2025-26 NFL Thread

[MU82]

Maybe Packers for Special Teams in case Harbaugh wanted to do charity work.

Jets

Thinking same stadium, different conference. Some young talent, including at QB and WR, to work with. The Jets, meanwhile, are hopeless.

[wadesworld]

Thinking same stadium, different conference. Some young talent, including at QB and WR, to work with. The Jets, meanwhile, are hopeless.

They are already one of the six non-Ravens teams that have head coach openings, so the assumption was that all 6 teams with head coach openings were teams to call Harbaugh's agent, and then there is one team that still has a head coach who called Harbaugh's agent.

[Pakuni]

Mike McDaniel fired by the Dolphins.

[JWags85]

Mike McDaniel fired by the Dolphins.

Hot take...I think McDaniel is going to be a good to very good HC in the NFL.  I just don't think he was ready/wasn't prepared enough at this stage to handle a QB who wasn't just not good enough, but was a liability.

Not to mention, due to not being as dysfunctional as some of the others in the AFC East and others on the Eastern seaboard, the Stephen Ross owned Dolphins are sneakily right up there in terms of NFL coaching graveyards as of late.

Either way, good time to need an OC.  Both Kingsbury and McDaniel

[Hards Alumni]

Mike McDaniel fired by the Dolphins.

They sure took their time.  Seems like maybe they want in on the Harbaugh sweepstakes.

[JWags85]

They sure took their time.  Seems like maybe they want in on the Harbaugh sweepstakes.

I would think they feel like they might have an in on Harbaugh?  Cause I don't see the delay being like they asked McDaniel to fire coordinators and he wouldn't, cause I don't see him being overly bound to either of them.  But then again, as I said, the Dolphins have been a low key disaster of varying levels for the last 15 years.

[Pakuni]

Hot take...I think McDaniel is going to be a good to very good HC in the NFL.  I just don't think he was ready/wasn't prepared enough at this stage to handle a QB who wasn't just not good enough, but was a liability.

Not to mention, due to not being as dysfunctional as some of the others in the AFC East and others on the Eastern seaboard, the Stephen Ross owned Dolphins are sneakily right up there in terms of NFL coaching graveyards as of late.

Either way, good time to need an OC.  Both Kingsbury and McDaniel

I guess your view on McDaniel as a HC is going to come down to your view on Tua as a player. If you think Tua just ain't got it, then you can give McDaniel a pass for his lack of development under an "offensive guru"-type coach.
If you think there's been something left on the table with Tua, then maybe McDaniel's more of a coordinator than a HC. There's been no shortage of really good coordinators who just didn't have the head coach in them (see: Josh McDaniels, Vic Fangio, Norv Turner, etc.).
But I don't think anyone questions McDaniel's abilities as a play schemer/caller.

[Pakuni]

They sure took their time.  Seems like maybe they want in on the Harbaugh sweepstakes.

FWIW, Schefter says the Dolphins didn't contact Harbaugh or his agent before making this move. Of course, that doesn't mean it's not what they're thinking.

[MUBurrow]

I'm a huge Dolphins guy, and while the Dolphins' dysfunction isn't as charismatic as the Jets or Raiders, Ross has been every bit as counterproductive lately as Mark Davis or Woody Johnson.  Let's not forget his personal tampering with Tom Brady and Sean Payton cost them the ~20th pick in the draft in 2023.  Now they let McDaniel flop around for three days and even gave indications he would participate in the GM search, until Ross fired him after their season postmortem.  That had to be a Ross call - there is no GM - after there were lots of leaks that McDaniel had a lot of support in the organization. Then it comes out that the firing was without having made an overture to the most table and attractive coach in the cycle. 

[MUBurrow]

Hot take...I think McDaniel is going to be a good to very good HC in the NFL.  I just don't think he was ready/wasn't prepared enough at this stage to handle a QB who wasn't just not good enough, but was a liability.

I'm torn on McDaniel. Despite my issues with the process, I do think it was time for the Dolphins to move on.  NFL D-coordinators caught up to his motion heavy schemes and he didn't have a counterpunch.  Reminded me a lot of when a pitcher comes out and dazzles in MLB, hitters catch up to him once there is some tape, and then its about whether he can adjust again.  I don't think McDaniel had the bandwidth to both adjust as the offensive mind and also steer the entire ship as HC. Tua just isn't very good, so without a schematic edge, he got exposed and the whole thing kinda crumbled.

McDaniel is a quirky guy, and as he continues to develop gray hair equity, that quirkiness may develop into a pure positive.  But as it stands, it undermines his ability to be a CEO in the face of adversity.

[JWags85]

I guess you view on McDaniel as a HC is going to come down to your view on Tua as a player. If you think Tua just ain't got it, then you can give McDaniel a pass for his lack of development under an "offensive guru"-type coach.

I think McDaniel actually did well with Tua for awhile.  He was still kind of spotty and raw his first few years under Flores and McDaniel built the offense around his strengths (his accuracy despite lacking arm strength) and turned him into a really productive passer/Pro Bowler.  But I think the injuries are taking a toll.  Both physically and mentally.  I remember in Hard Knocks, McDaniel talked a lot about Tua's fast processing/decision making, but that was before 4 gnarly concussions, maybe more.  And thats not including his hip and other stuff.  Maybe he gets a fresh start somewhere else, and maybe some of it is on McDaniel, but I would go on a limb and say Tua's peak is behind him.

Not to mention they brought in Tyreek to be the jewel of that quick accurate pass game with Tua and he took a step back last year before the injury this year.

If you think there's been something left on the table with Tua, then maybe McDaniel's more of a coordinator than a HC. There's been no shortage of really good coordinators who just didn't have the head coach in them (see: Josh McDaniels, Vic Fangio, Norv Turner, etc.).
But I don't think anyone questions McDaniel's abilities as a play schemer/caller.

Part of my take is McDaniel's age and relatively short experience prior to getting the Miami gig.  And its too early to deem him just a coordinator. 

Meanwhile, I think McDaniels wasn't and will never be a good HC cause he's a completely unadulterated pretty boy, who can't work well with others in the way that the HC/CEO of a team needs to.  Partially because of his arrogance and partially because he worked under a very successful grumpy pretty boy that he seeks to emulate, despite not having the pedigree and decades of respect/experience to justify some of it.  And I don't know if Fangio ever wanted to be a HC otherwise I feel like he would have gotten a shot before he was in his 60s.  Feels like he ended up taking that Broncos job cause he was supposed to become a HC/that was the next step, especially after not getting the Bears job and subsequently staying in Chicago

[Hards Alumni]

I guess your view on McDaniel as a HC is going to come down to your view on Tua as a player. If you think Tua just ain't got it, then you can give McDaniel a pass for his lack of development under an "offensive guru"-type coach.
If you think there's been something left on the table with Tua, then maybe McDaniel's more of a coordinator than a HC. There's been no shortage of really good coordinators who just didn't have the head coach in them (see: Josh McDaniels, Vic Fangio, Norv Turner, etc.).
But I don't think anyone questions McDaniel's abilities as a play schemer/caller.

I think the main problem with Tua is that his brain rattles around his skull like a spray paint can.

[Hards Alumni]

I'm a huge Dolphins guy, and while the Dolphins' dysfunction isn't as charismatic as the Jets or Raiders, Ross has been every bit as counterproductive lately as Mark Davis or Woody Johnson.  Let's not forget his personal tampering with Tom Brady and Sean Payton cost them the ~20th pick in the draft in 2023.  Now they let McDaniel flop around for three days and even gave indications he would participate in the GM search, until Ross fired him after their season postmortem.  That had to be a Ross call - there is no GM - after there were lots of leaks that McDaniel had a lot of support in the organization. Then it comes out that the firing was without having made an overture to the most table and attractive coach in the cycle. 

They haven't won a playoff game in a quarter century.  Raiders have twice, Jets have four times.

The Dolphins should be openly mocked alongside the Raiders, Jets, and Browns.

[GB Warrior]

Packers special assistant Mike McDaniels

[MU82]

I think the main problem with Tua is that his brain rattles around his skull like a spray paint can.

Yup. I didn't see every Dolphins game or anything, but he sure seemed like a pretty decent NFL QB for a couple years there before he got concussed 744 times.

[MUBurrow]

Yup. I didn't see every Dolphins game or anything, but he sure seemed like a pretty decent NFL QB for a couple years there before he got concussed 744 times.

It certainly didn't help, and for the last year and a half Tua has played like someone just trying not to get hurt.  But McDaniel also made him look better than he really was when things were going well.  All the presnap motion and short timing stuff had defenses creeping up, which opened single coverage and lack of safety help over the top.  When you look at all the deep balls that Tua was completing during that time, people were talking about how Tua was a great deep threat QB - but there was A LOT of Tyreek camped out waiting for the ball to get to him and then getting tackled by defenders whom he had previously torched. 

[WhiteTrash]

GB now (or back to?) a 1.5 pt favorite. 

[MU82]

It certainly didn't help, and for the last year and a half Tua has played like someone just trying not to get hurt.  But McDaniel also made him look better than he really was when things were going well.  All the presnap motion and short timing stuff had defenses creeping up, which opened single coverage and lack of safety help over the top.  When you look at all the deep balls that Tua was completing during that time, people were talking about how Tua was a great deep threat QB - but there was A LOT of Tyreek camped out waiting for the ball to get to him and then getting tackled by defenders whom he had previously torched. 

Thanks for that insight. You saw a lot more Dolphins games back then than I did.

In at least some ways, every QB is a product of his system. Even Brady was. But your point is well-taken.

[Pakuni]

I think the main problem with Tua is that his brain rattles around his skull like a spray paint can.

Mean, but fair.

[JWags85]

It certainly didn't help, and for the last year and a half Tua has played like someone just trying not to get hurt.  But McDaniel also made him look better than he really was when things were going well.  All the presnap motion and short timing stuff had defenses creeping up, which opened single coverage and lack of safety help over the top.  When you look at all the deep balls that Tua was completing during that time, people were talking about how Tua was a great deep threat QB - but there was A LOT of Tyreek camped out waiting for the ball to get to him and then getting tackled by defenders whom he had previously torched. 

That's sort of what I was getting at.  McDaniel did a very good job of developing Tua early and, even more undeniably, built an offense really suited to his good but not elite skill set.  But the injuries/concussions were very obviously affecting Tua in all the little ways.  Hesitant, slow to pick up/process reads that he excelled at before, tentative against the rush.  And then you add the Hill injury which took away his best weapon, which was also the safety valve, and the wheels just came off.

In other bizarre coach search news...
https://x.com/rapsheet/status/2009266906457333933?s=46

I know not all "retreads" are created equal and I have been vocal about thinking guys who had a mess of their first job, like Saleh or Stefanski, still being good coaches who likely will do well in a better situation.  But Nagy getting interest is so unnatural carnal knowledgeing baffling to me.  The Titans interest was like ok, they are a disaster.  But Baltimore too?!

The end of Nagy in Chicago was terrible. Lost the locker room, gimmicky panic offense, no identity.  And it's not like he went and proved himself elsewhere again, he went right back to KC as a non-play calling OC.  Not only that, their offense fell off a cliff around the time he arrived. It's not like he continued to guide a well oiled machine.  You can blame age or output certain offensive weapons for some of it, but that's still not a positive selling point for him.  Ravens fans going from Harbaugh to Nagy would feel like a fever dream

[MU82]

The Rams certainly won't take the Panthers lightly, nor do I expect another Carolina victory. But the Panthers could be a sneaky upset candidate based on the personnel they'll have available that they didn't when they shocked the Rams a few weeks ago.

Arguably their two best DBs, J.C. Horn and Tre'von Moehrig, didn't play last time. Nor did one of Carolina's best offensive lineman, G Robert Hunt. All are good to go for this game. Meanwhile, the Rams will be without starting G Kevin Dotson, and they had enough trouble against Derrick Brown last time when Dotson was healthy.

[SoCalEagle]

The Rams also had multiple players out for that week 13 matchup with the Panthers. Most are back including starters Higbee and Havenstein on offense, and starters Lake, Kinchens, and Young on defense. I think the Rams win, but expect the Panthers to keep it close.

[MU82]

The Rams also had multiple players out for that week 13 matchup with the Panthers. Most are back including starters Higbee and Havenstein on offense, and starters Lake, Kinchens, and Young on defense. I think the Rams win, but expect the Panthers to keep it close.

Good info, thanks.

If I were a big betting man, and I most certainly am not, I think I'd take the Rams and give the points because I could see this game getting out of hand.

But the Rams better not let the Panthers hang around.

[GB Warrior]

That's sort of what I was getting at.  McDaniel did a very good job of developing Tua early and, even more undeniably, built an offense really suited to his good but not elite skill set.  But the injuries/concussions were very obviously affecting Tua in all the little ways.  Hesitant, slow to pick up/process reads that he excelled at before, tentative against the rush.  And then you add the Hill injury which took away his best weapon, which was also the safety valve, and the wheels just came off.

In other bizarre coach search news...
https://x.com/rapsheet/status/2009266906457333933?s=46

I know not all "retreads" are created equal and I have been vocal about thinking guys who had a mess of their first job, like Saleh or Stefanski, still being good coaches who likely will do well in a better situation.  But Nagy getting interest is so unnatural carnal knowledgeing baffling to me.  The Titans interest was like ok, they are a disaster.  But Baltimore too?!

The end of Nagy in Chicago was terrible. Lost the locker room, gimmicky panic offense, no identity.  And it's not like he went and proved himself elsewhere again, he went right back to KC as a non-play calling OC.  Not only that, their offense fell off a cliff around the time he arrived. It's not like he continued to guide a well oiled machine.  You can blame age or output certain offensive weapons for some of it, but that's still not a positive selling point for him.  Ravens fans going from Harbaugh to Nagy would feel like a fever dream

Maybe the Rooney Rule has been expanded to prevent discrimination against bald guys