2020 Our Year For Sure

It's an interesting point. Though I think I saw somewhere we can easily create over $25M in cap room next year by getting Harvin and Cassel off the books, cutting McKelvin, and a couple other things like that. Plus we still have restructures for Mario and Clay in our back pocket, and of course the cap will jump. That extra 4 mil seems paltry in comparison to having one reliable, steady quarterback on the roster this season, in my opinion.

Fair enough. Cassel I would feel confident could make his reads, get the ball out quickly and accurately and move the chains, giving us a chance. EJ I'd be way more excited to see warming up on the sidelines but just wouldn't know what to actually expect.

I do think EJ is better.But, can anyone honestly say that if EJ came onto the field they would know what kind of play to expect from him? He looks a lot better in preseason, no question. Still some accuracy inconsistencies but a lot better. The one thing that potentially makes Cassel an asset is that you know exactly what you're getting. I just think we have too good a chance to make the playoffs to release the only known commodity at QB.

I think EJ is better than Cassel but he's unproven.

How many teams in the history of the league have had both a 15 year playoff drought AND one of the best rosters in the league head to toe? I don't really care what everybody else decides- 4m is nothing compared to knowing we'll have competent quarterback play this year.

LOL very true

How about this scenario? -Tyrod tears an ACL week 1 -EJ is shaky It takes us one game to go from excitedly cutting the vet to realizing we just blew the playoff run over $4m we probably don't need. I know it doesn't seem like it but I'm truly as high on Tyrod and EJ as the next guy- just don't understand the rush to remove the only known commodity at the most important position.

Agreed. Graham would fare way better.

Fair points, especially the second part. I guess if he's the third stringer you can think about it, but I get the sense they still trust him a bit more than EJ.

Are you certain Cassel himself is not the #2 QB? Even if he's not, I feel it's worth keeping him, though I am open to being convinced otherwise. Evaluating young QBs in meaningless preseason games is one thing while the intensity of the regular season is a different animal. We don't know what we have in Tyrod or EJ until we know. I'm as optimistic as the next fan, but what we're going to get from these two remains a question mark, both upside and downside. The possibility remains alive that we're holding fool's gold and Cassel will ultimately give us the best chance to win. I say this as someone who's been voting Tyrod since the day we signed him and is hopeful on EJ's development. That we don't know what we're holding is just reality. Cutting him seems like a risk with virtually no reward. That rollover money is only good for one season, it's not that great of an asset in my view. I'd rather focus on making the playoffs.

I'm not sure it's necessary.

What's the point of saving money this late in the game with nothing to spend it on?

I expect he'll be good long term but he's just not ready. Rex is gonna have to figure out if Butler or Brooks can start the season, if not Graham has to move back to corner and Rambo starts.

A most refreshing post, Matt. I do have DTV but still watch a good deal more AFC ball than NFC, so I'm not in a place to comment on McCoy or Harvin. I love our D-linemen and think they're underrated if anything. Our corners are much-maligned here on the board. I think Incognito is a fair shout as he had some rough snaps in that Cleveland game too. I do see Wood as a strong candidate as well after thinking on it more. Earlier in the offseason, I can't tell you how many fans I saw talking along the lines of, "If we can just get a pair of guards we'll be SET on offense other than quarterback." To me that puts Wood and Henderson into a similar boat- these are substandard starters you work to replace when you have a roster as strong as ours is. For me the difference is that Wood's struggles get a great deal more recognition on the Wall than that of Henderson. yes when one poster thinks a player is a legit starter and the other doesnt, they clearly have him rated the same.

You never actually address my points, lol. I'm more than ready to end this one too

I don't know where you got this notion that only All-Pros can be overrated. Its like you didn't read my last post. You just told me he's a starting quality player who's better than Erik Pears (who obviously was out of position last year). I disagree with you, so clearly you have him rated higher than I do. It's really that simple.

The thread has far more overrated votes for a player yet to start a single NFL game than it does Henderson. Why is this guy singled out as the one player we're not allowed to talk about, I wonder. It's okay to form an opinion and adjust it as more information comes available, scientists do this all the time. The examples offered of his fake hustle were under this coaching staff, with John Miller playing next to him. He unfortunately doesn't seem to have reversed a trend that goes back to his college days. Here I was thinking overrated means rated too high, regardless of how high it is. If I tell you Billy Joe Hobert wasn't THAT bad for us, he wasn't good persay but an okay quarterback for the Bills, would it not be valid for someone to say, "Hey I think you're overrating this guy's performance." You told me Henderson's a starting quality player and better than Erik Pears, I'm doubtful on one and disagree the other. You're telling me you don't have him rated higher than I do?

The battle was a joke, eb. Kouandjio was never a real option to start. I think Henderson's a lousy starter and it gets overlooked, it's not complicated.

Pears was a far better run blocker, Henderson a better pass blocker. They're comparable. You keep setting bars for Henderson, he's a quality starter, he's better than Pears, but you take offense when someone calls him overrated? I don't see your logic. If you disagree that's fine but I see no reason why Henderson should be disqualified from the thread, yet a UDFA like Robey and a guy like Taylor who's never played are eligible.

He's overrated because Erik Pears was arguably a better OT and was ragged on constantly, yet Henderson skates on by.

Is Henderson one of the 64 best OTs in pro football? Debatable, with his streaky pass pro, poor run blocking and shortness on physicality. I would've hedged my bet. edit- and let's be wary of that decisions in a vacuum thing. Roman's success came with the best O-line in football and perhaps the best RT in football, we have questions at quarterback and will run the ball about as much as anyone in the league even though this is Hendy's weakness, and our roster is built to win now. And our 3rd OT is a giant question mark, and we have no 4th OT. In my opinion all these things made it a good idea to stengthen RT, one of the two worst starting positions on the team.

Uh huh. Better than that I mean, a real option to start.

I'm listening, does that take Seantrel out of the running? On the first play of the Cleveland game he tries to get to the second level and falls down, allowing his LB to help make the tackle. Later on the drive around midfield he has help from Miller in pass pro, with Miller also keeping an eye on Wood, and Henderson lets his man beat him inside too quickly for Miller to keep the DL out of the backfield. Henderson tries to stop him with his hands but can't be bothered to move his feet. [Off topic, this play is also a learning point for Taylor, because Miller comes with late help and gives Taylor the option of sidestepping left and buying time for days in the pocket, but takes off too quick to the right sideline for 2-3 yards. Subtle movements in the pocket that easily buy a ton of time are something Manning and Brady* do without thinking, and I expect will come with experience for Taylor because he has the pocket awareness. He senses the rush without breaking focus on the receivers, and is training himself to buy pocket time rather than scrambling.] On Henderson, I have only anecdotes from watching him the first couple drives of that game but something I don't like in an athlete is a lack of fire and hunger, and I've seen that going back to his rookie year. At this level you gotta play like your ass is on fire because it always is. I think of Rex as a strong motivator and still see what I see in Henderson. It's more important to appear as if he's doing his job than it is to finish plays. I love our offseason and graded it an A but I think Whaley should've at very least added a backup that could push Henderson.

Seconded

Dude... Had me laughin