random thoughts

[wreck ship]

Yea it's likely we will still have some holes to fill when the season starts believe it or not. We lost 10 in a row last year. You don't do that without some major holes. Coaching was obviously one of them but hopefully that turns out better. There was still obvious holes with coaching aside. We have addressed some very important ones and that will make us a better team alone. I don't think anybody expects us to win the sb or even go to the big game, but the moves we made and will make before the season starts will improve our playoff chances. I think we will at the very least be competitive in our division again and games will be fun to watch again. It's just unrealistic to expect us to fill all of the needs after we had so many after this past season. It should take another offseason or two before we fill out our roster and gain the depth we need to be consistent contenders but this offseason was a great step in the right direction.

totally agree.

[bashear]

Yea it's likely we will still have some holes to fill when the season starts believe it or not. We lost 10 in a row last year. You don't do that without some major holes. Coaching was obviously one of them but hopefully that turns out better. There was still obvious holes with coaching aside. We have addressed some very important ones and that will make us a better team alone. I don't think anybody expects us to win the sb or even go to the big game, but the moves we made and will make before the season starts will improve our playoff chances. I think we will at the very least be competitive in our division again and games will be fun to watch again. It's just unrealistic to expect us to fill all of the needs after we had so many after this past season. It should take another offseason or two before we fill out our roster and gain the depth we need to be consistent contenders but this offseason was a great step in the right direction.

Well said.

[caradoc]

Gotta agree the LBs are a weak spot but I think people are a) really overstating it, and b) expecting too much in one offseason.

 Regarding a: Foster was put in a tough position last year, rookie, with no offseason, no veteran mentor, poor coaching, and two ankle injuries.  If ever anyone was 'set up to fail' he was last season.  QB is, IMO, a below average LB, but with decent coaching I think he can't least not be a glaring weakness.  I expect us to part ways after this year though.  After that nobody really knows for certain how the corps shakes down, who will be there and who won't. 

Regarding b: One of the worst thing you can do is try to do too much at once.  You end up cutting corners to do that.  You reach and grab a guy who isn't really all that because you want to fill a hole right now rather than being patient and you end up married to a player you are less than happy with down the road.  Or you end up paying a lot more than you need to to land a guy.  Or a combo of both.  I too would like to see Lofton here, but I don't want him if it's going to cost us too much, because while he is good, he isn't great and he is asking to be paid as great.  All the holes aren't possible to patch in one year, we are, like most other teams, going to field an imperfect product, with both strengths and weaknesses.  Grabbing a few average low-price players to shore up some areas (back 7). Is probably more of what the dooctor ordered for now than reaching to grab a big name.

[Biggs3535]

We didn't sign Lofton because he wanted CB money for a 2 down position. Lofton is just a 2 down LB, good against the run but poor coverage skills and you don't pay $9 mill+ for that. $6mill-$7mill is far more reasonable.

Lofton has been a 3-down LB'er for the Falcons since 2009.