And we're off.......
Lots of QB movement during the off season, should make it an interesting first four weeks.
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Love the Browns pick of DB Greg Newsome from Northwestern, fills an area of need especially with the rest of the AFC North loading up on receivers.
The Bears got (IMO) the steal of the draft getting Fields. Both the Buckeyes and the Bears have a spotty track record as far as success with QBs in the NFL, but Fields is different, in a good way. I think Wilson with the Jets will be mediocre at best, and the 49ers should've taken Fields instead of Lance.
Dolphins picks made sense I guess - not sure I prefer the receiver they took over his teammate Smith but time will tell
I don't think any QB drafted is better than Herbert. Put that out there to see if anyone calls me on it in 3-4 years.
I always have limited experience with these guys, not watching a lot of college ball, but Fields falling was not a surprise to me. The two games I watched and the film I saw on highlights, he's got some serious NFL flaws in his game that are going to need major fixing. No doubt he'll light things up with his feet for a little while, but among his major issues: Locks on to his primary, doesn't make any reads, turns his back, scrambles before going to his second receiver, holds the ball. The lock on was the most obvious, I don't know that I've ever seen him scan the field.
I think Dallas had the steal of the draft and the Falcons got the best player.
Jaguars wasted their second pick. Any RB taken before round 3 is a waste of a pick. Doesn't bode well for any turn around of that franchise.
Saints filled a need and the little film I saw looked great. Niners, well at least they didn't pick Jones. I just can't see that pick working out for them though unless the plan is he doesn't play but back up for years.
@stefaniawine posted:I don't think any QB drafted is better than Herbert. Put that out there to see if anyone calls me on it in 3-4 years.
I always have limited experience with these guys, not watching a lot of college ball, but Fields falling was not a surprise to me. The two games I watched and the film I saw on highlights, he's got some serious NFL flaws in his game that are going to need major fixing. No doubt he'll light things up with his feet for a little while, but among his major issues: Locks on to his primary, doesn't make any reads, turns his back, scrambles before going to his second receiver, holds the ball. The lock on was the most obvious, I don't know that I've ever seen him scan the field.
I think Dallas had the steal of the draft and the Falcons got the best player.
Jaguars wasted their second pick. Any RB taken before round 3 is a waste of a pick. Doesn't bode well for any turn around of that franchise.
Saints filled a need and the little film I saw looked great. Niners, well at least they didn't pick Jones. I just can't see that pick working out for them though unless the plan is he doesn't play but back up for years.
I remember you not being high on Lawrence but don't really remember why.
I think the Niners' pick is an interesting one. So hard to judge him given the level of his (lack of) competition but he sure looks talented to my untrained eye. And with Kittle, their OL, and that run game, not to mention the very QB-friendly system, he's really going to the best possible spot for him to succeed.
In the 2020 thread I noted, again from my limited viewing, that Lawrence was exactly the same as a junior as he was as a freshman. I had not seen any visible improvement in his game. Now as a freshman he was as good as any I've ever seen, but the key to quarterback in the NFL is week to week improvement. You have to get better all the time.
Baalke had a mixed record in San Francisco. He wasted a lot of picks on running backs in particular and had some amazing duds. I think the success the team had in 2010-2012 was largely miss credited to him and Harbaugh. Truth was those 07-09 teams had a lot of talent and horrible coaching. Baalke and Harbaugh basically were not horrible. I don't even think they were average, they just were not the worst in the league.
Add in Urban Meyer who really has no history of developing QB's and things can be pretty rough for Lawrence. A GM who is below average and has a history of drafting poorly with a coach with no NFL experience and no track record of developing NFL quality QBs. You could say Alex Smith, but much of Smith's drama his first 5 years in the league was how unprepared he was for the NFL and how little good coaching he had.
The game's come easy to Lawrence the past three years. Second best program in college football, surrounded by a ton of talent and really only a couple games a year where defenses were any kind of match for him. That all just changed dramatically. Can he adapt and how fast? Can he do it without coaching help and an average GM on a terrible team? I just don't expect a quick trip to success for Lawrence. More like a long road and a lot of coaching changes.
I usually put less emphasis on testing results, pro days and the combine are days, fun to watch days maybe but not games however... This guy is a monster:
Spencer Brown was drafted with pick 93 of round 3 in the 2021 draft class. He scored a 10 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 1 out of 1143 OT from 1987 to 2021.
6'8", 311 lbs, 40 in 4.94, shuttle in 4.4, 3-cone in 6.96, 9'9" broadjump and a 31.5" vertical.
He's a 310 lbs dude that can jump and have his head almost even with the rim of a basketball net. He's got 35" arms so he could almost touch the top of a backboard!
Green Bay is the team that has to deal with a QB problem. Rogers wants out because he feels disrespected by GM Gutenkunst but now that the draft is over how many teams are left with a QB problem? Only Houston and they have little to no draft capital to pay for someone like Rogers.
Lions actually seemed to have a decent draft for the first time in forever. Not that it will lead to anything this season but they seem to be following the rather successful model of the Browns and Fish by accumulating as many draft picks as possible, so hope springs eternal for the future. As it has done, of course, for the last few decades....
Tonight I opened a 2007 Glaetzer Amon-Ra in honour of their new WR.
In case anyone was wondering, Nathan Peterman is still using up a roster spot, and he's still horrible.
@stefaniawine posted:In case anyone was wondering, Nathan Peterman is still using up a roster spot, and he's still horrible.
Worse than Evander Kane?
That would be a fun contest. Find the worst professional athlete in each sport over the past 30 years. Must have played in at least 25% of his teams games over at least two seasons.
Ravens #1 running back out for the year with an acl tear. Ouch
As Cam bids a tearful farewell to Beantown.
Unchartered territory, first time as a Browns fan we are lamenting too much talent on the roster, cutting guys that will end up playing significant minutes on other teams.
@brucehayes posted:As Cam bids a tearful farewell to Beantown.
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
@stefaniawine posted:That would be a fun contest. Find the worst professional athlete in each sport over the past 30 years. Must have played in at least 25% of his teams games over at least two seasons.
Ooo! Ooo! I nominate Brian Bosworth! NFL 1987-1989
"With 24 appearances in three seasons, Bosworth's career was over before it ever got off the ground. “I don't think he ever had an impact on this team,” Seattle Seahawks General Manager Tom Flores said to the Associated Press in 1990."
I actually have a Bosworth story. My wife and I had spent an overnight in Vancouver, BC. As we were waiting at the border crossing on Sunday to return home, we spotted the Boz and his girlfriend in his white Corvette, in another line. No mistaking that haircut. Now mind you, a Seahawks game was going on at that very moment, (we were listening on the radio) and he was supposed to be on "injured reserve". In contrast, Steve Largent, who was also on injured reserve, was still suited up and on the sidelines doing everything he could to help his team. My wife couldn't contain herself and yelled over, "Hey, you POS! Why aren't you at the game?!" He pretended not to hear. Probably didn't want the story to get out.
Well I think I'll do my best to post something once a week. Will probably be on Wednesday's though not Tuesday.
My spot is reserved to see the greatest fantasy team in the history of the universe open another season tonight. Watched one Boys preseason game and the entire talk was about how they're Super Bowl favorites? A 6 win team with Steve DeBerg at QB are not a Super Bowl favorite. Wait? That happened didn't it? Ain't gonna happen this year.
Like everything about the Fins but their QB.
Interested to see how the entire AFC North does against a tougher schedule. No AFC South and NFC East this year. Still not the toughest but the NFC Central and AFC West have a whole lot fewer push over games. The Browns have good coaching for the first time ever maybe. They're my pick.
I will miss Mitch in Chitown. So many laughs.
Out west the Niners should be much improved this year, at least as long as the injuries stay away. If I'm a skeptic about QB's coming out of Bama, then QB's coming out of NDS I'd have to be 2-3 times as skeptical about. Seemed like a huge draft reach to me.
So here we are - Mr Mashpotatoforbrains is our quarterback. Anyone remember the Seinfeld episode when George decides he's been wrong his whole life and he's going to start doing the opposite? Maybe, just maybe Jameis has had the same epiphany. One can hope. One must hope.
I am reminded though of one of the athletes I enjoyed watching live the most in my youth. Jose Canseco delighted me. Watching him play the outfield in Oakland never ceased to amaze me. No matter what. Every single time. Without fail or flounder. He broke the wrong way on fly balls to right field. Hit over his head he started in. Hit in front of him he started back. To the left, he started right. Right he started left. Every single time. I've never seen an athlete with worse instincts and judgment. Well we all know that story ends with a homerun off the head, and arm ruined trying to pitch and well that whole roids thing.
Let's hope for better for Winston.
I watched the night games and Pack/Saints - Niners/Lions.
I hadn't really thought about it but last year the Bucs got through the season pretty injury free. That's huge. They're unlikely to repeat that luck, it tends to even out year over year. The Cowboys found a weakness to exploit and then an injury made it weaker. Should be interesting to see how it gets exploited and how the Bucs adjust. Still - NEVER bet against Tom Brady.
Them Boys have gone all Steve DeBerg on us. Enough has been written about spending all that money on Elliot and not using him. To me the real story is teams that are +3 in turnovers and lose are not good teams.
The Bears looked functionally the same, except Dalton is boring instead of hilariously inept. I'll want to see how the Rams do when they are behind. That was my final dig on Stafford, he just had a lot of quit in him. A happy loser and it rubbed off on his team.
The Raiders game was awesome fun to watch. I was looking forward to Payton and Eli as an alternative to the horrible MNF crew, but they were pretty unwatchable. It was really hard to get a read on how good either team might be.
The Niners dominated the Lions until late in the 4th quarter. It was all pretty flukey if you didn't watch it. The highlight shows and press made more of it than was justified in my opinion. The Lions looked pretty low on talent across the board. They didn't quit though. Under Stafford they would have folded up and gone home at the end of the third.
Aaron Rodgers hates the Packers. Hates his coach, hates the organization. I really don't understand why they wouldn't trade him. What's to gain?
Look the Saints defense is great. Maybe the most underrated unit on either side of the ball in football. They brought pressure with four, covered fantastic and played complementary football to the offense. Rodgers is going to get 6 games against his division to stack up wins and stats but they didn't show they could play with the top teams. It's a weird situation.
I wish I had said this but I read this today: "Winston hasn't gone back to back games without an interception since the 6th grade". We'll see this weekend, but me thinks the Panthers are an easier mark than the Pack.
Finally - Remember - We don't know anything until week 5.
I'll take an ugly Browns win (yesterday) over a good looking loss (Week 1) any day. The Defense needs to start stepping up, they have a ton of new players that need to gel quickly. Offense continues to be efficient. Heading up to the stadium on Sunday to see them take on the Bears.