Proudiddy

Honestly, if AR is our target if we stand pat at 9, we likely will have to move up to get him. I've always said, generally, with QBs, if they're projected at a certain spot before the pre-draft process, they usually get pushed up a lot more by the time the process is over due to demand and it being the most coveted position to fill in football. We may have to move up into the Top 5 even for AR, especially if he performs well at the combine.

Regarding my Johnson flub:

Woooow. Awkward. I think I posted it earlier in the process, but the only other time I remember that happening was Gunther Cunningham with the Chiefs, IIRC.

Dammit Too many Johnsons. Pause. Brian. Brian Johnson is the guy. To the edit I go.

So, from the sounds of it... I think Fangio is still the #1 preferred option at DC, but sounds like he's waiting on SF. And then from that tweet Person (I think?) shared earlier, sounds like Brian Johnson is absolutely the guy at OC, they're just waiting until after the Super Bowl. I really hope Fangio is still a possibility here, but if not, it will be interesting to see what we do there at DC. My guess is his preference is 1. SF, 2. MIA, 3. CAR, and it's his call, which means with Ryans going to HOU, it will likely be SF.

Well, now that I can officially hate him again being that he won't be coaching here, and he has been hired as the coach of the franchise I will forever despise and wish nothing but bad things on... man, it's like a hate euphoria. A perfect match.

Corral will be a "found money" guy here moving forward... You're not counting on anything from him and moving forward as though he wont contribute, but if he develops into anything, it's found money. And again, we know Rhule didn't have anyone in the building prepared during his time here, but Corral looked especially bad in his limited action in the preseason. As in over his head as Rhule looked as a coach, Corral looked equally bad as a QB. And I had high hopes for him... but again, he doesn't factor in the decision we make at QB moving forward. If he comes in next year and surprises with his development, cool, then you have another asset to consider. But he's not even on the radar as of right now.

In my defense, I had watched him since his freshman year quite a bit prior to the Georgia game... Idk what it was, but I just felt like his work was empty. Like he was racking up numbers and stats, bit I didn't feel he impacted the games like a Cam or a Luck. He didn't take over games in that sense... it just felt more like he was doing what he was supposed to, or expected to do, if that made any sense. And yeah, the placement and anticipation were there, but nothing really popped off the screen for me... and it also felt like he had a lot of shrinking moments in big spots - or at least not coming up or asserting himself in those moments. That's why the Georgia game changed my mind on him, because the spotlight was meltingly hot, and you kept waiting for him to revert back to just kind of helplessly shrinking in that moment but he didn't. He just kept coming back and placing perfect passes everywhere on the field. He finally took over and asserted himself, and that game became his signature "take over" game, imo. He showed he could be the guy to singlehandedly lead your team to a win. I think that's what finally shifted my outlook on him. Like yeah, the tools were always there, and they were impressive, but until that game, are you really a franchise guy if you're just playing your role and along for the ride at a powerhouse?

That scouting report right there is why I feel much better at sitting where we're at... maybe moving up a pick or two if needed, and taking AR versus giving up all those assets to get to 1 or 3. To Stroud's credit, he has been a starter since he was a freshman, and there is something to be said about that, but Ohio St. has also been a lot better program over recent years, so it's an easier spot to come into. But still, I keep phrasing it as I wouldn't be mad if we traded up for Stroud. I could understand it. But I would be happy just sitting pat and taking AR for the value at that spot and the fact his ceiling is so damn high.

Yup, and tbh, I always go back to when Fitt said, "You have to keep swinging, until you hit." Seattle blew threw a lot of assets trying to find a guy after Hasselbeck. You might sign a guy to a big deal, you might draft a guy in the first or second, you might trade for a guy, and then you take a flyer on a guy in the third one year and he ends up making it worth all of the swings and misses that preceeded it because of the unexpected value.

I wanted no part of Stroud until this game. And I know typically it sounds stupid to change your whole perspective of s player off one game, but of there was ever a single game where you should, it was his against Georgia. I still don't know that I feel a conviction that he's THE GUY, or will be... but that game showed me he COULD be and might be worthy of taking a chance on. Before that game, I didn't think he was even worth looking at. It's weird... again, like with Cam, I knew from the moment I first watched him "this dude is gonna change the NFL." I still don't know about any of these guys with any sort of conviction like that. If we happened to trade up to get Stroud, I wouldn't be mad about it, but I don't know that I'd be thrilled. I could understand it because of the possibility that the Georgia game showed. But if we stayed put and were able to draft Richardson, I'd probably be much happier if it panned out that way.

What's hilarious is we've all been eagerly awaiting news on a new DC and OC and Holcomb and McAdoodoo just been sitting there the whole time waiting too. Even had Wilks been retained, nobody wanted them.

Also... PLEASE LET FANGIO BE BACKING OUT OF MIAMI TO COME HERE!!! PLEASE!!!! IDC IF WE HAD TO UP OUR OFFER... DO IT!

Dude gets on my fuging nerves. I understand wanting to be involved in the sense of being dully informed, but he just can't keep his hands off poo. We've seen it time and time again in the sports world. You might've been a good businessman in your profession, but that doesn't make you a good NFL owner. It's a different business, and sometimes being hands-on with everything is the worst thing you can do. Him hiring his own guy or preferred guy has all the makings of a disaster.

No. No. No. And no. Go get Carr, draft BPA or Richardson.

I still love me some Chud. Prolly my favorite OC we've ever had.

Gettleman's ultimate legacy was ending the career of the most electric and impactful player in our franchise's history, well before it should've been. I was just telling a friend about the play he got hurt on making a tackle because of KB's fat sorry ass loafing on that route. Combine drafting KB's fat ass with him failing to surround Cam with adequate protection, and that was the fast track to the end. I was telling my friend, honestly, had that play not happened, Cam could have and very well likely would have been able to play with his exact style of play for 10+ years. His build and body type was able to absorb hits, especially the ones where he was bracing for them on the designed runs and all that... and that has always stuck with me. All that time people were worried about his style of play lending itself to injury and it was never even his play that caused the injury. It was a freak play that should have never happened. A QB making a tackle because his sorry ass receiver gave up on a route and let it get picked off. And on top of that, he could've made that tackle 100 times and never gotten hurt on it... yet, he did. It sucks and why it's forever fug KB and Gettleman over this way. And even despite that, post-shoudler injury Cam came back and was in MVP talks again (I believe it was 2017?) before the Watt hit finished him off for that season. What was and what could've been had it not been for Gettleman's dumbass.

NGL, I wasn't really moved one way or another about Reich's hire. Yes, it seemed a bit uninspired, but I could also see the positives. I liked him a lot more as an OC (I actually wanted to at least interview him after the Philly run) than the results he had as a HC, but the results he had ad a HC also had some very extenuating circumstances involved. Anyway, I'm choosing to be optimistic. If he brings in Fangio, that optimism will be a hundred times higher... I really, really like that hire, bc the issue with any new regime is turnover if you have success. BUT, I feel like Fangio is at that point and age where he is unlikely to get another HC shot, so he may be like a Monte Kiffin, Jim Johnson, Dick LeBeau at this stage of his career, where he is just permanently entrenched as the DC and you don't have to worry about losing him and having to start over with a new guy and tweaks to he system. All that being said, for that dream to become a reality, we need the offense to really hit the ground running and stay locked in from there so we can enter into the longest period of sustained, meaningful success we've ever had.

Again, love Coach Wilks. I was telling someone else, it just sucks that he is from a defensive background, because as a leader? That dude is special. But we need the aggressive mindset that comes with an offensive background if we want to get the franchise turned in the right direction, and we have a long, established history of where and how often defensive-minded coaching falls short after 27 years, and we just couldn't go down that path again - by no fault of Coach Wilks. And again, I maintain, he is one of the best 32 coaches in the NFL, and I certainly hope he gets another shot at a HC gig. He deserves it. All the best, Coach! And thank you for all you have done!

Would love that. I believe someone posted also that Johnson has a history/connection with Richardson as well, should we choose to draft him.

Didn't Gunther Cunningham do that with the Chiefs back in the day? Was HC, got fired, then came back as DC?

Great thread, Ricky. Sadly, although I like Reich as a person and really liked him as a player (as a young football junkie, I used to trade for Reich on NFL95 on Sega because he was the guy that led the NFL's largest comeback win and one of our first franchise QBs), I just find the hire to be extremely uninspiring. He may be an offensive-minded coach, but he isn't one of the young guns everyone wanted, and he has a pretty strong, established history of the usual average results we've come to know and expect from our franchise. He had what, 4 years as HC in Indy? And he produced a winning percentage right in line with every coach in franchise history with 3 years or more of tenure - barely over .500. I did love his work as an OC with the Chargers and Eagles, but his results as a HC speak to mote of the same that we're accustomed to. On one hand, optimistically, I feel like 2 of his years as HC should be omitted because he was attempting to win with Matt fuging Ryan and Carson fuging Wentz. With Luck and Rivers as his starters, he went a combined 21-11 those years. But with anyone non-elite, he was extremely average, and that's what bothers me. We want a transcendent coach whose schemes make even average players look good, and good players look great. But instead, my feeling on Reich, is much like our past coaches, his success is far more dependent on the level of talent of his players than his players' production being enhanced by his schemes. It just feels like an offensive version of more of the same.

Smh. Damn.