Sgt Schultz

How dare you try to inject any reasonableness into this thread. The old saying is that the number one cause of disappointment is unrealistic expectations. Yes, things are looking up. But the reason is there is a lot of change. That coming together, especially a new QB with new receivers in a new offense will not happen overnight. The new defense will probably take some time, too. The other trap I see people falling into is assuming the division will be as inept next year as it was this year. Atlanta has been building and could surprise some people. I do not expect them to stagnate at 7-10.

$10M for 2 years was about what I was hoping for to get somebody who can credibly play the position when needed. I was afraid that budget was going to get busted. That was why the idea of Brissett didn't bother me. The fact he is 35 and he knows his best years are in his rear view mirror is also ideal, assuming we do not do something stupid at #1. While I am not certain we will not do something stupid at #1, I feel a lot better about our odds than I would have, say, a year or two ago. Seems like a pretty good pickup to me, based on what (I hope) we need.

It's pretty likely he would have been our best QB in most of the last three of the last four years, to be honest. Bridgewater was statistically better in 2020. Granted, that is a pretty low bar, but it does lend a certain perspective to our past futility under center.

I remember thinking about a month after the Broncos hired McDipstick that they needed to fire him. He had already set the place on fire in that short amount of time. By his own admission, he doesn't deal well with people. He commented that he had improved in that area since the Great Denver Debacle, but I don't see any evidence of it. If the Raiders Razing ends up like the Denver Debacle, he may be back under Hoodie's wing. Hoodie is not exactly a people person, either, but he manages to keep McDipstick in line. His game-time decision making has not exactly been stellar either. Which begs the question about whether his success was his, some chemistry he had with Brady and Hoodie, or was due to Brady and despite him. Davis ought to be standing in the median of some busy intersection with a sign saying he needs money to fire and replace Josh McDaniels. If he picked the right intersection in Vegas, he'd probably have the money in a matter of hours.

That's because we were using the wrong criteria. If you are a true BS artist, the number one criteria is whether the player will embrace the BS. I'm not sure Rhule has figured out his failing in the NFL to this day.

Please, I just ate.

Probably in Nashville, waiting for Bozeman's arrival.

That is a good turn of events. I was beginning to wonder if it was going to happen.

Most likely, going to 3 or 5 does not involve anything more than draft picks. I'm still surprised Chicago was willing to drop to 9. Of course, Arizona may have demanded DJ as settlement for the fraud we committed when we represented "Chosen" as a wide receiver in the trade with them last season.

They do. Their GM got a ring for best trade of the year in 2021 when we had to have Darnold.

You forget, The Process is in Nebraska.

And yet, the Rams have the same number of Owl wins (and losses) no matter how they did it. The results are pretty much the same. There is more than one way to produce a champion. One could argue that the Saints method, while maintaining relevancy for a long period, was a failure due to the lack of championships while being "in it" almost every year. Let's not lose sight of the luck involved, too. Injuries are the great equalizer.

I was thinking the same team. They saw their window, the pushed all the chips into the center of the table, and they won an Owl. They knew the great dismantling was inevitable when they went down that path, but they got a championship out of it. Not many teams are savvy enough to do what the Pats did and remain in the mix for nearly two decades. But, that also takes a certain amount of callousness most fans would revolt against. "Thanks for your efforts the last few years. Your contributions have been critical to our success. You've earned a big pay day, so pack up your stuff and get the hell out of here because we are going with somebody younger and cheaper."

He'll be 6'3" and 220 by Thursday.

It could be worse. The Process would have us trade Burns, Brown, Chinn, Icky, and Horn for the #2 pick, select both Young and Stroud, hold a training camp competition, and declare the winner: PJ Walker.

Nothing good comes from me commenting on that.

Burn? Burn? This place would make Chernobyl look like a bonfire.

Yeah, DJ's inclusion in the trade was not our idea nor something we wanted to do, from what I have read. And, if DJ had kept his helmet on there is a good chance Wilks is our HC as a reward for having made the playoffs. Everything is different from that point on.

The deal would have to include an assurance of who they are picking at #1. As stipulated, if they pick someone other than that or they trade the pick, they are compelled to hire The Process as HC and keep him for at least five years. Five weeks would probably be enough to get them to commit, but the potential punishment has to be draconian. Another five years of no hope ought to do that for them. That said, if you really are going to flip a coin between the two options to decide who to pick, I'd ask for the #12 pick. The numbers on the pick value chart I looked at have the #1 for the #2 and #12 being a good deal for us. Even the #2 and #33 values are higher than the #1. If their counter was #2 and #33, I'd probably add something in for next year, like a 3rd. They might not like that, but my job is to create the biggest imbalance in my favor as possible. Next year's 3rd is negotiable to a 4th, as it is gravy.

I agree with this, @Varking. The second paragraph is the kicker. I hate giving up DJ since he is the only WR or TE we have that has even halfway proven his worth as a receiver, but the Bears probably would have preferred to stay in the top 5-7 picks, too. The Bears need receivers (and a lot else). Their problem is the QB they believe is the future is now entering year three, and they either put some weapons around him or he will be in contract two before they prove whether or not he really is the answer for them. They have done that before and it did not result in success. If we drafted (or heaven forbid, still do) anybody other than Stroud or Young it is going to be at least a year before there was any positive impact, anyway. That could still be the case with Stroud or Young. DJ might not be a major factor if and when a lower-tier QB produces any results. More than a whiz-bang WR, we need a TE who can catch.....desperately. If we look at the top teams, they all have TEs that are there when the QB needs them, and the two in the Owl this year had TEs that are as dangerous as WRs (not for bombs, but for significant gains in the clutch). It has always been that way in this league. I had hopes DJ may emerge under a coaching staff that understood how to scheme receivers open. That hope applies to the rest of our receiving corps (albeit to a lesser degree because they are pretty unproven). We did not get fleeced on this deal, even though losing DJ is hard. Now we need to see who they draft (my bet is Stroud) and what they do in FA and the draft to give him receivers. Personally, I see more of a chance an impact TE is still on the board when we draft in the second than a frightening WR. But, they don't ask me, which is probably just as well.

The Cardinals are a QB needy team. I think they even realize it, but they can't get themselves to admit it.

I don't think people remember that our exercises in futility prior to QB were trying to find a WR. How many years was that one of our positions of need, if not the major position of need? We drafted them every year and either fouled them off or whiffed completely. We'll see how the current brain trust addresses the position. The other question is how our current group fares in an offense that is not a clusterf*#k. The Chiefs just won an Owl largely because their coaching staff schemed ways to get their receivers open......sometimes wide open. We haven't seen that here in, well, ever. I have some hope that changes and if so, some of our existing group may actually show some life.

Wait, are you including the New Orleans game in that? Because I read on this here board that you can't count that game because everybody was going through the motions. And when you pull that game out, his numbers prove he is decent. Of course, the Saints were not exactly showing the initiative of the 75 Steelers or 89 Niners in that game, either, but that does not count I guess. In other words, when you remove the data from the bad performances, what you are left with is decent numbers. I swear, people are going to hurt themselves trying to come up with creative ways to show Darnold is not what the five years' worth of data and scouting say he is. I don't wish Darnold any ill will. I'm fine with him catching on somewhere.......somewhere else. I just don't see what he brings to the current table, other than he knows what the layout of the locker room, what color or uniforms are, and where the practice facility is. Different offense, different coaches, and he is not under contract so we don't lose a dime not having him around. I certainly don't want him trying to mentor young QBs. What's he going to say, watch what I do under pressure and do the opposite? It's no wonder we are the Southeastern HQ for the Home for Wayward Quarterbacks. In some demented sense, we like it that way.