2022 Offseason thread

[Jikkle]

Grant Cohn copying me:

https://www.si.com/nfl/49ers/news/chris-simms-says-the-49ers-are-scared-to-start-trey-lance

Response to Simms. I will say, the Niners may be terrified, but you understand why they would be. Moving up for a QB was the right move. Now, you can absolutely argue that they were too aggressive, overpaid, and/or took the wrong QB. But if they want to be perennially competitive, having a great QB is the way to go about it. That said, there's a ton of risk involved in that. It is not an exaggeration to say that Shanahan and Lynch's future is riding on Lance. If he doesn't pan out, it's hard to see those guys being around in three years. And, of course, they'll have other opportunities, but those are guys who don't like to look dumb. So they should be terrified, but they should also know that Lance having success is the only path forward for them at this point.

Granted there should be some apprehension when you're making a significant move on an unknown with a lot riding on it but if they are really terrified of starting Lance they never should've drafted a QB in the first place. Should've just stuck with Jimmy or looked at another veteran option instead of drafting a QB.

I don't really buy they are terrified as I don't see Jimmy G sticking around as an indication of them being uncertain with Lance but them feeling Jimmy G is worth something and them not wanting to get nothing for him. They are holding onto him because they want to try to sell him again once he's healthy enough to throw because they feel that if he didn't have that surgery they would've gotten something for him.

It was clear at the end of the season they fully intended to trade Jimmy G so what possibly could've happened between the end of the season until now that they suddenly decided Lance wasn't ready and they might want to keep Jimmy? I mean they could've gotten cold feet but that's pretty unlikely.

My take is everything is going according to their plan outside the fact they haven't traded Jimmy yet. They declared Jimmy was the starter the moment they drafted Lance meaning they fully expected him to be rough around the edges and all indications are they are ready to roll with him as starter this season. Unless they are crazy people they should fully expect some growing pains and ups and downs from Lance and the hope is with him riding the bench a season you can minimize them to a certain extent.

[Jikkle]

Mike Lombardi keeps saying, if Lance is looking good in practice, the 49ers would be talking it up.

The silence speaks volumes, he thinks.

why would the 49ers be talking it up? if anything they'd do the opposite to try and increase Jimmy G's value.

and, honestly, whether Lance looks great in practice or not is irrelevant. this is his job and the only way to find out is if he's the starter. you don't leverage 3 FRPs to trade up for Lance not to give him a clean shot as the starter regardless of how his deep balls look in practice.

also I don't buy that Shanahan wanted Mac Jones over Lance, isn't Shanahan the final decision maker, especially when it comes to the QBs?

It's a stupid take by Lombardi because what coach or team would undermine their starter and one popular with the locker room by talking up the backup especially when you want to trade the starter eventually.

Shanahan already mentioned he didn't have Lance take questions or anything because teams usually don't have backup QBs take questions so if that was his stance it makes sense why he didn't talk up Lance either.

As far as Shanahan wanting Mac Jones I'll never believe it unless it comes from someone reliable that's clearly in the know. Shanahan is basically the most powerful guy in the organization right now and I just can't see him getting overruled when it comes to the most important position and one that's going to be tied to his job.

When you look at Lance it's really not that difficult to see why Shanahan would want him. He was the best thrower on the move in the entire class, has a deep ball, a running threat, and super smart. If you saw how Shanahan gushed about Josh Allen after they lost to the Bills on MNF it's pretty easy to see him wanting his own version of Allen.

The only scenario I can buy is maybe he loved both Jones and Lance and slightly preferred Jones but everyone else wanted Lance so he went decided to go that way.

[CrimsonCrew]

Grant Cohn copying me:

https://www.si.com/nfl/49ers/news/chris-simms-says-the-49ers-are-scared-to-start-trey-lance

Response to Simms. I will say, the Niners may be terrified, but you understand why they would be. Moving up for a QB was the right move. Now, you can absolutely argue that they were too aggressive, overpaid, and/or took the wrong QB. But if they want to be perennially competitive, having a great QB is the way to go about it. That said, there's a ton of risk involved in that. It is not an exaggeration to say that Shanahan and Lynch's future is riding on Lance. If he doesn't pan out, it's hard to see those guys being around in three years. And, of course, they'll have other opportunities, but those are guys who don't like to look dumb. So they should be terrified, but they should also know that Lance having success is the only path forward for them at this point.

Granted there should be some apprehension when you're making a significant move on an unknown with a lot riding on it but if they are really terrified of starting Lance they never should've drafted a QB in the first place. Should've just stuck with Jimmy or looked at another veteran option instead of drafting a QB.

I don't really buy they are terrified as I don't see Jimmy G sticking around as an indication of them being uncertain with Lance but them feeling Jimmy G is worth something and them not wanting to get nothing for him. They are holding onto him because they want to try to sell him again once he's healthy enough to throw because they feel that if he didn't have that surgery they would've gotten something for him.

It was clear at the end of the season they fully intended to trade Jimmy G so what possibly could've happened between the end of the season until now that they suddenly decided Lance wasn't ready and they might want to keep Jimmy? I mean they could've gotten cold feet but that's pretty unlikely.

My take is everything is going according to their plan outside the fact they haven't traded Jimmy yet. They declared Jimmy was the starter the moment they drafted Lance meaning they fully expected him to be rough around the edges and all indications are they are ready to roll with him as starter this season. Unless they are crazy people they should fully expect some growing pains and ups and downs from Lance and the hope is with him riding the bench a season you can minimize them to a certain extent.

Yeah, my view is that they are committed to starting Lance. I don't think they're scared about that aspect of it. But they wouldn't be human if they weren't worried he wasn't going to pan out. They hitched their wagon to him, so there is a lot at stake in terms of his development. But I don't think they are hesitant to trot him out instead of Jimmy week one, and clearly the only reason Jimmy is still on the team is because of the injury (and MAYBE because they overestimated his value a bit).

[CrimsonCrew]

Mike Lombardi keeps saying, if Lance is looking good in practice, the 49ers would be talking it up.

The silence speaks volumes, he thinks.

why would the 49ers be talking it up? if anything they'd do the opposite to try and increase Jimmy G's value.

and, honestly, whether Lance looks great in practice or not is irrelevant. this is his job and the only way to find out is if he's the starter. you don't leverage 3 FRPs to trade up for Lance not to give him a clean shot as the starter regardless of how his deep balls look in practice.

also I don't buy that Shanahan wanted Mac Jones over Lance, isn't Shanahan the final decision maker, especially when it comes to the QBs?

It's a stupid take by Lombardi because what coach or team would undermine their starter and one popular with the locker room by talking up the backup especially when you want to trade the starter eventually.

Shanahan already mentioned he didn't have Lance take questions or anything because teams usually don't have backup QBs take questions so if that was his stance it makes sense why he didn't talk up Lance either.

As far as Shanahan wanting Mac Jones I'll never believe it unless it comes from someone reliable that's clearly in the know. Shanahan is basically the most powerful guy in the organization right now and I just can't see him getting overruled when it comes to the most important position and one that's going to be tied to his job.

When you look at Lance it's really not that difficult to see why Shanahan would want him. He was the best thrower on the move in the entire class, has a deep ball, a running threat, and super smart. If you saw how Shanahan gushed about Josh Allen after they lost to the Bills on MNF it's pretty easy to see him wanting his own version of Allen.

The only scenario I can buy is maybe he loved both Jones and Lance and slightly preferred Jones but everyone else wanted Lance so he went decided to go that way.

I generally agree with what you said here, but Lance was not the best thrower on the move in this class. I don't think there's a single category in terms of throwing where Fields wasn't clearly superior to Lance coming out. Granted I think Fields is an elite thrower of the football (could tighten up his motion, but his accuracy, touch, etc. is all exceptional), whereas Lance has the tools but hasn't put them all together. Wilson might have been a better thrower on the move, but I didn't scout him as deeply as Lance, Fields, and Jones, and can't recall at this point. I didn't watch much of Lawrence in a scouting vein as I knew he wasn't an option, though I saw several of his bowl games over the course of his career, and he was probably superior to Lance in that area, too.

This is not to say that Lance is not a good thrower on the move. He does well with it, and based on my observations, was almost certainly better doing that than throwing from the pocket relative to other guys in the class. But as a pure thrower, Lance was pretty easily the worst of the top five guys in his class. His mechanics could get really iffy at times, and he would just miss guys badly for no apparent reason every once in a while, and that happened on the move as well as when he was set. His accuracy seems to have improved a bit this past season, and I'm sure he's continuing to work on it, so hopefully he's in good shape going forward, but IMO it was not a strength of his coming out.

[CrimsonCrew]

Burford wearing 74. Odd to see someone else in that one. Could it mean they're starting him at OT? Not reading much at all into a jersey number at rookie camp, but I can't think of many guards with numbers in the 70s. Though Moore is 76.

[CrimsonCrew]

Vic Fangio watching practice. That's interesting. I'd love to get Fangio back. Maybe next year Ryans gets a HC gig and Fangio comes back. I'd be down with that. Hate to lose an up-and-comer in Ryans, but guys like him tend to move up, and Fangio would be a great consolation prize.

[Pattersonca65]

https://www.inquisitr.com/10007465/nfl-news-49ers-arent-impressed-with-trey-lance

[CrimsonCrew]

https://www.inquisitr.com/10007465/nfl-news-49ers-arent-impressed-with-trey-lance

Nothing new here. He's just restating the Lombardo thing.

In terms of the Lombardo thing, I really question anyone who says Lance wasn't good when he saw the field. He wasn't good in the Cards game, but I put that more on Kyle than Lance. That was one of the worst-called games I've ever seen. Kyle just kept calling designed runs, many of them into the heart of the defense. It was also a really weird game. We repeatedly went for it on fourth down - which is the right call, but atypical for Shanahan - but failed to convert. We repeatedly had big runs reversed on holds (granted the holds contributed to the big gains), putting Lance in unfavorable down-and-distance situations.

I don't see how someone could come away from the Texans game thinking it was an awful performance. Sure, it wasn't an amazing game, particularly in the first half, but in the second half showed some really promising things. He made good reads, generally made good throws, and ran the ball effectively, too. It was a very limited sample size, but for a guy of Lance's experience level, it gave the strong impression that there's plenty to work with.

And I don't know how anyone could question his arm strength. It's definitely more than enough to be a very good QB in this league.

[Jikkle]

https://www.inquisitr.com/10007465/nfl-news-49ers-arent-impressed-with-trey-lance

Nothing new here. He's just restating the Lombardo thing.

In terms of the Lombardo thing, I really question anyone who says Lance wasn't good when he saw the field. He wasn't good in the Cards game, but I put that more on Kyle than Lance. That was one of the worst-called games I've ever seen. Kyle just kept calling designed runs, many of them into the heart of the defense. It was also a really weird game. We repeatedly went for it on fourth down - which is the right call, but atypical for Shanahan - but failed to convert. We repeatedly had big runs reversed on holds (granted the holds contributed to the big gains), putting Lance in unfavorable down-and-distance situations.

I don't see how someone could come away from the Texans game thinking it was an awful performance. Sure, it wasn't an amazing game, particularly in the first half, but in the second half showed some really promising things. He made good reads, generally made good throws, and ran the ball effectively, too. It was a very limited sample size, but for a guy of Lance's experience level, it gave the strong impression that there's plenty to work with.

And I don't know how anyone could question his arm strength. It's definitely more than enough to be a very good QB in this league.

The Cardinals game wasn't great but it wasn't like it was a disaster either especially with Kyle treating Lance like a wildcat QB the entire game.

Houston is more the game I like to point to especially at the end of the half. I think two things happened at that point with one being Lance getting in a groove and starting to loosen up and the other which isn't talked about but I felt Kyle finally starting to relax and figured out how to call the game for Lance.

The whole Lance discussion is just lazy journalism in my book and hot takes to create talking points for a long NFL offseason.

As I've mentioned before the 9ers intended Jimmy G to be the starter even after they drafted Lance. Now if they had planned and pushed Lance to be the starter from the start and he lost out to Jimmy you could make a much strong argument that they were disappointed in Lance. Lance overtaking Jimmy would've just been a bonus to them and a sign he was unexpectedly ahead of their schedule but him not being the starter or playing more doesn't mean he's behind it.

Secondly if Lance isn't ready it's for sure Lawerence, Fields, and Wilson aren't ready either and they should've been more ready than Lance since they have more playing experience in college and now the NFL. Granted Lance has a small sample size but I didn't see anything that made me feel he was any worse than the other rookie QBs sans Jones.

[Jikkle]

Vic Fangio watching practice. That's interesting. I'd love to get Fangio back. Maybe next year Ryans gets a HC gig and Fangio comes back. I'd be down with that. Hate to lose an up-and-comer in Ryans, but guys like him tend to move up, and Fangio would be a great consolation prize.

Tend to feel he's hovering around the team to put himself in a position to get the DC job with the 9ers if it opens next season. My guess is he didn't pursue a DC job in part he's hoping for the 9ers job in the future and mainly it's a chance to step away from the grind a year to recharge your batteries before hoping back onto it again.

He probably would've been the DC when Kyle got the job but the Bears blocked him from it so I'd imagine there is mutual interest in it happening.

[Jikkle]

Well if you want to micro analyze the one clean shot of Lance throwing the ball here you go.

[Jikkle]

Read on Twitter

?s=20&t=0tZ8dHteB0uK058BSlBwJg

[Jikkle]

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-doug-kyed-mailbag-trey-lance-future-best-running-back-rooms-rookie-receiver-fantasy-outlook-and-more

[thesack12]

I'm a few days behind on catching wind of it, but man that Kinlaw dressing down of Grant Cohn was highly entertaining.

I used to be kind of amused with Grant Cohn, but he's become more an more insufferable over the last couple years.

Its no secret that Kinlaw has been a disappointment so far, so Cohn's overall viewpoint on him isn't entirely out of hand . But man, Cohn is highly abrasive with his takes and with his general demeanor/behavior. So I'm not surprised somebody finally called him out.

That said Cohn's shtick is effective because it gets him views and people talking about him. But it won't matter if nobody within the organization wants to talk to him or his credentials get revoked. His heel persona can be marketable for him if he has consumable content to offer. But if he loses his access to the team, people will quickly start to ignore him.

For anybody that might have missed it...

Watch on YouTube

This is the accompanying prequel piece.

Watch on YouTube

This quote from Cohn particularly got under the skin of several players.

"So like I wasn't scared I was just surprised that he crossed the line, because honestly if he touched me, if he pushed me, dude I could have retired today. That's what went through my mind. I'm like, 'oh damn, I'm about to retire I'm about to be out of the game. I'm about to be a multi-millionaire, thanks to Javon Kinlaw,' but no I gotta keep working."

[Jikkle]

I'm a few days behind on catching wind of it, but man that Kinlaw dressing down of Grant Cohn was highly entertaining.

I used to be kind of amused with Grant Cohn, but he's become more an more insufferable over the last couple years.

Its no secret that Kinlaw has been a disappointment so far, so Cohn's overall viewpoint on him isn't entirely out of hand . But man, Cohn is highly abrasive with his takes and with his general demeanor/behavior. So I'm not surprised somebody finally called him out.

That said Cohn's shtick is effective because it gets him views and people talking about him. But it won't matter if nobody within the organization wants to talk to him or his credentials get revoked. His heel persona can be marketable for him if he has consumable content to offer. But if he loses his access to the team, people will quickly start to ignore him.

For anybody that might have missed it...

Watch on YouTube

This is the accompanying prequel piece.

Watch on YouTube

This quote from Cohn particularly got under the skin of several players.

"So like I wasn't scared I was just surprised that he crossed the line, because honestly if he touched me, if he pushed me, dude I could have retired today. That's what went through my mind. I'm like, 'oh damn, I'm about to retire I'm about to be out of the game. I'm about to be a multi-millionaire, thanks to Javon Kinlaw,' but no I gotta keep working."

I'm pretty middle of the road with Grant and I do agree that he's becoming harder and harder to listen too which I think is just a byproduct of having to constantly crank out material day in and day out. Kinda like the regular news where there really isn't enough actual news to warrant the 24/7 coverage we have of it which is why it's become so filled to the brim with garbage.

Just not a fan of Kinlaw's reaction and maybe it's because I'm on the older side of being a millennial and not the younger side of it. Grant has said negative things about Kinlaw in a negative way but none of it has been what you consider out of bounds. For me I just would rather Kinlaw go prove all his doubters wrong on the field instead of handling it like he has. With that said I don't mind someone defending themselves but just go about it like a mature adult, say your piece, and move on.

A side rant but I think society as of late has dropped the ball when it comes to teaching kids how to handle criticism. Not saying we should tolerate actual bullying but we need to equip kids to better handle actual criticism and negativity because it's just part of adult life that people aren't always going to say nice things about you and there isn't a teacher or parent to cry to and to tell them to stop. It's understandable to protect kids from negative things but it's also doing them a disservice when you don't equip them to deal with negative things. Tough balance I know but we just need to do a better job of being less overprotective and being more reasonably protective.

[wco81]

Kinlaw needs to do his talking on the field. I didn't bother to play the video or follow the links but he's got a lot to prove before he thinks he's being unjustly criticized.

Actually not his fault, it's the people who picked him where they did who are at fault if they can't get any productive use out of the FRP DT.

[CrimsonCrew]

I chuckled a bit hearing Kinlaw bitch out Cohn, but it's not a good look for him. He has been a huge disappointment, and he needs to do his talking on the field.

At the ends of the day, although Cohn can be pretty inflammatory, he hasn't said anything that isn't objectively true. And sure, he's said it in some borderline nasty ways, and it isn't Kinlaw's fault that he was picked high and has had a balky knee, but he hasn't come close to living up to his draft spot to date.

It's made all the worse because we passed on Wirfs (who I and others were basically screaming for when he was still on the board at our pick), who has been exceptional, to take Kinlaw. Not to mention Lamb and Jefferson, though Aiyuk has been good and has plenty of upside with Lance under center. Obviously landing Big Trent has made that move seem less awful, but Kinlaw needs to show something on the field this year.

Hopefully that intensity (insanity?) will service him well when he finally does get back out there, but he's now likely going to have to outperform to land his fifth-year extension.

[thesack12]

I'm a few days behind on catching wind of it, but man that Kinlaw dressing down of Grant Cohn was highly entertaining.

I used to be kind of amused with Grant Cohn, but he's become more an more insufferable over the last couple years.

Its no secret that Kinlaw has been a disappointment so far, so Cohn's overall viewpoint on him isn't entirely out of hand . But man, Cohn is highly abrasive with his takes and with his general demeanor/behavior. So I'm not surprised somebody finally called him out.

That said Cohn's shtick is effective because it gets him views and people talking about him. But it won't matter if nobody within the organization wants to talk to him or his credentials get revoked. His heel persona can be marketable for him if he has consumable content to offer. But if he loses his access to the team, people will quickly start to ignore him.

For anybody that might have missed it...

Watch on YouTube

This is the accompanying prequel piece.

Watch on YouTube

This quote from Cohn particularly got under the skin of several players.

"So like I wasn't scared I was just surprised that he crossed the line, because honestly if he touched me, if he pushed me, dude I could have retired today. That's what went through my mind. I'm like, 'oh damn, I'm about to retire I'm about to be out of the game. I'm about to be a multi-millionaire, thanks to Javon Kinlaw,' but no I gotta keep working."

I'm pretty middle of the road with Grant and I do agree that he's becoming harder and harder to listen too which I think is just a byproduct of having to constantly crank out material day in and day out. Kinda like the regular news where there really isn't enough actual news to warrant the 24/7 coverage we have of it which is why it's become so filled to the brim with garbage.

Just not a fan of Kinlaw's reaction and maybe it's because I'm on the older side of being a millennial and not the younger side of it. Grant has said negative things about Kinlaw in a negative way but none of it has been what you consider out of bounds. For me I just would rather Kinlaw go prove all his doubters wrong on the field instead of handling it like he has. With that said I don't mind someone defending themselves but just go about it like a mature adult, say your piece, and move on.

A side rant but I think society as of late has dropped the ball when it comes to teaching kids how to handle criticism. Not saying we should tolerate actual bullying but we need to equip kids to better handle actual criticism and negativity because it's just part of adult life that people aren't always going to say nice things about you and there isn't a teacher or parent to cry to and to tell them to stop. It's understandable to protect kids from negative things but it's also doing them a disservice when you don't equip them to deal with negative things. Tough balance I know but we just need to do a better job of being less overprotective and being more reasonably protective.

Oh definitely. I for sure agree that Kinlaw handled this poorly. He could/should have been more professional knowing that he was in a public scope there.

However, its interesting that everybody within the organization that has commented on it has universally been on Kinlaw's side. I get that his teammates want to stick up for him, but I still have yet to hear anybody even check Kinlaw on his actions/behavior saying he could have handled it better. You can have a guy's back while at the same time not agree with how he handled it. So that seems to indicate that Cohn might be just as abrasive behind the scenes as he is in front of the camera. I really have no idea, what his behavior is like when the cameras aren't rolling.

I easily could have missed it or forgotten about it, but from what I can recall I don't think anybody within the 49ers organization has ever really had much nice things to say about Cohn relatively recently. It seems like the Maiocco's, Barrows, Lombardi's, Lee Chan's, Inman's, etc, etc are much higher regarded. Having a heel personality type covering a team can be productive. I.E. they won't produce fluff pieces about a particular player/topic. But as I mentioned earlier that as a credentialed member of the media with access to get inside the building/locker room he needs to be careful to not cross the line. If he loses his credentials, he loses his relevancy.

As for your thoughts referencing the bigger scope of society in general. I'm 100% in agreement with you. Probably because I'm also on the older end of millenial status.

Me and my wife have had several talks discussing how young people struggle to handle the challenges and obstacles of becoming an adult. A lot of them don't know how to productively navigate adversity in a healthy manner. They all too often look to someone else to solve their problems for them, and frequently employ the "cancel culture" strategy to combat something they don't agree with. In my experience/opinion, these type of patterns tend to become amplified for kids that were home schooled. But this is getting too political and this is not the place for that, so I'll wrap that up...

Back to Cohn, if Kinlaw has a breakout season I guess we'll all owe Cohn some gratitude. If so, we know Grant will be the first to pat himself on the back. LOL

[CrimsonCrew]

I'm a few days behind on catching wind of it, but man that Kinlaw dressing down of Grant Cohn was highly entertaining.

I used to be kind of amused with Grant Cohn, but he's become more an more insufferable over the last couple years.

Its no secret that Kinlaw has been a disappointment so far, so Cohn's overall viewpoint on him isn't entirely out of hand . But man, Cohn is highly abrasive with his takes and with his general demeanor/behavior. So I'm not surprised somebody finally called him out.

That said Cohn's shtick is effective because it gets him views and people talking about him. But it won't matter if nobody within the organization wants to talk to him or his credentials get revoked. His heel persona can be marketable for him if he has consumable content to offer. But if he loses his access to the team, people will quickly start to ignore him.

For anybody that might have missed it...

Watch on YouTube

This is the accompanying prequel piece.

Watch on YouTube

This quote from Cohn particularly got under the skin of several players.

I'm pretty middle of the road with Grant and I do agree that he's becoming harder and harder to listen too which I think is just a byproduct of having to constantly crank out material day in and day out. Kinda like the regular news where there really isn't enough actual news to warrant the 24/7 coverage we have of it which is why it's become so filled to the brim with garbage.

Just not a fan of Kinlaw's reaction and maybe it's because I'm on the older side of being a millennial and not the younger side of it. Grant has said negative things about Kinlaw in a negative way but none of it has been what you consider out of bounds. For me I just would rather Kinlaw go prove all his doubters wrong on the field instead of handling it like he has. With that said I don't mind someone defending themselves but just go about it like a mature adult, say your piece, and move on.

A side rant but I think society as of late has dropped the ball when it comes to teaching kids how to handle criticism. Not saying we should tolerate actual bullying but we need to equip kids to better handle actual criticism and negativity because it's just part of adult life that people aren't always going to say nice things about you and there isn't a teacher or parent to cry to and to tell them to stop. It's understandable to protect kids from negative things but it's also doing them a disservice when you don't equip them to deal with negative things. Tough balance I know but we just need to do a better job of being less overprotective and being more reasonably protective.

Oh definitely. I for sure agree that Kinlaw handled this poorly. He could/should have been more professional knowing that he was in a public scope there.

However, its interesting that everybody within the organization that has commented on it has universally been on Kinlaw's side. I get that his teammates want to stick up for him, but I still have yet to hear anybody even check Kinlaw on his actions/behavior saying he could have handled it better. You can have a guy's back while at the same time not agree with how he handled it. So that seems to indicate that Cohn might be just as abrasive behind the scenes as he is in front of the camera. I really have no idea, what his behavior is like when the cameras aren't rolling.

I easily could have missed it or forgotten about it, but from what I can recall I don't think anybody within the 49ers organization has ever really had much nice things to say about Cohn relatively recently. It seems like the Maiocco's, Barrows, Lombardi's, Lee Chan's, Inman's, etc, etc are much higher regarded. Having a heel personality type covering a team can be productive. I.E. they won't produce fluff pieces about a particular player/topic. But as I mentioned earlier that as a credentialed member of the media with access to get inside the building/locker room he needs to be careful to not cross the line. If he loses his credentials, he loses his relevancy.

As for your thoughts referencing the bigger scope of society in general. I'm 100% in agreement with you. Probably because I'm also on the older end of millenial status.

Me and my wife have had several talks discussing how young people struggle to handle the challenges and obstacles of becoming an adult. A lot of them don't know how to productively navigate adversity in a healthy manner. They all too often look to someone else to solve their problems for them, and frequently employ the "cancel culture" strategy to combat something they don't agree with. In my experience/opinion, these type of patterns tend to become amplified for kids that were home schooled. But this is getting too political and this is not the place for that, so I'll wrap that up...

Back to Cohn, if Kinlaw has a breakout season I guess we'll all owe Cohn some gratitude. If so, we know Grant will be the first to pat himself on the back. LOL

Although I do not disagree with the overarching point, Kinlaw has a pretty unique background. He dealt with a ton of adversity as a kid, and I don't read this as him wanting to have someone else solve his problems, but wanting to call out a reporter for piling on.

I don't know about you, but if I'd had reporters covering my every move the first couple years in any of my careers - and I started my most recent career at 32, not 20 - it would have been a blood bath. And I get that it's part of the territory when you're a professional athlete, but I do think this is Kinlaw seeing a problem and confronting it head on. Now, he did it in the wrong way, but I wouldn't lump it in with "kids these days."

And for that matter, if we're going after "kids these days," let's take a look at adults these days, who are often given a platform to sling all the muck they want regardless of their qualifications, and are rewarded for holding (or at least stating) the most controversial views.

[CrimsonCrew]

To that last point, just look at all the Trey Lance talk lately. All these "adults" are losing their g-d minds. Colin Cowherd came out and said he feels like he's being "sold something" on Lance, apparently because of all the rave reviews. That's interesting, and perverse, given that two weeks ago, lots of national media figures were pointing to the absence of praise of Lance as evidence for him struggling, despite the fact that he hadn't even practiced with the team yet. Everyone questions the lack of praise, the coaches offer relatively tepid praise when asked, and now suddenly it's too much praise and they're overstating the position? It's totally absurd. But that's the NFL today. There is no offseason, despite a lack of content, so these "reporters" drum up absurd stories that are based on...their gut? A feeling?

And just out of curiosity, who has been so effusive in their praise? I can't recall seeing anything other than a coach and GM answering pointed questions with what are basically stock answers about how they are encouraged by what they've seen.