SteveSmithTD89

Depending where we end up in the draft that would fuel the Levis to Carolina talk. Was the OC for Levis and UK last year.

Didn't see a thread for it but coach is speaking now First things of note right off the bat. Said the decision to fire Snow was his call (seems those rumors are true) and he wanted to go a different direction. Said Holcomb will call the plays.

We pay the rest of this season. Essentially what this means is for next year and the years following - if we pay him 10 mil a year as his salary and his college contract pays him 6 million a year, we are only on the hook for the difference, or in that scenario 4 million a year. If he does not coach, well - we're paying him a cool 10 mil to play golf then.

I think its important for me to make sure its clear I'm not saying that you 100% cant find a RB in the late rounds who can be a top running back. You absolutely can for any position in the league. The GOAT QB od all time was a 6th round pick, Hall of Famer Kurt Warner was undrafted. The odds of that happening just decrease exponentially. Like I said in a previous post. 68 RBs drafted in the 4th-7th rounds since 2018. 3 of them are starters. Of those 3 not one of them is coming close to touching the production and impact on an offense that CMC does. Lets make no bones about it - you dont need a running back to win. Its a QB driven league. The chiefs won because of Mahommes, Kelce, Hill and Andy Reid. Further counter point would be that Damien Williams only filled in because Edwards-Helaire, another first round pick, got hurt week 13 and missed the playoffs. They didnt go the entire year with a UDFA leading their offense like how we do with CMC. The 9ers have spent 3 draft picks, 2 of them 3rds on RBs trying to flush out their stable and already cut one of their 3rd round picks, Trey Sermon, after one season. This after mortgaging their future with 3 firsts for Trey Lance. They already have limited capital and are still spending premium picks trying to figure it out just proving that just because you can hit on a pick like an Aaron Jones, Austin Ekler in the later rounds, even in the 3rd theres no guarantee you hit. I'm sure with our eye for talent I can almost guarantee we'd get another Jordan Scarlett rather than an Aaron Jones. Ravens were top 3 in rushing last year because Lamar had 800 yards and accounted for 40% of their running game while only playing in 12/17 games. Freeman played in 16 games and had 575 yards. They also struggled mightily last year and finished last in the division. They weren't signing guys off the street in a plug and play dominant ground control offense. They missed Dobbins and Hill last year. CMC is here, hes been his normal self and as long as he stays healthy I think he continues to be here unless a team blows us away with an offer we would be foolish to refuse (something similar to what Adams and Hill went for.) I am not defending the contract - or the pick where he was taken. As CRA pointed out. Even in his dominant season, we won 5 games with Kyle Allen. I'd never spend a 1st on anything other than Olinemen, Defensive ends or a QB unless they were a generational talent but that's just me. Just saw the comment about replacing him with a late round pick and this is where we've spiraled out to lol.

Is the league really slammed full of them? Of the top 10 rushing leaders at RB 2 of them weren't drafted in the first 2 rounds - Aaron Jones (who also signed a big contract) and Khalil Herbert who is a backup getting run because Montgomery is hurt. This notion that we can find a late round RB in the 3rd/4th or later is an absurd fallacy that more often than not gets you a Chuba Hubbard rather than Aaron Jones. Since 2018 there have been 68 RBs drafted in the 4th round or later. Of those 68, three, Chase Edmonds (2018), Elijah Mitchell (2021), Dameon Pierce (2022) entered this season as a starter for their clubs. My initial comment wasn't advocating for or against the notion of not paying RBs big money and drafting a replacement only that taking a loss on CMC and selling for pennies on the dollar with the belief we can just replace him with a late draft pick is an indisputable absurdity. You're right though. CMC and Deebo aren't the same players. CMC isnt nearly as powerful as Deebo -but he is far quicker. They have similar builds and he 100% could run the same route tree, probably better if we're being honest, and we know what he can do as a runner now. His contract based on AAV for a WR would slot right in between guys like Allen Robinson, Hunter Renfrow and Adam Thielin. If the new coach decides that CMC just cant do it as a runner and we need a stop gap like Foreman to take the bulk of the carrier I am extremely comfortable slotting CMC into the slot and letting him take the same role of 10-15 targets and 7-10 carries a game.

So we could get another RB like Chuba? Hard pass. I'd move CMC to WR and let him take on the Debo (at which his contract becomes a bargain comparatively) before I'd ever ship him out for mid round picks AND eat the contract.

That finger is GNARLY - didn't see that live. The entire special teams operation was a cluster fug too but still, QB snaps the ball, they were going hurry up. That's on him to make sure his team is set before they snap it. I'd also disagree on the targeting call and think it was right as a no call since Levis ducked into the contact but we could go on and on about targeting at the college level in general. My concerns aren't limited to one game though. Look at any game against a team that is UL Monroe, Youngstown St, Richmond or a similar quality of opponent and the tape just leaves me thinking "That's it?" That's not to say he didn't flash - the TD pass across the middle in the tight window in stride to a TE was a pro level throw all day. I just don't see the consistency I'd like to see for a 24 year old top 5 pick at the most important position in the game. Finally gonna have to hard disagree with you on the "mid level talent" UKs line and RBs are nasty. Have been for years - a number of if not the majority of them are going to be playing on Sundays. Out wide they may be green but for a team that flat out did not throw the ball 2 years ago idk how much I really expect from them.

Man I want NOTHING to do with Will Levis. I understand the intrigue - prop typical size, plus arm strength, plays in the SEC, "pro stlye" offense.... but every time I watch him play against even a decent opponent he shrinks and he is careless with the football. Honestly. I see all the same red flags we saw with Darnold coming out. Last weekend against Ole Miss, 2 fumbles in the red zone after snapping the ball too early and negating a TD that would have won them the game. Against Florida in a big win for the program - he completed 50% of his passes for 200 yards 1 TD and a pick. Then the kid is already 23 years old and only in his second full season as a starter. His numbers last year dont move the needle for me. If he were a freshman sure and I could understand how a coach could see the potential and think they could mold him into a franchise QB (a la Darnold) but for someone who will be 24 (a year younger than Darnold is now) I dont know how much more potential there is to uncover. To me, he is way more Mac Jones, Kenny Pickett than Joe Burrow (although arm talent alone he is much closer to Burrow). I would much prefer take Will Anderson to pair with Burns and see what Corral has than go with Levis.

After either the Rams/Bucs game - one of (likely both) of those are going to be an embarrassing laugher that will likely be the last straw. Normally the team would make the move before the bye week but there's no way I see Rhule lasting till December, let alone November.

You don't even need to go back to 2001. I don't think people remember just how absolutely dogshit this team was in 2010 outside of the Matt Moore/David Gettis show for one week until Moore got hurt. Just look at this. I'm pissed too. I want Rhule gone tomorrow (today would be nice) - I hope he didnt sleep at all and steps in a puddle wearing socks this morning on his way out the door. But this team isnt the worst we've ever been. Hell, I dont know that it looks worse than we did last year. Maybe just as bad - but idk if I can say its worse.

Cant wait to do it all again next week!

Brown has been outstanding these last 2 weeks. Hopefully he continues to trend upwards. I would prefer to never see Burns drop back in coverage ever again but that's not exactly his decision.

Burns still dropping back in pass coverage. Chinn still away from the LOS despite having an int and a defelction when he's up. The inability to stop the one route Michael Thomas runs early on in drives. Lining the DBs 10 yards off the WRs on 2nd,3rd and short for easy conversions. The team still went prevent soft zone up 13 and almost let them back in the game. There is still PLENTY I'm not happy with about this defense but I will give props to Derrick Brown who played his ass off again. This unit is night and day when he plays like he did today.

And how did we finish that season Matt?

The offense suddenly is capable of 2nd half adjustments under Big Mac and I love absolutely everything about that. Time to put this bad boy to bed.

Nah he's giving the refs poo for not paying attention to the clock "What are you watching?"

Red hot probably not but it would certainly get uncomfortably warm. I think a lot depends how the team looks in the next few games but I could see the plug getting pulled at 0-4.

Oh I 1000% agree. I dont think it matters enough to be considered a key the game so to speak but more so just a fun added tidbit to think about.

I stood right there screaming from the rooftops this was a bad call but... it really wasnt. Panthers in their mic'd up video they posted of Luvu showed an angle I hadn't seen where its pretty obvious Burns hits the QB in the facemask/neck area which would be a penalty. I think its a soft call but could at least understand why that flag was thrown. Link if you want to watch in real time.

One thing OP did not touch on but the Giants DC is Wink Martindale who was the Ravens DC during Bakers entire time in Cleveland and faced him twice a year. Baker and Wink both probably have a pretty good understanding of each others tendencies - maybe not to the extent of Browns/Baker but enough so it could be an advantage for the side that's able to capitalize on it.

At which point its time to figure out why that is and address/correct that problem hopefully with a new coach sooner than later. I will say - in years past under this regime the starting slow hasn't been an issue-I'd argue its been a strength. Its always been the adjustments and sustaining it (ESPECIALLY in the 3rd quarter) and in the future games once there's some film out on the offense. A lot of that got laid at the feet of Brady. Hopefully McAdoo handles it better.

That first half was definitely not good. I would agree that I would even characterize it as bad, but can we quit with the revisionist history and hyperbolic statements? Half this sub is complaining about Rhule cherry picking stats you literally just did the exact same thing by only including the first half. Giants game last year. Bucs game last year. Pats game last year. That's 3 games where in the entire 60 minutes we scored less than we did in the 1st half Sunday, 3 games were we had the poo kicked out of us and watched the team quit on the sideline. 3 games where we scored less in an entire game than we did the first half on Sunday. That's just in Rhule's tenure - do we really want to dive into the record books and look at the other 7 years - especially the games without Cam? Specifically the end of 2019 after Ron got fired? Against the Colts with Grier? Against the Saints? I get it - I want to win as much as anybody but how would you have answered the question? He was specifically asked what positives he saw on offense. He prefaced this with a whole tirade about how it took too long to get the offense moving, whether it was the ball getting put on the turf, explosive plays getting called back on penalty or someone lining up wrong - he mentioned all of that. Then he says once they got in the groove he saw the explosiveness the know they have.

You thought it looked worse than last year? No disrespect man but did you watch our games last year? The wheels got stuck in the mud for a quarter and a half on Sunday and we STILL scored as many or more points than we did in THIRTEEN of our games last year. I agree with you though - no matter how many points the offense scored, the result was the same and we're all left wondering "what if." It's time to put up or gtfo town for Rhule.

No he's not. It's the final 5 minutes of the 2nd qtr (TD drive before the half) and the entire second half. That's the 35 minutes. We scored on 4/5 possessions and TDs on 3 of them. It's the same thing that has been pointed out here several times. Once the offense got the rust/nerves whatever the hell was going on for for the first 1.5 quarters they looked really really good. Good enough that there is reason to think they can build on that.

Rhule at his PC "Obviously there's some good players on that list which is concerning but the expectation is most of these guys are integrated before the end of the week" He's fine, he'll play.