JohnC

Not only was he atrocious he was also an arrogant and pompous arse. He was intensely hated within the organization he worked for. You can be an arsehole and survive if you are competent. When you are an insufferable jerk and also incompetent you will be shown the door with a lot of ungracious tweets directed at your behind. What kind of fool is so stupid that he drafted a qb who many thought could be generational and then leaves him exposed without much protection. You don't have to be a football maven to understand that properly protecting your most valuable asset must be a priority. Where do these idiots come from? Where do these idiots who hire these idiots come from? With the Colts the question is answered by asking who was your daddy!

I'm a Gilmore fan and have been public about it since his selection. As far as I am concerned he has played up to his lofty draft status. He was a top 10 caliber of talent in his draft year. The issue comes down to (as you have noted) does his position warrant top tier money on a team cap stressed when from a value standpoint there are reasonable (not necessarily better) options. It is improbable that he can be replaced from a talent standpoint. But as you noted that a scheme change to zone can compensate for the loss of one of the better man to man cover backs (as you also noted). The Rex defense which emphasis man to man coverage is outdated. The receivers are just too gifted to expect the type of coverage that could contain such special athletes. Your last paragraph perfectly captures my sentiment on this issue. A cold blooded Bill Belichick calculation would not flinch at allowing him to leave and finding an option so that his team can be better balanced from a talent and cap spread standpoint. Or another way of looking at this issue is strategic thinking prevailing over tactical thinking.

Carolina may be an enticing destination for him and he would certainly appeal to the Panthers. When they let Josh Norman and his big mouth walk they created a hole. Gilmore would be a good fit for him from a football and close to home standpoint.

Gilmore is an all-pro level or near that level of player. I would hate to seem him go. But if he did because of cap reasons I'm sure it wouldn't have a significant difference on the competitive level of this team. The school of thought has certainly changed with the rules change and the emphasis on promoting the offense. But my point in my prior post that is that you could change your staffing in the backfield and it wouldn't necessarily change the status of the team. Also, as a prior poster pointed out because more backfield defenders are used there is a greater need from selecting defenders from a quantity standpoint.

He's not a player who is going to be ready in his first year. None of the qbs in this draft and almost all drafts fall in that category. He has all the tools, physical and mental makeup, that if developed properly should be a good franchise qb. For a franchise that hasn't had a qualified franchise qb in twenty years I would say that his selection should make people very happy, except for those who are more enamored with the DB crop.

The overwhelming reason why both teams are in the playoffs is because of their qb play. Each team could completely re-shuffle their defensive backfield lineup and still be in the playoffs if the same respective starting qbs were taking the snaps. Take away the current starting qbs and neither team would be playing in this game. It's not about the cart----it's about the horse.

The Packers drafted Rodgers while Favre was their starting qb. There is a lesson to be learned for an organization that hasn't had a legitimate franchise qb for twenty years!

I'm not suggesting moving up for any qb. I am emphatically stating that if Trubisky should fall to us that we should take him. Also, I wouldn't be hesitant to take Watson at the ten spot but would rather trade down and get him at a lower spot if possible. I was not advocating for Dak in the third round last year but I was advocating for Carr in a trade down in the first round and I was hoping that Country Nix would have taken either Russell Wilson or Cousins instead of trading up in the third round for an ineffectual track football player. Those weren't hindsight decisions---they were real time preferences. Any of those preferences would have had a profound positive effect on our bedraggled franchise. Don't you agree?

I strenuously disagree with your (seems to me) scoffing at Trubisky as simply being a game manager. A game manager caliber of qb who is an accurate passer, make reads and spreads the ball all over the field is not something to dismiss, It is something that we should covet. You don't think that Watson or Clay or Woods would be happy with a qb who can consistently throw accurately and go through progressions? You don't think these receivers would love to have a qb that can make anticipatory throws? In this constant quest for the ideal good qbs get bypassed by us at the expense of retaining a status quo status at that position that gets us nowhere. I would cherish a Dalton caliber of qb taking the snaps for us. Is he elite? Absolutely not. But he is the caliber of qb who can make this team currently assembled into a playoff team. I'm not a TT basher. We are fortunate to have him. There are occasions when he does rise to the occasion and can make scintillating plays. But that isn't the norm. When you watch a TT game and compare it to a game quaterbacked by a good qb there is a qualitative difference that is clearly evident. There is a limitation to is game that I don't believe he can overcome. As far as I am concerned if Trubisky is on the board and he bypasses him for a more highly ranked DB he should be fired for dereliction of duty. As far as I am concerned if Whaley doesn't select a reasonable qb prospect in this draft he should be fired for gross negligence. If you don't seek solutions you will never get solutions. In last year's draft Whaley bypassed Prescott in the third round in order to draft an immature and lazy DT who wasn't ready for the pro ranks. This lackadaisical attitude toward the most important position in the game rankles me. I'm getting tired of it. No more excuses!

I have been pummeled on this board for promoting drafting a qb with a first round pick. My feeling is if this bedraggled organization identifies a qb that they believe can eventually be a franchise qb then they should select the player. If they believe that it is too high for the pick then use some flexibility and creativity and trade down and hedge the qb selection. What you are going to hear from many of the posters is that this year has a poor crop of qbs. Let's wait until next year. That's not my song and I will not sing it. Let's review history. Was Carr considered a top tier prospect? No. Was Russell Wilson considered a top tier prospect? No. Was Dak considered a top tier prospect? No. Was Bridgewater considered a top tier prospect? No. Was Dalton a top tier prosect? No. Was Kirk Cousins a top tier prospect? No All these listed qbs would have made a dramatic impact on our irrelevant franchise. The wait until next year crowd will point out that Wentz, Goff and Lynch have not turned out as expected and were wasted high picks. That is such an absurd position to take for judging that position. It takes time and development. I would take all three qbs and would be ecstatic. Having TT as a bridge quarterback is a reason to get a good qb prospect on board now because you don't have to play the rookie qb right away. You can bring the qb along at a pace that is appropriate for that particular prospect. The notion that this anemic franchise should maneuver in this draft by trading down to acquire picks for next year makes little sense to me. The same people who are promoting next year's class will then next year scrutinize then to the point of diminishing them as prospects and again waiting for another next year's class of qb prospects. The cycle of inaction will continue to repeat itself. The problem with that mentality of hesitation is if even next year's class is better it doesn't mean that you will be in position to select that enticing player. You know what they say: Don't let perfection be the enemy of the good. With respect to your question on Watson I would say yes. If it is too high then trade down a little. If you have a conviction on him then don't play around and get caught with another team jumping ahead, just do it for heaven's sake. And with respect to your belief that this short sighted organization shouldn't take a DB my response is that it probably will. The generation of futility will continue because that is what we do. There is more comfort in being satisfied with mediocrity rather than being bold to pursue excellence.

I still say no! This team has a dearth of scorers. Why deal a scorer who is on a team with a dearth of scorers? Next year Guhle will be added to the roster. So that will help.There will be some expiring contracts to dispose of that will open up more cap space. The organization will then have opportunities to get quality defensemen who will shore up that unit and make it respectable. I simply don't understand the desire to get rid of one of our best scorers. What makes it even more perplexing to me is that he is not a one dimensional player. He is a two way player and a maximum effort player. Please, just leave him alone and stop creating a hole to fill a hole only to still have a hole. Absolutely not ! This is an Alamo decision for me. I will not yield; I will fight to the bitter end.

With respect to the highlighted area I'm not aware that Whaley trades down much? He seems to be more inclined to trade picks to move up. I would prefer that he would trade down and gather more picks to use this year. I have been a supporter of Whaley. Still am. However, what I can say is that on draft day he tends to make moves that ultimately prove to outsmart himself. The Watkins maneuver is a squandered move because the qb was not in place to maximize the return on the receiver's talents. The same logic applies to the expensive Clay acquisition, not because he isn't a good receiving TE, because he is, but his talents are squandered because the qb isn't capable to maximize his talents. Basically, what I am saying is that the sequencing of your decisions has much to do with the success of the decisions you are making. The cart before the horse approach sometimes has diminished the value of the talent that he has brought in. It gets tiresome to hear but the Nix/Whaley regimes have had more than enough opportunities to get the qb situation addressed. They didn't get it done. The failure to get that linchpin position adequately addressed has continued to plague this franchise.

Terrific post. When I read your post I thought you were analyzing TT instead of the prospect. I have come to the conclusion that Whaley is not going to draft a qb with his first two picks. Because of the cap squeeze he is going to want to select players who can play right from the start such as CB, S and wide receiver.

I can't recall a time where drunken, erratic decision-making was ever appropriate? On this post you sound like an economist: On the one hand this and on the other hand that. You can't be wrong because you covered both sides of the hand. Whaley's hand will mostly be forced because of the cap situation. The cap squeeze combined with a lot of free agents is going to force a lot of player movements off the roster. That's not going to be as challenging as it seems because there are a lot of replaceable players on this roster. The biggest challenge is figuring out how to keep Gilmore. By letting Gilmore go the GM makes his task a lot easier. I also think that Whaley is going to try hard to get TT to modify his contract a tad to give him a little more room to maneuver.

I agree with this post in toto.

Saddle up and get to it. You are so slow that it seems that you are riding a lame horse.

Are you already declaring Lynch a failure?

You are not bashing any player. Don't be hesitant or apologetic for giving your opinion. There is no doubt that Cardele Jones has intriguing physical skills. But when it comes to evaluating qbs for the NFL there is one skill set that usually doesn't change enough to match the stringent standard required for the NFL i.e. accuracy. In my view you either have it or not. Through coaching you can improve your mechanics but that doesn't automatically mean that you will ever attain the level of accuracy required to play in this league. If you are not sharply accurate or can't make anticipatory throws in college it is unlikely that you will in the pros where the windows are tighter and the speed of the game is much faster. It's not impossible but it is very improbable. That's why Cardale was taken in the fourth round, a low round for an improbable qb prospect.. Make no mistake on what I'm saying. If you are going to take a chance on a player then do it for a player who has some impressive tools. But let's not over estimate how ready or even capable he is to be a starter in this league. If you don't go to the window to buy a ticket at the track you will never get a hit. A long shot is better than no shot.

Was Russell Wilson a top ten ranked player? Was Derek Car a top ten ranked player? Was Bridgewater a top ten ranked plaer? Was Drew Brees a top ten ranked player? Was Aaron Rodgers a top ten ranked player? Was Prescott a top ten ranked player? A qb doesn't have to be a top ten ranked player to have a dramatic affect on your team. If you believe that you can select a good qb at a lower slot then trade down and get additional picks that can be useful to add to your roster. I'm all in favor in keeping TT. There isn't a good alternative to not doing so. My position is to identify a qb in this draft that you beleive can be developed into a franchise qb. If you don't believe there is one then don't make a wishful and wasteful pick. I believe that there are good qb prospects in this year's draft. Clearly, many think otherwise. The wait until next year approach means that opportunities we let go by are the same opportunities that other teams take advantage of. There is a term for passivity for teams that don't have a franchise qb on their roster. It's called "dereliction of duty". This team can use their first round pick to draft safeties and corners for the rest of its existence. Where will it get you? A ticket to the land of irrelevance. The same location where we have been at for the past generation.

There were two specific calls on Kane that were outrageous. One was on the wall where there was a quick engagement and an immediate release between the two players where the puck kept moving up the ice and the play continued. There was another play where they either called slashing or holding where it is basically a brush with the stick that had no bearing on the opposing player and the puck moved on in play. You can almost see Kane say WTF. As picayune as these touch infractions were made the calls that weren't made were interference calls. There is an erratic nature to the referring that makes it impossible for the players to adjust to. The lack of common sense and judgment gets my goat as much as defensive trapping does.

I didn't see the third period so I'm glad to know that they dominated the third, and to a degree balanced out the game. The officiating was ridiculous. Calls for touch infractions made little sense. The rules are not the problem; the lack of judgment is. Calling a penalty on a superficial call that doesn't affect the play kills the flow of the game. The schedule for February you posted is daunting. I hate to say it but I don't think this team is going to qualify for the playoffs. I'm not as bothered by it as some are. I want to see progress and pieces added to the roster, likely before the start of the next season. However, the battered fans surely deserve to watch postseason games sooner rather than later.

The all-star game should be eliminated. It means so little that many of the players make excuses to get out of. Although this is a fake game with little entertainment value this game isn't worth the risk of injury.

Kane had two goals and an assist in this game, three points. Those advocating trading him for defensive help are risking giving up one of our best scorers on a team that lacks scoring. It's easier to find help in the offseason to stabilize the defense but opportunities to acquire a consistent goal scorer is more difficult. I watched the first two periods. We couldn't keep up with them. They were indisputably the superior team in this game.

For me I call it addition by subtraction. You are corrupting the game with your advocacy of obstruction. The beauty is in the flow not the stop and go! Clutch and grab might be appropriate for a hot willing date but in hockey it is obscene to watch. I'm not pumping anyone up. I'm acknowledging what is obvious and true. Trust your eyes and not your bleeding heart.

You got to be impressed how they have turned it around in a relatively short period of time. They were a franchise that for a long time tried to buy their way into respectability. That didn't work out it. It only prolonged their stay mired in muck of mediocrity. They had a plan to clean house of their high priced players and go with younger players. No one can argue that they haven't executed their plan. The Maple Leafs are not only an emerging team they are also a fun team to watch. I get disgusted with the clamping down trap style of hockey that kills the flow of the game. Their game is predicated on skill more than muscle. Much more aesthetic to watch. I'm sure much to your dismay let me also add that I admire the Patriots for their extended excellence. I certainly don't root for them but I admire the way they have built an organization predicated on accountability and an organization imbued with high standards. Let's not even bother comparing the differences between the Bills and the Pats franchises! As far as I am concerned anyone organization that would hire a Rex Ryan forfeits its right to be considered a serious franchise. And to get your goat even more I'm rooting for the Pats to win the SB so Roger Goodell has to hand the Lombardi trophy to Brady and the owner. I still believe that Roger Goodell acted outrageously and with malice in the manner in which he handled the deflategate fiasco.