Found on Reddit: "The #Browns finished with 22 QB pressures. 16 of those came when only rushing 4."
That's absolutely horrendous.
That's absolutely horrendous.
***Official 2021 Vikings***
- Thread starter Aclone
- Start date
A lot of people need to be fired in Minnesota. And has Barr even played since he signed that fat contract? As for Cousins, people need to realize he is a very good QB. Tom Brady? No. But at least comparable in some areas. Cousins Vs. Brady
I think people's biggest frustration with Cousins is his contract hinders Minnesota's ability to sign top Olinemen in free agency, and then he's not the type of QB that can escape the pocket and make a poor O-line look average. If Kirk gets hit a couple times, he starts to see phantom pressure when it may not be there and he panics and we get bad Kirk.
I am at the point where I want a clean break from Zim, Spielman, and then move on from Kirk at the end of the contract. Spielman can't identify Oline talent at all (outside of O'Neil), and has whiffed on some draft picks recently. Zimmer is a good coach but makes frustrating clock management decisions. Kirk is Kirk. I don't think this combo will ever bring a Super Bowl to Minnesota
Cousins' contract is pretty much what you are going to have to do if you are going to get a top half of the league QB in free agency. You either tank and get a QB high in the draft or you pay out of your ass in FA. There are no other options. The "cheap" options were to still pay tons of money to Case Keenum or Tedy coming back from injury.
The reason the OL couldn't be addressed over the years is the continual drafting of CBs in the early rounds, and paying big bucks for Xavier Rhodes too long, and now doing the same with Barr. And sorry to say, but we'll get to that point with Smith too soon.
When Hunter, Barr and Hendricks all signed big deals we should've all seen this coming. At that point it SHOULD have signaled that the draft was going to be OL, OL and more OL for a couple years. But here we are, more bad CBs drafted.
When you have a few years in a row where you are tops in the league in cap % on the defensive side of the ball AND you are spending a good chunk of your high draft picks on that side of the ball (which should mean good players on cheap contracts), your defense can't be good. It has to be absolutely elite.
Cleveland rushed four almost all day and got a crazy amount of pressure. This is the most simple rule in all of pro football. Get pressure with four and you win. Period. See the Super Bowl last year. You can't scheme around it.
Super Bowl? That group can't even get back to the playoffs.
Not sure if this is even an option.. DO you extend Cousins now and drastically lower his 2021 and 2022 caps to go get Stehpon Gilmore and make a run?
He's probably not looking to go to a 1-3 team with GB in command of the division. But you you even want the move to be made?
I'd let Cousins go to FA and see what he's worth.
Regarding Gilmore, hard no. They need all the money they can get to fix the OL.
- Mar 27, 2006
- 42,740
- 33,760
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I'm not sure how much money they'd throw at the OL, even if they could. They have a bunch of young guys taken with high picks who are going to get their shot. Maybe they'd look at upgrading the center position, but I can't imagine they're going to spend a ton of money on the o-line this offseason
They need another guard in addition to a decent center. But they won't go that route, and will wonder why they can't win a division that no longer has Aaron Rogers.
Hopefully Darrisaw starts next week and Davis gets into the lineup. Use the rest of the year to see if they are going to work out.
- Mar 27, 2006
- 42,740
- 33,760
- 113
Udoh is actually playing pretty well at RG. His PFF grade is decent, even better than O'Neil so far. They might look at replacing Cleveland, but they'll give him all year to figure it out.
They need a new center. Ezra Cleveland is ok at LG. Oli Udoh is our second best OL player this season at RG, RT is locked down for 5 more years and the franchise LT is likely to make his debut soon. That doesn't even include Wyatt Davis, who was the highest graded guard on the team in the preseason. This is Ezra's first season at LG and he plays next to a horrific center..
I know he was traded... but our pass defense in atrocious in a pass happy league.. Getting a veteran corner sounds nice. Patty P has a 1 year deal so we are likely to have no good corners in 2022. I'd rather not HAVE to draft a corner in round 1 of this springs draft and go best player available. I'd rather draft Tyler Linderbaum
Bless your heart for lasting this long. I do like Zimmer as a coach, but Spielman, even with the playmakers he HAS brought in, doesn't seem to think the OLine is a big deal. Fans have been clamoring on about this for years and there's only so much Dakota Dozier I can take...and it's not very much.
- Mar 27, 2006
- 42,740
- 33,760
- 113
Is that really true though?
The Vikings have selected an offensive lineman using a first or second round pick in each of the last 4 drafts. Two 1st round picks and two 2nd round picks. And this year they used a 3rd round pick on a lineman.
The list of other teams that have spent that kind of draft capital on the line isn't very long.
Now you can make an argument that the picks haven't panned out, but it's hard to say that they don't care or aren't trying to add talent.
Cousins's cap hit this year is lower than Rodgers's but Green Bay has managed to pay Bakhtiari and have one of the better offensive lines in the league.
The issue to me is less Cousins's contract, more paying the combination of Harrison Smith (16M avg salary) / Barr (10M) / Kendricks (10M) / Tomlinson (10.5M) / Pierce (9M) / Richardson (3.6M) a combined 59.1M in average salary and still not being able to stop the run.
Zimmer is a great defensive coach (at least as witnessed by his time in Cincinatti) who should be able to do more with less on defense and somehow has managed to do less with more on defense. And the money spent there has directly impacted the ability to spend on the offensive line.
In Spielman's tenure (since 2012), only seven offensive linemen have been drafted in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd rounds, including the five in the last four years you mention with many ranking middle of the pack in their respective positions last year. They ranked 28th in pass blocking last year, 23rd in run blocking the previous year.
Maybe they are trying to pay more attention to it now, but not making it a higher priority throughout the Spielman tenure has hurt. That's the only glaring blemish among the playmakers he HAS drafted though.
