YattaOkasan

I like the trade up scenario better, but its still 3rd round Lbs in back to back years with just as much confidence they can be the long term solution. Youre just sore they didnt trade up to get your guy it sounds like. Presumably they like Williams better? LB hasnt been such a problem as OL in terms of our ability to draft or develop talent.

So you wanted us to spend our second on him and not O'cyrus Torrence. Cause Simpson went before our 3rd round pick. Or are you saying we shouldve moved up again? youre gonna need to explain more about "taking Trenton Simpson" to make it the right pick cause its not a simple as the Creed Humphrey/Basham situation. Gilliam is a TE, I think Morris also makes it (why is Isabella not a PS player), AJ Klein to PS for Cam Lewis, Quessenberry over Doyle (at least from reports so far), and probably Von to PUP for one last player (maybe Spector) We ran with 4 DTs last year. And I think this assumes Phillips on the PUP so we get reinforcements eventually. Agree on TE (though Gilliam has been playing with them). Thanks for explaining. Strong disagree on Simpson over Torrence. Also surprised youre just writing players off after a year. Assuming you didn't have high thoughts on Knox then. Lastly in your proposed trade up scenario we have two 3rd rd linebackers in back to back years and you liked one of them so thats why you think we have long term solution? Feels much the same but we lose another pick later in the draft.

Yes but if he was in the competition he would get more reps. Since he’s gotten almost nothing I think he’s vet PS. No one is gonna pick him up so he’s an easy stash.

Primarily due to what McD said about closer look, but many people have been thinking its down to Bernard/Dodson since Spectors rotation was skipped at the last practice. Scrimmage and coming days will be telling but I wouldnt be surprised if Spector has fallen out of the competition since the other two guys started games last year and Spector got very few snaps at LB (Steelers game only iirc).

Its based off of McD's comments. He was asked why they didnt rotate Spector in. He said they wanted to look closer at Bernard and Tdot. I have not heard Klein doing anything and he seems to be meeting my expectation of vet on the PS. Spector seems to have more juice than I expected but I will be surprised if he gets the MLB job.

Everyone needs to practice. Get the vocal chords into midseason form Why do you think he'll be a healthy scratch? I expect him to have a lot of ST reps which should be enough value to get him a jersey on game day. On the Elam issue, I think the coaches are just making him earn it and know its not handed to him. To expand, the coaches love players that have been challenged in their careers. I suspect they think its important to have that resilient in the face adversity trait. Elam has not really been challenged in that way in his career. Son of an NFL player thats a 5 star recruit that goes to the SEC and plays right away. Hopeful this is the case because Elam has still been getting a lot of reps with the first team and at the end of the year was the CB2 they went with. I think this offseason they want to challenge him and see him rise to it before having him take over.

I agree I think he has to earn and more so than other players. 5 star recruit I believe playing in the SEC. Would surprise me if McD felt he had to teach him a bit. I’m hopeful because when push came to shove in the playoffs they went with Elam.

I don’t. I think continuity is important on the OLine. Let morse, our starter, get as many reps with two new guys next to him. I get your reasoning but you’re thinking too far out. No one has seemed to mention this throw was over Hyde!!!! Not the MLB or some other dude but Micah freaking Hyde (one of the best deep ball defenders in the league). Motioning Cook wide in 12 personnel is gonna be deadly

Define really bad. He had a QBR of 75.8 against his coverage last year (between Kenny Pickett and Zach Wilson level of play, the worst two QBs by QBR). That is up from 2021 (59.9) and his all pro year in 2018 (43.3) but not different than his rookie year or 2020. Even in a "down" year he was still good. They will start him cause hes always good and thats when HE is playing poor. From the improvement we saw every game last year and what weve heard from this year I expect him to have a better year than last.

CB rotations, while not common, are a McD staple. Gaines, Johnson, Norman all rotated with Levi if i remember correctly. That said I would like to see more Elam, I agree with many others that he has shown more when out there. I dont know what it is but Dane is fine and would be a starting CB for many teams in the league.

Have heard Harty has a good release package (which aligns with this production on the outside in NO). So yes all things equal (including release package) size matters, but Harty doesnt come in equal it appears. Maybe different definitions of JAGs? Sherfield has been a rosterable player for years (never been cut) but hasnt been a game changer. If thats a JAG for you then I agree. I dont consider that a JAG and I dont think these reports are pumping him up to be the next Diggs but rather looking to be another weapon.

The reason Salgado is being discussed is when asked for an example of McD "throwing someone under the bus", you brought up Salgado (see below). So yes you very much did say McD was blaming him. As for when corrective action was/is taken and why; I dont think we'll know for a long time. This team is incredibly tight lipped. I dont think you should then fill in those gaps with whatever you want. The bolded still does not make sense. I dont know how you could say McD threw Frasier under the bus in anyway. As you mention he kept him around for 6 seasons and parted with him in very mysterious terms. While were talking about it so long; what bus was coming for McD. That phrase is typically deployed when someone is about to be in big trouble. I dont think McD was in any hot seat with management after the season (see recent extension); thus, the only "bus" would be in the media. And again McD didnt put blame on Frazier (or Salgado) in the media.

I disagree that Salgado was the coach for the team's strength. As mentioned multiple times, he took over the safety coach duties in 2022. Bobby Babich was the safety coach from 2017 to 2021 when the unit played its best. I dont know how you have perspective on resolve or determination from Salgado. I find your defense of Salgado as the coach for the teams strength to be laughable when it clearly became a strength under someone else. The original point from our discussion was McD throwing people under the bus. Maybe the reason he kept Frazier here for 6 seasons was cause he wanted to support him to his next head coaching job which ultimately never came. As you noted the whole thing was shrouded in secrecy likely cause they didnt want to throw him under the bus. Nothing about how they handled Frazier indicates a willingness to throw someone under the bus.

I think its purely positional and not where they line up. I thought Kincaid had some of the H-back type work at Utah. I know Knox has done a fair bit of that too. Agree Knox shouldnt see his snap count dip too much. Still trying to settle out how much.

Have you considered that Frazier leaving was his corrective action? If that was you would have to agree he didnt throw him under the bus. Overall the departure of Frazier is a really great counter point of McD not throwing people under the bus. He could've slammed the defense but didnt.

I agree it will look like more traditional 11 and we shouldnt expect Kincaid with his hand in the dirt. Couldnt find 2022 data easily but 40% 12 personnel wouldve put us 2nd in that personnel grouping for 2021 (think league jumped in its usage though in 2022). That would be a big jump considering we were second lowest usage last year from what I remember from podcasts. Though I will cede that we had a fair bit of 21 personnel with Gilliam that can easily become 12. For the 25% of snaps as "tight end" (assume you just mean the "Y" tight end. "F" is still a tight end to me too but different as you are alluding to) do you think thats with Knox on the field or off? Sounds like we might see it really similar if you have Kincaid's snaps as 40% in 12 and 25% in 11 (I have it as 30% and 30%). Appreciate you expanding on your thoughts here and just your general contributions to this community.

Its still a clear passing down so they will not get the matchups they would get in a passing or running down. I think Sherfield and Harty are both better separators (Davis potentially too) against the personnel that would be seen on this type of down. I am up and down on the big bodies. I see what youre saying but I wonder if the data supports that logic (does it matter or does Josh run well enough no matter how many TEs). I agree that Kincaid is gonna be one of our best pass catchers. Knox being in for protection is part of the reason I could see for why he would be on the field. Thanks. I agree that 12 usage will increase a ton I just hesitate to say it will be the majority or plurality (11 is my expectation). Thus I think in this clear passing down situation it would be 11. As I mentioned above I could get on board with the idea that Knox needs to help block before leaking out. Guess the follow up is how much 12 do you think we run? Greater than 40%?

My sanity check applies to everyone saying Kincaid and Knox for this hypothetical. If youre calling 12 personnel in this clear passing situation, do you think we are a majority 12 personnel team now? I would expect us to put our best passing options on the field a majority of the time, and if 12 personnel is the grouping for this clear passing down then arent you saying well be a majority 12 personnel team? I dont see us as a majority 12 personnel team yet (hoping for 25%+ which puts us top half of the league)

Hmm... my intrigue in 12 personnel is cause of the match up problem it creates. That personnel grouping was alluded to earlier in this thread that it would "stress" the defense. Are both Kincaid/Knox really gonna be better than WR3 at getting open on a clear passing down? Youre saying yes cause they are our four best receiving options. From that logic, can you tell me if you expect us to be in 12 personnel the majority of the time? I just dont see that happening this year.

So your point is he was fired (unfairly in your opinion) and thats throwing him under the bus. I dont see McD pointing the finger at him or anything. They let go a coach they had put time and effort into developing so you just conclude that its to throw him under the bus? Will note your opinion for how the season works out.

No sweat. I think 3 was a mistake in the situation referenced here but would not have blitzed. Ultimately, I also put this on the players though (gotta know down and distance). Agree with your comment of the spy.

It works against Mahomes really well. I hope we continue using it against him and Burrow. McD sorta gave that guy his only shot in the NFL though right? If anything I think Salgado would love McD considering his growth from Defensive Asst (2017-2019), Nickel Coach (2020-2021, this is a position that McD created), and Safety Coach (2022) with the Bills. Is parting ways with a coach throwing them under the bus (I dont see any comments from McD about him even)? Not disagreeing that someone has been thrown under the bus (ST coach was what I thought you would use), but this seems like the wrong example.

Your math looks good to me and yes the intention is to have more fair catches. But I dont think its as simple as no more KR ever again (not saying you said that, but someone else did). If fair catch goes up 5% then 1/3 kickoffs is a return. Thats still quite a few to the point where I would say its hyperbolic to say it doesnt matter (agian not you saying that).

For 4th and 8 I am not sure I have both Knox and Kincaid out there. Need more receiving ability imo. Yes 12 puts stress on a defense but thats if they think youll run it. Nobody is gonna think well run on 4th and 8. I have Diggs, Davis, Harty, Knox. If its 4th and 4 or less then yes give me 12 personnel with Kincaid in for Harty.

I dont think so. Punts are unchanged and I think I heard Joe Marino said NCAA saw a ~5% increase in touchbacks when they did this rule and thats the goal of the NFL. I think you would still see a return ~50% of the time. Additionally if teams are dropping coverage players (cause they think KRs dont matter) a really good return unit could take advantage.