Yeah that’s my point. They had planS and it didn’t work out. Maybe if they had one coherent and consistent plan, it would have worked better.
For example, let’s examine the state of the O Line.
2020 - Marcus Cannon sat out and Onwenu replaced him as a rookie and was phenomenal. Also tagged Thuney and paid him like 20M that year. Why do that if you’re rebuilding with a bridge QB? This was the last year we had a top line. Wynn, Thuney, Andrews, Mason, Onwenu. All top 10 for their position that year. Made it a top 5 line.
2021 - Rookie Mac comes in. Let’s give him the best line possible. But wait, Thuney left in free agency. You could have signed him last year for less, or this year since you have the money. But nope. Ok so replace him with Karras, who was below average and a backup his whole life. He played fine, but Wynn now struggles without a top 3 LG next to him. Also Onwenu was our RT, but “we don’t see him as a tackle” so we made him a BACKUP GUARD. Guard is less valuable position. Traded for Trent Brown to be your RT, but redid his contract so he was a free agent after one year (which made him ineligible for a comp pick). So he’s just a stop gap at RT. Then he gets injured because of course, so Onwenu kicks back outside and of course is phenomenal again. Not a great line, but we made it work.
2022 - now it gets off the rails. Let Karras walk even tho his new contract was small and reasonable. Trade Shaq Mason… why? Oh yes, because you see Onwenu as a guard. Time to move on from a top 5 RG who was making top 25 RG money. So lost both guards. Quick! Let’s reach for a small school guard in the first round. He’s perfect for that inside zone scheme Patricia has wants to try this year. Now Onwenu hasss to be RG, so let’s sign Trent brown back at RT. Yes he was under contract for 2 years, but we changed it to one, only to resign him again for the second year anyway… for more money. Ok so now the line is going through major changes that we totally didn’t see coming and could not have prevented. New players, new positions, rookies, new scheme. How can we give them some consistency? I know! Let’s swap Wynn and Brown. (Trust us, it works better for Patricia’s scheme). Brown struggled next to a rookie, Strange struggled as a rookie, Andrews was a rock again, Onwenu struggled at RG which was a new spot for him, and Wynn was so pissed he got moved to RT he quit on the team. Fantastic. But don’t worry, year three of the plan will make sense.
2023 - 3rd OC and scheme in 3 years. Here we go. Let’s panic and throw shot at the wall and see what sticks.
Draft 3 linemen
Sign 2 linemen
Trade for 2 linemen
If those 7, only Sow as a rookie has been contributing. And he’s struggling. At least this mess has moved Onwenu back to RT where he belongs. This line has been a disaster.
2024 - Brown and Onwenu are free agents. Andrews is hinting at retirement. So we are left with strange in year three. Maybe he’ll finally figure it out. And same with Sow in year 2. This is the plan? Really??
I can do this with every position group. This is not a plan. This is constant pivoting because you don’t have any idea what next year will look like, year after year.
Whaaaat?? Mac Jones taking his rightful place as Tua’s backup? No way, where have I seen that before? Hahaha 🤣
Apparently you can’t edit posts here? Guys, this is not meant to be defending Mac. I was out on him in the draft and was beyond furious we didn’t get Fields to sit behind Cam and learn (lol). I was only in during that great stretch of his rookie year. I even apologized and everything. But he got blown out in the playoffs and didn’t take a step forward in year two and so I was out again. I’m glad it’s finally acceptable to hate him. I am not a Mac Jones apologist.
Guys, they could have kept Baker Mayfield for HALF that money. They would be superbowl contenders with Baker right now.
DUCKS
That’s really cool, thanks for sharing. Hey man, if that happens, we’ll just have to play the Chiefs on the road, and then the Ravens on the road. We got this! Hottest team in the NFL. 6 game win streak! Let’s gooooo!!!