Rugby Saint II

Is it too late to bring in another lineman who can block and protect the QB? It's not like we didn't all see this one coming.

rezburna

Losing Trai Turner was big. I also don’t think Penning is a LT. He might be a better fit on the right side or at Guard.

BakoSaint

I think this injury and our issues with oline relate to salary cap management. Yes, we have lots of 1st and 2nd round picks on our oline, it appears to show we care about the position. But lots of other teams have spent those kind of picks on oline too if you count back to 2015, and some of them were great and are all pros now, while others washed out of the league and are no longer on their rosters. Sometimes they ended up with two players whose best position was the same, and they let go of one in free agency and picked up a replacement who was a natural at another position. Some of these former high picks of other teams who were busts, now journeymen, tried out for us in camp and we cut them. Many other teams might have an oline made up entirely of 1st and 2nd round picks if they almost never cut or benched or replaced their 1st or 2nd round picks when those picks didn't pan out, or if they almost never replaced those picks with free agents who played better or better fit their scheme, but other teams have a lot of accountability and after a few years they move on from the failures, even if they were high picks.

But with how leveraged our salary cap is, most of our high oline picks are approached with a philosophy of 'this has to work' because we don't have much money to replace them in free agency, and we need to restructure their contracts annually to help get under the cap each year, which creates a mountain of prorated debt that would be a big problem in our salary cap situation if they departed and it hit as dead money. So we end up throwing good money after bad, and instead of being able to trade, cut, or let walk the ones that don't work out, we shuffle their positions and restructure their contracts and they stay forever, unless they get so expensive that we get outbid like happened with Armstead.

So, I think the high picks on our line are deceiving. Andrus Peat was a high pick in 2015 but has mostly been a bust and on any other team he would be gone by now. Penning looked raw and was hurt his first year and other teams would not rely on him to start at left tackle without a good backup. Ruiz's struggles his first two years might have got him benched on other teams. Essentially we are managing our oline by making high picks then taking a 'ride or die' approach, and Carr almost got killed. It is what it is, but if we had a little more cap space long term, or didn't trade up so much in the draft and had more picks, or could afford the 1 year cap hit with a long term cap savings of moving on from a bad contract, we could replace the duds like Peat. Instead we just keep playing musical chairs giving our oline auditions are every position on the line before sending them to the bench, and then switching the positions they are more effective at because another oline can't play his position... Well, I just think its all connected. And I think continuing to extend Peat when he has been very ineffective just sends the wrong message to the rest. Peat basically has a union job. If Ruiz's 34 games of mediocrity turn out to be more representative than his 19 games of improvement, he has a union job too, because we will never be able to afford to move on. Ramczyk and McCoy have been great but at times there are signs the injuries may add up and take their toll, but at the same time we have been restructuring their contracts annually and making them impossible to exit down the road. They all have union jobs. They may have come to realize it, watching Peat.

AsylumGuido

Of course you do. What else is new?

BakoSaint

There is a strong probability that Tampa will lose tonight. They play the Eagles, reigning NFC Champs with franchise QB and rock solid oline and dline. If Tampa wins tonight, they overwhelmingly become the favorites in our division, though a let down next week against us could easily happen if they do win tonight, just due to over-celebration. I don't think Tampa will win tonight, but there is the the possibility that Baker Mayfield is a good QB again, just like we hoped Winston just needed a change of scenery in 2022. Even if they don't win, that is a real possibility, whereas their losing to the Eagles is a strong probability even if their QB play matches up somehow.

I think Carr could play on Sunday or only miss a week or two. However, I think the discomfort will likely affect his mechanics and accuracy for a few weeks. When the choice is rusty Tom Brady vs Hoyer its obvious that rusty Tom Brady is better. If its rusty Carr vs Winston, it might be more a case of 'eh, how rusty exactly, is he 80% or is he 60%?' I could see a scenario where Carr is the active as the backup or a scenario where Carr starts but Winston takes a lot of practice snaps and is standing by for cases of arm fatigue and hail marys. We might be in a situation like when Winston was playing hurt last year before being benched or when we wouldn't bench an injured Brooks for Delhomme.

voodooido

I have a little throw up in my mouth but I’m going to say it….I would prefer him sit this week if it means he’s going to be healthy the following week. (Even more throw up) JW would need to start.

Sinner

He’s going to be touch and go, and more touchy than go. Shell-Shocked from an abysmal O-Line, and excuses will be made for poor performance. Not hating on Winston as a backup… but… we’ve been here before, correct? So here we are. Again. I say throw Taysom in and let him THROW as much as run, and at least the fans can have some fun until we replace the whole coaching staff.

AsylumGuido

Brees came back from the exact same injury the following week.

K Major

No disrespect to DCarr but he's not Drew Brees.

Everyone's pain tolerance is different.

Take your time & get healthy Derek. The NFL season is a marathon.

Rugby Saint II

He's not Drew but he might heal as quickly as the best QB of all time. Don't rush him back though. That offensive line is going to get him killed. It's.....offensive!