Mike2.0

Best home - 49ers or Vikings (prefer their shiny helmet to the matte) Worst home - Commanders or Falcons. Best throwback - Dolphins or Buccaneers.

It’s up there with Josh McDaniels accepting the Colts job, then starting the process to build his staff (I think the Colts actually hired his DC), only to do a u-turn and stay at the Patriots. People can change their minds. We’ve probably all done it. Said one thing, then had time to think and changed our minds. However, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do things, and if this report is true, then Coen picked the wrong way.

It’s going to be interesting in the NFC. Three teams have an offensive guru - Packers (Matt LaFleur), Vikings (Kevin O’Connell) and now the Bears (Ben Johnson). The only team without one is the Lions, as Dan Campbell has never run an offense. Campbell is a hell of a motivator, but will need to nail the selector for his next OC. Regarding Johnson going to the Bears, I think the job makes sense. They’ve got a talented roster, that with some smart additions and the right coaching staff, could easily flip their win-loss record. Ok, you need to believe in Caleb Williams, but is buying into him any different than fixing Trevor Lawrence or the Raiders finding a QB and overcoming years of dysfunction? I don’t think it is. To an extent I did feel the Jaguars and Lawrence have a slight edge, but in someways Lawrence is starting to look more like Jameis Winston than the generational quarterback he was hyped to be. So maybe backing Caleb Williams is a better option…

Last night’s result won’t make a difference to the Ben Johnson hype. Just like the Falcons collapse in the Super Bowl didn’t make any difference to the Kyle Shanahan hype. Ben Johnson will land a head coaching gig as long as he wants one and doesn’t want to return to Detroit, which he arguably shouldn’t want to do after last night.

Some of the same core from last season are on the Commander’s roster this season. For example, Brian Robinson (RB), Terry McLaurin (WR), Cosmi (RG), Wylie (RT), Allen (DT) and Payne (DT), Wagner (LB) and Martin (S). There’s other carryover too. So they were never a roster devoid of talent, it was more a case they didn’t have a QB and one could argue they were not well coached. If they had this coaching staff and Jayden Daniels on their 2023 roster, then they would have had more than 4 wins. So quick turnarounds can happen if a team drafts well and has a good coaching staff.

Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott left in 2017, that was prior to Tepper buying the team. So we can’t blame Tepper for not firing the existing staff and promoting them. Scott Fitterer was hired by Tepper to become our GM. So the timeline doesn’t fit for his inclusion in the hypothetical front office with Brandon Beane. Could Jerry Richardson have acted after the 2016 season to fire Rivera and Gettleman? Perhaps, but usually a recent Super Bowl appearance and near perfect season (15-1) will give a head coach and GM extra time. Rivera survived and we bounced back (11-5), while Gettleman was fired months after the draft in July. By that point Beane had already left in May to replace Buffalo’s GM. In hindsight Richardson should have acted sooner if he planned to get rid of Gettleman, but something must have occurred to force Richardon’s hand to act at such an odd time. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but there’s no guarantee things would have turned out differently under McDermott and Beane. A lot would have been dependent on Cam Newton’s health and production because we wouldn’t have been showing him the door. It does make you wonder of what could have been, but as dominant as the Bills have become under Allen, McDermott and McDermott, they have yet to make and win a Super Bowl. At least we did under Newton, Rivera and Gettleman. It’s just their ending was like Delhomme and co, it ended with defeat in the Super Bowl and eventual winding down and clearing out of the team that got there.

I’m always hesitant to buy into analysts saying it is a “weak class” compared to last year. For example, some said the 2017 QB draft class was “weak”, yet we all know who came out of that draft class (Mahomes). Positional depth and strengthens can vary from draft to draft, but there are usually players who prove people wrong and go on to have great careers. So while I respect that some people view this class as “weaker” than last year, I’m sure there are players that can be difference makers and potentially be perennial pro bowlers.

I wouldn’t be against drafting a running back to pair with Chuba. Look at the production the Lions have had with their duo, Gibbs and Montgomery. We’ve had success with running back duos. It would certainly help our young quarterback by taking some of the pressure off him. Now that’s not to say we should use a day one pick or spend big on someone via free agency, but I’d be happy enough with us selecting someone on day two or three if they are the best player available .

An improved supporting cast would arguably help Young’s production. Realistically where would his supporting cast rank in the NFL? Quite a lot of statistical categories place them near the bottom of the league. End of the day, Andy Dalton’s stint didn’t improve matters because his Y/A and Y/G are almost the same as Bryce Young’s. Dalton did have one prolific game against the Raiders, but the rest were arguably no better. So upgrading the offensive supporting cast would be the first step towards judging whether Young can be the guy long term. Tua didn’t start firing until year three, so maybe Young can do the same when his supporting cast is upgraded?

Garrett Wilson could be an excellent addition for us, but I’m not convinced we will be able to get him for a price that makes sense for us. I think we’d be talking a first rounder or a second and some extra picks. With our team not being a receiver away from contention, we’d be better off building through the draft. There’ll be good receivers in the draft class and we can continue to build the trenches and upgrade the defense.

I’d be questioning his desire as a sports person if he wasn’t pissed off at being benched. Hopefully he takes it as a learning opportunity and works hard to earn another shot (either here or elsewhere).

Interesting decision. I can only think this decision has been made to compete and win games, rather than be patient with Young and see how he develops (ie letting us tank if things don’t improve). Unless of course it’s being done to protect Young rather than break his confidence entirely, but generally speaking when QBs struggle this bad it is difficult to recover (eg Blaine Gabbert).

I guess we’ve gone with the he helped turnaround Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield, so he can turnaround Bryce Young after a woeful rookie season. I’m not sure who I wanted to become our next head coach, and to be honest, I’m not sure it will matter unless the owner takes a hands off approach.

If we could land Rodgers without giving up the first overall pick, then I guess there wouldn’t be anything wrong with a short term rental. I mean, we could still draft our quarterback of choice to sit and develop behind Rodgers, and having Rodgers would arguably give us a chance to win our division. That said, I don’t see it happening.

If you include backups, are there 64 better quarterbacks than him? Based off his last few seasons his days as a starting quarterback in this league are arguably over, but as a backup he has more to offer than a lot of the backup quarterbacks in the league. If he’s willing to act as a backup and take that kind of deal, maybe he gets a deal somewhere around the league. However, if Cam still believes he can start and wants that opportunity and to be paid as such, then I can’t see him getting another shot.