Mr. Scot

FYI: Pretty much everything The Observer puts out these days is behind a paywall. If you're only posting a link, most people won't be able to get anything out of it. Obviously you can't post a whole article, but excerpts are a good idea.

And one more piece of draft related info... Someone did an analysis of which teams have the most draft capital (point wise) and posted a list from top to bottom. We're not as low on the list as you might think. I'm not a big stats and points guy, but I still found this interesting.

Do you really think a league full of guys that basically worship money is going to turn away someone who has that much of it though?

There's also this from Albert Breer about how everyone thinks the Saints are looking to trade up into the top ten or even top five, but that might not be true. A lot of people are waiting for a second-order move by the Saints, after last week’s trade with the Eagles. Maybe it’ll happen. But I just don’t see the logic in it, at least at this point. For those who missed the ins and outs, a week ago, New Orleans sent first-, third- and seventh-round picks (18, 101, 237), its 2023 first-rounder and 2024 second-rounder to Philly for the 16th and 19th picks, plus a sixth-rounder (194) this year. In the MAQB, we broke down how if you split the whole thing into two trades, it looks pretty ugly for the Saints. And that sort of logic had some deducing that this might be part of a plan from Saints GM Mickey Loomis to make a bigger move into the top 10. Maybe it is. My question then would be … why did the Saints need the Eagles to play middleman? The draft value chart shows that the Saints could spin the 16th and 19th picks to get up into the top four. But this year, with perception (and maybe reality) that the top 10 lacks real blue-chippers, more teams up there are looking to move picks to next year—so my guess is if the real plan here was to get into the upper reaches of the draft, then packaging the 18th pick with next year’s first-rounder alone might’ve gotten it done (and you’d have saved yourself moving this year’s third-rounder and the 2024 second-rounder). Again, maybe Loomis will do what some think he will and spin the capital he just got to move up. But it seems to me it’s more likely that the Saints did this to get to three picks inside the top 50 (16, 19, 49), allowing them to lean on Jeff Ireland and his staff to find three starters to come in on rookie contracts and help alleviate the team’s cap strain now and in the future, and bolster a team that’s still got a roster that’s very much in a win-now type of place. (And for what it’s worth, Loomis, entering his 21st season as Saints GM, hasn’t shown much inclination, publicly or privately, to rip the Band-Aid off cap-wise and undergo a post–Drew Brees and Sean Payton rebuild).

This might help... (it's also funny)

From Peter King (link) QB Desperation Truest words of the week, from draft maven Greg Cosell of NFL Films: “You can make the argument that every year there are two drafts: the quarterback draft, and the draft for the rest of the players. This year’s no different. It would not surprise me if we saw five quarterbacks go in the first round.” One GM told me he sees three in the top 20, though there appear to be no sure things among the passers set to be taken. Those three are likely Kenny Pickett of Pitt, Malik Willis of Liberty and Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder. I’ve heard very good things about Ridder’s exchanges with teams over the past month, but each QB has his critics. Has Pickett hit his ceiling already? Can Willis develop the pocket presence teams want to see? Ridder has run NFL style concepts at Cincinnati, but he misses throws he should make and isn’t strong throwing on the run. One of the issues is when a team picks a quarterback in the first round, there are expectations he’ll play as a rookie. Play some, at least. What if, say, a Willis would be best served with a redshirt year? Will his team feel fan, media and owner pressure to play him before his time? That’s an inescapable issue when a guy drafted to be the future at the most important position in the game comes onto the scene. Sometimes, pressure foils the best-laid plans. Chris Simms, the QB maven for NBC Sports, likes Ole Miss’ Matt Corral as his QB1, for his quick release, strong arm and quick feet. But Simms predicts only two in the first round: Pickett and Willis. He thinks Detroit should take Corral late in the first or early second (the Lions have the 32nd and 34th overall picks, last in the first round and second in the second round). “Corral really excites me,” Simms said. “He’s got the quickest release I’ve seen in a while.”

This bit of info from Peter King's latest column is relevant to the topic... I think, not to pick on Malik Willis, but as a Liberty quarterback, he played two top-25 teams in two seasons—Coastal Carolina (2020) and Mississppi (2021). He beat Coastal Carolina, rushing for four touchdowns, and lost to Ole Miss. Notable numbers in those games: zero passing TDs, five interceptions.

Well, it might mean our friend Sizzlebuzz becomes a Bronco fan For me personally, I'd find it pretty amusing.

Favre was who I always compared Newton to. He had "general vicinity" accuracy most of the time but was wildly inconsistent. He could throw something that looked like it was laser-guided on one pass and then throw one immediately after that made you wonder if he needed corrective lenses. Yes, you can win with that kind of quarterback if you build around them properly (the Packers and Panthers both showed that) but it's going to be a lot more challenging than it would be with, say, a Drew Brees or Peyton Manning level passer.

FYI: Walton is one of Rams owner Stan Kroenke's in-laws. His estimated net worth in the range of 65-70 billion dwarfs David Tepper's.

Never said they did. I don't have a problem with mobility or running ability. What I disagree with is the notion that you can take any guy who's a great athlete and just teach him to be a great quarterback. If they can't throw with at least a Brett Favre standard of accuracy or read a defense on some level by the time they're in college, I seriously doubt they're going to make it in the NFL. The athletic stuff is, and always should be, a secondary consideration to actual quarterback skills.

And then there's this...

Any owner making smart football decisions wouldn't have hired him in the first place

Sheil Kapadia had a similar article analyzing free agency. This was the Panthers section: The Panthers upgraded their offensive line by signing Bradley Bozeman and Austin Corbett. They signed wide receiver D.J. Moore to a contract extension and brought back corner Donte Jackson. Those moves were all fine. The only problem? The Panthers still don’t have a quarterback solution. “I think they just tried to change the mix a lot,” Fitzgerald said. “They signed about $36 million a year in contracts. They dumped about $27 million in contracts. So it’s just changing, bringing in a lot of new faces, try to add to that offensive line, stabilize that a little bit, add bits and pieces to the defense. … I have no idea what kind of team they’re really building. The quarterback stuff has really thrown them for a loop.” The Panthers tried to land Deshaun Watson, but he chose Cleveland. They’ve been in the mix for just about every notable quarterback over the past two years, yet if the season started tomorrow, they’d be starting Sam Darnold. Taking a quarterback at No. 6 seems like a strong possibility. But rookie QBs generally struggle. Matt Rhule has gone 10-23 in two NFL seasons. If 2022 is more of the same, will he get a fourth season? The other option for the Panthers would be to add talent in the draft and make a move for Jimmy Garoppolo. That could make them more competitive in the short term and potentially help Rhule’s job security. NFL offseason brilliant moves, head scratchers and power shifts (FYI: "Fitzgerald" refers to Jason Fitzgerald OverTheCap.com) Numerous articles have pointed to the notion that a veteran quarterback acquisition would be more beneficial to Matt Rhule than drafting a rookie. Joe Person's article from a while back brought up the idea that Scott Fitterer might prefer the rookie route as "the right way" to address the quarterback issue. So who ultimately wins the debate?

That thought crossed my mind... ...and it's not out of the question.

I'm pretty sure any front office person or coach who took what jersey number a player might want into consideration regarding whether to draft them or not would be laughed out of the league so badly that they'd probably never even watch an NFL game again.

As far as the context, here's the full Panthers excerpt from Mike Sando's article: The Panthers are exactly where they were entering free agency: desperate for a quarterback but unable to land a clear upgrade to Sam Darnold at the position. “I don’t know what to tell you,” an exec said. “You give up all that draft compensation for Darnold, you pick up the fifth-year option, you guarantee him that extra year and here you are, stuck. Their O-line is bad. We will see if Austin Corbett helps them.” The defense could still be solid, but losing pass-rusher Haason Reddick and defensive tackle DaQuan Jones to free agency isn’t going to help. “They are hell-bent on getting a quarterback at all costs,” an exec said. “I would not be surprised if they took one in the draft, high.” Carolina owns the sixth pick, then nothing until No. 137. Meanwhile, coach Matt Rhule could be coaching for his job in 2022. “I don’t see (owner David) Tepper giving Rhule the authority to mortgage the future of the team for his own sake,” an exec said. NFL execs talk about every team's good and bad free agent moves It's basically just a one-off comment thrown in at the end of the section.

Yeah, I rank that one right up there with "David Tepper won't accept losing" or "David Tepper won't be denied in his pursuit of Deshaun Watson" or "David Tepper won a staring contest with the sun" or any of the various other things you can find on DavidTepperFacts.com. People built up this goofy mythology around him, but the reality doesn't live up to the myth.

I'd add this... A big part of the problem is in the evaluation. Fans see a guy who can run fast, throw the ball very hard and throw it really far and think that makes the guy a good quarterback. It doesn't. Running fast doesn't mean anything if you can't throw it or read a defense. Throwing the ball hard doesn't mean anything if your passes aren't catchable. And throwing the ball far doesn't mean anything if it isn't thrown accurately. If you really want a good quarterback, you've got to set your bar higher than just finding someone who has great physical characteristics. That's not enough. It never has been, and it still isn't. Show me somebody who's smart, who can read a defense, who can process his information quickly and throw the ball accurately first. Then if you want to talk about physical characteristics, we can talk. But as I've said many times, if they don't have those other things I don't care how great a physical freak they are. They're not going to be great in the NFL. They might be fun to watch, but being fun to watch doesn't win championships.

But thats not something new. It's been true since the days of Staubach and Tarkenton. The two most active elements that I see in today's game with regard to mobile quarterbacks are... 1) Today's quarterbacks in general are better athletes then the ones of years past. So are today's defensive lineman, linebackers, offensive lineman, defensive backs and pretty much everybody else so it's hardly unique. 2) While they may be greater athletes, over the last five to ten years or so the quality of blocking among offensive lineman has most definitely gone down. So unfortunately, many quarterbacks are running because they have to. I know folks want to act like this is some kind of seismic change in the game of football, but it's not.

Vrabel is kind of a dick

Let's be perfectly honest here, this has nothing to do with the Panthers. It is, however, hilarious

Or could it be... networking?

Except it hasn't, at least not in the way that quarterback athleticism or mobility can substitute or make up for poor passing. And barring some pretty major rule changes, I seriously doubt it ever will. Mind you, the game changes in little ways on pretty much an annual basis (especially with the aforementioned rule changes) but the core of the game largely remains.

So apparently, this wasn't a one off thing... It's the Matt Rhule 2022 World Tour! Tickets on sale now but they won't last! Get yours TODAY!!!