The only reason why we picked Derrick Brown

[stbugs]

42 minutes ago, Madwolf said:

Do we go to the Super Bowl in 2003 with Weinke or Rodney Peete at QB?

There's more to us getting there than simply getting a great draft pick. You have to manage the roster well in all phases of the year.

Did we with Cam? Was he an MVP as the #1 pick? Were Peppers, Gross and Kuechly key cogs? 

[MadHatter]

4 hours ago, MMA said:

We’re going all in on Trevor Lawrence. I don’t even want to hear about Justin Fields’ name. It’s Trevor or bust. But, this franchise has proven in the past that they do not know how to tank properly. Rhule and Brady must have not like Tua enough or believe that he can be fully healthy again to not trade up to #4. Green Bay took Aaron Rodgers while they still had Favre. Last night, they “traded” up and took Jordan Love in the “1st round” to be Rodgers replacement knowing that they have bigger needs elsewhere. 

The only reason we took Brown us because he is a beast at a position that is our biggest weakness...as we Gabe up a league quest 5.2 yds a carry last season.  He is a Top 4 guy in this draft and a great pick.

The OP and his post is a prime example of how this board has gone down hill in the past few years.

[stbugs]

1 hour ago, Jon Snow said:

They won't intentionally tank.  They will fight for every win, they just won't have enough talent at first to win many games.  It will take a couple of good drafts to start seeing it pay off.

Exactly. The GM/FO can decide on spending money freely or they can save money, make trades, etc. The GM/FO having a strategy to go after a top QB doesn’t mean the coach is instilling a bad attitude or telling players to lay down. That happens organically like 7 and 8 game losing streaks to end seasons.

I’ve never advocated for intentionally tanking but I sure as heck would rather spend Teddy, Robby and Kawann’s cap space ($110M left in their contracts) in 2022/2023 when we’ve built up our talent, gotten a real franchise QB and will be competitive. We’re wasting money on an Aaron Donald level and that’s stupid. I’d much rather have Lawrence, 3 more comp picks and Aaron Donald that 12-20 the next two years and none of that.

Our talent pool has just been drained and our FAs and even Brown aren’t making up for it and it’s not like we have been good the past two years. Teddy won last year not because he’s as good as Brees but because he had Thomas, Kamara, a stud OL and a solid D. We’ve got CMC and Moore and none of the rest.

[run-run-pass-punt]

1 hour ago, stbugs said:

Some of us are a bit more analytical and forward thinking, it’s not a bad thing.

I think the thing you don’t understand is that a GM and front office can set the team up to not have enough talent. I think you guys falsely (since you think bolding makes your thinking correct) equate losing to installing some sort of loser’s mentality. We went 1-15 in 2001 and 7-9 in 2002. It didn’t make us think losing was OK. It got us Peppers and Gross and helped us go to the SB. We went 2-14 in 2011 and 6-10 in 2012. It again didn’t make us think losing was OK. We got Cam and Luke and went to the SB and were in the playoffs 4 out of 5 years.

Your assumptions that every team that has a bad year will become the sad sack Browns is wrong. The Browns prove the exception that you can draft so badly that you spend years at the bottom. It wasn’t a loser’s mentality that got the Browns it was outright awful, probably historically worst ever, drafting for years.

Please do tell me how we overcame those awful years which you think should have crushed our competitive spirit and started years of losing. Oh, that’s right we drafted HOF talents because we had top picks.

Also, tanking does not equal trying to lose or not trying to compete. Did the end of 2018 and 2019 look like a winner’s mentality to you? It sure didn’t to me and we spent like crazy, traded up and drafted for need. Didn’t help us and you know what, we aren’t making the playoffs this year either and it’s just plain lack of all around talent and not having a Cam at QB. Having a franchise QB amazingly cures your worries about a loser’s mentality. We don’t have that now and likely won’t for who knows how long as we trade in the 5-11 to 8-8 zone.

Every fan wants their team to win. We can start with that common ground, for sure.

However, the whole premise of tanking is suspect, in my view. The idea that picking at the top is necessarily going to make you better than if you're picking in the middle just isn't supported by the history of the draft. The results don't merit the strategy.

If it did, there would not be busts all over the top of the draft or perennial bottom feeders in the NFL. 

Now, if you want to suggest selling away all your assets at their peak value in order to acquire a multiplicity of early draft picks to mitigate that high risk, then that is more of a "tanking" strategy with some sound reason behind it imo. I still wouldn't do it, but at least it's not operating under the faulty assumption that a high pick is inherently better than a mid-pick.

[electro's horse]

i think rhule really believes he can get this team to 6 or so wins.