stratocatter

Rhule was here and had spent on Mayfield. Nothing good would have happened for him, I don’t believe. There is a saying “Fraud vitiates everything”. This is a similar situation. The entire environment they put Darnold into was rampant with fraud. Guys LARPing were coaching him. I don’t know the right term but I wouldn’t judge him off of that time it is all tainted. Same as the Jets. Supposedly they were taking Darnold out of a bad situation and giving him a good one but it was just another JETS scenario, Carolina style. This is finally the type of environment right now, that he was supposedly being put into last year. He has the prototypical toolset. Stuff you can’t coach people into. And some issues he needs to be coached out of too, but he has those attributes. The size, good mobility, good arm. He is on your team. You need a quarterback. You Have to see what he can do. If he does it right you better think hard before letting him leave. So PJ was always gonna have to step back to let that play out.

Yep jury is still out. Fat lady hasn’t sung. All of that happens when season ends and all kicks have been made or missed. so far he has rewarded Wilkes’ faith. I would have sent him packing or at the least had kickers in for tryouts Monday morning.

Steelers was a 3-4 D scheme which we don’t typically deal with and over the decades has given the OL problems nearly every time they had to block it. So a little bit different than the Bucs and Saints. But those are division cell mates, those games are almost always closer than people expect even if one team is 2-8 and the other is 8-2 coming in.

My hope and expectation for this year was that the team be competitive in most games and see it as a learning to win year (just about every crap team ever has one of those years the year before they start winning). Expected the OL to fuel a more powerful offensive attack that would be trending up by seasons end. A team that the teams playing for the playoffs or seeding, do Not want to face in December. Maybe win 7 or 8. That would have been enough for me. In spite of all the detours and potholes we are about there. I think things could be setup for a real nice draft and a more enjoyable season next year.

We have Dallas’ number, so I will allow myself to fantasize and enjoy thinking of that scenario. If we actually did come back from 1-4 and everything else to be in a position to send Dallas home (again)? It would be third best Panther season all time for me ha ha.

I think Wilkes is doing a freaking great job. I am with Dungy, he won me over with the no bs handling of Robbie Anderson. Gone. Problem solved. Anybody else want some? If he is handling Darnold like I think he is, it is next level. He is trying to rebuild his confidence. You don’t put him on the line until he is likely to be successful. Even if that means holding him back which I think is the pattern he is following. Didn’t rush him back. Held him out of Cinci where he probably was physically ready but Wilkes saw he could get beaten down and avoided it. When the time came, he training wheeled him hard, and gradually is loosening things up. Wilkes knows his stuff better than most people give him credit for.

I would want to downplay the matter of a mediocre team with a losing record playing for a division title and playoff spot. So maybe I don’t put them front and center. But I am not a network exec and probably don’t think like they do.

I had no big reaction with the pick either way. I looked at his college tape and he looked good enough to me, knowing I am not a talent evaluator I don’t expect to know more than the pros do. 4th rounder which suits me for a running back (as opposed to a 1st rounder). What this really shows here, is that you do not need to spend the top picks or the money on fancy running backs. You need a stout OL and a hungry mid round rb to go with them. The two first rounders that held the team record for rushing yards in a game were dethroned by a couple of afterthoughts.

I see a lot of people who seemed to shift from we are the worst team ever to being disappointed that if we make the playoffs and don’t go to the SB someone isn’t good enough to start on the team. Like, there is no middle ground. I don’t see a lot of realistic assessments of the situation here. It spills over into the attitude towards the draft, where only the top pick is good enough. And it has to be a qb because, well that is where you get a SB winning qb. Or so they must think. I don’t know if this is realistic but my view is they have built the team into something that can support a developing or underdeveloped QB, or a guy with only a game manager ceiling, enough to win some games and become respectable. That is a much better situation than they were in last year or the year before. I see things approaching what I expected to see this year which I thought was the ‘learn how to win’ year where you have the talent but not the experience. Not making the playoffs but being a team those teams do not want to face. Being spoilers. Being good enough to spoil the season of a good team by screwing their seeding or just knocking them out of the race. We are there. It didn’t go in a straight line like I expected with the head coaching change and the trading of CMC and the starting QB mess but they are progressing. I did want Sam get a shot with the improved OL and all, because he has the prototypical size and skill set, and because some people figure things out later or slower than others but when they are done figuring they know the info just as good as the guy that got there quicker. You have to verify that Sam is Not one of those. But it looks like he might be. In my scenario of building the team up before you plug your QB into it, the time is about here. Time to start seriously looking at which QB can top off the team and if somehow this guy learns to function efficiently in the offense you can yell Bingo!. If you have acquired someone you want to supplant him, then you have the good problem of finding a trade partner for one of them. Or if Sam fails, well you hopefully have his replacement and a strong cast for the new QB to work with. I think we are in a good place.

Corral looked like complete crap the little we saw him play in preseason. Check. Does that mean he is gonna be crap the next time we see him? Not definitively. It will play out how it plays out and no one really knows for sure what that will look like. People claiming he is a starting or franchise NFL qb are doing that off of their hopeful imagination and not much else.

I know Fox wished we could have drafted him when he came out. He was a fine player for a good decade.

I think Rhule failed to notice the rule changes and what a different world college football is now and will be with all this transfer portal and imaging money scenario. Doesn’t it throw a wrench into the traditional recruiting process where your level of graft could have as large an effect on your recruiting effort?

Yes. Reminds of the saying nothing good happens after midnight. 2 pages is about midnight.

No Hurney RB contract for sure. I’d like to have him on the team though.

There are a lot of QBs succeeding in the league who weren’t high picks. And a lot failing who were. I’d rather risk a lower pick even with it’s assumed lower hit rate, short of a transcendent no brainer type of talent being there where we could draft him.

If we make the playoffs then Darnold will have had a reasonably good showing I would think. Not knowing any inside info on how much or what their other options are I would look at keeping him around. And draft a QB a year until we get one and then keep it up until we get another as they can be very tradable. So that is a little different option. Keep Darnold and draft a lower rated QB too. Though with Corral on the roster maybe no need to take one this year.

OTOH a splashy big time name hire is about the only way he can get away with shunning Wilkes for another candidate, at this point. Sort of depends on how we finish but short of a meltdown Wilkes is looking strong. You don’t go with the flow there and instead try to force a new fancy young offensive type, you are going to be crucified at least at first. A huge name is about the only way out.

That’ll happen with whoever. Probably the GM will be in the barrel next but once people finish him off old silky Wilky better look out.

Yep. Try extra hard to remember to be nice to the people you care about, even when you aren’t feeling nice.

We saw SF on McCaffery Trade Showcase Day. Wonder what a rematch would look like. Playoffs… okay. I don’t know about that but I do know we are a team people who are aiming for a good seeding don’t want to see.

Good coaches are going to lose games. I have seen enough, personally. I feel like he showed us who he is on game day one, I just needed to see some response in terms of performance from the players. It was clear to me he was going to get at least some of that, but would it enough to translate to wins? I could list the things that sold me like his handling of Robby and Piniero showed quality at both ends of the player psyche spectrum (banish, or keep and build up). I already really liked him because when he was here before doing the secondary, I came to believe they intentionally gave him leftovers because they knew he could produce a working unit out of rejects and failures. And he usually did. He is just one of those guys that won’t kiss ass, which we should all love about him. It is always the fear, that I go to when people decide a coach should be fired, how do you know you are upgrading? Be careful what you wish for. Etc. I think I know what Wilkes is and I like it. I respect it. To not give him the gig, assuming a decent last 4 games, is looking like a large risk to me at this point.

Fun as hell to watch the LOS move a couple of yards when the ball is snapped. I love that they have done the work to get that group up to this level. So who is the best front 7 in the NFL? Because that is what we need to measure these guys. The ‘they know it’s coming but can’t stop it’ approach works on people who can’t stop it but when you meet the ones that can… we’ll, they stop it cold and you are left with a screwed up plan and a loss.

Happy for Baker. Probably the height of his career, glad he got to put it together like that. As far as indicting the Panthers let’s see how he does next time.

I see the Titans just fired their GM. Did you hear about that?

So he gave up on a bad hire after 2.5 years, that viewpoint effectively ignores the 2 years of treading water under his directionless leadership, until he came up with his master plan. and He still has no QB. I think the acquisition of Darnold showed the priority level, but it came to nothing and only desperation type moves followed, from Cam to Mayfield. Anyhow he still has no QB, but he has a soccer team and a lot of concerts and stuff.