On to the Chiefs

[RaiderandBulldog]

Welp the Raiders and chiefs are birth 3-0 heading into this week.

What more has to be said?

View from the enemy
https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/forumdisplay.php?f=1

[chucker]

It doesn't seem like JPJ will ever be the long term answer but the cupboard may not be bare. Lets see how Rogers and Zuhn work out. Rogers will get the start tomorrow and we may see Zuhn at some point this season too.

[Attyla]

We're gonna need 2 new starting guards next year

The Raiders fanbase version of "We're gonna need a bigger boat"

[Rabidraider]

We're gonna need 2 new starting guards next year

Although expensive, get a stud free agent with experience and draft a rookie in the mid rounds 4-5 range.

Develop the line with a mix of vet and young. Repeat as time goes by...

Mendoza needs the best.

[raider_kin]

Yeah. Ideally we find a relatively young one in FA and hopefully there'll be a good one in the draft. JPJ may be worth keeping on as depth, but homeboy just isn't built for the game.

I like JPJ too, but availability...
Hopefully Rogers will be one of them

[raider_kin]

The Raiders fanbase version of "We're gonna need a bigger boat"

Not really sure what you mean by that but nice call back

[Dr Death]

Not really sure what you mean by that but nice call back

[Willmark]

While it would be great to get "stud" FA Guards there is some issues with that:
1. They usually don't hit the market.
2. There aren't many.
3. Guard is one area of the line where a rookie can be slotted in easier than anywhere else on the line.
4. Guard is the position on the line where you can (potentially) save money. In other words you can't have high priced Guards without having to sacrifice somewhere else on the team.

A good to great guard helps the line sure, but can't make up for it if you have say a weak LT.

[Opoponax50]

While it would be great to get "stud" FA Guards there is some issues with that:
1. They usually don't hit the market.
2. There aren't many.
3. Guard is one area of the line where a rookie can be slotted in easier than anywhere else on the line.
4. Guard is the position on the line where you can (potentially) save money. In other words you can't have high priced Guards without having to sacrifice somewhere else on the team.

A good to great guard helps the line sure, but can't make up for it if you have say a weak LT.

There are potential reclamations projects, guys with a year or two of upside, maybe some guys who just haven't had their chance due to the quality of the starters in front of them. You're 100% right about the costs for a great young FA though. Due to the cap's elasticity I usually forget it exists.

[mranquales]

Tre Tucker has been cooking on his routes lately.

[WNYRAIDER]

There are potential reclamations projects, guys with a year or two of upside, maybe some guys who just haven't had their chance due to the quality of the starters in front of them. You're 100% right about the costs for a great young FA though. Due to the cap's elasticity I usually forget it exists.

...and we also do have a lot tied up in our center, so something has to give,and a stud guard would definitely require a trade off elsewhere......

[Attyla]

...and we also do have a lot tied up in our center, so something has to give,and a stud guard would definitely require a trade off elsewhere......

The trade off is not the guards. We are cheap at QB so that is why we can pay big at center. We have the money to get a good guard. We just did not have any great options

[WNYRAIDER]

The trade off is not the guards. We are cheap at QB so that is why we can pay big at center. We have the money to get a good guard. We just did not have any great options

...my impression of the post was that they wanted to go for a 'stud' guard, not a 'good guard', which, last I knew, wassup near tackle money, though don't hold me to that as I haven't paid that close attention on those contracts for a while, but with us paying about, what,6-8 million a year more for our center than the next highest, and with guys like Bowers, maybe koonce,who I think is on a 1 year, and started to be who we thought he could be pre njury,. and with the real chance that we will see some of these kids which seem to be trending in eth right direction, and with the typical presumption that Mendoza, if things go right, could be up for a huge one in several years, I would prefer they think ahead and not have us lose youbnf players in the coming 3 and 4 years due to not having been smart about contracts moving forward.
....I guess it boils down to ones interpretation of a''stud guard', which more often, at least to me, implies a top , if not top 1-2 free agent coveted by many teams, as opposed to a 'good guard', which we all obviously know we are in need of, and possibly more so, depending on how a few kids we drafted turn out.

[LayneStaley]

I’m not sure why Rogers and Zuhn can’t be our starting guards as early as this season? Both 3rd rounders I believe so it’s not like there wasn’t some expectations for both to succeed at this level.

[Coach dd 11]

In my humble opinion, it still all comes down to solid drafting and targeted FA contracts.
If you can't build the team in the trenches and with the draft, you're FUBAR in my opinion.
I keep a list and a draft every year to make it fun and interesting for myself come draft day but it is also not truly realistic for a wide variety of reasons. With that said, I am one who would overdraft the OL/DL and with that we wouldn't have the issues we have today. Now, we may have other issues at the same time....so 2024 I took LG Suamataia in the 2nd and RG Puni in the 3rd....so we wouldn't have JPJ or Glaze....2025 I took Membou and not Jeanty, Skattebo when we took Rogers, Mbow when we took Grant.......blah blah blah...the point is you have to build and develop within the draft to truly build and develop your team. A lot of ways to do it and go but you have to be successful and have more hits than misses and the pure truth is we have sucked at this for a long, LONG TIME!

[mranquales]

It doesn't seem like JPJ will ever be the long term answer but the cupboard may not be bare. Lets see how Rogers and Zuhn work out. Rogers will get the start tomorrow and we may see Zuhn at some point this season too.

One element some are missing with JPJ is he is the ideal size. When JPJ was a rookie, there was an interview with him and Parham and JPJ made Parham look like he didn't play football.

Zuhn needs to bulk up imo. He's too small to be ideal, but he's fundamentally sound. He reminds me a lot of Parham in that regard.