Mr. Scot

Some guys are way bigger gambles than others. There's no quarterback in this draft I'm willing to gamble on.

I don't want to gamble at #6.

Over a quarterback? Okay. Over a top tackle? Shoot me

Isn't Jordan doing pretty well in that regard himself? I've heard a couple of people echo the sentiment that Borrego wasn't the problem.

Full Disclosure: I am not a basketball fan and don't follow the Hornets. My general impression from listening to fans talk though was that most people liked Borrego.

I'm Scottish. What did you expect?

I haven't had a chance to listen to this yet, but I'm absolutely going to. One highlight...

FYI from Verge today... Best from me

I'd call that "shots fired".

Not really. And as mentioned, Murray himself chimed in as well.

There is some talk that he wants to be closer to home. I don't know if that's true but I won't be surprised if people run with it.

Insiders say that he's been forced to listen to other voices more than he was before, but the final say is still his.

Look again. I actually just showed how valid your argument was.

Luck never made it to the Super bowl. Newton made it once, but lost and never came close to making it back. Joe Burrow's done the first part of that. Waiting to see whether he also does the second (given that he plays for the Bengals, it's very possible). Kyler Murray made it to the playoffs and looked in over his head. Baker Mayfield is in the process of flaming out, while the guy that was taken six picks below him is looking...pretty good. Jared Goff's team replaced him. Heck, so did Carson Wentz's. You could technically be impressed by how far Goff and Wentz have fallen but Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota can say they did it first. Sam Bradford...enough said. Ditto Jamarcus Russell and Alex Smith (bet the 49ers are sure glad they bet on him over that Rodgers guy that went 20 picks or so later). And back to today, Trevor Lawrence...well, he plays for the Jaguars. Maybe Doug Pederson can make a difference but for now they're still the Jaguars. Turns out you've gotta go all the way back to 2009 to find a quarterback chosen #1 overall who's actually won a Super Bowl (Matt Stafford) and even he just did it this year. To top it all off, he wasn't even with the team that originally took him when he did. If you want a quarterback who actually lived up to the hype and netted his original team a trophy then you have to trace even further back to 2004 with Eli Manning. Eli did it twice. Outside of Stafford, no QB taken first overall since Manning has even done it once. Wow Seems like that whole "get the top overall pick and start winning" strategy isn't the guaranteed path to a Lombardi trophy that some seem to think it is. Why is it so hard? Probably because the vast majority of the time, the team picking #1 overall didn't just have a bad luck season. They tend to be longtime sh-tty teams, and even getting that magical unicorn quarterback doesn't fix the sh-ttiness that runs throughout the rest of the organization. So maybe...just maybe...the more reliable path to winning it all is to build a quality team around a good to great quarterback, even if he's not that super magical unicorn that everybody thinks the #1 pick is. But hey, if you still want to go that route, cool. I mean after all, it's not like we're one of those sh-tty organizations that takes turns playing this game on an annual basis. Right?

I don't know whether David Tepper deserves to be "taken to the woodshed" or not. I do know he's a really sh-tty football team owner.

"Rhule and company" probably don't see it that way, though. Seriously doubt the "Rhule" part of that phrase would agree. And he's still the one with final say on the pick, so...

It was last year.

The Irish are a bunch of wusses

So is Trevor Penning

There's no way Mitch Trubisky goes ahead of Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson either. Crazy stuff happens in The Draft.

To be fair, if it played out that way within this mock scenario, we'd still get Charles Cross. (unless we took a quarterback instead)

This one comes from Athletic draft analyst Nate Tice. NFL mock draft: Panthers pass on QB, surprise Packers picks, early run on receivers The top picks are... 1. Jacksonville Jaguars: Travon Walker, Edge, Georgia 2. Detroit Lions: Aidan Hutchinson, Edge, Michigan 3. Houston Texans: Evan Neal, OT, Alabama 4. New York Jets: Kayvon Thibodeaux, Edge, Oregon 5. New York Giants: Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi State Comments on the Panthers pick... 6. Carolina Panthers: Ikem Ekwonu, OT, North Carolina State There is certainly a lot of smoke with the Panthers taking a QB here, and justifiably so. They have backed themselves into a corner in trying to find an upgrade over Sam Darnold, and they might tab Malik Willis or Kenny Pickett as the QB to build around. (Or they could make a move for Baker Mayfield). But upgrading the offensive line is just as important of a need in Carolina. What they trotted out in 2021 was horrific as the movie “Morbius.” Ekwonu is as athletic as they come and a tough, physical finisher who will set the tone for the line. He still has plenty of technique to clean up, but he has the ability and potential to be a dynamic lineman with more than enough ability to stay at tackle. In a worst-case scenario, he bumps inside to guard. Tice adds this regarding pick 5... ...look for a potential trade up for a quarterback here, as a team could want to get in front of the Panthers.

Rivera worked well with Gettleman. Once Hurney was back in, it all went downhill. He had a ceiling as a coach that he wasn't likely to get past. I don't doubt that parting ways with him was the right move. I also don't doubt that if I had to choose between him and Matt Rhule, I'd take Rivera every time. For whatever his limitations, Ron Rivera was at least an NFL coach.

That would require being interested.