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Gridiron Thursdays with Keith Egan: Best and Worst of the NFL Offseason

Date: June 22, 2017

By: Keith Egan

Best:

Tennessee Titans

mariota

The Tennessee Titans believe they have found their franchise quarterback in Marcus Mariota, and now Tennessee may have finally put the talent around him to find out. When they selected two wide receivers early in the draft with Corey Davis and Taywan Taylor, it looked like the Titans had a young core to grow with for the future. However, when the New York Jets dropped veteran receiver Eric Decker, the Titans made their best move picking him up. Not only do they have a solid receiving core immediately, but the mix of young and old makes for the hope that there will be years of success in Tennessee. On defense, the Titans selected cornerback Adoree' Jackson in the first round and picked up former New England Patriot cornerback Logan Ryan. These new faces at cornerback may be the biggest questions of the Titans' season, however with the new additions, Tennessee put themselves in position to compete in an AFC South that is up for grabs.

 

Oakland Raiders

lynch

Derek Carr's broken fibula put a halt on a hopeful Raiders' playoff run, but a few changes were still needed to ensure that they could compete for an AFC Championship in 2017. With the additions of Marshawn Lynch, Jared Cook and Cordarrelle Patterson, the Raiders strengthened their already explosive offense. If Derek Carr can return healthy, he will have plenty of weapons to work with. The Raiders also needed to add to their defense, which they decided to do primarily in the draft, where six of their nine picks were on the defensive side of the ball. The middle of the defense was a main need of the Raiders where they fell a bit short. Their only move was selecting Marquel Lee in the fifth round, however strengthening the rest of the defense makes up partially for the miss in the middle. Overall, the Raiders added what they could to put them in position to fight for the AFC Championship.

 

Philadelphia Eagles

jeffery

I was reluctant to put the Eagles on this list because while their offseason was huge for their offense, their defense still will not be able to measure up to their division foes. However, with the additions of wide receivers Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith, as well as running back LeGarrette Blount, Philadelphia has put some serious weapons around their young quarterback Carson Wentz that he did not have last season. Now with these offseason additions, Philadelphia's offense will be something to look out for. Their weakness on defense however, leaves them with inexperience at the corner position, which is not what you want to be left with when you face receiving cores like the Giants and Cowboys. The Eagles still have plenty of questions, but they were able to put an offense that may be able to compete for a playoff spot.

 

Honorable Mentions:

Indianapolis Colts

The Colts made big changes to their defense as they needed to, by not resigning a lot of unproductive players, while drafting or signing 13 defensive players. This is all good decision-making by Indianapolis, however it's too soon to tell if it will be effective right away.

 

New York Giants

The Giants adding Brandon Marshall was their best move of the offseason. He brings a deep threat with experience at the right price to make their receiving core as good as it gets in the NFL. Evan Engram has impressed early on and fits well in the New York offense. Some losses on defense keep the Giants from the top of this list, but they made strong moves.

 

 

Worst:

Kansas City Chiefs

mahomes

The Kansas City Chiefs were a play away from reaching the AFC Championship game, but failed to make moves that would put them in position to make a Super Bowl run. The biggest move of the offseason was trading up in the draft to select Texas Tech Quarterback Patrick Mahomes II, who led the NCAA in passing yards with 5,052 but will wait behind Alex Smith for two years. That being said, offense has always been an issue for the Chiefs, and releasing wide receiver Jeremy Maclin is not the solution. Although coming off a disappointing, two-touchdown season, Maclin brought in experience and a receiver that defenses had to prepare for. This is an area Kansas City cannot replace with the lesser-known names that they have brought in such as Gehrig Dieter, Marcus Kemp and fourth-round draft pick Jehu Chesson. Tyreek Hill, who hauled in a team best six touchdown receptions, will now be the number one target for the Chiefs. However, unless a surprise player shines, Kansas City made no moves to compete with the top of the AFC.

 

Washington Redskins

cousins

The Redskins have had a drama-filled offseason thus far, with questions all over the franchise. Some of these questions were answered when both wide receivers Desean Jackson and Pierre Garcon left for different teams in free agency with no real attempt to sway them back to Washington. Instead, it will be Terrelle Pryor, Josh Doctson and Brian Quick leading the receiving core for the Redskins. Not bad pickups, but surely no star power at a position that the league largely revolves around in today's game. The Redskins did make improvements to their defense however, by drafting two Alabama defensemen in DE Jonathon Allen and OLB Ryan Anderson, as well as picking up D.J. Swearinger. In addition, the 'Skins also promoted Greg Manusky to be the defensive coordinator. However, with the offense taking the hit they did, and after putting together an inexperienced defense, the offseason does not show signs of the Redskins competing in the very talented NFC East.

 

New York Jets

adams

The New York Jets appear to be in full tank mode. Although their plan stretches far beyond the upcoming season, their offseason has set them up for a possible worst record in the league, which may be exactly what they want. After a disappointing 2016 season, New York released 11 veterans, including some Jet greats in Nick Mangold, David Harris and Darelle Revis. In addition, Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker both have new teams for the 2017 season. The Jets filled some roles with rookie safeties Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye and receivers ArDarius Stwart and Chad Hansen. However, they missed their opportunity to have veterans mentor these first-year players, which may be their biggest mistake of all. Meanwhile, their quarterback situation remains a mess. A 37-year old Josh McCown will compete with young quarterbacks Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg for the starting job, who have not been very impressive. It is unclear which direction the Jets will go, but as far as their record, it seems evident that it will be at the bottom.

 

Not-so-honorable mentions:

Chicago Bears

Chicago watched their franchise receiver walk in Alshon Jeffery, and with a rookie quarterback in Mitchell Trubisky, 2017 is sure to be a rebuilding year for the Bears.

 

Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks should still be a competitor in the upcoming season, however, adding Eddie Lacey, who has been commonly disappointing, along with giving an injury-riddled Luke Joeckel a one-year contract with $7 million guaranteed, are high-risk moves that could cost them.

 

Keith Egan is a Visual and Sound Media major from Tinton Falls, NJ. He can be found on Twitter @Keith_egan10 and can be reached by e-mail at keith.egan@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports

 

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