Kauffman-Renn was the game-changer. Hitting 6/7 FTs, 23 points, 3 Offensive rebounds. Hard to overcome a role player playing that well when you also don't shut down the guys who normally carry the load
I liked this part...
"So if risk will be present, it’s best to offset that risk with maximal reward: which brings us back to the quarterback selected with the first pick. There might be a future top-10, top-five quarterback awaiting the lucky team at the top of this draft—heck, there might be two. Even though Fields has much more room for development than the average third-year quarterback, his ceiling is still lower than that of younger, fresher unknowns like Williams and Maye. The benefit of hitting on a high-tail outcome for Fields is moderate: You’ve got a fringe top-10 quarterback on a second contract. The benefit of hitting on a high-tail outcome with Williams or Maye is enormous: a C.J. Stroud–, Joe Burrow–, Jalen Hurts–like impact on a franchise. A swift and unstoppable catapult into contention."
That's 3 potential upgrades... top 10 pick this year, 2/3 this year, and a vet... the pick in '25 has no bearing on the '24 season, which I think it part of Wrigley's point
2025 QBs of note:
Quinn Ewers, Shedeur Sanders, Riley Leonard, Drew Allar, Carson Beck, Cam Ward, Dillon Gabriel...
None of those guys, save maybe Ewers, seems to come close to the type of prospect Maye or Williams is currently
There's little chance they sign Hader and lose a pick... there's 0 chance they sign both Bellinger AND Hader (not that that was necessarily mentioned, but if they sign Belli - thus not getting a pick for him, there's no chance they lose another pick by signing someone)
Yeah, I agree that Poles is unlikely to replace Braxton Jones... I think it would be fine to get multiple WRs in the draft if you got one in the top 10 and then a 2nd rounder. Would Egbuka, Tez Walker, Ladd McConkey, Burton (Bama), Worthy or Mitchell (Tex) be a solid 3rd receiver? I would think you would happily take those guys along with DJ and MHJ/Odunze/Nabers/Coleman... FS should be a position they look to upgrade... Tyler Nubin from Minnesota would seem to be a solid option. And I don't think you could ever have enough good edge rushers, so grabbing one of them late 1st/early 2nd after a trade down would be good too
until it gets to the 2 pt conversion shootout, at least in this scenario... That's not bad in the regular season, but would feel weird if it goes to that to decide a trip to the title game
He's always been capable of moments of brilliance. He hasn't shown he can be routinely good, and has shown a propensity for the negative plays like easily-avoidable sacks, fumbles, and picks.
This right here is my biggest (and I suspect others') source of contention with the Cubs' apparent strategy. Getting cute and trying to sign guys you might be able to squeeze a little value out of (and to be fair, my bold prediction last year was that Mancini would be an all-star, but there's a reason I'm an idiot who posts here and not working for the Cubs) rather than acting like the big market team they are. Yes, there's still a lot of time left this offseason and plenty of good FAs, but I think it's fair to be disappointed with the way things have unfolded and seem to be heading, while also realizing it can change in one move (or a couple moves) from a disappointing to an exciting offseason.