I didn't see this mentioned in any off the post over the past few days, so here we go:

When talking of value and whether or not we got a good deal for Cutler, just remember that we went into that 06 draft with the 22nd and 29th pick in and draft and spent both of them to get Cutler.

We also spent 3 years of this billion dollar franchise's time, and their fan's goodwill and support, to develop Cutler and build around him.

I posted a short FanPost called "The price for cutler" well before this whole mess (reflecting on why Shanny lost his job), reminding everyone that with old #16 and two fist round picks, this team might have had a much better record over the past three years ... the whole point was the with Jay we would have been better off over the long haul, and now we take a step back.

So getting two 1st, a 3rd and Orten - a 5th was hardly good business overall; it was just the best we could do given the situation. Don't think we got out this deal ahead, we got our 2 first rounders from 06 back, plus the interest of 3 years and a proven comodity.

BigBlueShoe is well known to us older members of MHR, from the old radio day's. He has a little post about this whole mess on the Sampede Blue front page. It is rather biased, since he only looks at Cutler's view of this whole thing and hates all things Patriots. But he had one good line, which sums up my negative feelings towards the coach, and it has nothing to do with Cutler.

He says: "It is really, really hard to respect someone who thinks Matt Cassel is better than Jay Cutler. It is even harder to respect someone when they would rather stock the team with "their guys" rather than try to work with the talent available."

When Tomlin went to Pittsburg they told him to leave the D along, eventhough he was a Defensive Coach. Why Couldn't McD do the same? Our offense was ok, even though some of the play calling showed inexperiance last year.

Fix the weakness, don't mess with what was working. That just seems so clear to me that it makes everything else irrelevant.

I wouldn't want to play for a coach who didn't seem to make the right decisions either, no matter how much of good guy he was or how much energy he had. Get over yourself before you have to manage others coach.

Breaking News: Jay and McD tried to solve the issue by having a one on one conversation on the phone. I managed to wire-tap (I work in Homeland Security you know).

McD: Hi Jay

Cutler: Hi Josh

McD: That would be Coach McD to you

Cutler: Oh yah, well then you can call me Mr Cutler.

McD: No player is bigger than the team.

Cutler: Well coaches get fired all the time. Even the ones that have lifetime contracts.

McD: But I have a new hoodie.

Cutler: Well, I look like I played with the Beatles.

Continue reading this post »

It's true that a coach can come in and assert his control over a team. And they have a right to make trades. But sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. I'm scared that this whole mess will end up like the Cam Camron tenure in Miami, or Patrino in Atlanta. Reputation (which has to be earned) can go a long way in making guys fall in line (or buy in or whatever). A young guys shaking things up has its risks.

Why couldn't our coach be like Tomlin, who despite being a 4-3 defensive coach left the defensive alone when he took over?

We don't have many clear facts, so i won't form any opinions. But perhaps a confrontation between the new coach and Cutler was inevitable, and bringing it to a head early on could be better than being passive and letting it erupt mid season.

But if we loose our QB and go into full rebuild-mode, I will need to find an asylum.

There has been a lot of talk about Cutler's decision making ability on the field and the "risk" of having a QB with his aggressive mentality (when it comes to making passes). Well here is a quick look:

Brady: his first 3 years in the NFL:

2000: only 1 game

2001: 264 of 413 for 64%, 2843 yards, 18TD to 12INT (3% int/attempt ratio)

2002: 373 of 601 for 62%, 3764 yards, 28TD to 14INT (2.3% int/attempt ratio)

Culter: first 3 years

2006: five games

2007:297 of 467 for 63.6%, 3497 yards. 20TD to 14INT (3% int/attempt)

2008: 384 of 616 for 62.3%, 4526 yards. 25TD to 18INT (3% int/attempt)

Not as different as you might imagine in terms of risk taking; and Jay's overall numbers are better. Really, given a more reliable running game or a little better defense to keep the games close, Cutler wouldn't have been forced to take as many chances as he did.

Pats had an amazing defense, and their wining was as much a product of their D as it was Brady's game. Big Ben didn't win any Super Bowls on his own either.

Winning is a team thing, and Cutler isn't the "gunslinger" people like to label him as. He tried to carry the team on his back, and he paid with some INTs. Would it have been better to punt and loose? I think the fixation on "performance" in any given category is wrong. It depends on your objective. Playing it safe wouldn't have won us any more games. We just would have lost in a different fashion.

I take no sides when there is an argument in the team. I just get annoyed when we repeat media catch words like risk taker or decision making ...

Many of us have been looking at Shanny's last 3 years and saying how we missed the playoffs, and how he was remaking the offense around Cutler. Yet we forget the price.

The broncos were part of a trade that left them with no 1st round picks in in 05 and 2 first round picks in 06. Those 2 first round picks turned into Cutler, a player who didn't help his team in the 06 season and caused Plummer to crumple under pressure (my opinion).

Now imagine what would have happened these past 3 years if Shanny had used those 2 first round picks (#22 and #29) on other players. We could have drafted 2 guys like Santonio Holmes, DeAngelo Williams, Joseph Addai, Mathias Kiwanuka, DeMeco Ryans. These guys could have given our team a huge lift and Plummer would have done his part. We could have drafted a couple of busts ... but we did too good a job that year to bust on anything.

Do you know the guy who was picked with the #12 pick, right after Cutler? Haloti Ngata. Dude is a beast. If we had him in our line, our D would be much better against the run, and the double teams he draws would free up the DEs and alow more presure on the QB.

We would have made the playoffs in 06 if Plummer played the whole way. That was a season invested into the future, because Shanny knew we weren't going to win the Super Bowl. We would have also made it to the playoffs in 07 and this year.

But we would have lost in round 1 or 2.

So thank Shanny for wanting to win it all so much that he sacraficed a few  years of winning to get us a Franchise QB and hope for the future.

We all love the Broncos and football, but we do it in our own way.  If you enjoy the personnel and planning part of the game as much as I do, then you know that it is time to start looking at the upcoming draft.

Scouting never stops, but rankings are far too fluid at this point to start talking about who we want to draft where.  We could start looking at players who have played enough to be individually evaluated at this stage, but it would be in the spirit of scouting.

The other part, which is more pertinent at this time, is figuring out our needs, and that’s what I want to discuss in this post. I really think we have seen enough of this team to have a general idea about our future needs. And while a few things will change before the season ends, pigs aren’t going to grow wings.

I am going to look at the O and D separately, and rank our needs by position. Keep in mind that you should consider a 3 year plan when approaching your roster.

Continue reading this post »

http://sportsonmymind.com/2008/08/10/notes-matt-jones-returns-to-the-field/

Notes: Matt Jones Returns to the Field

August 10, 2008

The Florida Times-Union, newspaper to the Jacksonville Jaguars made no mention of the odd happening on the field during the Jaguars-Atlanta Falcons game. ESPN made no mention of the happening, Additionally, in a feature “Camp Confidential article on ESPN.com, Paul Kuharsky, former Tennessee Titans beat writer for the Tennessean and now ESPN.com writer, never mentioned the name of the man involved in the happening. The NFL Network showed a highlight of the happening.

“The happening” was a 22-yard pass from David Garrard to Matt Jones that led to the Jaguars’ first touchdown of their preseason game against the Falcons. Normally the discussion around a play like that would concern a veteran quarterback in his second season as full-time starter and banal banter using the overused term, “sophomore slump.” Secondarily, there would be talk of the new receivers in the Jags camp and how all the receivers from 2007-08 must watch their backs.

But this play should have spotlighted something entirely different - and would have if the receiver was black.

Matty J. was back. He started the game. Jones played his prescribed starter number of plays and sat down for the remainder of the game.

No biggy, huh?

But this is an NFL player who was busted in an SUV with six grams of coke. This is a first round pick who was busted chopping lines with a credit card while his boys eagerly awaited the result of his “largesse.” This is the guy who was given a HUGE break by a prosecutor by reducing his charge from distribution to possession despite the fact that possessing more than one gram of cocaine carries with it an automatic charge of distribution. This is a player who let his team down mightily late last season and into the playoffs; basically disappeared - and then during the offseason had the nerve to complain that he wanted the ball more.

There was no uproar. No boos when he came onto the field. No sardonic remarks from the local press. No ESPN coverage detailing Jones’ first action since the arrest. No  wondering if Jones needed to bne released. No nothing from the commissioner’s office about the scourge that is drugs.

It sure must be nice to be Matt Jones.