Bear Hands

I like his trajectory as a coach but agree with what's been said so far about where he's at and what we're looking for. There's a bit too many unknowns with him given McDaniel's role on offense. We really need a guy that can instill a culture as much as be an offensive guru. The candidate I'm probably most interested in, as much as Ben Johnson, is Shane Waldron. Geno has had some bad games but he has had the Seattle offense operating at a great level again this year. His pressers also strike me as a guy who's ready for the job. From the McVay tree, knows Fitt (if he unfortunately stays), could poach from the Vikes, Hawks, and Rams staffs..and probably a few others. I also wouldn't look past Mike Kafka who reportedly had a nice interview with us last year, but just wasn't ready. What he's done with the Giants with their awful OL and Tommy Devito has been impressive. Some musings.

Tepper going into an offseason: Tepper & org once games start getting played:

Makes you wonder, if Tepp just fired Rivera and Hurney at the same time, wonder what type of coach could've been had. They could've hired someone like Borgonzi first and found a dude to pair with him. Oh to rewrite history...

Ah didn't see you mention it already -- but yep. I wonder if Tepper thought just didn't pair well with Rhule, he backed out, or we just liked Fitt over him.

We interviewed him last GM cycle. He may already know he wants to stay away from Tepper.

Gettleman had Star fall into his lap year 1, had a good pick in KK. Otherwise, his drafts were pretty spotty. I will say, he was able to identify talent in later rounds, something that hasn't really happened here much recently. Our recent late rounders have barely made it through initial camps and onto the roster. Although I'll never forget when he took Kugbila 1 pick before Bahktiari. I wanted DB so bad that draft and thought he fell perfectly to us. Justa mixed bag and he obviously got on the outs with JR. Seemed to be more of the issue than anything else, although that move saved us from his perpetual, egregious reaching for big dudes that he loved and had tunnel vision for.

He’s also just been through a lot. Beat the big C, stayed on coaching while needing to see the doc a ton. I respect the hell out of the guy but his time is near its end for a full time coaching role. He could be rather good in a defensive consulting spot. I just don’t see a guy with his je ne sais quoi settling into a position coach or even coordinator role again.

We could always pull a JR & Jordan-- get both Rivera and Hurney back. Snuggle in with that mediocrity we all know and love.

checks out

At the end of the day, it's also easy to spot why this team is the worst roster, bar none: Drafting has simply been terrible. We were told the 2021 draft was all Rhule, but you watch the post-draft pressers, and outside of the fact Rhule already looked mentally checked out, Scott was the guy answering qs about strategy, trade calls, team boards, etc. Scott even mentioned turning down offers for #8--they kept it because they loved Horn THAT much. This perception it was all Rhule is a bit shortsighted IMO. Fitterer has had plenty of say since day 1 of arrival. 6 of those 11 2021 picks are off the team. With 1 more good as gone (TMJ). The remaining 4: Horn, Brady C, Tremble, & Hubbard. Then, the 2022 draft was the one we were told via reports Fitt had more clear, a bit more leeway over MR. That was just last year, and only half/3 of those 6 guys are on the team anymore. 2 of those goners we wasted picks trading up for (Corral, Brandon Smith) Then this past season, Zavala and Robinson were ineffective. We wasted more value trading up for DJJ who has been mostly ineffective. Mingo is about the 8th most impressive WR in this class, and I don't want to even get into Bryce and what we gave away. Fitt has simply burned through too much without hitting a single pick. Not one pick is a certified value find. Chubba freaking Hubbard is the most consistent and successful pick in our last 3 drafts lol. Ignored the better opportunities that came to us and went too hard as the aggressor for the wrong guys. If you're going to take that aggressive chip mover mentality, you better hit. And he has not and the roster is terrible. Simple as that.

Random little sidebar but it's fascinating how people treat fan opinions like bloodsport where one side has to be proven right or something. It's all quite silly. Teams can look like crap, players can look like crap, coaches can coach like crap, and the fans have every right to call it out. They're just fans calling what they're seeing, it's not like it's doing much...just digital shouting from the stands. So the team, coaching, & Bryce has looked like crap from the majority of eyes. We're just random spectators at the end of the day, can't take it too seriously. We're fans of a team not winning much so far in our lifetimes (and for the foreseeable future). What I've never understood are those who take their focus as a fan, just hanging, watching a team get destroyed weekly, getting nerdy about the stats and transactions...and rather spend their energy criticizing how other fans should perceive the team, players, etc. Just stahp. Fan critics are the worst. And re: Bryce specifically -- Trying to find any solid definition around him, right now, is just not happening. It's leaning in the bust direction, but it's all just wasted effort at this stage. It's interesting to break down what's, well, breaking down, to try and gauge the situation, games, plays...but getting into a spat that he's somehow going to breakthrough vs. definitively bust just seems like a waste of energy. I will say--I'd rather be pleasantly proven wrong than continually lower standards, while shouting at other fans that they need to be nicer/more forgiving of poor play.

Tepper just needs to just let it crash. We're crashing in spectacular fashion; don't give up any more future capital or anything. As Kunu would say, "The less you do, the more you do" Start letting things come. Don't do anything until impact and we have time to reassess the damages with a new GM and Coach--or combo...or whoever tf he finds ha.

Tepper hired an old school technician to repair a hybrid car in a plane falling from the sky with no pilots on board.

His wife went a bit far and he's not going to comment much on it. It's really a non-issue. They all know they're all gone anyways, that's pretty much what she was saying. He's got some good coaches who respect him (not necessarily as a playcaller) and imagine he'll end up in Minny or LAR in due time in a similar capacity to what he was. Nothing to really see here.

I just can't say that/really don't think it's the case, and it's not because I'm trying to bash Bryce. I just think Cam elevated the team THAT much as a runner and playmaker. Never forget how bad they took a turn when Kalil got injured in 2012. Byron Bell, Hang'man, Amini as a rookie, and a rotating door at RG. That was baaad. Cam was a QB1.

It's usually dependent if we're getting a guy from a team where he can pull from. No different than bringing a hard drive to work that last week before you give notice-- gotta make sure you're grabbing work you did for your own portfolio and records.

Yes. That's what I just said

If fans of any franchise should understand what a QB1 that truly elevates the team feels like, it should be us. That type of fervent defense made sense with Cam's first 2 years because he was showing such mad potential. People were still bashing him for his character, celebrations, etc. but we were growing as a team and starting to have crazy fire on offense. He was lifting the entire offense so it made sense for a lot of people to tell the detractors to pipe down with their relentless critiques. Bryce isn't giving us even a glimmer of feel in that department. I just don't get it other than true Bama fans or just the types that will refuse to put heavy critique on their QB (which those do exist in a lot of fanbases) Rookie wise, on a Clausen(1)-Cam(100) spectrum, I'd say we are at about a 10-15

That whole debate seems like years ago. This season I tell ya

My only concern is not just Fitterer, but Cole Spencer, Jared Kirksey and their regional crews have been working throughout the season on the upcoming class. These are the guys that have been putting together evals and helping construct our boards for the past 3 years for Rhule, Fitt and Reich. Most team EOS reports for most prospects were due towards the end of November, early December. Lord knows who they're identifying as their next faves. Full cleanout needed.

I’ve been enjoying Troy Franklin but he needs more polished route running for our needs. I’d say the best combo of quick and quality route runner to make it a seamless transition. We have needs all over but an offensive playmaker is the obvious void the size of a black hole. If they want Bryce to do well, they get him one. We need offense in this joint. If they’re not giving up on Bryce, give him the best playmaker possible. WR is preferred but I’m fine with a RB or TE. Just look what the Lions did with Gibbs and LaPorta. And this is a saucy TE class as well.

This— Belicheck’s drafts since 2015 have been terrible

Unless you can objectively qualify what a lockable v unlockable thread is that is merely redundant, then just stop while you’re ahead. Same people that want to dictate who can post or not are the same who tend to send essays to mods via DM complaining about when they experience the slightest inconvenience or warning. Not the OP but just saying. Don’t partake in what you perceive as muddy or else you’re gonna get muddy. It also goes away quicker when you don’t as well.

I'd say Walker, Watson, & Lance have arguments. Depending how this works out, we'll definitely be in discussion for #1. Honestly, every trade we've made under fit has been terrible. All reaches, needy grabs or an unnecessary roster purge for spare parts. Never a true "we wanted this specific guy" trade. Darnold was just awful comp. He should've netted maybe one 3rd and a late rounder. Corral was obviously the last QB left they liked and we didn't have capital to trade higher (desperation & bad scouting..Howell was there). Brandon Smith was this grab based on a RAS score (Fitt's crack) DJJ was the last remaining on their EDGE tier (desperation move and badly scouted EDGE board) CMC was desperation setup for gaining picks back after losing a ton in the above terrible trades Then we immediately use the picks gained from CMC for a bonker #1 overall trade up (which never works) -- I said elsewhere...the ones we didn't take: 2021 Trade Down would've gained an extra future 1st. But we stubbornly took Horn. 2022 Burns Trade for (2) 1sts Just terrible, desperate, needy bologna.

For NYG and TEN, both of their lines have been panned beyond belief this year and are arguably worse than ours. What both rooks did last night was beyond impressive. Had heavy pressure rushing in their face in the closing minutes. And something to not forget, both of those teams have some of the better coaches who teach aggressive, tough, & inspired football. Daboll and Vrabel are great IMO. Down year overall, but they're damn good coaches. Shows how "bad" teams can still win. Which we can't figure out even when the opponents are virtually gifting us the game.