kungfoodude

I don't think it's very fair to judge Fitterer yet since he is more of an assistant GM than a real GM. Once Rhule is gone and assuming he is finally able to claim a traditional GM role, then he can be judged accordingly. Rhule has final say, so I believe he does deserve final blame. I am a little skeptical of Fitterer but he isn't getting the same opportunity that most NFL GM's are.

Baker would have to decisively show he is the guy to garner a 40+ mil deal from us, I will wager. And we don't know that Fitterer or the new head coach will be sold on him to that tune. I think the real question(and this is heavily dependent on how good he looks this coming season) is will anyone else in the NFL consider giving him that big of a deal? Given the general lack of interest in him this past offseason, I have my doubts. If I had to guess, he will have to sign a "second tier" level contract on a shorter term deal somewhere in the NFL.

Jesus. I should have known.

I don't know, the guy played 48% of all offensive snaps last year and started three games but has literally produced next to nothing. His crowning career achievement has been the 7 first downs he has garnered in 13 games. I mean...that's literally it. 10-15 years ago when it was common for WR's to struggle early in their careers, I wouldn't be as concerned. But in recent memory rookie WR's have been making big contributions. Even now in year two TMJ is fading away, while a player like Shi Smith is showing he should be seeing the field.

Yeah, this dude is fighting for his job. what does he really care about a guy the GM said might be the future of the position? Don't forget that he also intimated in a PC that Corral wasn't playing up to the level that dicated he should be getting more reps. Not saying I agree with the sentiment but it does show how little Rhule cared about spending time developing him. After all he had that Darnold vs. Mayfield competition to use reps on in practice.

I don't think anyone on this team is draft against Rhule's will. He is the GM, after all. I am just not certain he was really viewing Corral the way that Fitterer talked about him. I do agree that the next staff is even less likely to be behind his path to being the "future" at QB. He's in an unfortunate situation. While he obviously hasn't looked good, I do wonder if his contemporaries from the 2022 QB class wouldn't have also looked bad or struggled if they had been in Carolina.

College stats don't equal NFL success. Hubbard is a very obvious example of that.

Chinn is exceptional but the 2nd round isn't "mid round." Shi, BC and Tremble are potential long term starter material. The book is still out on Taylor and Smith. TBD. I am not suggesting we have been incapable of drafting anyone outside of the 1st round but that their success level seems to be rather Hurney-esque.

Well considering what we fielded at backup QB this offseason, anything past Mayfield was always going to be bad news. I don't think Darnold, PJ or Corral would have been capable of winning many games. Given that fact, PJ probably isn't the worst of those options. He might even be the best of them.

That extends to last year, as well. He appeared in 48% of all offensive snaps last season(including 3 starts) and generated just 17 receptions for 138 yds and 0 TD's. Consider how many QB's this guy has had throwing to him thus far in just a year span and he isn't often targeted. That's definitely not a good sign. I think the play that he slipped on a route and fell, while Shi Smith got open for a TD was basically a microcosm of his career so far.

Jesus.....what's the scoop?

Or how about Mike Davis? Maybe we could have kept Mike Davis, who had better running ability AND the pass catching ability of Abdullah? Normally I would be all-in on bringing in a draft pick to bolster depth but Hubbard wasn't the guy, quite obviously. So, we got rid of two productive veterans for a Matt Rhule's wife experiment. What more really needs to be said?

I don't even know if Rhule sticking around will help him. Rhule didn't seem to want to give him many opportunities, so I somewhat wonder how attached he is to him at all. Does make me wonder how much he really wanted a younger QB in the first place.

TBH, outside the first round it seems like we are making a very Hurney-esque effort. We seem to be using later round "swing for the fences" strategy of recruiting outlier athletes. I'm not anti-high caliber athlete but it does seem like we often prioritize measurables over playing ability.

It's something I have been very critical of the GM(Rhule). His talent evaluation is more miss than hit.

I feel like too many of our draft picks just wouldn't be taken by most other teams. Hubbard being one

Yeah, I was looking for his foot to snag in it but it didn't at all. Looks more like something just popped. Pure bad luck.

I disagree. Mike Davis was extremely productive in 2020. In 2021 the combo of Hubbard and Abdullah was fairly productive. Did most of those guys struggle running the ball compared to CMC? Absolutely. But, keep in mind CMC is an elite runner. He makes our awful OL blocking look halfway serviceable because of his greatness. Now that....you can't duplicate that with a draft pick, a free agent signing or a dumpster dive. The best you can do is improve the blocking situation so you don't NEED an elite runner to generate a capable rushing attack. THAT should be the focus of our building in the future. If we get a nasty, physical IOL, we won't even need a CMC to gash people in the run game.

For the DL/OL, the starting groups are relatively underwhelming, as well. I think we are in for more struggles in the trenches this coming season. It's a shame because our skill position groups look fantastic. OL/DL has to be a major focus for the 2023 offseason. Hopefully we get a coaching staff that realizes the value of investing in the trenches.

In fairness, they have found solid replacements for CMC in successive years so there hasn't been a moment where they were fuged because we didn't have a capable RB or the ability to find one. In a sense, RB production is quite easy to find. However it's basically impossible to replace what CMC creates as a player on offense. Hence why I always rail against heavy investment into RB's. Production isn't hard to come by. Elite players are but they rarely stay available for extended stretches.

I can't say our problems are solved yet. The potential is higher than we have seen in the post Luke/TD era. Let's see how the season plays out. It's definitely a lot more hopeful than heading into 2021.

If you completely ignore where he was drafted, this wouldn't even be a real discussion. He has been a massive disappointment. IMO, it may be hard to justify keeping him. Once you go down the list of WR's, you start to get into excellent special teams contributors that are also likely more productive than TMJ. It's really, really, REALLY hard to justify keeping him on the roster. The fact that Rhule basically indicated he was in trouble already, doesn't bode well for his future. Because if that was a ploy to get him amped for this last preseason game, it did not work at all.

I really can't believe that fuging happened.

I wouldn't be stunned to see Smith take over that role eventually. Depends on if we get Butterfinger Robbie this year again.

Corbett was getting beaten like a snare drum a few times. The entire interior was sketchy.