AZ54

For me that's an odd way of looking at his grades with just player focus, especially given the tight constraints he had. For me it goes this way... Job 1: Find the right HC and coaching staff that can build a playoff contender. I like Eberflus and the staff he's put together. We've been far more competitive in games where we should have been blown out early. I think now the players are just mentally fatigued after we saw them put it all on the line against the Bills and Eagles, plus the injuries are just overwhelming the depth on this roster. Not that we had any depth to begin with. DONE Job 2: Shed overpaid aging talent and finding as many draft picks as possible in exchange, targeting the rebuild to start in 2023. In other words tear it down in 2022 where it needed to be torn down. Generate as much future cap space as possible in 2023 to flip this team around. DONE Job 3: Draft 2-3 starting caliber players. DONE: Braxton Jones, Brisker, Gordon, and technically 4 if you want to count the punter Gill who has done surprisingly well as a rookie. Job 3a: Add 2-3 players that can be future roster depth for us. DONE. Ja'Tyre Carter, Dom Robinson, and Velus(?). Toss in finding Sanborn who appears to be future MLB starter for us. I preferred there be more Oline or better WR among starters he drafted but the value didn't fall that way. Poles stayed with his board in Rd 2 and got 2 defensive starters at positions we really needed. Job 4: Put that coaching staff to work fixing Fields mechanics, his ability to read defenses, and his ability to work the pocket. We must know if he's the QB of the future by the end of this season. DONE. Everyone knows Fields is our QB going forward. However, it's also still a work in progress with the offense. I'll call it Successful but Incomplete. Job 6: Find a way with limited budget and draft picks to put a 53 man roster together. Ideally one that helps Fields so we can evaluate him and then we'll fix the D in 2023. With the limited resources he had Poles tried to get some FA Olineman and lost, not on money but to the better roster. FAIL However Fields often rose above the dysfunction and showed he can be the rising tide that lifts all boats. Now we get to the end of the season and we're focused on the rental players (Pringle, Justin Jones, Reiff). Grading any rental car is always going to be meh and those players are not really Poles' "roster". I hoped we'd find a diamond in the rough somewhere among them but alas it was not meant to be. He took some chances on some former high draft picks in Harry and Leatherwood. Low risk high reward... that's ok. Claypool is his for sure but the mid-season trade leaves that as an incomplete grade because it was actually part of the 2023 roster decision. We have to see who he extends this year (i.e. Mooney) to really know who his guys are. Roquan was his guy then just as quickly he wasn't. Like the Ogunjobi decision, Poles has his plan and if you don't fit into that he'll move on. Both times it took some courage to go back on his word but he stuck to his plan for the future. Down the road we could be in shock to see a good player cut or traded a year earlier than we expect. Draft picks are still developing so between that and the Rental FAs roster make up is graded as Incomplete for me. If we have to put a grade on the 3-win 2022 roster that's easy... it's a big fat F.

Sometimes we don't always know what is right and what is wrong. If you're telling me something important that I must memorize I will not look at you. I tend to look down and focus on memorizing the message and I'll tune out all the other noise. Granted I'm an oddball but I just don't have the same level of concentration when looking up and around because there too many squirrels running around.

Hester needs to be in the Hall of Fame before they roll out his Football Life Documentary. There will be footage from the announcement and then induction weekend and speech that need to be in it. With regards to Edelman there isn't even a hint of him getting into the Hall of Fame so they can safely create his documentary. Everyone knows Hester is going to be enshrined it's just a question of when, not if. https://www.si.com/nfl/talkoffame/nfl/julian-edelman-hall-of-fame

Gordon is the better athlete playing a more difficult position. Gordon leads with 3 INTs, Brisker 1. Brisker leads in solo tackles 68 to 55 over Gordon. Brisker leads 4 sacks, Gordon 0. ( I couldn't guess say who is used more to blitz) Forced fumbles and fumble recoveries are tied at 1, fumble recoveries tied at 1. Both miss tackles too often. Brisker just completely whiffed on a TD run in Detroit, didn't even get a hand on the RB and he ran right past him.

Alec Pierce I'd have been good with. Pickens has already had one public blowup on the sidelines and I simply don't care about his talent level he's not someone I want on a rebuilding team. FWIW Abraham Lucas has a lower overall PFF grade than Larry Borom.

Forgot to add I found a new stats website I liked so thought I'd share it. https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/player-stats/

As a KR Velus flips the field at least once and sometimes twice a game. For a team with an inept offense that often goes 3 and out that's a big help as the ensuing punt puts the other team on a long field. If we get anything going on offense we need just 30yds of offense for a FG. I don't think that alone is worth a 3rd Rd pick but if he can just add a little on offense with some big plays here and there it's about right. If you look at this PFF analysis comparing 1st and 2nd Rd WRs performance...look at the 3yr survival rate of WRs by draft Rd. In many ways there is minimal difference between 1st and 2nd Rd WRs. Since they didn't compare later rounds other than the 3yr survival rate we have to assume the lower survival rate means a significant dropoff in production. It's only worse after that. Based on that article the sweet spot for WR value is the 2nd Rd. With that said, looking at the WRs taken after Velus in the 3rd Rd we have: Jalen Tolbert w/ 12yds receiving total, 53 special teams snaps David Bell w/ 214yds receiving total, 116 special teams snaps Danny Gray w/ 10yds receiving total. 15 special teams snaps Velus is sitting in 2nd place with 61yds rcv. 111 specials teams snaps Velus is 11th in the NFL in KR yards with 525. The others have none. Before he got benched Velus had 35 PR yards, the others have none. 4th Rd WRs: Ezukama. no stat line, Dobbs 425yds receiving, 3 special teams snaps Calvin Austin no stat line 5th Rd WRs: Shakir. 133yds receiving, 18 special teams snaps Montrell Washington, 271yds receiving, 271 special teams snaps but his KR long is 29yds (Velus is 63yds and averages 29yd/return) Kyle Phillips, 78yds receiving, 7 special teams snaps I'm not taking the time to go further down the draft. This was a "value" exercise for me to see if Poles grabbed the right WR. Dobbs might have been the better WR but offers nothing on special teams. Velus has been disappointing as a WR but excelled as KR when he holds onto the ball. Year 2 will be telling but based on the other WRs drafted after him Velus fits in simply because of his versatility. The question remains were there players at other positions that offered greater value when he was chosen?

Ah, we forgot to account for the Josh McDaniels effect. Denver, LA Rams, and TB's complete and utter ineptness shocked me the most. TB is only 8-8 out of the kindness of others.

Nothing looked right today on offense or defense. He's going to keep seeing a lot more Wide-9 fronts to keep him from getting outside. Getsy will have to adapt to that for next year.

The Packers destroying the Vikings means they are likely coming into next week focused on winning. You don't want to take that loss and then a loss to a 3-12 team into the playoffs. At a minimum the first half they'll be focused on starters executing, then maybe they rest some players. Regardless our defense with the remaining players can't stop anyone.

That was just a bad game overall. Not much to say other than this is the end of a very tough year with a lot of 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th string players on the field. Among the various takeaways is that Morrow isn't a starting LB in this league. He's way too late on his reads. He might run a 4.5 forty as compared to Sanborn but when you watch them play you'd swear Sanborn ran the faster time.

The defender had his hand inside between Kmet's arms? If he tucks the ball the defender knocks it out. Nothing about it was an easy play.

In a game full of future NFL talent he stood out. With this draft starting to look more below average with few blue chip prospects I’m not totally opposed to a trade down scenario that gets us another first next year.

That may well be but what matters most is that we have a legit QB who can lead this team for years to come. Happy New Year!

No doubt. I kept waiting to see something but it was a whole lot of nothing. Good player but I didn’t see signs of greatness.

I've been watching him all game. His QB doesn't often look his way and he's often struggling to get early separation. Or his QB just doesn't look his way. For a guy who supposedly is a top 10 or top 15 draft pick this game isn't a convincing argument. So far my biggest takeaways from the game are that maybe there are a couple TCU DBs or some Oline players we should be talking about.

Ryan Poles: You want me to take who off your hands? For just a 2nd Rd pick? Nah, umm, hold for a minute I have another call...

Derek Carr's Dead Money in 2023 is just $5.6mil and Cap Savings are $29mil. They can outright cut him and have plenty of money to sign a mid-tier QB to hold down the fort, Brissett for example who only makes $5mil this year, and have a lot of money left over. https://overthecap.com/player/derek-carr/2975

I just worked off the OvertheCap values which I linked to. They could very well be wrong. I can't paste a screenshot in here but they say Dead Money and Cap Hit Post Jun 1st are just $8mil/season for 5 years. If it all accelerates to one year then maybe that's an issue for Oakland. Pre-Jun 1st they show $39mil Dead Money and -$27mil hit to cap space. Maybe thats an issue, maybe it's not. If they care to go down the rebuild path the Bears chose then consider that we are carrying $88mil in dead money this year. Once a team goes down the QB rabbit hole that whole playoff/Superbowl horizon changes dramatically. You are likely best suited to get younger talent and shed your vets. The Raiders do have another option if they want to pursue someone like JimmyG and then see if he can take the existing talent further. However, re-tread QBs don't have the best track record in 2022 so it'll be interesting to watch this play out. Which scenario buys the GM/HC the most time from the owner to find success?

The DB is draped all over him because he can't run. With his long legs I'd be very curious to see how well he gets in/out of his cuts. That's just this guy but your point is valid.

Buffalo knew exactly what they were getting in NFL production with that pick, Minnesota did not. So yes there was an additional salary cost for the known commodity but that's how business works.

Quite honestly the fans here on this message board are all way above the TV broadcast crews in game knowledge or at least in how they present the game. There are some exceptions and guys like Romo add context I enjoy, the same goes for Eli and Peyton on MNF. Those guys are always watching the play from the moment the huddle breaks and you can see it in their eyes about 1s into a play they already know what should happen. The internet has definitely changed things and we can scout players somewhat and watch All-22 film post game plus DVRs are everywhere. Slowly networks will realize this and you'll see more of the Romo/Manning style commentary. Hopefully there will be much less of the Captain Obvious Kirk Herbstreit style commentary. "He's 6'5" and here you can see he uses his length to stretch out for the first down. That's really good football."

I thought it was just my eyes but I've always thought he processes things too slowly after the snap. Maybe pre-snap alignment calls are ok? He has the more obvious physical limitations that show up from time to time where he gets blown up or beat to one side very quickly. More often than I see those events, I just see him looking lost on who to block. When I watched Swift's breakdown on Eiselen, it was interesting that he seemed to show good vision on picking up stunts or late blitzes. Interesting because he has far less game experience. Even in spots where he had nobody to block Dieter stayed in his lane and you could see his head on a swivel looking left and right multiple times in one play. When he provided help to the OT or C it was with one arm without giving up his lane. OTOH Mustipher will give up his pass pro lane early on if he has nobody to block and chase someone left or right even if his OGs don't need the help. He literally turns 90 degrees and thus can't do anything to cover his lane. That has given up a few sacks due to some teams taking advantage of that tendency with delayed blitzes right up the middle unabated. Or like this play where he was celebrated for taking a guy down to the ground but Teven was probably thinking where did Mustipher go?

Just a little joking around at Mustipher's expense. He is exactly the kind of player who has a 10 year career, and will be a starter at times for other teams. Lucas Patrick has had the same type of career so far. Always the guy you want to upgrade, always the player you can survive with when he starts.

Maybe Mustipher is the one getting out of position and tripping everyone else, or letting Dline run free and blowup a play?