They are at least 2 corners away from a competent CB room.
They are two OL away from a good O-line.
They are multiple D-lineman away from fixing what we saw last night.
They have no pass rushers besides Micah.
Their RB is washed.
Their brightest spot is backup QB, and he’s on his way out.
The elephant in the room that no one wants to say out loud is that this team isn’t improving and the future doesn’t appear to be “bright”.
They went on all on Love and Parsons with their payroll. They don’t have a lot of flexibility to improve things. They have multiple holes in the boat and they lack the draft capital and cap space to do anything about it.
They’ll get some guy backs from injury next year, and other guys will be injured, because it’s football and that’s what happens.
I agree with a lot of this Adam. I felt like we went into the season, and
after acquiring Parsons, with the CB group a weak spot, but that the OL and DL was ok. In fact they looked like a legit SB contender. Losing Slaton to FA and then Wyatt to injury has hurt run D, as we saw against the Ravens. So more depth is needed there.
The OL has been hit and mostly miss. Banks is ok but a bad value. Belton showed more promise in his rooki year than Morgan has showed in 2 years. Maybe that gets fixed when Walker leaves and Morgan gets to play his best position, LT. They still need depth, just like the DL.
The CB group is a disaster area, and Gluten is going to have to devote disproportionate resources (draft, FA $$$) to fix. And no, Hobbs was a swing and a miss, and expensive. He will be cut.
I disagree that RB is "washed" - and by that I assume you mean washed out. Jacobs played most of the year hurt, and the OL wasn't very good at opening gaps for him. I do expect his snap count will go down and Wilson's will go up. It would be nice to FINALLY see Lloyd. But Jacobs is the leader of the O, not Love, and just his presence makes them better. If LLoyd isn't going to cut it, take the loss and find a RB in the 4th-6th rounds.
I still think that when guys like Kraft, Parsons, and Wyatt are back, this is a contending team (for a SB).
Gluten may have to nmake some symbolic shake-ups. RB seems like the easiest to address. Keep Jacobs and add some promising rookies. If the Bears can find a guy like Monangai in the 7th round......
As for this season, we all need to be rrealistic. Personally I'd consider it a success if they get a first round win against the Bears.
Life goes on man, life goes on.