Kyle Shanahan shows us how to answer a simple question

[The Frankish Reich]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001099563/article/kyle-shanahan-explains-decision-to-pass-on-mahomes

Kyle on why he passed on Mahomes when he had the second overall pick. 
 

See, that’s not so difficult! We maybe didn’t do enough scouting/research. We didn’t know that his skill set would transfer to the NFL. He doesn’t actually say “we would have taken him rather than trading down for DE Solomon Thomas” but that’s the implication. Spoken like a confident man who doesn’t believe he’ll offend his current QB or his 1st rounder that year by stating the obvious. 
I bring this up not to start the whole “we coulda had him!” debate again, but rather to point out that Kyle Shanahan is refreshingly candid. NFL coaches and GMs (and fans of teams who passed on Mahomes), again; it’s not that tough to say. 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 29, 2020 by Hapless Bills Fan
get rid of 5 mile long google link

[NewEra]

I feel that Shanahan is about to win one of multiple SB titles. 

[The Frankish Reich]

Sorry bout the unwieldy link. I’ll fix that when I have a chance. 

[YoloinOhio]

What did everyone else say (for comparison)?

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

3 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

What did everyone else say (for comparison)?

“This is fine”?  ?

[Houston's #1 Bills Fan]

2 minutes ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

“This is fine”?  ?

HAHAHA - Nicely played, sir!

[YoloinOhio]

McDermott said:

In a recent interview with The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn, Sean McDermott explained why he passed on Mahomes and other top-tier quarterbacks in his first draft as Buffalo’s head coach.

He had been hired just three months prior to the draft, leaving his newly constructed staff with little time to potentially identify a signal-caller as the new face of the franchise.

“The first year, [the evaluation] was shorter because of all the other stuff,” McDermott said, per Fairburn. “Putting the staff together. And I think I carried over the lessons I learned going through it the first time.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/billswire.usatoday.com/2019/09/04/buffalo-bills-sean-mcdermott-patrick-mahomes/amp/

 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

1 minute ago, YoloinOhio said:

McDermott said:

 

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/billswire.usatoday.com/2019/09/04/buffalo-bills-sean-mcdermott-patrick-mahomes/amp/

 

almost the same explanation as Shanny. 
 

Roughly; 

 

Was new to it, wasn’t ready to swing for the fences on the first pick of tenure without having done adequate homework. 
 

Mahomes should be the easiest one to accept of all the ones that got away.  

[GaryPinC]

The thing that bothers me about what Shanny said,

 

"You saw a bunch of talented guys in that draft," Shanahan said. "It's very tough when you watch college systems and stuff, you don't really know until you get someone in the building. You can see ability, you can see talent, but how's the mind? How do they play in the pocket? How do they process? That's not just an IQ score. That's some stuff I don't think you can totally test. You gotta go through that with them, so there's always a risk when you spend a first-round pick on a quarterback. With the situation we were in, didn't want to be that risky, especially with the second pick in the draft."

 

I was skeptical about Mahomes (still threw like a baseball pitcher, at a school for system quarterbacks, very mobile and unconventional) , but after pushing aside biases and actually watching the tape it wasn't hard to see how extraordinary he was at processing the game for a college QB.  

 

In defense of Shanny, I do think QB was a big priority to him as he felt he would get Kirk Cousins to join him.  And, let's be honest, other than KC most of the other teams were in the same boat.  No guarantees you could change Mahomes' habits and style of play.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

 

Shanny was the guy that allowed his team to blow 25 POINT LEAD and lose a SB.   losing 34-28. Zero 2nd half points 

 

he's got to prove he deserves the credit and accolades 

Edited January 29, 2020 by SlimShady'sGhost

[Gugny]

1 hour ago, The Frankish Reich said:

Sorry bout the unwieldy link. I’ll fix that when I have a chance. 

 

That link is almost as long as most of Exiled's posts!

[Whitey13]

5 minutes ago, SlimShady'sGhost said:

 

Shanny was the guy that allowed his team to blow 25 POINT LEAD and lose a SB.   losing 34-28. Zero 2nd half points 

 

he's got to prove he deserves the credit and accolades 

 

I'm sure he was standing on the sidelines telling the Falcons D to pack it in and let the Patriots run up the score

[WhoTom]

8 minutes ago, SlimShady'sGhost said:

 

Shanny was the guy that allowed his team to blow 25 POINT LEAD and lose a SB.   losing 34-28. Zero 2nd half points 

 

he's got to prove he deserves the credit and accolades 

 

3 minutes ago, Whitey13 said:

 

I'm sure he was standing on the sidelines telling the Falcons D to pack it in and let the Patriots run up the score

 

Offensive play calling was the bigger issue at that point. Protect the ball and burn the clock would have been the right moves; he chose to throw instead - in field goal range, if I recall correctly - which allowed a turnover that sparked the comeback.

 

 

[YoloinOhio]

17 minutes ago, SlimShady'sGhost said:

 

Shanny was the guy that allowed his team to blow 25 POINT LEAD and lose a SB.   losing 34-28. Zero 2nd half points 

 

he's got to prove he deserves the credit and accolades 

Bill O Brien blew a 24 point lead and got handed the GM title. 

[MJS]

I don't personally see the allure of having coaches and GM's prostrate themselves on the floor and beg for forgiveness for not drafting a guy or for a player not working out, etc.

 

Learn from mistakes and move on. Looking back at the Mahomes pick doesn't achieve anything.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

17 minutes ago, Whitey13 said:

 

I'm sure he was standing on the sidelines telling the Falcons D to pack it in and let the Patriots run up the score

 

As OC your job it to keep scoring points.  

 

He failed 

11 minutes ago, WhoTom said:

Offensive play calling was the bigger issue at that point. Protect the ball and burn the clock would have been the right moves; he chose to throw instead - in field goal range, if I recall correctly - which allowed a turnover that sparked the comeback.

 

 

Yep and he blew it big time. 

7 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

Bill O Brien blew a 24 point lead and got handed the GM title. 

 

Is this a case were they promote the incompetent?  

[The Frankish Reich]

Hapless, thanks for fixing my link. Just got home from work and was ready to do it myself. 
As for the topic: no, I don’t have specific references, but I hear this kind of exchange a lot, probably mostly from fans:

Q. Why did you/your team pass on Mahomes?

A. We’re happy with where we are at with [name draftee/signee] at QB and with [name other position player you drafted] too. Think Josh Allen and Tre White. 
Just say it, Kyle style. We missed the big one. But we’re still good. 

[Thurman#1]

13 hours ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

almost the same explanation as Shanny. 
 

Roughly; 

 

Was new to it, wasn’t ready to swing for the fences on the first pick of tenure without having done adequate homework. 
 

Mahomes should be the easiest one to accept of all the ones that got away.  

 

 

 

Yup. And Shanny at least had the GM he knew he was going to be working with in the future.

 

McDermott was working with a place-holder who'd been on board for picking up EJ Manuel.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

15 hours ago, The Frankish Reich said:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001099563/article/kyle-shanahan-explains-decision-to-pass-on-mahomes

Kyle on why he passed on Mahomes when he had the second overall pick. 
 

See, that’s not so difficult! We maybe didn’t do enough scouting/research. We didn’t know that his skill set would transfer to the NFL. He doesn’t actually say “we would have taken him rather than trading down for DE Solomon Thomas” but that’s the implication. Spoken like a confident man who doesn’t believe he’ll offend his current QB or his 1st rounder that year by stating the obvious. 
I bring this up not to start the whole “we coulda had him!” debate again, but rather to point out that Kyle Shanahan is refreshingly candid. NFL coaches and GMs (and fans of teams who passed on Mahomes), again; it’s not that tough to say. 

 

 

 

 

 

in most every GMs defense no QBs from Mike Leach's system had done anything in the NFL even though they were amazing in college so there was no reason to believe Mahomes would be any different.

 

 

15 hours ago, NewEra said:

I feel that Shanahan is about to win one of multiple SB titles. 

 

At least this one.

 

I really think the Niners are going to smash  the chiefs.

 

 

Edited January 30, 2020 by Buffalo Barbarian

[Buffalo Barbarian]

12 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

Bill O Brien blew a 24 point lead and got handed the GM title. 

 

that how most bosses get their jobs,at least thats how it works at mine. Hey Bill you did a real bad job engineering these machines so lets make you the vise president of the company (true story, names changed to protect the guilty)

 

 

[NewEra]

5 hours ago, Buffalo Barbarian said:

 

 

I really think the Niners are going to smash  the chiefs.

 

 

I really hope you’re right brother!  My retirement will be affected the the outcome lol

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

20 hours ago, The Frankish Reich said:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001099563/article/kyle-shanahan-explains-decision-to-pass-on-mahomes

Kyle on why he passed on Mahomes when he had the second overall pick. 
 

See, that’s not so difficult! We maybe didn’t do enough scouting/research. We didn’t know that his skill set would transfer to the NFL. He doesn’t actually say “we would have taken him rather than trading down for DE Solomon Thomas” but that’s the implication. Spoken like a confident man who doesn’t believe he’ll offend his current QB or his 1st rounder that year by stating the obvious. 
I bring this up not to start the whole “we coulda had him!” debate again, but rather to point out that Kyle Shanahan is refreshingly candid. NFL coaches and GMs (and fans of teams who passed on Mahomes), again; it’s not that tough to say. 

 

 

 

 

Feel better?

 

Is that what you want? Coach/GM to come out and assuage your hindsight?

 

 

[The Frankish Reich]

10 hours ago, Joe in Winslow said:

Feel better?

 

Is that what you want? Coach/GM to come out and assuage your hindsight?

 

 

Well at least you recognized yourself in my parody of pusillanimous coachspeak ...

[Buffalo Barbarian]

19 hours ago, NewEra said:

I really hope you’re right brother!  My retirement will be affected the the outcome lol

 

man i hope not, well if they win i hope so lol.

 

Niners run game is way better than chiefs run defense. Some think they stopped the titans, but they didn't, the titans decided to abandon the run when they got behind in the second half.

 

Also some think Jimmy cant lift the team because he threw the ball 8 times 2 weeks back but forget the rest of the season where he had normal numbers and threw quite a bit in the victory over the saints.

 

 

Jimmy's not better than Mahomes but this a team game and the 9ers are an all around better team and will win this game like the Broncos did to the Packers back in 97.

 

 

[Cripple Creek]

On 1/29/2020 at 2:07 PM, SlimShady'sGhost said:

 

Shanny was the guy that allowed his team to blow 25 POINT LEAD and lose a SB.   losing 34-28. Zero 2nd half points 

 

he's got to prove he deserves the credit and accolades 

Thanks Marv.

[123719bwiqrb]

It's easy for Kyle to say these things whist his team is winning.  Lay an egg, or lose to KC twice in the next couple of years (once is not enough for this franchise, they have lots of rings to fall back on), and the vultures would pick his carcass clean.

Edited January 31, 2020 by ScotSHO

[BigBuff423]

On 1/29/2020 at 1:51 PM, GaryPinC said:

The thing that bothers me about what Shanny said,

 

"You saw a bunch of talented guys in that draft," Shanahan said. "It's very tough when you watch college systems and stuff, you don't really know until you get someone in the building. You can see ability, you can see talent, but how's the mind? How do they play in the pocket? How do they process? That's not just an IQ score. That's some stuff I don't think you can totally test. You gotta go through that with them, so there's always a risk when you spend a first-round pick on a quarterback. With the situation we were in, didn't want to be that risky, especially with the second pick in the draft."

 

I was skeptical about Mahomes (still threw like a baseball pitcher, at a school for system quarterbacks, very mobile and unconventional) , but after pushing aside biases and actually watching the tape it wasn't hard to see how extraordinary he was at processing the game for a college QB.  

 

In defense of Shanny, I do think QB was a big priority to him as he felt he would get Kirk Cousins to join him.  And, let's be honest, other than KC most of the other teams were in the same boat.  No guarantees you could change Mahomes' habits and style of play.

 

Here's the other thing sometimes we overlook: in San Fran, if Mahomes was Drafted - much like it would have been in Buffalo - he would have HAD to start right away. In KC Alex Smith was already the entrenched QB, who at the time looked like he was there for several more years, and Reid knew that. He knew Mahomes wasn't going to need to start right away and they could still win with Smith. That...makes a big difference when evaluating the situation for players, especially QB. 

[4merper4mer]

On January 29, 2020 at 2:13 PM, Whitey13 said:

 

I'm sure he was standing on the sidelines telling the Falcons D to pack it in and let the Patriots run up the score

Dude he was up 8 in FG range with about 2 minutes left and decided to pass. That cannot be blamed on anyone but him.

[Whitey13]

15 minutes ago, 4merper4mer said:

Dude he was up 8 in FG range with about 2 minutes left and decided to pass. That cannot be blamed on anyone but him.

 

Don't people love to talk about poor execution by the Bills offense to defend Daboll?

 

The first time they tried to pass they were only put back to the 35 so they're still in field goal range. 

 

The second time they tried to pass they got sacked again and there was a holding call against Jake Matthews pushing then to the 45. 

 

Playing the hindsight game is fun because then the Seahawks probably wouldn't have lost to the Patriots in the Super Bowl by throwing a pick at the goalline. Does Shanny deserve some of the blame? Of course, but you could still play the shoulda/coulda/woulda game on their MVP QB throwing the ball away instead of losing 12 yards and better execution from your line which the penalty could have easily happened on a run as well. 

 

2nd & 11 at NE 23

(3:56 - 4th) (Shotgun) M.Ryan sacked at NE 35 for -12 yards (T.Flowers).

 

 

3rd & 23 at NE 35

(3:50 - 4th) (Shotgun) M.Ryan pass short left to M.Sanu pushed ob at NE 26 for 9 yards (L.Ryan). PENALTY on ATL-J.Matthews, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at NE 35 - No Play.