2024 Random NFL Stuff Thread…

[data]

This is calling out to Jerruh like a 1970s slow jam. Jerruh’s lighting candles and dropping rose petals into a hot bath. Have I got a 4th rounder for you

 

[boozeman]

K.

 

[boozeman]

I induct myself. Here…have a hot dog on me!

 

[Cotton]

 

[Chocolate Lab]

He was in hurry to go find mama so he could cry in her arms?

 

[Bipo]

Mel Kiper wants the NFL to outlaw the 2 high safety defense because teams are having a hard time with it now because defenders are so athletic. Thoughts?

 

[Smitty]

Allow me to go on a rant. Here is an article from the Athletic this morning:

Bryce Young and the plight of rookie QBs

Tentpole moments in the NFL largely come in the form of Super Bowl wins, radical new schemes or daring coaching hires. So on and so forth. Bryce Young’s benching this week feels like one of those canon events, and not just for the Panthers or Young — but for how teams evaluate and treat rookie quarterbacks. There are stunning levels of failure here, on every account. Let’s start up close: Carolina radically failed Young, whom they selected at No. 1 just last season — after trading a treasure trove of assets to do so. Just 18 games later, Young is out of a job, having already played for three head coaches and multiple play callers. It’s easy to say he never had anything close to a fair chance. His time in Carolina is probably over. Yet Young deserves plenty of blame here, too. He has never looked comfortable at this level and has markedly regressed this year. The Athletic’s Mike Sando told me this week that Young’s 5-foot-10 frame made him a dangerous outlier for anyone to take at No. 1, much less a player to mortgage the future for. Turn on Young's tape, and you’ll see his struggles. I thought this week's segment on his disappointing film from “The Athletic Football Show” was particularly insightful. Zoom out, and this is a symptom of the NFL’s financial system overall. Teams are encouraged to play rookie QBs early and often in the hopes of contending before a massive QB extension kicks in and makes it harder to build an elite team. Sometimes this works out (see: Stroud, C.J., drafted one pick behind Young). Young is the floor here, a combination of rushed development, small stature and front-office instability. If Young, 23, never starts another game for the Panthers, it is one of the largest organizational failures in NFL history. Panthers coach Dave Canales says Young can still be a franchise quarterback, but I doubt that’s anytime soon. I am morbidly fascinated to see if Young’s fall impacts how teams treat rookie QBs going forward. Yes, every set of circumstances is different, but take note of New England having yet to play Drake Maye. This year’s No. 1 pick, Caleb Williams, is struggling in Chicago, for what it's worth. In today’s column, Mike expanded on whether NFL QB treatment is at a tipping point. Read it here.

So, yeah, here are my thoughts on this. The way the NFL handles QBs is broken, but this is stemming from a fundamental problem with it's compensation model. The league needs to go to the mattresses with the players next time the CBA is up and it needs a complete overhaul. That will never happen, but, if they were concerned with the good of the sport and it's long term health, they would address it. The hard cap system and free agency is broken. Yes, the league is rushing it's young QBs into place because it knows the only real way to win a Super Bowl is if you have (1) the best QB in the game like Brady or Mahomes who wins over and over again, or (2) a very good QB on a cheap deal, most likely a rookie contract player who hasn't cashed in yet. This is a big problem. The game shouldn't be about gaming the financial system. I understand having value contracts is important in every sport with a salary cap (NFL, NBA, and NHL), but the warts that are cropping up in the NFL's system have been apparent for a long time and it's only getting worse. I think there needs to be a drastic re-imagining of how NFL players are compensated. I'm just throwing a very raw idea out there, so I'm not saying this should be the solution, but I'm saying this kind of radical shift... for example, like, there is no more free agency, players are drafted and stay with that team until traded or released.... but are compensated based on performance metrics. The pay scale is league wide. A QB who throws for 4,000 yards is paid $50m for the year that comes out of the league payroll pot of money, and that's it. Of course it can't all be about individual stats, so winning also has to be substantially rewarded to encourage the players who win more to be compensated enough that it's just as lucrative to win as it is to put up stats, etc. Anyway, yes, it's a disaster out there with player development and retention right now. I'm so sick of the contract negotiations for $200m being the center focus of the sport. Every player who is any good holds out for generational wealth and ruins your team because you can't afford to keep other good players then. Something needs to change. And the QB payscale is part of it, it's absurd. The fact that you have to rush a rookie QB into action to beat the clock is BAD FOR THE SPORT and the owners need to recognize it.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

That will never happen, but, if they were concerned with the good of the sport and it's long term health

I laughed.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Also, I'm so sick of this relatively-recent narrative that, "The team failed the player."

Do you ever remember hearing that about Ryan Leaf or Jamarcus Russell? Maybe the guy just can't play, full stop. It doesn't have to be everyone or anyone else's fault.

It seems to come from these NBA commentators always complaining that the zillion-dollar superstar the team just signed also has to have an all-star team around him or else we can't expect anything from him. Such a beating.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Also, I'm so sick of this relatively-recent narrative that, "The team failed the player."

Do you ever remember hearing that about Ryan Leaf or Jamarcus Russell? Maybe the guy just can't play, full stop. It doesn't have to be everyone or anyone else's fault.

It seems to come from these NBA commentators always complaining that the zillion-dollar superstar the team just signed also has to have an all-star team around him or else we can't expect anything from him. Such a beating.

He is a 5'9" QB. It's just not easy to make that work.

 

[Genghis Khan]

Also, I'm so sick of this relatively-recent narrative that, "The team failed the player."

Do you ever remember hearing that about Ryan Leaf or Jamarcus Russell? Maybe the guy just can't play, full stop. It doesn't have to be everyone or anyone else's fault.

It seems to come from these NBA commentators always complaining that the zillion-dollar superstar the team just signed also has to have an all-star team around him or else we can't expect anything from him. Such a beating.

Amen. Young clearly sucks. The only thing I'd blame the organization for is taking him in the first place.

This is just a very bad QB. There's no developing that.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Amen. Young clearly sucks. The only thing I'd blame the organization for is taking him in the first place.

I notice the intrepid Mike Sando didn't mention one time that the lunatic owner Tepper overruled his scouts and forced them to take Young over CJ Stroud.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Amen. Young clearly sucks. The only thing I'd blame the organization for is taking him in the first place.

This is just a very bad QB. There's no developing that.

Shorter QBs were becoming more acceptable but I think you're going to see teams once again avoiding any QBs under 6 foot. Murray isn't just short, he is realllllllly short

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Shorter QBs were becoming more acceptable but I think you're going to see teams once again avoiding any QBs under 6 foot. Murray isn't just short, he is realllllllly short

He's a far better athlete than Young, too.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Mel Kiper wants the NFL to outlaw the 2 high safety defense because teams are having a hard time with it now because defenders are so athletic. Thoughts?

I missed this gem before from Melsy Welsy Woo Woo Kins.

What an idiotic thing to say.

 

[Genghis Khan]

Mel Kiper wants the NFL to outlaw the 2 high safety defense because teams are having a hard time with it now because defenders are so athletic. Thoughts?

My thoughts are that Mel Kiper is stupid and this idea is stupid.

 

[bbgun]

Also, I'm so sick of this relatively-recent narrative that, "The team failed the player."

Me too. It's true that Young has a new HC, new QB coach and not much around him, but at the same time he's missing easy passes. Aikman probably had less talent to work with in 1989, but there were games where you could see glimpses of what was to come. Young hasn't.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Me too. It's true that Young has a new HC, new QB coach and not much around him, but at the same time he's missing easy passes. Aikman probably had less talent to work with in 1989, but there were games where you could see glimpses of what was to come. Young hasn't.

Yeah, I get that he isn't on a talented team. But just watch him, it's really ugly. He can't complete a pass from inside the pocket. He can't even throw a decent ball from inside the pocket. It's pretty obvious that he is just a flawed player. Even when he was drafted I said the only way he can be successful is with a really creative offensive coordinator who can basically get him outside the pocket on most plays. He is a 5'9" guy playing behind 6'5"+ lineman and dlineman. I'm sure it's hard to see anything in that situation.

 

[bbgun]

He is a 5'9" guy playing behind 6'5"+ lineman and dlineman. I'm sure it's hard to see anything in that situation.

That's another thing: he's not just short was physically small. Murray is a twerp but he's like a tree trunk from the waist down.

 

[Simpleton]

The NFL almost needs a separate cap and/or maximum salaries for QB's based on both statistical production and winning (not just regular season games, but how far they've gone in the playoffs and at what frequency).

Like there's no way there should be a straight max where Lawrence is paid the same as Mahomes. Based on some sort of formula a QB like Lawrence should be capped at like 45-50 or something, whereas the cap for Mahomes should be like 70.

It's gotten so ridiculous that something dramatic needs to happen because ironically the league's desire for parity is starting to go by the wayside, at least in terms of who is winning/making Super Bowls.

It's basically just Mahomes and QB's on rookie deals (Hurts, Purdy, Burrow) over the last 5 years. The only exception is Stafford and I think that was a pretty big fluke.