The Free Agency Thread

[Boone]

My biggest complaint about Bienemy was simply his decision to take what was essentially a rookie QB in his most important season and decide to drop him back more in his first 10 games than anyone in Washington history.

It’s not smart and it may have cost Howell a chance to be a career starter.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

My biggest complaint about Bienemy was simply his decision to take what was essentially a rookie QB in his most important season and decide to drop him back more in his first 10 games than anyone in Washington history.

It’s not smart and it may have cost Howell a chance to be a career starter.

I don't disagree, though I think I would nuance it away from just pass attempts, but he called more long-developing plays which called for the QB to read the entire field and defense to make the correct decision. He was asking Howell to basically be a PhD level QB when he was a freshman at UNC.

The sheer number of drop backs, I didn't have a problem with, mostly because we tried to run the ball 3-4 times at the beginning of every game, and generally netted -2 yards on the first 5 carries. Our run game early was atrocious. Whether that was scheme, OL/TE blocking or RB, it was just bad. And it put the offense in know passing situations.

If that's the case, I have no problem with saying "to hell with it" and throwing more. But if you do that, do it smart. Quick passes, move the QB around, use tempo, all the really easy things you do when you're trying to hep out an inexperienced QB. And EB did none of them, and that REALLY frustrated me. A LOT.

Andy Reid was criticized from the get-go for not running enough. The Philly media ate him up over it. Guess what? It didn't matter. He knew what he was doing, and it worked.

EB's problem was he didn't know how to do what Reid is masterful at. Which is another reason he failed.

Personally, I don't actually think calling more run plays was going to make anything better. I think the scheme and OL was going to continue to churn out 2 yards a carry early in games, especially if the defense guessed we were going to run the ball more. So, we would have had a lot of 2nd and 9's, which would lead to the same number of 3rd and longs, which was going to lead to known passing situations and sacks.

The needle EB needed to thread, and was incapable of doing, was running enough, mixing it with a good sampling of high-percentage throws to either pick up 1st downs on 1st and 2nd down, or be in Run or pass situations on 3rd down.

As soon as we were in a known passing situation, we lost. The OL wasn't good enough and Howell held the ball.

 

[Solitary Man]

Commanders sign Michael Deiter

The Commanders announced an addition to their offensive line on Monday.

www.nbcsports.com

 

[Primus Porcus]

WINNER!

 

[Bulldog]

This is a good depth signing. He has center and guard flexibility and that is important given the number of injuries we have seen on this line over the past couple of years.

Plus he's only 27 and continues a trend towards younger, high work ethic guys that can come in and compete. The starting experience helps as well with having confidence in a spot during a game he can come in and finish the contest and not throw up all over himself.

Chris Paul was among the lowest rated guards in the NFL by PFF in 2023 with a total score of 37. That is 13 points below the cutoff for replacement level.

Saahdiq Charles is gone and has signed elsewhere. Good luck keeping him on the field healthy

Ricky Stromberg despite being a #3 pick didn't get much of a chance to get on the field in 2023 despite the absolutely awful performances of Nick Gates and others in the preseason and the opening 5 or 6 games.

While he did get in for a start at guard, it wasn't exactly a rousing rookie campaign that has anyone penciling him in for a major role in 2024.

 

[Chris]

 

[Solitary Man]

Kicker tryouts to begin shortly?

 

[Boone]

Mixed feelings. It’s a terrible look and I certainly wouldn’t want any female I care about getting harassed under any circumstances. On the other hand this sounds rather mild on the spectrum of harassment. Without being there it’s hard to know how ugly the behavior was (assuming the descriptions are legit and accurate). Will be interesting to see how the new regime responds.

 

[SkinsOrlando]

We pull a Buffalo with the punter or Dodgers with Bauer before any actual evidence is shown, won't be pleased. At this point, we know little, knee jerk reactions don't serve any purpose in finding the truth.

 

[tomwvr]

Mixed feelings. It’s a terrible look and I certainly wouldn’t want any female I care about getting harassed under any circumstances. On the other hand this sounds rather mild on the spectrum of harassment. Without being there it’s hard to know how ugly the behavior was (assuming the descriptions are legit and accurate). Will be interesting to see how the new regime responds.

From what I read the lawyer tried to get him to pay out before going to court. This could be really hard to prove if there is no video evidence . Can they get awarded on a he said she said event?

 

[Bulldog]

I think it is telling that the Jaguars didn't want to resign McManus and originally signed Joey Slye, who was subsequently cut after the first OTAs.

If the allegations are true it is an indictment of Pederson and the coaching staff along with the player.

From what I have read both in JAX and before that in Philly, Pederson runs a fairly permissive culture on his clubs.

While that's appreciated by the more mature players that want to take off or switch workout times or other for family, it's also if unchecked an uninvited opportunity for bad actors to go out and do things they and the club are going to regret.

Haven't we seen that in Dallas for the past 25 years?

 

[burgold]

That's a good point. Makes me think the Jaguars think there's some substance to these allegations.