I think we're all disappointed that OL and WR didn't get better but did they get worse? AR was a no show and our 2 and 3 should give more than our 1 and 3 did last year. Obviously we all wanted a big #1 but you can't have everything when you need so much. We should actually get better overall play from WRs this year.
From a talent standpoint, yea we got worse. Robinson still got paid $15 mil to Pringle's $6. No doubt he's still thought more highly of in NFL circles than anyone else we picked up. I'm not worried about Pringle replacing Robinson's production from last year but that shouldn't be the bar to clear.
The OL is a wash with Daniels vs Lucas but we still have a G hole instead of C hole and question at LT even though the 2nd year Ts should show a clear jump. No guarantees. I like a couple of this year's OL draft picks a lot but they're late picks for a reason and need development, Thomas has a shot at moving inside to G this year and Jones may have a future at LT but it would be asking a lot for him to play there this season.
Daniels got paid twice as much as Patrick did. So while we can look at it as a body-for-body switch on the starting unit, it might not actually work out that way in terms of quality. And that trade just switched the hole on the line from C to RG so we're still wondering exactly who will fill that, hoping a 6th round rookie can.
To use your argument from above, Jason Peters held down the LT spot in a pinch quite well. He's old but a former pro-bowler and one of the best to ever play the position (in his prime). We didn't anticipate him being the LT at this point of last offseason but it happened and surprisingly worked out for much of the season. It appears Jenkins will be manning the right side but it remains to be seen if he can be as good as we hope. The clubhouse leader to take the LT spot right now is second-year 5th rounder Larry Borom to be challenged by rookie 5th rounder Braxton Jones. Lots of uncertainty there despite us feeling fairly good about the young guys we have.
Plus, when we say we got worse talent-wise, we have to consider that within relation to the rest of the league. Without a first rounder, we added less premium talent than most other teams, especially when considering how we didn't add any bigger-name free agents either. I agree with the approach Poles took this offseason and am glad he didn't break the bank for any free agents but that simultaneously means we've got a lot of stop gaps for the time being until they prove otherwise on the field. At best, our talent level remained fairly even, but I've never been considering the talent as a reason for why we'll get/look better. That's all about the coaching.
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