We lost EIGHT one score games. Although we have some serious issues with the defense we need to address, our offense is in pretty good shape talent wise.

The issues with the defense

Our secondary play sucked this year, but so did our pass rush outside JJ Watt. There's two ways to improve secondary play: 1. get better DBs or 2. Get to the QB faster so DBs have to cover for less time. There was also the issue that we had no one who could feasibly cover top guys for any period of time. Our interior DLine also sucked, but a lot of that can be attributed to inexperience.

Fixing the defense

Getting a lockdown CB in the 3rd round is a pipe dream, it definitely hurts not having a 1st in this situation but there's still a way. Our options are gonna be getting a reclamation project from FA. Look at what Xavier Rhodes is doing for the Colts. Our best bet is probably bringing back Gareon Conley and hoping he continues his play from before the injury. Quinton Dunbar has played like doodoo in Seattle and maybe he wants to go to a different scheme to try and perform like he did in Washington.

We also probably have to address Nickel CB. There's rumblings about Shaun Wade potentially dropping out of the first round and if he slides to the 3rd I think we should snag him no hesitation as his fit there is fantastic, but thats a bit of wishful thinking. Hargreaves will be dirt cheap so maybe bringing him back to compete for the Nickel CB spot with someone else could work out for us.

We should trade Mercilus. I don't think he's done and apparently theres a market for him. His contract actually isn't that unfavorable from a trade perspective as theres an out after next season, but we are in desperate need of that cap space. Aldon Smith played well early in the season but seemed like he ran out of gas, bringing him in as a situational guy for dirt cheap (his contract was 2m this year) is a low risk high reward move. It would replace Mercilus production at a fraction of the cost. We have to hope for some improvement from Greenard and Martin next year and possibly Duke Ejiofor (although i doubt the new regime brings him back, his cap hit is negligible so maybe). Our 3rd round pick is very close to the 2nd round so there's a chance we can get an impact prospect still from the position (Chris Rumph or Quincy Roche might be available around there). Ultimately the biggest impact is going to be whatever scheme the new regime brings. It needs to be something that puts our defensive players in the best position to succeed and gets pressure in creative ways.

Our IDL we probably arent spending any capital except maybe a late pick on a depth NT. We're just going to have to hope that another year of experience and a new scheme leads to improvements because there is talent there.

Summary

There are some gaps in talent and we're going to have to be creative in freeing up cap space. Improvement is going to be extremely dependent on the new coach and scheme. The talent is there at most positions, it's just a matter of the new coaching staff maximizing it. A marginal improvement by the defense, like one more 3rd down stop a game, completely would've changed the outcome of our season and brings us pretty close to the playoffs. Maybe it's a bit too optimistic of an outlook but I don't think we're in that horrible of a situation. One year without premium picks sucks but it's one year and there's solutions out there that can hold us over until we do and still keep the team competitive.