Hot take: Wilson should start. I know everyone is surprised I'd say that. Offense looked way better with Wilson than with Tua.
OMG no. Like seriously no. This team is toast if Tua goes down. There's a reason Wilson has a career 73.2 rating, and that's with 993 attempts, not just a few games. Yes he's had a few rare "good" games, but don't be fooled by them. The guy is statistically crap.
Last night's game is the reason I stated in the other thread that the starters SHOULD have played last night. It doesn't matter how good you are at a particular task, be it athletic or non-athletic, if you haven't "said" task in 7 months, you're not going to be as sharp as you were when you were doing it all of the time 7 months ago. Hell, when I take a week off from work, it takes me a few days before I'm back to form, let alone being a professional football player on a team with 52 other players. Check that, with 90+ other players, having to split all of that playing time to determine who's staying and who's going. I was glad that McDaniel sent the starting offense back out on the field for a 3rd series. Message being, get it right! Once they did, then it was time to send in the 2nd stringers. And speaking of starters? Jackson, Hill, Achane, Wright, Ingold, J Hill...6 starters that didn't play. Offensively, I still have concerns...major concerns about the OL. That's going to be what makes or breaks the offense. Savaiinaea is going to be a fantastic guard, but it's quite certain he's going to experience some growing pains along the way until he's established. Paul is certainly establishing himself as the anchor on the left side of the line. The question though is the right side of the line...Tua's blind side. Can Jackson return to form before he was injured last season? who is going to step up and be that effective RG? Can the line effectively block for Achane, Wright and Gordon? That's going to determine the offense's success. Defensively, I'm surprisingly over-confident about the starting defense, even with the question marks in the secondary. That front 7 is shutting down runs and getting lights out pressure on quarterbacks. Weaver's done a fantastic job thus far on defense. Let's hope it keeps up.
