NFL 2023-24 Off-Season

[SparzWizard]

At least 10 people shot.  Jesus.

NBC News
@NBCNews
·
2m
BREAKING: At least 10 people shot near Kansas City Chiefs victory parade route, authorities say.

Now reports saying 22 shot, 1 dead, 15 life threatening, 11 children 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39525845/multiple-people-hurt-shooting-chiefs-victory-parade

Mass shooting and domestic terrorism. Three suspects have been apprehended.

[ozgod]

Jimmy G will be released by the Raiders.

The Jimmy Garoppolo era with the Raiders unofficially ended on Friday, though in unexpected fashion as the quarterback was suspended two games for violating the NFL’s Performance Enhancing Substances Policy, league sources confirmed. The Raiders plan to cut Garoppolo in a month, a team source and league sources confirmed, after the NFL year starts to avoid paying him an $11.25 million roster bonus.

The release of Garoppolo will leave new Raiders general manager Tom Telesco and coach Antonio Pierce with two quarterbacks on the roster, Aidan O’Connell and Brian Hoyer. But Hoyer will also not be back and the Raiders are expected to be aggressive in their efforts to trade up from the No. 13 slot and draft a quarterback, or sign a veteran free agent.

https://theathletic.com/5281080/2024/02/16/jimmy-garoppolo-raiders-suspension-release/

[Donoghus]

If this is the end of him, he managed to do alright for himself.  10 year career & over $140M in career earnings. 

Not too shabby.  I don't think anyone expected that a decade ago.

[Phantom255x]

If this is the end of him, he managed to do alright for himself.  10 year career & over $140M in career earnings. 

Not too shabby.  I don't think anyone expected that a decade ago.

Also won 2 Super Bowls. Before Mahomes won his 3rd, Jimmy G was up there as one of the only QBs with multiple SB wins besides Brady but then Brady retired too.

[Roy H.]

On Tuesday afternoon, it was reported by the NFL Network's Bridget Condon that the Chicago Bears were hiring Jennifer King as an offensive assistant who will work with the running backs. The 39-year-old King is the first woman hired as a coach in Bears' history.

Before coaching football, King spent 13 years coaching college basketball, including two seasons as head coach of North Carolina's Johnson & Wales University, where she was named the 2018 USCAA Women's Division II Coach of the Year.

King began her football coaching career as an intern in 2018 with head coach Ron Rivera's Carolina Panthers, where she worked with the wide receivers. In 2019, she interned there while working with the running backs. In 2018 and 2019, she was also the assistant wide receiver and special teams coach of the Arizona Hotshots of the now-defunct AAF. She also spent the 2019 collegiate season as an offensive assistant for Dartmouth.

In 2020, she was back in the NFL as an intern with Washington and head coach Rivera. Then, in 2021, she was hired as their assistant running backs coach, a position she remained in through the 2023 season.

I found this interesting, not because King is a woman, but because she has a basketball background.  How much of coaching is having experience and a deep knowledge of the sport, versus simply being very smart and a good teacher?

We've seen this at the management level before, where a GM from one sport crosses over to manage a team of another sport.  There, though, you assume that the GM delegates things like scouting.  Here, it's a lot more hands on.

It sounds like she's a grinder.  I love stories of people who start as interns and work their way up, because it shows both underlying talent and a great work ethic.  Good for her.

[Moranis]

She has been coaching football for years at this point though.

[Roy H.]

She has been coaching football for years at this point though.

I just find it interesting and impressive.  She went from a successful basketball coaching career, then left it to start at the bottom in the NFL.  She convinced the Panthers that she was worth a shot with no football experience.  Within six years she's worked herself up to a staff position. 

[Moranis]

She has been coaching football for years at this point though.

I just find it interesting and impressive.  She went from a successful basketball coaching career, then left it to start at the bottom in the NFL.  She convinced the Panthers that she was worth a shot with no football experience.  Within six years she's worked herself up to a staff position.

She played semi-professional football after being a 2 sport college athlete (basketball and softball).  She played QB and WR for over a decade and finished her career playing safety.  She coached basketball while playing football professionally.  Highly impressive athlete.

[Roy H.]

She has been coaching football for years at this point though.

I just find it interesting and impressive.  She went from a successful basketball coaching career, then left it to start at the bottom in the NFL.  She convinced the Panthers that she was worth a shot with no football experience.  Within six years she's worked herself up to a staff position.

She played semi-professional football after being a 2 sport college athlete (basketball and softball).  She played QB and WR for over a decade and finished her career playing safety.  She coached basketball while playing football professionally.  Highly impressive athlete.

That's wild.  This woman is winning at living the dream.

[Roy H.]

Fox Sports draft analyst:

Joel Klatt
@joelklatt
If I were to rank, as prospects, the QBs since 2012 (Andrew Luck, RGIII) here is how they would stack up
1) Caleb Williams
2) Trevor Lawrence
3) Joe Burrow
4) Drake Maye
5) Bryce Young
*note: evaluation of Mahomes was difficult & no QB had suceeded from that offense prior)

I find it interesting that this guy has Maye that high, or that he has Williams over where Lawrence and Burrow were coming out of school.  Recency bias?  It's hard to remember going back a decade, but I remember that guys like Mayfield, Darnold, Winston, etc. were all highly rated.

But, this isn't the first guy I've seen who rates Williams in the same class of prospect as Burrow (stud) and Lawrence (good to very good).

[Donoghus]

Fox Sports draft analyst:

Joel Klatt
@joelklatt
If I were to rank, as prospects, the QBs since 2012 (Andrew Luck, RGIII) here is how they would stack up
1) Caleb Williams
2) Trevor Lawrence
3) Joe Burrow
4) Drake Maye
5) Bryce Young
*note: evaluation of Mahomes was difficult & no QB had suceeded from that offense prior)

I find it interesting that this guy has Maye that high, or that he has Williams over where Lawrence and Burrow were coming out of school.  Recency bias?  It's hard to remember going back a decade, but I remember that guys like Mayfield, Darnold, Winston, etc. were all highly rated.

But, this isn't the first guy I've seen who rates Williams in the same class of prospect as Burrow (stud) and Lawrence (good to very good).

Definitely interesting.  Lawrence & Burrow were certainly in another stratosphere.   I remember people being all over the board in the Mayfield draft.  Goff/Wentz was an interesting debate as was Winston/Mariota but there weren't on the same tier as Lawrence or Burrow.  People were real high on Murray which seems to have been forgotten since.

I do wonder how much of the Williams hype is chalked up to analysts being afraid to miss on the potential "next Mahomes".

[Celtics2021]

Fox Sports draft analyst:

Joel Klatt
@joelklatt
If I were to rank, as prospects, the QBs since 2012 (Andrew Luck, RGIII) here is how they would stack up
1) Caleb Williams
2) Trevor Lawrence
3) Joe Burrow
4) Drake Maye
5) Bryce Young
*note: evaluation of Mahomes was difficult & no QB had suceeded from that offense prior)

I find it interesting that this guy has Maye that high, or that he has Williams over where Lawrence and Burrow were coming out of school.  Recency bias?  It's hard to remember going back a decade, but I remember that guys like Mayfield, Darnold, Winston, etc. were all highly rated.

But, this isn't the first guy I've seen who rates Williams in the same class of prospect as Burrow (stud) and Lawrence (good to very good).

Definitely interesting.  Lawrence & Burrow were certainly in another stratosphere.   I remember people being all over the board in the Mayfield draft.  Goff/Wentz was an interesting debate as was Winston/Mariota but there weren't on the same tier as Lawrence or Burrow.  People were real high on Murray which seems to have been forgotten since.

I do wonder how much of the Williams hype is chalked up to analysts being afraid to miss on the potential "next Mahomes".

I don’t think it’s recency bias with Williams.  He won the Heisman a year ago.  If he’d been draft eligible it’s quite possible he would have gone first overall last year.  He looked like he was on cheat mode the first half of this season.  Eventually he got a bit worn down, largely because he had to put up 45+ every game to win because the defense was so bad.  He is absolutely the best quarterback prospect in years, certainly the best since Burrow, and arguably better when you compare their respective ages and accomplishments (especially when accounting for receiving corps) prior to the draft.

[green_bballers13]

Fox Sports draft analyst:

Joel Klatt
@joelklatt
If I were to rank, as prospects, the QBs since 2012 (Andrew Luck, RGIII) here is how they would stack up
1) Caleb Williams
2) Trevor Lawrence
3) Joe Burrow
4) Drake Maye
5) Bryce Young
*note: evaluation of Mahomes was difficult & no QB had suceeded from that offense prior)

I find it interesting that this guy has Maye that high, or that he has Williams over where Lawrence and Burrow were coming out of school.  Recency bias?  It's hard to remember going back a decade, but I remember that guys like Mayfield, Darnold, Winston, etc. were all highly rated.

But, this isn't the first guy I've seen who rates Williams in the same class of prospect as Burrow (stud) and Lawrence (good to very good).

These guys can pretend that they know what is going on in until they are blue in the face. Many thought that Andrew Luck was going to carry his team to multiple championship victories. Some said that Tua or Herbert were worthy of tanking NFL seasons. I've read that Trevor Lawrence is a generational talent (a term that is thrown around frequently, not once a generation).

If I was a Bears fan, I'd get excited about Caleb Williams as well. The Bears (like the Pats) need a lot of work before Caleb can shine. You saw what happened last year at USC. Caleb is a good first step, but he's going to need a lot of help to reach his potential. I'd argue that the rest of the draft is just as important as the Caleb pick.

[Vermont Green]

Doesn't this prove what a crap shoot drafting top QBs is?  It happens every year.  Last year, Bryce Young was the can't miss.  He is 5'-10".  This year it is Caleb Williams.  He is 6'-1".  I hate to obsess of one parameter but height is a factor.  Mahomes is fine at 6'-2".  I don't know what the magic number is.  Williams to me has also cast some doubt about his mental toughness or character.  That could be nothing too.

I am not sure how often it happens that the consensus top QB does not turn out to be the best QB in the class.  it seems like at least 50% of the time.  I suspect the Bears will take Williams and trade Fields.  It makes sense.  But there is plenty of precedent for hoping that the best QB will fall and be available at #3.

[Moranis]

Young wasn't rated that highly last year. Mostly because of his size, but there were plenty that thought Stroud should go 1 last year.  That just isn't in the same class of prospect as the other guys.