davos

I will see the point of maybe Pittsburgh QB room seeming a tad similar to ours but they are fresh out of Big Ben’s retirement and have a much more cohesive team built around the QB right now. Although…do have our old OL coach But they’re also having a very fair competition with adequate playing time for 3 guys. We’re splitting 1st team reps between 2, giving PJ the bulk and then Corral Chuck it up at the end.

Title says it all. This will bring us into the season unsettled, incohesive, with the starting unit not fully gelled as other squads around the league. I don't understand how the hottest coaching seat is willingly doing this. OL: We have Bradley Bozeman & Austin Corbett in the house, Christensen going into year 2 after increased playing time at the end of 2021, and a #6 overall draft pick. These aren't standard Erving type pickups. Bozeman was a consistent starter for the last 4 seasons in Baltimore at guard and center. Top half of the league good in both categories. Corbett is a high draft pick that finally came into his own with the SB champs as a starter. Got to play alongside generational talent +minds over there after escaping Cleveland unscathed and bloomed last season. Icky, yeah, may have speedbumps, but it doesn't mean sit him dammit. Detroit just dealt with something similar and stuck with Sewell, same goes for Andrew Thomas in NYG. They looked bad at times, but they kept at it, kept them in, and got them the experience and are now following through with their talent in the big leagues. And Brady C. was the 70th overall pick which is by no means a low pick for lineman with more experience and NFL level strength & conditioning now. We scooped this Michael Jordan off waivers the other year as scrap heap, released from a depleted & poorly graded Bengals line. Not to mention have already waived him before and picked him back up. He was the dude who missed the assignment that got Burrow injured back when. Pat Elflein has proven in his time here that his last two stints weren't aberrations, his rookie season was the aberration. Erving--sucks and is cuttable. Deonte, meh not looking so promising. Mays looked pretty good against backups defenders. It's all a bit obvious what needs to happen on the OL. We don't even need to cut anyone, just slot the dudes into the correct roles accordingly. QB: We all know it. We see what's up. Rhule is in job save mode. Development doesn't matter. We are not having but staging a QB competition between Darnold & Mayfield when the entire NFL world know we'll be going with Mayfield. I'll gladly eat those words if they for some god forsaken reason trot Darnold out against the Browns, that will look epically stupid. Especially considering it is against Baker's old team where he has something to play for. Sitting Baker to start the season is us spitting in his face after trading for him, & was willing to lose some dollars in the process. Meanwhile, we're keeping PJ Walker rostered over a draft pick we just traded up for and admitted during the process we may have pegged as a late 1/early 2nd type grade on. If we weren't having this QB battle, which again, is either entirely dishonest or completely telling on how poor of evaluators they are---then they could figure out preseason reps, but it's just awkward for the team. We all know it's Baker and they need to drop the charade. Keep PJ if they want but that means get Sam out of the building and have Corral get meaningful reps at practice and this preseason. HOU just managed this so much better with Tyrod and Mills and Mills was a 4th rounder. Falcons have Mariota and Ridder, TEN Tannehill and Willis. The Colts gave Sam Ehlinger more of a shot out of the gate. It's one game, but if Baker goes down at any point, it's obvious Rhule wants PJ to fall back on to potentially win games, he doesn't want to have to develop Corral. I'm not freaking out about this yet, but hope it resolves itself very quickly. -- But the overall problem with both units--we're only making the starting unit more shaking by not having it resolved sooner. Not many teams in the league don't have a certified LT, LG, C, and QB right now. We may be the only one. Only one of two without a settled starter at QB and the other is a team in obvious early build mode in SEA. We're supposedly year 3 of a rebuild. Oy vey

Shi has done something impactful every game he gets playing time whether be preseason or regular. I think it's time to test him out consistently on the 53-man roster. He has a "shot in the arm" type energy the other depth guys don't seem to have. Do need to shuffle him around the likes of Kirkwood, Zylstra, Saunders, etc. Those two, Moore and Anderson would make a respectable WR group. Didn't watch the full game but did TMJ play? What's the deal with Marshall? Starting to get frustrating given how quickly WRs can become impact guys these days. Overall, Higgins (I think he may have a mid-career bloom up here), Barno, Smith, & Mays were my standouts. It's easier to pay attention to OLs in the preseason with less on the line and thought the OL looked good in parts. Jordan is AWFUL.

For Atlanta, it would be akin to Arthur Smith taking Logan Woodside with him from TEN and putting behind Mariota with Ridder sitting as QB3. Rhule thinks he has some Minshew situation going, when all PJ is, is a Woodside. And maybe that's being generous.

Not really the ideal path for developing an NFL talent at QB. That's how many QBs are ruined. Houston Texans seemed to do it better with Mills who's a 4th. Heck, compare a team like BAL doing it better with Huntley as a UDFA when there's no question Jackson is QB1. We knew how frustrating Rivera was with this and he's at least giving Howell time. If they were just honest about the QB1 competition, Darnold would alrady be gone or the backup with Corral getting the QB2 time. They need to decide--Darnold or PJ. Pretty damn obvious A) Baker is here to start and help save his job B) PJ has ZERO value on the market C) Corral is basically sitting on his hands because they no longer need to gamble with him

Hubbard, TMJ & Tremble. If we want any sort of cohesive future on offense at the skill spots, they're the ones to see how they look going into year 2. And out of the 2022 group, Corral no doubt. And Brandon Smith. We traded up for that kid when some good talent was still out there. Interested to see what he looks like.

We should use him exactly like the Chargers do with Ekeler. 12-20 runs, 8-10 rec targets. And then have that extra 8-10 handoffs go to Foreman. Keep it simple, no need to overdue this slot narrative that will never happen especially when there’s a perfectly respectable example B-CMC in LA.

If we can get it to somehow work with Rhule, cool. I’m all for what works. If the players like him, he’s brought in good coaches, and he’s reigned back decision wise to just not making stupid depth or in game calls, we can compete. At the end of the day, Matt seems like a likeable shmuck when he doesn’t try to oversell or turn into the car salesman mode. Maybe he’s got some added humility and I cannot imagine he wants to maintain this perception of a deshuffled slimy czar for a team. I’d prefer a better coach but we can succeed with what we have when I look at the NFC (which is kind of a mess after TB, LAR, GB, and SF)

It's just a dishonest competition. They'd rather come across as a prove it culture than give adequate leverage to the guy who's obviously going to start. This staff continues to be their own worst enemy.

We'll have to attach a late rounder and pay most of his contract, which we're paying if we don't trade him anyways. Darnold+6th for a 6th, we pay the majority of the contract, but can't still net a gain in cap space if a team is willing to pay 2-5 mil of his option.

Word out of Cowboys camp is Jalen Tolbert looks phenomenal and Grier has been pushing Rush for the backup spot. Apparently has a good grip on the offense. Interesting.

De’Ernest Johnson is a beast and showed when given time. He’s honestly too much of an asset for them to be behind Hunt when Chubb isn’t a pass catcher. Could definitely see Hunt headed elsewhere

There’s way too many open position battles for a third year of a rebuild. I thought this would be entertaining but knowing Darnold is not our future just makes it stupid.

It’s why I actually question Snow’s approach and if he’s the right guy. Once the college-gimmick faded, we got run over the second half of the season. It’s also why Brown looked bad. We were best against the run with a 4 man front when YGM was in. go figure lol

I can see that though 3-2-6 is also one we ran a ton with Hartsfield as well, can imagine those are the packages with Horn in the nickel and Hartsfield still the 3rd safety. 6 DBs would be Chinn, Woods, Harts, Horn, Jackson, Hendo. It seemed like we ran oddball stack formations (3-3-5 and 3-2-6) like 70%+ of our snaps last year. The interesting thing is that Wilson's run-D gives us more flexibility with the DBs used. He'll be the stable dude next to Shaq as an improvement over Luvu (who I like) and Littleton (mixed-bag). The pressure then lies up front for Brown to sh*t or get off the pot.

3-3-5 Stack is pretty much our base at this point. Hartsfield seems like he's pretty much secured that role after starting in it a good chunk last year, wasn't sure if the 3 safeties were going to be Chinn, Woods, Burris..good on the kid.

Not only did Penning get kicked out, Saints had an all out brawl, pausing practice, multiple players went home. Who dat? Oh I see dat and it ain't dat good.

Agreed. Remove DJ and it’s a lot of unproven guys, Robbie (whatever version shows up each week), a career average PR in Roberts, & Higgins (has flashed but is a 1 yr deal and we all remember DJ Hackett) TMJ needs to prove he can make an impact. If he doesn’t pan out, this is going to be a thin group with only DJ in place come 2023. WR could quickly become a big need.

DJ Moore & Robbie Anderson are set in their roles, WR1, WR2 For slot and down the chart, we've got a battle...the rest: Rashard Higgins Terrace Marshall Jr. CJ Saunders Shi Smith Brandon Zylstra Andre Roberts Keith Kirkwood Charleston Rambo (r) A few thoughts: If no one outperforms Roberts for return duties and he fills a spot, that could take someone off the active we expect to make it Is Shi able to take on PR/KR duties and serve as a depth piece?? CJ Saunders definitely makes it on his current trajectory. He seems like a kid on the rise here, been ahead of Higgins & Terrace running w/the 1s as our slot so far Do we carry 6 or 7? Overall, Terrace has the most to prove and the biggest opportunity to make some noise. I would however not discount the playmaking ability of Higgins and his upside that he's always had. Just not the best blocker. My best guess is we carry one more than usual come cut time: (1) DJ Moore (2) Robbie (3) Higgins (4) Terrace (5) CJ Saunders (6) Shi (7) Roberts

I just hope he doesn't hook up with a supposedly dead guys wife and then the dead guy actually turns out alive and they have a really weird triangle situation with a kid involved. That would be bad for team moral. And zombies.

The vids of all 3 throwing makes it hard not to see Corral's advantage with that arm and quickness. Holy heck. I know Baker and Darnold were high R1 for a reason but they look so much more labored throwing than Matt.

I think he started as a tinderbox conspiracy dude so it's more act than anything else. Was previously a Carson Strong-nut until post-draft. I only know because it cluttered a lot of the draft threads until it went on ignore.

Bozeman started 44 games for the Ravens in 4-years and consistently graded as one of the better run-blocking interior lineman in the league. I don't see why he's not just penciled-in but I doubt it's anything to be concerned about...yet. It was strange they didn't bring him back on a second contract or that we were able to get him on a 1-year cheapo. Thought that was odd given his grades, history, and whatnot. Not to mentioned seemed like he's embraced the QC and spent a lot of time with teammates this summer. Corbett has his struggles earlier in his career but seasoned into a strong guard. Unsure how much of a product he was of his counterparts in LA. But we also signed him to a multi-year starter deal. Both should be starters. If not come week 1, then yeah, it would be bad. Jordan should not make the team. Elf may end up being better suited than Brady at LG though and could see Icky-Elf-Bozeman-Corbett-Moton as the lineup.

Our defense's base is essentially a Stack 3-3-5 at this point. It would be good to identify a quick, run support OLB in this instance. It's what they tried to do with Littleton and Wilson. Wilson is a tough nosed run stopper that hopefully helps (and stays outta trouble)

We're still likely to see a ton of stack 3-3-5/3-2-6 fronts. The only legit run-D capable traditional 4-man is YGM/Brown/Loannidis/Burns. Most team's sub packages is basically our base, scares me that we'll still be bad against the run due to this. Burns-Brown-YGM (DL) Luuvu-Shaq-Wilson (LB) Chinn-Woods (HS/S) Horn-Jackson-Taylor(or)Hendo (CB) Burris (FS) If we do see more loose 4-3, we're likely throwing Ioaniddis in, but potentially banking a lot on YGM, Nixon, & Hoskins developing.