KSpan

Unless they're playing KU and Bill Self.

He signed with the Commandskins at the start of FA, but word is that Hakeem Nicks was driving down the street and Jason Worilds bought a house there in NC.

I recognize it might just be me and my defensive inclination but that play really irritated me. Even if it wasn't technically illegal it was still a blatant exploitation of the rule and kind of a b**** move. I would've liked to see a flag thrown on the play for an obviously unsportsmanlike act (abuse of the rule) and/or him get lit up on a slide later in the game but it is what it is and the NCAA closed the loophole thereafter.

Marty, is that you?

FWIW all but one team they faced (Clemson) ACC fielded some of the worst defenses in their tier of football last year and their non-conference was the same (bottom third), with UMASS giving up the most per game of any team. To be fair, they did score 20 offensive pts against Clemson (the 2nd best scoring defense last year) but they didn't play NC State or BC, the 2nd and 3rd best ACC scoring defenses either. The rest of the ACC they faced were 54th or worse in ots allowed. I say this as someone in Big 12 territory who has seen offense year in and year out from players not mean much since it's typically defense-optional. The lack of consistency and big year only against weaker competition may be a flag compared to someone like Burrow, who also only had 1 year but did it against the best competition.

This is one of the most inane things I've heard said in a very long time.

It's the same people saying it, and those are a small (but vocal) part of the total from what I see. I am definitely a Rhule pessimist and expect to keep losing, but am not actively hoping that we lose even if I accept the possibility. That seems the more common opinion.

For the hundredth time, fully expecting to continue losing based on years of experience is not the same as 'rooting to lose'. There are comments here and there about someone hoping the team loses so Rhule is fired/the team tanks/etc, but overall it's just people not expecting lead to suddenly turn to gold. It's perfectly reasonable to change an opinion if Rhule manages to become a good coach but let's be real here about Ron. He had 1 great season, 1 very good season, and 1 good season here all while riding true generational talent on both sides of the ball. The rest of his time here was average or below. He was not and is not a consistent winner, and flashes in the pan don't change that.

They know better than to make such a thing public right now. I'm joking, but only mostly...

Call it what you want, but the point is that he was not one of the starting 2 safeties his rookie year. He was towards the line in a Joker/OLB type of role, and backing him out constantly will continue to neuter the playmaking skills he showed as a rookie. Will they figure out some balance and ways to get him more into that role? Perhaps. But hearing that the team continues to view him as a safety/starting safety is not overly encouraging.

At this point yes, firing Rhule would do nothing except placate people. It doesn't discount that the move reasonably and arguably could/should have been made months ago. Also, expecting the worst and frowning on what seems an inane decision doesn't mean someone actively wants to see the team fail. I'm sure most on here that believe keeping Rhule was a poor decision (myself included) would love nothing more than to be proven gloriously wrong should the team actually make a legit deep playoff run and/or win a Super Bowl. Unfortunately, such hope just doesn't make any kind of sense in the current reality.

Rhule is of course the guy who touted his sports science program as if it was something revolutionary, which we've heard nothing about since they figured out that every NFL team already did those things to the extent they're actually useful...

Bingo. Weak look to be out there like that and then vanish when the going get rough. Maybe he'll take something away from this and be less visible when the team (someday...) starts winning again.

Who buys this stuff?

Exactly this. I said in another post that I'm not averse to it, but only if the cost is right. I'm not arguing that at all. I am saying that investing further capital into a player like Jimmy is pointless for the greater goal of actually winning a Super Bowl, as much for his own limitations as for a complete lack of faith in Rhule, so it shouldn't be done at the cost of any future assets. We've seen what a Jimmy-led team can do with actual NFL-caliber coaching and team construction and even that team didn't/doesn't think it was good enough, so why should Carolina? I'm not even claiming it's a slam dunk that Lance will be markedly better, simply saying that SF clearly doesn't believe Jimmy has what it takes to keep the team competitive against the best competition. I don't care if he's good enough to win a couple of games next year in Carolina - that's not the goal. The goal is to consistently win games year in and year out, and spending draft capital and/or making a big investment on Garoppolo is penny wise and pound foolish.

They also have coaching several levels better than what Carolina has and still couldn't get it done. Plus, while they didn't tank they did sell the farm for Lance so they did make effectively the same type of QB decision, just arrived there via a different route. I'm not personally suggesting that the team attempt to tank and I never have. Just pointing out that Shanahan is also of the mind that Jimmy ain't it, and if he feels he can't get there with Garoppolo than I don't know what Rhule and co are going to achieve with him. IMO there's no real upside in adding Garoppolo.

The Chiefs were 50-26 with Alex Smith but couldn't get it done in the playoffs until Mahomes joined. SF's defense has been better than any that the Chiefs had during that time (Bob Sutton...) so they were able to make it a bit further but Jimmy is the exact same type of player as Smith and a small step up from guys like Teddy and Mariota. He's not going to elevate the team in critical spots and is somewhat fragile, so to me it's more of a lack of long-term upside not being worth draft capital. If Jimmy gets cut and comes to Carolina for no draft cost and not an exorbitant contract then sure, have at it with the understanding that he's not a long-term solution either. Pretty reasonable chance he'll get hurt and miss several games or more anyway so the net effect may be the same as if he never joined.

The Chiefs have been trotting Anthony Hitchens and Ben Niemann out there for a couple of years now so while I wish Carter the best we can see how they prioritize the position.

If the Turk does come for him and this is the reason why, I can understand Smith's hesitation to do so but it would be great to lay out the seeming hypocrisy in that manner.

While not inaccurate, I'm sure it would go over like a lead balloon.

As has been said many times before, this is Tepper's own doing since he made himself so visible early on and frequently spoke about team matter, e.g. the QB situation. His current silence is in stark contrast to when he acted like he was getting one over on the rest of the league and is reasonably perceived now as hiding.

I don't mean to sound shallow but H. Jon Benjamin's, er, Fitt's jawline is even less visible than before. Dude sounds like he knows what he's talking about but it's fascinating.

Which top 10 QB will be coming to Carolina?

Guy's a weapon for sure, but I've always seen him as a bit limited in his route tree and feasting off of his speed and the deep ball. Tua and Teddy aren't the guys to make that happen.