The Fortunes of a Middling Team Turned Around By ONE Remarkable Draft!

[Joe W. Namath]

26 minutes ago, southparkcpa said:

Stop... His QB's from 92 to 97 were Neil O'Donnel, Mike Tomzak and Kordell Stewart.  

All 3 of those guys would have provided better qb play that what we have had over the last 2 years.

[Biggs]

Drafting a bust at QB the draft before last year might have something to do with the high hopes this year.  The GM was highly motivated this offseason.  

[southparkcpa]

1 hour ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Uh Saleh was handed Zach Wilson, so….

Saleh has been unimpressive as a HC. That's a fact.  Run the stairs? He's a champ.  He's been outcoached a LOT. But yes, no HC can win with Zach.

[southparkcpa]

44 minutes ago, Joe W. Namath said:

All 3 of those guys would have provided better qb play that what we have had over the last 2 years.

agreed. But doesn't make Saleh in the same league as Cowher, They are not in the same league, at least not yet. Saleh has shown many weaknesses.

[32EBoozer]

5 hours ago, ChewyandtheJets said:

It’s interesting it seems like a positive post but yet you say Douglas had Gardner and Wilson “fall in his lap”.   Not sure I get that way of thinking.   So the busts you reference are all on the GM but the excellent picks were all no brainers that we shouldn’t credit him for?

Sauce was not expected to be the 2nd CB off the board. We were very fortunate… so much so we picked him over Ekwonu. I will say that GW was the 1st/2nd best WR, so, yeah it was a no-brained. Sorry!

[Green Ghost]

We’ve got a 2 year window before we sink back into the abyss. Pray for the best.

[Darnold Schwarzenegger]

7 hours ago, Joe W. Namath said:

Saleh is one of the best, young coaches in the league.  We are extremely lucky to have him.  He is our bill cowher.

Lot of pressure on saleh this year. If he doesn’t get this team to the playoffs he is a goner. Probably jd too

[rangerous]

15 hours ago, Flashlite80 said:

Joe D had a great 2022 draft.  His first draft was a collossal fail.  His second was mediocre at best, since he blew the 2nd overall pick, the regression of Carter and the issues with Moore.  We don't know about his last draft yet but we do know he was caught flatfooted in the first round and selected 2 other players who didn't receive a draft grade below 350.  If McDonald was their pick all along, he should have traded back for more picks before the draft.  

We do know that, while he did a good job building the defensive line, his efforts on the offensive line have to be considered a massive failure despite a great AVT pick.  This is the 4th rebuild of the offensive line.  The first three didn't provide anything resembling adequate protection.  The latest version has injury questions at both tackles, a free agent bust at LG and a rookie center.  Not good considering the tremendous amount of money and draft capital he invested there.

The Rodgers deal was mishandled.  We were the only team crazy enough to absorb $110MM of salary cap on a 39 year old QB coming off a down year.  It should work out fine but at the very least he should have gotten the deal done earlier.  We were passive through most of free agency while we waited, supposedly to squeeze a better deal.  Then we gave them everything they wanted anyway.

I believe this team will be a lot of fun to watch.  That doesn't mean Joe D. did a good job.  If this draft flops and we miss the playoffs, he'll be looking for a job.  This is a make or break year and Joe D. went all in.  He may be a genius who finally turns this franchise around or he may be the blind squirrel who finally found the nut in the 2022 draft.  Let's hope he's a genius.  If he's wrong, the cap will lead to years of losing before we can think about winning again, as dead cap and no #1 pick leaves this team woefully short of talent. 

I think you are placing far too much emphasis on the players he drafted as opposed to the coaches. Granted Douglas hired saleh but saleh hired such stalwarts as milfy and the rest of the staff.  I don’t think the importance of having good coaches can be overstated especially for a young team without any on field leadership.  I think both carter and Moore are good players but have been mishandled. I believe carter will bounce back and we’ll see if Moore will get his act together in Cleveland.  As for the oline, much of its troubles stem from the fact they haven’t been able to play as a set unit due to injuries. And there’s a reason why last seasons oline coach was launched along with milfy.

[OilfieldJet]

I’m positive about the team, but this was not a 1 draft turn around.

[32EBoozer]

8 hours ago, OilfieldJet said:

I’m positive about the team, but this was not a 1 draft turn around.

Last year’s Draft, Q’s ascension to All-Pro and the signing of DJ Reed was what caught Rodgers’ eye. What other event happened that brought about all the good vibes?

[OilfieldJet]

5 hours ago, 32EBoozer said:

Last year’s Draft, Q’s ascension to All-Pro and the signing of DJ Reed was what caught Rodgers’ eye. What other event happened that brought about all the good vibes?

AR isn’t a draft pick. Would you agree that AVT (drafted in 2021) is a critical piece of our success? Q also was a draft pick from another class. Likely that 2 of our top 3 WR are free agent signings. It has not been a 1 draft turn around.

[32EBoozer]

6 minutes ago, OilfieldJet said:

AR isn’t a draft pick. Would you agree that AVT (drafted in 2021) is a critical piece of our success? Q also was a draft pick from another class. Likely that 2 of our top 3 WR are free agent signings. It has not been a 1 draft turn around.

Did you read my original post? I placed an * next to the quality draft picks from MacDaddy & JD. AR has been very impressed with GW, Sauce & Breece & Saleh. With 53 man rosters, obviously there will be some other talent from other drafts.