2023 TFL TEAM PREVIEWS
TUCSON STORM LANDRY EAST
COACH JIM MARSHALL
LAST SEASON RECORD: 5-11 BASE DEFENSE: 3-4
OFFENSIVE SKILL TOTAL: 15TH O-LINE TOTAL: 11TH
DEFENSIVE TOTAL: 5TH D-LINE: 12TH LB: 5TH SECONDARY: 12TH
SPECIAL TEAMS TOTAL: 11TH
KEY OFF SEASON ADDITIONS: DJ Reader 6-0 NT from Georgia for 2nd this season and 3rd next season.
KEY OFF SEASON LOSSES: Akim Hicks 5-1 DE traded to Alta Loma. Lost HB Davonta Freeman, CB Byron Jones and S Anthony Harris to IR and retirement.
2023 DRAFT OVERVIEW- Has pick 1.3, two 2nd rounders, three 6th rounders and two 8th rounders. Total of 13 picks.
2023 SEASON OUTLOOK-
Good base to build from. The D-LINE (ranked 12th) is the strength here of course with Reader, Graham and Sweat. LINEBACKERS have decent ratings if you put K Curl at OLB but this group is as vanilla as ice. The SECONDARY has FS Hufunga but not much else and needs major upgrades. PASS RUSH is very weak and ranked last in league. On OFFENSE (ranked 15th), QB Andy Dalton ranks 10th but his long term prospects are as good as mine in the NFL. Jim has Deshaun Watson and I believe he is destined to return to his strat card greatness of a few years ago so I would use pick 1.3 elsewhere. HBs Jeff Wilson (ranked 32nd) and Latavius Murray (ranked 29th) are going to cause no issues for defenses. TE Goedert (ranked 13th) is great players with better years ahead. The WR group is average (ranking 14th) with only Rondale Moore and Kadarius Toney as potential young breakouts. The O-LINE (ranked 11th) is solid but aging a tad. SPECIAL TEAMS are solid ranking 11th in league. I see this season depending on draft and hitting on those first three picks. Jim is great coach and will surprise some better teams but looks like he is few seasons away from title hopes.
DRAFT NEEDS: CB, OLB, HB, O-LINE, WR and KOR
PLAYOFFS 2023- NO, MAYBE NEXT YEAR
FLAGSTAFF SAVAGES LANDRY EAST
COACH CHRIS VON ALBRECHT
LAST SEASON RECORD: 10-6 (Won Division, Lost WC game) BASE DEFENSE: 4-3
OFFENSIVE SKILL TOTAL: 11th O-LINE TOTAL: 9th
DEFENSIVE TOTAL: 19th D-LINE: 19th LB: 18th SECONDARY: 15th
SPECIAL TEAMS TOTAL: 3rd
KEY OFF SEASON ADDITIONS: None
KEY OFF SEASON LOSSES: Traded S Eddie Jackson to Oakville for 6th this season and 3rd in 2024. Traded DE Montez Sweat to Tampa for 1st and 2nd round picks this season. DE Derek Barnett and OLB Harold Landry are on IR this season.
2023 DRAFT OVERVIEW- has pick 1.15 and 1.18 this season along with two 2nd rounders and total of 11 picks overall.
2023 SEASON OUTLOOK-
Interesting team honestly that could be in for disappointing season unfortunately. The bad luck ratings that stood out for me were QB Kyler Murray (19th ranked), HB Joe Mixon (69th ranked), S Antione Winfield (4 pass coverage), WR Deebo Samuel (48th ranked) and OLB Josh Uche who got 0-0 rating. Overall, the OFFENSE comes in at 11th in our rankings highlighted by the 4th rated TE group featuring Evan Engram(4th), TJ Hockenson (5th) and Pat Friermuth (8th). Too bad no 3 tight end sets allowed in Strat. QB Kyler Murray is in a real quandary regarding his career, he must get healthy, study and get back on track. HBs ranked 19th include Joe Mixon and Kareem Hunt. WR group is ranked 7th and very solid for years to come with Samuel, DJ Moore and Devonta Smith. The O-LINE ranks 9th in league and Pass Blocks much better than opening holes. The DEFENSE seems like the real weakness here as overall it comes in a 19 out of 20 in our rankings system. Of all the categories used in our rankings Flagstaff Defense had no categories in the top half of the league. The D-LINE is ranked 19th and features three 4’s and one zero with only 11 pass rush points. LB group can pressure QBs (ranked 11th) featuring JJ Reddick and Josh Uche with 12 star ratings on the edge. MLB Roquan Smith is great and without him this group would really never be able to cover anyone. The SECONDARY comes in at 15th in rankings but a little misleading because I love S Winfield, CB Dean, CB Johnson and S Cisco. I think this unit next season will flip to the good side completely. The bright spot is SPECIAL TEAMS unit which comes in at 3rd in league. The returners boost this unit and have names like Peoples-Jones and Hunter Renfrow. Most teams have returner issues but not Flagstaff. I am very much interested in seeing where coach Von-Albrecht can take this team this season.
DRAFT NEEDS: DE, DT, OLB, HB, S, CB
PLAYOFFS 2023- I DON’T SEE HOW
OAKVILLE HOOSIERS LANDRY EAST
COACH JOHN VUCH
LAST SEASON RECORD: 8-8 BASE DEFENSE: 3-4
OFFENSIVE SKILL TOTAL: 1st O-LINE TOTAL: 20th
DEFENSIVE TOTAL: 10th D-LINE: 17th LB: 7th SECONDARY: 10th
SPECIAL TEAMS TOTAL: 13th
KEY OFF SEASON ADDITIONS: S EDDIE JACKSON-traded 6th this year and 3rd in 2024 to Flagstaff
KEY OFF SEASON LOSSES: LB ALEX JOHNSON (A VOL!), HB D’ERNEAST JOHNSON, COLE BEASLEY, ALI MARPET, J TARTT AND C MATT PARADIS
2023 DRAFT OVERVIEW- 10 picks, one in each round. A straight
2023 SEASON OUTLOOK-
The highest rated SKILL OFFENSE (1st) in our rankings. This rating is boosted by this #1 rated WR Group that includes AJ Brown, Tyreek Hill and Adam Theilen. The QB Lamar Jackson (strat 26th rated) will have to be on target to get all these guys involved. TE Dawson Knox is a nice pass catcher to add to this group. The weak link on the skill positions is HB Raheem Mostert who strat ranks as #31 and probably has a SG/LG card coming. The O-LINE (ranked dead last 20th) needs major upgrades for this offense to click. The pass blocking totals only 23 which is very low. John needs a G and T in bad way in draft. This offense poses a huge dilemma in that it should probably be best in 3WR sets but the pass blocking negates this theory. Will be very curious to see how coach John approaches his formations. The DEFENSE is overall ranked 10th in our system. The 3-4 D-LINE (ranked 17th) is headlined by the last year of HOF JJ Watt (5-12*) and helped by Jadeveon Clowney (5-3) and NT Greg Gaines (4-5). The LB Group comes in at 7th in our rankings but will have to use formations subs to get pass coverage vs pass rush options which is always dangerous. The PASS RUSH is ranked 7th and can put heat on with OLB Preston Smith (12*) and OLB Luvo (10) coming off the edge on passing downs. The SECONDARY is good ranking 10th with newly acquired S Eddie Jackson, CB AJ Terrell, SCB Isiah Oliver and CB Troy Hill all coming in with 5 ratings. Malcolm Jenkins is only soft spot with his 4 rating. The SPECIAL TEAMS unit ranks 13th in league and is lead by K Young Way Koo (#2 strat) and P Bojoquez (#6 strat). No returners at this time.
DRAFT NEEDS: HB, G, T, NT, OLB, KOR, PR
PLAYOFFS 2023- MAYBE BUT LEANING TOWARDS NO
MIAMI MONGOOSE LANDRY EAST
COACH CHRIS TUNNO
LAST SEASON RECORD: 8-8 BASE DEFENSE: 3-4
OFFENSIVE SKILL TOTAL: 7TH O-LINE TOTAL: 1st
DEFENSIVE TOTAL: 4th D-LINE: 3rd LB: 3rd SECONDARY: 6th
SPECIAL TEAMS TOTAL: 2nd
KEY OFF SEASON ADDITIONS: TE Travis Kelce, CB Darius Slay, HB/KR Nahim Hines, WR Tyler Boyd
KEY OFF SEASON LOSSES: OBJ, CB Byron Murphy, multiple draft picks
2023 DRAFT OVERVIEW- no 1st or 2nd, 3-10th round and four 6ths
2023 SEASON OUTLOOK-
This is a strong, title contending team. Looks like Chris went for broke to bring home the trophy with his trades and previous drafts. OFFENSE SKILL is ranked 7th on my rankings. QB Justin Herbert (strat 7th) will be strat gold for next 10-15 years. WR group is ranked 12th in league but does include WR Stephon Diggs, Tyler Boyd, Kendrick Bourne and Chase Claypool. Another WR would not hurt title chances, maybe in 3rd round of draft. TE Travis Kelce (#1 strat) is best in biz. TE Noah Fant gives ability to run 2 TE Formations. The HB group is an issue in my opinion but they did rank 6th in my rankings because of Strat love to HB Miles Sanders (13th rated). His card will be key to Miami season. HB Zeke Elliott is at the end of great career and was ranked 61st by strat. This running game will be key to force run calls and open up J Herbert. The O-LINE is unreal, ranked 1st overall, 1st in run block and 1st in pass block. I had a SPRING FEVER o-line that was slightly better but other than that, this is best I’ve seen. The only chink in armor here is a 4 run rating by G Alex Cappa. The 35 PASS BLOCK rating is perfect score. The DEFENSE ranked 4th overall is good enough to win it all. D-LINE ranks 3rd and is loaded with depth. DE Brandon Graham and his 12* pass rush along with NT Jonathon Allen 5-8 and D Autry 5-8 will stop run and get to QBs. DE Chase Young is a back up and should bounce back to stud status over next few years. LB group comes in at 3 on our rankings and also boast two 12* pass rushers in OLB Nwosu and OLB Khalil Mack. The ILB group has Edwards 5-5 and Oluokan 4-6 with Queen 4-4 as a extra ILB. The total PASS RUSH is 2nd overall with 32 total points with three star 12’s. SECONDARY ranks 6th in our system and features CB Darius Slay 6 and C Davis 5 with back end of Taylor Rapp 5 and Kyle Dugger 5. Even SPECIAL TEAMS ranks 2nd, with K Graham Gano, P Mitch WIsnowsky and traded for Nahim Hines and his 2 TDs with Jamal Agnew as well. If Chris can find some HB help possibly and another WR, this team seems destined for title this season.
DRAFT NEEDS: WR, HB, G, CB
PLAYOFFS 2023- LOCK
GOOSE BAY RAIDERS LANDRY EAST
COACH J. RUSSELL REID
LAST SEASON RECORD: 6-10 BASE DEFENSE: 3-4
OFFENSIVE SKILL TOTAL: 12TH O-LINE TOTAL: 8th
DEFENSIVE TOTAL: 17th D-LINE: 10th LB: 9th SECONDARY: 16th
SPECIAL TEAMS TOTAL: 4th
KEY OFF SEASON ADDITIONS: CB BYRON MURPHY VIA TRADE
KEY OFF SEASON LOSSES: CB DARIUS SLAY, IR FOR OLB DARIUS LEONARD, ILB ANTHONY WALKER AND T GARRETT BOLLES
2023 DRAFT OVERVIEW- 1.6, NO 2ND, 3-10 of his own picks
2023 SEASON OUTLOOK-
I’m going to call this team a “tweener”. Not a rebuild but definitely a lets see what happens. With those three players on IR and trading of CB Darius Slay and being in a tough division and conference it appears coach Reid is taking that approach to this season. The OFFENSE ranked out at 12th overall. QB Derek Carr (strat 33rd) commands the offense. I think Carr will have great year in New Orleans this year setting up a much better card in 2024. The only HB to speak of is Damien Harris (strat 39) so running is going to be dicey. The WR group (ranked 10th in our system) is middle of road with Mike Evans, Christian Kirk and Deandre Carter. The TE group came in at 5th on the back of Darren Waller. The O-LINE ranked 8th and has good PASS BLOCKING (9th) and good RUN BLOCKING (8th) so they should be able to protect Carr and open some holes if coach Reid can get another HB to carry the rock. The DEFENSE is where the major issue comes into play (ranked 17th on my system). D-LINE (10th) is good on the edges with Kwity Paye (5-7) and stud Nick Bose (6-12*). The NT Raekwon Davis (0-1) is not going to help this defense and must be replaced in the draft. The LB group ranked 9th which isn’t bad but probably wont scare anyone. OLB Hubbard (5-5 10) is the standout and OLB Bradley Chubb (0-5 10) provide more edge pressure in blitzing situations. Middle is weak with White and Murray only adding 12 points between them. Im afraid this squad is going to give up way too many 3rd and 4th down short yardage runs with these guys up the gut on defense. SECONDARY is very pedestrian ranking in at 16th out of 20 teams. CB Mike Davis is the only 5 with B Murphy, J Holland and Adrian Amos being all 4 rated. The PASS RUSH is really good, ranked 6th in league and will have to be to cover for that back end which teams will test. Another issue is in order to generate that avalanche of pass rush, the flats are going to open and exploited. The SPECIAL TEAMS unit came in at 4th based on my system and features the 7th ranked kicker Money McPherson and 4th ranked punter Sam Martin. Deandre Carter is awesome returner and returns kicks and punts.
DRAFT NEEDS: NT, HB, S, CB, ILB
PLAYOFFS 2023- NOT THIS YEAR I’M AFRAID
ARIZONA AIR RAID LANDRY WEST
COACH SCOTT WILKEN
LAST SEASON RECORD: 2-14 BASE DEFENSE: 4-3
OFFENSIVE SKILL TOTAL: 2ND O-LINE TOTAL: 19TH
DEFENSIVE TOTAL: 15TH D-LINE: 16TH LB: 19TH SECONDARY: 17TH
SPECIAL TEAMS TOTAL: 6TH
KEY OFF SEASON ADDITIONS: NONE
KEY OFF SEASON LOSSES: IR INCLUDES OT M. BECTON, CB TREVON MULLIN AND G ELIJAH VERA-TUCKER
2023 DRAFT OVERVIEW- 1.1, NO 2ND , 3-10 of his own
2023 SEASON OUTLOOK-
Team has worst record in league last season but is on its way up fast! QB Trevor Lawrence is turning into a strat stud (strat 11th) to lead the OFFENSE that ranked 2nd in our system. HB Khalil Herbert came in with a 3rd overall grade from strat. HB Najee Harris is a workhorse for future. TE Cole Kmet is looking great and TE Robert Tonyan gives ability to run 2 TE single back set. The triplets WR of Dionte Johnson, Chris Godwin and Mike Williams is great and allows multiple targets and formations for coach Wilken. The O-LINE ranked 19th will have to be upgraded in this draft to have chance at playoffs this season. The 18th ranked PASS BLOCKING and the 13th ranked RUN BLOCKING is going to be a huge problem if the AIR RAID is going to get off the ground. This line only has OT Lane Johnson who has a RB rating over 4 and zero or 4 RB center is not going to stop anyone up middle. The 41 total o line points of out possible 65 really hurts. The DEFENSE (ranked 15th) is going to keep this team out of playoff contention. The D-LINE (ranked 16th) does have perennial all pro DE Aaron Donald (6-6) coming off a bad season and DE John Franklin Myers (5-7) but DT Lopez and DT Elliott are not going to cut it up the gut. DE Grady Jarrett (5-7) rides the pine which is a shame. The LB unit ranks 19th out of 20 on our scale. OLB Isiah Simmons (4-0 6) is up and coming and has to play on early downs to pass cover. OLB Matt Milano (6-4 4) is one of the best in football and solid as rock. OLB Von Miller comes in on pass downs with his 0-6(11) PASS RUSH which helps Arizona rank 11th in that category. MLB Griffith 0-0 (0) is real weak spot on this defense and this writer thinks he will start season on the pine. SECONDARY is suspect coming in at 17th on our system with the only standout being S Kevin Byard (6). CB Lajarius Sneed (5) will provide some coverage but CB Jacobs (0) will be targeted repeatedly. SS Love (5) will handle the opposing TEs in most situations. SPECIAL TEAMS unit is ranked 6th in league lead by K Tyler Bass (4th strat) and with PR/KR Amari Rodgers and DeeJay Dallas and Ray Ray McCloud the return team is very strong. This team is really looking good for future but I don’t believe this offense will be able to overcome these defensive liabilities without a strong draft and maybe some other moves via trades.
DRAFT NEEDS: MLB, OT, C, CB, DT, OLB, G
PLAYOFFS 2023- NOT THIS YEAR BUT FUN OFFENSE
SIN CITY GODFATHERS LANDRY WEST
COACH MARK WROBLEWSKI
LAST SEASON RECORD: 12-4 (Won Super Bowl) BASE DEFENSE: 4-3
OFFENSIVE SKILL TOTAL: 10th O-LINE TOTAL: 10th
DEFENSIVE TOTAL: 14th D-LINE: 11th LB: 20th SECONDARY: 11th
SPECIAL TEAMS TOTAL: 17th
KEY OFF SEASON ADDITIONS: NONE
KEY OFF SEASON LOSSES: NONE
2023 DRAFT OVERVIEW- NO 1ST , 2-10 of his own
2023 SEASON OUTLOOK-
The defending champs! Great Season and really good coach. Lets start with the DEFENSE (ranked 14th) and talk about the D-LINE (ranked 11th). This group is very good led by DE Demarcus Lawrence (6-8) and DeForest Buckner (5-9). Also has DT Robinson and Armstead, both with 5-0 ratings. DE Carl Lawson returns from IR and carries a 0-10 rating. The LB group (if you can call it that) is thin, not very good and ranked dead last in our rankings. OLB JPP (0-4 5) is coming to the end of career and MLB J Brooks is average with a (4-5 4). The other OLB will have to come from trade or draft unless I’m missing something. The overall PASS RUSH comes in at 18th out of 20 with no star rated players but good DE pressure. The SECONDARY is ranked 11th and does sport three sixes in CB Ramsey, Mathieu and B Baker. The other CB Fabian Moreau came back to earth with a zero this season. Now for the OFFENSE where things pick up. This Skill Unit checks in at 10th in our system. QB Tom Brady (strat #1) gets his send off from strat with flying colors and his SHORT PASS Column according to review guide has no incompletes guessed wrong. QB Justin Fields is waiting in wings and good call my thd GM to take over next season but strat seems to have big issue carding running QB’s in my opinion. HB Group is very weak and will have to be addressed in draft or via trade. HB Elijah Mitchell gets only a few carries, HB David Montgomery and HB Alvin Kamara (a VOL) are going to be frustrating I would think with their low APC. The WR room won’t spark to much fear in opponents even though they came in 8th in our ranking system. WR Deandre Hopkins is solid as usual but WR Brandon Aiyuk and Allen Robinson should be average at best. TE Hayden Hurst is serviceable but not great. The big uglies on the O-LINE (ranked 10th) and the only 6 is LG Jenkins and he has a zero PB rating. There three 7 PASS BLOCKERS which will help Brady but they all have 4 RUN BLOCK ratings. SPECIAL TEAMS are very suspect coming in at 17th. K Gay and P Townsend are both middle of road and I don’t see any returners as of yet. This is going to be a challenging year for coach Wroblewski coming off a title but I guess with Brady anything is possible.
DRAFT NEEDS: OLB, CB, HB, TE, KR, PR,
PLAYOFFS 2023- I THINK SO BUT NOT CERTAIN
GOLDEN STATE ROOKS LANDRY WEST
COACH ERIC MORGAN
LAST SEASON RECORD: 8-8 BASE DEFENSE: 3-4
OFFENSIVE SKILL TOTAL: 8TH O-LINE TOTAL: 15TH
DEFENSIVE TOTAL: 1ST D-LINE: 7TH LB: 1ST SECONDARY: 2ND
SPECIAL TEAMS TOTAL: 10TH
KEY OFF SEASON ADDITIONS: NONE
KEY OFF SEASON LOSSES: DE AKIM HICKS-TRADED, QB COOPER RUSH- TRADED, QB TREY LANCE ON IR
2023 DRAFT OVERVIEW- 1.10, TWO 7ths, all other picks
2023 SEASON OUTLOOK-
The number 8th ranked OFFENSE in our system. The QB Dak Prescott (strat 39) is going to be the challenge for coach Morgan. I will need to see his card but I am concerned here. The HB group ranks 15th with only HB Devin Singletary (39th) on the radar. A HB with pick 1.10 would really set things off for the Rooks. TE George Kittle and Hunter Henry set up 2TE formations. The WR unit comes in at 4th for us with WR Amari Cooper, WR Josh Palmer and WR Zay Jones getting good strat review ratings. O-LINE ranked 15th with a very balanced RUN BLOCK/PASS BLOCK split of 22-25. C Williams anchors this group and T David Bakhitari comes back from IR with a 5-7. RG Christenson at 0-3 is weak link and will need to be upgraded. The DEFENSE comes in at number 1 in our system and will determine how far this team goes. The D-LINE ranks 7th and is very balanced with DE Hughes (4-11) and DE Matos (5-3). DE Armstrong can come in on passing downs and provide pressure with his 0-10 rating. NT Brown (5-1) is good up the gut. The LB group is best in league and had a LB PASS COVER rating 1st and a LB RUN STOP rating of 4th in league. ILB Warner is stud (6-6 4) and his partner in middle ILB Vanderesch gets a (5-4 3). OLB Dre Greenlaw boast a (6-5 4) and on the other side OLB Al Shaair (4-6 0) holds his own as well. The SECONDARY is strong as hell ranking 2nd in league. CB X Howard comes back to his normal 6 and CB Diggs (6) on the other side help lock down opposing receivers. The back end features 5 rated Kearse and 5 rated Williams. This defense is for real and will frustrate the rest of the league. SPECIAL TEAMS unit is ranked 10th and is headed by K Riley Patterson and Returner Braxon Berrios. P Rigoberto Sanchez sat this season out and will have to be replaced.
DRAFT NEEDS- HB, G, P, S, SCB
PLAYOFFS 2023- YES
ST.LOUIS LIONS LANDRY WEST
COACH TODD HOPKINS
LAST SEASON RECORD: 12-4 (LOST CONF TITLE GAME) BASE DEFENSE: 3-4
OFFENSIVE SKILL TOTAL: 14TH O-LINE TOTAL: 18TH
DEFENSIVE TOTAL: 12TH D-LINE: 18TH LB: 4TH SECONDARY: 19TH
SPECIAL TEAMS TOTAL: 15TH
KEY OFF SEASON ADDITIONS: NONE
KEY OFF SEASON LOSSES: NONE
2023 DRAFT OVERVIEW- NO 1ST, NO 4TH, NO 6TH , ALL OTHER ARE THEIRS.
2023 SEASON OUTLOOK-
One game away from Super Bowl last season. The OFFENSE came in at 14th for us and the DEFENSE at 12th. Not would you would expect from a title game team so lets dig in and see what changed over the off-season. QB Kirk Cousins (13) and QB Tua Tugaviola (2) pose an interesting dilemma for coach Hopkins. I assume the cards will decide this QB battle. Either way he is solid here. The HB room is filled by Jonathon Taylor (rated 20th) and I will be interested to see his card. Another HB may be needed here. TE David Njoku and TE Mike Gesicki make a great dou and formation freedom. WR group ranked 16th features WR Jaylen Waddle (17th) and some aging players in Julio Jones and Jarvis Landry. This will have to be addressed on draft that includes a deep WR group. The O-LINE came in at 18th overall and has two zero run blockers slated to start as of now in T J Taylor and C B Price. PASS BLOCK and RUN BLOCK are very weak and flat passes will have to be the go to for St Louis in this conference. Some formation subs can help out but not enough. The DEFENSE checked in at 12th overall in our system and needs some work as well. The D-LINE looks good with DE Davenport (5-2) and DE Wilkens (6-3). The NT Tart can hold the middle against the run. The LB Group is the star on this squad with ILB Dru Tranquil (5-0 10), OLB STAR Micah Parson (6-6 12*), ILB Lavonte David (6-5 4) and OLB S Barrett (0-5 5). The total PASS RUSH of this teams ranked 13th but can bring some heat. The PASS COVERAGE of this group is very strong as well. The chink in the armor is the SECONDARY (ranked 19th). CB Tredavious White got a 4 from strat and CB Rashad Fenton scored a zero. The two safeties are gettable with Thompson and Grant each being 4 rated. SPECIAL TEAMS came in at 15th with no returners on the team right now. K Greg Zuerlein got a 23 rating from strat and P Anger is good as usual.
DRAFT NEEDS- S, CB, WR, HB, OL, PR, KR, K
PLAYOFFS 2023- I WOULD NOT COUNT ON IT
ALTA LOMA BEAGLES LANDRY WEST
COACH GEORGE MURPHY
LAST SEASON RECORD: 9-7 (lost wild card game) BASE DEFENSE: 3-4
OFFENSIVE SKILL TOTAL: 5th O-LINE TOTAL: 4th
DEFENSIVE TOTAL: 3rd D-LINE: 3rd LB: 16th SECONDARY: 4th
SPECIAL TEAMS TOTAL: 19th
KEY OFF SEASON ADDITIONS: ILB ALEX SINGLETON 5-6(0) FROM GEORGIA FOR 2024 1ST ROUND PICK.
DE AKIM HICKS 5-1 FROM TUCSON FOR 2024 4TH ROUND PICK.
KEY OFF SEASON LOSSES: HB/PR NYHEIM HINES AND WR TYLER BOYD TRADED TO MIAMI FOR 2ND AND 4TH ROUND PICKS IN 2024. WR HENRY RUGGS, JACKRABBIT JENKINS. Traded Marcus Epps S and C Mitch Morse for picks to Motor City.
2023 DRAFT OVERVIEW- no 1st round pick, two 3rd round picks. Total picks for draft 10
2023 SEASON OUTLOOK-
Very nice team- Balanced on both sides of ball. OFFENSE ranks 5th overall in league. QB Joe Burrow is stud for next 10-15 years and has the stats that Strat loves. HB group features rushing leader Josh Jacobs who is 4th ranked in set. WR Kupp and J Chase make this WR group(ranked 6th) superb. Could use a young 3rd WR to spread defenses and provide injury protection going forward. The O-LINE ranks 4th overall with solid run and pass blocking. Only weak spot here is RG Bates. TE is where coach Murphy must find improvement via draft or trade. OJ Howard is really a TE2. Overall DEFENSE is ranked slightly higher than offense at 3rd best in league. The trade for DE Akim Hicks helped boost this D-LINE to 3rd overall along with DE Myles Garrett with his 6-12 star 7 rating. NT Kenny Clark is getting little long in tooth but a 5 rush from a NT is very good. The LB group is deep and comes in at 16th best in league. Former Georgia Rebel ILB Alex Singleton helped a lot. This group is little older, covers a little but doesn’t provide much pressure (17th ranked pass rush) on opposing QBs. The SECONDARY is super young and solid coming in at 4th best in league in our rankings. CBs Tyson Campbell and DJ Reed can lock receivers down and Justin Simmons in centerfield will discourage long balls. SPECIAL TEAMS overall are very weak going into draft (19th ranked). Will need returners for kickoffs and punts and possibly a new kicker as Jake Elliott slipped to 26th ranked by strat.
DRAFT NEEDS: TE, S, K, G, WR, RETURNERS, HB, SCB
PLAYOFFS 2023- SHOULD BE IN
