BGO Blind Pig: Week 15 at Los Angeles Rams

[Boone]

The guys briefly recap the Miami loss, talk about players they want to further assess over the last 4 games of the Ron Rivera era, and review the upcoming game against the Sean McVay-led LA Rams. They really do (moreso than anything else). Subscribe to the audio version of BGO Blind Pig on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or any major podcast provider.

 

[Canadian Hog]

One guy I wanted to make mention of last night, but didn't as we had already switched topics was Phil Mathis. This guy has barely seen the field in the time he has spent in Washington. It will be really interesting to see if a new coaching staff moves on, or if he gets a final shot to prove he wasn't a wasted 2nd round draft choice.

 

[Boone]

I don’t even know if he’s available right now but he’s a good one. I feel the same way about Ricky Stromberg.

And on the Rams prediction discussion, amazing we didn’t even reference we are coming off a bye week having had 2 weeks to prepare - because apparently that means nothing when it comes to this coaching staff.

 

[Neophyte]

I really believe poor coaching lies at the heart of our secondary issues. None of these guys look as good as they did last year and nearly all of them are young enough to still be improving.

 

[burgold]

One guy I wanted to make mention of last night, but didn't as we had already switched topics was Phil Mathis. This guy has barely seen the field in the time he has spent in Washington. It will be really interesting to see if a new coaching staff moves on, or if he gets a final shot to prove he wasn't a wasted 2nd round draft choice.

Not sure how you draft Mathis at 2 if you plan to re-sign Payne. I suppose they weren't expecting to except Payne outperformed expectations in his contract year. Even so, it probably would have been better to stick to the plan. Would this year really have been that much worse if we let Payne walk and instead, for example, signed Sweat to a new contract?

 

[burgold]

I really believe poor coaching lies at the heart of our secondary issues. None of these guys look as good as they did last year and nearly all of them are young enough to still be improving.

x2. Plus like I said, they were killing it in preseason and during 7 on 7s which suggests the talent is there. If the talent isn't the problem then play calling or football IQ is.

 

[Neophyte]

Great job, gents. At kickoff time last night, I still sounded like a Tom Waits wannabe who had spent the day gargling with bourbon and thumbtacks.

In the closing comments, there were mentions of draft position. While I know I sound a bit like Debbie Downer, I can still see a late-season win to upset the apple cart. Yes, pretty much every single result went the way we needed it to this last weekend while we were on a bye, which is awesome. The unspoken part is that it has set us up for a huge drop if we accidentally win one of these last 4 because now there is a log jam of teams on 5 wins and we lose the SOS tiebreaker with all of them. Worse, with SF and Dallas still on the schedule, I'm pretty sure our SOS will only go up.

While I no longer believe we will win a game the rest of the way, I wouldn't put it past this team at all. And wouldn't it be the most Washington thing ever to do just that?

 

[burgold]

Great job, gents. At kickoff time last night, I still sounded like a Tom Waits wannabe who had spent the day gargling with bourbon and thumbtacks.

In the closing comments, there were mentions of draft position. While I know I sound a bit like Debbie Downer, I can still see a late-season win to upset the apple cart. Yes, pretty much every single result went the way we needed it to this last weekend while we were on a bye, which is awesome. The unspoken part is that it has set us up for a huge drop if we accidentally win one of these last 4 because now there is a log jam of teams on 5 wins and we lose the SOS tiebreaker with all of them. Worse, with SF and Dallas still on the schedule, I'm pretty sure our SOS will only go up.

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While I no longer believe we will win a game the rest of the way, I wouldn't put it past this team at all. And wouldn't it be the most Washington thing ever to do just that?

It probably bodes well that Dallas and Philly will be in a dogfight for the division all the way up to the end.

 

[Boone]

Here’s the thing though… we all seem to agree that our strong preference is to go with Sam Howell at QB at least for next season and to use our relative wealth of draft picks on building around him.

If we somehow manage to lose out and end up with a top 3 draft pick, that is going to make it much more likely they think about drafting a QB with that top pick. That isn’t necessarily a disaster but it isn’t the ‘ideal’ we’ve been discussing. So maybe having the 5th or 6th pick in the first round wouldn’t be that bad for us?

 

[Chris]

Very nice vibe last night, guys. Like a hot toddy after a long and hard day.

One point on BSJ. He is indeed highly rated on PBUs. Unfortunately, when he doesn’t get a break-up he is last in the league in yards surrendered on the season (793).

 

[burgold]

Here’s the thing though… we all seem to agree that our strong preference is to go with Sam Howell at QB at least for next season and to use our relative wealth of draft picks on building around him.

If we somehow manage to lose out and end up with a top 3 draft pick, that is going to make it much more likely they think about drafting a QB with that top pick. That isn’t necessarily a disaster but it isn’t the ‘ideal’ we’ve been discussing. So maybe having the 5th or 6th pick in the first round wouldn’t be that bad for us?

I think my dream would be to get that top three, but then trade down to 5 or so still landing Fashunu or Alt (an elite Tackle prospect) while picking up at least a second and change.

 

[Primus Porcus]

Here’s the thing though… we all seem to agree that our strong preference is to go with Sam Howell at QB at least for next season and to use our relative wealth of draft picks on building around him.

If we somehow manage to lose out and end up with a top 3 draft pick, that is going to make it much more likely they think about drafting a QB with that top pick. That isn’t necessarily a disaster but it isn’t the ‘ideal’ we’ve been discussing. So maybe having the 5th or 6th pick in the first round wouldn’t be that bad for us?

i would PREFER that the new GM rides with Sam because he's seen enough, not simply because there wasn't a better option.

if the new GM believes one of those other guys is the better option for the long term of the team, I want him to have the opportunity to get that guy. Being at 3 gives the new GM the best opportunity to get HIS guy in the draft... whether that be a QB, OT, or MHJ... I'd like for him to have that chance.

 

[Boone]

I get that argument. But I’ll counter with while we want our GM using his/her best judgment the bust rate on high draft pick QBs is very high. Our new GM may draft the next big QB bust. It happens all the time. So if we think there’s a very good chance Howell is a legit long-term starter, we may still want to avoid that happening.

In theory, having your GM use all of their knowledge and available data to make decisions is great. As long as they don’t eff it up. And at QB that is easy to do.

 

[Boone]

And even I can’t believe I may be arguing a higher 1st round draft pick might not be desirable!

I like @burgold’s scenario best

 

[Primus Porcus]

Me too!

 

[Neophyte]

Honestly, my biggest fear is that we go QB in the first round and I'm worried that the higher we pick the more likely that becomes.

I freely admit I'm all in on Sam but I recognize that he might not be it. I'm an advocate of continuing to take QBs - I just don't want one in the 1st round and for the same reason as Boone mentioned above - the bust factor.

I really want the new GM to be focused on the Offensive Line where our 2 best players are 32 years old and neither would be a starter on a top-half team in this league.

This team has 3 Super Bowl wins. The QBs were Joey T (99th pick overall), Doug Williams (17th pick overall), and Mark Rypien (146th pick overall). No Top 5 picks here. What they all did have was a dominant Left Tackle protecting their blind side.

Ideally, I want to pick somewhere in the 4-6 range. I'd like the GM to have their choice of OTs but I really don't want them to be in a position to be tempted by Williams, Maye, and Harrison.

 

[Bulldog]

Williams doesn't play in a pro style offense and operates off of a 6 play script that flips with each first down conversion from what I heard on WFAN the other day.

Who does that sound like? Robert Griffin III, who had plays written on his wristband, and it was either run the play that was called with first read or check out of it and run.

No second or third reads. No stress on footwork or technique.

The same WFAN show had folks on and one former NFL GM per JP Finlay said that Williams is coming into the NFL with a steep learning curve and likely a player that is going to take a couple of YEARS to an effective starter against this level of competition on a consistent basis.

Who takes that kind of player at #1 overall? Or #2?

If I am a GM and looking at the #1 or #2 pick I am looking for a Joe Burrow or Andrew Luck, a player with VERY FEW question marks coming into the league.

In other words a player that is NOT going to cost me my job 2-3 years down the road

 

[Boone]

Williams is a bust waiting to happen. I’d take Maye before him.

 

[Bulldog]

The New York Jets are a cautionary tale. Sam Darnold at #3 and Zach Wilson at #2 both being busts has limited what the team can do in terms of advancing even with the best defense in the NFL.

Just think if those two picks went for franchise caliber offensive linemen or wide receivers AND the team now had Rodgers coming back.

Everything would look totally different.

Kyle Shanahan lives under a lucky star (outside of the Super Bowl so far) after his move to take Trey Lance in the top 4 as a raw but talented player blew up on SF, but somehow the club came up with Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy, taken at #262 overall, the last f****** pick.

Most teams don't get that lucky. Those high picks surrendered and a bust quarterback usually lead to a coach getting fired.

 

[Chris]

Jayden Daniels is the current flavor of the month. I think he is the one to be wary of.

If Belicheck somehow stays in NE, I would guess that Maye would go there.