frankw

Careful thems fightin words round here.

Don't waste your breath. Bridgewater was anointed the next franchise quarterback this time last year too.

Will you be following the Tedster to Denver?

I'm really excited about the potential of the backfield now. We just need the staff to put extra emphasis on securing the ball. Please no more nightmarish redzone fumbles.

I understand where you're coming from but I would caution anyone in expecting a quick search for the next quarterback if Darnold doesn't work out. Sure we can point to Pat Mahomes but you can also point to many other teams who were not so fortunate over the last decade or two. Look at how many quarterbacks the Browns drafted before Mayfield and even he is still proving himself. The qb hype of the 2021 draft has temporarily painted over some glaring trends of the past only time will tell how that works out with this recent draft class.

You care to elaborate? Hey I'm taking a wait and see optimistic approach too but cakewalk to the playoffs? I need to see camp and the rooks first at least.

Ah that May optimism on the huddle.

Horn mentioned it that's why it's in the thread. There are plenty of athletes across different sports who have respect for their peers in different leagues. This has been common with the NFL and NBA for years now.

It's wild but even after watching our last franchise quarterback fall apart and the sight of Teddy Bridgewater throwing a football there are still people who would put a running back before the team.

Well of course we will listen as will they there are people paid to do that. But in any division a potential trade with a rival should be considered entirely under the guise that normal circumstances are out the window. What I mean by that is in any normal scenario not involving divisional foes each team is seeking to maximize their return but they will generally attempt to trade in good faith as to not burn any bridges in the future because who knows when they may need that channel open again. But with rivals both parties are going to be wary of one another and any return they will be seeking will likely be well above the value it would be for non rivals. The Falcons would have fleeced us in any possible trade to move up to their pick and the Panthers would have sought the same from the Saints if we actually considered trading down to their pick. I'm not saying those kinds of trades don't happen or they are entirely out of the question but because of the above mentioned they are rare and in this particular division where there is truly no love lost they are less likely. Think the get the fug off our field moment from Atlanta and all the times Sean Payton has given us the finger.

That they even had the audacity to think we would entertain the notion of making a deal with them makes me despise that org even more. It doesn't help matters that our front office was foolish enough to offer the kind of money they did to Bridgewater. You know Payton enjoyed every minute of that. I want to sweep those fugers.

This reminds me of that game where Byron Bell was by himself in the middle of a play attempting to block an invisible player. Surely we are due something good for a change by now. It has been long enough.

I get that he is wanting Sam for right now to focus on just playing and not worrying about expectations too much but speaking this convincingly about him before camp or anything is a double edged sword. You also don't want a situation in the locker room where there may become a perception of being coddled. It's good to hear Rhule speak in no uncertain terms but now the clock is ticking. Matt and Scott are tied directly to the success or failure of Sam Darnold for better or worse. If all goes well they are heroes but if he struggles the daggers will come out. Do not be fooled by the media praise it changes with the wind.

Happy for Emory. Keep moving up and prospering.

Damn there are some high expectations in here. If he can achieve even half of some of these predictions I would be okay with that. The realist in me says it will likely be in the middle somewhere. Between 3500 and 4000 yards with 25 touchdowns in what will be his bounce back year while learning a new system would seem to be the most realistic ceiling sight unseen. With CMC and the recent additions to the offense plus a new running back and a couple big boys on the line it is likely a safe bet to say there will be a significant emphasis on running the ball to ease the transition for Sam so that could cut down on his numbers. But all of this depends on the offense making gains in redzone efficiency which was not pretty last year for a number of reasons but lack of push from the line was a big factor. Darnold himself is also going to have to protect the ball and fans are going to have to prepare for some turnovers through the process.

If sports discussion stoops this low it's time for cooler heads to prevail.

I get the notion that everyone wants to buy in with this group now that the draft is over and we have moved on to the phase of all the rah rah lets go team stuff. But even the front office talked about how all options were still on the table. Whether they were just blowing smoke or being upfront it is a matter of opinion I suppose. But I support Sam Darnold and want the return to our winning ways the same as anyone else.

I hear you man. In general I share your optimism but after years past of hype that resulted in failure I can't buy in just yet until I see some of this in action. I think now we matchup much better with Tampa though. Anywho if Bruce Arians can redeem himself the way he did last year after his previous postseason stints there is absolutely hope for us to make a quick turnaround.

I don't care about the article or the hack sports journalist who wrote it I'm simply pointing out the fact that we pursued just about every option possible before Darnold so it stands to reason there was certainly a scenario where we could have still taken a qb.

I need to see some wins in our division before I even think about talk of playoff runs and super bowls. No team in the league is going to do much winning one game against their divisional opponents. Stepping our way out of the cellar is the first goal.

Waiting on the fifth year option had to have had some amount of reasoning connected to the possibility of a qb we liked falling. There is no reason to be a homer about this. It is widely known that Sam Darnold was essentially option D. What stone didn't we turn over before relenting and making a trade for him? We brought in Haskins for a look and even offered the 8th pick for Matt Stafford who is older than Cam Newton. I would caution folks to not make the same mistakes this go around that they did with Teddy last year buying the hype and fluff too soon. Let's see how he looks in camp with all these weapons. Ironically Sam is set up much better than Teddy was this time last year. He's definitely not in NY anymore.

There are things I do not have doubts about with Matt Rhule. I believe he is a good hard working guy and a motivated and relatable coach who focuses on the right fundamentals and is willing to adapt. The only question is will these things have any bearing on his ability to both identify and develop a quarterback? There have been a number of quality coaches in the league who just couldn't find that qb and fizzled out. No matter how much we pay him or how many speeches he makes will change this if he fails. I have faith in him and I am very hopeful he can achieve this goal for us but life doesn't always work out the way you want. Beyond that I also need to see a little more from Joe Brady. I cannot lie there were times last year I wondered if Shula was still in the booth. Yes it's trendy to dog on Teddy and he did bring that on himself sometimes but Joe hindered the offense on his own occasionally last year. We certainly cannot see a repeat of that with a reclamation project from the Jets.

Needed a running back. But seven fumbles in two seasons...

ESPN app.

Picked up an extra 5th and a 7th. So two 5ths three 6ths and a 7th.