It all sounds good, the only problem is its July. We have some big question marks on this team, not that there are no answers, but there are some things that have to be resolved.
1 - Offensive line (Spitz's back, Lang's hand, Tauscher's knees, Clifton's?) Then we have the unproven and inexperience players with Breno, Buluga, and Newhouse. Not sure what Barbre can do and what we are going to get with Colledge.
Bottom line is that we don't have an O-line that has played together as a cohesive unit for any length of time. Is there hope, YES, but there is a lot of work and decisions to be made.
I believe the OL will turn out to be a strong unit in 2010. There are 13 guys in the mix to make the team. No doubt some difficult decisions will need to be made, but the results will be good.
2 - Our secondary has some unresolved issues, Harris's knee, Bigby holding out, Underwood legal problems, Blackmon coming back from injury, Burnett is a rookie with no experience in a 3-4 defense.
Harris will begin the season on the PUP list, but stands a good chance at suiting up in week 6. Depth may be an issue if there are injuries, but I am thinking TT may make another trade on the last day of cuts - trades an OL for a backup CB.
3 - Special teams, did it bother anybody that MM got a little too excited about Barbre playing on special teams in his last press conference? Our issues with special teams are many and I am not sure they will improve this year, but one can hope.
This is the biggest question mark, but I think we will be adequate. Crosby has a good year and anyone is an upgrade over Kapinos.
4 - Driver is 34 going on 35 with both his knees getting scoped. Holt at 31 had the same procedure done and the following year his production dropped a lot.
Could happen, but we have Nelson and Jones waiting in the wings. Both are ready to start if the situation presents itself. This is one place we can afford an injury or another issue.
5 - THE BIGGEST QUESTION, WILL JUSTIN HARRELL PLAY THIS YEAR? If he can play and produce a pass rush like a first round draft choice should, our defensive line will dominate this year and our secondary problems will be gone like a fart in the wind. Just think with Jenkins, Raji, and Harrell on 3rd and long in the 4th quarter being fresh because we have Pickett, 2 rookies, and Wynn even Jolly in the rotation during the game.
I will call it now, if Harrell can play, Jones will have 10 or more sacks and Barrnett and Hawk both make the probowl.
I wouldn't bank on Harrell making the team, but we have much better depth this year with Raji, Neal, and Wilson. If Raji is even close to what we thought we would get, our sacks will be up.