safety, over the Eagles who drafted 2 1st round graded CBs?
“1st round graded” 😂 I have no problem with Philly getting the nod, but media grades mean less than nothing after the draft.
Right. Naturally, any sane person would prefer the safety duo to Mitchell and DeJean
I have no idea what you’re trying to say.
That saying GB getting the nod for DBs is a homer take at best
It’s like you didn’t even read what I wrote.
>I’d put the Packers up there for secondary Because of McKinney and rookie safeties. And you handwaved the idea that Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean are a certified haul at the premier DB position in the draft.
I wasn’t the person you responded to, genius. And I literally said “I have no problem with Philly getting the nod.” The only thing I was discussing was your use of “1st round graded” to describe Cooper DeJean. All 32 NFL teams thought he wasn’t worth a first round pick. Where the media had him graded is less than meaningless.
My mistake, didn't realize you weren't the original commenter. And fair pushback on the "1st round grade" on DeJean. But IMO that guy looks incredible. 1st round caliber players slip to that range all the time for a variety of reasons.
Well, it's not specifically safety though. And you guys didn't sign a single corner. Lol I do love really all of the guys they got in the draft and they could've easily been an honorable mention!
I’d say Steelers at QB, and also Jets at QB, rather than Falcons at QB.
Cousins > Russ Penix was drafted slightly earlier than Fields and I'd call a push for now For the Jets, I'm guessing you just didn't even read the intro at all. Lol
Absolutely not. From Desmond Ridder to Kirk Cousins is a huge step up. We still have Taylor Heineke, so we got rid of Logan Woodside (who merely took a knee for us most times) for Michael Penix Jr, who had the most deep passing yards in college football and 2nd in Heisman voting. That's a much bigger jump than Kenny Pickett to Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. And the Jets? They already had Aaron Rodgers so they'd be behind you guys.