huh? "it" factor? what is it and how do you figure Cousins doesn't have it or that those kids who haven't taken an NFL snap do? I can understand the argument that Cousins will be too pricey or you'd rather see a homegrown QB but I cannot follow this "it" factor logic
Mahomes right now as a 2nd round grade. He has great potential if you can make him be consistent with his mechanics / understands the pro offense [remains to be seen], but the only way you take him is if you trade down. Hell no to Cousins and I like Cousins but not for that price-tag. Let that be the 49ers problem.
here ya go......LOL http://www.ganggreennation.com/2017...y-cutler-as-a-potential-option-as-a-bridge-qb
Define "gamble". Are you talking about gambling on whether the guy can be average to above average, meaning lead you to 8-10 wins? Okay, Cousins can probably do that if he's given a supporting cast. Or are you talking about a guy who can take you to the SB and give you a good shot at winning it? I don't see Cousins as that guy, so I guess it depends on what you're looking for. Me, I'm SB or bust.
1) find a QB. yes I know us as fans hate the idea, but if your a GM you need to find one. if hack isn't ready to go, get a veteran. keep petty as our 3rd QB and try and bring in someone like cutler, romo, glennon. I know they are huge question marks but still. You have to make an attempt 2) cut the dead weight to make room. Harris, marshall, and breno should be cut. richardson traded. mangold I'd keep he deserves it 3) sign a free agent CB. our secondary needs help badly. 4) get revis to take a paycut 5) draft fournette 6) load up on lineman in free agency and the draft tell that to the cowboys
they said the same thing recently about Matt Ryan until he got to the SB, the same thing about Cam Newton, about Joe Flacco, about Drew Brees about Eli Manning, etc. etc. etc. Cousins looks as good as any of them and any good QB can get to the SB because they are a good QB. If Cousins never gets there its not because he can't its because a million different things can happen in a single playoff year
Revis laughs at your pay cut. He will take his guaranteed money and go back to New England if we cut him.
Yes, I read that article already. Cutler's arm is strong enough to play in the NE, but that's about it imo. If Mac signs Cutler, I hope he gets fired. If they sign Cutler, I'm done with this team for as long as Bowles and Mac are here, and maybe until Woody sells the team. I've seen enough stupidity from this effing team to last 3-4 lifetimes.
You make a good point about Woody...he does indeed care what the media thinks...he's gotten caught chasing his tail w. power moves far too often. Let them write what they're gonna write. They have the Jets Pigeon-holed until they win a championship. Nothing you can do but keep your head down & work towards that achievement. That said..did the Panthers GM lose his job for taking Jimmy Clausen in round 2 before taking Cam Newton #1 overall? Now I actually like Hack as a prospect...especially given the fact that for once they didn't give in to media pressure & play the kid prematurely. They stuck to the development plan which called for him absorbing the mental side of the game year 1...getting his feet wet & understanding what type of work will be required of him moving forward to be successful. I like his pocket presence, I like his demeanor & I like the way the ball leaves his hand. It all boils down to the footwork. If he can fix the choppy footwork his accuracy will improve & he has a shot. But suppose they drafted one of the names listed above..Hack will still have his shot to beat him out. I view Mac taking another QB as just unfinished business with some unknown quantities in play. It's not that he doesn't believe in Hack or Petty..it's that he believes the QB position is that important. Add another poker to the fire to solve the riddle. Deal w. the damage control after the fact. I think people go too insane over drafted QBs. Yes other positions are important but you have to dedicate resources to the position almost on a yearly basis until you find a solution. 10 years ago you could go a different direction & build up your running game & defense. It's not like that anymore. You aren't gonna win every week in this league playing ball control & solid D. It's outscore the opponent at every turn. The only way to do that is by finding a solution at QB & then building onward from there. If you take 2 left tackles early in consecutive drafts short of a catastrophic injury...that's likely a problem. Positions like that are a much easier evaluation with alot less unknown quantities. I don't think you can treat QBs quite the same way. The media & certain fans like to b/c of the captivating nature of the position & this team's positional drought..but the reality is..unless you're picking #1 w. Andrew Luck on the board or have a true QB guru doing all the evaluations/offense install...you have to take your shots within the draft..Early & often with the understanding that there are gonna be some duds along the way. It's become alot like finding an ace pitcher..that's the approach I see Mac taking early on w. Hack/Petty...and that philosophy could continue w. an early QB pick this draft.
Readers digest book version: As long as the last dart you throw is a bullseye everyone will forget about the darts you threw first.
he already said he was open to a cut and a move to safety. he knows he isn't the player he used to be
Step 1: Roster Cuts - Revis, hopefully his legal matters void his contract - Ghilcrist - Harris Step 2: Restructures/Trades - Mangold, he is restructured for no more than $5mil/year - Marshall, traded/restructured whichever comes first. cut if neither - Richardson, traded. during the draft would be nice. Richardson & Marshall combo perhaps Step 3: Free Agency - First priority is LT. Riley Reiff must be obtained - No surprise here, CB is a close 2nd - I would sign Jay Cutler to a 2 year $18mil deal with performance bonuses - Very cheap veteran TE Step 4: NFL Draft - Leonard Fournette (subsequently trade Forte durring the draft for whatever you can get) - OLB, CB, C, LT, RT, S, QB Step 5: 2017 Season At this point you're at the mercy of good ol' Woody ("Somebody poisoned the water hole"). He's just itching to fire someone even though this is the year that the fat has been trimmed and expectations must be at an all-time low. Unless, all of the rookies are day one starters and have an immediate impact. There are certain scenarios that are not out of the question however. Such as key players taking that next step (Mauldin, Burris, Miles, Hack, Shell), or players regaining their form (2015 Pryor, Skrine). 2017 is a very pivotal year for the organization. The old vets are on their way out, Mac and Bowles are in a prove it year where if they fail will inevitably lead to their termination. Which in turn leads to a new staff and a new system, with the old regimes players. Turmoil ensues. Coaches that have a certain scheme in mind will undoubtedly try to use the square peg player to go in the round hole, etc etc, Woody fires them, rinse and repeat. So for this reason I'm rooting quite hard for Bowles and Mac to put it all together.
The situation you mention with the Panthers is VERY different from the Jets. For one Jerry Richardson is a former player and a great owner. He knows how to run a club. He is the anti-Woody. Second, Clausen sucks. I never thought he was a good prospect. Meanwhile, Cam Newton was the consensus #1 pick. Clausen had shown very little and wasn't likely to. Hack is 10x the prospect Clausen ever was. Third, there is no Cam Newton in this draft. You know as well as I that when a team takes a QB in the 1st round, especially in the top 10, that QB IS the team's QB of the future. Everything goes into developing that QB and insuring that he succeeds. The offense is built around him. He is given every benefit of the doubt and the lion's share of the snaps. There would be no competition. He would be the de facto starter. When a QB is taken in the 1st round, unless you already have a proven vet who's a great player (like Favre in GB when the Packers took Rodgers), he is gonna start and basically the other QBs are an afterthought. They are traded or considered as backups. Thus, I think your perspective is mistaken. It's not how things work in the NFL. If Mac does take a QB early, he will be departing from how NFL GMs normally act and view things. It would be one thing if Mac takes a QB in the 3rd round or lower. That would be hedging his bets and adding a QB until the solution is found. Taking one in the 1st or 2nd round is an entirely different matter.
We can agree to disagree. Every draft is different. Most year's you simply aren't staring at that top 10 instant franchise guy in the face. But that doesn't mean you just ignore the position till you are staring at that guy. You try to find a prospect in a different round who you think fits & can develop. But again...we're talking about THE prerequisite position in the NFL....if i AM staring at a no brainer top 10 instant starter..I'm pouncing & not worrying about the prior QBs I drafted. Let the competition sort it out. Those prior picks either take it as a challenge step up in preseason & attempt to compete their way into the starting job, vow for a long term back-up position...or they move on.That's just the cost of finding the most crucial position in the game. It may appear alittle reckless & cold hearted...but you have no choice. Yeah..some are gonna shake their heads at perceived "wasted picks" in prior years...and maybe that puts job security in question...but sitting on your hands...passing on instant resolution, or failing at finding a solution 100% guarantees job termination. I'm finding my franchise QB at all costs. No matter how much time, $, draft picks or franchise dynamic alterations it takes....and once I find my guy...I'll have no regrets.Whatever path gets me there...gets me there. Onto damage control & building the rest of the roster.
I've argued a bit with you about this and I'll step back and play Devil's Advocate for a minute. Since 1965 there are only a handful of teams that have followed a 1st or 2nd round QB choice up with a 1st round choice the next season. That would be the Fins in 66 and 67 with Rick Norton taken on the #2 pick followed up by Bob Griese on the #4 pick. That worked out for them after some confusion in the process when Don Shula turned Griese into a championship QB. That would be the Steelers in 69 and 70 with Terry Hanratty on the #30 (2nd round) followed up by Terry Bradshaw on the #1. Again the results were not immediate but Chuck Noll turned Bradshaw into a championship QB and another dynasty was born. That would be the Colts in 82 and 83 with Art Schlichter on the #4 followed up by John Elway on the #1. Unfortunately Elway forced his way out of Baltimore and so we don't know if the move would have worked but it's safe to say it had a chance. Then you had the Bills in 82 and 83 with Matt Kofler on the #48 followed up by Jim Kelly on the #13. This move worked as soon as the Bills actually got their hands on Kelly who played in the USFL first. In 1989 the Cowboys became the first team in 23 years to take QB's back to back in the 1st round and they did it in the same year! That was Troy Aikman taken #1 in the regular draft and then Steve Walsh taken in the supplemental draft with the Cowboys 1990 1st rounder, which also turned into the #1 pick. Jimmy Johnson had a set of cannon balls on him to make that move. Not surprisingly the Cowboys were all set a couple of years later for a dynasty. Then you have the Panthers who pulled the feat off in 2010 and 2011 with Jimmy Clausen on the #48 followed by Cam Newton on the #1. Out of that they became respectable enough to make a Super Bowl just 4 years later. Adding to the list but not strictly meeting the requirements are the 1965 Jets who took QB's on pick #1 in the draft - Joe Namath, and pick #12 (2nd round) - John Huarte. That was the turning point off of which the late 60's Jets won a Super Bowl. There is one team in post-1960 NFL history that actually took QB's with their 1st round pick three years running. That was the Rams who pulled off the feat in 1962 - Roman Gabriel #2, 1963 - Terry Baker #1, and 1964 - Bill Munson #7. Baker actually played HB for the Rams despite being drafted as a QB on the #1 overall pick. Munson played for the Rams as a backup for several years before going to the Lions where he started for a season or two here or there. The Rams sputtered some the first 5 seasons after making that trifecta but Gabriel QB'd a pretty good team for several years during his peak. The Rams are the least successful team to overload at QB to try to get over the top but the QB was not the problem for them, after some growing pains. Probably spending 3 1st round picks in a row on one position is what kept them from getting over the top. Anyway, thought you might be interested in seeing this. There *is* a high probability of a dynasty coming out of a team being willing to admit it made a mistake on the 2nd round pick and dive right back in the next year. Unfortunately, most of the teams that did that had the #1 pick naturally and it is possible that having the #1 pick naturally in the right year is what did it for them. Not to mention Weeb Ewbank, Don Shula, Chuck Noll, Marv Levy and Jimmy Johnson reading like a who's who of Hall of Fame coaches.
