If Luck is back to being Luck, we we will compete this year.

We will compete for the division or a wild card, but not for the first prize.

That is all I meant. It will be one more season before we SB contenders.

Here is our current roster. Ballard said they will keep eight d-line. More of these guys will get cut if that is true.

Left Defensive Tackle
Al Woods
Grover Stewart
Joey Mbu
Anthony Johnson

Left Defensive End
John Simon
Margus Hunt
Arthur Miley
Turay - new

Right Defensive Tackle
Hassan Ridgeway
Caraun Reid
Lewis - new

Right Defensive End
Jabaal Sheard
Henry Anderson - traded
Denico Autry - new
Tarell Basham

They have a shot to be in every game and they will certainly win some. But that’s all based on Luck, just as it was under Grigsons first few seasons. A franchise QB of Lucks caliber gives you a chance to compete. Every season. Grigsons attempt to rebuild on the fly didn’t fail because the plan was impossible, it failed because Grigson sucked at talent evaluation (and was an ass in general). To me this feels like overcompensating for Grigsons failure and blaming it on the wrong thing.

Soooo.....what you are saying is a lot of name players fell to us in the 2nd round and because none of us were even close nor were literally any of the pundits the players chosen must suck? And when you mention more talented skilled players than Braden Smith you mean name players who compile stats but being All-American at your position counts for nothing?

No. What I am saying is, Braden Smith was the 7th best interior offensive lineman. Interior offensive linemen is the least important position and we spent 2 of our first 3 picks on them.

There are things you can do to compensate for "average" interior linemen.... like a quicker passing game we are about to implement.

Talented skilled players means these players play positions that can directly effect the outcome of games. Guards simply are not game changers. That is just a fact. Reaching for Nelson is one thing, but reaching twice for a guard with a 2nd high value draft pick? Thats just too much reaching.

We could have traded down with the Bengals and pucked up 2 extra 3rd round picks, nabbed MLB Edmunds, still OLB Darius Leonard AND DE/OLB Harold Landry with the 36th and 37th and Braden Smith would have still been there with our 49th.

Then with those 2 extra 3rd round picks, CB Isiah Oliver with that 56th and DE Sam Hubbard with the 59th picks fron the Bengals trade and then nabbed the services of QB Mason Rudolph with the 67th pick, in which Rudolph would be either A. Insurance for Luck or B. Amazing trade bait for next year's draft.

We had Mewhort for another year, and Slauson in case he got hurt. We didnt beed anothet guard with our 2nd rd pick after taking Nelson with the 6th. Sorry, but this is conventional wisdom. People are just letting it slide because the Ballard bandwagon.

Ballard overall is dling a B+ job, whih is still great and a major upgrade from Grigson.... but after a majorily quite free agency he needed to knock each of these picks out of the park and he only got base hits along with a few doubles.

Dude. Right in the part I quoted you specifically compared this move to the time we dropped Freeney because of scheme fit. My point is that it’s not comparable because Freeney was HoF level impact, Anderson not so much.

I can’t speak for FatDT, but for me it’s the thought process behind the move that is comparable and concerning, not necessarily the level of impact. The coaches placed scheme over production and decided Freeny didn’t fit. They didn’t adjust the scheme to best utilize the talent available and they didn’t even put the guys on the field and let the best player win. If Anderson (or Freeny) was beaten out for their jobs then so be it. That’s not what happened in either case. That’s the similarity.

I don't understand what you don't understand.