Chuck Wagon

Tampa or Nashville seems like a very messy place for Jameis to end up. Right in the heart of all his enablers.

Hundley is the guy they've been VERY quiet on....

Marrone wasn't building a foundation. He was out the door. Besides, Cyrus came into the league VERY young, has admitted himself he was clueless at what it took, learned a ton and all reports are he's putting in serious work. Henderson wasn't a typical 7th round pick. He was the #1 OT recruit in the country coming out of high school. A lot of teams flagged him solely because of his off the field issues. Those off field concerns haven't been an issue (yet). If he were placed into this years draft right now he would likely be a day 2 pick if not in the conversation with guys like Clemmings as a potential 1st.

I think what some people struggle with is how much the talent level has risen on the entire roster. 5 years ago Kouandjio not playing a snap when we are running out Ed Wang would have been a real indictment. Now, he wasn't going to play over Glenn and Henderson beat him out. As has been mentioned, with the benefit of hindsight, it's clear Marrone wasn't interested in the long term outlook. He was resume building. With a coach who wants to be here and has a long term vision, we surely would have seen EJ and Cyrus playing week 17. How anyone who remembers where this teams talent level was back when we were begging Mario to come can complain about the job Whaley is doing is beyond me. Do people have so short of memories they already forget about the days of Chris Kelsay, Justin Rogers and Kawika Mitchell? Guys who can't make our roster are getting picked up and playing roles on teams like the Pats and Seahawks now, we used to be the last stop on the train to the CFL. Would people really rather be in the position of the Jags or Browns fans where we need to be getting excited about UDFAs who can walk & chew gum?

Urban LOVES all 3. He's continually gushed about how much the story of Cardale Jones can impact kids in poor situations. He loves the guts Braxton has shown, how he could be "woe is me" with everything that's happened but never showed a hint of that attitude. They also brought in two more guys in this class in Gibson & Burrow who could start day 1 at 50+ division 1 programs. I expect Cardale to be the QB with Braxton on the field a lot. My concern is this isn't Indiana, Jalin Marshall and Zeke are among the very best in the nation at what they do. Mike Thomas is going to be a 1st round pick. Everyone on the team says there's guys in practice who don't even see the field on Saturdays that would blow peoples minds. I think that gets lost a lot with the "just put Braxton at H-Back" crowd. I'm drinking the Kool Aide as hard as anyone else, but I expect there's going to be plenty of opportunities for everyone to get snaps as there's going to be more than a few games put away by halftime.

Braxton isn't going to be throwing until July. Short of him following Herrman to Houston he would be learning a brand new system without the ability to do anymore than walk through it. He wasn't going to go to a team more loaded than OSU this year, it makes more sense for him to stick in Columbus, worst case end his playing career as an OSU legend who will always be able to find work on the radio here/playing golf with clients for some local business/appearing in John Deere commercials (local joke). I believe it's been reported Oregon was pursuing Vernon Adams over Braxton and Alabama/Florida St. have their own blue chip QB prospects they'd likely go with if Braxton was not clearly beating them out. JT sees the long view. He knows either Cardale plays well and goes pro, or he doesn't and the job is open again. These 3 are like brothers with each other. JT was in Cardale's ear every time he came to the sideline while he was playing. They are also all drinking the Urban kool aide hard. Locally it's really not that shocking that they all stuck around and them fighting over the team enough to damage the potential success is nothing more than a fake storyline ESPN will create to drive ratings.

It's the old saying that if the Pats knew Brady would be Brady, they wouldn't have waited till the 6th round. It's a common refrain that EJ wasn't ready, but I think the reality is the team around him wasn't ready. We put him out there his first year without a #1 WR, Chandler at TE, an inexperienced/bad oline and St. Doug and Can't Hackett in his ear begging him not to screw up. If you go back and watch the games, it's tough to argue he didn't do as well as reasonably could be expected given the hand he was dealt. Looking at last year, I really have to wonder when Marrone made the decision he was leaving and when Orton decided he was retiring. Not putting EJ back in to gain more real experience in the Pats game week 17 tells me Marrone only cared about putting a winning season on his resume, not the long term growth. Given all we know now, 9-7 might have been an underachievement. A QB needs the environment to grow in, again Luck is a generational talent, grading anyone on that curve is asinine.

The vibe here in Columbus puts me in a spot where I'd be very surprised if Cardale isn't the guy. People appreciate all Braxton has done and JT is very well respected for his decision making, but Cardale just has the "it" factor and is going to get the bulk of first team reps the entire offseason program. The offense looked completely different with Cardale at QB and it was running the same plays it had all year, his arm strikes fear in defenses the way the other two guys don't, which opens up everything underneath for Elliot / Marshall / Wilson.

Whaley knows how to play the game. I've gotta believe if he's allowing there to be smoke around Grayson and coming out saying he doesn't think the 3rd best QB is that far behind Mariota, it's for a reason. There was not much smoke around EJ when we took him until just before the draft. There's a guy he's got his eye on and it's not Garret Grayson. It's the chicken or the egg theory and most people misunderstand it. You need to have a heck of a chicken (a first class organization) to get a prize winning egg. There's a few rare exceptions of fantastic eggs making themselves, but people confuse that as the rule. I'd love to see an alternate reality where guys like David Carr and Tim Couch came into organizations like the Steelers or Packers, instead of expansion teams devoid of talent.

Big Ten country is going to be a heck of a place to be for QBs next fall. I think we both love Cardale's potential, but I'm worried for him the Browns have already anointed him as their football Lebron and will set him up to fail. Hackenburg is really interesting, though I fear he's going to get beat up and wrecked before he even hits the league. I'm not as high on Cook, but I admittedly find MSU's games unenjoyable to watch for the most part. I could stomach watching Tresselball when the Bucks were playing it, but watching a team I don't care for do it against the Iowas of the world leaves me watching SEC games 10 times out of 10. I need to watch more of Goff at Cal this fall and Gunner Kiel has me intrigued, I typically go for the guys who do more with less, over the Cody Kessler's of the world posting similar numbers throwing to early draft picks (and behind early draft picks).

I think Whaley & co have it figured out. With a few rare exceptions (Peyton, Luck) franchise QBs don't just waltz into the league. Teams picking in the top 5 are often devoid of talent and leadership, they are rudderless ships who immediately heap unrealistic expectations on kids who aren't ready to handle the pressure. These kids get beat up behind poor lines, have poor receiver options, lose games, lose the fans support, lose their confidence and ultimately lose the organizations support. Compare that to the Steelers, Packers, Seahawks, Ravens or Pats. Big Ben, Rodgers, Wilson, Flacco & Brady came in to loaded teams. They immediately experienced success in roles that allowed them to merely be caretakers, they were allowed to progress as players and ultimately come into their own as the franchise QBs we know today. Obviously a QB needs to have the physical tools to make the throws, but at this level so much of what makes guys special is understanding what it takes to win and having the confidence to make it happen. With a few rare exceptions, that's not learned in college and carried into the league, that's learned in the league through having success and gaining repetitions. I think that's what separates the Oaklands/Clevelands/Jacksonvilles of the world from the Packers/Pats/Steelers. The Browns are spinning their wheels waiting for their savior, they keep taking guys every few years without having a proper foundation, heap the expectations of the world on them and set them up for failure. Whaley is breaking the cycle, he's not taking us out of being able to find our franchise QB, he's making it possible for it to happen. It's the same thing that happened with Seattle, they built their foundation, found a guy in Wilson, allowed him to play caretaker and now he's progressing beyond that level. Franchise QBs are not the NBA franchise player model. Smart organizations understand that, dumb ones will continue to fail until they figure it out. We are breaking the cycle, the Browns are waiting for a Lebron that isn't coming.

I want Sunday, 1 pm @ Jets. The Rex game will be crazy anyway, as will the opening game, I'd rather kill two birds with one stone than have them all jacked up for a random game in October. Then Pats, 1 pm home opener at the Ralph week 2. I want prime time as much as the next person, but I'd rather the game be a 1 o'clock in hopes to catching them on a hangover coming off the season opener. Get out of the gate 2-0 in the division, with a head to head win over NE and a road win knocked off.

Yes

I understand. I just place Evans in the same category as Mathis. I think his reputation has exceeded his skills at this point, especially considering the cost involved. I'd rather someone play their best football for us than overpay for a guy whose main strength is name recognition. AJ Cann and Jesse James are just two names, there are several good oline prospects projected to be sitting in the 50 range.

McCoy missed the 2nd Saints game.

So Suh and Mohammad Wilkerson are going to eat his lunch 4 times per year? Easy pass at giving up a 3rd for him. I want a blue chip young guard we can have grow with Glenn/Henderson/Kouandjio and a real big TE to go with all our hybrid TE/FB guys we currently have with our 2nd and 3rd respectively.

The rising and falling happens on guys like Kiper's board. He's now receiving the info from teams about where guys should actually be placed. Media experts like him (who realistically don't know any more than any of us who actively watch college football every Saturday) aren't going to come out and say "I completely botched this guy, he's a 2nd rounder instead of a top 10 pick" so they speak in code and say "he's falling down the draft board". Look at a guy like Kiper's first mock drafts every year and how much movement happens vs the actual draft, guys aren't moving that drastically on team boards based upon some interviews and underwear Olympics.

He said there were no open starting spots EXCEPT GUARD. As much as BPA is being played up, all signs seem to be O-Line. Now is misinformation season, but a lot of what Whaley is saying seems right in line with most of our thoughts regarding the roster. The two biggest needs on the roster (outside of the questionable QB spot) are the oline and a big receiving threat, this meshes with Whaley's recent comments.

Am I the only one who thinks Mathis has played his best football, is overpriced and doesn't fit a power running scheme? Looking at the projected prospects at #50 and the instant success of a guy like Bitino, it's reasonable to believe we can find a plug and play guy with our first pick. We've got Urbik / Williams / Richardson to push for time if that doesn't land. I don't see Mathis as being considerably better than that plan of attack, especially not given our limited salary cap space. If we add a vet WR, I would like to package Goodwin with 5th/6th round picks to move into the late 3rd/early 4th to improve our chances of walking away with at least 3 contributors from the draft, which would be a win given our limited draft capital along with limited roster needs.

Can't sign whats not out there, no one else is touching oline either. At this point I'd be surprised to see Evans cut, the Saints made their move trading Grubbs. There should be a plug and play guard available at 50, or at least a nice prospect to work in with Richie/Urbik. Unless one of the tackles drops, I don't see there being a better prospect than Kouandjio/Henderson in a position for us to take. Roman helped make an all pro out of a guy few would touch in Alex Boone, I have hope we'll make something work.

I like Petty, I think our offense is going to be a lot of the quick hitting plays similar to what he did with Baylor.

These picks are for last year, they lost Talib (but added Revis and Browner...) Except it is a mystery as the NFL doesn't release the formula. I know good teams typically lose more players since they have more good players taking up salary space, but I've always felt the awarding of compensatory picks feels a bit fishy. Pats lose Talib but add Revis and Browner and get a 3rd, we lose Byrd but add a couple of bargain guys like Spikes and get nothing.

So are the 49ers just tanking this year? The amount of attrition they've had is unbelievable.

Can I choose Bulaga taking less money to stay in Green Bay as my least favorites?

I thought the exact same thing. I have no idea, if he gets a 6 game fine does that mean 6/16 ths of his salary? Also is there anyone who doesn't believe this is Farmer taking the fall for Haslam. Jimmy better be taking care of him, first he falls on the Manziel sword now this. I'm hoping both teams lose at least a 2nd if nothing more than it makes pick #50 into pick #48.