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sure in the abstract, in general, yes, but thats not whats going on with Caleb. He is often getting the ball out on time. Its when the protection breaks down that he has to start scrambling. Benedet is young, and he has the rest of the year to keep improving before any decisions need to be made, but right now if Benedet doesnt get any better, we have to think about replacing him. To be fair, you can say the same about Caleb too. And Odunze. All young players need time to grow. But right now, Benedet is a consistent problem in pass pro. Not saying he sucks - just that he needs to get better.

At the risk of being ‘nit picky’, holding the ball and running around aren’t necessarily symptoms of bad pass pro. Not being able to process progressions timely could also contribute, especially with the ‘holding the ball’ part .

Saw another report that confirms most of this and speculated that “IF Chicago were in the mix” his earliest return might be Cleveland. Which I believe was because the Browns aren’t as good a team and it would be a good chance for JJ to start testing things out before playing against tougher competition and theoretically deep into the playoffs. However if the team wasn’t making the playoffs, then they thought he’d more than likely sit the rest of the season out. That tells me he’s right on the edge.

Here's an interesting stat: The Jets are averaging a league low 139.9 passing yards per game. This is the lowest in the NFL since the 2022 Bears (130.5) - the common thread? Justin Fields is the QB.

exactly. Caleb hasnt arrived, but he is clearly on the path. If he keeps improving, he should end up right next to those guys. This is the talent that made him a generational PROSPECT. With Johnson's help it's amazing to see him taking steps to fulfill it.

I dont see our OL as being 3rd in pass blocking. That's a PFF number isnt it? If Benedet grows and can handle the pass blocking, then great - he has been really good in the run game - but right now he is a liability in pass blocking. If people want to complain about Caleb holding the ball and running around, a lot of it starts with Benedet allowing pressure.

The return of JJ and Kyler G should help a lot. We still need a pass rush of course, but having better coverage should help us win shootouts at least - but it puts the lack of pass rush on Caleb's shoulders.

One thing to note. I think there is a perceived target on yards that is misleading. Averaging 270 Passing Yards a game would lead the league this year. That projects to 4,590 for the season. We haven't seen a 5K Passer since Mahomes in 2022. The league leaders the last two seasons were Burrow with 4918 and Tua with 4624. I really think the kickoff changes have impacted overall numbers. If you have 10-15 less yards available per drive, you are losing 40-60 yards per game of potential offense. That won't all be passing numbers, but if 70% of your yards are from passing, you are losing 30-40 yards per game by just having a shorter field after kickoffs. That equates to 500-700 yards per season. Not something I really considered. It obviously affects all players but 5K Passing seems a lot harder now than it was a few years ago.

Rodgers was 25 in Year 4, in his first full season, but he may be the closest comp to Williams due to the low INT rate. Most of the other QBs listed outside of Mahomes threw a lot of INTs. Manning had 28 INTs his rookie year (still crazy to think about), and had double-digit INTs in every season but 1 (when he had 9). Brady didn't hit 4K passing yards until Year 6 and had double-digit INTs in his first 6 full seasons. Marino peaked early (his best years were 2-4). He also threw a ton of INTs, hitting 20 per year in 4 out of 6 seasons.

That gives him a shot to play in 23 days against GB. With the PHI game the week prior on a Friday, we can assume that one is out. However, the GB game would give him 5 more games. GB, CLE, GB, SF, and DET. I think the CLE game would be the latest, as that would be 9 days after the 21-day window.

Great news. Obviously, he still might be a month away, but I doubt much beyond that.

Drake Maye has a lot of similarities to Jordan Love, in my opinion. He's very talented, and if he hits, I think he'll always be a fringe top 10 guy, but there's something about him that I don't trust. Great deep ball thrower who has a good feel for hitting his checkdowns, but his decision making leaves a little to be desired at times, too. He's a little clumsy. Takes too many bad sacks, loses control of the football a lot, and has had a few Jordan Love-like gaffes in the redzone in his career. Caleb is the more dynamic player. I'd still take his arm talent over Maye's, but he's just not as polished yet as a pocket passer. He's also less prone to mistakes and probably one of one in the NFL in terms of avoiding pressure. We're starting to see a little more college Caleb in that regard this year the way he's been toying with pass rushers. Maye deserves his flowers for how good he's been this year, but people are crazy if they think he's a real MVP candidate over guys like Stafford, Darnold, or even Jonathon Taylor. Unless Caleb falls off a cliff by the end of the year, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see him take back the #1 QB of his class next year once Maye gets a 1st place schedule and faces stiffer competition. Last year it was all about Daniels and Bo Nix with Maye and Caleb a distant 3rd and 4th. This year it's become mostly Drake Maye with Caleb a distant 2nd. Next year could be Caleb's year.

Another thing I forgot to mention. Our LT (Theo) is now third in the league (all Ts) at win rate at run blocking. We are now the 7th ranked OL in the league, third in pass blocking efficiency. As much as there are legitimate arguments that we should have drafted a first round LT but a UDFA may be our LT of the future. We have given up 14 sacks this year compared to leading the league in sacks last year 68. As much as 1/3 of the sacks were because Caleb was holding the ball to long last year, his pocket awareness has helped him avoid sacks this year. Everything appears to working.

I agree with the C+ grade on Poles. All GMs have hits and misses but the key to any organization, are they winning ? Poles said he needed 5 yrs to rebuild this into a consistent winner, we are in year 4. He will be remembered for drafting Caleb and hiring BJ, not all the third round misses. Shanahan traded a bunch of picks to draft Trey Lance in 2021 which would have got a lot of people fired. He didnt get fired because he is a consistent winner. Belechek is known for being the best coach ever and his history is littered with mistakes but always won. BJ has influenced Poles picks , just look at the Loveland and Burden picks but it still falls on Poles shoulders. You build a team successfully thru the draft, free agency, and C G-Johnson type pickups. The only important question , are we winning? It appears to be right on Poles schedule in a 5 yr rebuilding plan. He came in here with a terrible Cap situation, and a bunch of expensive older players without many good ones. Condemn Poles all you want on his mistakes but do we have a team now that can win the North (tied for first place) and become a playoff contender? So far so good.

I never really like Phil Simms but I agree with his ranking.

I understand the point you're making. I'm saying as we go forward, I think Johnson will make the good decisions and Poles will follow. We are already hearing that Poles wanted to trade picks away for players at the trade deadline and Johnson told him not to. So I think there's good evidence that Johnson is running the show. Of course Poles and his scouts provide all the detailed info, film and investigations that Poles and Johnson will rely on to make those decisions, so it's not like Poles will be twiddling his thumbs. But when it comes to talent evaluation, I think Johnson will have the last word, and right now at least I am more comfortable with that than letting Poles have it. And yes, that includes the picks we made this year, to at least some extent. I really like Loveland as a player, but i still think taking a TE with the #10 pick overall is a strange choice. We still have no pass rush. I also understand taking Burden at #39, but we should have taken Aireontae Ersery at #41, instead of trading down for Trapilo and Turner in my view too. Is Turner going to be worth the trade down from Ersery to Trapilo? But i think Johnson will be much better going forward now that he understands the roster better, having coached all these players this year. And maybe Johnson didnt mind taking Loveland high because he felt he needed to get Caleb going into the system. If they are aggressive about stocking the defense this offseason, then that's all gonna work out. So hopefully that clears up some of what might have looked like having it both ways, with a little more detail? I think Poles is a good team player, not much of a leader type, and is a hard worker who will do a good job setting the table, but Johnson will make the right strategic decisions after that. I mean, Poles has been here a while, and pass rush has been a consistent problem, who has he drafted on the pass rushing edge?

When the Bears were losing, Poles was taking heat for drafting a TE, WR, RT, and DT. Now that they are winning, it is slowly going to BJ made the picks. Im not calling you or anyone out, just things you read anywhere. I do believe Poles relies on Warren, Cunningham and Johnson equally and he wants all 4 of them on board for any big decisions. They also want Johnson to get the players he needs to fit his style or D Allen's (a multi position DL, tall physical CB, and fast LB). As for Alaska?, I think Poles has done above average, C+. If Kiran or Trapilo turn into staples on the oline, he can get to a B+ very fast.

Its a mixed bag with Poles, and while he did draft Caleb, anyone would have done that with the first pick. And anyone would have signed Johnson too - he was the belle of the ball last year. (yes i know at the time i thought Vrabel was the guy, but I also didnt really know anything about Johnson's demeanor, but you can assume every GM did know those things) I also think that starting with last year's draft, Ben Johnson is really the guy calling the shots on personnel. Now that might be a reason to keep Poles, because he is letting Johnson make the decisions, but it's not necessarily a reason to praise him?

That was one of the most polite and complimentary 'opp-ed' pieces I've seen in a long time.

Burkhardt and Brady are calling this matchup. Brady's called two of Caleb's best games of his career (Packers last year, Cowboys this year). Let's hope that continues

Curious, and want to ask this before we head into the tougher part of this year’s schedule. Whats the consensus on how Poles is doing right now? The team is tied for the lead in the NFC north for the first time since 2022. Poles more or less built the team we see before us. They signed CJ who has contributed significantly while the defense as a whole has struggled. And many claim Williams is coming into his own as was predicted would happen when he was drafted. Before you say ‘but this all Johnson’, remember Poles was the one that hired him.

right. you can see him doing all the little things. This is what they mean by feeding him with a fire hose. Theyve got him working on all these things - it's a lot, especially for a guy that never got coached this way before, and is still working on his footwork - starting with switching his forward foot from the snap. But hes putting so much of it together. When the game slows down a little for him, he's gonna be a killer.

Caleb was mic’d up last game. When he barely missed Rome on a deep route you hear them talking afterwards about if Rome was taking it upfield or flattening out. There are still subtleties to work out between QB and WRs but each week it gets better.

You can pretty much grab any film review of the last few games and see about half of Williams throws are being released before receivers make their break. He’s also moving safeties and LBs intentionally with his eyes knowing where he really wants to throw. Watch the TD to Rome where he’s all alone in the end zone. See the subtle fake to the outside route that gets both defenders to bite leaving Rome alone. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XyeHR_Du4Y4&pp=ygUdY2FsZWIgd2lsbGlhbXMgZmlsbSBicmVha2Rvd24%3D