Excited – There is a lot to be excited for imo. First and foremost, I’m excited about our defence. I think Mazi Smith is going to be a major cog in our machine. He and Hankins will be able to free up a lot of room for the rest of the team, and Micah Parsons should have more open space to get to the QB. Also, a new season means new possibilities. It’s a fresh slate. So, it means new and exciting possibilities.
Concerns – I have two major concerns. Kicker and oline depth. I think we need to have a kicker or multiple kickers brought into camp to compete. You can’t always end a drive in a TD, and you need someone reliable to convert extra points. Plus, sometimes, you need a field goal to win the game. So, I expect a kicker like Gould, Crosby, a USFL kicker, and/or other possibilities to be brought in by camp. Oline depth is the other area of concern. I know our starting line is good. But injuries happen in football. The depth is questionable imo.
What I will be particularly watching this year – The biggest thing I’ll be watching will be how Dak takes to the WCO. I think Mike McCarthy is an excellent playcaller. He proved he was in Green Bay. For those that have a go at him, he’s got a Lombardi and several NFCC appearances as a playcaller. He’s highly experienced. My thinking is that part of the reason Dak had a lot of turnovers (some of which were not his fault, such as the ball that Schultz tipped against Tennessee) last year was because we had been running practically the same offense for 6 years. Yes, he was successful for the first few seasons in it, but you can’t run the same offense in the NFL and expect to continually be successful. There must be evolution to the playbook. Plus, when you look at Dak’s scouting report, his strengths fit more with the WCO. I’ve been pleading for us to switch to the WCO as it means the WRs will be able to continue their momentum with the routes in the WCO. Since Dak does well with checkdowns, the WCO will allow him to do that, and the WRs can use their speed. So, this is the biggest thing to me. I think that it is incumbent on Dak to succeed this season as he will now be with an offense that I think fits his style better.
By and large, I am very excited for this season. We have had 2 12-5 seasons, and we won our first road playoff game in 30 years last year. I know, I know, the opponent wasn’t the most challenging. However, we won that game. I think this season should be exciting because our defence got better in the offseason imo, and I think our offense will be using a system that should fit the team better. The biggest questions to me are kicker, oline depth, and how will Dak take to a system that should benefit him. I’m also looking forward to seeing which of the young players in TC and preseason will step up and prove themselves to be the answer to some of our key questions for the team.
