Random Thoughts

[AnAngryAmerican]

9 hours ago, RaidersAreOne said:

You were right.

- Raider fans.

Bad day for the Broncos, Raiders just got one step closer to a Super Bowl.

[grizmo78]

4 hours ago, Broncofan said:

 

Maybe now orgs have learned he’s only an OC and should never be a HC ever again?  We’ll see lol. 

 

He's a bad OC too... Has only had success with Brady in NE. Look at the abysmal job he did with the Rams back in 2011. How this tool gets these jobs is beyond me. There is so much evidence of what a crap person he is and yet organizations still chase after him... 

 

Broncos job - Jettisoned all the top talent within a year. Video taping scandal. Lead a middle of the road offense.

Rams job - Was let go of his contract after one year of leading a bottom 2 offense.

Colts job - Made promises to other coaches to bring them on as part of his staff then promptly screwed them and the franchise by withdrawing.

Raiders job - Had a 9-16 record and led a bottom third offense in his year and half as coach.

 

Beyond his years with Brady, he has a HORRIBLE resume. Can't see him going anywhere else than the Patriots from here. No one should want him as an OC and his ego wouldn't allow him to be a QB coach or anything less than that. 

[Broncofan]

11 minutes ago, grizmo78 said:

He's a bad OC too... Has only had success with Brady in NE. Look at the abysmal job he did with the Rams back in 2011. How this tool gets these jobs is beyond me. There is so much evidence of what a crap person he is and yet organizations still chase after him... 

 

Broncos job - Jettisoned all the top talent within a year. Video taping scandal. Lead a middle of the road offense.

Rams job - Was let go of his contract after one year of leading a bottom 2 offense.

Colts job - Made promises to other coaches to bring them on as part of his staff then promptly screwed them and the franchise by withdrawing.

Raiders job - Had a 9-16 record and led a bottom third offense in his year and half as coach.

 

Beyond his years with Brady, he has a HORRIBLE resume. Can't see him going anywhere else than the Patriots from here. No one should want him as an OC and his ego wouldn't allow him to be a QB coach or anything less than that. 

I completely agree - still, as crazy as it sounds, McD is a clear OC upgrade on Bill O'Brien.  BOB is failing miserably with the same cast McD had.  But yes, without TB12 as the triggerman, McD is just an average to mediocre OC.   He's great at creating a run-heavy scheme, but his in-game play calling, adjustments and clock management are abysmal.  TB12 covered up those 3 weaknesses completely.

So yeah, I think we'll see a BB-McD reunion, and it will be miles better than BOB as OC - but still be mediocre.   But it's a pretty clear path NE & BB are likely taking by 2024, if not sooner.  That's more of an indictment on Bill O'Brien than it is a statement of support on McD TBH.  

(I remember when there was a big debate from a HOU-based poster than BoB wasn't the problem in HOU.   Good times lol). 

Edited November 1, 2023 by Broncofan

[Broncofan]

It was mentioned in the News thread, but the fact McD blowing a 20-0 lead to ARI doesn't make the top list is a sign on just how awful McD's time in LV was.   1-2 of those L's are awful on a coaches' entire tenure on a team, which usually goes 2-3 seasons.  To have 5 L's like that (above plus ARI) in less than 1.5 seasons is pretty special territory.   As bad as Hackett was, no one is giving him a shot at HC a 2nd time anytime soon.  For McD to have had 3 shots, and with full team control (remember IND had him hired before that infamous back-out), is mind-boggling.

[The Helicopter]

23 hours ago, Broncofan said:

It was mentioned in the News thread, but the fact McD blowing a 20-0 lead to ARI doesn't make the top list is a sign on just how awful McD's time in LV was.   1-2 of those L's are awful on a coaches' entire tenure on a team, which usually goes 2-3 seasons.  To have 5 L's like that (above plus ARI) in less than 1.5 seasons is pretty special territory.   As bad as Hackett was, no one is giving him a shot at HC a 2nd time anytime soon.  For McD to have had 3 shots, and with full team control (remember IND had him hired before that infamous back-out), is mind-boggling.

It's more of a testament to the incompetent ownership of these teams...ours included at the time with Ellis. I'm confident most teams knew to steer clear.

[bMiller031]

Absolute malpractice to decline a R3+R5 for Jeudy at the deadline, as Schefter reported.  

Wtf is the endgame here?

[Cutler06]

So far this season Russ is 2nd in Passing TD/Int ratio, 4th in TD passes, 1st in pass td/attempts, 4th in passer ratings, and tied for 1st in 4th qtr comebacks...so other than his upcoming contract, why is this guy so untradeable ?????

[broncos_fan _from _uk]

9 hours ago, Cutler06 said:

So far this season Russ is 2nd in Passing TD/Int ratio, 4th in TD passes, 1st in pass td/attempts, 4th in passer ratings, and tied for 1st in 4th qtr comebacks...so other than his upcoming contract, why is this guy so untradeable ?????

Because he’s 20th in the league on third downs as well as being 1st in sacks taken and last in time per pass (pocket time prior to throwing the ball) indicating that many of those sacks are on him. Those are drive killers. It’s the reason the broncos are near the bottom of the league in plays per drive. Russ hits the big play or the punt.  

[Broncofan]

12 hours ago, Cutler06 said:

So far this season Russ is 2nd in Passing TD/Int ratio, 4th in TD passes, 1st in pass td/attempts, 4th in passer ratings, and tied for 1st in 4th qtr comebacks...so other than his upcoming contract, why is this guy so untradeable ?????

 

3 hours ago, broncos_fan _from _uk said:

Because he’s 20th in the league on third downs as well as being 1st in sacks taken and last in time per pass (pocket time prior to throwing the ball) indicating that many of those sacks are on him. Those are drive killers. It’s the reason the broncos are near the bottom of the league in plays per drive. Russ hits the big play or the punt.  

And his 2025 contract salary for 37M guarantees on the 3rd day of the new 2024 year (sometime in mid-March). 

Payton is scheming to limit Russ flaws, but they are there and very obvious to other teams.    Now, Russ is "only" signed for 17M salary for 2024, but there's also a 22M option bonus a team has to take then (making 2024 a 39M salary for new team, or if we kept him - NO WAY we do).    So a team trading for him would be on the hook for 2/76M.   That's just too steep.  If Paton is willing to eat 10-15M of that, I'm sure we can find a taker if Russ doesn't implode in the 2H, though.  But we won't get much if anything draft-pick wise. 

Because the 2025 salary fully guarantees if we keep him beyond mid-March, it's either trade or cut.   But if we trade him before a 22M option kicks in (that's why his salary is 17M in theory for 2024, but you have to add that extra 22M option bonus), we are "only" on the hook for 46M dead money, and we go into the 2024 year with a 36M cap  hit at a minimum, no matter what we do (keep or cut post-June 1) - but we are free and clear (as opposed to a straight cut, where we are at least on the hook 68M in dead money).   

The QB situation is awful across the league, and while it's a very good draft class for QB's, it's fair to say there are 7-8 teams that are likely looking to upgrade QB.   Russ isn't that much of an upgrade, but if we're lucky and Payton can keep masking his flaws, we could get out from his contract with a lower dead cap hit, and a middle-late round pick (or eat a lot of $ to get a Day 2 pick, more like R3 though, nothing crazy).  The problem is at his age, everyone knows Russ isn't going to get better, but only decline.   So if we even "just" got out from his contract and saved on the dead money, or ate the savable dead money (let's say instead of saving 22M, we ate 17M of that 22M, making Russ 2/59M to keep for new team) to get a day 2 pick, I'd do cartwheels either way.

Edited November 3, 2023 by Broncofan

[AnAngryAmerican]

Well the beloved CU Buffs, under the leadership of the famed Coach Prime, are making Pat Shurmur - yes, that one - they’re new playcaller. 

What could possibly go wrong?🤣

[big_palooka]

On 11/1/2023 at 12:06 PM, Broncofan said:

It was mentioned in the News thread, but the fact McD blowing a 20-0 lead to ARI doesn't make the top list is a sign on just how awful McD's time in LV was.   1-2 of those L's are awful on a coaches' entire tenure on a team, which usually goes 2-3 seasons.  To have 5 L's like that (above plus ARI) in less than 1.5 seasons is pretty special territory.   As bad as Hackett was, no one is giving him a shot at HC a 2nd time anytime soon.  For McD to have had 3 shots, and with full team control (remember IND had him hired before that infamous back-out), is mind-boggling.

5 of his 9 wins came against Denver and New England. At least he can hang his hat on that. 

In all seriousness, you guys were right about it all. Same guy over a decade later. At first, it looked promising. Extended Carr, Waller, Renfrow and Crosby. Added Adams. Looks like he believed in the core group. Less that a year later, completely unraveled it all. Completely wild how it ended up paralleling his time in Denver. From throwing out the QB and some top talent. To questionable draft picks. Alienating players. It was all there. Dude learned nothing. 

[AnAngryAmerican]

45 minutes ago, big_palooka said:

5 of his 9 wins came against Denver and New England. At least he can hang his hat on that. 

In all seriousness, you guys were right about it all. Same guy over a decade later. At first, it looked promising. Extended Carr, Waller, Renfrow and Crosby. Added Adams. Looks like he believed in the core group. Less that a year later, completely unraveled it all. Completely wild how it ended up paralleling his time in Denver. From throwing out the QB and some top talent. To questionable draft picks. Alienating players. It was all there. Dude learned nothing. 

We were his Super Bowl each year. He got up for that game the way Mike used to get up when we played you guys. Difference is Mike has two rings as HC and is going to the HOg while Mac has a sub .400 winning%.

He’s been a hanger on - like all New England assistants bolstered by a sychophantical segment of the football media - he’s got $100 in his pocket for riding the coattails of Tom Brady. That’s his accomplishment. 

[broncos67]

On 11/3/2023 at 4:33 PM, AnAngryAmerican said:

Well the beloved CU Buffs, under the leadership of the famed Coach Prime, are making Pat Shurmur - yes, that one - they’re new playcaller. 

What could possibly go wrong?🤣

I laughed when I saw he was calling plays this weekend. Incredible stuff. The guy will probably be an OC in the NFL again soon. 

[Broncofan]

LOL what an ending story for McD.  The guy really never changed at all.  
 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 6, 2023 by Broncofan

[AnAngryAmerican]

What Glazer reported - and people were even saying 'how could this be true?' - I knew the second I heard it, it was true. That's McDaniels - you do not, under any circumstances, ever, criticize the Patriot Way around him (or anyone from that organization or with ties to it). He didn't go to the Raiders to resurrect the Raider way, he went there to duplicate the Patriot Way, just as he did here in Denver when he removed the pictures of John Elway, Rod Smith, TD, Randy Gradishar, etc., from Dove Valley and replaced them with pictures of players he brough in, the great Laurence Maroney, Jarvis Green and Kyle Orton, among others. 

We all know the stories of the divided locker room, the Jekyll-and-Hyde calm in public, chaotic in private, the scandals, the cheating. When Mike Nolan, then a well-regarded DC, left after one season the writing was on the wall. For long a time, even when he was hired by the Raiders, I heard people still repeating the debunked "the only mistake in Denver was they gave him too much power and he wasn't ready." No, that wasn't the problem, his personality, his lack of people skills, his inability to adapt, to listen to outside input, his need to surround himself with yes-men, were the problem. People said he was too young when we hired him; I think it was Lomax who made the point when we hired him he was 32 yes, but he was a married man with kids who had risen to the pinnacle of his profession, how much more growing up can someone do at that point in their life? 

Here's the thing, Josh is his own worst enemy. It's a trait common among almost every single football person who spent any measurable time in New England - they have been brainwashed (I don't know what other term to use) to the point that they can only operate within the very specific confines of that system and only with other people who have worked in the confines of that system. It's not just Mac either; Detroit pre-Campbell is a case in point - they hire Bob Quinn as GM, he hires Patricia at HC, Patricia brings as many NE assistants as he can with, they fill out the FO with NE guys, they sign every single Patriot player who becomes a free agent as they can and it all goes to hell. Jon Robinson hired Mike Vrabel in Tennessee. Scott Pioli hired Romeo Crennel in KC.

I have been watching Houston closely. They went all Patriot Way too in hiring Nick Caserio as GM. Yet, Caserio has broken the mold - he hired a HC in DeMeco Ryans from the Shanahan tree. I do wonder if Carolina bailed out Caserio, however, because they opted for Alabama prospect Bryce Young, who has been middling even for a rookie, forcing Caserio to take Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, who has been incredible. Caserio then used his next pick, #3 overall, to take an Alabama prospect in Anderson. I would love to know who was #1 on Houston's board between Stroud and Young, I would wager my 401k on it being Young. It's also interesting to note Caserio himself was hired by .... you guessed it, Jack Easterby, the EVP of Football Ops who, of course, spent 2013-18 in New England after spending 2011-12 in KC under ... Scott Pioli.