Things other than C’s Talk

[MikeT14]

Quote

The Athletic's Aaron Reiss said rookie QB Davis Mills has struggled in training camp. 

Reiss said "Mills’ camp has so far included a lot more bad plays than impressive ones. He often looks slow to process during more competitive periods of practice, and he’s turned the ball over at some point on most days." An inexplicable third round selection by Houston, Mills is in line for significant regular season playing time in 2021. His rough training camp could mean Tyrod Taylor will stay under center longer than first thought though. Neither Houston quarterback is worth drafting this summer outside of deep superflex formats. 

Interesting tidbit for those of us that were intrigued by Mills.

https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/edge/football/nfl/teams/hou/houston-texans

[ARTMONK HOF]

All I can say is WOW!

[turtle28]

17 hours ago, ARTMONK HOF said:

All I can say is WOW!

He’s been worth it. @lavar703was so right about him! That was his dude that draft. I thought he was going to be the next Jake Locker. I was a Darnold guy but sadly Darnold had to get drafted by the Jets & they stupidly fired Todd Bowles for Adam Gase. I’m hoping Darnold has a break out year in Carolina, it will help that Robby Anderson is there - a former teammate.

[turtle28]

 

[e16bball]

Justin Fields went 13/19 for 140 yards and a TD, along with 5 rushes for 33 yards and another TD, in his debut. 

A good preseason debut doesn’t mean much in the long run. But I’ve said before that I think failing to move up for him is going to prove to be the too-cautious choice that dooms us to good-but-not-great purgatory. Sometimes the universe puts an opportunity out there, and if you don’t grab it — you don’t just get another one. 

[HTTRDynasty]

1 minute ago, e16bball said:

Justin Fields went 13/19 for 140 yards and a TD, along with 5 rushes for 33 yards and another TD, in his debut. 

A good preseason debut doesn’t mean much in the long run. But I’ve said before that I think failing to move up for him is going to prove to be the too-cautious choice that dooms us to good-but-not-great purgatory. Sometimes the universe puts an opportunity out there, and if you don’t grab it — you don’t just get another one. 

I can understand the frustration if Fields turns into a top 10 QB, but we would have had to trade up with Denver at 9 to get him. It would have taken an uncomfortable amount of draft capital to get the trade done. It was a super risky move that I actually would have been fine with, but I understand why they didn’t do it. From their comments though, I think they would have done it for Lance. 
 

I’m still rooting for Fields to succeed though. It would be hilarious if both the Eagles and Giants passed on the chance to take a franchise QB without trading up, only to stick with Hurts and Jones. 

[e16bball]

1 hour ago, HTTRDynasty said:

I’m still rooting for Fields to succeed though. It would be hilarious if both the Eagles and Giants passed on the chance to take a franchise QB without trading up, only to stick with Hurts and Jones. 

That would be quite funny. The idea assuages a bit of my frustration that we didn’t pull the trigger. 

Just a bit, though. I don’t think the difference between moving up 10 spots to #9 and moving up 9 spots to #11 would have been that tremendous. Maybe an extra 4th or future 3rd or something in that ballpark, based on the pick value chart. Picks like that should not be a deterrent when pulling the trigger on a franchise passer. 

I think the compensation would have gotten uncomfortable if we’d had to go up to 4 or 5 (or 2, where I thought he should have gone). But when fell to the bottom of the top 10? That’s striking distance, and they just chose not to strike. It’s really the one big flaw I see with the new regime — they’re cautious, too cautious in my view, and I think their risk aversion bit them on draft night. 

Maybe they just didn’t like Fields that much, and if that’s the case, all I can do is shrug. Different people will have different evaluations. In that case, I think it was just a miss from a scouting standpoint — not from a philosophy standpoint.

[MikeT14]

1 hour ago, e16bball said:

Justin Fields went 13/19 for 140 yards and a TD, along with 5 rushes for 33 yards and another TD, in his debut. 

A good preseason debut doesn’t mean much in the long run. But I’ve said before that I think failing to move up for him is going to prove to be the too-cautious choice that dooms us to good-but-not-great purgatory. Sometimes the universe puts an opportunity out there, and if you don’t grab it — you don’t just get another one. 

While Fields was > Jones for me before, you could say the same thing about Jones too. We had EASY positions for both. 

[turtle28]

2 hours ago, e16bball said:

Justin Fields went 13/19 for 140 yards and a TD, along with 5 rushes for 33 yards and another TD, in his debut. 

A good preseason debut doesn’t mean much in the long run. But I’ve said before that I think failing to move up for him is going to prove to be the too-cautious choice that dooms us to good-but-not-great purgatory. Sometimes the universe puts an opportunity out there, and if you don’t grab it — you don’t just get another one. 

Agreed, heck, we could’ve moved up for Jones too or drafted Mond or Trask. I hope passing on these guys doesn’t eventually bite us like it did when we passed on trading up for some of the young good/great QBs in the last few years like Allen, Mahomes etc.

Edited August 14, 2021 by turtle28

[turtle28]

 

[Thaiphoon]

BTW - full disclosure. I'm rooting for a SB win for our team this year. 

However, I will also be rooting for the Bills this year (*). If however, we get eliminated and they don't I'll then be rooting for them to win their first SB.

Why? See (*)

 

(*) A friend of mine just passed away last Saturday. He was former military (did the first combat jump the military did after WW2 with the 82nd Airborne when we went into Panama after Noriega and he also deployed to the Sinai with my brother) and we were pretty close. I don't think there was a weekend in my 20s that we weren't at various bars, etc... having way too many drinks. We kept in touch over the years as we both got married and had our families (he leaves a wife and two young boys who are around my daughter's age). He was the BIGGEST Bills fan and I never let him live it down. He was excited about getting Allen and the direction the team was going. One of the last things we talked about when he was in hospice (before he lost consciousness) was the Bills and how he thought they'd do this year. I told him I'd be rooting for them this year "as long as my team isn't in it". 

So yeah, I made a promise. Sorry for the personal stuff. Just wanted you to know why I might be seen rooting for them. I made a promise and I always keep them.

[MikeT14]

 

 

[RSkinGM]

1 hour ago, MikeT14 said:

 

 

One key word in there ,,,PRESEASON .. My man Colt Brennan ( R I P ) was a preseason star ! I liked Jones-wish we had him .

[e16bball]

On 8/14/2021 at 5:03 PM, MikeT14 said:

While Fields was > Jones for me before, you could say the same thing about Jones too. We had EASY positions for both. 

 

On 8/14/2021 at 5:45 PM, turtle28 said:

Agreed, heck, we could’ve moved up for Jones too or drafted Mond or Trask. I hope passing on these guys doesn’t eventually bite us like it did when we passed on trading up for some of the young good/great QBs in the last few years like Allen, Mahomes etc.

I wouldn’t have drafted Mond or Trask, especially not where we needed to draft them. And I’m not quite as chapped about Mac Jones, simply because I think we will still have opportunities to get a Mac Jones-level talent in the near future. 

With Fields, you just don’t get many chances to land a player with that combination of physical talent, arm talent, and mental talent. No guarantee that he actually becomes a star, but in terms of upside, this is a guy with a Deshaun Watson type ceiling that made it to pick 11. It’s disappointing to let an opportunity like that slip away, especially when you’re largely “a QB away” from really having something special here. 

The one thing I think we all are considering, though not specifically mentioning in these posts, is that it is inherently negative for this franchise to have to wait another year to get its future QB. We’re going to fritter away 2021 with Fitzpatrick and Heinicke, and then MAYBE we get our hands on a young franchise QB next year? In which case we will most likely we fritter away 2022 dealing with rookie growing pains. 

Getting a Fields or a Jones in house means there’s at least a chance that we could have been meaningfully competitive next season.  Missing out on them means any possible SB window is likely moved back to 2023, at best, unless they trade for an established veteran star.

[turtle28]

On 8/14/2021 at 5:03 PM, MikeT14 said:

While Fields was > Jones for me before, you could say the same thing about Jones too. We had EASY positions for both. 

Definitely. We could have made a trade up for either. I hope if we’re in a position to trade up for or draft a rookie QB in next years draft that we do so. Going with average vets year after year & a few coaches pets doesn’t seem like the best way to take this offense from one of the worst in the league to a top 10 offense.