NFL Comments for 2024

[RedRamage]

1 hour ago, Motor City Sonics said:

The best thing to do is what the Packers have done.   When you have an aging QB, draft your future QB 2-3 years before you plan to use them.   But the Packers have never hit rock bottom.     I think the Lions were smart to draft Hooker last year.  Let him watch, hope we don't need him.  

I think you're generally correct. McCarthy's injury may end up being a blessing in disguise for him and the Vikings.

That said, I think there are also plenty of examples of rookie QBs thrown into the fire who've put together pretty good careers. Just look at Stafford for one... or Goff (technically he sat for half a season). So Williams isn't necessarily ruined because he's played his rookie season, but I also don't think it helps him. I would have been better if he could have sat.

[Hongbit]

18 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

A between the tackles RB you say? Like David Montgomery? Too bad they don’t have Montgomery. 

Their line isn’t great, but Williams holds the ball a long time. A lot of these sacks are on Williams. He’s frankly a lot like Fields. He can’t read defenses and operate from the pocket. Unlike Fields, he hasn’t shown the ability to make big plays with his legs. 
 

Now the Bears fired Waldron. Time to Bear down. 

Caleb’s ability to throw on the run and to make things happen with his feet to move the chains in short yardage is what won him the Heisman.   There’s nothing special about his game as a drop back in the pocket passer.  He’s not CJ Stroud.    They need to do a much better job putting him in the right position knowing they have a **** OL and a meh running game.   More quicker and shorter routes or designed rollouts.  
 

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 03:11 PM by Hongbit

[RedRamage]

2 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

They did the same thing with Trubisky. It’s the 3rd QB in a row they did this to. 

I had to look it up because I thought I remembered Trubisky being kinda a reach and most people not being high on him. But looking up him up and he was rated pretty high coming into the draft... pro-bowl talent, NFL comparison of Stafford. A 7.0 on a 0-8 grading scale. So not as much of a reach as I thought.

Looking back at the 2017 draft is interesting. Mahomes was drafted 10th over all. 9 teams passed on him. At least the Lions weren't one of them. They picked 21st that year and got the first round stud (checks notes) um... LB Jarrad Davis?

[KnoxP]

Bears history also supplies points of validated data that says early draft QB's are a big risk, regardless of college success.  

[MichiganCardinal]

2 minutes ago, RedRamage said:

I think you're generally correct. McCarthy's injury may end up being a blessing in disguise for him and the Vikings.

That said, I think there are also plenty of examples of rookie QBs thrown into the fire who've put together pretty good careers. Just look at Stafford for one... or Goff (technically he sat for half a season). So Williams isn't necessarily ruined because he's played his rookie season, but I also don't think it helps him. I would have been better if he could have sat.

I think that transition too is as much psychological as it is skillset too.

Remember going from middle school football to JV, or JV to varsity. All of a sudden those hits from linebackers were hitting a little different, those players were a little smarter and faster.

I have to imagine going from college (even at a place like USC) to the NFL, that difference is magnified 10x over. The spotlight is even brighter, the schemes are more complex, and there are so many moving parts that your college brain never had to comprehend. It's easy to see how even a guy like Williams or Lawrence could drown under that expectation. It's so much better when you can gradually introduce them to all that. They'll still be getting cameras shoved in their face, but by week ten if they're the backup, and the coach is doing his job even if they're 1-9 by saying "NO he is not coming in this year," they're not the main story anymore.

You mention Stafford, but even Stafford missed 19 games his first two years due to injury. The "injury prone bust" verbiage was getting thrown around quite a bit by his 3rd year. The 2009 injuries included a dislocated knee on a sack, a separated shoulder on a hit (in that crazy game against the Browns), and then re-injuring that shoulder later on, which landed him on IR. Then in 2010 he hurt the shoulder yet again and had to get a second surgery on it.

Who knows if he'd be the same QB without having sat for much of 2009 and 2010, but I'm sure those injuries did teach him about how to absorb (and NOT absorb) contact in the NFL.

[Hongbit]

5 minutes ago, RedRamage said:

I had to look it up because I thought I remembered Trubisky being kinda a reach and most people not being high on him. But looking up him up and he was rated pretty high coming into the draft... pro-bowl talent, NFL comparison of Stafford. A 7.0 on a 0-8 grading scale. So not as much of a reach as I thought.

Looking back at the 2017 draft is interesting. Mahomes was drafted 10th over all. 9 teams passed on him. At least the Lions weren't one of them. They picked 21st that year and got the first round stud (checks notes) um... LB Jarrad Davis?

There are many Bears fans that actually don’t regret passing on Mahomes to take Trubisky anymore.   The thought being that the team kills everyone and Mahomes would’ve ended up being a nobody too had he been in Chicago.  

It sounds just like Lions fans used to.    Makes sense since these are very similar franchises with the exception of the Bears having 2 really good teams in the Super Bowl era compared to the Lions 0 (hopefully soon to be 1)

[Motown Bombers]

[Motor City Sonics]

1 hour ago, Motown Bombers said:

Is Jerry going to buy the media company of the person that asked that so he can fire them?  

[MichiganCardinal]

Bears fired the OC. Definitely not a scapegoat move or anything.

[Motown Bombers]

According to Chicago media, players went to Poles and Eberflus and asked to fire Waldron. They even report some have asked to start Bagent. In the Bears games I have watched, Moore looks completely checked out. Williams cannot play within structure. Kind of wonder if the Bears should have drafted Stroud instead of trading with Carolina.

[Hongbit]

I don’t see any way you can fire the horrific OC and not give Caleb a chance with the new guy for a few weeks.  If it’s still the same then you can give Bagent a shot.    

 End of day, not sure how much it matters.  I have a hard time thinking a McCaskey/Warren/Poles front office will ever become winners.  

[CMRivdogs]

1 hour ago, Hongbit said:

 

 End of day, not sure how much it matters.  I have a hard time thinking a McCaskey/Warren/Poles front office will ever become winners.  

Especially since the team can't decide where it wants to put a stadium they want someone else to build. They've spent enough looking to finance the needed infrastructure at the racetrack in Arlington Heights. 

[Sports_Freak]

[MichiganCardinal]

44 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Sheila Hamp got snubbed. Bulletin board material. 

[Motor City Sonics]

I thought Josh Paschal played pretty well against Houston and even got a sack.   He should be able to make some noise with Z in the lineup.     But next year Z and Hutch?    Wow.    

[Sports_Freak]

Washington looks like a team on the upswing, but Philly is the biggest threat in the East.

[MichiganCardinal]

11 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Washington looks like a team on the upswing, but Philly is the biggest threat in the East.

Neither invoked any fear in me watching that game. Both were meh. Of course, they'd each say the same thing about us after watching last Sunday.

[sagnam]

The Eagle look good right now. They were getting constant pressure and they can run the ball.

[Jason_R]

Barkley won the game. Hurts had a season of dominance but has been very flawed since then.