National Football League

[Nomad]

My prediction is, barring a bad preseason, Simpson is the day 1 starter. They wouldn't havs picked a QB at "13" (bypassing some really good impact players) if they didn't have an immediate need & were done with Stafford. Simpson is the third highest 1st rd drafted QB in the modern era of Rams history behind only Goff & Bradford (both #1 OAs). IMO, McVay wants to groom from the ground up a young QB that he drafted.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

That would send shockwaves through the NFL, especially after so many pundits thought the Rams can win the next Super Bowl with Stafford at QB.

Would also be absolutely amazing to see Simpson start week 1 with reigning MVP Stafford on the bench, while Kirk Cousins starts for the Raiders while Fernando Mendoza sits (at least a few weeks).

 

[Nomad]

Well, if Simpson has a good preseason & gets a grasp of McVay's offense, I don't see why he wouldn't start considering the damage done to Stafford. They've thrown him under the bus with the "secret meetings" McVay had with Simpson, giving a script of silence for Simpson to follow & keeping Stafford in the dark until draft day (sounds like a Hollywood movie plot. Lol).

The whole situation smells of desperation that ownership intends to move on from Stafford sooner rather later. By drafting Simpson, they passed on Sadiq, the top TE in this draft & Lemon, the #3 ranked WR in his class (instant day 1 starters & impact players). That should tell the story right there - a guy like Sadig doesn't come around very often.

Say for example If they had drafted one of those two guys & then took Carson Beck with their 2nd rd pick (Rams picked 61 in the 2nd rd & Beck was drafted by the Cards in the 3rd at 65), it certainly would have looked like they wanted Stafford around for a few more years while they have their future QB that can sit & learn under him.

Here's an article on Simpson's "super powers" that drew such high interest:

 https://www.therams.com/news/ty-simpson-s-superpower-processing-pro-style-throws-nfl-draft-2026

On Mendoza, don't you think that's a ruse that Kubiak isn't going to start him opening week? Suppose Mendoza has an good preseason grasping Kubiak's offensive scheme & showing excellent progress for the pro game - why wouldn't he start? Starting Cousins in that situation would be missed vaulable reps for Mendoza setting back his progress, IMO.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

That article reminds me of JJ McCarthy and his superpowers.

I certainly do think Mendoza could start week 1. In fact, I think there's a 50% chance he does. Even if Kubiak starts Cousins, I only see Mendoza sitting maybe 5 games. We'll know more when we get to the schedule, and preseason.

 

[Nomad]

I think his performance in the preseason games & joint practice scrimmages will tell a lot.

Payton was impressed enough with Nix that he named him the starter in week 3 of preseason camp. Nix had performed very well grasping Payton's offense pretty quickly though neck & neck with Stidham (remember Stidham wasn't happy with the decision & thought he had won the starting job). I remember Payton saying he was particularly impressed with Nix's athleticism & dual-threat capabilities (so much so that Payton installed some designed QB runs into the offense)..

And Nix reeled off a pretty good rookie season leading the team to a 10-7 record & playoffs. This from a 12th pick & QB#6 drafted in that big QB class of 2024.

 https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/22/sport/bo-nix-starter-denver-broncos-spt-intl/index.html

 

[Nomad]

Anyone that thinks quarterbacking in the NFL is easy...think again. And Gruden needs to get back into coaching...he's doing a great job with Simpson in this hurry up offensive drill:

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/mHWDia8-CvA?si=BpLSuZgDht6T0lWz

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Gruden should be a HC again some day. He should never again be a GM or in control of drafts or FA signings.

Talk about media bias. The media loves Shedeur Sanders, or at the very least wants to see him play, so they can have something interesting to write about. Consider this from Fox Sports.

Here are Sanders stats for last year with Cleveland: 56.6% completion, 1400 yards, 7 TDs, and 10 Ints.

And the stats for Dillon Gabriel: 59.5% completion, 937 yards, 7 TDs and 2 Ints.

So the article concludes, "Making Sanders a clear superior option." (based only on win-loss apparently, ignoring what the rest of the team did??). The author goes on to compare Shedeur and this option to Brock Purdy in SF, or Russell Wilson when he arrived in Seattle.

In other (hopefully good) news, it appears the NFL and referee union has made progress towards a new contract, after initially stalling. The NFL has scrapped any plans of even vetting replacement refs. I don't think a football fan alive wants to see another fail mary.

 

[movingtarget]

Gruden should be a HC again some day. He should never again be a GM or in control of drafts or FA signings.

Talk about media bias. The media loves Shedeur Sanders, or at the very least wants to see him play, so they can have something interesting to write about. Consider this from Fox Sports.

Here are Sanders stats for last year with Cleveland: 56.6% completion, 1400 yards, 7 TDs, and 10 Ints.

And the stats for Dillon Gabriel: 59.5% completion, 937 yards, 7 TDs and 2 Ints.

So the article concludes, "Making Sanders a clear superior option." (based only on win-loss apparently, ignoring what the rest of the team did??). The author goes on to compare Shedeur and this option to Brock Purdy in SF, or Russell Wilson when he arrived in Seattle.

In other (hopefully good) news, it appears the NFL and referee union has made progress towards a new contract, after initially stalling. The NFL has scrapped any plans of even vetting replacement refs. I don't think a football fan alive wants to see another fail mary.

Seems like the Browns will be going for Watson or Sanders as starting QB. The coach is talking about those two battling it out , with no mention of Gabriel.
Like to see Gruden get another opportunity. His GM failures are sort of similar to Bill B's which was supposedly one of the reasons why Brady moved to the Buccs. He wasn't happy with the roster fails. The media has been coming after Shanahan recently for his poor record in drafts as well, in the early rounds. They are lining up to take shots at him since the draft. Some are blaming Lynch but everyone knows that Shanahan usually has the final say with the roster and draft and some say that is the problem, he is a much better coach than personnel selector. Teams like the Eagles, Buccs and Seattle have strong GM's who have control of their draft and FA signings and it seems to work better for them, keeping the coach out of it for the most part.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Gruden was a worse GM than Belichick, by far. However, if you mean they were both given too much power, and in the end it bit both of them, that's true.

SF also loves to focus on playmakers, with the trenches as an afterthought, even when they needs such players. Let's also not forget what SF gave up to get Lance, and how Purdy completely bailed them out. Shanahan has not impressed me as an evaluator of talent either. He's won games with talent you didn't think he could at times, but he also is, by far, more to blame than anyone for the second SB loss to the Chiefs.

Brad Holmes in Detroit and Brian Gutekunst in Green Bay also seem to be quite in charge of those teams personnel.

Though it's early, I also think John Spytek made nearly all the calls for the Raiders this off-season, though I'm sure he got some feedback from Kubiak.

I'm curious how Matt Ryan does, and what he exactly does in Atlanta as president of football operations. He reports directly to owner Arthur Blank, and has control over the GM, HC and everyone else.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Belichick was hit or miss that worsened as his tenure went on. But he did try in 2019, the team just fell apart due to multiple reasons as I’ve already stated. The biggest issue was how BB treated Brady.