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Will teams will start to rethink the idea of being “a QB away”?


CP3MVP

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The broncos this offseason thought they  were “ a QB away” from being a Super Bowl team. They won 7 games in 2021 with the combo or Lock/Bridgewater. I think even they didn’t believe their defense was gonna be this good, as you know though the season has been a disaster. 

 

Same thing with the colts. This has been 3 offseasons in a row they thought they were “a QB away”, turns out they weren’t. Now Matt Ryan is washed but the overall roster was also overrated along with the HC that they fired 

 

The browns are another example of this, for reasons that don’t need to be explained it hasn’t worked out this year. To me they need a full season with their QB to actually really test this out. However their defense is terrible(they probably didn’t predict this) and even with a Functioning Watson I don’t see them being anymore than a divisional doing and out team going forward. 
 

So my question to everyone is do you see teams starting to rethink this idea that we are a QB away? Or will they continue to overrate certain veteran QBs and their teams rosters?

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Tbf Denver thought they were a QB away since Manning left. Two factors were at play. 
 

1. Denver went after a QB who couldn’t just be placed into any scenario and win. They got a guy who needed to be in the correct situation for him. Some guys like Brady, Stafford are just more conventional and will handle any offense for the most part to the level of their competency. Wilson needed a team built for him. 
 

2. Denver heavily overrated where their offense was at because they always had a QB to take most of the blame. They just assumed guys like Jeudy would become stars once a real QB showed up 

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21 minutes ago, Dr A W Niloc said:

I'm not sure I understand the question.

Denver and Indianapolis were right to think they were only a QB away.

They still are.

 

Bingo. Indy was a time bomb waiting to go off, you could see that Matt Ryan was completely toasted his last few years in Atlanta.

Denver was a bit of a shocker, but that’s a combination of Russell Wilson regressing along with Nathaniel Hackett being in WAY over his head.

Their plan wasn’t wrong - their execution was. 

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The Broncos still are a QB away (and a HC). The Browns are in a completely different scenario because Watson’s much younger. 

I think this year will make teams think that, yeah they might be a “QB away”, but simply adding any QB doesn’t complete the puzzle. Ryan’s washed and there were signs of that last year (still think they made the right move, especially without mortgaging the future). Russ is a questionable presence in the locker room (putting that lightly) and the HC-play caller hire is probably league worst. It takes more than just adding a guy who was good.

EDIT: The Colts especially are an odd throw-in for this thread, because there was a time when they were a QB away and then they really took their foot off the gas as far as roster building goes. They let the OL regress (didn’t replace Castonzo, let Glowinski walk), still rely solely on Leonard as their only playmaker in the back (let solid vet Anthony Walker leave). They made some moves at edge I guess (after losing Houston and Autry for nothing), but still haven’t really upgraded the WR/TE position. They band-aided the CB group a few times now (Rock Ya-Sin’s having his best year in LV). There were a few seasons where the Colts led the league in cap space, $100M to spend IIRC. What do they have to show for it? They traded and then signed Buckner. Everyone else was either a veteran stopgap or homegrown guy. Now they’ve stopped hitting on as many picks and stopped replenishing the roster with talent. 

A few years ago they were absolutely primed to be great - close to turning the corner as far as winning goes, ton of cap space, young playmakers, solid depth guys. They needed to fill some holes and add a good QB while having a ton of resources to do so - they did neither.

Edited by Yin-Yang
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The issue with the Broncos is they got a guy that has been on a decline for a season and a half. Look at Wilson's stats from the second half of 2020 to 2021. He's been in a decline for quite some time. This was a case of the Broncos having a poor understanding of what they were getting. They also got a guy that had a very niche skill set that Hackett has no idea how to utilize. With a defense like the Broncos, if they scored just 20 points a game they'd be super bowl contenders. 

Honestly, the Broncos need to cut bait with Hackett and bring in a scorched earth coach that'll reign Wilson in like Sean Payton or Jim Harbaugh. They should also bring in someone like Schottenheimer who truly understood how to use Wilson. Under Schottenheimer the Seahawks had the highest third down conversion rate and endzone success out of all the OC's the Hawks have cycled through. 

The Broncos truly were a QB away, but they had no idea what they were buying. 

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4 hours ago, Dr A W Niloc said:

I'm not sure I understand the question.

Denver and Indianapolis were right to think they were only a QB away.

They still are.

 

I disagree emphatically on the Colts. They've thought they were a QB away for like 4 straight QBs now. They are not as close as they think they are, and that got Reich fired.

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2 minutes ago, Jakuvious said:

I disagree emphatically on the Colts. They've thought they were a QB away for like 4 straight QBs now. They are not as close as they think they are, and that got Reich fired.

Do we agree that Matt Ryan was not the QB they were hoping for?

A lot rides on the question:  "...away from what?" 

A top 16 QB makes everyone on the offense look better, giving the Colts a lock on their division (pace Titans fans). 

For Denver, it would do no such thing [with K.C. in the way] but it would get the Broncos a wild card and, frankly, a better shot than Indianapolis to get past the first round.

Meanwhile, for what it's worth, Cleveland is a wait-and-see proposition, about which I am cautiously pessimistic.

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5 hours ago, Dr A W Niloc said:

I'm not sure I understand the question.

Denver and Indianapolis were right to think they were only a QB away.

They still are.

 

The colts are a QB away? They don’t have a starting LT, Number 1 WR, or elite edge rusher. Who is their number one corner, 32 year old Gilmore? They are average to terrible at the positions that actually matter. 
 

The broncos have a below average offensive line and no elite pass catchers 

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4 hours ago, CP3MVP said:
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The colts are a QB away?

...from dominating the AFC-South, yes.  That gets them a few upsets away from the Super Bowl.  I do agree their window of opportunity is closing much faster than Denver's is.  They don't need Air Coryell, though;  they just require a viable passing threat to prevent opponents from vaporlocking on Jonathan Taylor all game.
 

Quote

The broncos have a below average offensive line and no elite pass catchers 

The Denver O-Line will begin 2023 no worse than average, with everyone returning healthy.  Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy might not be elite--especially given recent quarterbacking--but they should be a decent tandem once there is a better hurler under center.

Granted, much of this is self-defining.  A top 16 QB raises the level of receiver play and protection (e.g. with quicker release times and crisper execution) while freeing up stud RBs to run wild. 

 

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The Colts were a QB away four years ago, not now.

To answer the OPs point, I think teams ARE  going to rethink “a QB away”…but in the other direction. Teams are going to start going after veterans more, because of the success of Brady and Stafford. We already saw Denver do it, and I don’t think one spectacular misfire is going to undo the effect of two SB wins.

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