RedBeardedSavage

Agreed. And I’d also add that there are those rumors of the Johnsons giving him a hard cap on what he could spend this offseason. Not sure if that’s true, though. Part of me wants to say “oh it’s a Covid year, and it didn’t make sense to spend in the Spring when we didn’t know how this season would play out”, but really the other side of that gamble was throwing Darnold to the wolves if we did play a full season... which I’d say is the worse of the two outcomes. So to me, either Joe didn’t do enough, or he was handicapped by ownership. And until we hear or see something definitive, we won’t know for sure.

Not sure there's a solution in the short term, that's for sure. As for this season, the Raiders seem fun to watch - young team, got Josh Jacobs on my fantasy squad, their new stadium 'the death star' looks great, and I always liked Chucky & Mayock despite all the hate they get. Anyways, Becton is great, so we got that going for us... which is nice.

We're not gonna be a competent franchise until the Johnsons sell the team.

Credit where credit is due. At first I thought you were a troll. Then I thought you were just pessimistic. Then a few weeks ago I was nervous you were on to something. Now I know you were right. This season is a disaster.

The roster sucks, the coach sucks, and at least today, Darnold sucked.

8 games.

Negative, ghost rider, the pattern is full.

Jets 20, Bills 17.

If it's about aggression and grit, I can totally understand it. But that's the problem with citing quotes like this; it's incredibly subjective to apply in any meaningful way. And if we go back to the 'potential' interpretation; Shonn Greene flashed his rookie year, and he quickly fizzled out of the NFL. And if we apply the aggression/grit interpretation, seems like Mo Wilk & Sheldon Richardson showed plenty of those two traits... then it felt like, overnight, did not care about the game anymore. Anyways, the season is about start and we'll actually be able to talk about the present instead of the past & future. Go Jets.

Meh, he had Marshall Faulk with 2200 yards from scrimmage that year and still threw 28 interceptions. He also went, what, 2-14? 3-13?

Peyton Manning's rookie season: Most of these "words of wisdom" are just flash and no substance.

We’re counting on this kid to do it himself. It’s neither particularly realistic, nor is it the sign of good management. I’m nervous that we’re on the verge of throwing away a promising talent because of our coach and the terrible roster building in the last decade. I just hope the offensive line can be middle of the pack so I can see if Darnold is the real deal. Everything is pointing towards this being a rough year for us. My optimism has faded. Sam Darnold needs to be truly excellent for us to even compete. That’s a lot to ask for considering the talent around him... but that’s the position we’re in. Goddam I hate this franchise.

They’re a young team with a great o-line, a really good young RB, a nice crop of young WR’s and most importantly, it appears at least, one that is taking organizational culture seriously. Interesting stuff on the D, though - I hadn’t read much about them. I’ll keep an eye out. I live in Denver, their D will be good, but for all those weapons on offense... their two offensive tackles are really, really suspect. Worse than ours, IMO. Chargers I question their QB situation. I’m leaning towards pencilling in the Raiders as second in that division. But back to the thread topic, it might look like a questionable move, but I always like it when teams place an emphasis on locker room culture and make preemptive moves as opposed to reactionary moves. Not the best use of a draft pick, but recouped some value, and you move on. Either way, really happy football is back.

Actually think the raiders are going to be pretty solid this year. Jacobs is the real deal, and that o-line is really good. That division, though. All of those defenses appear to be stout on paper (except for the Raiders).