Khyber53

Pssst... it actually sounds like last year's draft a lot...

I think some of his injuries are caused by over training on his part.

If you line CMC up in the slot on a regular basis and sometimes pull him back into the RB pre-snap placement, it will have the same disruptive effect on defensive alignment as it has when he moves out of the RB placement and heads to the slot. Maybe even more so. His value isn't just the ability to move the hell out of the ball once he catches it, but that he can actually CATCH THE FRIKKIN BALL!!!!!! I can't emphasize that enough, he can actually catch the ball, unlike Sideshow Bob and most of the rest of our receivers last season. Frikkin' Anderson and Thomas and just about everyone had numerous drops last season where the ball actually hit them in both hands. Multiple frikkin' times a game. And not even way out there passes, I mean soft ball, here ya go type passes. How anyone other than DJ Moore still has a job here as any type of receiver I'll never know. Sheee-it. Put him out there, if for no other reason, that he can make catches and he isn't terrified of contact like Anderson.

Touchdowns vs interceptions is the stat that impresses me. Misses can be throw aways (which are smart) or drops or even attempts to just grab a pass interference play. Touchdowns and interceptions are pretty solid, though. It's interesting that the winner for 2021 in this was Bailey Zappe from WKU. He had 62 TDs to 11 INT and broke Joe Burrow's NCAA record for TDs and passing yardage (he threw for 5,967 yards with a 69.2% rate on 686 throws). Talk about undersung. Someone's going to pick him up way, way, way late in the draft and find a diamond in the rough.

Two things really could have fixed this for Darnold, two things we sadly didn't have: a steady offensive line AND good coaching. Put him in Belichick's system or Reid's and he'd win 8-9 games probably. Here, well, we saw.

Good coach, great guy. Good luck to him!

Honestly, I like that one.

With the exception of Detroit, any of these teams could be trading partners for our pick and I'd say deal it. At least one of the QBs will be a long term good player, but I have no idea which. I think we pass on QB until the later rounds and maybe grab Howell (if he falls to the third) or Zappe even later. If we can grab either, throw them out there and get them some experience. I'm not looking for a long-term starter there, just a backup QB on the cheap that has some kind of upside.

Woof.

It was referred to as the "brain drain" as the best kids often left town after graduation and never came back. No opportunities, no future for them there means that what they leave behind has even less opportunities and less of a future. Just a downward spiral. And it's not that the kids don't want to live there, they just know they can't. So many hope to come back some day. It just never happens.

^This is so much the reality in much of rural NC now.

Sometimes it's as simple, and as tragic, as a single bad decision that didn't look like a bad idea at the time.

My old hometown used to be a wonderful place and I left there when I was 30. Since then, they became a part of the National Geographic Channel's Southern Justice show. Meth, alcohol and low prospects for any employment just ruined the place. It was always a great place to live but a hard place to make a living. I guess that entropy wins in the end. I wouldn't go back and raise my kids there anymore, that's for sure.

Such a talented guy and he really had such a positive spirit. This really sucks and I'm sorry for the family and friends that have lost him.

Dang. Stupid things separate us from the best things we could ever have, yanno?

Meh. Still thinking we're in the market for experienced safety help, starter level guy. There's some prospects still out there, right?

You were expecting what?

This wins the day. Every time I see him without a helmet on, I think he's mighty big for an eight-year old.

Right now, it's just a roll of the dice as to whether any team has improved or collapsed with their free agency moves. They are just trying to read the tea leaves. You never know when you have a Julio Jones pick-up that ends up just falling flat, or a Jake Delhomme signing that sends a nobody team to the Super Bowl. We lost a couple of one year (or less) rentals, we picked up some linemen that are still capable of being steady for a few years down the road (barring some unforeseen injuries they may have got past the inspectors). On paper, it looks to me like we're moving ahead in the right way. An extension for DJ, a restructuring of CMC and a resigning of DJax all seem like good moves and an attempt to keep the band together. I like that and didn't expect it from Rhule and Co. I hope that we're all pleasantly surprised this year.

Urban Meyer has lived in a very exclusive college coaching bubble for a very long time. He really didn't watch the pro game at all, I believe, leading to his lack of knowledge of big name players and how the teams operated. It's understandable, considering the pressure put on college coaches at the top of their field. That being said, it became evident that his personality completely filled up that bubble and he was the sun, moon and stars of his own world. When removed from that little fiefdom, his nature of being a total butt hole was out there for all to see. Just as many had predicted. Good bye to the guy, may he find something to do elsewhere. And thankfully, he didn't end up in Charlotte. Now, about the guy who did...

^This 100%

Because, sad as it was, he was the best we had out there. He had moments. But he also had a lot of big beefy men on the opposing teams just beating the tar out of him. He was braver than I'd have been to go back out behind that o-line, especially after the injury(ies). He's still the bottom of what we could do for the coming year, but with protection, he might get a couple more wins than he did last year. A better QB could certainly do better, though. And I love me some Cam Newton, but we can't trot him out there at QB again.

You build the right offensive line, pick the best left tackle available, then any QB will have a shot here. If you go QB in the first and work with the improvements we've nabbed, it's not going to work. It's just as simple as that. Grab the right OT and boom even Sam Darnold can win games. Gardner Minshew? Sure. Baker Mayfield? Definitely. Go back into the fray with the left side of the line still in flux and Aaron Rodgers couldn't get you out of trouble. It all begins and ends with the offensive line.

I've said again and again your team will think it has troubles if it doesn't have a star wide receiver, but there's no bigger trouble than your team's biggest star being a wide receiver. They can suck the money out of a team and break team chemistry faster than anyone else and there's no way they can touch the ball enough times in a game to make up for the resources they consume.

Crazy out there prediction... We grab Bailey Zappe way late in the draft as a future back up QB. By week five they throw him out there after Darnold and Walker have ruined the season. The kid does okay, rides out the season and cements himself as the back up guy to whoever we snag in the first next season. Unless we trade for Baker Mayfield. Then I have no idea what would happen, but I'd cheer for him if he had on our uniform.