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Article Lost In Translation's First(Way Too Early) Mock/Offseason

Oldfaithful

Hall of Famer
With the start of the NFL Season. It's time for this crap. Your favorite crass, sarcastic scout is now coming to you in ARTICLE FORM.
Okay, this, much like my other articles, will be sad pathetic excuses for journalism. But, I am very passionate about scouting and started early this year. So here it is. My way too early mock offseason. No, this will not be a weekly thing.

Offseason

Resignings
Ryan Jensen-At the very worst, he's great depth who should be very affordable. Even if he does not turn into a solid starter by the end of the season, I still feel as if we will be able to keep him. Unless he turns into a megastud, which I doubt.

Mike Wallace-I feel as if that he really likes it here. He seems to have a good rapport with Flacco, and he should be really affordable given his age. But I feel as if he's got one more season left as a good deep threat.

James Hurst- Hopefully Lewis is healthy next season so he can fill Hurst's role. But ultimately, he's cheap, he will play multiple positions, and he will be valuable depth who can play either tackle position. I ain't happy about this, but this is probably going to happen.

Let go
Terrence West- To be honest, I like him as a player, but think Dixon can do everything he can do. Woodhead is also a good receiver. I think he could return if he's cheap, but I think an upgrade at RB is going to be a priority.

Brent Urban-Have you seen our depth at DL?

Javorius Allen- Again, see our RB depth? I think he will be employed somewhere, but I think we are going to look for an upgrade.

Brandon Carr- I think Humphrey supplants him as the starter sooner rather than later. And with Young returning we could honestly let him go. He could return if we resign him to a smaller deal ala Webb, but don't see him as a starter.

Austin Howard- He might be decent, but I think he's nothing more than a pure stop gap. I could view Alex Lewis potentially starting at RT next season. Even though this team(foolishly) keeps him at guard despite him being nothing more than a decent pass blocker and a piss poor pass blocker. I think we option him, and don't see any other way around it.

So I see us having an offseason similar to the Broncos in 2014 when they got Ward, Talib, and Emmanuel Sanders. Big spending, but necessary big spending. Since we are projected to have some cap room to play with, and Howard and Carr's releases providing more room for us, I think we go big next offseason in an attempt to put the team over the top.

Free Agent Acquisitions

Andrew Norwell, OG- Yeah. He's the perfect scheme fit for LG and a very good player. And the Panthers likely won't be able to afford him. He's arguably the most underrated guard in the league, and like Tony Jefferson last year, clearly fits the "play like a Raven" mantra. He's a stud. That's an automatic upgrade to the line and suddenly turns it into a rock solid line, regardless of who is starting at RT. He gets a big contract and turns the left of the line into a stonewall. Does he fix the line all by himself? No, but I see him doing a lot.

Allen Robinson, WR- I am well aware that Perriman can have a breakout year, I have us resigning Wallace, and a #1 WR at the NFL level is already on the roster. But, the Jaguars do not have a lot of cap room next offseason(and in my scenario where Carr and Howard are both gone, we should have some room to play round with), and Robinson might be affordable next offseason and likely will want out of Jacksonville next offseason. He was poorly used last offseason and had to put up with Blake Bortles. Flacco, even on his worst day, is a clear upgrade. Not to mention, it'd help that we are a winning organization. I would not be surprised if we took a one year flier on Robinson as a "prove it deal" as he is coming off of a torn ACL, and is going to be in a saturated WR market in 2018. He could be an affordable option who fits very well with Flacco as a red zone option. This would also provide us some much needed firepower on offense.

Zach Brown, ILB. Us having cap room to play with makes this a great offseason to spend. Especially since this team is not far off from being a contender again. So, I decided to mask a weakness at ILB and have us go get a pretty good one. Mosley and Brown would form a formidable duo together, and make the middle a pain to throw against. I think Correa is nothing more than an average, to slightly below average. And us getting rid of Carr gets rid of a big weakness for us. Brown would make our impressive defense even better.


NOW FOR THE DRAFT.
So, just for parameters sake, I have us picking in the early 20s. Which I think is reasonable. I've done some scouting at multiple positions and see this as reasonable. We are a good team, but need some work.


Round One: Quenton Nelson, OG, Notre Dame
Quenton-Nelson.jpg

Although I am not the leader of his hype train, I will happily hop onto it without any hesitation. Nelson is as close to a perfect guard prospect as I have ever scouted. Great in pass protection, and a nasty run blocker who can straight up move people and knock them on their ass. "But Lost, you acquired Norwell in the offseason and resigned Jensen, why draft Nelson". Simple. BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE. Not to mention, I think Yanda could/should move to center to help prolong his career. He's getting up there and could benefit from a move to center, as centers have proven to be very effective into their late thirties. Hell, Yanda has called the protections before during the Gino Gradkowski era(gets triggered). He could have a Zack Martin level of effectiveness for a rookie season. Also, Jensen would bolster the depth significantly, providing potentially starter quality play from the bench barring an injury with the versatility play all three interior positions. Nelson is the successor to Yanda in this scenario.

Stanley-Norwell-Yanda-Nelson-???(you'll see).
That suddenly turns into one of the best interiors in all of football and makes for a potentially GREAT offensive line. Now this is how I hope the offseason goes.

Round Two: Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia
9cc675deeff5096cb5502ed847dea6c7_crop_exact.jpg


Anyone surpised? I've been hyping up the guy for awhile. He's the running back the offense needs, and deserves. Want a power back? He can drag defensive players with him to gain the extra yard or two. He can also push a pile an extra yard or two on a crucial third down. He's got above average speed, and has excellent vision, with an innate ability to make really good cuts in the open field. Now, why do I have him falling to the mid 20s in the second round. It's simple. This running back class is also really good. Barkley, Jones III, Wadley, Scarbough(even if I don't like him), Freeman, Guice, and Chubb also has significant questions about durability despite being more talented than some of the names on the list. Likewise questions about his workload over the past four years might be brought up. He also has little experience as a receiver out of the backfield, and while he is good at the blocking part of pass protection, he often can make a poor decision when face with who to block. So he needs some coaching. He's also lost some of his explosiveness because of the horrific knee injury. But, even with all this, he's the perfect fit for a Greg Roman run blocking scheme with his ability to make smart, quick cuts in the open field, with really good vision and burst and power. Their loss is our gain. He would be the most talented back on the roster day one, and could be a very good running back for us for years to come.


Round Three: Mitch Hyatt, T, Clemson
635864841209822411-AP-WOFFORD-CLEMSON-FOOTBALL-75707346.JPG

Mitch Hyatt is not perfect. At all. He's got issues, but ones that are solvable. While he is a very solid pass blocker, and a good run blocker, he needs to get a lot bigger and stronger for the NFL level. He's good at sealing and opening holes and has some quick feet. But I feel as if he could be a good(not great) RT at best in the NFL, and at worst be a very valuable reserve depth who is capable of being a swing player. Ultimately, I could see him as a potential upgrade to Howard in the long run, and at worst this would bolster our depth.
Stanley-Norwell-Yanda-Nelson-Hyatt/Lewis. Overall, Hyatt is a guy I could see developing into a good RT at the NFL level if he puts on a bit of strength. Something an NFL weight can solve pretty easily, especially at the offensive lineman position.

With Lewis, Jensen, Hurst, Siragusa, and Elumenor as the potential depth. Now the oline is deep, and has a formidable starting lineup. I can die a happy man.

Round Four: Da'Shawn Hand, DL, Alabama
1459473645_AP_687525374579_t1070_hacbc8bba2dee4565e6c5622202c3646a8d5f9ec5.jpg


It's an even year, so we are going to draft a player from Alabama. Yes, I am well aware that in 2016 we didn't take a player from Alabama(funny how it's also been Ozzie's best draft in years), but the bias is obvious and denying it at this point is foolish. Also, in 2017 we drafted two Alabama players to make up for us not drafting one in 2016. So I fully expect the cycle of us drafting an Alabama player every two years to start again this year. It is also a year, so Ozzie is bound to spend one of his draft picks on a low ceiling high floor defensive linemen that we have come to know and love(I mean sure, Wormley broke the mold, but Davis, Henry, and Kaufausi, along with Jernigan and Williams all had high ceilings coming out of school). To be honest, that isn't a terrible strategy, I just wish he did the same with oline. That said, Hand fits the low ceiling high floor thing perfectly. He was once the top recruit in the country, and he's miserably underperformed. Even to my surprsie. Nonetheless, he's a good dlinemen who's a solid run stuffer at worst. He also displayed some improvement in the pass rush later on in the season and overall is a massive project. One we'd be likely to take on given that we've taken on Davis, Henry, etc. And I don't disagree. Hand has a lot of potential and we are historically very good at developing defensive linemen. Also, with Urban leaving it seems logical that we'd draft a semi-replacement for when we inevitably let everyone leave.

Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it. If not, screw you. Will catch you again real soon. I have articles on certain players scouting report wise that I will start to release throughout the season.

Thank you for reading. ^_^
 

purplepittabread88

Staff Member
Administrator
I like everything in here except for Zach Brown. I could be wrong, but I think peanut will be a stud by the end of the season. An offseason similar to this would surely push us over the top, and with youth young enough to not be a one year wonder. Great writing.
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
Even with our extended cap space I expect we won't have enough room for both norwell and robinson (robinson I think jax resign anyway) because we will likely extend both CJ and jimmy as well as resign some of our own guys - I can definitely see one big free agent signing and norwell could well be the guy

Quentin Nelson would be my dream pick in the 1st at this point though
 

Jacquouille

Ravens Ring of Honor
Supporter
Nelson-Chubb has been my 1/2 combo for more than a month. I dream of them in purple every night.
 

Oldfaithful

Hall of Famer
Even with our extended cap space I expect we won't have enough room for both norwell and robinson (robinson I think jax resign anyway) because we will likely extend both CJ and jimmy as well as resign some of our own guys - I can definitely see one big free agent signing and norwell could well be the guy

Quentin Nelson would be my dream pick in the 1st at this point though
I disagree. Jacksonville won't have too much cap room anyway(it's what happens when you spend a decent amount of money a few seasons in a row), and I don't think he'd want to stay. Jacksonville will likely be drafting quarterback and he's been poorly used. Here, even though he'd be competeting for targets with Maclin, Perriman, and Wallace, etc., but he'd know that Flacco knows how to take advantage of a target like him who's physical. Not to mention, the WR market next offseason is over saturated in FA. Larry Fitzgerald, Alshon Jeffery, Pryor, Watkins, John Brown(another likely target in my eyes), Davante Adams, Jarvis Landry(my preferred target, but I doubt we get him), Danny Amendola. Although you could very well be correct as more likely targets for us could include Taylor Gabriel, Dontrelle Inman, Jordan Matthews, Paul Richardson, Donte Moncrief etc. Sure, some of these guys are likely to resign with their respective teams, but given the fact that Robinson is coming off of an ACL injury, and a season where he was just poorly used, I could easily see a scenario where he leaves Jacksonville, and other teams are skeptical of him because of lack of recent #1 WR esque production, and a knee injury. Thus, he takes a one year "prove it deal". Further, while Robinson is a very good WR, he's not an elite superstud like Jeffery has proven to be in the past. He's in the same class of #1 WR such as a Jeremy Maclin imho. Easily good enough to be a #1 WR at the NFL level, but not an elite game breaker that you have to especially gameplan for Ala a Julio Jones. But I FULLY expect us not only to resign Wallace for a reasonable contract, but for us to go get somebody else in WR FA next offseason anyway with how ripe the market will be. I could easily see our target be Robinson. Remember, I also suggested last offseason that Tony Jefferson could be a target for us and was laughed at by several(god I wish I had proof to gloat, but I did include him in one of my mock offseason. Always been a huge fan of his). I think this is not only a very good move, but one that isn't totally out of the realm of plausibility.

Also, with a lot of dead money coming off of the book, and the ability to option out of the Brandon Carr and Austin Howard contracts, I think we could have enough money to get 1 or two bigger players. Andrew Norwell in this instance would be worth every penny. He'd likely get a very lucrative contract, and deservedly so. Given that both Jensen and Wallace should be very affordable(unless Jensen turns into an all pro, which is again, doubtful). Norwell in this instance would be the only huge signing. Brown, although a good player, would likely come for a reasonable contract like he did this offseason, and I think Robinson's injury could make him more affordable. This offseason , I think at least, showed what we are going to do. Brandon Willis got PAID, yet we still signed Jefferson to a big contract, and he had(as per usual) poor cap room to start the season out, with no real major cuts made. We also gave decent sized contracts to Brandon Carr, Jeremy Maclin, Austin Howard got a decent deal. And even if we do extend Mosley and Jimmy, Ozzie would likely find a way to make it backloaded he usually does because 2018 could be the year for us. Which I actually think happens, not only does Ozzie have a history of backloading deals, but I think his two year plan (which still has problems but whatever) is predicated around this.

2018 in my eyes is our best shot to win a super bowl for us. We have no major free agents that command a massive payday, key players will be returning from season ending injuries such as Tavon Young, Maurice Canday, Alex Lewis, etc. Our oline is clearly a problem, and if we want to have an elite oline, Alex Lewis isn't going to get the job done. Harbaugh may be dumb enough to slot Lewis as the starting LG, but Ozzie isn't stupid enough to fall for that crap. I see 2018 and even 2019 to an extend as our window of opportunity. Similar to the Broncos in 2014, we will likely be in "win right now, the future be damned" mode. And given that the past two offseasons we have shown that we are willing to give players in free agency good amounts of money(look at the Jefferson and Weddle deals and how well those have turned out for us lately), I see this as a plausible option for the offseason because it would not be overly-excessive spending, and we honestly don't have too many to fill.

But that's just my two cents. Robinson could very well command a heavy contract despite the ACL, but overall I think this is a rock solid, and plausible offseason given the fact that we don't have many big free agents ourselves, the WR market is saturated this offseason, and we will have more money than usual to spend.
 

Ravensnation5220

Ravens Ring of Honor
I just cant get on the Chubb train. Nothing on tape (since his injury) intrigues me. He has good not great power and good vision. Other than that he doesnt have much movement in his hips to make people miss. What he really lacks is top end speed. He will never get past that second level. To me his stock has been dropping ememsly and i think he could be had in the 4th round. I just dont see him getting any faster and that worries me. Id much rather have Bo Scarborough or Akrum Wadley in the second round range.
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
I think of the wr options you mentioned the one I find most intriguing from a potential value standpoint (given that some of them will re-sign or be franchised, some will be priced out of town and fitz will probably retire) is Donte Moncrief

And I still think that robinson stays in jax because they won't let him go especially if they are bringing in a new qb - tom coughlin knows that they'd need some things around a rookie or a castoff free agent in order to have success so I can't see robinson anywhere else next year - they may have to franchise him but they may be fine with that
 

Oldfaithful

Hall of Famer
I think of the wr options you mentioned the one I find most intriguing from a potential value standpoint (given that some of them will re-sign or be franchised, some will be priced out of town and fitz will probably retire) is Donte Moncrief

And I still think that robinson stays in jax because they won't let him go especially if they are bringing in a new qb - tom coughlin knows that they'd need some things around a rookie or a castoff free agent in order to have success so I can't see robinson anywhere else next year - they may have to franchise him but they may be fine with that
Not sure that Jacksonville can afford to tag him. Even though it'd be ideal as he's their most valuable free agent going forward. But I could still see them letting him walk. Even if they draft a new QB it's not implausible to see them resort to using the draft to get a newer WR option(There are some pretty good options via the draft) and/or they could get a player who's cheaper in FA but still good.

That said, I still think it's likely we target a WR in FA. Better than developing a guy. Not a number one necessarily but an affordable guy who's a solid, reliable weapon(Taylor Gabriel would be a solid choice as well).
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
Not sure that Jacksonville can afford to tag him. Even though it'd be ideal as he's their most valuable free agent going forward. But I could still see them letting him walk. Even if they draft a new QB it's not implausible to see them resort to using the draft to get a newer WR option(There are some pretty good options via the draft) and/or they could get a player who's cheaper in FA but still good.

That said, I still think it's likely we target a WR in FA. Better than developing a guy. Not a number one necessarily but an affordable guy who's a solid, reliable weapon(Taylor Gabriel would be a solid choice as well).

The WR I'd like the most is probably Davante Adams.

I think davante Adams may also price himself out of our price-value range where another team pays him too much (alternatively the packers decide he's jordy's heir apparent and decide to backload a deal for him so that all his cap space is pushed to when jordy retires or whatever)

I like Taylor Gabriel as a good 3rd/4th wideout but feel like his skillset is kinda similar to Maclin and I would prefer a bigger body who can go over the middle/ chain mover - albeit I'm not sure who that is right now but I don't think this team is looking for a big time number 1 but a solid role player with size
 

Ravensnation5220

Ravens Ring of Honor
What is there not to like abou Freeman? He's the most complete and NFL ready of the whole bunch.
When i what him run he takes really short strides. Its weird idk i feel like his lower half doesnt match his top. Lack of production last year making this a prove it year for him. I just dont see any traits that would put fear in defenses like you get from Barkley, Guice, Scarborough and even Wadley. They are all much more explosive than Chubb or Freeman.
 
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