tukafan21

Those aren't even close to the same thing, a RB who is mainly used as a runner is only involved when they directly call runs for him, while a TE can be on the field for lots of snaps, have lots of routes run, but not be involved because the QB decides to keep throwing to other players. Yes, every play of course has multiple reads, but in this offense, unless they directly call a play that makes him the first read, the most he's ever going to be is the 3rd read on any given play as Thielen and Chark will almost always be the first 2 (assuming progression patterns on a certain call don't dictate something else of course). I don't think it's semantics when talking about getting an at best 3rd read (and honestly maybe 4th or 5th on a given play behind Mingo/TMJ/Sanders) involved in the offense as you say. The coaches can get him involved by calling specific plays for him while the QB can get him involved by checking down to him more often, two very different things and not at all semantics with how they're talked about. Again, the OP was talking about purposefully getting him involved more and throwing to him, which I again say doesn't make much sense unless matchups dictate it because Thielen will always be a better option on similar routes/needs. I have no issue with the QB's using him more, but I wouldn't suggest the coaches running specific plays for him at the expense of plays run for Thielen who is pretty clearly our best pass catcher in my eyes.

I have no issue to him being involved, but I was responding to the original post asking why plays aren't called FOR him, and having Thielen who does similar things but better is the reason why.

My point isn't that we shouldn't be running those plays, but if we're going to run them, they're better off being ran with Thielen as the first read instead of Hurst. Hurts is a solid player, but he's not a difference maker that you're regularly drawing up plays for, not when you have a better version of what he does best in Thielen already on the squad. Not saying you don't play Hurst, it's just why more plays aren't called for him.

Because he's... Hayden Hurst?!?! Solid TE, but he's not a player that you are specifically calling plays to get the ball for. Particularly not when we also have Thielen who plays a similar role of the short to intermediate routes, check downs, over the middle stuff, but is better at it than Hurst.

Oh I absolutely picked up a new football team to root for over the past year Wrexham Association Football Club that is! I’m all in on Wrexham

TMJ to the Jets for Mecole Hardman Lets be real, TMJ seems like a bust and we need speed at WR, while the Jets apparently have zero interest in playing him. It would be a fresh start for TMJ while adding desperately needed speed for us

Stats can be misleading this early in the season. They played two of the best passing offenses in the league the first two weeks, hard to judge them on their passing stats solely on that.

Wow I kinda hate you for making me laugh so many times in what must have been an emotional and tough post to write. You kept sneaking in the comedy after touching moments and it almost made me feel bad to laugh, haha. Took me a minute to get past the “literal poo eating grin” My sincerest best wishes to your wife’s battle and to your whole family… Keep Pounding!!

100% If we played today in the first two games, we'd be sitting at 2-1 right now. Seattle is one of the best teams in the NFC, that stadium is the toughest place in the league to play, and we did it in the road with a QB who has been taking backup snaps since mini camp. I'm upset we lost like everyone else, but today was a MASSIVE improvement over the first two weeks. And look, I don't mean to pile on Bryce, but honestly, Dalton was the difference. He just looked like an NFL QB out there in the way he played, moved, threw the ball, all of it. Bryce still looks like a scared little kid out there, and I don't just mean his size.

Really? We hung with one of the best teams in the NFC, in the rain, on the road, in the most hostile stadium in the league. I'm not happy with the loss, there are still lots of things that need to be improved upon, clearly. But to not think we looked better today than in the first 2 weeks is just being angry to be angry. We looked god awful in the first 2 weeks, that was a clear improvement over those games (albeit still a step back from last year, but that's beyond the point).

We just better not hand over the #1 pick, sure #2 would be bad, but if we give over the #1 pick and in 20 years, Caleb Williams is a HOFer and Bryce is a bust, it would go down as the worst trade in NFL history. Other trades obviously have been bad and not worked out, but if that scenario played out, there'd be nothing else that could ever top it. That's really my biggest fear on the season, it's not one that I expect to play out, but it's certainly possible, especially if we keep getting killed by injuries.

He might not be wrong, it was the worst kept secret that the Texans wanted Bryce and would have taken him #1. If Stroud ends up a stud with Bryce a bust, that win that got Love fired will end up being what saved the franchise.

We very well may start 0-6 (although the Vikings at home is a winnable game) but as long as the team doesn't lose the fight in them because of it, there are a lot of winnable games after that. I'm obviously not saying we'll win all of them, but I think we'll have every chance to win any of these games.... Tampa x2, Atlanta, Saints, this division is still going to be average at best on the season, all games we'll be in. Texans, Colts, Bears all are bottom 10 teams at best and will be winnable games, and the Titans certainly don't look like world beaters either. That's 8 games I think we'll have a chance to win and we need to win 5 of them, any worse and this season will be an abject failure once that pick goes to the Bears. If we can go 5-3 in those games with Bryce as the QB, then I'll probably be able to halfway accept this season. Bryce's development and the pick we hand over to the Bears will be how I judge this season, please just don't be Top 5 (not that Top 10 will feel much better, but at this point I feel like that much is a given).

lol Ben Johnson turned us down last offseason, do you think us getting worse and not having our own draft pick is going to make us more attractive to him?

I'm kinda surprised to see everyone losing it right now, especially given how down on the team I was after last week. But I think this game was a huge step forward for us compared to how bad we looked in the first two games. If we didn't look so bad the first two games, I don't think people would be all that upset right now. Seattle in the rain is about the hardest place to play in this league and sure, not everything was great, but we still put up 27 points on them and our defense kept them in check for most of the game. It's not surprising that a playoff team from last year with a HOF coach was able to wear us down and figure out how to put up points in the second half, this was always an expected loss coming into the season. The false start penalties are absolutely frustrating, but in that environment and the way many of them happened, it was clear that it was communication problems and not just bad mental errors, they'll work on it and I'm not concerned moving forward. The most concerning thing to me was how much better the offense looked with Dalton in there than Bryce, especially with him losing Mingo as well. He just looked "NFL competent" out there, something Bryce didn't and scares me moving forward with him, but that's not the point of this thread. The other thing that has me worried is health though, our guys are dropping like flies out there, not good.

Assuming Caleb Williams keeps playing like he has been, it’s going to be very interesting to see what NFL teams do in the final month of the season if they’re in contention for the top pick.

He seemed like the obvious choice to me, his biggest negative was that past OSU QBs hadn’t been successful, what a terrible reason to pass him up to take a high school sized kid.

I actually think we might have a decent passing game. Seattle isn’t good against the pass to begin with and then they are having injury issues too, could be without their top corner and both safeties.

1% And that 1% was solely Fitterer and Reich asking if he was good with the pick and him saying yes. I think he is 99% responsible for forcing the issue and making them trade up to draft a QB, but I think at that point, he stepped aside and let the football people do their thing and make the choice. The guy just wants to win and he's not Snyder, he knows he doesn't know as much as these guys on the football side, I really do think he's letting them make all the football decisions.

Is this a serious question? If you're a real fan, you watch every game that you're able to, no question about it, regardless of your feelings about the team at that moment.

This year? Short answer: no Long answer: lol no

I don't know if Shanahan can fix him either at this point, it will be tougher to do after another bad coaching stint the Darnold had here. But I think if Darnold went to someone like Shanahan right after the Jets, we'd be talking about him as at worst an above average starter, if not better.

Maybe I should have clarified lol With the coaching staff we had, it was a god awful trade, because they clearly were NOT the right ones to fix him. But for a QB needy team like we were at the time, with players like CMC and Moore, I don't think giving up a 2nd round pick for someone who has the physical tools that Darnold has is a bad trade, in a vacuum. With the proper coaching, I think that would have been a really good offensive squad.

Completely false, I was very much on board with going after Darnold even before we knew the team wanted him, and I'm still not convinced the trade was a bad one. He's a player with all the physical tools you could want in a QB in today's game, his problem has always been in his head. Darnold had the worst imaginable coaching possible with the Jets and then somehow got equally bad coaching here. If he started his career with a coach like Shannahan, there's a chance we're talking about Darnold as an elite QB in this league. The fact that Shannahan was willing to dump Lance and all they had invested in him to go with Darnold instead, actually tells me that he's likely better than he showed in New York or here, and it was the coaching that ruined him.

If we're so bad this year that it would get Reich fired, it could be hard to attract a quality HC who would then be saddled with Bryce, who subsequently would have likely had a really bad season. I also think Tepper knows the analytics say it's best to hire a GM and HC at the same time and he's supposedly an analytics guy who hasn't followed that one yet. I think Reich and Fitterer are both tied here for at least this season and the next, but if we're not contending for the playoffs at the end of next year, they're both fired and replaced by a new combo. Although I could also see him firing Fitterer after this season and giving Morgan the job and 2 years to make something happen next to Reich for 3 full seasons to prove Bryce was the right guy. If it's not working by then, you blow it all up and start completely fresh in 2026.