Didn't really watch the game myself as my team Galatasaray was playing a game at the same time and I was tuned into that game. But say he was sitting at the wrong side and say it was 50/50. Is it normal for an opposing SEC fan base take over a game like that?
that’s not surprising to me. Nashville is the Southern Las Vegas. It’s a destination for every SEC fanbase to travel to. And LSU had not played there since before COVID.
What's the bearish case on Mendoza? I don't know much about him but it seems like he's smart and makes good decisions. At this point I honestly don't care about how athletic a QB is. Most of the really athletic ones use it as a crutch for not being able to pass anyway. I'd kill for a few years of a Pennington-type QB.
Pennington, Cousins, etc. is probably where he’s landing. Smart decision maker, enough of an arm to make it and nothing that will wow you athletically. Really smart kid too. He wasn’t even trying to be a big time football player I believe he was going to go to Yale and be some sort of data scientist.
I know nothing about college final, but if the jets get 1 I'd go Mendoza from the stats and what people say here about him.
I was traveling and didn’t get a chance to respond pre-game. I also haven’t seen this one yet. But I won’t be a pussy and say I knew Vandy would win. I wouldn’t have dismissed the possibility, but if I bet on college football, I’d have bet LSU. Not because I think they’re a better team, or because I’d be (still) underestimating Vandy, and definitely not because I have a ton of faith in LSU. Only because LSU losing would have meant (and now does) that LSU dropped two of three conference games, with Texas A&M and Alabama on deck. Brian Kelly is an arrogant dick, but he’s survived much of the last ten years coaching on a knife’s edge, succeeding by winning when his teams absolutely have to win to keep them in the discussion. It’s why ND fans didn’t weep when he left for LSU - he does enough to keep all his teams relevant, but never enough to take them to the next level. LSU is less patient with coaches than ND. I figured this was a game where Brian Kelly could possibly be coaching to keep his job, crazy as that sounds. Not saying he’ll be fired, but if LSU has a stretch with four conference losses in five games, you’ll definitely start seeing articles that talk about his buyout. Long way of saying - I like Vandy and I like Diego Pagia, but I would have picked this game wrong. ETA: You and your son should put the Cover3 Podcast on your playlists. The Vandy football GM, Barton Simmons, was one of the founders of that podcast. Whenever Vandy does something newsworthy, they have him on.
Great write up as always Jack. I also thought LSU would win but Vandy is playing really with intentisity. Now Mizzou on deck. Vandy again favored by 3.5 points. What is your take on that game?
The play is to stack the Oline and try and pick up a formerly highly rated used QB who underachieved first time round like Mayfield, Jones, Darnold etc Drafting another QB at #1 and putting them in to start in a dumpster fire is just setting them up for failure, they'll be cut after a couple of years and then go and make a career elsewhere.
I agree with this approach. If there is no consensus #1 QB in this draft, the Jets should focus on plugging as many holes as possible on the offense (Including, but not limited to MULTIPLE WRs) so that when they DO acquire a quarterback, that QB can be reasonably evaluated around quality talent.
Yeah, my buddies that are die-hard Gators fans, use the Vandy game as an excuse to party in Nashville.... (and they like to party. lol)
This is exactly what we just tried to do with Fields. We don't have the OC or wide receivers to turn bad QBs into good ones.
I don’t care what QB is available, if this current HC and regime are coaching it will be another 5 years of disaster. Until we have a HC that can bring stability and develop a QB this team is doomed to repeat.
There are virtually no stop gap QB’s available next year either. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/_/year/2026/position/qb Maybe you draft someone and bring Sam Howell in. The rest I have no interest in. Last year was the year to take a crack at like a Drew Lock or Jameis instead of the Fields mess we’ve gotten ourselves into. Howell was pretty turn over prone, but he also threw for a ton of yards and a bunch of touchdowns. Maybe sitting for a couple years helped him? You have to bring someone in alongside a rookie.
I mean Fields was exactly that guy. He had some success, still young, and it was worth a shot. In retrospect Daniel Jones was the play, but with our CS, I don't think this would have worked either. We actually have a decent OL for a rookie to come in and not get killed. We have #1 WR, seemingly #1TE. But we do need a CS that can develop a QB, as simple as that. We need to get rid of Glenn and find this CS that can do that.
I'm not sure that Fields was really that guy, though. The Mayfields and Darolds of the world showed flashes, even while generally underperforming, of having the ability to stand in the pocket and run an NFL offense and hit all of the throws needed to do that. Even at the start of the season when we were still thinking that making a run at a near-.500 record was still a possibility, there was a lot of talk about having to run a less traditional, more run-based offense that included the QB more as a running threat than a passing one. While that's a solid plan if you're on a team that finds itself without a solid passing QB, it's not the kind of offense that is going to be built for long term success in a league that is geared towards pushing the ball down the field through the air.
The odds of a drafted QB being good plummet after the first one is taken. If you need a QB, you keep #1 and take the best QB.
True and agreed. But Fields was also never really this consistently bad. And he arguably has a better line than he had in Chicago for some of those years. I mean he is oppressively bad right now. Historically bad. And he’s not running the ball either which usually let him move the offense down the field a little bit.
