I will say this, as high as I am on several prospects(Perriman, Maxx, Boyle, Dixon, etc), I don't like how our offense has a whole lot of unproven in general.
We NEED Perriman to develop into a #1 caliber WR(and I actually think he does)
We NEED Maxx or Boyle to develop into good starting TEs(Watson is old, Waller appears to have stone hands, and Gillmore has a body made of glass)
We NEED Ryan Jensen to be a good center
We NEED Dixon or West to show themselves as a franchise caliber RB
We NEED to stay healthy
We NEED for Joe to improve his mechanics.
Obviously the biggest concern is the oline. But still. We are relying on way too many "what ifs". I understand that risks are necessary but I'd like at least another sure thing.
Way I see it. The passing game improves a lot if Joe returns to form and cleans up his mechanics. Adding Maclin will help the offense in several ways. Firstly given that we have three burners as WRs besides him(and he can go deep too), the middle suddenly becomes a lot more wide open. Maclin is a good route runner and can get open over the middle, where he also uses his good YAC ability. This will also help Boyle/Maxx over the middle as well. Secondly, given that Wallace is really dangerous as a player, double covering Maclin just isn't going to happen as often as some would thing, because Wallace knows how to go deep better than most. Thirdly, this greatly benefits Perriman. Defenses giving so much attention to Wallace and Maclin will give him the opportunity to go one on one with likely the opposition's third best corner. Given that even in OTAs(yes, I know to take it with a grain of salt, but him getting reps with Joe has been HUGE) his game looks much improved, he's in primed position for a breakout year.
Truth be told, if Joe cleans up his mechanics, the passing game will be fine. I'm confident in several of the younger weapons we have(Maxx, Perriman, Boyle), and adding Danny Woodhead is going to be sneaky good.
The running game is where I'm concerned. Dixon, West, and even Woodhead are good runners. But they succeeded last year in spite of the line. Stanley and Yanda are both above average run blockers, and I expect great things from Siragusa once he inevitably takes over at LG, but Lewis and Jensen are massive question marks. If ONE of them turns out to be good at run blocking(both are good in pass pro) then this offense could actually be a top 15 offense that flies under the radar.
But the oline also needs to improve for the red zone's sake as well. I'd imagine that our defense is going to create a lot of turnovers and put is in positions to score. We need to capitalize.
We could be REALLY good this season. But also Mediocre as all hell. It's all in the hands of Ryan Jensen, Alex Lewis... And James Hurst...(I'm gonna fucking vomit).
If all pans out well this season then we go into next season with no big name free agents and.... A well rounded team.
Ozzie you better pray this works because if this does, this team will be too good NOT to win a SB sometime within the next few years.
