This was not a particularly enjoyable weekend of college football. Receiver Bru McCoy suffered a horrible injury in the Tennessee vs South Carolina game and Duke QB Riley Leonard appeared to suffer a potential season-ending injury right at the end of a battle with Notre Dame. Several other good players either didn’t play this weekend due to injuries or they suffered an injury during the game.
Aside from that there was very little drama other than the basketball game between LSU and Ole Miss and a number of high profile draft prospects underperformed.
I watched three full games yesterday. Here are some notes…
— I’m struggling with Quinn Ewers. He clearly has a lot of natural talent and I’ll keep praising his release. He’s a good athlete and showed that with a couple of impressive touchdown runs against Kansas. He’s just so erratic though. On Texas’ second drive he threw high twice and nearly had an interception. On the third drive a throw on the run was close to being picked. He finally was intercepted with an ugly throw over the middle, not spotting the lurking defender who read it all the way. There was very little fluidity to his performance despite having the benefit of a rolling running game. He only settled down when the score got out of hand. There’s something here but it’s hard to view him as anything more than a mid-round pick until he becomes more consistent and dominant. Texas’ defense had a quiet game against a triple-option attack. The key D-liners had minimal impact. Talented Texas tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders left the game with an injury.
— There’s nothing more irritating than seeing good players let down by an offensive line. Spencer Rattler had no chance against Tennessee. He was sacked four times in the first half alone and the pressure was constant and relentless. South Carolina, in turn, played like a team terrified by its own O-line. They completely shortened their passing game and made things frantic. Everything was ‘get the ball out quickly’ on short routes, dump-offs, crossers, screens and passes to the flat. The Vols, on a revenge mission, flew around the field like their lives depended on it. Rattler’s skill as a dynamic, creative thrower was eliminated by the gameplan and lack of protection. It contributed to an ugly pick-six before half-time on a 3rd and 22 play. He felt pressure off the edge and threw way too high. What was the play-call all about though? Either run and just take it to the half or go for the first down. If you are going to throw on third-and-22, why are you throwing seven yards from the LOS? This felt like a ‘throw the tape in the bin’ kind of display. However, I think this was another good showing for Xavier Legette. The receiver/playmaker is firmly in top-45 contention with a great mix of size, speed and playmaking ability.
— Riley Leonard had an adventure for Duke against Notre Dame and there are so many takeaways. Firstly though, the injury. It looked bad and could be an ankle or knee issue. He might miss the rest of the year and if he does, you have to wonder if he’ll even declare. In the first half he missed throws and had a poor interception — not detecting a lurking defender reading his throw. Before half-time he settled down a bit and became decisive as a runner and made some good throws. In the second half, he led two big drives for touchdowns to take the lead. Duke shot themselves in the foot and he should be healthy and unbeaten this morning. They missed two easy field goals, blew a muffed punt opportunity to get a turnover when half the team tried to get on the ball, endured drops and asked the quarterback to pooch-punt instead of going for a 4th down at the end to kill the game. Then, with the contest on the line, they gave up a 4th and 16 conversion playing prevent defense. I really like Leonard. He’s a great athlete, an X-factor as a runner, he has a good arm and you can see mentally he’s on it. He’s not the finished article but he has everything needed to succeed. For me he’s a player with tremendous potential. I really liked the misdirection Duke used on key downs and Leonard would’ve been the talk of the town had Duke not let him down with their mistakes elsewhere. I think it’s clear he’s first round talent but now we need to see what the news is on the injury and what it means for his future. A quick other note — this was the second successive disappointing performance from Notre Dame left tackle Joe Alt. Duke’s left tackle Graham Barton missed the game through injury. Although he won’t be a high draft pick, Duke running back Jordan Waters ran with real toughness in this game and gained many yards after contact.
— I’ve seen extensive highlights of Washington vs Arizona but not the full game. This was a quieter day for Michael Penix Jr. He didn’t throw a touchdown pass and the gameplan didn’t ask much of him but to get the ball out quickly via high-percentage throws. I find him one of the most fascinating and complex evaluations in a long time. His arm is absolutely remarkable. It’s one of the best you’ll see. He throws well from all sorts of angles, completes passes others wouldn’t even dare to attempt and he could be a big-time playmaker at the next level because of this. Yet the offensive system, lack of pressure and brilliant weapons just make him such a challenge to project to the next level. He’s played in this offense for years, at Indiana and Washington. The arm translates but everything else is so foreign to the NFL and you can’t match-up anything on tape to a NFL environment other than ‘wow what an arm’. It’s a real mystery but the arm is legitimately special.
— Some final quick notes. There are a lot of defensive players being talked up for the first round in 2024 but nobody is stepping up to the plate with production and dominance. It’s a worry how meek the defensive play is in college football at the moment. I don’t understand why Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy is being projected in round one of some mocks, he’s a mile off that for me. Tulane’s Michael Pratt has a better arm than you’d think but he needs to settle down because he had some inaccurate throws vs UAB. I really like LSU center Charles Turner for his talent, passion for the game and his physical qualities. Ditto Texas A&M defensive tackle McKinley Jackson — my favourite interior defender I’ve seen so far (and he had another productive game this weekend).
I will watch other games in the coming days to gather more notes.
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Hi there Rob, about Ewers …. yeah I’m struggling too, I think he is a second round or third one
I’m continually fascinated by people asking about McCarthy (Roman Wilson?) or Ward or QB X (similar players in previous years). I mean, Dart just had a big game, what about him? The QB list seems to be distilling down to a handful of players that should be considered with each of the first four picks.
I guess Beebe fans better get ready to swallow a first round pick if they want him…. Alt is looking more like a RT at the next level. I was kind of hoping ‘Mount’ McKinley Jackson would be available at the end of R1, not looking that way. Is it really possible that Bowers won’t be a top 15 pick? I’ve been impressed with the Texas RT Christian Jones.
On Defense: I did see some of Clemson and Syracuse, it looked like Tyler Davis, Carter and Trotter were finally showing some dominance. Dontay Corleone (CIN) is starting to intrigue me as a mid round guy. Chris Braswell is also looking impressive, but Dallas Turner has looked like the best defensive player in CFB to my eyes. LSU has good prospects on D, none of them showed up.
Really looking forward to seeing breakdowns on the depth at DLine, off-ball LB (so many undersized), and esp Safety(for obvious reasons). Also feel like the WR depth is incredible in 2024.
You’re fascinated by it. How so?
For me I think it’s that there’s a general mix of curiosity, fandom for said program, and hope to be proven right.
Unpopular take coming in. Outside of Williams being pick one…I’m not seeing any qb distillation into the top picks.
Penix? I guess. He’s absolutely going to have more bites at the apple in the pros than say ward. He’ll get picked higher. Maybe a heisman ( talk about an award that does not equal pro success).
Is he better than Ward? Or is he getting more run than him? I like penix just fine but Ward is younger, not been seriously injured, seems like he is WSU, and hasn’t been playing in the same system for over half a decade.
I like Rattler. Same as I liked Levis ( still do sit and learn what a novel concept).
Ewers is like every single college season forever. Plays for a big school. Don’t particularly think he’s the reason they are hot right now. See most Alabama qb’s and Georgia qb’s.
Nix is having a year but I get big mid round energy from him. TVD I never hear about him.
Maye. I seriously haven’t watched.
Sam Hartman. Smaller, thinner, clipboard Jesus. It’s hard for me to get a read on these covid era way long in the tooth players.
The comment section fills up with McCarthy (projected on some sites as R1 QB), Cam Ward (T2 on some sites, and I get it -Cougs are gonna push their guys), D.J. Uiagalelei (looks like UDFA to me), where is the love for Kedon Slovis(?), for Cam Rising(?), for yet another QB that plays for a non-power conference and won’t be ready for prime time…
It feels like people casting about for their own Purdy, Brady, Russ, etc…. As if they want to justify drafting an offball LB or Guard in R1, continuing to ignore QB until later rounds…
Maybe I’m the one who sees the distillation, projections as to where these QBs could be had:
Bucket 1: Caleb Williams
Bucket 2: Sanders, perhaps Maye
Bucket 3: Rattler, Penix, Leonard, maybe TVD, maybe Nix
Bucket 4: Jayden Daniels, KJ Jefferson, Jalon Daniels
Bucket 5: Will Howard, Jordan Travis, Quinn Ewers
Then it is kind of everyone else….could I be persuaded that a Cam on day three is a good pick? Sure, but I wouldn’t care if it was Ward or Rising and would consider that a love to cut cost at QB2, rather than a move to QBotF.
A note about Hartman, does not look like a pro, but stayed on the field waiting for Leonard to leave the injury tent and check on him. Classy move.
Cam rising seems like he’s going to join the staff of Utah and just become a coach someday.
Sanders I think stays. Zero percent chance to go #1 overall this year. Stay a year, who knows.
Overall I like your list.
Agree every year there are people that think they’ve found a future Brady to be had in round 6 or so.
The guard in round one thing to me is weird. Seattle needs a guard? That’s news to me. Letting Lewis walk to either move Bradford ( please no) or hope your preferred guard doesn’t get drafted out from under you seems horrible to. How about we try a solidified oline for the first time in ever next year?
One of the many frustrating things about the cap situation is that retaining Lewis (a must in my book) just got harder. I’m all for adding depth across the OLine. A line of Cross, Lewis, Olu, Bradford, Lucas has the potential to be really good. Also think Coach Dickerson needs to be retained at all costs.
I feel like Sanders will go pro, too many variables in coming back for another year and getting hurt, also, he might be in a good spot this year to land with a program that would be a good match for him. I think there is a 25% chance that Caleb Williams opts to not play for the Cards or Bears – perhaps even the Broncos. The Jets, Rams, Vikings and Seahawks look like QB hungry teams – the Raiders, Saints, Packers, Falcons and Commies may be looking too.
I wasn’t meaning to diss on Cam Ward in particular, he is brought up, and addressed by Rob at various times. I have players that I like and hope to see discussed once Rob gets around to their position – particularly at safety and Edge. It was more of a comment how particular players get brought up continually, even after Rob chimes in or has written about them. I get not everyone reads SDB religiously or pours over the comments (see: why is this blog so sad: “bro, did you see Rob’s post-draft recap?”)
Thanks as always Rob.
Arizona stated flat out after the game that they were not going to let UW beat them deep and were in a 2 high all night. Penix to his credit took what was given.
Sorry to read about Leonard. Love football but it’s tough that injuries are such a major factor in the sport.
UW Huskies offense is remarkably talented. I can’t shake doubts about the defense, especially when they play the toughest part of their schedule.
What sticks out to me is they’ve played a prettyweak schedule so far but still can’t seem to pressure the QB.
Texas has a soft schedule going forward. I guess it’s win and their in for them. Sarkisian coached Washington for a few years. Ewers sounds like a reflection of the coach – a Ferrari offense that breaksdown just as much as it goes fast.
Washington’s got a killer backend of the schedule. I thought Arizona would give them a game and they did. I think Arizona has a good coach. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up back in New England in a year or two. Arizona had a terrible record when he took over and it has always been hard to build a program there.
Good luck getting tickets to Apple Cup Rob. You better try now
Maybe you can get in the press box. That would be awesome. You could be a guest scout or something.
“I really like Leonard. He’s a great athlete, an X-factor as a runner, he has a good arm and you can see mentally he’s on it. He’s not the finished article but he has everything needed to succeed. For me he’s a player with tremendous potential.
Sounds a lot like Will Levis, who also was Rd 1 potential at this time last yr. Incredibly challenging to understand why a guy with his tools is 3rd on the Titans depth chart. Scares the hell out of me to spend a 1st rd pick on guys like him. Why isn’t Levis working out, and how does Leonard compare on that particular element (or elements)?
Because they are letting him learn and develop which is what they should be doing
As I wrote recently, too many teams are making huge mistakes rushing rookie QB’s into the firing line
Good for Tennessee
I would not be too surprised to see Levis this year. Imminently winnable division being held back pretty solidly by Tannehill.
Not saying just throw him in to do it. But, at some point…..
I think they would start Willis first to see how he’s developed. He looked almost like an NFL QB in preseason. Almost.
I think the fact they drafted Levis says what they think about Willis
True
The goal should be to NOT have them play their first year. Give them the time to learn without getting thrown in the fire.
It is really too bad that the Colts are throwing Anthony Richardson to the wolves in his rookie year. I hope that it doesn’t ruin his potential. The Colts need a grizzled veteran who may not be the most physically talented but who knows a lot about being a QB in the NFL. Richardson could learn from that, to his own benefit.
Desmond Ridder is having the worst day of his life.
Never been good enough
Well, at least there was some good offensive line play yesterday…
Looks like this week the Seahawks get Brad Rogers’s crew.
R 126 Brad Rogers 7 Lubbock Christian college professor
U 128 Ramon George 8 Novak Lenoir-Rhyne financial underwriter
DJ 79 Kent Payne 20 * Nebraska Wesleyan agribusinessman
LJ 16 Kevin Codey 9 Hill Western New England middle school physical education teacher
FJ 50 Aaron Santi 9 * Southern Oregon middle school principal
SJ 36 Anthony Jeffries 6 * Alabama-Birmingham medical sales
BJ 2 Tyree Walton 1 NA
RO Durwood Manley 5 * Lubbock Christian sales territory manager
RA Chad Wakefield 1 NA
I think it is noteworthy that two of these officials went to college at Lubbock Christian, which might be the reason Buddy Holly left that town to start a career in rock and roll. Will they do a good job? That’ll be the day that I die.
Bonus Trivia: November 5, 1955, is not just the day that Doc Emmett Brown invented the flux capacitor. It was also the first time Buddy Holly opened for Elvis Presley in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Nobody got pregnant that night.
https://www.footballzebras.com/2023/06/officiating-crews-for-the-2023-season/
“I was flyin’ back from Lubbock and I saw Jesus on the plane.
Or maybe it was Elvis. You know they kinda look the same.”
Was he skydiving?
DeShaun Watson out today so we’ll get to see DTR playing QB for Cleveland.
What to do?
If the colts beat the Rams, it helps the Seahawks. But I despise the colts for their endless tanking.
You root for Colts to perennially be 8-9/9-8.
No doubt tricky. The rams might be a problem all season long.
Also Vikings?…..trying to get into the Williams sweepstakes?
Vance Joseph strikes again.
Speaking of the Caleb Sweeps
Lot of sloppy football again today
I honestly can’t believe that Denver looks THIS bad against the Bears. A designed tank for a new HC with plenty of job security? Does Vance Joseph make it past their bye?
Still fun to root against the Broncos. They are down 28-7 in the third. At what point should I stop enjoying this? Off the field tragedy is all I can come up with.
I want that third picture round pick as high as possible!
Bit of an odd wish. Not sure third round really matters high or low at that point.
Hope they turn it into lucas, Lewis, Lockett, wilson.
Its the worst of Denver or New Orleans third unfortunately so likely a mid 3rd
You enjoy that comeback?
Broncos haters are insufferable.
Russ was great today
It is kind of a relief. The Bronco fans really had enough.
Sean Paytons got to be a little bummed. Every win makes it harder to stay in the Williams sweepstakes.
Well, based on what they’ve shown so far, it’s the defense that needs all the investment and work not the QB
Just glancing over Wilson’s stats and his “on pace,” mark…quietly having a pretty solid start. 9tds, 2 ints, over 1000 yards same as much bigger names such as Allen and Tua.
And their run game has been horrible.
I also don’t think their pass catchers are anything special.
Ed Oliver is in total command against Miami. Gotta be the best performance of his career.
Riley Leonard is out for the season with a fractured tibia.
Rob, i respectively disagree with some of your analysis. Elko is a phenomenal coach. His decision to pooch punt it made a lot of sense considering how well his defense had been playing, the severe lack of wide receivers ND had (down to 4 scholarship WR’s, two true frosh, a redshirt frosh and a converted running back, two of which were playing with hamstring issues). On the third down he had just lost 2 yards to make it 4th down, and if they don’t convert that 4th, you have given ND the ball only needing to go 30 yards to get within FG range rather than 65 yards. They pinned the ball to the 5 and ND ended up at their own 2.5.
I didn’t see quite what you did with Leonard’s performance. I am not nearly at rating QB’s as you are, but on the surface I see that Leonard was 12/27 for 134, 1 TD and 1 INT, of which he had two drops and ND had a couple that were nearly intercepted. He was definitely off in the first half, with some throws that were not close to receivers that were open, but I didn’t see him picking apart ND. On Duke’s first scoring drive, Leonard was 1/3 for 7 yds. The second scoring drive he was 2/3 for 29 yds and a TD. That drive was aided by the most baffling call of targeting that I have ever seen called.
Duke missed two chip shot FG and ND missed one. Not sure how those missed chip shots would have changed the outcome of the game. Duke benefited from a number of questionable penalties against ND for offsides that I didn’t see at the time and there wasn’t any merit in showing a replay, which generally means they were poor calls since they had no issues showing replays of penalties that were easy to identify. Duke benefited from a booth overturn of a punt spot that was clearly stated to be against the rules as well as picked up flags. On Leonard’s 33 yd run their OT held the end who was responsible for contain and was outside of Leonard when he started running. The picked up PI didn’t make any sense to me, I have seen balls drop further from receivers be upheld as PI frequently.
Alt gave up one sack last week, which is the first going back into early last year. This week I didn’t see where he gave up a pressure, in contrast the G’s and C for ND looked awful. I actually like Estime quite a bit, good size and he moves well for being 235 lbs. I liked Duke’s DT’s, they seem like solid big bodies against the run. The ND TE Evan has made a number of good catches, I think that is his 3rd one handed catch of the year at TE. Not sure about his measurables though. ND has a propensity to produce solid NFL TE’s.
We’re talking about needing what was it, four yards? To win the game. Or relying on a whole defensive series with the opponent having multiple timeouts, after a punt of about 15 yards.
It was playing scared — as was the extreme prevent defense on 4th and 16 when you’d blitzed brilliantly on the previous two plays.
This is a bit ‘box score’ scout-y though.
I noted in my review it wasn’t a flawless performance. Far from it. There’s so much in that display though to like — improv, processing, execution in key moments, running ability, decisiveness, willing his team to a position where they should’ve won. Scouting QB’s goes way beyond numbers and ‘well it wasn’t a complete performance’.
Are you being serious? Put six points on the score and it changes everything.
I’d watch the game again then. It’s on YouTube.
It was 4th and 6 when they punted and it was a 28 yard punt to the 5. Just saying it was only a horrible decision in hindsight. On the fourth and 16, they effectively covered the receivers. They likely
I don’t think it’s only horrible in hindsight. Notre Dame only needed a field goal and had time and timeouts. If you’re going to put the game on your defense, why not do it from the Notre Dame 33 anyway and give yourself a chance to get six yards?
There’s no defending the 4th and 16 conversion.
I will agree that there is no excuse for giving up a 4th and 16 conversion. As to which defense was best, they completely overlooked Hartman’s ability to scramble and let all of their defenders get too deep. That in particular was a poor call or poor preparation. If they had just one of the defenders spy Hartman they would have forced a throw into double coverage. As it was, once the RB went up field, the LB’s followed leaving Hartman completely ignored and too many defenders too far downfield. Which is odd because they had faced Hartman in previous years and at Wake he ran the ball effectively a lot.
On the 4th and 6, it is a personal decision. I was convinced that there was no way ND was going to go from the 3 yd line to be able to score. More from a matter of having enough chances for Duke to stop ND. They had been stopping ND all day long with the exception of the first drive. I thought forcing ND to get an extra 28 yds made a lot of sense and put ND in the bad position of having to avoid getting a safety. It turned out to be wrong, but I think the logic was more than fair at the time.
For me it comes down to this
You have a chance to effectively ice the game, then trust your defense if needed — and the shorter field can actually help because it might leave you more time to respond (if needed), while ND still has a fair bit to drive to get into FG range
Or for the sake of 28 yards (it was the five not the three yard line) you can just trust the defense only
Two shots vs one shot
That was a minor complaint in the article — so not really worth lingering on now
(Continued after accidentally hitting submit). On the fourth down play Duke had their CB’s 8 yds off the receivers and their safeties at the first down markers. It was definitely coverage and intended to force a throw into double coverage, I think they underestimated Hartman’s speed or willingness to run the ball. They figured that with 16 yards they could track him down before he got the first. Kudos on Hartman and his willingness to dive in to make the first down.
As for the field goals, you can’t selectively give two missed FG to Duke without giving ND their missed FG that missed by less than the two Duke tries. ND’s FG went over the top of the upright whereas the two Duke FG were several feet wide. Which makes it a 4 point game and ND still winning.
There may be a lot to like about Leonard’s performance, but a 44% completion rate for a 5 yd average is either particularly bad or ND’s passing defense is particularly stellar. I get there are other factors,
I can, because I was specifically talking about Duke’s mistakes. Notre Dame was irrelevant to the point.
Again, this is box score scouting. I’ve already addressed this part by saying I know he wasn’t flawless but there was so much to like. As is often the case with QB’s, the ones who have to battle and fight and face adversity are easier to scout.
He’s got a high ankle sprain and should be back by the end of the month….
Granted, it’s only the fourth week into his pro career but Bryce Young looks like a serious reach. Holds the ball way too long, looks perpetually rattled and unsure. Can’t smell pressure to save his life.
Stroud on the other hand.
Stroud was QB1 on my board…
Sigh….Stroud or Richardson for the now and future hawks.
By the way folks if you’re going to be bold with draft capital the Texans are showing how you do that.
But his S2 score!
I also had him 1 and almost fell for him slipping to us after are the s2 nonsense leaked a few weeks from the draft. Stupid me.
Certain blogs had Bryce Young as QB4 in this years draft…
Very happy with the early returns on my CJ Stroud, Anthony Richardson & Bryce Young evals
Stroud played such a phenomenal gave vs Georgia in the CFB that it put to rest the ‘OSU System QB’ concern that I held.
Hoping that Penix will take care of business the rest of the way during PAC play & get into the CFP for a similar kind of a test. Problem is that if he were to pass that test then it’s likely he goes earlier than Seattle drafts.
That was an incredible game against Georgia. Just magical.
I agree on Penix, play a proper powerhouse in the SEC and play brilliantly and it’ll do him the world of good for the draft
Keep those receipts, Rob.
Richardson is so fun to watch even with how raw he is. I’m going to think about what could have been for years. Good to see Russ bringing the Broncos back into that game, too. I still root for the guy. He helped bring us a SB.
I know it’s first half of just the fourth game….Loucity predicting we split games with the niners earlier in the week. I don’t know. Right now they look like the best team in the nfl.
New take: we sweep them.
All this talk of Purdy being the next Goat, a hybrid of Brady and Montana…comeuppance in the form of Jarran Reed debuting an original sack dance on Thanksgiving begins the downfall…
Let’s let Purdy get say two rings back to back before folks start in on this Brady talk.
My niners friends are already there
Bold btw. That would be something to see.
Zero chance for a sweep LouCity imo. I’d be ecstatic with a split. Seahawk D isn’t the one that turns Purdy to a JAG and the 9er D will slow Seattle down enough for their O to score and win comfortably.
Remember, hope is a good thing…
I know it Arizona but damn the 49ers just look sooo damn good on both sides of the ball. That hurts to say but its true.
Except for injuries of course….Philly/SF NFC championship again.
Philly has not looked so dominant.
Detroit over Philly for me. Detroit has a much easier division than Philly or us.
I can see that but my gut still says Philly because of the defense but the Lions would be my number 3 team in the NFC.
49ers are miles better than any other NFC team
So Rob KC or Buffalo for the AFC then? Both would be a great match in the Super Bowl for the 49ers.
You spelled Jaguars wrong…
After the Mariners game yesterday thank you for the laugh!
That seems likely — one of those two vs San Fran
Seahawks have more money committed to Adams, Diggs and Love in 2024 than the Niners do to Bosa, Hargrave and Warner.
Yeah but Prez
Best in the nation
God that hurt to read cha.
Lifetime glass peacock awarded to PCJS for that bit of stupidity.
At what point do we admit John Schneider isn’t good at acquiring defensive talent.
Kind of like Jerry Dipoto and bats.
And let’s admit John Lynch is pretty good at his job.
Niners are so good that I can’t even dislike them anymore.
I can
I want the Bears to overdraft Derek Maye so that the Stealers can pick him up off waivers and make him fight for a fringe roster spot with Kenny Pickett.
Remind me who the backup QB is in NE?
At his post-game press conference, do you think Bill Belichick will read from the dictionary or the phone book?
Hey, I heard him give 10 minutes on the evolution of the long snapper as a roster spot on the radio, so who knows.
That patriots roster gives me vibes of late 2000’s seahawks with a ton of cast offs past their prime.
There has been a fair bit of bad football today while waiting for the Taylor Swift game tonight.
Watch her show up in an Eagles jersey to create some bad blood.
Forget talk of the jets calling on Kirk cousins….might be time for the patriots to break glass in case of emergency.
I don’t know why a Cousins trade is being discussed at all
It’s financially totally unviable
It’s more of a goofy talking point. I hear it a lot on Eisen from a crestfallen fan perspective. In the real world he’s too expensive and still Kirk Cousins.
But still light years better than Zach Wilson my friend (cap considerations aside).
Yeah. I feel like there’s probably someone on their team right now who played qb in high school but got moved to another position along tge way who might be better at this point.
NFC West: Might be only division where every team has solid or better coaching and QB play.
Lucky us
Fair play to Jonathan Gannon
Cardinals are playing their arses off every week with an expansion franchise level roster
Agreed. He apparently did not get the memo. I think they are going to be a problem for us this year.
Will be very Seahawky to split with them
I like how if you’re here long enough you know inside terms like ‘seahawky’. And that it has two, possibly three meanings.
Seahawky:(Adjective) 1) Having archetypical attributes and/or measurables to fit a certain type of athletic profile, 2) The philosophical and strategic paradigm of the Seattle Seahawks from 2011 to present, 3) A pejorative term for “business as usual” or “SOS”, meaning “same old Seahawks”, 4) A style of fashion sense unique to the Pacific Northwest.
SeaHockey: See Seattle Kraken
SeaHockey: Also see Seattle Thunderbirds
Pretty perfect.
I need to fix the grammar.
5) A description of the cultural behavior of Seattle Seahawks fans, employees, and journalists, in public and in the media.
Sometimes celebratory, but often pejorative.
4) A style of fashion sense unique to the Pacific Northwest, but sometimes copied by other fanbases, or in art, literature, and movies.
Staley’s seat feels like it’s start to get toasty.
But Dean Spanos.
He is cheap beyond belief.
Hey, Windows 95 got him to Super Bowl XXIX, so he’s going to keep using it.
35 point loss is the worst of Bill Belichick’s career. My first question at the presser, “Is it time to let Canseco pitch?”
Are the Rams in danger of being a decent team?
They most certainly are decent. Elite coach, elite defensive lineman, very capable QB, young WR who is showing out
You can win a few games with that
We got punked by Puca.
Pukal was a draft crush of mine but Bobo is fun.
Man Khalil Mack had quite a day!!
Watching Zac Wilson all I think of is coach prime: paraphrasing
“Show up, learn the play book, want to be here…..can’t do it won’t do…put someone out there who isn’t ready….
Over under on the announcing team saying the Jets need to “shake it off,” tonight.
No one shakes it off until Taylor Swift says so. Beginning of the 3rd quarter?
Garret Wilson is one of the picks for giving up The Weapon, correct?
Yes, 10th overall in 2022.
That sack at the end of the first half was one of those reps called a “win” by Tippman at the Senior Bowl.
Counterintuitively, perhaps, I’d be very interested to read a deeper dive of quarterbacks in the Penix vein (and Stroud for all but one game, and others) – quarterbacks it’s hard to evaluate for no fault of their own.
I recognize that it’s much harder to evaluate Penix and others because “the offensive system, lack of pressure and brilliant weapons” but would love to hear what Penix could possibly do in your eyes to change the narrative/evaluation.
For better or worse, the system/protection/weapons won’t change between now and the rest of the season. Assuming that remains true, what is there to watch for in his remaining games?
Win out and go to the playoffs. The pac 12 is entering its season killer portion of the year where everyone knocks each other out of playoff contention.
I really have only ONE goal this season for the Seahawks.
I want them to beat the 49ers in the Playoffs in Santa Clara.
I really do not care about much of any other games – 49ers can beat Seahawks twice in regular season, Arizona can go 2-0 against, Seahawks can get embarrassed in the next playoff game.
But I just want to see us walking off that field in the playoffs victorious. Too much to ask?
I would love that as well but if they get swept by SF and Arizona during the regular season I doubt they make the playoffs.
Worst case scenario for me is a 1st round playoff loss again. I would prefer they be awful and get more high picks or even better be a legit playoff team again and win a playoff game or two at a minimum.
Watching SNF praise Leo Chenal almost makes wonder what brilliant blogger wrote extensively about him in the draft….
Hear, hear
It is the main take-home from this blog for me, learning about the next batch of NFL players regardless of where they end up. Makes watching the game more enjoyable regardless of who is playing. Wish more sports journalists brought 10% of what Rob brings to the table.
Just how good is Bobby Wagner? Really?
I watched most of the 49ers game and I just don’t know which player I covet more:
Talanoa Hufanga or Fred Warner
Also swore I could hear Kyle Shanahan laughing his ass off e’ry time CMC touched the rock.
Not sure there’s a more balanced team in football right now.
Which reminds me of the other game I watched most of, which is also the other most balanced team in the NFL — Miami at Buffalo. The heavy investment the Bills have made in their DL over the last several seasons really shows. Between Ed Oliver, Greg Rousseau and Daquan Jones, they are strong and fast right where you want to be.
Tough break for former SDB favorite Tre’Davious White who probably tore an achilles tendon.
For those who want further clarification on what Rob means when he talks about projecting college qbs to the NFL, here’s Peter King on USC vs. CO (don’t know how to do green block quotes):
Williams has a much better front wall than Sanders, and Sanders faced more pressure than Williams all afternoon. That’s one reason I came away thinking Sanders could well be a better pro. Having a better supporting cast and stronger D shouldn’t penalize Williams, of course. But I saw more of what a quarterback needs to do in the NFL from Sanders, at least on this one day.
Simply put, it is difficult to project a player to the league when their supporting cast is great. Adversity and pressure are a requirement to make QB diamonds.
100% this
PAC-12 NW Saturday pointed out Penix’s incredible non-sack rates and the booth guys ooh and ahhed over it.
I would have loved a thought about how this negatively affects his draft evals. I would have accepted a simple ‘he’s not going to have that kind of protection in the NFL, ha ha haa!’
That would have been great! Unfortunately, this is a nuance most people don’t seem to grasp. Too many people simply take what they see at face value, rather than analyzing why and how.
Aidan O’Connell and Brock Purdy tend to agree.