MichiganCardinal

I think it's fair to say you probably know more than I do about Schlissel's tenure, so I'll defer. I think his legacy will be defined by sending cringeworthy emails to a subordinate and getting canned either way.

I don't love losing the "college scouting director", but if he's been with us since 2007, he isn't really one of Holmes' guys.

I don't think you can evaluate a University President for their sports acumen. It certainly helps as a sports fan if they are beneficial to you (as Santa Ono appears to be and Schlissel wasn't), but their responsibilities are like 1% sports. If the budget is balanced and nothing is on fire, it's really not your arena, short of fundraising and photo ops. The hope is the adults in the room (i.e., Warde) can run their area on their own. Even-keel is one way of looking at it I suppose, but I thought Schlissel was pretty inept when it came to managing the university. Even notwithstanding his scandalous exodus, he gained a vote of no confidence from the Faculty Senate during the pandemic - the first in the University's history. He oversaw a graduate student strike where he didn't even really become involved in addressing issues until after the strike began. For much of his tenure, he was reactive rather than proactive, and allowed those crazies to drive where he would place focus (which does nothing but encourage more crazies IMO). Even the Go Blue Guarantee, while it was good marketing (love the name), it came following many peer institutes having already come out with those, and frankly to a larger degree. Michigan is the type of university that is considered among the best in the world. I would like to see them drive institutional change, rather than allow the world around them to change and then adapt and say "look how revolutionary we are!" YMMV

I agree. Politics, fundraising, and some sense of stability. If I were her, I wouldn't even want to be doing the nitty gritty. "Emeritus, bitches"

Schlissel was a joke-and-a-half from top to bottom, it wouldn't surprise me if there are quite a few fires that Coleman couldn't put out as interim.

This has come up before and there has never been enough ownership support to make it happen or even put it to a vote. I’m sure some NFL leaders are hoping to see Bills/Chiefs in Atlanta as a test run. I think it’s a really dumb idea. While I’m sure they would do something where AFC stadiums host the NFCCG and NFC hosts the AFCCG, it would be a huge disadvantage to outdoor stadium and cold weather teams, who would rarely if ever be chosen to host or have a close championship game. We would see the same rotation of stadiums as we see for the Super Bowl and CFP... Atlanta, Miami, Glendale, New Orleans, LA, Dallas, wash-rinse-repeat. Maybe a new dome stadium once a decade. It also disincentivizes good teams winning late regular season games, where clinching home field advantage doesn’t mean nearly as much. Imagine a (1) Lions v. (3) Cowboys Conference Championship, played in Houston. Totally where this would go. Even if you follow the money (ultimately what will decide this either way), I’m sure those warm weather stadiums would have no problem making more money, but it’s reallocation of money that other teams would make (who frankly earned it) not “new” money being generated like when they started moving the Draft around. Ultimately, for a combination of these reasons (but mostly money), I don’t think 24 team owners would approve this anytime soon.

I’m not opposed to the top corner at #6 if you see someone who could make a Sauce Gardner type impact. As of today I don’t see that in Gonzalez or Witherspoon. If that kind of difference maker isn’t there, I don’t think there is any reason to pick a corner before at least the second 2nd round pick. There are 10-15 starting corners in this draft. They’re going to slide and there will be great value to find.

What’s 2006 Kenny Rogers doing? I want him.

I don’t want to overpay, if the price is too much then stay away. I think a veteran presence could help that entire defense quite a bit though. They’re so young and we haven’t really spent any money at all on the defense.

If they think Richardson is the QB1 of 2026, they shouldn’t hope he drops to 18. Go and get him. Based on early reports, I think there is a much higher chance that Bijan goes #3 than that he slips to #18.

I sincerely think one starting veteran corner will be acquired in free agency. I don’t think you want your starting defensive backfield to consist of two rookies and a player returning from an Achilles tear. If Bennett is going in the 3rd I want nothing to do with him. I think he can be a very good backup quarterback but he’s very limited in what he’ll do at the next level.

Skoronski has played nothing but OT his entire career as far as I know. He took Slater’s spot as a rookie in 2020. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen some say he *could* slide to guard in the NFL, but I hardly think that’s needed. He should be a very good OT in the NFL. If three QBs go in the top five (as I think will happen), I think odds are good one of Carter or Anderson make it to 6. I think I have a wildly different valuation on Anderson than the majority of the board for some reason. I think he’s the type of prospect you don’t think twice about if he makes it to you. As far as the current roster goes, I think Houston is a good problem to have if you draft an edge at 1.6. But Hutch and Houston are the only two edge rushers who I would think about in planning for the future.

I think there is a non-zero chance they take him at #6. What would you do for that?!

My Mock Draft 1.2 1. Las Vegas Raiders (Trade w/ CHI): CJ Stroud, QB, Ohio State 2. Houston Texans: Bryce Young, QB, Alabama 3. Arizona Cardinals: Myles Murphy, EDGE, Clemson 4. Indianapolis Colts: Will Levis, QB, Kentucky 5. Seattle Seahawks (from DEN): Jalen Carter, DT, Georgia 6. Detroit Lions (from LAR): Will Anderson, EDGE, Alabama 7. Chicago Bears (Trade w/ LV): Peter Skoronski, OT, Northwestern 8. Atlanta Falcons: Christian Gonzalez, CB, Oregon 9. Detroit Lions (Trade w/ CAR): Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas 10. Philadelphia Eagles: Tyree Wilson, EDGE, Texas Tech 11. Tennessee Titans: Anthony Richardson, QB, Florida 12. Houston Texans (from CLE): Paris Johnson, OT, Ohio State 13. New York Jets: Quentin Johnson, WR, TCU 14. New England Patriots: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State 15. Green Bay Packers: Tyler Steen, OT, Alabama 16. Washington Commanders: Joey Porter Jr., CB, Penn State 17. Pittsburgh Steelers: Jaelyn Duncan, OT, Maryland 18. Carolina Panthers (Trade w/ DET): Isaiah Foskey, EDGE, Notre Dame 19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois 20. Seattle Seahawks: Jordan Addison, WR, USC 21. Los Angeles Chargers: Antonio Johnson, DB, Texas A&M 22. Baltimore Ravens: Max Melton, CB, Rutgers 23. Minnesota Vikings: Mazi Smith, DT, Michigan 24. Jacksonville Jaguars: Michael Mayer, TE, Notre Dame 25. New York Giants: Cedric Tillman, WR, Tennessee 26. Dallas Cowboys: Brian Branch, DB, Alabama 27. Cincinnati Bengals: Josh Downs, WR, North Carolina 28. Kansas City Chiefs: Trenton Simpson, LB, Clemson 29. Philadelphia Eagles: Tuli Tuipuloto, EDGE, USC 30. Denver Broncos (from SF): Kelee Ringo, CB, Georgia 31. Buffalo Bills: Henry To'oTo'o, LB, Alabama Lions 2.18 - Cam Smith, CB, South Carolina 2.26 - Jarrett Patterson, IOL, Notre Dame 3.18 - Traded to CAR in deal above (plus 2024 2nd Round) 5.11 (from CAR) - Ji’Ayir Brown, DB, Penn State 5.18 - Keondre Coburn, DT, Texas 6.5 (from DEN) - Jake Moody, K, Michigan 6.18 - Stetson Bennett, QB, Georgia

The Saints went from 1967 to 1987 without a winning season, and it took until 2000 until they had a division championship and a playoff win. Since 2009 though, they've made the playoffs 8 times, won their division 6 times, and won the Super Bowl once. People in their 20s and younger don't even remember how awful they used to be and think of them as a successful franchise. The historical ineptitude for their older fans has turned into "I was a fan all the way back when..." reminiscing more than depression inducing drinking stories. Though I'm sure they'd appreciate another Super Bowl in their lifetimes. Would be nice to go in that direction.

I agree 100%. He is acting like a spoiled toddler who wants to have his cake and eat it too. He had a contract! He quit! I respect him for his contributions while he was here, and for putting his body on the line like all of these athletes do, but the way he is acting like the victim of the whole thing is beyond me. That all said.... I was just referring to the game last year where Sheila honored Calvin at halftime, and the boos were so loud they about drowned her out. She hasn't made a significant public appearance to that scale since. I was there but I didn't boo, because I thought that wasn't fair to her. She is not her mother or father. If WCF had appeared from the grave at halftime, then it'd be fair to boo.

Obviously hindsight is 20/20, but I can recall it was not a consensus among fans that they needed to go after 2019. That team started 3-3-1 and then was ravaged by injury. They lost eight games by one score as well. As bad as they were, they weren't Nathanial Hackett or Urban Meyer where you had no choice but to abandon ship. I was wrong (obviously), but I was among those who thought they should be brought back on an extraordinarily short leash for 2020. I like Sheila a lot. I think she cares about the team and about winning more than relationships, and more than either of her parents ever did. I hope she gets the chance to stand in front of Lions fans again at Ford Field next season and gets a much warmer ovation than she received next to Calvin.

I expect nothing out of Levi. If he even makes the team I would be pleasantly surprised. I see Paschal as more of an inside guy than a strict edge rusher the way I see Hutch (or would see Anderson). I still think he could be pretty good if he stays healthy.

I don't think this is true, unless they set him up for failure by placing him over top of the tackle (how they kind of did with Hutch to start the season). If you put him standing up as the 7-tech, I don't think he'll have any issues with durability. If you want to say that Anderson might benefit by gaining 10-15 pounds I won't argue if it doesn't come at the expense of his agility, but I am not worried in the least about him turning into a rotational player in the NFL. His comps have been to Khalil Mack and Shaq Barrett. All three are between 6'2 and 6'4, 240-250 pounds.

This is interesting. I felt opposite, but you bring up good points. My thoughts being that while we know the defensive success (or lack thereof depending on the game) is tied pretty directly to Glenn, we don't know whether the offense is more tied to Ben Johnson or Dan Campbell. With an offensive-minded HC, you would think the Defensive Coordinator is the second most important role on the coaching staff. At the same time, while I like Aaron Glenn, I am not sure he's top ten in the NFL in terms of defensive coordinators. I do think some of the great NFL defensive coordinators (like Fangio and Ejira) could probably come in and improve the defense from day one. Not that I'm advocating for firing Glenn or anything, the grass is definitely not always greener and he's done a pretty good job with the (lack of) talent he's been given. Just thinking out loud...... I'd prefer to lose neither.

I think Glenn would take Duce Staley with him to be his OC. Internally, I think you look at Kelvin Sheppard and Todd Wash, but I think Campbell clearly has a better grasp on the defense than me, because I thought Aubrey Pleasant was doing a good job until they fired him and the defense magically got immensely better. Externally, there are actually quite a few good defensive coordinators out there and available after not working out as a head coach or their head coach getting canned. Brian Flores, Mike Zimmer, Vic Fangio, and Evero Ejira are all possibilities if they don't get head gigs.

I envision Anderson as a a three-down DE / EDGE across from Hutchinson. I don't think he would need to play off ball as a linebacker except in those rare situations where it's drawn up as a disguise (kind of how Hutch got some of his picks this year). I'm also not at all concerned with his ability to set the edge, he had 101 tackles just a year ago. We saw them adjust the defensive alignment last offseason to more of a 4-2-5 base when Hutch was selected, and if Anderson was selected, I think we could see them come out with a lot of 5-1-5 or 5-2-4 looks. We saw a bit of both of those at times last season in the blitz heavy Glenn defense. Running it more often would need our linebacker(s) to be better than Anzalone at protecting against the quick out, but if your edges are athletic, it can be a very successful formation. It virtually guarantees multiple 1x1 matchups across the front.

One of the weird things in evaluating Richardson is not even so much his inaccuracy, but rather the throws he's inaccurate on. It's not usually those long balls. If you watch his highlight film, he can throw some absolute dimes 30-40+ yards downfield that just make you say wow. He's more often missing on the "easy" throws. Crossing routes and check downs, and on plays where he's clearly just not on the same page as his receiver. Obviously these are throws you just need to make as a NFL QB. Why are they difficult for him though? Is it a timing issue? Communication issue? Coaching issue? I'm not a huge analytics guy, but I'd be interested in evaluating some splits on him too, including accuracy in the pocket versus when he is flushed, and his accuracy set against the amount of time he has in the pocket. Florida's offensive line on the pass isn't world-beating, particularly against some of the better SEC defensive lines. Their stats are definitely conflated too by Richardson's evasiveness. If he had a year or two to gain NFL exposure, behind a top tier offensive line, would he gain some more patience and confidence in those shorter throws?

Carter is an interesting one who the next few months will tell a lot on. I believe the reports that there are character concerns. I thought it was pretty funny how defensive the people at Georgia got when the report came out. I trust Campbell and his staff to make that judgment though. If they think that Carter is a football dude who can mature with age and in the right environment, take him. If he'd be toxic to the locker room, cross him off the list. Anderson though I think we disagree. I'm not quite sure what you mean by physical fit though. I don't think there is a single position group on the defense that is off limits from improvement. In fact, the only two guys I would write in pen as being week one starters are Hutchinson and Okudah, and I would very much prefer Okudah not be the CB1... If you're referring to Anderson's traits and the lack of any individual elite characteristic, I hear you, but I'm not sure you can ignore that in just three seasons, he is 2nd all-time in career sacks at Alabama. Almost everyone else in the top ten played 4+ seasons. In his college career, he didn't go a game without a tackle, and in the last two years only went seven games without recording a sack. At some point you have to look away from traits, characteristics, and analytics and just respect the film and the production. I really don't care how he does it if he can do it. I also don't think any other defensive player is particularly "better" than Anderson in evaluating those traits.