Well I remember those comments. It wasn't until mid season the target issue came up. But no big deal. He's gone.
"The other guys" sometimes turn into key guys. Greg Gaines was one of "the other guys". 26 GP, 0 GS his first 2 years. He played 183 defensive snaps his first season, 201 his second and then 780 his third. After his 4th he signed with Tampa. But he wasn't a big contributor until year 3. Of course we forget that. Same with Nick Scott. 15 snaps as a rookie. 191 in year 2. Third year, 413 snaps. Year 4? 1050. Suddenly they're players we didn't want to lose but they weren't always that way. The problem is we forget. We lose a starter, however good or marginal and suddenly, it's impossible for a 2nd year or 3rd year guy to replace them. Except it isn't. We just forget.
Ramsey we're gonna miss. But even if we had a veteran ready to take over, we'd prolly still miss Ramsey some. One big loss. JR. Floyd? Wagner? Gaines? Scott? Not so much. Who's to say Bobby Brown or Ernest Brown or Larry Murhcison or Copeland won't be pretty good players in their 3rd year? Who's to say Durant and Kendricks won't take a decent step forward after their rookie years? We can't with any kind of certainty. But that's life in the NFL. Gaines and Scott replaced somebody too. But we forget.