2017 NFL Quarterback Picture - a "contest" thread

[QuikSand]

Here's the game: I'll list a number of NFL franchises, and you respond in the thread with you predictions of what that team will look like entering the 2017 season.

I think for most of these teams, a complete answer would be to include a description of two slots - the starter and the backup/prospect - that the team is gong to rely on. I'll allow an exception for a team that has a veteran starter in place, without any urgency to have a guy-in-waiting or plan B on the roster.

For our purposes, no need to specify the nae of a rookie unless you feel the need. I think for our purposes, the terms "first round rookie" or "rookie prospect" will do fine.

So... for a team like the 2016 Broncos, the eventually correct answer would have been:

Trevor Siemien
1st round rookie

...and for the 2016 Dolphins, I think just:

Ryan Tannehill


Note - for the specific case of Kirk Cousins, if you predict him back with Washington, indicate whether it will be under a long term contract or a second franchise tag season, that's a major open question around town.

More rule/intent clarifications may be added here as needed.

List of teams in next post.

[QuikSand]

The teams:

Buffalo Bills

New York Jets

Miami Dolphins

Cleveland Browns

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Denver Broncos

Dallas Cowboys

Washington Redskins

Minnesota Vikings

Chicago Bears

San Francisco 49ers

Arizona Cardinals

St. Louis Rams

[Julio Riddols]

Buffalo Bills - Tyrod Taylor gets another year. Rookie 3rd rounder in camp to push him.

New York Jets - Jay Cutler reunites again with Brandon Marshall. Team drafts Chad Kelly in order to have two Cutlers.

Miami Dolphins - Tannehill stays.

Cleveland Browns - Kessler to start the year, possibly replaced by Deshaun Watson at some point.

Houston Texans - Brock Osweiler gets the benefit of the doubt with Savage nipping at his heels.

Jacksonville Jaguars - A.J. McCarron

Denver Broncos - Siemian and Lynch again.

Dallas Cowboys - Dak Prescott.

Washington Redskins - Kirk Cousins signs long term.

Minnesota Vikings - Bradford behind a rebuilt line. Glennon signs a decent deal to back up.

Chicago Bears - Failing to trade a high 2nd for Garoppolo, they use it instead on Mitch Trubisky. Hoyer holds the job til the team thinks Trubisky is ready.

San Francisco 49ers - Deshone Kizer battling Colin Kaepernick in Chip Kelly's last stand.

Arizona Cardinals - Carson Palmer for one last hurrah.

L.A. Rams - Tony Romo tries to assemble his wrecked corpse into something resembling a healthy NFL QB while Goff attempts to learn from the battered vet.

[SplitPersonality1]

[quote=Julio Riddols;3137420
L.A. Rams - Tony Romo tries to assemble his wrecked corpse into something resembling a healthy NFL QB while Goff attempts to learn from the battered vet.[/QUOTE]

Good Lord am I old. The phrase "battered vet" now applies to Tony Romo. Didn't he just enter the league like last year or something. Sure seems like it. Yikes.

[QuikSand]

My guesses:

Buffalo Bills
start over, head into camp with Manuel, Jones, and a rookie in open competition

New York Jets
Let's give them Tyrod Taylor

Miami Dolphins
I guess they stick with Tannehill (wouldn't have said so a month ago)

Cleveland Browns
1st round rookie, possibly eased in with Kessler

Houston Texans
1st round rookie, Savage stays, have to carry Osweiler

Jacksonville Jaguars
Bortles and a rookie, maybe a fairly early rookie pick

Denver Broncos
Open competition between Lynch and Siemien

Dallas Cowboys
Prescott, with a veteran retread (maybe Sanchez)

Washington Redskins
Cousins, long term deal

Minnesota Vikings
Bradford, hope for a Bridgewater comeback, no early drafted QB

Chicago Bears
first round rookie, Hoyer helps hold the fort

San Francisco 49ers
Let's put poor Nick Foles here, along with a speculative rookie, good luck there Chip

Arizona Cardinals
Tony Romo, and they draft a day two rookie

St. Louis Rams
Oh dear. I'll slot Chase Daniel here. And they'll try to whisper Goff along.

[albionmoonlight]

Buffalo Bills--E.J. Manuel; shitty rookie behind him

New York Jets--Hackenberg beats out Petty in one of the saddest QB camp battles.

Miami Dolphins--Tannehill restructures for a longterm deal.

Cleveland Browns--Rookie starter; Random Vet backup. All of the current crop gone.

Houston Texans--Savage starting. Osweiler on bench for one more year till they can cut him without a huge cap hit.

Jacksonville Jaguars--Bortles

Denver Broncos--Same as this year.

Dallas Cowboys--Prescott. No name backup. Romo gone.

Washington Redskins--Cousins longterm.

Minnesota Vikings--Bridgewater starting. Bradford backup.

Chicago Bears-Barkley starting; journeyman vet backup. Cutler gone.

San Francisco 49ers--Highly drafted rookie starter.

Arizona Cardinals--Palmer

St. Louis Rams--Romo; Goff backup.

[Suicane75]

Buffalo Bills: Taylor/Manuel New York Jets: Tony Romo, Petty, Hackenberg Miami Dolphins: Tannehill Cleveland Browns: DeShaun Watson Houston Texans: Siemein, Osweiller Jacksonville Jaguars: Carson Palmer/Bortles Denver Broncos: Jay Cutler/Lynch Dallas Cowboys: Prescott, Vet Backup Washington Redskins: Cousins Minnesota Vikings: Bridgewater/Bradford Chicago Bears: Nick Folk, Barkley San Francisco 49ers: Robert Griffin Arizona Cardinals: Greg Ward/Veteran St. Louis Rams: Goff/Vet

[murrayyyyy]

The teams:

Buffalo Bills - Kaep gets waived and they take a flyer on him. Take Chad Kelly in the draft. Cut Taylor and EJ.

New York Jets - Spend for Cutler and hate themselves for it.

Miami Dolphins - Tannehill (for some reason he was on a FA list but I think he isn't) Draft Kaaya in the 3rd round so he knows where the stadium is.

Cleveland Browns - RGiii They draft Kizer with the Eagles pick just so everyone can look at the QBs they passed on in the past 2 years and type in all caps.

Houston Texans - Romo is cut by Dallas and stays in Texas just to annoy Jerry. Brock rides the bench

Jacksonville Jaguars - Bortles for some reason.

Denver Broncos - Mike Glennon.

Dallas Cowboys - Prescott is QB and gets injured in preseason. Go 3-13. Romo is no longer called Homo by the fans.

Washington Redskins - Cousins gets long term deal.

Minnesota Vikings - Bridgewater

Chicago Bears - Brian Hoyer because no one wants to go there. They draft the UNC QB Trubisky @ 3.

San Francisco 49ers - Matt Barkley because it would make no sense.

Arizona Cardinals - 8 different QBs as they all get hurt with Palmer being the first. They draft Watson.

LA Rams - Goff

[Pyser]

Buffalo Bills - Manuel, 1st round pick

New York Jets - Kaepernick, Petty

Miami Dolphins - Tannehill, Moore

Cleveland Browns - 1st round pick, RG3

Houston Texans - Savage, Osweiler

Jacksonville Jaguars - Bortles, Keenum

Denver Broncos - Romo, Lynch, Siemian

Dallas Cowboys - Prescott, Fitzpatrick

Washington Redskins - Cousins, McCoy

Minnesota Vikings - Bradford, Bridgewater

Chicago Bears - McCown, 2nd round pick

San Francisco 49ers - Cutler, Gabbert

Arizona Cardinals - Palmer, mid-round pick

St. Louis Rams - Goff, Taylor

[CrescentMoonie]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

Buffalo Bills: Taylor/Manuel New York Jets: Tony Romo, Petty, Hackenberg Miami Dolphins: Tannehill Cleveland Browns: DeShaun Watson Houston Texans: Siemein, Osweiller Jacksonville Jaguars: Carson Palmer/Bortles Denver Broncos: Jay Cutler/Lynch Dallas Cowboys: Prescott, Vet Backup Washington Redskins: Cousins Minnesota Vikings: Bridgewater/Bradford Chicago Bears: Nick Folk, Barkley San Francisco 49ers: Robert Griffin Arizona Cardinals: Greg Ward/Veteran St. Louis Rams: Goff/Vet

The Cardinals are going to start a 5'10" rookie coming off a 22 TD, 13 INT season?

[CrescentMoonie]

Buffalo Bills -- Manuel and a mid round pick (if the GM stays)

New York Jets -- Taylor, Petty

Miami Dolphins -- Tannehill, Moore

Cleveland Browns -- Kessler, 2nd day pick

Houston Texans -- Savage, Osweiler, mid to late round pick

Jacksonville Jaguars -- Bortles/Glennon

Denver Broncos -- Rehash this year

Dallas Cowboys -- Prescott, Sanchez

Washington Redskins -- Cousins long term, McCoy

Minnesota Vikings -- Bradford/Bridgewater if healthy, 2nd day pick

Chicago Bears -- Barkley, 1st round pick (probably Trubisky)

San Francisco 49ers -- with Chip: RGIII, Gabbert
without Chip: Folk, Gabbert

Arizona Cardinals -- Palmer, 1st round pick (probably Kizer or Kaaya)

LA Rams -- Romo, Goff


Possible scenario is Palmer to LA, Romo to Arizona, not sure what to Dallas.

No idea where Cutler will be.

[albionmoonlight]

Bonus predictions:

Tyrod Taylor to Green Bay as a backup (seems like a great backup to Rogers with his athleticism and playstyle)

Ryan Fitzpatrick starts at least one game next season for someone, because Ryan Fitzpatrick seems to start at least one game every season.

[stevew]

The teams:

Buffalo Bills-Taylor back as long as he reduces guarantees. Jones and Kaepernick otherwise

New York Jets-Romo

Miami Dolphins-tannehill

Cleveland Browns-Browns trade the Eagles pick and a 3rd for Garopollo and the pats 2nd.

Houston Texans- Savage and Brock

Jacksonville Jaguars one more Bortles season

Denver Broncos Siemen and Lynch

Dallas Cowboys Dak and vet backup

Washington Redskins long term Cousins

Minnesota Vikings Bradford and bridgewater

Chicago Bears Barkley and rookie

San Francisco 49ers 1st round rookie and fitzpatrick

Arizona Cardinals Cutler

St. Louis Rams Goff and RG3

[Chief Rum]

I wish trading players was more common in the NFL because it wouldn't shock me if the Niners pulled a Ditka and offered their entire draft for Mariotta, with their high pick going to the Bears, and the Titans receiving Cutler. Titans would also receive the Niners 2018 1st.

But that is all based on my belief the Titans could be convinced to bring Cutler back to his hometown and that he would be successful there, along with all the picks they would get from SF.

Bears would use the Niners' 2017 1st for a top rookie and he would sit behind Hoyer until he's ready.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Bonus predictions:

Tyrod Taylor to Green Bay as a backup (seems like a great backup to Rogers with his athleticism and playstyle)

Ryan Fitzpatrick starts at least one game next season for someone, because Ryan Fitzpatrick seems to start at least one game every season.

They already have a Tyrod Taylor-like Brett Hundley backing Rodgers up, for cheaper.

[Chief Rum]

As for the Rams, my hope is that they give a backup who has had talent and even success a chance, so that Goff is pushed and teams will not be able to stack the box against either one (assuming Goff takes a developmental step forward to decent). Romo would be terrific, but I don't see that happening unless he gets cut, and I don't think the Cowboys will cut him. They'll either trade him or keep him as the backup.

RG3 fits the bill, but I just don't believe in him at all. Before this year, Fitzpatrick would have been good but now he looks done. I think Cutler is a cancer. Moore might be good, especially coming back home but I don't think the Fins will risk letting him go.

Garrapollo might be tossed out there if the Rams hire McDaniels, but Goff is already the sort of QB McDaniels will want, an accurate, quick tempo West Coast type (or at least that is how he scouts).

[CrescentMoonie]

I'll leave my picks as they are, but there's a lot of chatter around DC about Cousins getting traded to either SF or Cleveland with the 49ers potentially offering #2 overall to get him.

[stevew]

This could be interesting if Big Ben retires.

[revrew]

I don't have time this morning to participate in the whole contest, but I'll throw out this fun idea for discussion:

Denver - Romo, Lynch
Dallas - Prescott, Siemian

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by revrew

I don't have time this morning to participate in the whole contest, but I'll throw out this fun idea for discussion:

Denver - Romo, Lynch
Dallas - Prescott, Siemian

I put Romo in L.A. because I think that L.A. is willing to overpay to get a name QB and keep fan interest.

But, as a pure football move, this seems like the best result for all of the parties involved.

[QuikSand]

Relevant to this discussion:

https://theringer.com/available-qbs-...844#.xnu9ct8ru

[CrescentMoonie]

Why is Luck considered an elite QB? He's probably still got that potential, but I see him as a slightly better Cousins with more running ability. Luck throws more TDs, but fewer yards and a lower completion %. Luck runs more, but also takes more sacks. I just don't see this great QB that everyone else does, but I do see how he could become that.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by CrescentMoonie

Why is Luck considered an elite QB? He's probably still got that potential, but I see him as a slightly better Cousins with more running ability. Luck throws more TDs, but fewer yards and a lower completion %. Luck runs more, but also takes more sacks. I just don't see this great QB that everyone else does, but I do see how he could become that.

1 - Luck didn't get 3 "bye" years like Cousins did. While Cousins was trying to figure out how to be an NFL QB, he threw the ball 407 times in three years. Luck threw the ball over 1,800 times in his first three years. He had to learn on the job.

2 - While Cousins has played with a guy who could be called an above average offensive mind, Luck hasn't had the same option.

3 - The Washington Offensive line had a pass protection rank of #3 this year by Football Outsiders. The train wreck line put together by the genius Colts GM ranked 28th. More time to throw the football, means more yards per pass.


After the hits Luck has taken and the major injury he sustained a couple of years ago, I don't know if he will ever become the mega star he was headed for. With that said, I would take him over Cousins if I were constructing a roster and the decision would ltake all of 3 seconds.

[CrescentMoonie]

Originally Posted by TroyF

3 - The Washington Offensive line had a pass protection rank of #3 this year by Football Outsiders. The train wreck line put together by the genius Colts GM ranked 28th. More time to throw the football, means more yards per pass.

That Redskins OL was pathetic until Cousins was behind center. The exact same line that had a horrible pass protection rating with Griffin had a good pass protection rating with Cousins. I would take Luck over Cousins, though not by much, but Cousins has an advantage in pre snap reads and getting the ball out on time.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by CrescentMoonie

That Redskins OL was pathetic until Cousins was behind center. The exact same line that had a horrible pass protection rating with Griffin had a good pass protection rating with Cousins. I would take Luck over Cousins, though not by much, but Cousins has an advantage in pre snap reads and getting the ball out on time.

Again, offensive system. Cousins is in an incredibly QB friendly QB system with a head coach/OC known for offense.One of McVay's strength as an offensive coach was defensive tells. He passed that on to Cousins.

As for offensive lines, I used FO to prove the point, but really all you have to do is watch the damned lines. Trent Williams is unquestionably one of the best offensive lineman in the entire league. He protects the blind side of Cousins.

Luck? He's had over 35 different starting offensive lines in his 70 start career. Think about that for a second. That is a shocking statistic. At one point this year, Luck had 3 rookies starting on the offensive line. Here is an article:

Once again, current state of Colts’ offensive line is troublesome | Fox 59

I'm not saying Luck doesn't have his faults. But Cousins has been gifted a brilliant offensive mind, a great OL and multiple downfield targets. And even with that, the Redskins aren't in a rush to ink him to a long term extension. That should probably tell you everything you need to know.

[Julio Riddols]

What I don't get about it is why nobody prior to Cousins has been able to get anything good done in Washington. If all it takes is a QB friendly offense, then every team in the damn league should be installing one.

[CrescentMoonie]

Trent Williams is great. Nobody else on that line is starting for most of the rest of the league. Scherff has been good, but not great. Moses has surprised, Long is okay at best, and LG has been a graveyard. Cousins has nearly 9k passing yards in 2 years with one great lineman and no RB at all. Luck's physical tools are better, and he's had crap around him, but this idea that he's an elite QB is based off of less than what Cousins has done.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

What I don't get about it is why nobody prior to Cousins has been able to get anything good done in Washington. If all it takes is a QB friendly offense, then every team in the damn league should be installing one.

Because it's hard? You have to have a QB friendly offense with a brilliant offensive mind to run it.

As far as nobody prior to Cousins succeeding, that's incorrect as well. Washington ranks in offense:

2012 - 5

2013 - 9

2014 - 13

2015 - 17

2016 - 3

The worst year was 2015 (where Cousins was the full time starter and they were lights out the second half of the year after a slow start to the season)

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by CrescentMoonie

Trent Williams is great. Nobody else on that line is starting for most of the rest of the league. Scherff has been good, but not great. Moses has surprised, Long is okay at best, and LG has been a graveyard. Cousins has nearly 9k passing yards in 2 years with one great lineman and no RB at all. Luck's physical tools are better, and he's had crap around him, but this idea that he's an elite QB is based off of less than what Cousins has done.

But they play together, you get how important that is, right? The Washington line features 2 first round picks, and 2 3rd round picks that were home grown. The only non home grown player is a 3rd rounder as well.

The Colts offensive line this year had an undrafted player, a 5th round rookie and a 7th round rookie. And none of those guys played together for more than 3 starts in a row.

You want to talk graveyard? Talk the entire Indy Colts offense around Luck and Hilton. You act like having the best left tackle in the game and a unit that has a ton of cohesion is just a "tad" better than a guy who has lined up under a different offensive line in over half his career starts, features no pro bowlers and has zero cohesion.

I don't get it. Luck has his issues. But flip those two guys and I'd put money on Luck being a lot better than Cousins. As it is, the Colts outscored the Redskins last year and a major reason is because Cousins play in the red zone this year was borderline comical. The guy who understands how to make pre snap reads better completed 45% of his passes in side the 20 and 31% inside the ten. That led to the Redskins having the 30th ranked red zone offense in all of football.

I'll stop here. Give me two equal teams around them, I'll give you Cousins, you give me Luck and I'll gladly throw you 6 points and make a large bet. I don't think the two are nearly as close as the stats indicate.

[CrescentMoonie]

Originally Posted by TroyF

Because it's hard? You have to have a QB friendly offense with a brilliant offensive mind to run it.

As far as nobody prior to Cousins succeeding, that's incorrect as well. Washington ranks in offense:

2012 - 5

2013 - 9

2014 - 13

2015 - 17

2016 - 3

The worst year was 2015 (where Cousins was the full time starter and they were lights out the second half of the year after a slow start to the season)

Seriously, how dishonest are you being by ignoring QB play in a QB friendly offense and going to total offense as the metric? You made the QB friendly offense excuse and immediately ran away from it when questioned about it.

[Julio Riddols]

Its always interesting how expectations born from draft position shape a narrative when it comes to QB play. Guys like Dalton and Cousins are producing good seasons because things are made easy on them, guys like Luck are struggling to reach their potential because everyone else is failing around them.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by CrescentMoonie

Seriously, how dishonest are you being by ignoring QB play in a QB friendly offense and going to total offense as the metric? You made the QB friendly offense excuse and immediately ran away from it when questioned about it.

I don't think I ignored anything. I showed the Washington offense has been pretty good. Consistently pretty good. No matter who the QB is. Line play is a huge, huge part of that.

You keep ignoring the Colts line and keep pretending that having the best LT in the game is of no use. You also keep ignoring the number of times Luck has had the same offensive line starting in front of him.

If you were a Colts fan (and a Luck fan because of it), are you honestly going to tell me you wouldn't bring up the fact that he has had a different combination of blockers every two starts in his entire career? Are you really going to try and convince me that his offensive coordinators have been as good as the ones Cousin has had? You tried to tell me how garbage the Washington offensive line is. That line and their running backs produced a half yard a carry better than did the same Indy line and backs. If I take out Lucks 64 carries at 5.3 yards a carry it gets even worse.

I haven't ran from anything here. I've only said that Luck is better than Cousins and you seem to be taking that opinion pretty hard. I'm sorry,. but put both QB's in the same system with the same players and I'd take Luck every single time. You disagree. I can live with that fact. But to pretend the two QB's have been in the same situation and trying to defend that is comical to me. There is zero question which QB has had around him, both in coaching and in offensive lines.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

Its always interesting how expectations born from draft position shape a narrative when it comes to QB play. Guys like Dalton and Cousins are producing good seasons because things are made easy on them, guys like Luck are struggling to reach their potential because everyone else is failing around them.

I can't speak for anyone else, but for me it all depends on the situation. You won't see me defend Blake Bortles. Last year 7th round pick Trevor Siemian was a far better player than was first round pick Paxton Lynch.

I never thought Mark Sanchez was worth a crap.

The fact that the Colts ARE flailing around Luck is pretty obvious. Their starting running back is 33 years old. The total of runs from players not named Luck that went 20 yards this year was 1. Washington had 10 such runs. The number of Redskins receivers who had 10 or more 20 yard catches was 4. Luck had 1 guy hit that mark. (Some people may think it's because Luck sucks, I'm going with the garbage he has around him) I've already talked about the cess pool of offensive lineman they throw out on a weekly basis.

[TroyF]

To put a bow on this:

Football Outsiders ranked Cousins their 3rd best QB. They ranked Luck #10.

Pro Football Focus had Luck at #3 and Cousins ranked at #13.

Outside of those two, the systems were actually fairly close. Looks like they can't figure out the debate either.

[CrescentMoonie]

The easy answer is that Luck has physical attributes that teams crave and Cousins has mental attributes that teams crave. It's easier to identify the physical attributes so a guy like Luck goes #1 overall and has a litany of ready made excuses for him if he doesn't pan out. It's more difficult to identify the mental attributes which is why more productive QBs like Cousins often slide in the draft. Cousins has played for 2 head coaches and is getting his 3rd offensive coordinator this year and keeps getting better. We'll see if Luck can do the same.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by CrescentMoonie

The easy answer is that Luck has physical attributes that teams crave and Cousins has mental attributes that teams crave. It's easier to identify the physical attributes so a guy like Luck goes #1 overall and has a litany of ready made excuses for him if he doesn't pan out. It's more difficult to identify the mental attributes which is why more productive QBs like Cousins often slide in the draft. Cousins has played for 2 head coaches and is getting his 3rd offensive coordinator this year and keeps getting better. We'll see if Luck can do the same.

I was ready to end this. . . but:

1 - Attributes: Cousins is 6'3", 214 pound and has a cannon for an arm, Luck is 6'4" 230 pounds. Cousins ball velocity at the combine was 59. While Luck didn't go to the combine, Joe Flacco did and had a 55 rating in the category. Cousins has ALWAYS had the attributes, the question has always been the mental side of the game. He seems to be doing well the last couple of years.

2 - Cousins didn't really improve this year from last year. It was a mixed bag. Yards were a lot higher, as were yards per attempt. He fell off a cliff in red zone production, however, which was an unmitigated disaster. Taking every part of his game into account, he held serve.

3 - Luck, coming back from injury and with a team falling apart around him, actually jumped back up to his pre injury form and went back to two years ago numbers.

4 - Cousins is going on his third offensive coordinator. The first two are now head coaches because of their offensive minds. Luck has had 3 offensive coordinators and it's almost a sure fire slam dunk he'll have a fourth after Pagano gets fired this year. The only one who is a head coach is Arians (who Luck was with during a very, very good rookie season)


If you think Cousins is better, that's fine. But to keep trying to act like his resources have been even close to as bad as Luck's is simply grasping for straws.

I don't really see a lot changing this year either, by the way. The Colts line is in shambles and their backs are among the worst in the league. They are going to be relying on a massive improvement from Dorsett (which doesn't seem likely) or Hilton will once again be the only real threat on offense. That entire team is a train wreck right now. They had ZERO business going 8-8 last year.

They finished 22 in the league in yards per rushing attempt, 30th in yards per rushing attempt allowed and 23 in passing yards per attempt allowed. They gave up the highest % of pressures in the league on pass attempts. (as stated earlier, over 43%). The team, as constructed, is a train wreck.

Maybe Luck will Luck out and the new GM will decide to trade him to a team that actually has some kind of a supporting cast. Then we can actually settle this. (Colts QB's do like coming to Denver. Cmon Colts fans, whaddya say? Trade Luck to the Donkies for Lynch and 2 first rounders? I'm game)

[albionmoonlight]

bump

[Julio Riddols]

I got a few right it looks like, Trubisky in Chicago is probably my best prediction, though I predicted it a round later than it actually happened. He's gonna be good too.

[Julio Riddols]

Current thoughts:

I think Goff is going to make nice strides this year.. Best receiving corps the Rams have had since the early 2000's. Kupp is gonna be a star and if Sammy and Woods can stay healthy that's a pretty solid group. If the defense keeps playing like they have, the Rams could be a dark horse.

Kizer looks like he might get the job in Cleveland.. Might be a mistake rushing him in, but he's been decent so far.

The Jets are tanking.

I think Peterman will end up taking the starting job in Buffalo in a year or two.

Miami is gonna spin their tires with Cutler and finish 8-8 or somewhere within a game or two of that. They should have gone with Moore.

Dallas might have two pretty good QB's now, Rush has been outstanding.

Siemian is clearly better than Lynch, I think he has a long career and gets better and better over the next few years. It will be interesting to see if he is forced to go elsewhere or if he gets to keep his job in Denver.

Texans might be in decent shape with Savage/Watson. Watson is only gonna last as long as his body does though. He strikes me as a story of "what could have been" waiting to happen.

Early returns in KC have actually been positive with Mahomes, which stuns me frankly.. But he did his work scrambling and against a Bengals defense which tends to have lapses against mobile QBs. Most of his "in scheme" throws have been screens.

I think Washington and Minnesota were pretty easy picks, it's wild that Bridgewater is cleared to practice already. He'll be a nice insurance policy and they did do some work to improve their line this season. I think they gotta go with Bradford til he falters. Washington needs to pony up the cash for Cousins.

I actually think Blaine Gabbert will eventually pull a Rich Gannon. He has really turned into a pretty solid QB after looking destined for the scrap heap in short order. I just wonder if he stays in Arizona or ends up with the Jets, Bills or Jags maybe. Sucks for him to be stuck where he is at the moment since Arizona seems set on Stanton as backup. I think he is still on the rise though. It would be interesting if he went back to Jacksonville and redeemed himself if Bortles can't get his shit together.

Palmer is gonna try his best to pull off one last run, he's desperate to get a ring before he calls it quits. I'd bet he has prepared harder this off season than he has in a long time.

[QuikSand]

It would be hard to have been much more wrong than I was here, without submitting a parody entry filled with Otto Graham and Bozo the Clown.