What I'm Worried About This Season

So yesterday I posted about the things I was hopeful and excited about and today I will delve into my pessimistic side and discuss the things that could be worrisome. Please note that a lot of the things I'm excited about I'm also worried about...if that makes sense.

1. Sam Bradford: So as I have big expectations for this guy it's also tough to believe he will light it up this season. I think he could have a Matt Ryan like rookie year, maybe a little better even...but he will struggle at times for sure.

2. RB overall: Steven Jackson is great but had back issues...I think he'll be fine but that won't stop me from flinching when he takes a big hit. After that it's a bunch of no names really. The front office wasn't able to aquire any RBs in the draft and no good FA was really available. Westbrook is still a possibility but as of now it is an unsure area of the team and SJ needs a quality backup. Ogbonnaya showed a little something last year in the final week but that's not enough to say it is not an area that needs to be adressed. Depending on what happens this season at RB we could grab a RB in round 1-3 next year. It would be nice to have SJ and Mark Ingram in the same backfield...but chances are we'll get one later than that.

3. O-line: Young talent...LOADS of potential but they have got to prove their draft statuses and salaries. I think we'll be fine here but it is a concern amongst many fans. Hopefully Smith can step up and Bell can stay healthy...Greco needs to step up as well and earn the starting RG spot finally and Saffold is a rookie...so that is always a concern when you have the #1 overall pick to protect.

4. D-line: Outside of Long we don't have much...Ryan and Scott along with Robbins and Hovan should provide good run support and so will Adeyanju and Hall...I'm more worried about the pass rush which is more essential than ever in todays NFL. I expect Long to hit double digits this year in sacks but after that who can rush the QB? We have a bunch of young late rounders...hopefully someone emerges but as I said yesterday I expect a high profile pass rusher to be taken next year in round 1 or 2.

5. LB corp: JL is a beast no doubt but he's got to have help...Diggs is a solid vet who can still provide some help in run support and Carpenter can cover TEs pretty well on passing downs( we have got to see if he can step it up in the run department though). There is also Vobora who I think will someday assume the strong side spot when Diggs is gone. I think the aquisition of Diggs was to help Vobora come along and allow him to have a smaller role until fully ready...He has shown flashes but he isn't ready to be the starter just yet. Larry Grant is working with the 1st team D...maybe the idea will be to use Grant on obvious running plays and have Carpenter in on passes?

6. WR: I'm still worried about Robinson...he needs to stay healthy to be any sort of threat. Avery bulked up so I'm not really worried about him staying on the field...I just hope he can finally assume a bigger role as was originally planned. Gilyard is a rookie but I expect good things from him. After that who knows who could step up...

All in all I'm stoked for this season and think many will be surprised at some of our players. There are a lot of areas with question marks but I'm confident that quite a few of those question marks could be answered this year.