Khyber53

I hope you're right. But if we lay an egg this year, do you think it's going to be all fine and dandy?

Honestly, Snow coached a really non-aggressive defense last year that cost us game after game after game. I know, "he was working with what he had" and all that, but most of the time they looked like a bunch of old ladies out there that didn't want to get their uniforms dirty. Let's actually see some defense before we start talking about how good he is. I mean, how about we make the other teams punt at least once a game? As sad as that benchmark would be, that would be an improvement over last year.

While you make some good points, the truth is that we still don't really know if this direction the team is taking will work either. Last year's 5-11 didn't feel that much better than the prior year's 5-11. Right now folks are patting themselves on the backs about how well the draft went with all the trade backs and how well we picked up in the free agency period. In truth, though, we just have no way of knowing if we've made any progress or not. And honestly, this season is Rhule's prove it season. We've got to see major improvement. 6-11 isn't going to cut it either.

Honestly, we don't know for sure if we've improved anywhere. That last season of Rivera's we were all ooohing and ahhhing over the big name defensive free agents we picked up in the offseason. And then the season rolled out and those old dudes played like they were happy with the paychecks and the opportunity to travel and sleep in late. We look better, on paper, if you read it the right way, but reality could be way different. Once again, that's why they don't give an offseason trophy. Still, I'm optimistic for our chances, but let's not make marriage plans before the second date.

It may have also just been being the old guy out there in training camp, fighting through the aches and pains to run drills, being the alpha dog he always was but up against hungry players a decade or more his junior and all without the long tenure on a team that cements your place in the pecking order. And sometimes, it just drives it home that it's time to take in your accomplishments and go enjoy what you've made for yourself. Hope he does!

Gotta agree. Titans and Doom Patrol are great.

Certainly could be a benefit.

Just look up what he threatened the cop with when he was arrested. I hope Anderson has grown up a lot since then.

Robby caught a lot of passes for us last year and put up some serious yardage, but it started tailing off as the season went on while both DJ and Curtis got more of the lion's share of the work. That being said, he was still a valuable asset for us and one you'd think we'd want to keep. Anderson is a knucklehead, though, and has a way of talking himself into trouble. Not the brightest tool in the shed, perhaps he said some things as the season wore on that weren't taken well by coaches and management, but that didn't make it to the media. In a system like what Rhule is building, having a naysayer or grumbler on the team can be a big problem. I haven't heard anything to speak to, just conjecture on my part.

You have summed up why our Week 1 game is incredibly important for the franchise right now. It will say volumes about our coaching staff, where they are going, the quality of their thinking and coaching. If they can't beat the Jets on opening day, I am serious that we should expect to see Rhule on the hot seat and a lot of talk about not being able to make the transition. If we beat the Jets on opening day, then you have to start looking at Rhule as an improvement on what other coaches are out there and available. We will be able to see there is progress and that we can beat a hungry, rebuilding team. That opening game is probably the most fair test our coach will be given. And we should really pay attention to the results and the ramifications.

This is how you end up on the Jets.

I'd like to see us actually need a punt returner in every game this year. And maybe not need so many do or die field goals. Neither of those things happening are actually dependent on our special teams, though.

The best ever

Well, maybe he catches on somewhere else. Buffalo or WTF, perhaps. Good luck to him.

Particularly one of the losing franchises, though, isn't it?

Sorry, does anyone actually fuggin' care about Hard Knocks? Has any team actually benefited from the exposure?

Hopefully we will see during training camp.

I hope you are right.

Prayers for them and their family. Football is just a tiny little speck in comparison to the importance of our children's lives.

High: CMC. Safe pick, but I think he comes back from injuries with a chip on his shoulder bigger than the one in 2019. I think he will get more rest with Chuba on the roster, but I think we'll see something more dynamic. He won't go for 2,000 combined again, but maybe he makes a run at the TD record. Not Sure: Matt Rhule. I'll be honest, I like the guy but I haven't drunk the Kool-Ade yet. I think we are in the bottom half of the division again then you're going to hear a lot about another failed college coach who was in over his head. I hope that's not the case. He says the right things, he got the coordinators he wanted, his choices were all over the draft picks again. I think we need to at least be 9-8 at season end to keep believing in the process. There are a lot of questionable moves that could either pan out or crash and burn he's made this offseason. Bad: Matt Paradis. I've been saying it for a couple of years now, he's just never fully recovered from his injuries and Denver sold us a bum steer. I don't see him starting past Sept. 30.

If you want my honest opinion, I think Darnold has until the week before the trade deadline to make his case for starting QB. If not, I'd bet Fitterer will be on the phone looking to trade for/acquire Garoppolo from the 49ers. We all should know if Darnold is the guy by mid-October. Hopefully he'll be out there knocking them dead or at least showing real promise. If not, we haven't got anyone in that locker room to replace him with and actually have a shot at salvaging the season. They will have to go out of the building if they want a vet or we will all have to endure another losing season and hope they draft someone good. If that happens, expect that Rhule will definitely be on the hot seat. If Darnold really does great, then we'll all be talking about Rhule's genius move.

I kinda got the idea that was where Chuba came in. But honestly, I'm not sure Rhule is going for the power game at all.

I think we will see three RBs: CMC, Chuba and Bonnafon. We won't run a FB on the roster, using Tremble in the role as needed. We'll stash the UDFA rookie on the practice squad along with whichever FB has the best grasp of the passing scheme.

You may very well be right about that. But we could see a third or fourth year back-up being brought on. It would not be anyone who is a threat to Darnold. Is there a Temple or Baylor QB Rhule coached floating around out there somewhere?

Yep, very true. And we won four other games, too. Woop woop woop. Look, I agree it was time for Ron to go from here, it had run its course and the team had run down. He went to a team that had been equally run down, maybe even worse and pushed them forward into the playoffs for their first time in quite a while, all while cycling through QBs and battling cancer, while basically taking his old coaching staff from here to assist him. Got to give the man some props for the accomplishment. Here, well, we're doing a total rebuild and it's something that needed to be done. We aren't the team we were in January 2015 and holding onto that idea had pretty much worn out the franchise. Rhule is building something here, it's just taking some time. In the end, it will hopefully be worth it. But I had warned back when we were all clamoring for Ron to be fired, that it was very, very likely he'd return to prominence and competitiveness before we did. And he did. The guy gets a lot of hatred on this board as ex-coaches do for about every team's fanbase, but these hot takes that he's a trash coach just don't hold water after even the quickest of inspections.