Playmakerz Redux: Mac and the road to 2019/20

[oldmansmell]

(**^ this is satire and argument, I hope you enjoy if you spend a second to read***)

I've become more and more convinced that most of us and the FO made a false conclusion during the peak Rodgers years: Rodgers could transcend the need for "weapons". 

I mean, we all know that Ted hated playmakers. He wanted a team of angelic, blue-collar type sportsmen molded in the vain of Havner/Kuhn-like clones. He didn't even watch film, he just played Rudy on repeat and realized Devine's shortcomings. I'm not sure if that was necessarily the best idea. He thought Jordy Nelson was an elite receiver, but we all know he was just a taller, faster, more athletic, prototypical boundary, version of Wes Welker. He skimmed the waiver wires by the flicker of candlelight honing over the overlooked characteristics of garbage heap UDFA's, feeling hopelessly overwhelmed and out of touch with the modern day athlete--Iinstagramming his workout program. 

All that worked before the league caught on to us; before teams galore wasted first round picks on the Corey Coleman's of the world--or the OBJ's, you are just so close New York, I hope Saquan starts to run "dirty" for you. We didn't draft Keenan Allen in 2013, a turning point year. We went for the UCLA stoner and combining picks for the fat-man--the running game is the problem, a trope, a catch-22. That's not to single out one draft "miss" or "hit", it is to merely state that Keenan Allen would have made our team better than Datone Jones, and we could have traded up in the third to get him. It is also meant to highlight that the types of receivers that this system requires can at times be under-valued in the NFL---but you have to pull the trigger, and let time do its magic. When we won the Superbowl our receiving corp was: Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, James Jones, Donald Driver, and Brett Swain--with Jermichael about to never break out, but always make us believe in his twitter aphorisms. Jones had his drops, Jordy had his early struggles, but Devante is every-bit as good as Jordy and Cobb had his value (just like Jones did). From 2006-2011 we drafted 5 WR's in the first three rounds (almost 1 every year), from 2012-2018 we did this twice (with Monty being one), and then we hoped like hell Janis could learn how to run a route while we were like well "Geronimo is open, but so, so slow". TT was like, "well I've hit on all of my second round receivers that didn't break their neck before taking a snap, so I should stop that because I can therefore hit on all of my late round guys too". "I also am a harbinger for doom for my first round defensive draft picks, so I'll just keep throwing mud at the wall." Where is your imagination Ted? Where are the playmakerz????

The playmakerz were gone. We wanted TE's because Gronk and Jimmy, we wanted RB's because other teams QB's will throw to them without feeling unnervingly emasculated and that seemed to work (hee, hee, Matty Ice or Joe "cool"). We pushed Cobb to the boundary and AR started trying to force looped dimes on wheel routes to his teeny-tiny frame. We thought making Monty a RB would solve RB, but it just left us with more holes at WR (now only 1 high round pick in 7 years). There is also the fact that the connectivity between receivers and the QB dwindled, outside of the top guys, AR lost trust in his surrounding cast (they were late round picks for a reason). The institutional logic is consequential: Should we keep the late round pick that can't seem to get it together (Janis, Johnson, Yancey, Davis, Dupre,  Abby) becomes a different question than should we keep the early round pick that is struggling in action (Jones, Devante, Jordy, and Cobb). The former are always on the bubble, their reps are decreased, their chances are numbered, AR cannot be certain that Yancey will be here (or Johnson), they become criticized for not being Devante; they sit in the wrong place or make the wrong adjustment and, well, they weren't gonna make it anyways. AR switches to a play-ground type mentality, our O-line is elite, so he can dance like he's never danced before. He is successful, he dances like he is a bright-eyed 80-s starlet told "look little missy, you can't dance no more". He falls in love with dancing, its sexy, its all about him. 

We can't resign Lang, Sitton, and Bahk. We obviously choose Bahk. We don't draft guards, we don't even really take the 4th/5th round swing tackle that will obviously become a guard (another Ted staple). We take the athletic guard (Kofi) and build around the UDFA's (not a terrible idea but possibly the wrong idea?). Rodgers dances too much. He breaks his collarbone, he breaks it again, then he bruises his knee. We still have the idea that he might just be hurt, if he was mobile we wouldn't be 4-5-1 (I guarantee it, I actually do). Moreover, Gute is already here to replace the old-cow. He looks Mac square in the face, he looks 12 square in the face, and says I watch film, not just Rudy (although "still" that movie is likely 90% of my football knowledge). He says look, "I'm going to compromise, but your not going to like it. We need defensive help, but, honestly, I just like to constantly dismantle my defensive secondary, its sound management." Mac doesn't really think Gute is going to trade/cut/dismantle the secondary every week, and he also believes Pettine is a little more alpha than Capers--the beta of the DC world. Gute doesn't believe in keeping "fringe players" that don't seem long-term. That is not invalid. Gute sees Tony Brown as a faster version of some of the other guys. Unlike Ted Gute burns the candlelight late, he burns the candle at both ends. But its still candlelight, maybe get a lantern?

Gute says to Mac after the bye, point blank, we aren't winning the Superbowl. Mac is like me and 12 pull this ish out all the time: "I am a highly successful NFL coach". Gute is like, nonsense, a highly successful NFL coach can't take a mediocre asf team to the promise land, so here's the plan. I infused the team with late talent at WR, with playmakerz that are like b-list. One of the three might shine, but they need reps to shine. I put my bottom dollar on it, I need to see them work to evaluate (its not just Rudy up in here). I need to see the rookies, not just at WR but at all levels of the team. Mac is like "that means losses", Gute says that's fine. Just don't look like you are throwing it, just don't lose the locker-room. 12 gets pissed, Mac needs to figure out a way to acquiesce a player making 3 times more than him who doesn't think we need to "rebuild" because he is Kanye meets Jesus. Cobb is allowed to nurse forever, while MVS and EQ get acclimated. Cobb is not on this team next year, so why even try to bring him back. Haha is not the future, so why not send him off now, give the rookies tape, give Gute a chance to re-adjust, re-evalutate, re-tool. 

But, fast forward. We have 4 picks in the first 3 rounds, and two in the fourth. MVS is a borderline starter now, EQ is a solid 5th for next year, and J'mon is going to have prove it in camp. We take a WR with the Saints pick at 32 and trade up in the 3rd to grab a falling Keenan Allen. We have a stacked WR corp that is 5 deep. A WR corp that isn't going anywhere, EQ and MVS have 3 years, the rest have four or five. Injuries might happen, and the 6th rounder or Allison might fill in, but we have a plan, we have a system again. Rodgers doesn't need to dance except where he wants to, where he looks so damn pretty. We have a blueprint, and we won't stop taking the late swing tackle and the early receiver--unless we can't fit one in. It is a one season exception, not a six season drought.