Brad played 4D Chess this off-season… look closely at what our competition has done

The Den
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Let me preface this entire post by stating that Snead, Howie, and Seattle already have their rings… but when it comes to 2026-2027…?

Really look at each team below additions and departures so far this off-season, then look at their schedules from last year and this year. The look at us… LFG!!!

So we had a banged up Sewell at RT, a spent Glass out of place at C, and a broken Decker at LT- a crazy amount of injuries and a top 5 schedule, and missed the playoffs by one game.

Sewell >>> Decker
Mahogany/Bartch/Scruggs > Mahogany/Awo
Mays >> Glass
Rat > Rat
Miller << Sewell

  • that’s a net improvement.

Our WR is better, deeper, and more dynamic-
Our TE is deeper and healthier
Our DE room is deeper and more talented
Our DT room is better in my opinion because we got so little from Reader and while Lopez was a nice surprise, he’s what he is. Having Mac back, Tyliek a year stronger and more prepared, Levi back and these rookie will be better than.a room that gave us 4 combined sacks all year last year.
We added talent and will be healthier in the secondary…

So Anzo and Monty replaced by Rolder/Barmes and Pacheco is the only real concerns with all the other improvements. We wil also have better OC and DC help

  • The Seahawks managed to win a SB with Danrold throwing double digit ints and just 25 TDs, and somehow kept from #12 to #1 on D? I doubt the defense replicates that in 26’. In FA they lost Mafe, Bryant, Woolen, and really didn’t add anyone… then in the draft they got J Price and B Stephens as headliners? If age catches up to Lawrence or JSN gets dinged up, they are in trouble.

  • The Rams they definitely upgraded from McCreary and Durant by signing Watson and trading for McDuffie, but they spent almost 200M and a couple 1st rounders to retain a safety and upgrade two corners. Let’s see how Staffords camp reacts to wasting that pick on Robinson, and they still have to figure out… PUKA, VERSE, K TURNER,YOUNG contracts- this could blow up very quickly- at best they are running back last year where they were crazy lucky with injuries, at worst???

  • The Vikings and Eagles made a mess of each other for us??? Vikings let Greenard, Hargrave and Allen leave via trades and FA… took some high risk draft picks to replace them likely needing to start or face massive regression. By brining in Kyler, any shot of JJ improving is likely dead, and any shot of Kyler staying healthy and caring about football is a big “hope”. Would I have feared Kyler with KOC and a top 5 D? Sure, but with departures of H Smith, Greenard, J Hargrave and J Allen, that D isn’t as scary at all.

  • The Eagles somehow decided to take away AJ Brown, and put a 5’11” 192 pound WR with 4.52 speed opposite the slim reaper… they just took on 100M in upcoming cap hits for a 29 year old, and oft injured DE… how much longer can Lane and Barkley go? I doubt either has a very good 2026… their 2029 cap is ALREADY MAXED WITH VOID YEARS, and the tab is coming after this year on Carter, Q, and Dejean….

  • Da Bears? Did we just see them lose Byard, Brisker, Edmunds, Dahlman, and DJ Moore… and replace them with Thieneman, D Bush, C Bryant, and either Bradberry or Logan Jones? Oh and Raymond in for DJ? The Bears lost 17 of their league leading 23 interceptions, and that was a huge reason they had a negative point differential, and trialed 7 games in the final 2 minutes and still made the playoffs…I’m not sure the Bears did much to stay the same let alone improve.

Washington? Look at that secondary…

Packers? When will Micah be Micah? Otherwise the entire roster is far worse. They lost help at WR and in the front 7, and now rely on a 28 plus year old RB and a WR room that can’t stay healthy and lacks depth.

49ers? Can Evans, Trent, CMC, Kittle, Warner, Greenlaw stay healthy and keep going at this point?

Who is scary? Take a peak at what Carolina quietly did… adding Walker, Freeling and Hecht to their OL, and then J Phillips, L Hunter, Wheatley, D Lloyd to their D… if Bryce improve a little more the Panthers will be pretty damn good… Giants adding J Harbaugh was huge, but they’ve done nice things are Dart who looks like he could be him. Bucs could be interesting if Bain can overcome the “arm length”

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It’s encouraging win-wise, our offense should be playing some bully ball this season, Jared ‘should’ be more upright and clean, our defense is where I’m still left holding my breath because I feel like I got up from the dinner table half full and still wanting something. I’m not getting great vibes- defense wise.

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OP great post. I am really excited to see how much better our offensive line is this year. Brad really went all out to make it better.

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How are we better at WR?

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Ok which one of you is Brad and do you think there should be some consultation fees divvied up?

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It all depends on Shepard and the growth of our defense. That scheme was bad down the stretch last year.

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I think it’s way too early to tell how things will play out for these teams this fall. If you made this post last year, you wouldn’t have even included Seattle, and yet they went on to win it all. Each season is its own little drama, like good TV

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I think we will be too.
-Ra = Ra
Tesla this year > Teslaa last year (experience + Better OC)
Jamo advances another step forward, as we have not seen his ceiling yet.
OC frees things up for everyone.
Play action WORKS and buys us more time, with the improved OL…which means improved run game.

Every improvement helps every other improvement improve.

Also - I think adding the bald guy as an OC was by far our biggest improvement in the offseason. Gonna be a real Petzing Zoo around here.

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And Goff was starting to build chemistry with him down the stretch last year. In the final 6 games he had 4 td catches. Got better as the season went along. Could be a break out coming next year

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The main reason I see… Jamo and Teslaa are still improving.

Also, Greg Dortch is a solid depth signing for slot role.

I also do believe in the Law. Kendrick Law. For a few explosive gadget plays.

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How are we worse?

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All good points as to why we will be better but I think the big reason we will be better is because DC is retooling his urgency in players. Last year you could tell he was unhappy with the teams effort in some games. Due to injuries I think we lost our emphasis on competition and best man sees the field. For the last few years we have “handled” some of our top talent. Given them days off of practice and then started them in games. So if you are the 2d or 3d guy why bother to push harder. Even when the starter is banged up the team is going to do everything they can to start him over you. That young hunger was just not there. So they jettisoned many of the high priced, older and oft injured guys. They were talented and good players. But they were also a drag on team dynamics. This year we added a lot of pieces and most of these guys are younger and hungry. I think we will see more of the on field play from a few years ago because DC and BH are focusing on bringing back the grit. I expect we are going to get back to dragging teams into the deep end again and I can’t wait to see it.

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So…. Ra is in his absolute prime, and the combo of still having all of his athleticism and being able to setup defenders better each year will optimize him. Having Jamo as a short, deep and now intermediate threat requires more attention from a defense. Teslaa will have 10 plus tds if defenses don’t respect him, and even if they do… his size, speed and catch radius are real. Dortch and Law give us different flavors of what Raymond was. Jamo and Teslaa are matchup problems, and a healthy Laporta, Ra, and Gibby are nightmares on their own.

A little more time in the pocket, a little more size…. and more speed

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One thing we gotta clean up is the dropped passes. Jamo and St. Brown dropped way too many last year

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I dont think we’re worse I just don’t think we added any pieces that has made us better.
Jamo and TesLaa should be better. LaPorta is still a big question mark though.

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St. Brown won’t have another season like that. I’d put money on it. Jamo is always going to struggle with the dropsies I think. Just seems to be who he is but he is still one hell of a WR.

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We’re officially to that part of the offseason. The same part where Cowboy fans think they are about to win another Super Bowl.

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I think some of those drops were because of rushed, off timing, throws caused by a porous oline.

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Trailer Park Boys Beer GIF by hero0fwar

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