But there are also a heap of QBs who get drafted high, and never amount to anything more than a wasted draft pick. You're almost taking the angle that all one has to do is take a high 1st round draft pick to win. As if there is never any downside to doing so.
You think Fields is that good? I don't. In fact, I think the Raiders could go further with Aiden O'Connell than Fields.
If you think it's that much of an issue that Pete find a QB immediately, who do you think is out there that will immediately perform? Darnold? You can't really think Fields is that good.
Legion of Doom? Just average guys you think? Like in that Super Bowl they won against Denver and Peyton Manning when the Broncos had one of the most high powered offenses in NFL history.
Wrong. Look it up again. They won a playoff game and got to the divisional round. They fell behind the Bears 35-10 in the 4Q, but refused to give up and launched a furious comeback, coming close to winning the game.
Not saying Wilson wasn't good. He was damn good in his first several years in Seattle, before his ego went through the ceiling. But he wasn't the only reason they won games, like Pete was an average coach, lucky to have Wilson. I don't buy that.
I do however agree pursuing another QB will be key. And like you, I would take a flyer on Zach Wilson. With the right coach (like Pete), I think he could thrive. Just look at last year's pre-season. He also won more games for the Jets than Aaron Rodgers.
I'm not quite as high on Sanders and Ward as you are. This seems to me like the year Winston & Mariotta came into the league. Or EJ Manuel and Geno Smith. Or the year Kenny Pickett was taken. Theses guys will be expected to start very early, week 1, and I'm not so sure either will pan out. They could end up starters, sure. But not the franchise guy some people think. I have doubts.
All the day two guys will go somewhere and sit. Ewers, Howard, Gabriel, Milroe, Dart. For the Raiders specifically, would any of these be perceived as better than O'Connell?
If I were the Raiders I would not however pursue Sam Darnold. I don't think he's worth the huge paycheck he's likely to get from some desperate team.
Regarding Stan Humphries, he was really a game manager plus. He played well in some big games (sans the SB, but it was their defense that caved), but he was never at the elite level.
I realize there's a "heap" of 1st rounders that have failed miserably & were no doubt a wasted draft pick. But there were also quite a few good ones that have gone on as HOFers (e.g., Dawson, Namath, Bradshaw, Griese, Marino, Elway, Kelly, Aikman, P. Manning, etc). Of course there's a down side on drafting a QB in the 1st rd - especially when trading up & losing future draft picks. But as I pointed out on Potomac's graph
65% of all SB winning QBs came from the 1st rd with a select few in the early 2nd rd. Like anything else, it's a risk/reward proposition with a downside risk as you pointed out.
My mistake with Carroll winning the WC playoff game in the 2010 7-9 season. His QB that season & in the playoffs was Matt Hasselbeck. Why then did he not stick with Hasselbeck instead drafting Wilson a couple seasons later? Was Hasselbeck not the answer?
Fields is bigger, stronger, faster & has a better arm than O'Connell. Whether or not O'Connell is better than Fields is undetermined right now because O'Connell hasn't played enough in two seasons having an injury-riddled season this past year. No doubt Fields was terrible at Chicago going 10-28 in 3 seasons with not very good throwing stats (a lot of picks). However, at Pittsburgh in a 2nd chance to resurrect his career he was 4-2 in 6 starts subbing for the injured Wilson & throwing the ball much better with a career high 93 QB rating (only 1 INT). Could he turn his career around like Mayfield is doing? Don't know - but he needs the opportunity to play at least a full season to find out.
O'Connell had an impressive rookie season going
5-5 in the 10 games that he started in the 2023 season. It looked like the Raiders had something to build on going into O'Connell's 2nd season. But I see where O'Connell gets beat out by Minshew in preseason with Minshew named the starter? WTF? Anyway, Minshew wasn't performing well & O'Connell was back in the staring lineup early season. But then came the thumb injury that put him on IR & the later end of the season knee injury. In the 7 starts he did play, he was 2-5 taking a big step backward from the previous year. So, are the Raiders going to go with O'Connell as their guy? Is he the Franchise QB for Carroll? Hoping he won't keep getting injured & play more like his rookie year? Or are the Raiders looking at him as only a backup? FWIW, his draft prospect profile was rated at only a
"5.96" which translates to an
"Average Backup."
I think Sanders is the real deal (laugh at me all you want). He had a sensational senior year at CU playing in Shurmur's zone-read, spread shotgun offense. Throwing for over 4000, 74% completion, 37/10 TD/INT, 9 wins & winning the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award all playing behind a
2nd-tier offensive line that put him constantly under pressure. But as you pointed out many times before, just because a college QB is shredding defenses with outstanding throwing performances doesn't mean they're going to be successful in the pros seeing the very best defensive players in the game. But I do have him over Ward & Jalen Milroe (who scouts are now projecting as a late 1st rounder or early 2nd).
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