It is very early to be thinking about this, but this is particularly true for positions where we have young players who haven't had much of a chance yet, or are still getting used to the NFL, or where we have players coming back from serious injuries. It is way too early to be judging our OL and saying we need to replace most of them. We have 2 rookies, a 2nd year LT who has barely played a full season there and a C who is still adjusting to being a starter after only really playing ST apart from a handful of injury cover starts a few years ago. Looks to me like they are improving week by week. With so many inexperienced players, not to mention a new OC, a new QB and a new primary RB, did we seriously expect these guys to be great coming out of the traps? On the OL, we have depth guys we have barely seen yet. I'm in the Wichmann fan club, and think he and Brown will be more than good enough by the end of the season. GR is still learning, and maybe there is an argument for thinking about a LT, but they have Battle on the PS who was rated as a 2nd round talent, and will have had a year in an NFL weight room, plus Williams who looked decent in pre-season. At RT, Havenstein looks to me like he is progressing nicely, and we have barely seen Donnal yet. I think Barnes deserves a decent shot before we pencil in his replacement as well, and with his injury last year, Rhaney is basically a rookie and could be fine as a backup OL or even a starter at C if Barnes doesn't take his chance. At WR, Quick's injury, plus new QB, new OC, means it is too early to judge that position as well. I like Bailey, and Britt did OK last year. While I can see the need for a long term replacement for JL, both Hager and Lynch looked good in preseason and in ST, and Bates hasn't had many opportunities in the D.
I guess what I'm saying is that I think our roster looks strong now, and for me it is about re-signing our key FAs and then taking the BPA in the first few rounds while we have the luxury of not having glaring needs. Foles isn't elite, but looks like he could be good enough with the running game that is starting to emerge now. I agree that Cook has to go (if he doesn't have a damaged finger that nobody is talking about) but I'm prepared to give Kendricks the benefit of the doubt on his finger injury for his blocking ability. If the BPA happens to be Gronkowski's twin, great, but I wouldn't be reaching for an average TE if there is a stud available at another position, except maybe RB, in which case I would be looking to trade back for another late round pick, or, better still, a 2017 pick in an earlier round.
In the later rounds they can start planning for the future and drafting development guys, depending on what they think of the younger guys that they see in practice and we don't get to see on the field. The one need I do see is at this stage is a backup NT for Brockers (who I hope they will have sorted a long term deal with by the end of the season) but DTs who are exclusively run stuffers (which is all we need with Donald and Quinn in the DL) should be available in the later rounds.
