dave mcbride

Newton’s injury problem has absolutely *nothing* to with hits taken either inside or outside the pocket. https://247sports.com/nfl/carolina-panthers/ContentGallery/Cam-Newton-shoulder-injury-timeline-of-events-126689960/#126689960_2

Who?

I did see a few of his games. He didn’t really impress me as a thrower.

The 2001 Bills were terrible. The 2020 Rams were arguably a more physically gifted and experienced QB away from being 14-2. There is NO comparison.

Watch the Pats on this front. Just saying.

I’m basing it on his *extreme* arm talent (Mahomes-esque in his ability to throw from different levels; also a very good baseball player), mobility in the pocket, generally good accuracy, willingness to play through injury, and ability to make plays when things break down.

As someone who watched Davis Webb a little at Cal, he is definitely the most talented of the three. I also think that the really stupid tweets from Fromm last year that came out after the draft *might* (emphasis on might) have soured the team a little. Maybe not. I guess I’d bet on Webb — who Daboll REALLY talked up late in the season — as #2 and Barkley as a 3. They can PS Fromm, right?

Again, consider the franchise.

He’s more talented and McVay is betting on talent. Betting on talent is the way to go, I think.

Yup, and again, judging Stafford on wins and losses is a terrible measure. Just look at the organization since the early 1960s: 17 winning seasons, 37 losing seasons, and 4 .500 seasons. And look at their record from 2001-2010. Man. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/det/

Yeah, with those snap count numbers, you’d definitely expect higher counting stats. He did finish 6th in the league in TFLs, though.

That’s a good, if strongly opinionated, piece. I too agree that wins-losses stats are a terrible measure of Stafford. Stafford is gonna surprise a ton of people. Read that yahoo piece linked to above.

Yeah, i know, and i addressed that days ago in this very thread!

Agreed. The thing is that Goff put up huge numbers in 2017 and 2018, and he’s only 26. I don’t buy the McVay genius stuff. Plenty of great offensive minds look bad when the qb is subpar. In fact, I’d say all of them.

Enh. These games get feisty on the line. Not a big deal. It was an intense game.

Stafford is still an elite talent and at this point a poor man’s Josh Allen - which is still good. Stafford has always been able to make plays when the play breaks down because of his ability to move around and his elite arm. That’s what McVay wants - a guy who can rescue a play when it breaks down. That’s not Goff. Objectively, Goff is a better-than-average QB. The narrative around him seems a little nuts to me. Yeah, but that’s exactly what McVay wants - someone who is not Goff or Cousins. Say what you will about Stafford, but he has elite talent and like Allen and Mahomes can make plays when things aren’t working. That missing element has killed the Rams for the last couple of seasons. Don’t think McVay doesn’t watch guys like Mahomes, Allen, and (not least) Justin Herbert.

Great post. Goff is not a bad qb at all — just not perfect. However, McVay’s semi-shameless lobbying for genius status and his tendency to lay the blame at Goff’s feet is what drives the narrative. It’s not what I’d call an accurate one.

Goff is not bad at all. He’s just not great. He’s immediately the second best qb in the division in my opinion.

I am pretty sure he played more snaps than any d-lineman in the league this year. In fact, I’m almost certain. I’m not advocating the move, mind you. Check out the snap counts. They are ridiculously high for a DE. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WattJ.00.htm

Good post, but my sense is that this is a pretty bad draft for edge rushers. I’m down for a good corner, however. You can never have enough of them in today’s NFL.

The first half counts just as much as the second half! In the first half, TB had 226 yards, no three and outs, and 21 points all legitimately fueled by offense.

$8 million for the Bills, $12 million for Philly. The Bills wouldn’t be on the hook for any prorated bonus. $8 million is a lot, but it’s all salary and can easily be restructured. https://overthecap.com/player/zach-ertz/112/ He is grrwt at finding open spaces in zones. Great, great route runner. Knox is very talented physically, but he plays the game like a WR and doesn’t do what the Kelces and Ertzes are so good at doing.

Enh. They got beat by a far better team. Trying to jam Tyreek Hill is the epitome of stupid.

Even if he didn’t score, he would have gotten to the 2 yard line. I basically agree with you, but there is this too: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/202001190sfo.htm. The Niners sliced and diced the GB defense in the previous NFC championship game, and GB had no answers. It might be a case of “I need a coordinator who can do better against elite teams in the biggest games, because we’ll be there next year too given our terrible division.” Just a thought.

The one caveat about Brown is that he basically had a leg injury for most of the season, and it clearly hampered him. Will he fully recover? If so, I'd keep him. I still remember people here griping about Robert Woods in 2016, and then after the season we find out that he played at least half of it with a torn groin. We said "Sayonara," and whaddaya know -- it healed just fine, and he's a borderline elite player. People overreact to injuries; they're part of the deal in the NFL. To be sure, some players are actually injury prone for various reasons. But in his seven seasons, Brown has played at least 15 games in 5 of them (and 9 and 10 in the other 2). In the NFL, that qualifies as "generally healthy and not injury prone." I'd definitely keep him for camp and see how he's doing, but if they're dead set on dumping him, Beane isn't a wait-for-June-1 kind of GM.