New Starters

All Activity NFL
1

CB…Mosely and Sutton
DB…Gardner-Johnson
LB…Campbell
Possibly Levi

OG…Vaitai OR Glasgow
TE…LaPorta
RB…Gibbs and Montgomery
WR…Jones

Only position to be immediately unknown as far as upgrade is WR but that is probable downgrade until Williams comes back.

Obviously. there is concern over the WR spot but with LaPorta and Gibbs coming in, Mitchell finishing his shortened season with 11 receptions on what, 12 or 13 targets? This is a team that finished hot and should start hot. Post draft win totals haven’t moved, anywhere from 9 to 9.5.

Really impressed with what they’ve done and have a higher bar than Vegas.

6 Likes
2

Look forward to seeing what a fully healthy Mitchell does. He was one that I thought impressed in the limited reps that he received last season

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3

We are probably not expecting Moseley to start right away.

So, I’ll say new starters at week 1:
Montgomery and Marvin Jones on offense. (Wright likely gets the start at TE with the other 2 being so green)
Gardner-Johnson and Sutton on defense.

By December:
Gibbs, Jones, Jamo and LaPorta on offense.
Campbell, Gardner-Johnson, Sutton, and Moseley on defense.

It’s hard not to include Vaitai and Walker as new starters, given that neither played last year. They’ll both be starting week 1 and hopefully stay healthy through the season.

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4

He was 11 for 11 perfect

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5

Do we havd a ra or joseph in this draft that impresses early and gets the run as a mid round guy? I think the only option there would be Martin and it is likely a tall order based on increase in level of competition… he would certainly be the most impactful.

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6

Crazy to think after having our best rushing attack since Barry, we will have two new guys and our leading rushers from last year are both gone.

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7

That’s my vote. I could be dead wrong, though. Years ago I swore off older prospects that come into camp a 2nd or 3rd time and dominate other UDFAs and rookies. Fool’s gold, you know? Like, they’ve been through enough camps to look better than they really are. So, with an older player going against lesser talent I probably should be more skeptical, but I can’t help but think he’s going to impress us all. Maybe that’s hope tinted with desperation. :slight_smile:

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8

I’m really looking forward to Mitchell this season! He could be a real sleeper/wild card.

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9

If Martin has a great offseason… gets his body right for NFL competition, and can apply the coaching on his technique, he plays a position from which he could have an immediate and profound impact for the defense.

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10

QB - No upgrade, since nothing is expected of Hooker this year

RB - Minor upgrade. Montgomery is a more rounded player than Williams, and Gibbs projects to have a similar role to (healthy) Swift but has better athleticism

WR - No upgrade. Jamo wasn’t a factor last season, and we lost Chark, who only played 11 games last season, which is the most Jamo will be eligible for. I’m not expecting much from Jones at age 33. Overall I think this group is a wash, but we need production from Jamo to achieve that

TE - Big upgrade. Mitchell will be better having fully recovered from his injury and will benefit from a full offseason, and LaPorta should give us something we didn’t have after Hock was traded in terms of a consistent pass catching threat

OL - No / minor upgrade. Glasgow for Brown is probably a wash. Vaitai being healthy would be an upgrade but the line was already very good last year without him so it’s pretty tough to get too much better

DT - Minor upgrade. Martin looks very raw but can hopefully be coached up over time. Even if Levi is healthy it’s not clear if he’d actually make this unit much better

DE - Big upgrade. What? We haven’t added anyone at edge!? We kind of have. Cominsky (3), Romeo (12), Harris (11) and Paschal (7) missed a combined 33 games last season, and none of them were playing at 100% when they were on the field. Cominsky with his club, Romeo coming off the Achilles, Paschal playing catch-up after missing his rookie offseason with a sports hernia and Harris with a series of minor injuries that disrupted his season. Injuries will hit this group again this year no doubt, but it can’t be as bad as last year. There’s also the continuing development of James Houston too. With more average injury luck this should be a much better unit than last year, and we saw glimpses of that towards the end of last season.

LB - Big upgrade. I like Rodrigo, but he is limited. Campbell should offer a significant upgrade

CB - Big upgrade. Sutton is better than anything we fielded at outside corner last year, and Moseley should be too when he gets healthy

S - Big upgrade. CJGJ, Walker, Kerby and Branch is maybe the best safety unit in the league, with a lot of positional versatility too

6 Likes
11

Yep, we rushed for over 2000 yards and 20+ TD’s last year on the ground. However, like Ben Johnson said after the season we had many more opportunities for big plays if only the RB could of a broke a tackle after the O-line opened a nice hole. Several of those 5-7 yard J-Will runs could be 20+ yard gains with these new backs. Monty excels breaking tackles and Gibby is a home run hitter.

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12

With Wright, LaPorta and Mitchell, I’m expecting a lot of double TE formations, especially while Jamo is out.

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13

The most obvious candidates to impress early are Gibbs and Branch, with Campbell and LaPorta hot on their heels.
Beyond day 2 draftees?
Sordsal? I mean, there’s only two.
It would be great if Green could become a great receiver, but, his 4.79 40 speed makes him a better TE than WR.

1 Like
14

Agree with everything but this, Brown was great as a C backup but there really was a dropoff when he or any of their other options were at OG. Evan Brown signed for about half of what we are paying Glasgow and he’s only getting that because he’ll be playing center.

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15

He ran a 4.47 40.

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16

Everyone has Vatai starting. I don’t think they remember Glasgow. Glasgow will start at RG, game 1, and it will be a huge upgrade over last season.

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17

BigV was playing at a high level when he was healthy. Both guys coming off injury it may very well come down to who’s most ready.

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18

You and me both on Mitchell TE room overall has a big improvement this season.

19

Possibly, either way it should be an upgrade.

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20

Big V has a bad back and Glasgow has a bad wheel. So together they have 1 good back and 3 good wheels. Hopefully they can combine to play 17 games.

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