Big Blue Huddle

We had better not be drafting JJ McCarthy at 6. There is another thread bemoaning how we are the worst team in W-L in the NFL over the last decade. General bad drafting including Barkley at 2, Jones at 6, Toney, Baker etc. are a big part of the reason. We cannot keep making stupid draft decisions and expect to improve.

Jonathan Taylor reset the market closer to where the Giants were offering on non-injury guarantees than what Barkley was asking. If you factor in the age differential (nearly two years) Taylor's $14m pa extension is over what Barkley will command IMO.

We can get a solid second contract veteran and a day two rookie for less than half of Saquon's potential contract demand and they should match the combined Saquon/Breida output.

We need to start to reshape the roster this year so we are better positioned when we get out from under the albatross QB contract next year.

Thibodeaux can moan and I know the locker room will groan but paying Barkley top of market value is not a decision that will help improve the overall roster. Schoen surely knows that.

For me big thing that separates the best from the rest at QB is anticipation, ball placement and 'catchability' under pressure.

This highlights the problem I have answering the question as the ability to do this requires a mix of decision making, reading defences, arm, accuracy, mobility, awareness, preparation (recognition) and mental toughness.

Trying to isolate into one attribute is not helpful. I guess Stringer might say this combination is approximated by "poise" but as it requires physical as well as mental attributes it feels like even that is an imperfect shorthand.

Schoen will talk to the agent. The agent will talk to Thibs. Thibs will talk to Schoen. Lessons hopefully learned. We have enough drama around the HC without extending it to GM and ownership by criticising their priorities.

The irony is that for fans and media we now see that Thibs' most vicious sack of the season has been registered out of pads on his own QB. That should give him pause for self-reflection if he has any self-awareness.

Should we be surprised that a man in his 70s coming off three bad seasons is not a hot commodity despite his earlier incredible success? I am not sure we should. Everything has a time to end.

I hope Bill can find a path to a peaceful semi-retirement with a bit of media work and a lot of family. I worry that he is one of those men who is inseparable from his job and will simply cease when it ends. His long-suffering family (coaching is a tough lifestyle) deserve a happy ending.

Jets ST were good and learning from Boyer is a good grounding. He has STC experience in college as well with each new stop at a bigger school suggesting he was in demand. We will see how it goes but he should hit the ground running as he lives locally and understands the market and expectations. Let us hope he is a rising star and not simply the best we could get.

I didn't say they were automatically incompatible Mighty just that faced with a choice of information from Raiders experts with actual player quotes from players who start for them or unidentified and unattributed sources then IMO the latter should be treated with extreme caution as a very low quality information source unless and until it can be corroborated with actual, on the record, first hand information. Until then it is just gossip, likely from people with an axe to grind.

In the internet age approaching what we read with critical thinking and close attention to the quality of the information sources is vital. I listened to both podcasts. One was informative. The other speculative.

FWIW I 100% agree with Trench. My own view is 7 captains is the upper limit on a 53 man roster enabling:

O: 3 with 1 QB (ideally QB1 or respected veteran QB2), 1 OL and a 1 skill player
D: 3 with 1 DL, 1 LB (ideally the Mike) and 1 DB
ST: 1 ideally a gung-ho cover teams guy

Captains should mainly be respected veterans. It should be earned.

Players should be asked to give their views to their position coaches and position coaches should together nominate a shortlist to the leadership group of HC, DC, OC (STC effectively chooses his guy) for the final choice. The HC has a veto that should rarely if ever be used.

Ranaan's take on this was all 'sources' with unattributed quotes and a catch all 'clear out ex Patriots' spin.

To balance it watch Patti Traina's video with people who cover the Raiders day in day out and the quotes they give from actual Raiders players who played for Bricillo. It gives a totally different view.

Which approach do you give more credence to, the unattributed quotes from unnamed individuals or the on the record alternative?

Beware beat writers looking to gain clicks by throwing low grade gasoline on the Daboll dumpster fire IMO.

Good: Robinson, McFadden, Pinnock, Belton
Bad: Jones, Waller, Nacho

Okereke was as good as I expected as was Slayton. Holmes was as bad as I expected. The OL was hideous but a collective and coaching hideous so not much sense just listing all of them. Our DL could not stop the run unless the opponent stupidly ran straight at Dex.

I think adding Waller hampered Bellinger as coaches tried to force stuff for Waller when he was out there (in particular Bellinger and Hodgins for that matter under-used in red zone).

There will obviously changes in personnel but the one thing I hope Bricillo can quickly improve is the mental processing of the line. We gave up too many sacks/pressures and broken run plays because our OL could not operate in unison and cannot reliably detect even the most basic stunt.

Some of that might be on the players, some of it early season was the constant change but I think a lot of it is simply not working hard enough on film study and on collective (as opposed to individual) technique on the practice field. It should be possible to significantly improve this aspect without new personnel IMO.

Pressure. Everything Jerry says and does creates a Super Bowl or bust vibe every second of every day across that organisation. To function under such relentless expectation and meet it requires every part of the organisation to have the resilience to fire on all cylinders day after day as every blip or glitch gets scrutinised and magnified. Sooner or later something critical fails, be it HC or coordinators or QB.

An in-season failure can be patched up and glossed over but in the play-offs the external pressures also intensify as you go home if something blows up under this extra intensity. Unless and until Jerry figures out it is his job to reduce not magnify pressure and expectation it can only change if you get a peak BB/Brady combo who thrive on pressure. They are rare birds.

Great player, great character, great to see the back of him.

The Cowboys roster is good & will be good next year

The Eagles roster has a core of good young players but relied one year too long on some veterans in key roles

The Commanders have some talent but also lots of holes, a new GM and lots of draft/$ capital

Objectively we are in a similar overall position to Washington but with headwinds from a bad QB contract & ugly reported HC temperament issues weighing heavily on our minds

You can see a path for all 4 teams to win next year if everything falls right or for only the Cowboys to have a winning record if it doesn't. Let us see where we are post coaching carousel, FA and draft before suggesting a return to the division dog days.

For us going 2-7 v play-off teams and 4-4 v the field highlights the scale of our talent gap.

Just reminding everyone that designation as a June cut means the cap space only becomes available then. It can cover the in season wriggle room fund but it is not directly available to sign people during free agency (though it potentially lets you run up hard against the cap then to do it).