'Be patient... or I'll kill you'

[Boone]

When things are bad, it impacts everyone. Your handful of top tier players are going to look average. And your average players are going to look like what we've mostly seen this season.

 

[tomwvr]

I think it can be both- bad coaching (plus bad personnel selection) and a poor overall level of talented players.

I see very few players (maybe 5) that any of the top tier teams would truly covet.

I see 10-15 players that would start on other teams. And 20 that are back ups and the rest should not be playing in the NFL

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I see 10-15 players that would start on other teams. And 20 that are back ups and the rest should not be playing in the NFL

I don't see that many. I think I see ... 5 definite starters on other teams:

- McLaurin
- Allen
- Payne
- Cosmi
- Curl ** Who is a FA.

The player I ALMOST put on that list was Robinson. I like Robinson, and he's a tough, hard runner. But there are a lot of Robinsons in the NFL, and unless you're an elite RB, it's kindof a "meh" position. But if you wanted to toss him in there, ok.

Others getting consideration for VERY low-end starter:
- Fuller: He MIGHT deserve to be on the top list. But he's getting older and slower. But he's a smart guy.
- Dotson: He MIGHT deserve to be on the top list. He was good last year, disappeared this year, and has had some REALLY bad drops. I'm not sure how many teams he starts for, but he probably plays for a lot of them.
- Leno: He's old, he's expensive, but he's very "ok." Could he start somewhere else? Maybe.
- Logan Thomas: He's old, he's slow and he's expensive. But he can be the "move" TE, ok blocker, pretty good pass catcher. Propensity for VERY untimely drops.
- John Bates: If you want somebody blocked, he can block a guy. He can also drop a lot of passes.
- James Smith-Williams: He's a professional run-stopping DE. Not splashy. I think he's more a rotational player than a starter elsewhere, but he deserves a job in the NFL.
- Jamin Davis: He wouldn't start almost anywhere else, and is probably only starting here because he was a first round pick. He's a low-end starter at best, good rotational guy though.

Folks who probably deserve a job in the NFL for a few more years:

- St. Juste
- Several of the rotational DEs
- Derrick Forest (Who could rise to one of the other lists. He had a good year last year, been hurt all this year, so it's tough to tell where he should fit in.)
- Percy Butler when he's not running away from the play
...? Others

NOTE: I intentionally left the 2023 draft class out. It's too early to tell. And a number of them have been on IR or not played. It was a putrid draft class for year 1. Forbes has had about as disappointing a season as you can imagine for a first round pick.

I think of the 60-ish players (including a few on IR) who make up the "real" team, there are probably no more than 5-7 who ABSOLUTELY would start on another team, about 10-15 who will be backups/rotational guys, and the rest will be out of the league in a year or two.

 

[burgold]

Just to be me, I might add both Howell (with a good line) and Brissett (if you consider a top backup a starter-in-waiting which I think a lot of teams do).

I know we're really down on him at the moment and deservedly so, but if you take first half of the year Howell and put him behind an above average line I think more than half the teams would want to roll the dice on him. I think there were quite a few teams that called to trade for Brissett because of injury at the trade deadline. The Browns before they "settled" for Flacco were definitely one of them though obviously they weren't willing to blow us away with an offer we couldn't refuse.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Just to be me, I might add both Howell (with a good line) and Brissett (if you consider a top backup a starter-in-waiting which I think a lot of teams do).

I know we're really down on him at the moment and deservedly so, but if you take first half of the year Howell and put him behind an above average line I think more than half the teams would want to roll the dice on him. I think there were quite a few teams that called to trade for Brissett because of injury at the trade deadline. The Browns before they "settled" for Flacco were definitely one of them though obviously they weren't willing to blow us away with an offer we couldn't refuse.

Yeah, I just left them off for no reason. I actually didn't even think about the QB position when thinking about it. Chuckle.

Brissett absolutely would go in the "low end starter/good backup" list.

Howell deserves a job in the NFL. What kind of job is yet to be determined. As of now, he clearly couldn't start for any other team. Could he be the primary backup? Maybe. Hell, he's better than the guy who was the backup who played for 2 years here because he can throw the ball more than 9 inches down field. If sneakers can get a backup QB job, Howell certainly should be able to as well.