Bear Hands

Even though some of these guys are perceived as young and inexperienced, the two clear favorites each have over a decade of NFL coaching experience. Sure, not a coordinator for all, but growth in multiple organizations, around plenty of different coaches and players. As an outsider to it all, I'd mostly be concerned about Kafka, Moore, & Mayo as they not only have half the experience, but have been pretty heavily siloed from a franchise/scheme background standpoint. Kafka is interesting because he was within 2 really good staffs & environments, but Moore and Mayo would be the ones I would have a TON of pause with. It seems people are placing this "young gun, nerdy offensive mind" generalization on like all of these guys but coaches are getting younger, more players are becoming them, and there is simply a more diverse bunch all around from a scheme, background, & connection standpoint. But then, looking on the supposed other end, you know the interesting thing looking back with Wilks? Over his entire career, he has 14 years NFL experience to his name, while taking 2020 mostly off and 2021 in Missouri, (with only 5 more NFL years experience than Steichen and Johnson). Only 3 of those were as a coordinator and the bulk of it was tied to the hip with Rivera. It may feel good, and it may feel like a sound and justified move, but there is a lot, and I mean, a lot of question marks with who he would bring together and the type of team he would want. Just find the support surprising but it's just awkward to really diss him given the player support. Just a weird spot honestly.

Totally agree about Purdy. Jimmy G and Lance did not look like this for Shanahan. CMC helps tremendously but he’s stayed on his feet and found guys down field. Many of these plays aren’t being thrown immediately. He’s done work today.

It hard to beat a well-coached team with a good game plan & disciplined skill players. Shows how important this decision is for us this next week or so. Does Wilks have the ability to assemble a squad at this level? Or which of these candidates has a Shanahan type ceiling? QB chat can happen later but we need to nail this coaching hire.

No one should believe any reports from now until draft that claim to know what people "inside the building" are thinking.

Well that would certainly drive the price of any trade down if no one supposedly likes these guys muahahhaha

I have a sense Johnson is going to run away with this poll, Steichen 2nd, and Ryans, Reich, and Kafkas sprinkled in. Maybe Dorsey gets a few.

A funny thing is arguably the only really legit Ex-Pat, now a successful coach, didn't even go to them to start his coaching career in Vrabel. He knew better haha

Thx--maybe remove the Frank Reich 2Pac reference (or cross it out) haha. #hip-hop_knowledge_shame

That would be insane. If he doesn't go for the draft, wonder if it makes Cameron Ward declare. With the amount of guy returning, that could assure a guy like Ward to be QB3 or 4 off the board.

This is what I'm thinking as well. That scenario could even happen if Indy trades to 1. I just don't see anyone between us and SEA being THAT aggressive for a QB. Raiders seem to be targeting vets, ATL has Ridder and could be a Carr candidate, SEA and DET may stand pat. And it would be a fortune for anyone to move that high further down than us. The first 4 could shuffled around but still think it could be Anderson, Carter, Levis & Young in any particular order. What it all comes back to is this Young, Stroud, Levis debate for the teams. The scenario operates under the assumption Indy and/or HOU will favor Levis over Stroud. But if we really want to secure a guy, if and Chicago doesn't move, I think we may have to trade with Arizona and not rely on Indy screwing up.

Coaching is really the biggest factor when it comes to having a SB winning product. I think an argument can be made that a great to elite QB can mask coaching deficiencies and help offset issues (See Panthers 2015), but if you don't have the right guy as HC, you're going nowhere fast. If you have the right coach and haven't found a QB, let's say have an average to good QB, you'll still see hints of success and can even make a run. But you don't see many SB winners with a flash in the pan HC. You do see a lot of SB/Conf Champ losers with flash in the pan QBs though. These next few weeks are bigger than any draft. Huge decision that will make or break our time as fans for the foreseeable future.

I just always thought the Outlawz were Oilers fans :shrugs:

Wow, my mind is blown. I apparently have misheard that since I was a kid ooooof lol

Well dangit! He just announced that tonight, what weird timing haha

If anything, Kafka has the weakest network out of all of these candidates. Reich, likely the largest.

A good portion of the Eagles staff would strongly consider following Shane per The Athletic. He seems like a super impressive guy by all accounts that has a strong network. And Ben as mentioned is plugged into a really significant branch of the Holmgren tree so it's not just the Campbell staff. The Bengals, Cowboys, Bucs, Dolphins, and Lions all have parts of their crews with ties to his biggest growth years on an NFL staff. He has a much wider net than the other candidates with strong roots.

Whatever happened to mad cow disease? It was here for a while and then went away. Your thoughts?

Love that the first two posts are Rashee Rice and Zay. Two of my favorite receivers in this draft. Rome Odunze is one I really like. One of the reasons Penix had such a monster year. He's a dude I've just got a really good feeling about. He gets open and burns. 6'3 200, only 20 years old.

Okie dokie...

I'm a Wilks fan but I just don't know, I'm not as sold as others. 100% no issue if he lands the job, it means he had a convincing vision compared to some of the better candidate crop we've had in recent years. I would back him and be a happy fan. I just saw too many conservative tendencies and a Rivera-era feel that I just want to get away from. I also can't unsee whatever that Rams game was, the Bengals, Ravens, Steelers. There were some pretty leaky performances no matter how sweet it was that we stayed playoff reach and how great he is in the locker room. He's a bit Tomlin-esque in tone, but more Rivera in philosophy, and I just have a hard time with the latter. We just really need to take a swing here. BUT, if he can find a dude to compliment him well that keeps us on the front end of things, I'm for it. I'm leaning towards B Johnson because it seems he has a bit of all sides. Has his players' ears and is at the forefront of NFL trends. I just want to be a part of teams that are ahead of the mark, not becoming a team reacting to what the best are doing. I'm not saying we won't do that with Wilks but it just feels like we won't be this heat seeking missile for the endzone with him. It's more this clear identity and grind the opponent into the dirt rather than a chess match, multi-weapon approach w/scheme blending.

Man, we're up to like 10-11 guys now. I quite like both Ryans & Mayo but still prefer some of these OCs.

To add to OP: Demeco Ryans Age: 38 Current Gig: 49ers DC College LB, Pro LB (9 years), Pro-Coach 6 years (2 years DC) https://www.49ers.com/team/coaches-roster/demeco-ryans I have heard on a few outlets that teams love Demeco and he's received very high praise around multiple circles. He may be one of the types that is an even better HC than simply a defense or offense guy. Key with him is who his offensive minds would be. Jerod Mayo https://www.patriots.com/team/coaches-roster/jerod-mayo Age: 36 Current Gig: Patriots LB Coach College LB, Career Captain, Pro LB (7 years), LB Coach (4 years) https://nationalpost.com/pmn/sports-pmn/jerod-mayo-one-of-flms-5-under-the-radar-hc-candidates

It's like every OC we've had minus Chud wanted to make their best Dan Henning impression.

Drafting a stud is all circumstantial. The teams drafting really high are mostly there for making poor draft decisions and missing on those QBs (and a bunch of other issues). Sometimes they'll just get lucky and a Cam or Luck come along. But otherwise, the teams that may have an eye for a QB can see a guy they like slip past those top slots and then boom. They pounce after the promising dude gets past the Bears, Texans, Colts, Raiders of the world. You'll have franchises that are consistent, maybe in a down year/rebooting picking ~10-20 can target that trade up for a guy they like. Exhibit A & B being KC and BUF. Wait and see is fine, but if there's a clear tier 1 and a tier 2 QB group on our board, and one of those guys is available after the Colts pick, I'd say, try and get something done. I'm a bit torn between what we'd give up moving to pick 3 (AZ) but think pick 5 could be a good spot. Just depends.

I feel like Cade could've been a R2-3 type selection if he stayed at UGA. He's honestly in a really good spot here. Backup with starter potential. Would totally support a depth OL add in R3-5 this year.