Great question.
1. Interior OL – This was a concern for me when Mankins was still on the team so it’s still a significant one. I think that my predicted OL of Solder-Kline-Wendell-Connolly-Vollmer will be fine. 4/5ths of them have played together the last two seasons and while they had their struggles at times, they were a very good group, especially in run blocking last year. Even without Mankins I don’t see that falling off a whole lot.
The question will be can the interior OL pass block the tough DLs on the big stages? The Jets for one will present a big challenge in that area. Hopefully Stork and Halapio progress in season, I think Stork especially could singlehandedly upgrade this area.
2. Depth on the Edge – If Ninkovich and Chandler stay healthy the edges of the defense will be a strength. If one or both gets dinged, things will get very dicey. This is a critical area and one where I am genuinely concerned, but let’s just not think about injuries until we’re forced to.
Those are really it. I think they have the best array of pass rushers that they’ve had in a long time, especially on the interior, an area I’ve been harping about since this blog started. They also have perhaps their most promising group of weapons since 2007. Depth is as solid as you could hope everywhere except DE and LB.
If they can stay healthy and stop the pressure up the middle in the big games, the sky is the limit.
