Y’ALL THOUGHT I WASNT GOING TO MAKE A BREAKDOWN POST CAUSE ITS A BYE WEEK? THINK AGAIN COWARDS!
The good: we gained zero yards today, that’s a problem. Gotta fold the franchise.
The bad: no turnovers and no incompletions, we are Super Bowl bound baby!
My real thoughts:
So it already got announced that Ridder will be the QB going forward, which I think is the right move. Me personally, I think I would have just kept him out there and lived with the pains. I know that will make people roll their eyes but I’m just a believer in I just want to see him play as many snaps as possible. I do think he was benched because of the hit to the head. I think letting him take a breather has some benefits and while I wouldn’t do it that way… I understand the vision and the choice.
I know Smith’s coaching job is the real hot topic of this page now. And I have tried to remain as unbiased on my thoughts on Ridder to this point but I’ll give my real outlook on the team as a whole.
I think Terry and Arthur had a vision when they were hired of building a complete team with no “superstars” per se. The real point I’m trying to say is they wanted a guy who would never take up more than 18% of their cap. This is why they never had a real desire to pursue someone like Lamar Jackson, he was way too expensive. Now I understand that you need a good QB to win in this league… but all of these guys are good. Unless you have Patrick Mahomes or Tom Brady… most QB’s are closer to each other in terms of “ranking” than you think. Lamar Jackson is closer to Kirk Cousins than he is Patrick Mahomes. And for the record… I don’t mean that as an insult to Jackson… Cousins is a really really good QB. There’s no QB worth 18% or more of your cap space if your name is not Patrick Mahomes.
That percentage is a number the front office including Blank has said publicly about good team building. The contracts we gave after 2016 doomed us. Not because they were bad moves, but because all those guys didn’t produce at the same level. Trufant had a big contract, Devonta Freeman had a good deal, Ricardo Allen was on a decent contract… but injuries caused all of those guys to regress by a large amount. I think that Terry and Smith got hired and said “we are just gonna play out the contracts and then restart in 2023 and 2024.”
Before the 2022 season, ESPN reported that Matt Ryan was fully expect to be our QB for another year. I am a huge Matt Ryan fan, but I also recognize what he was going to be in 2022 and 2023 had he still been on the team: an Alex Smith type QB. Then Watson became available, and the owner Arthur Blank overstepped his hand. Terry Fontenot has always preached about “high character” football players. There’s a reason they felt comfortable taking Bijan with a top 10 pick. There’s also a reason we pulled the trade in place for Ridley with the eagles when we knew he was going to be suspended. Also for as much as Smith rubs people the wrong way press conferences, you think he wanted to deal with Watson baggage?
The inquiry of Watson completely destroyed this regimes plan. Matt Ryan wanted out, and now you have to throw out Marcus Mariota and an unprepared Desmond Ridder. I really think the optimal game plan for Smith was just let Matt play out the last two years of his deal and let Ridder hold a clipboard for two seasons. The coaching the last few weeks has not been up to par as it’s been the first two seasons. I am fully aware of that. But I’m also not irrational enough to throw away a complete sample size because of the last few weeks. Look at all the years Sean Payton went 7-9, should the saints have fired him? There’s more that goes into wins and loses other than the head coach.
The team needs to play better, and it starts with the head coach. I don’t think he will be fired, but I also think it’s a lot more than just him if he is fired. If Blank fires him, to be honest with you I can’t be too upset with Smith. Because in a way I think that these guys had a bright future that got doomed because of overstepping owner and team president.
(Idk who made that post about rich mckay last week on this subreddit but that guy was COOKING!)
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I’m sorry but I’m just not seeing this. How can you say they have a “no superstars” approach to team building when all three top 10 picks have been spent on offensive skill position players? I agree that Blank deserves a lot of blame for derailing our QB succession plans but that doesn’t excuse Smith’s poor usage of Day 1 picks and Fontenot’s poor drafting on Day 2.
I also don’t buy that we weren’t interested in Lamar. Mahomes is head and shoulders above any other football player on the planet but a healthy Lamar is better than Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow, and Matthew Stafford - who have all won or nearly won Super Bowls since this regime was hired. Let’s not even begin to entertain that Cousins - who I think is top 10 - is on the same tier as Lamar.
The reason we didn’t go after Lamar - which has been widely suggested - is the same reason nobody else did: the Ravens very obviously would have matched any offer he received. I say this as someone who was banging the table for Lamar; it simply was never going to happen and the FO knew that, just like all 31 other FOs.
It’s not about if the players are super star players or not. It’s very clear Pitts, Robinson, and London are top 10 players at their position even if their production doesn’t always say it. It’s about the organization not wanting to give contracts that allocate a large section of the cap space. Also if their draft is so bad do you trust them to pick anyone but the obvious choice?
All the QB’s you mentioned have either NOT won a Super Bowl (outside of stafford who made up less than 18% of his teams cap space). Again every guy you just mentioned is very good, they still are not anywhere in the same stratosphere as Patrick Mahomes.
Yes obviously the Ravens would have matched it. But signing him still goes against the philosophy of too much money in one player. It doesn’t matter if it’s a QB, he can’t take up all your cap.
Pretty good take.
Basically same way i feel. Tho ive never been big on ridder…
I definitely understood the vision that Arthur and TF haf for the team. And they have done a very good job at installing a new culture here. Tho its been pretty shakey at times this year.
I think they thought ridder could at least run the offensr as well as Mariota did. But …i dont know. I just think its too much for him and he is probably destined to be a back up and spot starter. Maybe he can prove me wrong but idk… not sure where the team goes from here. But i dont think Smith gets fired yet either regardless of this season. I think he has struggled to scheme around ridders flaws and inability to run an offense. Seems to me Smith is having to make many real time adjustments on office that a QB normally makes on the field. Hence all the confusion and delay of games in crucial moments down the stretche. Smith is having to micromanage too much of the game. And its hurting the overall offense. His pathetic excuse for an OC isn’t helping there. If Smith stays on i think they at least need to fire ragone who is basically useless and always has been…and bring in OC that can help add more to the passing offense. I think that pretty much has to happen for the offrnse to have any success regardless of the QB. And they obviously have to draft or sign one next year. Hopefully jayden daniels or drake maye.