OldhamA

No, we don't. I think the defence is significantly improved from where it was and trending in the right direction - but obviously 8 straight Draft picks will do that to you (and hitting on at least 3 of them last year, possibly 5). It's potentially good enough now to help us win the division, if the O holds up it's end of the bargain, but we've got a long way to go before it's elite. To me it doesn't scream 'championship' yet, it screams 'oh, they're starting to stack that side of the ball with aggressive, smart athletes.'

I'm not sure about best LB in the Draft, but he's certainly the LB I've been watching the closest. If he's there, which I doubt he is, I'd run to the podium to take him. Athletic LB who can run. Would allow you to move Chinn to SS too, which would be a bonus.

I don't know why people give PFF oxygen.

Disagree. Rhule runs the show, but he realised he needed an extra pair of eyes in the scouting department hence Fitterer. That's why a few prospective GMs wanted nothing to do with the job. They wouldn't have been in charge.

We don't have to do anything. I'll be keen to see what we do though - if we've finally got a GM / HC that makes Draft picks based on their big board rather than the BPA at a position of need then I'll be delighted. If we pick up a defensive player at S / LB etc then that's exactly what we've got.

I've only briefly watched him, but I wasn't particularly impressed. Seems to get ragdolled a little bit.

Not when Rhule's fingerprints were all over the Draft / FA acquisitions. Fitterer is just another pair of eyes to help out. This is Rhule's show.

Bridgewater was absolutely a Brady / Rhule move. Brady had worked with him previously and obviously liked him for his system and Rhule had been told by Parcells to take a look at Bridgewater if he ever got to coach in the NFL. I will poo on Hurney until the cows come home, but he had no input in the construction of the team last year.

But we've already seen that he's a starting NFL QB. Statistically he hasn't ranked well, but the Jets are also 0-10 without him, so he clearly wasn't the sole problem with that franchise. Evidently the Front Office didn't think Fields was a significant upgrade on Darnold, if at all. Until they prove us wrong I'm ok rolling with their evaluations.

Not if we only had first round grades on 16 guys. It would have taken their first, second and third round pick this year to get to #8.

Take your pick: https://relativeathleticscores.com/2021/01/23/2021-draft-class-ras/ If you're talking Oline: Spencer Brown, OT - 10 Creed Humphrey, OC -10 Samel Cosmi, OT - 9.99 Quinn Meinerz, OC -9.98

I've no idea how they felt about Sewell - considering they passed over Slater too, who actually knows. That said, I've no doubt they were working the phones hard for those 10 minutes. In the end they didn't get a trade down offer they liked so took the best player on their board - which just so happened to be a CB with tremendous upside. The only reason Dator is finding fault with that is because he's one of those "if you don't have a franchise QB you might as well blow it all up" guys.

fuging Dator. He literally has no idea what he's talking about.

I hope not. #8 was the pick to trade back from. #39 is where you snipe a first round talent that's slipped.

You don't trade the equivalent of our third round pick this year for a guy and not make him the guy? I mean...

I think Rhule is a fantastic coach and I'm desperate for him to succeed - but even I can't write off last year as a gimmie. This is year 2 and he should be judged as such.

We won't know for a few years. I will say that Pitts Moss'd Surtain and thought Horn was a harder match-up in College, so there is that.

The Bears traded up from 20 to 11. As I said, the offers clearly weren't good enough.

He coached Oline in New York for the Giants. He knows what it's about - but again it's a BPA drafting policy.

I'm not so sure about that. We just didn't get an offer we liked / apparently loved Horn. Two of the highly coveted QBs were there at our pick.

I genuinely think he's fantastic.

What happens with Fields is irrelevant. What happens with the Panthers will determine whether Rhule and Fitterer are 'gone'.

For the record, NFL teams don't release their Draft boards... ever. I watched a Ravens 'behind-the-scenes' video with their GM today and they were still blurring out laptop screens with their 2020 Draft boards on a year later. So I seriously doubt someone has told this person that Fields was QB #2 for them.

Literally zero chance that's true. Or there's a Grand Canyon sized gap between their evaluation of Lawrence and Fields. You don't pass up a CB, no matter how good he is, if you think there's a franchise QB at your pick.

I honestly don't give a fug about all that. As I've constantly said, the Draft is about loading up on talent. FA is about filling holes on your roster. My nightmare is taking say a good OT / QB cos you NEED one when there's an All-Pro CB / OG sat there at your pick. I'm absolutely giving Rhule the benefit of the doubt here - the 2020 Draft was the best we've had since Seifert was here. I'll dive into the tape tomorrow morning (I've never seen him play).