The 2021 Offseason Thread

[JoeyFlex5]

I don't even trust the guys we have at the moment to compete in a shootout. And that's bound to happen at some point in the playoffs. We can be an historic running team all we want, but when they stack the box, Lamar's arm and his weapons still have a lot of question marks.

Well that’s on them, and if we get in a shootout, they still have to play contain and then it’s pick your poison, do you man up because our receivers struggle against it and turn your back to Lamar? Or do you play zone to contain Lamar and get diced up?

if our WR2 is legit and not Boykin or Snead, and we still have these same issues, then the issue isn’t the weapons, at that point we have a much bigger problem because that means Lamar isn’t developing.

 

[ndub]

But do we trust Lamar and Roman enough to figure it out to get everyone involved? Lol

If the issue is indeed Roman, I’m gonna place a bet that adding yet another receiver to the equation will not solve the real problem. Mask it a bit, sure, but we’ll still fall short until the root of the problem gets weeded out

 

[ndub]

Well that’s on them, and if we get in a shootout, they still have to play contain and then it’s pick your poison, do you man up because our receivers struggle against it and turn your back to Lamar? Or do you play zone to contain Lamar and get diced up?

if our WR2 is legit and not Boykin or Snead, and we still have these same issues, then the issue isn’t the weapons, at that point we have a much bigger problem because that means Lamar isn’t developing.

Pssttt.... or the coaching sucks...

 

[rmcjacket23]

I'm confused at your first statement. What do you mean you're not concerned if it doesn't happen this year? You think Hollywood, Mark and Sammy can get it done?

1. I'm not concerned about lack of talent from pass catchers. If we don't win, I don't think it will be due to lack of playmakers or talent.
2. I'm not concerned if we don't win a Lombardi this year, as our window won't be close to closed. I'm more interested in having a quality group of pass catchers and weapons for Lamar for the next 3-5 years or longer than I am about going the route we've gone for most of the last decade +, which is find a cheap veteran to give us the last 2-3 good years he has left, and then rinse, repeat. Sometimes you get Boldin's that way, and sometimes you get Crabtree's that way. And there's no way of telling either...

 

[rmcjacket23]

Hey, don't discount Torrey and those OPI's lol. But he was only in his second year during the Super Bowl run? Wow. I stand corrected.

PI's are like projecting receivers based on TDs. You'll never get good analysis that way. If you're banking on your receiver making a big contribution via PI, and it doesn't happen, good luck...

 

[rossihunter2]

I’m just going to say it because it’s been bothering me for a while: I don’t think our current group of pass catchers is enough to get it done THIS year. You’re counting on two rookies who could be busts. I don’t know what to think of Duv yet as an actual WR. Sammy could see the trainer’s table more often than not, and Hollywood is inconsistent.

I thought Sammy was a bit of a desperation signing like Ryan Grant since we tried hard to grab JuJu. Just looking at our current corps, I don’t see us keeping up with other high octane offenses in the playoffs.

I wish we had a couple of proven vets in the mix like Boldin and Torrey for Flacco during that SB run.

but idk that that's entirely true - we've got hollywood who's not actually that inconsistent... and frequently separates significantly (averaging the 3rd highest separation per route of any WR in the league in 2020 only behind tyreek and calvin ridley), sammy might be injured some this year but he's also never missed more than half a season and he's a very trustworthy and reliable target

and then you add bateman to that, and i dont see him as a risk in terms of early contributions because he's very pro-ready - nuanced route-runner who releases well already, with great intelligence and recognition and explosion and hands... like what's going to stop him from being an early contributor? stylistically it's very unlikely he busts

duv is gonna be duv and that's fair enough, and there's lots of questions about tylan as a rookie and boykin and proche but we're looking at 3 guys we like week 1 at WR and Andrews and Boyle at TE - it's not a super dynamic group but it's more than lamar's had at least since 2018 when he had crabtree, brown and snead (and tbh this group is probably already better than that one)

 

[rossihunter2]

I don't even trust the guys we have at the moment to compete in a shootout. And that's bound to happen at some point in the playoffs. We can be an historic running team all we want, but when they stack the box, Lamar's arm and his weapons still have a lot of question marks.

which is why we added sammy watkins who can win in man 1v1 and drafted the guy who did that all over his tape in the first round in 2021...

and for me it's not even really about the receivers, it's more about the pass pro - when guys can pin their ears back and attack lamar in those moments, can we give him enough time to make the read and get the ball out - lamar looked like a superhero in 2019 despite only having andrews, snead, seth roberts and hollywood on 1 leg because he had time and comfort in the pocket

 

[RL52TheGreatest]

which is why we added sammy watkins who can win in man 1v1 and drafted the guy who did that all over his tape in the first round in 2021...

and for me it's not even really about the receivers, it's more about the pass pro - when guys can pin their ears back and attack lamar in those moments, can we give him enough time to make the read and get the ball out - lamar looked like a superhero in 2019 despite only having andrews, snead, seth roberts and hollywood on 1 leg because he had time and comfort in the pocket

If our OL plays better than it did last year then I think we'll see the return of MVP Lamar. We had so many missed plays last year, that would have been huge gains, if Lamar just had an extra second or two to deliver the football.

 

[rossihunter2]

@Simba - think we’ve talked about these covid-inspired roster rule changes being good and I’m glad to see that it looks like they might be around in the post-pandemic NFL

 

[rossihunter2]

If our OL plays better than it did last year then I think we'll see the return of MVP Lamar. We had so many missed plays last year, that would have been huge gains, if Lamar just had an extra second or two to deliver the football.

it's more than that for me, it completely changes the way we can play - i dont think people quite understand just how bad our OL was at pass protecting down the stretch because we completely changed our offence back to like 2018 levels of run heavy in terms of OL responsibilities which is why ultimately when we had to dropback pass they could not handle it at all

we couldnt do the empty set stuff that lamar was amazing at in 2019, we couldn't drop back without play-action and expect lamar to have time to throw

his best performance last year you could argue was the first week against the browns and he had no time to throw in that game at all (but he still made magic happen)

 

[QuothTheRaven]

Is @Militant X 1 secretly Tyus Bowser..?

 

[Deebo813]

Man just saw that pass to sammy watkins and that mf was so fluttery smh..

 

[JAAM]

Man just saw that pass to sammy watkins and that mf was so fluttery smh..

I thought you were exaggerating but it looked awful. God damn. I thought his fingers weren’t on the laces but they were. Maybe that’s why Sammy had the dropsies today. Nothing wrong with a non-spiral, but something that wobbly is hard to reel in when the pads are on

 

[ThatsMyJoeTerback]

Lot of people clowning GRo in the replies, but I don't know that he's wrong. Feel like our spread offense in 2019 was excellent, was damn near unstoppable when we went to it. Ofc you need to have the line hold up long enough and QB process coverages quicker, which we didn't see much in 2020.

 

[JoeyFlex5]

Man just saw that pass to sammy watkins and that mf was so fluttery smh..

Yeah that shit was so bad it looked like Sammy was gonna drop it for a second lol

 

[Sandtown]

But do we trust Lamar and Roman enough to figure it out to get everyone involved? Lol

I don't think it matter if we do or dont trust Lamar and Roman it's not going to change anything but obviously the additiion of Tee Martin and Keith Williams should bring some excitement. Roman defintiely probably has the right offensive staff to help him in regards to opening up the offense and getting the receivers more involved. I'm not really concerned esecially not in June right now but it's possible with David Culley departure it gives Roman new sets of eyes on the receiver postion and on how each individual receiver can be used.

 

[Deebo813]

I thought you were exaggerating but it looked awful. God damn. I thought his fingers weren’t on the laces but they were. Maybe that’s why Sammy had the dropsies today. Nothing wrong with a non-spiral, but something that wobbly is hard to reel in when the pads are on

We are just gonna have to accept the fact thats its not gonna change..

 

[ndub]

We are just gonna have to accept the fact thats its not gonna change..

Yet he can make “every pass Mahomes does, but better”.... LOL

 

[ndub]

IF Lamar keeps putting fluttery wounded duck passes out there like the one to Sammy, using piss poor mechanics and therefore regressing again... do you all still support giving him the huge contract extension?

I do know it was one play, and this is way overblown ... but since everybody likes to play the what if game, I may as well throw my own out there too

 

[JoeyFlex5]

I don't think it matter if we do or dont trust Lamar and Roman it's not going to change anything but obviously the additiion of Tee Martin and Keith Williams should bring some excitement. Roman defintiely probably has the right offensive staff to help him in regards to opening up the offense and getting the receivers more involved. I'm not really concerned esecially not in June right now but it's possible with David Culley departure it gives Roman new sets of eyes on the receiver postion and on how each individual receiver can be used.

I think “new” sets of eyes may be the wrong term, more like “useful” sets of eyes, because David culley did not have a useful set of eyes apparently