the talent and competition AND health is far superior to last year.

Off the bat, Pouncey, Wake and Parker are healthy. Talent wise, Rae, Timmons and Hayes all help the defense. Not to mention Thomas

 

IMO our depth this year is much improved. I like our depth at CB, LB and DE on defense, but I worry about what we have behind Suh. Phillips need to improve his consistency and I have minimal faith in the DTs behind him. I also don't love our Ss for the first 8 games. Jones is a stud and IMO top 5 but behind him are a bunch of question marks. I do think Allen is serviceable, but I have little to no confidence in the guys behind him. I do like TJ Mac so our starters will be good after week 8.

I have fewer concerns on offense. The only real concern for me is the interior OL and at minimum I feel we are better than last year.

I'm curious about what will happen on STs with our returners, but I wouldn't call it a concern as I think we have some compelling talents there.

I've heard some characterize us as needing great years from several players, but I don't agree. I think we just need the moderate, continued development we should reasonably expect from our young players. And I think most are likely. The one I'm most concerned about is Phillips.