BearFan PHX

Yes, the first one was the one I was commenting on, the second one is definitely one of the leading scenarios

Well he didn't SAY it officially, it's a rumor that's been floating around. Maybe it's even true right now, but give it time. With a new staff to entice him, his agent will explain to him what would happen if he won a super bowl in Chicago. But boy would I hate him if that played out. As far as a plan B, it's too early for me to have any answers, but there are always alternate plans. In any case, I don't think the answer would be Fields for us.

I think Justin would get a single 3rd rounder. If we could get even a single first rounder for Fields (after the season) I'd take that immediately.

yeah it's half a joke. half. lol

yes

its a joke to think of a team with no head coach, but it might be true too. yikes. tonight's performance will go a long way to defining the rest of the year.

If you believe that Williams is a generational talent at QB, then you have to do everything you can to get him, no matter any other considerations. QB is the most important position in football by far, and there is nothing that offsets that. If Payton Manning / Patrick Mahomes etc is sitting there in the draft, no combination of defensive linemen, wide receivers, offensive linemen and future picks is worth passing them for. The point of all of this is to win, and there is nothing more important than a true franchise QB in achieving that. Even if Fields was playing well, if you think Williams is that guy, you grab him. Just like you don't pass on Walter Payton because you still have Matt Forte under contract for two more years. Now, if you don't think Williams is that guy, or you have questions about how he will translate to the NFL, that's an entirely different question. But if you think he is that guy, there is no other decision to make than to draft him if at all possible. EVEN IF it takes both of your first round picks and Fields in trade.

Any coach with head coaching experience will not want to be interim head coach, and we wont want to sign anyone long term at this point because there will be more and better options after the season ends. Only people looking to add head coach to their resume would consider this - OR - someone looking to rehabilitate their image. Pat Fitzgerald anyone? Not as a long term answer, but an interim position?

bwahahaha

I think is exactly it. It's what Fields means when he says he is thinking too much, or has too much coaching. unfortunately, its the NFL and you can't play vanilla and win. you must perform with this level of complexity. so what it really means is the the great QBs DO think of all that stuff, and for wahtever reason, Fields cant.

You can trade that second pick down, and perhaps get a good haul for it too, but you won't be able to draft Harrison Jr if you trade back lower than #3.

lol that sounds more like PFF

FWIW DJ Moore is a zone beating genius. He is the master of spacing.

PFF is random, which means sometimes they are right too. I think Wright has been a real bright spot. I've been saying since we drafted him and I watched his film that I think he's a future Hall of Famer. Davis is also great, he just hasnt played enough for whatever reason. I'm still not sure on Jones. He's not bad, he's MUCH better than Leno was lol, but he breaks down sometimes too. I dunno if you replace him or ride with him. I suppose it depends on other needs and what draft and free agent opportunities there are. So in this case, I think PFF (accidentally? lol) got it right and I agree with you Stinger.

I cant imagine Lovie being willing to be interim coach. He'd want to be hired on a multiyear contract, and I don't think he's the best option they will have in February. It will be someone who wants the first time head coaching experience on their resume. The obvious internal replacement would be Hightower, just because we have no DC and Getsy should probably get the axe with Flus if he gets fired. Hightower has been stuck in special teams for 10 years, but before that was an assistant working with wide receivers one year and defensive backs another. I suppose you'd promote a position coach to coordinator on each side of the ball then. So once you see what that all looks like, you might ask yourself - why am I doing this? To make a point about Eberflus? And then decide to just wait until week 14 or something to do it, if you're gonna do it at all during the season. If the job is for the brave captain to go down with the ship at the helm because someone has to organize meetings etc in a losing cause, Eberflus is a good choice. It's his mess in the first place.

Right. There are a bunch of different considerations here and they all get tangled up. 1. Does Eberflus deserve to get fired as a reaction to the poor play? 2. Is the decision made that he will be gone at the end of the year at least? 3. Is there any benefit to firing him now? 4. Logistically who would replace him? So if you're Poles and even if you're 100% yes on 1 and 2, you still have to think about 3 & 4. People tend to get to a decision point yes on #2 (if they've gotten that far yet), and if they're mad they get a yes on #1 as well. They might think "Eberflus is trash and the team looks so awful he deserves to be fired immediately." I can understand that sentiment, but you've really only thought through 1 and 2, and they are at 3 emotionally, but not logistically. If you're Poles and you know you're cleaning house, what is the benefit (#3)? What's the plan? To try to salvage 7 wins out of the season in a peak effort? What's the point in that? I mean it'd be an amazing accomplishment, but what does it really get you? Plus to #4, whoever you get now should be an interim coach, and you should open the search to lots of possibilities after the season that dont exist now. So it's not like if you do get that miracle 7 win season (going .500 from here out) that rolls over into next year. It doesn't. Because the coach won't be your guy. You bring in Lovie and he wins a few games, and people want him to stay because he won 6 games. You see the mess you make doing something like that. So I think Poles backs into this question. He thinks "what are my goals for this season now?" and then lets that lead who he fires and when. In other words, don't be surprised to see Flus stay most of the year. Firing him now doesnt really get you anything. Even if you're mad as hell at him, and think he deserves it like I do. Firing Flus would be more emotional and fan theater, but in terms of adding to the culture the next coach will build here, it doesn't really mean anything. I hate that we're here so early in the season. Again.

Here's a hot take that Im sure will be somewhat controversial. While I expect that Flus will be fired soon, with all these experts saying that Fields isn't the problem, and it's the coaching, if we don't fire Flus, maybe Fields' trade value goes up because a few teams think it was all the coaching? Whereas if you change the coaches and then Fields is no better with the new coach, there goes the trade value?

Billings is doing well at NT, but like we all have said, we need that 3T.

I think all this analysis is correct. the LBers will be better in a better scheme with better playcalling. Claypool WAS a reach, but we had to do something to try to give JF a shot at showing something last year. We didnt have options, so we overpaid. So be it. And yeah, until we have a push from the middle, there will always be a pocket for a QB to step up into. And until that's fixed, we are not going to win many games no matter how the offense looks. But we all said all this before this season started.

It's a funny thing - the difference between the measurables, the football talent and the heart of a player. I almost think instead of having the combine, they should just have everyone hold heavy jugs of water out in front of them until they break and time them to measure the want-to. For some people ego drives them to be great - for others it drives them to feel entitled and throw in the towel at adversity and just collect a paycheck. I wonder how much of this is apparent during college interviews, and people just pick the physical specimen anyway?

yeah, there are no experts on the planet who can tell you how a college QB will fare in the NFL. I mean except me. LOL just kidding. No one ever knows. There are signs, and trends and stuff to look at, but you never really know, all the way up to the top decision makers in the league. I do think watching tape is better than reading stats, but for QBs, it's a giant mystery. And then there's how would fields look in SF or Purdy here. So many variables. But what I think you can say is that after enough NFL tape you know what a guy's ceiling is. You might not know if the next QB or coach is gonna be great, but you can say whether the one you've got is? I'm looking forward to seeing how Williams looks under pressure for sure. I have a fantasy of Williams lighting it up for us next year to DJ Moore and Marvin Harrison Jr. And we're gonna need a bunch of defensive linemen too - both rookies and free agents. And some coaches to put them in the right places

for sure the trend is upward, but until it all comes together, the product looks terrible even when there really has been significant roster improvement. Lots of room for optimism. We really do need a new coach though.

amen

right! its a vicious circle. there are so few difference makers as coaches and coordinators and the ones that are proven arent available. so you gotta take a flyer on someone, and if you look for a winner, then youre taking someone who worked under a winning head coach who might be the reason (like Nagy) or someone who worked with a great QB who might be the reason (like Getsy) - its very hard to find. And sometimes the right guy just isnt ready, like Belichick at the Browns. It's extremely difficult to get right.

yup.the 3T makes the cover 2 go. and honestly, the entire D line is a problem right now. Hopefully the rookies will ascend.