[ChaosTheory]

This team is not mediocre. Same as last year. We ended with a mediocre 8-9 record, but there wasn't much mediocrity during the season. We were among the best teams in the league, and then among the worst teams in the league.

It's like eating the best medium-rare Prime porterhouse of your life and then halfway through, the waiter takes it back to the grill and returns it to you overcooked and ruined. Did you have a mediocre steak? No.

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I can't bring myself to do record predictions... But if long-term injury is avoided, this team will compete with the best in the league. Just give us the normal attrition teams deal with and don't rob us of 4 of our 7 most important guys + our backup QB for huge chunks of the season.

From what I've seen in camp, I have no reason to expect Jones' Achilles to hamper what Steichen wants to do. And just like last year, Steichen's in-game calling is as much a weapon for us as our best players themselves.

So play-caller, QB, RB, and TE returning. I don't anticipate Travis failing, so OL is effectively returning. Same with WR - Allen looks plenty capable still and keeps us at 4 receiving threats + JT.

And McGowan has been probably the nicest rookie development in camp. Really looks solid and can be a legitimate spell for JT that we haven't had since Zack Moss.

I don't know how you don't feel good about this going into the season.

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Similar to Jones: Buckner, Gardner, Walley, Wohler all have shown nothing but being ready to go. Walley is technically unproven, but we've seen all good things from him for a year+. Wohler to a lesser degree, but should be a nice contributor.

Ward is the wildcard to me. He's just a unique situation, so hopefully his heart and mind stay in it. But until then, the secondary is stacked.

I like our starting DL more than I dislike their backups. Not unique to us, but those backups look shitty as of now.

LB won't worry me until it does, but right now, I'm not worried. There's a track record with young LBs here. Carlies was already slated to start last season before injury and looked good particularly in coverage - remember we're coming from Franklin + Pratt.

The sooner Allen wants to take over ADG's spot, the better. Same for Boettcher with Carlies... fight it out.