The 2025 Free Agency Thread

Be nice if both were true.
 
Double burns my ass that Ojulari goes for 1/4M and to the Eagles no less.

It’s the one spot that I just feel so desperate about it.

Me, too. It's the obvious missing piece. If I had a takeaway from it, it would one of two things.

A. We've wanted them to address stopping the run. And they've been all over that. Basically the've added a nose to clog the middle. A R DE that's oversized. And if Kinlaw plays DE, then a LDE too that's oversized. And all the depth is about stopping the run, too. Ferrell, Holmes, Day, etc. They are fixated on stopping the run, and feel burned by the one trick ponys at that spot -- see Fowler and they are not interested I gather in Ojulari, etc. Even Jonathan Jones also is a dude who is good at stopping the run.

B. They are fishing for a bigger fish at DE. They like their depth right now at the spot, they got a lot of players signed at DE, don't want another Fowler type (that would be Ojulari) but a complete end who is a difference maker.

Will see. I don't think this FO will get everything right, no one does, not even the Eagles, lol who for example spend big money on Huff last year. And signed Devin White, etc. But I do trust this FO to understand their needs. And clearly they seem obsessed with stopping the run. And they are clearly fishing for a pass rusher but have something specific in mind with a price tag attached to it.
 
Me, too. It's the obvious missing piece. If I had a takeaway from it, it would one of two things.

A. We've wanted them to address stopping the run. And they've been all over that. Basically the've added a nose to clog the middle. A R DE that's oversized. And if Kinlaw plays DE, then a LDE too that's oversized. And all the depth is about stopping the run, too. Ferrell, Holmes, Day, etc. They are fixated on stopping the run, and feel burned by the one trick ponys at that spot -- see Fowler and they are not interested I gather in Ojulari, etc. Even Jonathan Jones also is a dude who is good at stopping the run.

B. They are fishing for a bigger fish at DE. They like their depth right now at the spot, they got a lot of players signed at DE, don't want another Fowler type (that would be Ojulari) but a complete end who is a difference maker.

Will see. I don't think this FO will get everything right, no one does, not even the Eagles, lol who for example spend big money on Huff last year. And signed Devin White, etc. But I do trust this FO to understand their needs. And clearly they seem obsessed with stopping the run. And they are clearly fishing for a pass rusher but have something specific in mind with a price tag attached to it.
I trust they know what they are doing for sure. I’m hoping they have a sleeping giant hidden in this bag of defensive lineman that surprises us. I assume we are locked in on edge early, hard to say if a guy in the late first or 2nd will be able to produce pressures in 2025 but we can hope.
 
I trust they know what they are doing for sure. I’m hoping they have a sleeping giant hidden in this bag of defensive lineman that surprises us. I assume we are locked in on edge early, hard to say if a guy in the late first or 2nd will be able to produce pressures in 2025 but we can hope.
Yeah, it’s kind of weird - I trust that Peters has a plan, but I also can’t see him being ok with going into the draft feeling a) they need to hit a position (DE) with their first pick and b) that they have a specific draft target in mind. He’s been pretty aggressive in filling needs, and DE feels like a (or the) missing puzzle piece.

Which leads me to think there’s more to it. It might be they believe there will be guys released post-draft, they have a number or DE types they really like in the draft, they’re changing the defensive structure (which maybe alleviates pressure to find a high end DE), or maybe they have a trade in mind (I wondered if Wylie’s restructure plays into this… but probably not). Or perhaps they see Luvu filling the role (or maybe as a backup plan, mitigating their urgency here?). Or some combo of the above.
 
I don't know, but I doubt it. Passing downs is kind of an arbitrary, squishy term. After all, teams are never obligated to pass. So, my guess is that it measures the effectiveness of a pass rush every time the defense sends an extra man.
OTOH, I guess it could measure every time a QB drops back to pass, but I think the former is more likely.
 
I don't know, but I doubt it. Passing downs is kind of an arbitrary, squishy term. After all, teams are never obligated to pass. So, my guess is that it measures the effectiveness of a pass rush every time the defense sends an extra man.
OTOH, I guess it could measure every time a QB drops back to pass, but I think the former is more likely.
Just realized I worded that poorly (ie using “passing downs”. To your point, I was picturing qb drop backs… mainly because I thought run blitzes might be tricky to determine - was a linebacker run blitzing or did he identify run early and trigger off the snap?
 
This probably belongs in the draft thread but since we are discussing the first round pick, and understanding this is a deep edge rusher draft, if they do pick an edge at 29 I will always wonder if they passed on better players to fill a need.

I am having a hard time seeing any of the FA DL being anything more than a collection of JAGS. I have no idea why Kinlaw got what he did, I'm concerned that Peters is still in love with him based on his college tape. I prefer to evaluate NFL players by what they did against other NFL players. Not sure why we didn't offer what the Eagles offered Ojulari.
 
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This probably belongs in the draft thread but since we are discussing the first round pick, and understanding this is a deep edge rusher draft, if they do pick an edge at 29 I will always wonder if they passed on better players to fill a need.

I am having a hard time seeing any of the FA DL being anything more than a collection of JAGS. I have no idea why Kinlaw got what he did, I'm concerned that Peters is still in love with him based on his college tape. I prefer to evaluate NFL players by what they did against other NFL players.
The Kinlaw deal still has me scratching my head a bit too, even more so with the jump up in cap hit after the 8 mil this year (IIRC). With that said, Peters 1) obviously cares about measureables (Kinlaw checks that box), 2) understands that culture/fit matter (he knows Kinlaw obviously), and 3) I get the sense he’s good at collaborating with coaches in terms of specific things they’re looking for. Can’t imagine it’s just/all about college tape…
 
The Kinlaw deal still has me scratching my head a bit too, even more so with the jump up in cap hit after the 8 mil this year (IIRC). With that said, Peters 1) obviously cares about measureables (Kinlaw checks that box), 2) understands that culture/fit matter (he knows Kinlaw obviously), and 3) I get the sense he’s good at collaborating with coaches in terms of specific things they’re looking for. Can’t imagine it’s just/all about college tape…
Well they seem to imply they have a smarter way of using him. The obvious question is the DC came from SF too, why didn't they do that there?
 
Well they seem to imply they have a smarter way of using him. The obvious question is the DC came from SF too, why didn't they do that there?
You mean Tapp? He was the assistant Dline coach… which potentially answers your question?

Sidenote: Came across this interesting nugget - Tapp is good friends with Deangelo Hall apparently - they attended school together, from elementary school thru college and then were teammates with the Redskins in 2013.
 
This is probably another thread, but there is no effective difference between a 'run blitz' or a 'pass blitz'. The offense can do either at any time and defensively it would be stupid to try and match play calls. Blitzes can be based on various things like formation, surface or even personnel. They could be automatic or called. One of the many things I have a problem with PFF on their grading is they have no idea what keys each player has during a given a call. The movement of the Tackle could bring 2 LBs or a LB and S down strong to the LOS and make it look like a 'run blitz'. The amount of scouting done to create the triggers during a play each week is alot. Thats what makes coaching so much fun. Just remember, when you blitz, you still have a specific factor that attacking that you feel gives you the edge, but your always building into the pressure 'if they pass, you have this responsibility and if they run, you have that responsibility'.

I would humbly remind all that unless you are on the coaching staff for that game, you have no idea what triggers that put in that week that would allow you to ID what that called defense was supposed to stop or aggressively attack. I would never pay attention to an outside source's metric on what is a very guarded process.
 
You mean Tapp? He was the assistant Dline coach… which potentially answers your question?

Sidenote: Came across this interesting nugget - Tapp is good friends with Deangelo Hall apparently - they attended school together, from elementary school thru college and then were teammates with the Redskins in 2013.
I was actually referring to Joe Whitt Jr who for some strange reason I thought was the DC or assistant DC in SF. Since I am a dumbass I will try to refrain from any further comments today. :)
 
I don't think there is any question about that. If Barkley is contained Hurts does not scare me.
Just seems a bit of an overpay to stop the run vs one team. What if either player get injured.

I know its commonly accepted that you have to build your team to beat your other teams in the division... but what if it didn't snow and the Lowly Lambs beat the Eagles?? We split with the Eagles and maybe make the big dance.

Kinlaw will have to have a very strong season and our run game hold Barkley in check to meet reasonable expectations WRT that contract.
 
Here is the thing I am wondering about Barkley. He had almost 500 touches last year, including the playoffs. There have been three running backs in the last 20-ish years that have had that many touches:
  • DeMarco Murray, 2014 (497)
  • Arian Foster, 2016 (460)
  • Larry Johnson, 2006 (475)
All three cratered the next year: Murray had 237 touches, Foster 143, and Johnson 188. Very few RBs double up on that workload--and the ones that do are in their early 20s (23, 24), but still face a significant drop off. Barkley is different--but it's really hard for a body to take that kind of pounding.
 
This probably belongs in the draft thread but since we are discussing the first round pick, and understanding this is a deep edge rusher draft, if they do pick an edge at 29 I will always wonder if they passed on better players to fill a need.

I am having a hard time seeing any of the FA DL being anything more than a collection of JAGS. I have no idea why Kinlaw got what he did, I'm concerned that Peters is still in love with him based on his college tape. I prefer to evaluate NFL players by what they did against other NFL players. Not sure why we didn't offer what the Eagles offered Ojulari.
I think the plan is to play Kinlaw at DE on first and second down and play him at DT on obvious passing downs - he's huge and can help set the edge, something Ojulari struggles with. DQ did something similar with Red Bryant back in Seattle, and that guy was a key piece to the Legion of Boom. You couldn't run on them very well to soften them up.

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These are pretty "meh" pff grades for Ojulari. I don't get the hype.
 

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