What could go wrong?

Danno · 05-26-2005, 07:31 AM

The table is set for an exciting promising season. On paper this team (roster) looks more like a winner than ever before. So what exactly could go wrong? Well there are some legitimate concerns that I hope don't surface.

1. Key injuries. Aaron Brooks. Love him or hate him, if he goes down early with a serious injury we're in huge trouble. Nearly every other position on this team could survive an early injury. But Boumann has looked horrible, Kliff is still a project and A-Mac isn't ready and probably won't be till next year.
Other keys: LeCharles Bentley, Dwight Smith, Deuce McAllister (if its an extended injury)

2. Gelling. While reports of the new additions to the staff sound promising, it is a new system that takes some time to perfect. This team has shown it hasn't picked up changes to the system quickly (see 2-TE set) There may be a learning curve that might be ugly early in the season. We will get burned now and then with our new "attack" approach, but I think its going to pay off in more wins than less.

3. Youth. This team is young. It is going to make some bonehead plays along the way. Hopefully it won't cost us. Perfect example: Charles Grant. Early in 2004 he kept busting outside, and they'd simply cut back underneath him for an easy 5 or 6 yards. It killed us. Toward the end of the year he held his containment much better. Same thing with James Allen. Toward the end of the season it looked like he was actually IN position when early in the season he was so often OUT of position.
I look for Jammal Brown to make a few boneheads along the way.

4. THE GLARE. OK, every position looks to have a decent player, except that ONE GLARING weakness. Its more of a questionmark than any other spot on this team. The 2-gap DT. We do have several candidates, and its likely that one will emerge as the clogger. BUT, if one doesn't the run is going to kill us again. Bryan Young is a really good 3-tech DT. But if he doesn't have that one gap to exploit due to the other DT needing a double team, he will struggle. Its like having only one good WR. If you don't have a decent #2 on the other side your #1 can be easily shut down.

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05-26-2005, 07:31 AM	#1
Danno Truth Addict Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Spanish Fort, AL (via NO and B/R) Posts: 24,748	What could go wrong? The table is set for an exciting promising season. On paper this team (roster) looks more like a winner than ever before. So what exactly could go wrong? Well there are some legitimate concerns that I hope don't surface. 1. Key injuries. Aaron Brooks. Love him or hate him, if he goes down early with a serious injury we're in huge trouble. Nearly every other position on this team could survive an early injury. But Boumann has looked horrible, Kliff is still a project and A-Mac isn't ready and probably won't be till next year. Other keys: LeCharles Bentley, Dwight Smith, Deuce McAllister (if its an extended injury) 2. Gelling. While reports of the new additions to the staff sound promising, it is a new system that takes some time to perfect. This team has shown it hasn't picked up changes to the system quickly (see 2-TE set) There may be a learning curve that might be ugly early in the season. We will get burned now and then with our new "attack" approach, but I think its going to pay off in more wins than less. 3. Youth. This team is young. It is going to make some bonehead plays along the way. Hopefully it won't cost us. Perfect example: Charles Grant. Early in 2004 he kept busting outside, and they'd simply cut back underneath him for an easy 5 or 6 yards. It killed us. Toward the end of the year he held his containment much better. Same thing with James Allen. Toward the end of the season it looked like he was actually IN position when early in the season he was so often OUT of position. I look for Jammal Brown to make a few boneheads along the way. 4. THE GLARE. OK, every position looks to have a decent player, except that ONE GLARING weakness. Its more of a questionmark than any other spot on this team. The 2-gap DT. We do have several candidates, and its likely that one will emerge as the clogger. BUT, if one doesn't the run is going to kill us again. Bryan Young is a really good 3-tech DT. But if he doesn't have that one gap to exploit due to the other DT needing a double team, he will struggle. Its like having only one good WR. If you don't have a decent #2 on the other side your #1 can be easily shut down.