As unhappy as I've been with our line play, both on offense and defense, I do think injury has been a major problem.
However, Ted Thompson has an obligation to give his coaches the players necessary to succeed. Losing Nick Perry, and a real pass rush opposite Matthews hurt us badly last season, maybe more than any other injury.
That aside, our DL lacked depth in quality talent. Mike Neal? Yeah, he made some plays, but not enough. CJ Wilson? Same. Jerel Worthy? A rookie who it was hoped wouldn't be a project, but he was. Mike Daniels? Another rookie, on the small side. Again, made some plays but not enough.
I thought our biggest problems were on defense, in our front 7 and S opposite Burnett.
Our problems on the OL appear to be more in coaching and play calling.
If I were Ted, I would look to - upgrade - every front 7 position outside of Matthews, and I would upgrade S. Keep Raji and Pickett, but add more talent at their positions to create a legit rotation.
The Finley experiment clearly is not working at that price. We could use a C and a LT, but we might be OK with what we have. To me, our needs on D are really calling out for help, way more than on O, where there seems to me to be more of a need for a change in coaching philosophy.
Players who cost us a ton and are either past their prime, or not living up to expectations:
Finley. Hawk. Woodson. Tramon Williams. Ted should look very closely at upgrading those as well. He's got his work cut out for him.