AZ54

I put together a post awhile back about elite TEs and what they mean to an offense but I think it got deleted accidentally. So I've been thinking about Bowers for some time. A TE with a 41" vertical leap and runs 4.5 forty (reportedly) is a rare beast. He tracks the ball as well as any receiver, including MHJr. What has a great TE meant to .... Brady? He took Gronk out of retirement to help him win another Superbowl. When he didn't have Gronk over the years due to injuries their entire offense suffered. Purdy has Kittle. Mahomes has Kelce and when Kelce's not on the field that offense looks a lot different. Lamar Jackson has a really good receiving TE too in Andrews. Rivers... Gates Fouts... Winslow. (I'm old) I like Kmet and I'm glad we extended his contract but if Tonyan were any good at all blocking or catching this year would have looked so much better. I don't know how many whiffs Tonyan had on blocks that could have broken big plays. He dropped a couple passes one of which was a TD that could have won us a game. If I put Bowers on those blocks our WR screen or RB screen is out of the gate. His receiving speaks for itself and I think he can be a joker that can elevate the rest of the receivers.

I know there is more to it than he goes over but the trend for Wright across the season was upward. It was really obvious, at least to me, in the repeat games (Detroit, GB, Minn) that he had a much better handle on the players across from him. Now he carries those lessons into a full offseason. OTOH I saw somebody with their 2023 draft grades give him a C because he gave up 7 sacks on the year. A lot of people isolate stats simplistically and that doesn't tell the story across a 17 game season. Nobody puts together a time trend for example, box plots, opponent level of play, supporting talent around them, did they account for the games he played injured and could only block with one arm, etc. You just get assigned a number, or a grade. It's interesting to watch.

Of course. Feeney showed why he was an easy trade midseason. Even without that on individual blocks guys were just getting beat. Nobody looked like they came to play. Saw a lot of that on D too.

I find it hard to believe someone could write all that and yet not name a single person they wanted to thank. This reads like a Hallmark card.

We'll just agree to disagree that was an acceptable Oline performance. Even the run blocking was really poor at times. Watching the Darnell Wright video I posted somewhere .... how do two TEs skip blocking the DE, at least even a chip block on a play leading to a TFL? Yes, things are better at home thanks for asking.

The Oline was impotent. How do all those free rushers escape observation?

We weren't going to do anything of note in the playoffs had we made it. Finishing 8-9 wasn't going to change anything on the coaching decision. I've often wondered if the strategy was to keep it simple in Wk 18. If we win, we win, but maintaining two top 10 picks is not a bad consolation prize. I hate losing to those arrogant pricks but kicking GB down to 19 in the draft (for the moment) doesn't bother me because it's outside the window of the top talent in this draft. Plus Jordan Love will be the same inaccurate QB under pressure he's always been and that 9th pick is prime pass rusher territory in this draft.

you could be right he might drop well into Day 3

Keeping Fields, double trade down first with AZ @ 4 then Tenn @ 7. Lately I tend to prefer Bowers (plus what I get in trade down) vs. MHJr in top 3. I get more value and I think Bowers is more of a unicorn that helps just as much in the running game as the passing game. Bowers can block LBs and DBs in space far better than MHJr. I can usually still add another really good WR2 prospect in this draft late 1st early 2nd. In this case Odunze fell to me at 21 so that's an easy win. I can also add a good WR3 prospect later. I love what Latu brings to the edge both in run game and pass rushing. He plays strong yet has lateral quickness very similar to Aiden Hutchinsen. He can rush from the inside too. Nubin to replace Jackson. Graham Barton is OG prospect but he's played some OC and that's where we move him. Brooks is a solid #2 RB with burst and good contact balance, plus excellent hands. He'll be a legit 3rd down RB for us. Hudson Clark looks like a good depth addition to safety as I'm not too enamored with Hicks. He's aggressive around the LOS and a little bit of a ball hawk in centerfield. He's also played special teams in college so he'll fit right in there to start in the NFL. Arizona's 1st in 2025 to keep the ball rolling.

...and yet nobody said give me more games with Siemian or Peterman because the offense is better.

I hope you are wrong.

SF and GB, plus a bunch of other teams, run offensive puppets behind their HC. Andy Reid did it for a very long time in Philly and KC before finally handing over play calling duties. I don't see complaints from team building experts about that.

I don't know where he got the data or evaluations on these QBs but I found it interesting that release time for Williams and Fields is nearly identical slow. Daniels concern is going to be his frame but other than that he seems like QB1. I don't know how well his shoulder holds up with 300lb DTs landing on it. While I know that's illegal per se but it still happens.

Oline is better in Houston, heck everyone's Oline was better than the Bears. We had one bright spot this year:

Makes sense for active roster on game day Whitehair has more position versatility and can backup all 3 interior spots. Maybe Carter was active too in that last game and didn't get the nod? Nah, just found it, he was inactive. I like the idea of getting a good OG prospect in the pipeline in this draft and I like Zak Zinter out of Mich. He had a badly broken leg late in the season, both tibia and fibula so his recovery is going to take a full year. Teams that need help this season will have to go elsewhere in the draft so he will drop. If the long term prognosis is good then we have insurance with Davis to hold down the fort until he's ready, even if that means a full season on IR. But we could have a stud at RG in 2025. If we get a comp pick #100 for Ian Cunningham leaving, then Zinter is my target there. Bears inactives WR Darnell Mooney RB D'Onta Foreman DB Greg Stroman Jr. OL Ja'Tyre Carter QB Tyson Bagent DB Quindell Johnson DB Jaylon Johnson

I find it interesting that all we are doing is searching for OCs. We don't even have a DC Search thread on this board. That is the priority but still odd and it makes me think Flus already knows who his DC is going to be. He doesn't have to rush that search since that individual might be busy in the playoffs. I have no clue who that might be if we ignore that the same logic should apply: Get on the DC search now ahead of other teams that are still figuring out GM/HCs. I say there is something to this that gives Flus enough confidence to let him focus fully on OC search now. Anyway, back to the OC search. I agree we must be almost fully sold on keeping Fields (which I agree with) and are trying to keep within the same or similar scheme with the new OC to maintain some continuity in the offense for him. These early candidates and their resumes make it so you just can't ignore that elephant in the room. What Waldron did in Seattle with Geno Smith is impressive. Of course he had some very good WR talent there but young Oline talent. I think he has to be the leading candidate and they were on the phone with him minutes after Carroll was fired (or whatever they called it). This college OC feels like a QB coach candidate, up and coming talent maybe not ready for NFL OC. Flus did some of that type of interviews / hires when he first arrived.

Adam Mason is back with a video on Fields. This is not the most comprehensive analysis by far but he does bring up some interesting points. Prior to seeing that, earlier today I was recalling how everyone was expecting Fields to have a breakout season like Jalen Hurts did in 2022. Except we all forgett Hurts has a Pro Bowl and maybe HoF center in Kelce and some other top Oline. At WR he's got AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith. Going into the season the Eagles Oline was ranked #1 by PFF... https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-offensive-line-rankings-2023-offseason (different sources) By midseason Eagles were still ranked #1 and the entire NFC North is in the top 10 except for one team. https://www.profootballnetwork.com/best-offensive-lines-nfl-rankings/ I can't read entire article but again end of season Eagles are #1. Its interesting to see Indy ranked #4 and it shows how you can make a QB like Minshew look good and win games with good Oline play. https://www.profootballnetwork.com/best-offensive-lines-nfl-rankings/

After giving a guy a fully guaranteed record setting deal no less. Imagine how you'd feel if you spent that $230 million only to see some dude come off his couch in the middle of the season and play better. That right there is why you should fire a GM.

The internet is undefeated. Stop using Google and explore the world. You can always find what you're looking for if you are a little persistent and creative.

Didn't Harbaugh start out at San Diego State or something like that? The Chargers aren't in San Diego anymore but I could see his ego loving the glamour world of LA. What constitutes a draft "expert"? What is that experts record?

I re-read my post just to be sure but I never said "generational franchise QB". I don't see that in these draftees. Doesn't mean one won't end up that way. "Historically there is always one good long term starting QB." IMO that is the most likely landing point with one of the top 3 QB draftees. That is the basis for my comparison to Fields. I also think Justin Fields can be a good long term starting QB. I think he's trending there based on his play in the 2nd half of the season but not there yet. I wouldn't put him in the generational talent either but that also doesn't mean he won't end up that way. If he gets there, it is going to be more along the path Roethlisberger followed. Interestingly Roethlisberger went to the Pro Bowl in 2007 when he only threw for 3100yds in 15 games. HIs first 4000 yd season was his 6th year.

I totally agree, Burrow had and still has some accuracy issues deep. Those concerns carried over to the draft. However, you can overcome that with the WRs he had at LSU and now in the NFL who are fantastic at adjusting to the ball. He's a much better processor of defenses than Fields and short to intermediate he'll slice you up. I don't see a similar talent in this draft. I think Caleb Williams is more of a creative QB at this point than pocket passer. Regardless, his mental toughness and leadership are my main concerns. Losing reveals character. Among the top 3, Maye might be closest to Burrow's style in the pocket but I think that's a stretch. Of course he also hasn't thrown to equivalent college receiving talent. I haven't watched but a single full game of Daniels since he left ASU so I'm mostly relying on input from this board to this point. When I watch all snaps of the Florida game (350yd passing, 200yd rushing) he reminds me a lot of Justin Fields. I don't see him throwing with a lot of anticipation. He bails out of the pocket sometimes unnecessarily and runs (great runner). Great deep ball. Oddly I find him to be the most intriguing of the top 3. Maybe because he could literally step right into the same offense as Fields and we wouldn't miss a beat. His slight frame is a concern in the NFL and we've seen how tough hits have been on Fields. All three have enough physical talent they will blow up the pre-draft process.

That is exactly the problem for me...there isn't a Joe Burrow, Andrew Luck, or Trevor Lawrence in this draft. Caleb Williams is supposed to be that guy. I haven't seen that in the games I watched but I didn't watch every USC game. Historically there is always one good long term starting QB from each NFL draft. Every 5 years you get two. As far as I can tell it's a reasonable gamble on any of the top 3 being that guy....which is just a 33% probability. Unless you believe there are two this year. Of course the most-excellent GMs in the NFL are all supposed to be able to figure out which one it will be. Yet even offensive geniuses like Shanahan in SF go after Trey Lance aggressively. Meanwhile Poles has had good success drafting talent at Dline/Oline and defensive backfield. WR is a clear miss IMO (at best an incomplete if Scott learns how to catch), RB is ok with Roschon but just ok. So what do we really know with Poles drafting offensive skill players? That's why after Fields' improvement in the 2nd half of the season I flipped away from the draft Jedis. I believe Fields has shown he can be a top 15 QB especially with the right OC. That also includes better talent in front of and around him. All draft picks have odds of success. Get more picks improve your chances of finding good players. We still need a lot of them. The one bet I'm willing to make: I'm 100% certain one of the top 3 QBs will be the guy and everyone will say we should have drafted him.

Run away from that.