I'm going to point to the turd in the koolaide punch bowl here:

We have (2) very, very good Gs...a very average-at-best-at-the-moment LT...an oft-injured RT coming off a serious knee injury who is very good when healthy (which wasn't a thing last year)...and a 5th Rd C with (2) career starts who has shown promise and has the confidence of the staff. It's a good OL...not dominant...nor was it last year outside of G-C-G...the backups look promising with many to choose from;

There is no place on earth where our TEs are cause for optimism...they continue to be nothing but P-O-T-E-N-T-I-A-L;

We have (1) WR who would see the field if he were a Bengal...which is (1) more guy than we had last year...we need (2) young guys to figure it out and have a 3rd Rd rookie compensatory pick who is very promising;

We are loaded at RB...absolutely loaded...just like we were last year;

We have either a very, very good QB or we have a very marginal QB...I'll leave it at that;

We have (2) very good DEs...the backups look promising with many to choose from;

We have a bunch of DTs...none of whom are thought of as being a run defender...I fear we are boom-or-bust here...we have a lot of backup-quality guys to choose from here...but (2) will have to start;

We have (1) LB who I'd say is very good and a difference-maker...there is potential in really only (1) other guy...a dud vet in the mold of Rainier/DQ/Kirksey...a good situational guy...and a bunch of 3rd-string quality backups;

We are - dare I say - loaded in the defensive backfield.

Regardless of who plays QB...we need a lot of improvement from the pass-catchers (again) or any QB will struggle (again). When a team unloads its top TE and top (3) WRs from the prior year...you know you had crap at the positions. You have to score points in the NFL or you are going nowhere...and outside of our RBs...we don't have the explosiveness that the "good" teams have at their disposal.

I realize that my take here is pessimistic...and I hope guys like bone are correct and I am mistaken...but the QB uncertainty aside, there are a lot of things that have to fall right for us to be a playoff-caliber team...including players doing things they've not yet done in the NFL.