NFL offseason thread

And others in the conversation include a third-rounder and a ninth-rounder (who was then cut).

 

Funny. I think I read that somewhere.

 

Yeah, I saw yours after I posted that. Almost deleted it. But deleting posts is so 2011.

 

Not remotely the same thing as running backs are a dime a dozen in the NFL.

 

They are easier to come by. Does that mean they never should be drafted high/at all?

 

Let's talk offensive linemen, then. I believe you were arguing that the Steelers should have taken a lineman instead of Harris.

The Steelers fell off the last couple of seasons, but as recently as 2018 they had one of the best lines in the league. Yes, that unit featured two first-round draft picks, David DeCastro and Maurkice Pouncey. The other three starters, however, were all undrafted free agents. That included Alejandro Villanueva, who was selected to the Pro Bowl for the second time that season.

The Steelers waited until the fourth round to address the aging front line last season and the result was Kevin Dotson, arguably the best run blocker on the team right now.

The point is, you can find good linemen later in the draft or in free agency, too. Also, Pittsburgh's poor running game wasn't entirely the fault of the offensive line last year. The running backs all lacked vision and explosiveness. Harris has both.

 

Know what makes it a lot easier to find linemen though? When you've drafted two bedrock ones in via first round picks.

 

True historically, but this interesting nugget was buried in a Seifert article on ESPN.com over the weekend:

Four out of 36 is a pretty brutal hit rate. Especially since the first round hit rate is around 50 percent, IIRC.

 

Perhaps I can chime in a little here as I used to be close to this world...

Favre was given SO much latitude after Holmgren left that Green Bay had to reel it in after he left. Favre was full Barry Bonds by the end, with his own locker room and they ran everything by him.

What people don’t talk about is that Holmgren was the perfect coach for him. He knew how to press Favre’s buttons and no one else really figured it out after he left in 1998.

Holmgren became a diva by the end as well. The affable, hard-charging coach from 1992 knew he had a bigger stage and was on cruise control his last two years.

Management decided to not bring in a big-name coach after that. They wanted control over the coach and, after Favre left, the quarterback.

In 1999, Favre was in his prime and they brought in the Ray Rhodes, who had just gone 3-13 in Philly. Then Mike Sherman, never a head coach. McCarthy, never a head coach. LaFleur, never a head coach.

If there was a team that needed a big ego owner who wanted to show the biggest dick, the Rodgers Packers were it.

When Green Bay was able to win it all, it happened because they had excellent free agents to go with HOF quarterbacks. The truth is that Green Bay sucks to play in, compared with the other cities. It’s cold, everyone gawks at you and you can’t really go out.

Rodgers absolutely has a right to be pissed. He carried that franchise for more than a decade. For his 13 years as a starter, he’s had McCarthy and LaFleur as his coach.

If Canton builds a wing of coaches who led at halftime, those two are first ballot. McCarthy doesn’t understand timeouts. LaFleur runs out plays at halftime and sends in the field goal unit.

Rodgers never had a... Holmgren.

I’ve held a long belief that home playoff losses are a real demerit against a QB’s legacy. Rodgers has lost three of them. That’s not good.

The Packers benefitted from 20 years of the Bears and Lions being inconsistent and the Vikings never really putting it together.

I think Rodgers goes to the Raiders because at least GB will get a decent QB back. That’ll be a tough haul for Rodgers but he gets 8-13 games in a dome or warm weather. That’s excellent for him — he does his best work indoors.

 

Harris is from my old HS so I’ve been following him very closely; seems like a great kid and very hard worker who has produced every step of the way. You’ll be thrilled to root for him.

 

If they trade him, which I believe they will be forced to do, to at least get something, doubtful they will want a QB in return. They will have to ride with the guy they traded up for to draft last year. I see them getting a package of picks and maybe a good young defensive player, something like that. Denver makes a lot of sense.

Also, how much do you trade for a 37-year-old. Yes, he was MVP, and yes, Brady just won at 44, but those are massive outliers.

 

If the QB is the missing piece, I think you go all-in. The Raiders have more holes than Denver does but I think Green Bay HAS to get a Top 20 QB back.

If they don’t, LaFleur and Gutekunst will get fired and they’ll never have the positions they have again.