Official pick your rookie sleeper thread.

[kungfoodude]

7 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

It's interesting that evidently we also had him doing some work at center in OTAs. I think we're going to give the guy every opportunity to either be a starter or maybe be treated as the 6th man of the OL. Have him ready to plug in at any spot on the event that someone goes down with an injury that will keep them out for significant time. I don't think he'd be the primary backup at every spot on game days but have him ready to go after a week of practice to prepare.

Yeah, I saw that. Not really sure what to think of it, TBH. Ultimately I hope we find some role for him because we are getting to the point where whiffing on draft picks start to become big blows. Especially since we aren't able to attract better quality free agents consistently.

[LinvilleGorge]

1 minute ago, kungfoodude said:

Yeah, I saw that. Not really sure what to think of it, TBH. Ultimately I hope we find some role for him because we are getting to the point where whiffing on draft picks start to become big blows. Especially since we aren't able to attract better quality free agents consistently.

Oh, we aren't getting to that point. That's been our reality forever. One of the primary reasons that we have been so up and down historically is because we have historically drafted really poorly overall.

[kungfoodude]

25 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Oh, we aren't getting to that point. That's been our reality forever. One of the primary reasons that we have been so up and down historically is because we have historically drafted really poorly overall.

I think it's amplified now by the 2019 roster nuking and the inability to attract almost any quality free agents. So, as much as I don't love some of the trades Fitterer has made, I do think there is an element of us having to rely on guys that don't have a choice about destination. It's pretty clear we are being actively avoided by a lot of players. Not unusual for franchises that are mired in the level of dysfunction that ours is. 

So when you have bad drafts(which 2021 is looking like it has the potential to be a really terrible draft), it hurts so much more. I said after 2019 I thought it would take at least 5 years to recover the talent pool and we haven't made much progress in that regard since then. 

I'm even more afraid that we keep the Rhule experiment going even longer than 2022 and we just sink further and further into this hole we are digging. 

[LinvilleGorge]

1 hour ago, kungfoodude said:

I think it's amplified now by the 2019 roster nuking and the inability to attract almost any quality free agents. So, as much as I don't love some of the trades Fitterer has made, I do think there is an element of us having to rely on guys that don't have a choice about destination. It's pretty clear we are being actively avoided by a lot of players. Not unusual for franchises that are mired in the level of dysfunction that ours is. 

So when you have bad drafts(which 2021 is looking like it has the potential to be a really terrible draft), it hurts so much more. I said after 2019 I thought it would take at least 5 years to recover the talent pool and we haven't made much progress in that regard since then. 

I'm even more afraid that we keep the Rhule experiment going even longer than 2022 and we just sink further and further into this hole we are digging. 

Same. You gotta draft well and have decent coaching to drag yourself out of the basement because the decent free agents aren't coming unless you're overpaying. 

 

[GPantherfan]

Rookie sleeper pick 2022 Panthers