Dublin are good enough to avoid relegation from Division 1 of the Allianz Football League, but they're struggling to get back to the top of the game.
That was the view of Dessie Dolan on the RTÉ GAA Podcast.
The Dubs came in 2026 with a barren trophy cabinet, having failed to land the Delaney Cup - the trophy handed out to the winners of the Leinster Championship - for the first time in 15 years last summer.
While there have only been two All-Ireland finals since the Boys in Blue last claimed Sam Maguire, the team have suffered regressed since then.
Their last two championship campaigns ended at the quarter-final stage, the first time this has happened since 2008-2009.
Of the players involved in that 2023 triumph over Kerry, Stephen Cluxton, Mick Fitzsimons, James McCarthy, John Small, Brian Fenton, Paul Mannion, Jack McCaffrey and Dean Rock have all either retired or made themselves unavailable.
Add that to the likes of Michael Darragh Macauley, Paddy Andrews, Diarmuid Connolly, Cian O'Sullivan and Kevin McManamon, who've all hung up the inter-county boots in this decade, and it's clear that Dublin have lost a massive amount of experience.
"Ger Brennan has a job to find new players and unearth new players," Dolan said of the Dubs, who lost to Donegal at the weekend.
"That's difficult in an environment where, if you lose a game, everyone's questioning you.
"It's not an easy job that Ger has, because if you think of the teams that we associate - or the quality that we associate - with Dublin, it's just not there anymore. They just don't have the volume of players that they had.
"So Ger Brennan has a job on his hands to get the next batch of players that can kind of, that can deliver in Croke Park, week on week.
"It's very difficult to do well as a Dublin footballer because you don't get too many chances.
"You have to perform when you get the opportunity."
Dublin are set to venture west this weekend to take on old foes Mayo in Castlebar in round two of the league.
The Green and Red started their campaign with a victory over Galway last weekend, and adding to that with a victory over the Dubs would make for an ideal start to the Andy Moran era.
And while Dolan suspects that the Dubs could end up in the scrap to avoid the drop, he reckons that Brennan has enough talent at his disposal to avoid falling through the trap door.
"I still think that Dublin still have enough quality to stay in Division One," he added.
"They're still getting players back. Seán Bugler coming in there is a quality forward, Ciarán Kilkenny still has to come back into the squad.
"People forget that there is real quality in there."
Watch Armagh v Galway in the Allianz Football League on Saturday from 4.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch Allianz League Sunday from 9.35pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
