So is Jacksonville trying to beat some kind of incompetence record? Is that what's going on? Bortles is raw as hell. He is maybe 2 years away from being ready. In a team with as many holes as J-Ville why not trade down, stockpile picks and fill in gaps? Is this because he beat a too highly ranked Baylor team that played zero defense? I don't wish ill on the kid, but I'd love to know (if he's put in as the starter as opposed to checkdown Chad) who the hell he's going to throw the ball to.
I'm exceedingly unhappy Arizona made their defense even better than it was already. Drafting Manziel wouldn't have helped Arizona now. I imagine that they're committed to going all in before Fitzgerald's contract gives it to them dry. Yes, Palmer isn't especially great or anything, but having Fitzgerald and Ellington and another year in that offense will make them a serious contender to unseat the Niners for second place in the division, all homerism aside. San Francisco is another year older and doesn't really have anything to show from their last two drafts. As for Patriots, Willie McGinest's best year was 9.5 sacks, whereas Jones had 11.5 last year. Plus he's only 23. Be happy they drafted Easley. He and Wilfork will be nigh unstoppable when he comes back. In the Patriots base defense (whatever that is), those two will take 3 defenders on pretty much every play. That'll free up Jones and Ninkovich to rush the passer. I wouldn't worry about it. I heard that Bortles really cleaned his mechanics up and wowed the front office. Considering they went 4-4 during the second half of the season, I don't really think it's fair to crucify the Jags just yet. Bradley, et al. have only been there for a year. Caldwell was the director of college scouting for Atlanta when they picked Matt Ryan at #3. Who's to say lightning can't strike twice? Also, there's still 6 more rounds to go and WRs are deep this year.
Yeah it's easy to have clean mechanics when you don't have a pass rush or defensive backs looking to pick off your passes. Seems like most of the hype around Bortles is based around his physical attributes and pro day - Just like Gabbert, Russell, Leaf, and all those other big strong-armed busts. I'm just glad the Vikes didn't draft him. Speaking of the Vikes, I'm pretty thrilled they got Bridgewater at 32. I'm a little unsure about Barr, since what I've read about him says that he's more of a 3-4 guy and the Vikes play a 4-3, but according to the reports Zimmer pushed hard for him so I guess that means he's good fit for the defense Zimmer wants to run. We'll see.
I think it says a lot about Bortles that he took the time and effort to do it in the first place. It shows that he can take instruction, apply it and make himself better. A lot of guys can't or won't, especially the guys that you mentioned.
It's still not saying a whole lot. The real test comes when he's actually out there facing serious pass rush: Can he maintain the the improvements he's made or will he panic and fall back on old habits. It's not like I want him to fail or anything, it's just that the track record of guys who weren't rated very highly in light of their college career but shoot up draft boards because of their physical attributes and strong combine/pro-day performances isn't very good.
These giant changes in players' draft status based on pro days are completely fucking absurd. You have 2-5 years worth of game day tape on these guys, dozens of hours playing when they actually have other people around like in, you know, a football game. And you're going to make major decisions based on a scripted solo workout? The pro day is useful. It's one small datapoint, though, not something to swing draft stock by a round or three. Crazy.
I could not agree with this more. The idea that so much is put into, its ridiculous. Because so many guys that crush it in their pro days (this goes for NBA as well) turn out to be complete busts. The game isn't played in shorts people. How they let that tank something is absurd. There is a counter argument, and I don't like it though. Talking to guys who have had friends enter the draft (they played college ball together) the whole argument for why its important is preparation. They know this test is coming, they know what you should do for it and they know exactly what's going to be on the test, so therefore it should be EASY to crush. If they don't crush something they had so much time to prepare for, then how are they going to prepare for games, and i.e. is this actual ability without the rest of the team lifting them up. It doesn't even feel right as I typed it out. Its silly, but the Vikings got a steal with Teddy and the Browns would have been decent if Josh wasn't going to get suspended for at least half a year. He might not get the whole year, but definitely at least half.
Yeah, but I don't just mean it's a poor simulation... It's also just one single day. Same as the combine. Poor footing off the line on the 40, feeling a little under the weather, just a couple bad throws... Really, that one glitch wrecks your draft stock when you have years of stellar performance?
No its ridiculous. Teddy Bridgewater went 15 TDs with 1 Interception and threw for 70% completions when he was getting blitzed in a real life football game, with real intentions to hit him. He has a bad pro day against dudes in shorts and he falls off the top? Blake Bortles has been that same type of QB that people haven't been able to improve ever. Teddy might not have the cannon arm, but he can lift weights. Its way harder to teach passing fundamentals and accuracy to a guy in his 20s. Especially when he plays terrible against the pass rush.
Its such a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation too. If you don't throw at the combine, because its a ridiculous pressure cooker, and maybe you've been working on some things, you get a red flag like you're hiding something. But if you do throw and its not perfect, you get Bridgewater'd.
Does anyone else think AJ McCarron got a bit screwed? I mean, hell, all the guy does is win. Yeah, I think he underthrows deep balls, but he wins games. "Oh, he has NFL talent around him at 'Bama." He'll have NFL talent in the actual NFL, too.
He has honestly gotten the red headed step child treatment most of his career. Apparently for a qb to be good, he can't be on the best team in the country. Now I hate bama, Saban, and pretty much everything to do with the SEC (except for the Big12 expansion) but McCarron led bama with capability and poise through the toughest confrence in college football yet people act like anyone could have done it. If nothing else you don't get the starting job on a Saban led team without being pretty damn good.
Not really. Danny Wuerffel won a lot too. Tee Martin won a championship. Ken Dorsey? Lots of game manager QB's in college don't make it in the NFL.
Also he gets to back up a hot-water QB in Andy Dalton. I don't think Dalton's spot in Cincy is entirely secure a few years from now.
The only people that could say that are those that know nothing of the bengals. The opinion folks rip him all the time. The organization loves him. If they had any interest in replacing him they would have done so well before the 5th fucking round. He made them relevant again. In the NFL you don't win every week. He threw more TD passes than anyone not named Breeze or Manning. Is he Manning? No. But could he be Flacco? Yes. The new OC will give people new reasons to believe in him. Starting by not letting him throw the ball as much.
If I said "Hey, you're going to have a QB that is going to rank in the top half (if not 3rd) of the league and will lead you to the playoffs 3 years in a row" you'd say "oh, awesome" not "we need to replace that fucker, stat!" Dalton isn't a bad QB, but he is going to go the way of Tony Romo. The constant "choke" thing is going to follow him around until (or if) he wins multiple playoff games. The funny part is that there are guys who are at the same level as Dalton but don't catch nearly the shit Dalton does (see: Ryan, Matt and Rivers, Philip).
That's because the state of Ohio has Ohio State. Ohio State wins 90% of the time. You can't do that in the NFL. There is too much parody. And until the people of Ohio accept that the Bengals are not and never will be Ohio State, Dalton will get shit no matter what he does. Call him a choke artist all you want. But he has made it to the playoffs every year since he entered the NFL. That is pretty fucking impressive. He will eventually win one. Then lose the next week and people will shit on him again.