2018-2019 NFL Season Thread Football • Page 803

so 3 of the 5 best rosters in the league and the GOAT

its not easy to do what Barnwell is saying. It isn't easy to build a loaded roster.

 

None of it is easy....

 

Who (before the start of the 2017-2018 season) would have said the Eagles "had a loaded roster"?

I believe only two people picked the Eagles to even go to the playoffs in our annual prediction thread prior to last year...and one of those people was me lol.

 

Doing it that way you have to hit on a LOT of draft picks not just a few super important ones.

Jags did that over the last few years but like. I feel lucky more than anything haha. Lot of those guys who became pillars of our team could have just been busts and faded away.

 

It was well known that when healthy, you had one of the best offensive lines in the league, one of the best defensive lines in the league, a very talented linebacker, and potential hope that Wentz would play better with upgraded receivers.

 

You don't have to hit. You just have to not miss.

 

So why weren't more people (not just here but everywhere) picking them to do ANYTHING last year?

 

Eh, I think it’s just as hard to build a team that way. There’s no guarantee that the quarterbacks you keep drafting will even be as good as Bortles / Foles with any reliability.

And in order to succeed with a QB like that you need an A grade defense, and the ability to run the football at will. Which requires HITTING on a lot of draft picks and getting blue chip players on every other layer of your team.

 

Because people, for the most part, rely on shitty kneejerk reactions instead of watching games and understanding context.

Anyone who watched y'all play in 2016 when your offensive line was all starting knew that y'all were a well built and coached team. The only question mark was whether or not Wentz was good but he also has shit receivers, for the most part.

 

The whole concept is save money on a QB and build the team with the money you save so I really don't know how we keep coming back to "you have to draft extremely well"

 

If you get 2 starters in a draft, it’s a good draft. That’s how I grade it.

 

I don’t think I agree about dumping a franchise QB but I DEFINITELY agree about dumping those in between guys for a guy on a rookie deal

Dak and Mariota are good examples from his article of guys who I would rather take a risk on a QB on a rookie deal than spend what it would probably take to keep them on a non-rookie deal

 

2 starters and 2-3 long term depth players****

Your team will suck after any major injuries, if those later round picks don’t have sustainability and roster insurance in mind.

 

Yeah, basically just don't shell out a ridiculous amount of money on your QB

 

Dak is a good example of if you have good/great talent around them then he can play well. People focus on how bad he has been the last 10 or so games, but his stats in his first 24 games were incredible.

Unfortunately, our coaching is god awful and nearly everyone around Dak is average at best and downright bad at worst.

 

Drafting “great” with a below avg QB: Jaguars, Vikings (before Cousins)
Drafting “good” with a below avg QB: Titans, Bears, Bengals

Now I know the Titans always beat us and I like the Bears this year... but honestly there is a big gap at least on paper between us and those teams. I could see us or Minny going to a Super Bowl. Those other 3 teams? Not a chance.

You gotta have a damn good front office to eat that pizza from the crust end first.

 

Still somehow with the drafting thing

 

There’s a writer from The Athletic that did a series of articles breaking down Mahomes. He had me completely convinced Mahomes was awesome and I’d never actually seen him play in a game. It’s weird that everything that guy said was right.

 

dude i remember that! that was a good series

 

Yo, I just remembered the Giants were gonna trade up to take mahomes and lolled

 

Thank god they didn't, holy shit

 

It really doesn’t matter if you can trade for / sign all these good free agents, Bears have Mack and ARob now and they still are 3rd best team in the division. Your drafted core still is most of what determines the quality and winning culture of your team.

Free agents can help a lot but they won’t make or save a team. Rest assured we need Yannick and Mack and Ramsey to be good just as much as Bouye and Jackson and Campbell have been good. We need Cam as much as we need Norwell.

Also you’re def moving the goal posts by saying drafting doesn’t matter. It’s about team building as a whole. No team can afford to fill more than like a third of their starting positions with free agents.