Let’s hear it! Give me your most unpopular opinions so far this season. I know this sub can be a hive mind echo chamber sometimes where people all arrive at certain assumptions and conclusions based on small sample sizes or bias’.
Here’s a few of my unpopular (to this sub) takes:
-
RBs aren’t a “luxury” pick in the first round of the draft, you just have to accept that the pick won’t be as “long term” as other positions. Drafting guys like CMC, Travis ETN, Bijan, etc. aren’t “wastes” or “luxuries”. Those guys can really aid an offense, especially in the current era where we’re coming back around to ground attacks. The big issue is the second contract, but you’ll still have a stud weapon on the cheap for 4-5 years. More specially, I don’t see anything wrong with the Gibbs pick. People think he’s a bust or a waste bc he hasn’t been a 20-25 touch guy 6 games into his career… I think he can be a huge contributor for them for 4 seasons or so. If he helps them in big playoff games, then the pick is worth it, even if he’s not a guy who’s around for 6-10 seasons.
-
A QBs ability to process info and remained poised is far more important than athletic ability. Everyone is looking for the shiny athlete like Josh Allen or Lamar, but honestly guys like Brock Purdy, Kirk, Goff, etc. are way more attainable and way safer. They can process info and deliver accurate passes. Obviously the gold standard is a freak athlete who’s an elite processor, but I think some teams try to find the athletes first then try to teach the mental aspect. While it’s true that you can’t teach athletic ability like Fields has, or the arm talent Wilson has, it’s not so easy to teach the mental component either.
What’re your guys’ hot takes and unpopular opinions?
In the draft process and eventual judging of players based on draft process/capital, not enough thought goes into the human aspect of the game. It becomes too much of a numbers/stats/model/analytics/film thing (of course those are all important) and then when the guy fails to pan out it’s “BUT HOW WHAT HAPPENED WE MUST HAVE MISJUDGED HIM AS A PLAYER.” I honestly believe that many times, he was misjudged as a person.
Look at all the Johnny Footballs, the Jamarcus Russells, the Kyler Murrays, or even the Tom Bradys and Hunter Renfrows. Work ethic, maturity, passion for the game, all of it goes into the pick. Don’t be surprised or aDjUsT yOuR mOdElS because a guy failed. People are not statistics and there will never be a formula for human nature.
Analytics suck
Urban Meyer bringing Tebow to the Jaguars was genius. (Maybe not purposefully)
Trevor was never put under the microscope that most top draft picks are because the only person sports pundits wanted to talk about was Tebow.
How was Trevor at training camp? Who the hell knows, but we do know Tebow had trouble blocking.
Eli Manning is not a Hall of Famer. The only reason he’s even in the discussion is because he was the quarterback who “beat Brady twice in the Super Bowl” aka put up 17 and 19 points in those two games while his elite defense dominated. He was never considered a top 5 player at his position at any point in his career, and has a career passer rating of 84.1. Put him in the Hall of Pretty Good for a Long Time.
The Manningcast sucks and is so boring. Peyton and Eli have no charisma or personality
Drew Brees is number two for all time QBs, in my totally unbiased opinion. He’s better than Peyton and I will die on that hill.
None of Eli, Big Ben, or Rivers belong in the Hall of Fame.
None of them were ever top three at their position throughout their careers. They have volume stats because the current era favors passing.
They were all consistently behind Brady, Peyton, Brees, Rodgers, and Mahomes throughout their careers. Newton and Ryan both put up MVP seasons too.
Big Ben won two superbowls in years he threw doe 17 TDs each. Why should those Superbowl wins help his case?
Eli’s 2007 had 20 interceptions. Should two admittedly great playoff runs weigh more than 15 years as a slight above average QB when considering the HoF?
Same goes for Stafford, Ryan, Newton…
For 95% of cases you should have a minimum of 3 years as a top 3 player at your position to be in the Hall IMO.
When evaluating someone for inclusion in Canton, the very first question should be “How good were they in comparison to their peers?” If the answer is not anything but “One of the very best”, talking about putting them in the Hall of Fame is silly.
With Eli in particular, if one single play goes differently than anyone suggesting he be inducted would be laughed out of the room. He takes a sack during the Helmet Catch, and his career is viewed maybe a half-step above Joe Flacco’s.
Gronkowski is the most dominant person to ever touch a football. not the best but the most dominant. Similar to Shaq in the NBA
Give me Gronk over Kelce.
I much prefer the traditional TE (Gronk, Kittle, Goedart) to this move TE (Kelce, Engram, Pitts) style that is basically just a big WR who stock blocks or cuts backside of runs.
System is more important than talent for 90% of qbs and teams once a guy is nfl calibber.
If you don’t have a top 10 QB then just keep cycling guys in and out and making moves until you get one. We’ve all seen Purdy, Brady, Wilson, Kirk, Warner etc. come from nowhere and be top 10 QBs.
What is the point in playing a guy like Desmond Ridder?
The goal should be becoming a contender, to do that you need a QB who can move the chains when the other team knows you’re throwing the ball. Ridder can’t do it behind a good o-line and an elite running game against mediocre opposition. What’s the point of playing him? Bring in a backup, trade for someone, do anything else. Getting the 19th overall draft pick because Desmond Ridder scraped to 7-10 is not a good season.
Look at what’s happened to the Giants for embracing mediocrity at the QB position.
Rex Ryan was a great coach, HOF quality. He got exceptionally unlucky with injuries, or else he would be wearing the ring others kiss.
Running backs should never be drafted in round 1. Ever
I think your second take is not even a correct assessment on how they draft QBs. Athleticism is still seen as a luxury. It’s just happens to be recently that we’ve had a couple more athletic QBs that were able to make the jump. And it’s much easier said than done to evaluate how well a QB can make the mental adjustment to the NFL.
We should all be boycotting until the NFL actually improves their officiating. There’s no excuse for what we see every weekend.
Thankfully I started boycotting two weeks ago so I didn’t have to see the Rams get shafted the way they did this week. I would have blown all of my gaskets.
If an offense takes a 10 yard penalty inside their own 20, it should still be a 10 yard penalty. The ball is moved back half the distance to the goal, and rest of the yardage is added to where they have to go Ex, 1st and 10 at the 12, need to get to the 22 - 10 yard holding penalty, now it’s 1st and 20 at the 6, and they now need to get to the 26.