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I have to say, Darin, I’m starting to worry about our depth. The injuries of the last two weeks are weakening our already thin reserve and testing our depth in the trenches. I still have some of the hope from the beginning of camp, but it’s definitely taken a physical hit.

I know Bryce Young and the rest of the offense made some great plays today, and that helped keep me excited for this Saturday’s game and the season overall, but I’m definitely more cautious about my expectations.

I know you’ve talked a lot about us having the advantage of being at the top of the waiver list by Week 4? (Correct me if I’m wrong), but given our salary cap this year, how realistic is it to think we’ll be able to be competitive within the division this year? — Nate, Charlotte

It’s fair to be concerned about depth, and for good reason — they’re not deep enough. Cornerback was a position they were worried about anyway, and holding Dane Jackson out for, as Dave Canales said, “six weeks” is problematic. (Also, I love that Dave builds “sort of” into injury updates; it’s not definitive, gives him some wiggle room, and is so much better than a coach saying someone is “living day to day” for 42 days. Having lived through the John Fox era, I can say that’s what happened.) So they may be looking for a temporary starter for a while from the committee that includes Chau Smith-Wade, Lamar Jackson, D’Shawn Jamison, and Dicaprio Bootle.

But you don’t have to look far at the roster and injury report to see where they have weaknesses. They may have only seven available offensive players again, and that includes a player they just claimed off waivers yesterday, which is obviously not ideal. (It’s eight now after signing veteran guard Ike Boettger.) But when you don’t want to play your starting lineup and Chandler Zavala, Cade Mays, Badara Traore and Yosh Nijman are unavailable due to injury, you have to do what you have to do. Poor Brady Christensen, an established starter in the past, is going to have to play more snaps in a preseason game than he otherwise would have.

Waivers are a wonderful thing and the only benefit of last year’s finish. They’re first in the order until Week 4, so they can have anyone in the league who gets waived (players with four or fewer years) who wants them. They’ve already signed two players and immediately released one when he failed the physical, and I imagine they’ll do a lot more of that in the next few weeks. There are some spots on the hypothetical 53 that you can just write in as FWHMY (Friend We Haven’t Met Yet) because he’s probably on someone else’s roster right now.

The question of whether they can be competitive in the division is a tricky one. Is the NFC South some kind of trailer park? It is. Can anyone be president of the HOA? They can. It’s not a good group, but Atlanta and Tampa are probably more stable personnel-wise right now, especially after the Falcons signed veterans Justin Simmons and Matthew Judon this week. But nobody in this division is a surefire playoff contender or anything, they all have their weaknesses. But that’s part of what makes this Jerry Springer episode of a division charming in its own way.