Official pick your rookie sleeper thread.

[Smithers]

8 minutes ago, stbugs said:

It’s so dumb. Look at how many rookie starters and rookies with almost half the snap counts. I get that people hate Rhule, he’s certainly not shown he’s a competent coach yet, but there’s no example of a rookie stand out who hasn’t been played. BC is always thrown out there and maybe he could have played more but he started 6 games and played 45% of all offensive snap counts even though he got 4 snap counts the first 4 weeks. We signed 2FA OL to start and we went 3-1 with the offense scoring, so it’s not really not surprising he didn’t play early. After that, he played 2/3rds of the remaining snaps excluding a game he missed due to injury. That’s the guy most often used as an example that Rhule won’t play rookies. The other is Brown, an overweight 6th rounder. I hated that pick over Trey Smith and if you asked me after watching the Senior Bowl, I would have said Brown is the least likely Senior Bowl player to be able to contribute in 2021, total future project.

Somehow there appears to be these new myths that Rhule wants Sam to start and hates Corral and that Rhule really wants Mayfield. I haven’t seen one iota of proof but stuff like this now has me wanting Rhule to finish out his deal just to see the whining.

Yep - well said.  We probably fielded more rookies the last 2 years than any team in the league.  

[Tommy Jone]

My bold prediction is that Barno gets 5 or more sacks as a rotational piece.

[CRA]

1 hour ago, stbugs said:

 

Somehow there appears to be these new myths that Rhule wants Sam to start and hates Corral and that Rhule really wants Mayfield. I haven’t seen one iota of proof but stuff like this now has me wanting Rhule to finish out his deal just to see the whining.

I think the narrative on Rhule not wanting to play Corral isn’t about not liking rookies.  More acknowledging Rhule most likely needs to win a fair amount of games to stay employed.  Starting Corral IMO would require a HC to put development as the priority over winning now.   So I think Rhule would rather get his hands on Baker or something like that.  Let Corral be a slow project that is off to the side.  Because he needs every win he can find a way to get this year. 
 

 

[45catfan]

On 5/29/2022 at 1:30 PM, KillerKat said:

Josh Babicz

I said that the day he was signed.  I don't know how well he "excells", but I do think he makes the 53-man roster.  Our TE room is weak.

[45catfan]

On 5/29/2022 at 2:24 PM, TheSpecialJuan said:

Drew Hartlaub 

Already cut, no?

[KillerKat]

1 minute ago, 45catfan said:

I said that the day he was signed.  I don't know how well he "excells", but I do think he makes the 53-man roster.  Our TE room is weak.

He seems like a good enough blocker to where if the team wanted to still keep Colin Thompson, he should take Ricci's FB/TE spot. Im not that high on Ricci myself.

[Bostonheelfish]

I think Barno has a clear path. There’s no real back up for Burns, and if he can come in for a few plays a game where all he has to do is pin his ears back, he can make an impact.

[PanthersRowell]

If Scott Fitterer doesn't trade for a veteran QB I could see Matt Corral coming in and impressing at some point this season. The obvious rookie to have the playing time and success this season has to be Ikem Ekwonu though. Being he was a 1st round selection and Corral's chances to start over another veteran is probably going to be a slim chance I'm going with Brandon Smith.

[SmokinwithWilly]

4 hours ago, stbugs said:

It’s so dumb. Look at how many rookie starters and rookies with almost half the snap counts. I get that people hate Rhule, he’s certainly not shown he’s a competent coach yet, but there’s no example of a rookie stand out who hasn’t been played. BC is always thrown out there and maybe he could have played more but he started 6 games and played 45% of all offensive snap counts even though he got 4 snap counts the first 4 weeks. We signed 2FA OL to start and we went 3-1 with the offense scoring, so it’s not really not surprising he didn’t play early. After that, he played 2/3rds of the remaining snaps excluding a game he missed due to injury. That’s the guy most often used as an example that Rhule won’t play rookies. The other is Brown, an overweight 6th rounder. I hated that pick over Trey Smith and if you asked me after watching the Senior Bowl, I would have said Brown is the least likely Senior Bowl player to be able to contribute in 2021, total future project.

Somehow there appears to be these new myths that Rhule wants Sam to start and hates Corral and that Rhule really wants Mayfield. I haven’t seen one iota of proof but stuff like this now has me wanting Rhule to finish out his deal just to see the whining.

BC gets brought up because in preseason he looked better than Erving. He did not look good as a guard. He kept getting rolled over by power rushers. When he finally went back out on the outside, he again looked better than Erving did. BC was played, but not where he should have been from the very beginning. 

I don't know if Brown would have done well starting. Compared to what we trotted out there, I think at some point he should have gotten a shot. Out interior line was getting destroyed. Saying oh well, sacks happen is not an acceptable attitude when you're QB is under pressure before he can even get 3 steps into his drop back. 

It's not like our line was playing well. Once we were out of it, it makes the most sense to play the rookies to see what they have going into the off season. We went into this draft not knowing if either BC or Brown could really play. We don't know what TMJ can really do either. I know the goal is to win games, but once the games don't matter anymore, at least for playoffs, you need to look at the future. 

[CRA]

4 hours ago, stbugs said:

The bolded is complete conjecture and your opinion and it gets repeated a lot, but there’s nothing to back it. In fact, Tepper has even said Rhule has more time than we thought, so there’s nothing to say that Corral making great strides isn’t the best thing for Rhule’s future. IMHO, the best case scenario for Rhule’s career is Corral becoming a stud.

This thread is also all about rookies.

It’s a statement rooted in the history of the NFL and professional sports.  Rhule is going to have to win more games.   And if he doesn’t have to….it makes him an anomaly.  

and I made the comment because I don’t think Rhule is anti-rookie.  I don’t think he is giddy about playing a 3rd round rookie QB this upcoming year.  Because that would mean the season is about the development of a 3rd round rookie QB.  

I think Rhule will trot rookies out if he believes they are the best option in the short term.   

[kungfoodude]

16 hours ago, Smithers said:

All the time, never miss a single one.  Heck Rhule benched Brown in favor of a late round pick last year.  

Remember him trotting out Elflein and Erving game after game after as they get embarrassed snap after snap?

[kungfoodude]

9 hours ago, CRA said:

It’s a statement rooted in the history of the NFL and professional sports.  Rhule is going to have to win more games.   And if he doesn’t have to….it makes him an anomaly.  

and I made the comment because I don’t think Rhule is anti-rookie.  I don’t think he is giddy about playing a 3rd round rookie QB this upcoming year.  Because that would mean the season is about the development of a 3rd round rookie QB.  

I think Rhule will trot rookies out if he believes they are the best option in the short term.   

Also a lot of the credit Rhule gets for playing rookies is from 2020. There was also almost zero option in 2020. Most of those guys had to get burn because our roster was complete trash and we had a rash of injuries. It was more of an inevitability than a choice in 2020. 

One thing that seems to be pretty clear is that you can't trust that Rhule will consistently make the right decision on personnel/playing time. He's mediocre at best in that regard. 

[Cdparr7]

Brandon Smith 

[Mistuh Jones]

4 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

Remember him trotting out Elflein and Erving game after game after as they get embarrassed snap after snap?

AND Daley, AND "Sacks Happen"