kungfoodude

I think he cares about winning, he just doesn't know how to accomplish it is the issue. I think the staff knows they can't bring him back as a starter. That is essentially signing their own pink slips.

Yeah, I completely disagree and I don't think Tepper cares about that at all. He cares about winning because he knows that is what puts asses in seats, not gimmick home players.

Yeah, I am really concerned about that outcome as well. We don't have the luxury of being able to miss on our 1st round pick, because almost all of our picks are Day 3 picks. If we don't see "The Guy" at QB in this class, get the best OL available. Fix a problem that you can, not create a new problem by wasting draft capital on a reach at QB. fug me, we've basically done that in free agency two years in a row, let's not have Version 3.0 of that.

I don't think Tepper cares at all about the home state thing. That was a JR trait. Not to mention, Howell isn't going to bring many new fans to the fanbase, if any at all. I agree on Fields, though. If he somehow turns it on over the last half of the season, Tepper is going to get "aggressively involved" in the 2022 QB decision, IMO. For better or worse.

This basically nails the bulk of the issue. Key mistakes basically put us in an untenable situation this season. The extremely poor decisions at QB and OL have basically crippled our offense. Add in some predictable and ill-advised offensive playcalling, some questionable preparation and questionable in game coaching as a whole and you end up where we are currently. But, on the positive side, the personnel issues are far fewer than we had in 2020. Even as bad as this seems now, we aren't THAT far away from being a contending/competitive team.

Oof. If we go on in on Howell, it will all just end in tears again, IMO. Howell has some talent but he is a big project with a lot of flaws that need to be coached out. Not anything near a day one starter, IMO. I don't like much of this 2022 QB draft class, which makes the future at QB seem so much more bleak for us. IMO, it will be journeyman QB in 2022. Just because that will be all that is reasonably available and overdrafting a QB is a path to the ultimate failure. The real fun is going to be how involved Tepper becomes in forcing a QB on the team.

Yeah, I am trending that way too. He just seems so lost on the field for most of the game and then there will be a handful of plays that make you scratch your head and say, "Why the fug can't he just do that all the time?" That really screams NFL backup and not starting QB. Honestly, it probably would help him to be holding a clipboard for a few years. He might eventually become a halfway decent backup QB if he has the time to learn and develop without any of the actual pressure to play regularly.

It's going to take a tremendous defensive effort to best New England and luckily we have a rookie QB we are facing. Think about all the talking heads and analysts that keep saying how predictable we are on offense. Boy if that isn't tailor made for Belichick to roast us.

He'd be a starting QB here because of how terrible our situation currently is. But, hypothetically, going into 2022 with Cam as a starter wouldn't be much different than 2020 or 2021 was. It's again just not addressing the issue. But, it would be a HELL of a lot more fun to watch than what we are currently watching at QB.

That is some of the problem but Darnold historically and this year has also struggled even more with a clean pocket. TBH, that is the most damning thing about him and it was something that was highlighted by a lot of us when we traded for him initially. It's easy to lay his struggles in the lap of a bad OL but he has proven time and time again that he struggles even more when he does have time to throw from a clean pocket. Hence why so many(here, in the sports media, players, etc) have said his biggest struggle is just seeing the field. The WR's......I will see what happens when we have a new QB. I suspect the drops will decrease but we need them to DRAMATICALLY decrease. It will be something to look at in 2022 for sure.

Christensen we will just have to see. He was a mixed bag in his first start. I am definitely down on him in general just simply because it was this FO/Staff that selected him and their track record with OL is atrocious. Marshall wasn't splashing much but he was making some minor contributions. I think he could definitely stick around as a quality depth piece with the chance to maybe even move up if he improves. Tremble I like but he is a work in progress. The hope is he continues to develop and becomes a valued starter for us. Hubbard and Smith might end up as backups for us, it just depends on how their career arc is. Brown I am out on. If he can't get past these bums, he just isn't it. Plus, he was a 6th rounder anyway. So few of them pan out. We need to make meaningful investments in the OL(1st, 2nd, 3rd round draft picks) and get some EFFECTIVE veterans there, as well. Then we also have to eventually figure out QB. You are only going to go so far in the NFL without a competent NFL starter. We currently have zero on the roster.

I am not the person that made that statement and I didn't read into it what you did, for that matter. Sam was below average passing the ball in the Falcons game, although he was good at hurting them with his legs. Below average was an improvement over his past few starters, which were absolutely terrible. Listen, I get that hope springs eternal and I get that the offensive struggles are definitely not ALL Sam's fault.....but boy a LOT of the offensive struggles are certainly his fault. He just simply isn't the guy for the multitude of reasons that have been discussed ad nauseum. He just is what he is. We need to stop getting hung up on trying to defend him and focus on what that offense did well Sunday, which was rush the ball. That can possibly save our season. Sam Darnold can't.

Yeah, the absurd amount of drops and the fact that it is just about everyone is what makes me less inclined to put ALL the blame on the guys dropping the ball. Don't get me wrong....you gotta make those catches, but the fact that it is just about EVERYONE??? Something is clearly up. Obviously a chunk of that is Darnold's poor pass placement and poor timing, but it seems to go beyond that, as well. I believe we will see CMC at a 90+% usage rate once he returns. Partially because he is a big boost in pass protection(something almost all of our RB's struggle with but him) and no coach we have had can resist using him consistently, for better or for worse. Part of what helped Sam not fug that game up for us was getting those third and manageable situations by having an effective running game. Like you said, we had success going heavy and not just trying to be cute offensively in these medium to short yardage scenarios. I think that going run heavy helped Brady out a lot too.

Yeah, this fairly inevitable. Especially when you saw the "investments" in a struggling offense from 2020 of Sam Darnold, Cam Erving, Pat Elflein, Brady Christensen, Deonte Brown, Terrace Marshall, Shi Smith, Chuba Hubbard and Tommy Tremble. I mean....there are definitely some potential pieces for the future there but not a single name on that list has made a meaningful upgrade to our offense this season. In most cases, it was lateral or a downgrade. That isn't the path to success on that side of the ball. So, for all their success defensively, what have they really added to the offense in two offseasons? Basically just Robby Anderson, right? Because Moton, CMC and DJ Moore were already here.

You mean the WR working on his third straight 1000+ yard season? Or the other 1000+ yard WR from last year? Make no mistake, we have plenty of offensive weapons. We just don't have enough other competent pieces on offense for them to matter as much. Agreed on the ground and pound. Our defense is elite, just try to stay out of their way and not fug this up for them. Yeah, he's tough and he is a nice dude. That's great....but the object is to be good at your job. He just isn't. I don't blame him, I blame Rhule and Fitterer. They traded for a bad QB. He didn't trade for himself.

The talent is there, the execution isn't. It would be different if these guys didn't have a history of production. It would be different if it was just one guy but it's almost the entirety of the offense that is struggling with drops. That makes me believe there is something going on with that offense, even beyond the bad play of Darnold and the OL. I think the run first attack is basically about all we have left on that side of the ball. Our guys have been better in run blocking the entire season and when we gave them the opportunity to do that, they looked much better than in pass protection. I'd say roll with it until it is proven it doesn't work. poo, if CMC had been healthy he would have punished the Falcons. Some of those holes being blasted open were the biggest we have seen all year. But, it was also a bottom 2 rush defense in the NFL. TBD if that will work against a better team. Guess we will find out on Sunday....

Sam played a decent game by Sam Darnold standards. He played a well below average game by NFL starter standards. I am not sure what game you were watching on Sunday but that was legit probably the best offensive line performance we have seen all year(not a high bar to hit, admittedly). The OL had nothing to do with Sam missing throws or being late on throws. The drops are a persistent issue but some of that blame is on the poor accuracy and poor timing that Sam has displayed. Definitely not all of it. We have a fleet of offensive players that just aren't making plays or executing when those drops happen. Sam Darnold is not being put in a position to succeed. Sam Darnold would likely not succeed even if he were in a position to succeed because he is not capable of seeing the field well enough to play QB in the NFL. That isn't a new problem, it's an entire career problem.

wE sHoUlD hAvE nEvEr LeT sAm Go!!!!

I can't wait for the inevitable "One that got away" threads about Darnold when he is back up QB for some team in a couple of years. I swear some of these Darnold fanboys are hilarious with their takes.

Are you talking about the old Third Quarterback rule?

That's all about how you want to take it. Darnold is a little less than $5 mil this year but will be on the books for almost $19 mil next year. Teddy IS on the books for $17 mil this year in dead cap, versus the $23 mil he would have cost in 2021 here. Teddy would have been on the books for $26 mil in 2022. All things being equal, we were able to jettison Teddy for $17 mil in dead cap for 2021 and 2022. His actual cost would have been $23 mil. Darnold's actual cost and dead cap will be the same if we jettison him after 2021, $19 mil. So the difference wouldn't be as large as it seems on paper, because only about $10 mil was left in guarantees on Teddy's deal, plus the prorated bonus dead money which was the other $7 mil. Darnold came in with $24 mil in completely guaranteed money.

Tannehill is much better than Darnold but Tannehill is basically an average NFL QB. It's debatable if Darnold is NFL starting caliber at this point.

Of the top 10 rushing offenses in the NFL currently, 50% have top 10 paid RB's. You don't have to spend a ton of money to get that production. The Ravens are the #3 rushing offense in the NFL and have spent a relatively small amount on their RB's.

The Seahawks would be a good fit. Yeah, that "serious football" culture is something else.....

I like Arizona over GB, TBH. Green Bay just seems to find a way to choke when it matters. Very Sean Payton-esque.