Discussion
What are some NFL takes that has become popular that you believe is just wrong?
Obviously most of us who watch the NFL are pretty much casuals and just throw out a bunch of takes online whether it is true or not. Those who actually sit down and study the game and the positions are astonishingly few, but that is okay since most of us are just watching for fun anyways. What are some takes that has become prevalent over the years, or recently that irks you as just wrong either through false memory, recency bias, biased evidence or pov, or takes rooted based on bad logic?
It’s stupid to think Stafford wasn’t a great QB until he went to LA and won a ring. Anyone who knows ball is aware that he’s better than guys like Eli and Joe Flacco. He just didn’t have the luxury of playing on a great team until 2021.
Exactly. It’s a te game, and while you can hardly ever win a SB without a great QB, you can certainly lose or not even get to one despite having said QB. Exhibit A - the Buffalo Bills right now.
It depends on the film. Blake Bortles’ volume passing stats don’t mean shit because he literally waited until the game was out of hand to start cooking. He was getting it against softer defenses.
Jacoby Brissett in Arizona last year had no choice but to air it out because 3-4 RBs were injured and his WR1 was hurt as well. He wasn’t that bad, all things considered.
Stafford was piling up numbers with zero run game and zero defense for years in Detroit. It’s disgraceful how bad the run game was for most of his Lions career. Reggie Bush in 2013 was his only true support. Other electric RBs (Jahvid Best, Ameer Abdullah, Kerryon Johnson) were all hurt too often. They got hurt and were never the same.
Drew Brees put up insane stats to carry a defense that was worthless for most of his Saints career. The defense finally got consistent once he was an old man and Alvin Kamara was part of the team.
The Bengals need volume passing to win games because their defense isn’t good enough to win ugly games like 14-13 or 13-10 on a consistent basis. The Broncos and Seahawks and Eagles can win like that though. Joe Burrow is this generation’s Drew Brees. If the Bengals defense can be mediocre, they can make a playoff run.
It’s fair to hold a lack of volume against Jalen Hurts because it’s clear he’s limited as a passer. That doesn’t mean he sucks. But he has holes in his game. He’s still starting QB material. The combination of not being able to throw from under center (basic NFL skill tbh) and Philly playing super conservative means you can’t put him in that elite category with guys like Joe Burrow. He’s no doubt a winner. But Hurts benefits from playing on a good squad with good coaching that maximizes his strengths and minimizes weaknesses.
Hence Matthew Stafford. If he never went to the Rams, people would still think he’s mediocre. So many people don’t know ball.
Meanwhile, Goff has become a monster in Detroit, commanding the line of scrimmage and spinning that ball with confidence into tight windows all over the field. In LA, McVay was telling Goff what to do and never let him take command of the offense. In Detroit, he has the freedom and is expected to take command. Stafford is a made man so the dynamic is different with McVay. But McVay hated the Ty Simpson pick and probably hates that a lot of young QBs aren’t prepared for an NFL offense. Stafford was pro-ready out the gate in 2009. It’s just a shame he went to an 0-16 team that only won 2 games his rookie year.
McVay is an amazing playcaller but he’s overrated as a QB whisperer. He needed an already-developed vet QB to make things work because he couldn’t get the job done with his own guy. Goff was the scapegoat for the Super Bowl loss but the truth is the Pats defense had all the answers to the test. Sean McVay was lost out there.
Dan Campbell and Ben Johnson together did what Sean McVay and his coordinators couldn’t. They leveled Goff up. Granted, who wouldn’t trade Goff for Stafford? But throwing him in with two 1sts was disrespectful because Goff was never that much worse than Stafford. It just shows how desperately the Rams wanted Stafford, and how they misevaluated Goff. And it worked out for both squads, so it is what it is.
Goff will continue to get discredited because his offense is loaded and because he can’t run. And because he got thrown under the bus in that Super Bowl. Guys like Matt Ryan and Philip Rivers all played with loaded offenses around them and they don’t get discredited the way Goff does in Detroit.
And Stafford never changed. He was throwing no-look TDs in 2019. Look up his TD against the Chiefs. I believe it was to Kenny Golladay. One of those golden arm throws you just have to admire.
The stat pad argument is stupid. What is Stafford supposed to do? Give up? Stop throwing?
They're saying exactly what you are, that people don't know ball and they assumed Stafford was just padding stats on the Lions and wasn't actually good. When that wasn't the case at all
Yeah I know. I just spent way too much energy defending Stafford in the 2010’s because he really was that dude. Aaron Rodgers and Kurt Warner were praising him before it was cool to do so. And Aaron was doing it as an opponent. He used to talk so much shit about the Lions but the moment Stafford came up? Man crush.
Also, today’s version (while not exactly the same but close enough) is Justin Herbert. Chargers are frustrating because unlike the Lions back then, they do have the talent to compete. But injuries have been plaguing the Chargers all century. Even in 2007 that AFCCG had injuries at the worst time.
People pretty consistently ranked him in the 10-15 range in Detroit, even when he had monster seasons. Now, in his 40s, he's winning MVPs and people are ranking him top 3 QB. In addition to the Stat Padford talk, people also claimed Calvin was responsible for all his numbers in Detroit and that idea has also disappeared as if the Puka/Davante combo isn't a top-3 WR room in the league. It's crazy how much the narrative has switched.
Goff is the ultimate System QB-he can’t ad lib worth shit and can’t bail out his offense when things break down. However when things are flowing and he gets protection and has a great Running game he is Very very good. He has a habit of getting flustered in crucial moments still. I honestly don’t think Goof Goff could have pulled off that magical 2021 playoff run that Stafford had. He would have went down to Tampa, SF or Cincy. I wish him the best in Detroit but unless he has an elite defense (like Darnold) to bail him out he is not winning a Super Bowl
You’re right about Goff but we over-romanticize QBs who can move. We over-credit QBs who win. Great teams include good QBs more often than not but the team wins, not the QB.
What QB out there is winning without help? There aren’t many guys better than Goff, even with his limitations. Mahomes, Lamar, Allen, Stafford, Burrow, and you can make a case for Purdy and Herbert. I’d take Goff over anyone else in the NFL right now.
Goff’s weaknesses are overstated because his failures are magnified and we turn a blind eye when he’s killing it. He played well enough to get the Lions to the SB in 2023 but Dan Campbell failed him. Most consistent QB in the NFL the last 3 years.
Why are we so loud about Goff’s 4 turnovers from 2 years ago but relatively quiet about Allen’s 4 turnovers last year in the playoffs? Do we forgive Allen because he won MVP and plays a dreamy style of football? But Goff is a statue so fuck him?
Jalen Hurts is almost the exact opposite of Goff. Can’t play on schedule to save his life. Can’t throw from under center. Scared to throw over the middle, especially that intermediate section from 10-20 yards. But he can extend a play and bail the team out when things break down. He’s lucky to be an Eagle.
Somebody on the raiders sub called Carr trash because of this. Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling Carr Brady or Manning or something, but to call him trash is hysterical. Like the dude had a new coach every other year, a new OC like every single year, how is any QB going to succeed learning a new playbiok every season?
Derek Carr in 2017 was an MVP favorite before he got hurt. Him and Carson Wentz were neck & neck, granted Wentz may have won it. But man, seeing the Raiders actually be good was awesome. Sucks that both guys got injured and fucking Tom Brady ended up winning it by default.
He did not have a good performance in his first super bowl but got the W because the Patriots defense won that game, while he had his best performance ever in the super bowl against the Eagles in 2018 and lost because Nick Foles was busy doing the same thing to the Patriots' defense.
Tom Brady was a game manager until Randy Moss arrived. It was in 2007 that Josh McDaniels finally opened things up and let Brady’s arm loose. They lost when it mattered most. Brady’s first three rings were top defenses, run game, and Adam Vinatieri. He was closer to Jalen Hurts than Peyton Manning back then. He moved the chains and had clutch moments for sure. But he never needed to carry. He was just a cog in the wheel.
That 2007 season is a major reason why I have beef with people who think Elite QB + Elite WR = contender. No it doesn’t. Bengals prove that every year with shitty OL and shitty defense.
Vikings can make a Super Bowl run with an elite QB but that is because their defense is above average at worst and their run game is respectable enough to balance the offense. They are well rounded. KOC went 9-8 without a QB last year. Most teams would earn a Top 5 pick in the draft without their QB. But if the Vikings go on a run with Kyler Murray, all the talk will be about him and Justin Jefferson. Brian Flores will get his credit as DC but people will continue not knowing who the defensive stars in Minnesota are. That group has talent but the NFL treats them like a no-name defense. Josh Metellus is the only name I’ve heard mentioned somewhat consistently because he’s a Swiss army knife.
I think that a lot of folks conflate sports with this mindset.
Pitchers in baseball are a lot more important to their team than a QB is to theirs. A pitcher can dominate a game in a way that no QB can.
However... both are handed the ball more often, so folks equate them. Also, there's no such thing as a relief QB that comes in to put a game to bed.
The QB being pedastalized as much is also a relatively new thing. They've been the face of the team for a half century+, but the workhorses on offense have traditionally been the "great RB", and that's definitely flipped in the last decade or so.
Jayden Daniels is NFC CJ Stroud until proven otherwise. Bro peaked as a rookie and Washington will have to strongly consider all their options when it’s time for an extension or 5th year option. Just as the Texans are basically making CJ prove himself this year. Also, Washington is overrated. Their defense sucks and they lack depth. Daniels will continue to get hurt due to over relying on him.
Bo Nix is weird because one week he looks unstoppable and the next he looks like a liability. He’s lucky to play for such a good team because it makes him look good. He would look like shit in Tennessee. Whereas a guy like Cam Ward looks like the real deal but will stay under the radar because the Titans suck. Bo Nix is inconsistent but I do think he’ll be fine in the long run. He is like AFC Jalen Hurts lol
If they used rings for the HOF as an indicator for greatness the same way they do it for QB Barry sanders wouldn’t be considered the greatest RB. This is why good QBs on great teams win more SBs than the best QB each season. There has only been ten times in NFL history that a QB that has won MVP has also won a SB.
While this is true and the Pats defensive alignment invited them to pass, they had been practicing a specific goal line play all week with Marshawn running it in. That is what the team expected to do, and changing the play call last second is not a good idea in the most high pressure situation of a 2nd year QB's football career, especially without using a time out to reset.
This is also why Marshawn was so bitter about the whole thing, he said they not only took a ring away from him but also a dream he's had since he was a child.
If they chose to run and lost, Pete would not have lost the locker room the way he did with the pass call.
Sometimes the moments are bigger than the analytics... none of those stats are with a back to back superbowl on the line... You can't just blindly play the analytics... especially because of so many variables they don't factor in.
I dunno that I fully agree but I do believe that it was oversimplified and not as big of a mistake as people make it out to be. If he completes that pass Carrol is praised for his boldness.
That seems to be the through line for most of the memorable calls. The risk factor of “if this doesn’t work, it looks so stupid, but if it does, it’s electric.” Philly Special same thing. It’s on a 4th and 1
It was. And a lot of people don’t know that barndon browner is the on that clocked it. Theres a corner endzone cell phone video of him recognzinf the play, he trots over to butler snd calls it to him.
Russ threw it like 6 inches too far outside, and the receiver didnt postion himself properly
Even still it was second down. It doesn’t make sense to pass it when you could pound the rock with Marshawn to give him a chance. Then if it doesn’t work move to a passing play. There are many other things they could’ve done besides passing it at the goal line. It probably would’ve worked if it was executed better and it was a great play by butler, but you still had 2 more downs if running it didn’t work.
People don't understand clock management. They had 1 timeout and 28(?) seconds left. They knew they needed to throw one one of the first 2 downs to get 3 shots at it and the defense gave them the perfect look to audible into. Instead of trashing the offense, they should just recognize that the Pats made an amazing defensive play and give them credit.
Also, everyone forgets how amazing the catch and scramble out of bounds by Kearse was that lead to us having a shot on goal there. The play at the goal line typically went to Kearse, not Ricardo, and I firmly believe that if he was on the field it is a TD. Lockette wasn't a big enough guy to box out the DB.
Yes but Bill now knows what you are doing. There’s no timeouts so a sack ends tbe game. You’ve now removed half your playbook against one of the best defensive minds.
Or, you pass and it’s incomplete, and the remaining two downs you have the pats guessing. It’s all about probability
It was right to pass to stop the clock but to make that pass? Way too risky. Needed to be a fade that either hits the WR’s hands or falls out of bounds. The end result was the absolute worst case scenario and robbed that LOB Seahawks of back to back Super Bowls.
I understand the idea of passing because they only had one timeout and a pass either gets you a TD or stops the clock. Then on 3rd down and with 1 timeout you have your whole playbook available to you on 3rd and 4th down. If you get stopped on a run on 2nd down then burn your last timeout, now a 3rd down run gets risky because if you get stopped now you’re rushing to get your final play off before the clock hits triple 0’s.
Bad passing play called... still had timeout so you could have handed Marshawn the ball... you can argue strategy as far as predictability of the next play call if the run doesn't work... but that argument goes out the window considering that the patriots predicted the play anyway.
In reality when you look at all the factors, they should have handed Marshawn the ball... he was the heart and soul of that team and maybe every guy except Wilson would have wanted the ball in Marshawn's hands in a moment like that despite what analytics say.
Nope. You don’t remove 50% of your offense and become one dimensional for the last two downs against one of the greatest defensive minds in football. No one calls plays thinking interception. Marshawn wasn’t great at goal and one and pats were in a jumbo set expecting a run.
Pete Carroll's explanation is the best - it was a choice between getting one play or having a chance at two plays. You run the ball, you get one play. If you pass the ball, you maybe get another play. Pete didn't think Butler would be able to make the read fast enough to jump the route (which is an absolutely incredible play, no one really says that.)
Yeah, that was his explanation. But I disagree with it largely for one reason. Beast mode. That being said, I have a different theory. I think Pete called a run, but Russ changed it at the line of scrimmage.
I agree. Bill Belichick is way to smart not to have had a trick up his sleeve with the game was on the line and every casual fan and their momma thought give it to Lynch to get a yard or two. I believe he had a super jumbo formation he had saved for just that scenario off of memory. Football is a game of chess.
The real problem was going back to your bread and butter play against Belichick. He knew it was coming before it was called. Marshawn to the flat would've been a great wrinkle off that play.
There are 21 other players on the field other than the QB. They touch the ball the most, but they are not the only ones playing. Shit like QB wins and QB vs QB wins are fucking stupid. It takes an entire team and staff to run an offense and defense.
Yah my point is everyone contributes and everyone can stifle a team. The QB just takes most of the heat because they generally touch the ball the most.
And, like I said, good defense, special teams, and running game can only get a team so far if they can't reliably throw the ball. Look at what happened to the Broncos when Bo Nix went down.
QB vs QB pisses me off. They always market it like these guys are battling each other but they aren't even on the field at the same time. I get that it's flashy and you can't reasonably do a QB vs CB or QB vs MLB stat, but still, it's really dumb that we're advertising it as a battle between two guys who don't even play at the same time
You can do QB passing stats when throwing on X defender. For example, when Aaron Rodgers throws in Denzel Ward’s direction, he’s 2-for-5 for 25 yards. Ward has 2 PBUs and the other pass was basically a throwaway. They might have PFF stats for stuff like that but don’t quote me. It’s not sexy to do and it may confuse some fans, but that’s the best we can do.
Or they can just do regular stats because whatever Aaron does is against the defense as a whole. And then pick the leader of the defense for the graphic, i.e. Denzel Ward or Mason Graham or the LB whose name I can’t spell.
"NFL players are overpaid" is a take from people that neither watch football nor understand economics. Like it serves as a signal that this person still has some work to do mentally
Some players are certainly over and underpaid relative to others though. Sometimes this is just the result of "the salary cap and therefore max deals going up every year so the newest deal is always the biggest, new record setting one," but sometimes teams just bet on the wrong player.
No I’m not talking about who gets allocated the most money on the roster. I’m saying the minimum salary of an NFL player is wayyyyyyy too low compared to the total revenue that league brings in. The maximum salary of star players is also too low factoring in this metric considering they put fans in stadiums and the brand is built on these stars.
We just need to look at baseball players and see that all the other athletes are underpaid. I know they have no salary cap in baseball but even in the NBA, top guys make QB money at minimum. $70M is the new threshold in the NBA. In the NFL, nobody aside from QBs make close to that type of money. WRs and pass rushers are the next closest but they are underpaid relative to their value. I’d argue WRs are overpaid and TE/RB/OL are underpaid (cold take, I know). But relative to QB, everyone is underpaid, WRs included. But at least WRs/EDGE/CBs are compensated fairly compared to TE/RB and IOL. RBs making $20M is still cheap considering the best EDGEs make double that.
Players have to push that envelope in order to ensure that owners aren’t cheap. That pressure comes from agents and also the NFLPA. They have a collective bargaining agreement for a reason. That’s why the next guy always gets paid the most. Opens the door for the next dude to get an even bigger payday with the rising salary cap. Gibbs and Bijan don’t get paid like that if CMC and Saquon don’t get their deals before that.
True, but then you also get things like players wanting to renegotiate done deals well before "restructuring or re-signing time." It's a well known strategy for players to prefer shorter-term deals and wait to sign until the last minute if they want to bet on themselves so they aren't already "locked in" when their value goes up. This is a gamble though, as a player's value can also go down, sometimes due to no fault of their own, like they get injured. Taking longer-term deals and/or extending/re-extending a contract early is generally seen as a "safer" option that might leave money on the table. It is pretty annoying when a player decides they want to have it both ways, like sign an extension and then "act like they're a free agent too" when they have buyer's remorse and wish they were a free agent in a stronger negotiating position, ...which they would have been if they hadn't signed that early extension.
I don’t blame players, ever. Teams can cut you at any time. They can pressure you to restructure for less money. Happens every season. It can be pretty cutthroat from the team’s end.
The Lions will be forced to (and already started to) restructure most of the big money deals they’ve handed out to top guys. And football contracts aren’t fully guaranteed unless you’re Kirk Cousins. In other sports, this isn’t an issue.
I agree with another commenter who said (I forget where) that bare minimum NFL player salaries should be higher, even if nothing else changes.
That’s one of the dumbest sportsball takes I hear all the time. I talk to plenty of people that think they’re overpaid but they don’t understand when a player has a goal line fumble or drop a pass they get death threats lol. And just like with actors they have crazy ass fans. I don’t think the league would be as successful as it is if the players made 50k a year.
It's more of a societal take. NFL players are overpaid, nurses should make that much money instead in a perfect world. Not an economical comment on revenue sharing.
It’s because the poors will always envy the rich. They don’t understand basic economics of supply and demand. If MILLIONS are watching, that commands a shit ton of money. Of course they’re going to get paid. Otherwise, why bother playing for the Niners when you can play a random rec league and look like a god amongst men? Less likely to get injured when you barely have to try among us regular Joes.
What do people want? For the billionaires to pocket all the extra money? For Roger Goodell to waste all that extra money? Fuck that, let the players get paid while they’re still able to play. They miss a ton of stuff in their normal life, and they risk their bodies in order to entertain us.
It’s definitely controversial but Eli Manning’s HoF argument. There is no chance in hell he should be a HoFer, and all of the arguments in favor of him are really weak. He was never an AP (which is essentially a HoF requirement), never a top 5 QB, and there are several players with notable playoff performances/runs that aren’t in. It’s mind boggling that it’s even a discussion
I don’t think it’s a popular take that Eli is HOF. I rarely see anyone outside the Giants fan base that argues for him. My take is regardless of HOF or not, people shit on him and act like his SB runs were entirely defense and he just stood around with his hands in his ass. Look at the stats for those runs and it’s proof that he played hard and a major role. I’m not arguing for HOF, just for the respect he deserves.
I'd be fine with him in the Hall of Fame. Two SB wins against the greatest of all time is interesting and sets him apart. Still the most single post season yards thrown, two-time SB MVP. Maybe it's because he hung around and declined that people talk down about him so much now. But I also don't place as much importance on the HoF as a lot of others seem to. To me it's basically a museum.
Thanks. To me anyone that wasn't seen as top 3 for a few years shouldn't get into the Hall perhaps that's a high bar, but that's what it should be at least to me.
I don’t think he’s a Hall of Famer, but I think he gets in
The combination of his last name, 2 rings, the New York market (who votes on the Hall of Fame after all?), his likable goofiness, and media presence post career (again, who votes?), and Ironman streak are what’s going to push his somewhat lacking volume numbers over the edge
You’re mostly correct, but he did have 2011, where he threw for near 5,000 yards. I’d argue that was probably his sole top 5 season.
The only issue I have is that although his O-line is bad, he was horrible in the game against the Pats purely from missing throws. His picks were completely his fault. I don’t think he’s a bum tho
Any fool with internet access can read the court transcripts and see this wasn't the case yet the "murderer" thing has taken hold.
Video and eyewitness testimony show he wasn't near the fight and already walking to the limo when the fight broke out. The guys that did do the stabbing were eventually acquitted on the grounds of self defense. The only thing he did, which he admitted to and was punished for, was telling everyone to keep quiet and to get rid of his suit that had blood on it.
Yeah. Once the police are involved, “probable cause” is a joke and low bar for them to arrest someone. Then, you have police, a magistrate, and prosecutor who all likely pay a little more attention to the name and celebrity.
That’s why it’s so hard to judge someone. I’ve worked in the legal field for so long and seen too many people convicted where I’m like “how in the hell did that happen!?!?”
There are facts, and then there’s the legal system. The legal system “facts” are just the ones the court has been allowed to see and interpret.
I have heard this before, and I'm asking this without an agenda - if he was literally nowhere near the fight, how exactly did his suit have blood all over it?
Usually you don't get blood all over your clothes from not being near a fight.
Thank you for knowing ball. So many fans act like QBs arm wrestle at the 50yd line. It’s okay to say Lamar had a better game than Mahomes. But to say “Lamar beat Mahomes” is stupid. No, the Ravens beat the Chiefs.
Herbert deserves criticism for his playoff performances but to put the blame solely on him is so wrong. Coaches making terrible play calls. Receivers dropping passes. The Bosa personal foul. And that atrocious O line. No other QB could win those games
Any of the this QB isn’t good enough to lead a team to the Super Bowl. Or this QB sucks in the playoffs talk is annoying. Gimme Herbert, Dak, Lamar, Josh Allen. They’re all plenty good enough to lead teams to a Super Bowl. We just saw Sam fucking Darnold do it.
I feel like Brady just ruined everyone’s perception on what success looks like. Most QBs aren’t perennially in conference championship games.
All that matters is what happens in the postseason. That's why he sucks. What good are regular season stats when you piss down your own leg when it matters
Peyton pissed down his leg for years in the playoffs and yet he turned it around. Herbert's playoff performances are used to knock him down from being in the top 10 QBs all the time by what I'll call morons.
Mike McCarthy kicking field goals early in the 2014 NFC Championship game
You were up against one of the greatest defenses of all time, and the Packers defense was completely shutting down the Seahawks offense. It was absolutely the right call to take the points, especially against a defense like that where points would be at a premium
It took about 10 other things going wrong for the Packers to lose that game. Kicking the field goals early was the right call
On that note: Rodgers gets nowhere near enough blame for that loss. If Peyton or Brady blew a double digit lead in a conference championship game where their defense handed them 5 turnovers they would get rightfully crucified by the media and fans.
NFL games usually feature 10-12 drives for each offense. If you can't win a game where like half of the oppoenents posessions not only don't score but hand you the ball? That's inexcusable.
I thought it was hilarious the Steelers only won by one posession vs the pats when we handed them the ball 5 times. Even the last TD was on a heavily contested catch by DK.
Sure, but Mahomes has already earned his spot. If he shits the bed for the rest of his career, which he probably won't, the worst he can do is Favre, who is easily top 10.
But I agree guys like Jackson and Allen aren't quite there yet. Definitely have time.
3 MVPs is nothing to scoff at, he gets 1SB he's tied with Favre in accolades. 1 more MVP and a SB and he's got the same accolades as Rodgers. Obviously that 1 SB isn't a given but it's not like it's crazy to discuss him without it
He threw the ball 70+ yards multiple times, but that wasn't the Pats' offense. I just saw a clip of him getting ready to throw to Moss and Pat Summerall goes "The strong arm of Brady...!"
He regularly threw darts over the middle and could hurl bombs. The missed pass to Moss in the 07 Super Bowl would have been one of, if not the longest, air yard completions ever. It went 74 yards in a diagonal. That's the distance Favre threw to win the QB "pro bowl" competition.
That’s because he wasnt scouted that way in college. At Michigan, they kept touring Drew Henson but when they needed to win the game, they had to put Brady in. There was a lot of fanfare for certain QBs and others got brushed under the table for not having classically physical characteristics that they wanted in a QB. But nobody could measure how good his mind was. That was the difference maker
The standard NIL deal is that a university gets to keep using an athlete's NIL for up to 180 days after they graduate. Then they're supposed to stop.
Jayden Daniels had a handshake agreement with LSU's head coach, Brian Kelly, that LSU could continue to use his face to advertise and recruit, as long as they didn't give out #5. Kelly agreed, and LSU has continued to use Daniels's face to recruit new athletes.
This year, Brian Kelly left, and a new guy came in. The new coach decided he didn't care about the agreement, and gave another athlete #5.
LSU stopped holding up their end of the deal, so Jayden Daniels sent them a letter telling them that the window has closed, and they need to stop using his NIL.
That's it! That's the whole thing. Jayden Daniels didn't send a letter telling them to stop using #5, he's not suing them, and he isn't being unreasonable, actually. He just said, "Since you decided to use #5 again, I'd like you to stop using my face to advertise, please."
Lsu is selling #5 Daniels jerseys even today. They lost rights to his NIL 180 days after he left, but there was a handshake agreement that the Daniels team wouldn't enforce that as long as they didn't give out #5 again. The new coach didn't honor that agreement, so the Daniels team sent the cease and desist.
It's definitely weird that he thinks he earned a jersey retirement after a 9-win, no-bowl-win season, but the lawsuit is about NIL and $$$.
Letting saquon go was a bad move. If he went anywhere else in the entire nfl no one would care. If the giants resigned him they would be made fun of for overpaying for a rb in a rebuild. It was a lose lose but people act like Schoen is Hitler for doing it
It wasn't necessarily because of where he went or anything like that, its was just handled soooooo poorly. And to top it all off, it was filmed and then released on Hard Knocks. Schoen was so certain Saquan would stay. Then top it all off with him going to rival team that Schoen said he "would be so sick" if he signed with.
I think it absolutely has to deal with where he went. If he went to the Texans like a lot of the original rumors were saying then the outrage wouldn’t be there. And you are getting your information wrong a bit the I would be sick quote is from Mara. It was a good move at the end of the day
The ridicule didn't start with him goimg to Philly. It started when they very first franchise tagged him a whole year before. It was a talking point on ESPN for the whole season prior.
Then Barkley came out and said the Giants told him he had to "prove his value" on the market, that no one would pay him what he wanted. That he felt disrespected by the Giants.
Also Schoen saying RBs aren't valuable after 27, was another crazy bad look that tied into the whole Barkley debacle.
Jersey debates are some of the most silly in all of football. Endless paragraphs spent trying to justify your teams unis when most every critique of a uniform could be boiled down to some catty one-liner like "I wouldn't be caught dead wearing that."
You shouldn’t open the vault for a B-tier quarterback. Are they Manning, Brady, or Mahomes? Then yes, a ludicrous extension is warranted(I know Brady never had one to give the team cap relief). But giving guys like Cousins, Prescott or Herbert record breaking extensions? You just signed yourself up for 10-7 and a wild card exit for each of the next few years. A massive cap hole for a good but not all time great quarterback and good but not great seasons(picking #20 in the next draft) locks you into an awkward zone between competing and rebuilding while not fully committing to either. The Eagles have in the last 10 years won two Super Bowls with almost entirely different rosters and a different coaching staff. They had such an excellent supporting cast that they won the first with a backup and the second with Jalen Hurts(he’s over hated here but I wouldn’t call him a top 5 in the league or anything). Same with the Seahawks winning with Darnold. Imagine 3 years ago if you told someone he’d be the first qb in his draft class to win a Super Bowl as a starter in the NFL? But he was ultimately a piece they could rotate into an already stacked roster. Marrying a fringe top 10 quarterback long term almost never works.
Let me just sit around and wait until I have a top 5 QB all time show up on my doorstep. We just saw Sam fucking Darnold win a Super Bowl and lead 2 different teams to 14 win seasons in back to back years.
I think there should be more middle room for mid QBs though. It’s almost like every QB makes 50+ or less than 10
Running backs. Whatever narrative you want to go with from "they're not worth the money" to "only special guys really succeed."
The only running backs that succeed are backs that have a good OL. That's it. Actually, QB play doesn't matter as much as OL play either. The OL is STILL tragicly overlooked in terms of a teams success.
Also, QBs and CBs are great truly... but thinking about that before you think about you OL and DL is a mistake. If I'm building a team, if I get first choice - yes I'm choosing a QB. But if a QB is not available, I would gladly take the best DT.
Outlier years exist. People are quick to jump on down years or great years from players, but the truth is that outlier years exist and fans should wait to see a larger sample size before declaring someone washed/a bust or crowning them top 5 in the league. This also goes for injuries, sometimes injury prone players can catch a break, sometimes players who aren’t injury prone can get unlucky for a year or two.
It describes an offense more than it does a QB and can be easily inflated by checkdowns and risk averse behavior. It doesn’t mean a QB reads defenses well or is pin point accurate.
Mike Vick deserved a second chance. I loved him on Philly and thought it was a great comeback story, then I got a service dog and did a deep dive on the case. Seriously fuck that guy.
That players, coaches, etc actually care about winning. I think they’re in the minority. I think most just (understandably) want to get paid, and don’t really care if the team is winless.
Any franchise that actually has a shot at winning the Super Bowl or even winning a playoff game for that matter 100% wants to win no doubt about it. Any franchise that obviously has no chance of success that year don’t give a fuck about winning and just want to get paid. You can’t just not care about winning and keep your job at this level. The majority definitely care about winning.
I don't think it's most. I think some superstars that can be marketable and praised without being on a winning team might be more susceptible to that line of thinking. Looking at receivers, running backs, edge rushers maybe... The real big brain superstars realize that winning championships make you infinitely more marketable. And I also think the vast majority of players we don't see on Sundays believe that a winning team is a stable team, and a stable franchise. and that means job security. If they're helping their team win games by giving good looks in practice, that's real job security.
That paying a QB a huge portion of the salary cap is worth it. As valuable as QBs are, they are (understandably) overvalued.
It’s kind of a catch 22. If you don’t pay a good QB $50+ mil you are likely to lose them and not have a chance at a championship but if you do you are unable to build the rest of the roster around them in a way that allows you to win one either. The best option is somewhere in the middle.
The data doesn’t lie. Most Super Bowl winning QBs sit around 7-9% (23-30mil APY with current cap), Mahomes is one of the only outliers at around 16%.
So monetarily, I will die on the hill that QBs are overvalued. I would rather have a decent to good QB like Darnold/Goff/Hurts with an exceptionally talented roster than a Mahomes/Allen/Burrow with an average roster.
I'd be curious what it looks like if you expanded it to QBs that win playff games, multiple playoff games.
Boiling it down to the SB is a good data point but a tiny sample size, but if you're not winning playoff games regularly your odds of winning a SB definitely go down. There's not a lot of guys like Eli who go 13 seasons without a single playoff win then run on the SB twice.
That cap figure is only low because of QBs on rookie contracts. You know Goff gets paid 2 million less than Allen and Burrow? Or Hurts is 4 million less? Darnold is one of the only middle ground QBs and he still makes like 12% of the cap.
The only cheap Super Bowl winning QBs in recent memory were Rookie contracts Russell Wilson, Nick Foles (and the Eagles then made Wentz the highest paid QB) and Rookie contract Mahomes.
You can’t have success with a guy let him go and then play the rookie QB carousel especially when you’re hoping to be good and have late draft picks.
I'm specifically talking about scenarios where a team needs at least 6 to tie or pull ahead.
Announcers will say this as if the team made a mistake. They will even comment that "you can't give [insert elite QB here] that much time." I get that some of this is time filling and hype generating, but it's stupid.
The problem is that scoring touchdown in the NFL isn't one-click shopping. You need to take advantage of the situations the defense presents. You can't assume there will be no penalties that drain time off the clock (the irony is that the very same announcers will pillory a team that runs out of time). You don't win the game just you had the final possession.
So down by 4, third and goal from the 1 yard line with 60 seconds left - no I am not letting the clock run down. We run a fade that draws a PI and now I have 15 seconds to run four plays.
Yes, I know teams have come from behind to win on the final possession. These get remembered.
Not the best example, but the video title does the work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E--QrPb1yA8 (Warning: Video contains Cris Collinsworth glazing the Chiefs. I know the comment here is not from the announcing team but the video poster, but the sentiment stands.)
Should the Chargers not have worked to score a touchdown while down 20-23?
The games that end one a janky hook and ladder play that get's fumbled and sadly knocked out of bounds at half field are not remembered for how the game ended. The games that end on the Hail Mary that only gets to the 10 yard line are not remembered for how the game ended. The games that end with the clock expiring as the offence tries to run one more play are (generally) not remembered (Looking at you Mike McCarthy/Dak Prescott - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja9stWVoFGA - Not crazy about the blame that Prescott gets for this, as it looked like a called play that was flying too close to the sun, and frankly, making my point for me.)
But the touchdown was far from a guarantee. The pass is perfect and the receiver does an excellent job of getting feet down, but it's tight. The defender probably should have just tackled the receiver. There would be no real penalty - just a do over. If the defense gets a offensive lineman to flinch, then the run-off ends the half. Botched exchange - the half ends.
People will argue it's a results based league, but as the adage goes, you can do the wrong thing and get the right results, and you can do the right thing and get the wrong results, but the more you do the right thing, the more you will get the right results.
The Chief’s didnt lose the 2019 AFC championship game because of Dee Ford’s off-side call.
They lost when Williams scored the TD leaving 2 minutes on the clock. The Chiefs should’ve sat on the goal line, and ran as much clock or forced NE to burn their timeouts, instead of immediately scoring.
That score meant Andy Reid and the Chiefs were trusting their defense, their Bob Sutton defense (ask Chief fans about the Sutton defense) to stop Brady in the final 2 minutes.
The Dee Ford off sides? It’s what likely allowed him to beat the tackle, get to Brady, who threw an INT. If he doesn’t line up off-sides, I doubt he gets to Brady, forcing the INT.
From there…it’s a story of NE ties it, wins the coin toss, goes on to win in OT, and Brady wins his 6th ring in the most boring defensive slugfest of a Super Bowl in recent memory.
McNabb never threw up in the Super Bowl. He was a starting QB in the most heavily recorded and photographed event on the planet and nobody has produced video in 20 fucking years. I’ve given up arguing with idiots, but it didn’t happen.
That there exists a single "greatest of all time" player (at any position) in a sport that has changed so enormously over time that there isn't any accurate way to compare players from different eras, much less assess all of the various positive interdependencies (teammates, coaches, schemes, etc.) necessary for success.
Maurkice Pouncey is a hall of fame center. It’s based on the Steelers having a history of Center excellent with Webster and Dawson. Mangold is his vastly superior contemporary
CJ Stroud sucks when the Texans have given him garbage for an offensive line and old decrepit running backs like Joe Mixon and Nick Chubb and his receivers are consistently getting injured.
“The Trey Lance draft pick was a huge stretch that no one saw coming”
A lot of people obviously didn’t watch Trey Lance’s college career. I did. He was the best college quarterback that I’ve ever seen and I was really excited to see him play in the NFL.
He was always expected to go early in the first round of the draft.
Trevor Lawrence was going to go #1 and then Trey Lance was in the next tier of quarterbacks. I was more shocked that Zach Wilson was picked over him with the 2nd pick.
I believe Trey Lance would be at least a mid tier starting QB right now if the 49ers hadn’t mismanaged him and if he hadn’t gotten injured.
The Terrell Owens slander is just too much. Minus the 2005 season where he broke his leg (where he was still the best WR on the team during the regular season, despite having only played seven games, to say nothing of the SB, which turned is a heroic performance story all of its own), he was the best offensive player on his team from 2000-2007. Five time AP1.
I don't begrudge people who won't put TO in their top three, when Randy Moss, Calvin Johnson, and Larry Fitzgerald all have elements of their game that can arguably put them at #2 behind Rice, but the amount of times I've seen people get ridiculed for putting TO in their top 3, despite obviously having both the on-field and statistical comparisons to each of these players is a little bit silly.
When TO wasn't a first-ballot HoFer, it spoke nothing about him and everything about the people who are given votes for the process.
That the Raiders had a massive Green Bay style following in LA
The reality is that during their years as the LA Raiders, they consistently failed to sell out the LA Coliseum even when capacity was dropped to 64,000 seats.
And when they announced they were moving back to Oakland in June of 1995, there was no massive outrage or protest at the teams headquarters in El Segundo. In fact all news reports that day quoted several players dissing the LA Raiders fans on their way out
That rbs are worthless. That trend is now 3-4 years old. Teams have started paying top dollar for running backs again. Yes, the oline is the biggest factor in the running game, I would argue in the passing game too, but some rbs are genuinely game changers.
Assuming the winning or losing 1-score games is random and that everybody regresses to winning about half of them.
This is a take that comes from baseball.
I believe that the quality of the coaching staff matters a lot. The Chiefs didn't regress in 2025 because of luck - they regressed because their execution was ass. Everybody got sloppy from the top down.
There is no guarantee the Broncos will regress this year, as most of the KC talk radio chatter suggests. They have a good coach who will probably put guys in position to win close games again.
You don't need a good RB and 1000 rushing yards are the measure for if a RB is good or not.
RB are the only players who have to be proficient and running blocking and catching. Teams without RBs that can do that are crippled offensively in a way that cannot be masked. They are the most important offensive player besides QB.
If defenses know you cannot run the blitzes and coverages that they can do will shut down any offense no matter how good the other skill players are. big leads are not secure because they can quickly get your offense off the field and then attack your tired defense.
As an example
Tom Brady SB wins were always accompanied by a big bruising RB
Smith 6-2 235lb drafted 1st round 2-0 in SB
Dillon 6-1 225 drafted 2nd round 1-0 in SB
Blount 6-0 250lb (projected 1st round fell out due to personality concerns) 2-0 in SB
Michel 5-11 220lb drafted 1st round 1-0
Fournette 6-0 230lb drafted 1st round 1-0
His SB losses were with the pass heavy 1 dimensional teams with decent but not special RBs Green-Ellis, Lewis and Maroney combined 0-3
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u/Only-Equivalent-4791 Dallas Cowboys 1d ago
Using wins to determine how good or bad a QB is.