Sgt Schultz

That (Jettisoning Darnold) would be the only way I would do something like this, with the possible exception on Minshew on the cheap. Even then, it would be only because we have zero QBs on the roster who are under contract after this season, and thankfully so. Filling the entire QB depth chart at once is a tall order, which may be Rhule's replacement's first major lift. But, barring a bargain-basement deal for somebody, let's stop throwing good money after bad. While our QB room is not at all expensive by NFL standards this year, the return on that investment is extremely poor. It will probably be negative, unless Darnold harnesses his inner Marino. Right now, his only inner Marino is Luigi, not Dan.

What makes him think anybody cares who he wants or doesn't want? This is not exactly Jerry Rice, Calvin Johnson, or Larry Fitzgerald offering wisdom. The old commercials about "when EF Hutton speaks, people listen" do not apply to him.

When you have no idea what to do about the actual problems, you invent a problem you can solve. If nothing else, it creates controversy and diverts attention from the real problems that are still sitting there. Call it sleight of hand.

This reminds me of Coca Cola fiasco in 1985 when they proudly announced they were changing formulas. After receiving 5,000-8,000 angry calls a day, having to hire more operators to field those calls, and getting completely lambasted in the press for 79 days, they brought back the old formula. It has been used as an example of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Since they don't have a clue how to fix the myriad of things that are broken, they muck with something that isn't......and eff it up.

I get it. Keep Pounding was outdated.....it no longer was appropriate image for this team. They should have changed it to Start Pounding. Or as my high school baseball coach would yell at us 45 years ago, Act Like You've Done This Before.

They need a more appropriate brand.

That was my thought exactly. My second thought was:

Like Linville, this was one of my biggest frustrations about this past year. Even if somebody was a wild optimist, we were 5-7 by the bye week and had five games left. Our OL stunk. At that point, if not before, BC should have been trotted out as the LT and Brown should have gotten plenty of snaps at G. It sure would be nice to know exactly what we got in last year's draft. But, we do know that BC is versatile, which apparently is more important than being decent - good - great at one position. One minor position, like, oh, I don't know, LT.

Our biggest fear is they are going to do that starting with #6. I agree with you on what we should be doing at #6. Even if we somehow trade down (and it better not be too far), I think the same need has to be addressed. If they trade down and pick up a 2nd or 3rd, then we can start looking at other positions.

In this draft, we can take a QB at 6 and miss out on both a LT and QB. If so, next year we could well be exactly where we are in both positions right now, except maybe with a backup QB on a rookie contract. I have no faith in this year's QB class, and even if I did, I have less faith in our ability to evaluate which of them might just turn into an NFL QB.

I remember thinking "what the hell do they pay you for?" If I remember, Rivera said the same thing about Cam. I had the same thought then, too.

That begs the response "that ship has already sailed."

I remember that game well. It was like Shanahan decided to leave him out there until the ambulance came and got him. While I am not for owners meddling, even I would have called down to the sidelines at some point and told Shanahan to either get RG3 off the field or I was coming down immediately to get him off the field. If I remember right, it was the age-old excuse "he didn't tell me he was too hurt to continue."

The ones that came to mind were Bisciotti, Rooney, and Kraft without the scandals (pure ownership perspective). Most owners evolve. Some start out like a kid with a new toy, that does not work and they figure out they make the same money whether they tinker, dictate, or watch and watching allows them to devote their time to other things, money-making or not. Then there is Jerry Jones. I have to admit I know almost nothing about Seattle's ownership. I don't hear much, so that is a plus. My belief on owners is that their job is to count money. The NFL delivers it in box cars, and owners should stay out of football operations and count the money. If they want, they can take their shoes off and wade into it. Otherwise, the less I hear the better. Tom Benson used to dance on the field after a Saints win, and that is a fine way to get a few minutes of "face time" that is harmless, unless the players have to avoid him while he is dancing and they are running off the field. But, that is about as much interaction as I think an owner should have with the football operations, other than holding the people that run the football operations accountable for the results.

My question is why I would want a "right-handed Michael Vick?" Vick could run....but he was not accurate enough of a passer to hit the broad side of a barn if he was standing inside the thing with the doors closed. And I would want a right-handed version of that to be my QB?

Absolutely. The concept of opportunity cost is lost on many people. You not only missed on who you took, you missed on who you could have taken. It's not like the LT that was sitting there or one of the other QBs you passed on was waiting for you in the second round. Oh wait, we don't have a second round pick. We have Darnold, instead, who was an example of what we are talking about for the Jest, and then again for us unless he magically finds his inner Elway.

People tend to miss something about overdrafting QBs (or any other position, really) in the first round. But especially with QBs, we hear "if it doesn't work out, you just try again." The premise is all it cost was a wasted first round pick. If you keep at it and keep missing, all of a sudden your roster has other significant holes that could have been filled quite well if the value of the talent pool at the QB position had been honestly assessed and you instead chose that stud LT one year. Ours already has those holes. One of them seems to mesh quite well with what is available in this draft. Drafting a QB at #6 does not mean you drafted a high first round QB at #6. Just like paying $30,000 for that 4 year old Nissan Versa does not make it a $30,000 car. It just proves PT Barnum's point.

Winning in the regular season, but going nowhere in the playoffs over several years gets old, too. Eventually the clock strikes midnight on the core of the roster, they have little to show for it, and the fans are just as impatient as we are. Ask Ravens or Cowboys fans how thrilled they are with that template, and how that translates to their view of Jackson or Dak.....or Romo (different style, but same results), for that matter. Just being one of seven teams out of 16 in the conference that makes the playoffs most years sounds attractive to those of us who support teams that are one of the other nine, but after a couple of years the fanbase is pretty much just as dissatisfied. The arguments just shift from "can't take us to the playoffs" to "can't get us over the hump," or "can't win in the playoffs." I like both Dak and Jackson but neither has proven they can get it done during the postseason.

There are plenty of seats. I think we have the makings of a new Huddle club: the Grumpy Old Men.

Snow and I will save a seat for you at the table. Not only do people tend to leave you alone, they also tend to not put you in situations that you don't want to be in to begin with. It has a lot of advantages.

I appreciate the guy's honesty.....and self deprecation.

That would be Dean Wormer.

I agree with this. I don't think he was as good a coach as he was given credit for. He almost refused to adjust his offensive game plan when the run was working or his philosophy was not. His offensive philosophy produced results, but there was a definite ceiling to those. Had Brady and probably a few other pieces not essentially been able to win whether he was on the sidelines or not, the Bucs would not have gotten over that ceiling.

I am inclined to think handling pressure/thinking on his feet/poise is the intangible that separates the keepers from the rest. Darnold's problem right now is he panics under pressure and makes bad decisions. He may make bad decisions when not under pressure, but we really don't know that. Even a QB who can run doesn't necessarily do so out of panic. Cam was pretty composed back there, even when he had to run for his life. And a guy who drops back looking for an excuse to run is not necessarily panicking, either. He just has to be taught to continue to look downfield before giving up on the pass and committing to the run for yardage. That is not an easy habit to break, either, because it has generally been one that has been relied on pretty much the guy's entire football life. But, it is easier to coach out than "stop panicking." Especially if your OL causes panic.

I agree with him, I don't think Pickett or any QB in this draft is top-10 pick worthy. We have other needs that mesh with the available talent in the draft pretty nicely. Like LT. That said, if you believe Darnold will not pan out (and the odds are heavily with you), we have nobody on the depth chart at the QB position that will/should be there in 2023. Heading into next year with a completely new QB room is risky, even if the entire coaching staff turns over. Given my view of the QBs available in the draft and our QB room, it would make a second or third round QB pick almost a necessity (or signing a cheap vet). Again, just my view of the world, the difference between the best of what is available this year and the middle is not that great. So, if we had or acquire a second or third, snag somebody, if Darnold blows chunks, get the new guy some time and figure out if he is/should be #1 or #2 going into 2023 (if #2, you need a #1) and call it a day. That is not a formula for success in 2022 unless Darnold defies the odds, but the fact that the entire team took a step backwards in 2021 put us where we are. We are entering 2022 where we were entering 2021, maybe worse off. The only assumption is that whoever is drafted is better than PJ. He may be better than Darnold right off the street, too, in which case he is the sole survivor on the QB depth chart heading into 2023. If he isn't better than Darnold, he is probably still the sole survivor (unless Darnold steps up or agrees to come back on the very cheap). Obviously, if you or the Panthers think there is a long-term answer available that I am underestimating, my plan is out the window. And if the long-term answer at LT is sitting there at #6, trading down to get a second or third rounder (at least that way) should be out the window. Then there is the fact that Rhule may be coaching for his job in 2022. Although, Tepper tends to look longer-term, so if Rhule and Fits have a specific QB(s) identified in the 2023 draft, some of that pressure may be off, for better or worse.