LTH":ncujiaqj said:
keasley45":ncujiaqj said:
LTH":ncujiaqj said:
I just think some competition would do Wilson some good. If there is a problem with Wilson as we have been talking about, and the Hawks use a high draft pick 1-3 somewhere in there on a QB.. I would say that would be a smart thing to do being Wilsons contract is coming up...I would be shocked if they didn't or like you were saying get one of those guys you were talking about Mills, White or Huntley
Have you looked at the draft yet to see what QB's are available??
LTH
The challenge with keeping Wilson is that you run the risk of bringing in a guy as the potential 'next' guy... and then have to deal with what happens if Russ's play doesn't improve. Do you sit him behind Russ all year anyway or do you then bench Russ?
And if you bench Russ, his value is zero moving forward and you've given up draft capital to get a possible replacement and netted yourself zero in return to build out your roster. In that scenario, the 'win' of finding your QB, is dulled by the fact that you have nothing else. What's worse is if he doesn't work... then you've lost Russ, lost out on his replacement, AND any pieces you could have received in trading Russ to improve your team elsewhere.
Sure, you can trade Bobby, but the returns for a Hof LB on the downward slope of his career isn't anywhere near that of a franchise qb still in his prime.
So you are in favor of just trading Russ now?
Russ had all the motivation he needed this year to try to make things go. Further, both he and the FO had all the reason in the world this year to try to rebuild a bridge that looked to be burning going back to last offseason. If they couldn't do it this year, I just don't see what would change to help that process improve in '22.
Could Russ say, 'ok, I'll go back to the situational QB play' , that we saw success with over the first half of his career and forego the boom or bust style of play he seems to prefer? Maybe, but again, he had that opportunity to start that this year and seemed to revert back to what he did before. And this last loss to the Bears and the way we squandered an easy 3 points, and Russ's defense of his decision show pretty clearly they are on different planets in this regard.
He's also made clear last offseason his being ok with going elsewhere, and his statements and actions this year look to be that of a player set on doing things his way.
Pete seems willing to continue to try but has made up his mind as to how to get Russ to function here. And Russ looks to have drawn a line that even losing games doesn't seem to compell him enough to want to do things differently. It seems as if he's made up his mind that if he's going to play here he's going to do it his way.
That seems like the definition of an impass.
Had Russ's way shown signs that it was sustainable and reliable beyond the big plays to Lockett, I'd say that we need to give the guy what he needs and build around him. In years past, that's where I've landed. But the last 2 years have changed my mind. You just can't ignore his shortcomings on tape. And it's not as though it's cherry picking to suit a particular narrative. It's pretty consistent and predictable. And the proof of that is that for 2 plus years now there's been a defensive strategy that is singular in its focus to stop what Russel does and it works to this day.
All-22 let's you go back 5 years or more for coaches tape. For sh!ts, I pulled up our week 1 game against the GB in 2017 I think it was, to see what our offense did differently then vs now and how different Russ's play was. Literally one of the first plays of the game, same pattern. Missed pre-snap read where he looks to throw left when he had routes open to the right. And when you watch the whole Game, you see more of what you see now, albeit he was more apt to scramble then than now and was more willing to step up in the pocket.
I mean you can't ignore the fact that with Russ, we are a team that only utilizes 2/3rds of the field. And that's proven statistically that we finish last or near last almost every year in passes over the middle going back to 2016. You are handing the defense a major advantage that way.
You also can't ignore the fact that we have been pretty consistently on a decline in 3rd down passing success since 2018. Russ tickled top 12 and top 8 finishes over the first half of his career, but since the offense shifted to being more on his shoulders in 2017, we've gone from 8th to 26th. And although the decline has had some peaks ( dont quote me directly, but I think it was 12th, 8th, 18th, and 26th maybe - I can look it up). To me that gives more credence to Pete's take that for Russ to work here, he needs the defense Pete is building and the running game he's asking for.
Instead, the reigns have been given to Russ and he obviously feels differently and is standing on that. So it's not that I want to trade him, but I don't see how else we move forward. We are getting worse, not better with him under center. And
It can't be healthy for the team to feel the constant warring between QB and coach. Nor can it be a good feeling on either side of the ball to feel as though you are losing games you should win but for better decision making at the QB position - by a player touted as one of the best in the league. That's breeds animosity and resentment. And that animosity and resentment seems to have been present at some level in the locker room for as long as Russ has been here.
So yeah, I think it's best for all parties to move on. Sure, it could be hard for us... could be hard for Russ. But that's the way the ball bounces. Don't see how it can be any more frustrating to finish at 5 and 12 with Russ vs without him. It's almost even more frustrating to give away games we should have won, than to scrap and claw and just come up short with a rookie or new qb learning the ropes. And I say that with the experience of being a hawks fan since 81. Zorn, krieg, mirer, Mcguire, Stouffer, Kemp, Kitna, Huard, Gelbaugh, Moon, Hasselbeck, Jackson, Wilson... there have been far more misses than hits, but it only took this FO 2 years to find Wilson. It's not as though he waltzed in on a white horse and said ' hey, you guys suck, let me save you'. They had the wisdom to pick him and the clarity and conviction to cut the guy they just gave a fat contract to to start him.
Then, they built a superbowl winning team around him.
I'm confident that if any FO can do it again, they can.
