Alaskan Grizzly

Some may call me an antagonist, I will call you delirious! ? Maye has played in the system that Mack Brown built. Brown also produced QBs like Vince Young, Colt McCoy, Major Applewhite, Chris Simms and RB Cedric Benson while he was HC for Texas. In the three (?) years Maye has been with the Tarheels in the powerhouse ACC, he's only eclipsed Trubisky in passing yardage his second year (2022 -4,321) to Trubisky's last year (2016-3,748). Otherwise last season Maye produced 3,608 passing yards and only played 12 games(?) versus 14 the previous year. Outisde of that, Maye has more total rush yards than does Trubisky (1,209 to Mitch's 439). But then, I thought we were trying to avoid a running QB? I've said it once...he wears #10 and is clad in the same powder blue as the former Mr. Ohio. I feel like we're re-enacting a Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe discussion. ?

Valid question. Here’s some background info that might help.

I would normally agree but whenever I hear offensive minded coaches in Bears recent history I can't help but cringe as Nagy and Trestman first come to mind. Maybe we go the Baltimore route next time and hire an HC with a ST background like Dave Toub? ?‍♂️

I am at about the same but not at #1. Signed...the "antagonist". ?

I'd be great with that. And/or in the second (as Stinger suggests). Get your "haul" for the #1 overall maybe even move back before #9 and get MHJ someway...somehow. The more I hear "experts" talk the more convinced I am that MHJ is probably the only real "generational" talent in this draft.

Another couple sources. 1) Author Cam Mellor on CFN (dated 23 November 23) has Bo Nix as #1 and Williams #4 overall. From what I read in his article Cam appears to do more 'eye testing' than mega stat gathering. https://collegefootballnetwork.com/top-college-football-quarterback-rankings-2023/ 2) From SportsNaught author Andrew Buller-Russ (dated 02 December) has Daniels #1, Nix #2 and Williams #3. Maye is #6 on this list. https://sportsnaut.com/top-college-football-quarterbacks/ 3) Lastly, this article from Nick Shultz (dated 23 Dec 23) lists Williams as #1, Maye #2 and Nix at #6 but adds "He (Nix) was the most accurate passer in the country during the regular season..." and "Nix completed an FBS-leading 77.2% of his passes during the regular season..." https://www.on3.com/pro/news/2024-nfl-draft-espn-ranks-top-12-college-football-qbs-quarterback-caleb-williams-drake-maye-jayden-daniels/ Goes to show you how many different opinions you can get as we head deep into draft season.

From Wikipedia: "USC defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox, who recruited Darnold to the school, wanted him to play linebacker before he declined."

I checked out the post and saw that our old pal Swifty posted his own chart (below). I also asked “Joe” if he’s done these for past QB draft classes. I’d like to see that.

I didn’t remember so I had to look it up. Did you know he was recruited by one of the defensive coaches to play linebacker?

Saw this on Facebook with the commentary: ‘Of the 13 QBs chosen in the 2018 draft, Sam Darnold will be the first to go to the Super Bowl.’ Crazy.

I think he’s more Madden like in that he’s not so much the strategist than he is the old school smash mouth style of football guy (which I’m a huge fan of). How many times did we hear Greg Olsen comment on how it was assumed that every time the Lions were short and 4th down Campbell was the guy that would go for it? He’s been doing that for how long? And because he stuck to that “script” and believed he could do it again, he’s now all of sudden being questioned for it. It’s a live by the sword die by it mentality. If he’d been successful and ended up eventually winning, we’d be having a different conversation. Going back to the exchange I had with Adam about levels of experience. When you have a handful of guys who have 7 playoff games among them versus another handful of guys that have 10 times as many, experience will mostly win in those situations. I’d be surprised if Campbell continues making those calls as predictable going forward.

In three years Campbell and the Lions progressively got better. There is 'enough tape' on them that after year two other teams could've/should've figured out how to beat them. They didn't (at least not 12 times). Now if Johnson leaves and the team dips to 'only' 9 wins we'll have to see what played into the 'downfall' (injuries etc) but i suspect Campbell will be around for awhile. He's the "best" they've had in awhile. I was replaying the game yesterday in my head and it seemed SF made some adjustments after halftime to overcome their 17 point deficit. That and they got awful lucky with some penalties (against the Lions) and that one pass that Aiyuk caught late in the game was pure luck. Had Vildor not been there and kept the ball alive with his facemask, Aiyuk would've never caught it.

Agree. I wonder if because Urlacher being a converted Safety made any difference in his pass coverage than say does Edmunds? The most (INTs) that Urlacher ever got was 5 in one season. Edmunds' only other season where he had multiple INTs was his rookie season (2) before getting 4 this year.

In no way would I endorse Campbell as the "second coming" but I could say the Lions have had decent players over the years and not go as far they did this year. Look at when Stafford was playing and had Megatron to throw to. In that time Jim Caldwell was their HC where he compiled a record of 36-28 and all they managed to do was lose twice in the WC round. Stafford threw for at least 4,000 yards each of the years Caldwell was HC by the by. Goff has only had four 4,000 yard seasons - and two of those were his last two in Detroit. Remember Jim Bob Cooter? He was the OC for Detroit halfway through the season in Caldwell's second season there. JBC reminded me a lot of Johnson with the hype surrounding him at the time. So maybe its the players? Stafford goes to LA and the first year with them wins the Super Bowl. Only three years before that the Rams made it to the SB and lost while Goff was their QB. Point here is that McVay is probably a better overall HC than Campbell but couldn't get it done with Goff...

If I remember right they essentially paid for Edmunds and Edwards what Baltimore did for Smith. ?

A coach who led his team to the playoffs for the first time in 50 years and one game from the Super Bowl “overrated”? If only we had that sorta luck. ?? Yeah he screwed the pooch in not going for three when he should have but he’s been lauded plenty of times for being aggressive when others play more traditional. That was inexperience more than anything. Saw a graphic during the game that showed the Lions having players with 7 total playoff games amongst them versus like 70-80 for the 9’ers.

Oh…weren’t Fields and the Bears still in the playoffs? My mistake. ?

Meh…

Oops….i blame the alcohol consumption. ?

This plays into the old discussion about how Lovie coached the players to their strengths (or at least how I saw it). Many said he “inherited” great players like Urlacher, Briggs and Tillman . But still he somehow was able to get the team to consistent winning seasons for the majority of his coaching career while in Chicago. The point being, I can’t tell you how Lovie influenced (aka coached) the players to win games because I wasn’t there when he designed the plays, made the calls from the sidelines or adjusted to his D to what he saw presented by the opposition. Same with Flus. Yes he’s made some bonehead calls as an HC but he’s done a pretty good job in getting the D to perform at a highly functional tick. Theres no denying that. Are these another of them “rhetorical arguments” you speak of? ?

Watching this Baltimore / KC game makes me think how good Fields could be IF given the right coaching. Both Mahomes and Jackson have had to ‘go off script’ several times and either scramble to make a play or look for an open receiver after missing their first read. To be fair the “right coaching” could be in Chicago or whatever team he ends up going to. ?

I don’t know that it was ‘368 tackles’ but they definitely fed off each other well. They both seemed to keep up with their tacking numbers overall from when they were with Philly/Buff but I couldn’t help but notice they jumped significantly in the Int rate. They remind me alot of Briggs and Urlacher in Lovies version of the similar scheme. As far as playing to their strengths, I would agree that Sweats acquisition certainly helped with how others performed (causal/effect), but it was Flus’ scheme that put everyone in the right place. Think about how the defense was crippled early on with all the injuries then as the season wore on how much better they improved when the starters started making it to games. And add in that you had some pretty significant play by rookies like Dexter, Stevenson and Terrell Smith, I’d again make the case that Flus seems to be able to coach up the players to the positions they’re in.

Not for nothing but Cousins was a fourth round pick after RG3 was picked in the first (#2 overall)…the same year by the same team.

Curious if you still feel this way?

We know Warren made a point of going to Justin’s graduation last year. And are quite familiar with one another from the Big 10. Justin was one of the strongest voices to convince Warren to let the Big 10 play games during COVID. And this thing with Poles hugging players in the locker room? Take a look at the GM candidate of the year Brad Holmes (with the Lions) while he hangs out in the locker room. (He’s in the green jacket with his back to us). Believe the player is olineman Penei Sewell.