Mr. Scot

Oh sure, those are easy to find. Hell, most successful teams just get the best quarterback they can find and don't bother putting jack sh-t around them. I mean if they need stuff like receivers, offensive linemrn and a run game to be good, are they really worth it?

The more I read, the more I think the best approach with Darnold might be to basically treat him like a rookie and coach him up the way you would if this was his first year in the NFL.

Also FYI, there's a lot of other good stuff in this article (including a discussion of what the Falcons might do at 4). I recommend reading the whole thing.

In his latest mailbag (link) From Danny (@BetTheOver85): How likely/unlikely is it that Sam Darnold becomes Ryan Tannehill 2.0 and rejuvenates his career? Danny, I think Carolina’s got a shot to resurrect Darnold’s career. Getting a left tackle to bookend with Taylor Moton, and maybe that’s Sewell at No. 8, would help. But from there, he’s got Robbie Anderson and D.J. Moore to throw to, and Christian McCaffrey alongside him, and that should at least give offensive coordinator Joe Brady a foundation to build off of. I believe your comp is pretty apt, too. One thing Tannehill needed coming out of Miami was a coach who’d get him playing fast again, and Arthur Smith was that guy—lifting the mental load off the 2012 first-round pick (giving, for example, line calls to the center) in an effort to just let him play. To me, Darnold needs the exact same sort of thing going to Charlotte, and I think Brady’s astute enough to know it and give it to him. The truth is that Darnold too often over the last couple of years was asked to operate like Peyton Manning once did in Adam Gase’s offense. And that was as a quarterback who arrived in the pros as a raw prospect in need of development, which, to me, explains how his wiring got fouled up. As such, to get him right, I think Brady would do well to let him go out and be more of a bus driver type and build from there. In this case, I really believe asking less of a player—and that should be even easier to do if McCaffrey’s back at 100% in the fall—will mean getting more out of him. ... This makes a lot of sense. The one quarterback that Gase had any real success with was Peyton Manning, but Manning didn't really need a coach at that point in his career. For all intents and purposes, he was a coach. So if what Gase did with Tannehill and Darnold was basically ask them to operate the same way Manning did, it explains a lot. Heck, a lot of veteran quarterbacks couldn't even do that.

Possible snag...

Well, Lord knows an ambiguous tweet from last year certainly means more than what he's said publicly in just the last few days, right?

The Steelers hurt his pride

Last I saw, he's both.

Probably a good one though. Ryan was rumored to be the top candidate for OC before Joe Brady came into the picture.

Yep. Lousy way to pick a head coach though. I had a former brother-in-law who was a very fun person to be around. As far as trust though, I wouldn't put him in charge of a lemonade stand, much less anything more important.

Pretty sure he's still unsigned.

He's a UNC guy if I remember correctly.

As I recall, Woody Johnson kept Rex Ryan despite poor results because he loved his bravado. (I remember shaking my head when I read that)

...or Suzy Kolber.

We've seen multiple sources suggest the Panthers don't love all of the top five quarterbacks, and more than one suggesting that it stops at Lawrence and Wilson. You might be able to throw Fields in there, but I'd have serious doubts about Lance or Jones.

Fair enough I'm curious what your opinion of Robert Saleh is vs the other choices (if I recall correctly, there were many). Also wondering if you had an opinion of Matt Rhule given that he was almost the Jets coach a while back.

I think Douglas is going to be a pretty good GM. Lord knows you haven't had that in a while.

If we drafted a project quarterback over an elite left tackle prospect, I would lose a lot of faith in our current braintrust.

Not solidifying our line would absolutely be a mistake, and given that 1) it's something both Fitterer and Rhule have pledged to do this offseason and 2) it's an oft repeated one already, it would be a tough one to forgive.

Lance over Sewell or Slater would be insane. You could conceivably make an argument for Fields at least, but not Lance.

If they repeat those mistakes, then yes I absolutely can.

Heard that before too. Each time we have a chance at finally solidifying our offensive line, we find an excuse not to. Then we wonder why we are where we are.

Like we did just two years ago? How many times in the past has this team thought they could get a left tackle in a later round?

Think of it this way... Would you prefer to have a starting quarterback and a starting left tackle or a starting quarterback, a backup quarterback and no left tackle?