The key for those good-every-year teams is a good QB
| November 28, 2017 03:00AM |
I get exactly what you're saying.
Of course, there's no better current example than the Houston Texans. Watson replaces the never-should-have-been in the NFL Tom Savage and they go on a scoring tear that is unmatched in NFL history. Watson tears his ACL, Savage comes back, and they immediately nose dive to looking like a 3 Stooges offense. A month later, still the same.
Yet, despite 2 of their best D players going down for the year, the D continues to do well.
So while great players matter, they matter more at some positions than others.
I'm on record as saying that DT is one of those positions that good, solid and steady is good enough. Now, of course, every now and then you get a guy so special that he kind of breaks the mold (perhaps Donald). Same at LB. A Great LB can be replaced with a good, solid LB and you shouldn't feel too much effect.
But there are some positions that are really difficult to replace great players: LT, CB, and QB to me are the most important.
Bottom line: modern football is and will always be about the QB. If you have a good QB you'll be a decent team. If you have a great QB, you'll always be in the playoff hunt. If you don't have either, you won't.....at least you won't for very long.
What the good teams like GB, NE, the Steelers, etc. do is to reload around the QB. They nurture and protect the QB; they KEEP their QB whatever they have to do. They understand that he will have down games, even down stretches of games, and sometimes just a bad year. But they know how hard it is to get a good (or especially a great) QB, so they stick with him. But as the QB talking heads will tell you, the thing that most fans don't understand is that when you change QBs, you have to change the system to match with that new QBs attributes. That means different plays and different players. So it affects the entire offense, if not the entire team, when you bring in a new QB.
This is why GMs say that finding that Franchise QB is the key to it all. That's why QBs will soon break the $30 mil per year barrier. That is why the Rams FO that shipped out Kurt Warner needs to be remembered as the stupidest FO of all time. If a problem erupts between the QB and the FO, fire the FO. If between the QB and the HC, fire the HC. FOs and HCs can be replaced far easier than terrific QBs.
It is not yet for certain, but it might be that the Rams have found their solution at QB (a real playoff Q
for the next 12 - 15 years in Goff. If that's the case, then I can already see that McVay is smart enough to know that whatever he has to change in the way of system and players to protect Goff and help him thrive, that's what he's going to do. I think Snead is on the same page. If so, Rams fans, we're going to be a good team for a long time.
Of course, there's no better current example than the Houston Texans. Watson replaces the never-should-have-been in the NFL Tom Savage and they go on a scoring tear that is unmatched in NFL history. Watson tears his ACL, Savage comes back, and they immediately nose dive to looking like a 3 Stooges offense. A month later, still the same.
Yet, despite 2 of their best D players going down for the year, the D continues to do well.
So while great players matter, they matter more at some positions than others.
I'm on record as saying that DT is one of those positions that good, solid and steady is good enough. Now, of course, every now and then you get a guy so special that he kind of breaks the mold (perhaps Donald). Same at LB. A Great LB can be replaced with a good, solid LB and you shouldn't feel too much effect.
But there are some positions that are really difficult to replace great players: LT, CB, and QB to me are the most important.
Bottom line: modern football is and will always be about the QB. If you have a good QB you'll be a decent team. If you have a great QB, you'll always be in the playoff hunt. If you don't have either, you won't.....at least you won't for very long.
What the good teams like GB, NE, the Steelers, etc. do is to reload around the QB. They nurture and protect the QB; they KEEP their QB whatever they have to do. They understand that he will have down games, even down stretches of games, and sometimes just a bad year. But they know how hard it is to get a good (or especially a great) QB, so they stick with him. But as the QB talking heads will tell you, the thing that most fans don't understand is that when you change QBs, you have to change the system to match with that new QBs attributes. That means different plays and different players. So it affects the entire offense, if not the entire team, when you bring in a new QB.
This is why GMs say that finding that Franchise QB is the key to it all. That's why QBs will soon break the $30 mil per year barrier. That is why the Rams FO that shipped out Kurt Warner needs to be remembered as the stupidest FO of all time. If a problem erupts between the QB and the FO, fire the FO. If between the QB and the HC, fire the HC. FOs and HCs can be replaced far easier than terrific QBs.
It is not yet for certain, but it might be that the Rams have found their solution at QB (a real playoff Q
for the next 12 - 15 years in Goff. If that's the case, then I can already see that McVay is smart enough to know that whatever he has to change in the way of system and players to protect Goff and help him thrive, that's what he's going to do. I think Snead is on the same page. If so, Rams fans, we're going to be a good team for a long time.
