Forget birrkett , I don’t care about that or him at all he is not relevant at all , but what Brad said over and over about liking the room and his guys is very alarming. If he feels that way witch looked like he was very serious to the point of getting upset for the repeated question. And he liked that interior Oline last year pretty much same speech . The video isn’t the message but Brads face and words in that video says more then what some what to admit.
1 Like
He was pissed. Birkett was chasing him. The 411 is in his mind “WTF you want me to say? I am pissed that Arnold is a dumbass and lied to us, but it’s a legal matter that I am not going to talk about” The reality is they brought back 2 corners and signed/drafted 3. That’s 5 individuals. You can’t say they didn’t prioritize the position.
They are in a tough spot. Their all-world safeties are both hurt, their top drafted corner decided to act out GTA in real life. The defensive line and offensive line was priority number 2 and 1 and resigning the Elite talent we have.
The secondary does suck. It is awful. But Brad is still a damn good GM.
3 Likes
So, I don’t know who mentioned it earlier, but I have a theory about why GMs seem to draft so well early in their tenure and then slowly get worse at it.
I think it has a lot to do with the mentality shifting from:
“Who is the best player we can add?”
to:
“Who is the best player who solves our specific problem?”
That second question can become a trap if you aren’t careful.
The roster becomes the GM’s baby that he’s spent years building and nurturing. Then, combined with a little overconfidence from having success, the thinking starts becoming, “We just need this one thing to complete the roster.”
And they are never going to tell themselves they’re taking a lesser player because of need. They tell themselves, “We think this DT who happens to fit exactly what we need is really underrated in this draft.” That’s a much easier cognitive sell.
Take Holmes. The man absolutely slayed the 2023 draft, and IMO that class is a huge part of what put us over the top and got us a whisker away from the Super Bowl. He let the draft come to him. Gibbs, Campbell, LaPorta, Branch. It wasn’t, “We have to leave here with position X.” It felt much more like, “We love this player, take him.”
Then in 2024, I think you started seeing him move into the other mode. He didn’t let the draft come to him as much. He got aggressive about filling positions of obvious need. Two CBs in the first two rounds, including trading up for one of them. And I wouldn’t say Arnold was some crazy reach at all, but the change in approach is interesting to me.
Then 2025 and 2026 start feeling more like, “I know exactly what I’m shopping for.” DT. Interior OL. WR X. Tackle. Edge. The picks start lining up awfully neatly with the holes on the depth chart.
I don’t think Brad has suddenly become a bad GM or forgotten how to evaluate players. I still think you see him sprinkle in more pure value/BPA picks later in drafts. But I do wish he would stop letting the depth chart dictate the first two rounds quite as much.
And it’s not like I hated the Miller/Moore picks. I actually think 2026 put him in a somewhat uniquely bad position. Decker fell off quickly, Ragnow retired, we lost both safeties, and we didn’t have the kind of offseason we normally have where Brad can plug the obvious holes in free agency and then just cook in the draft.
But ideally, I think need should break ties. It shouldn’t create the grade.
If the best player available also happens to fill your biggest need, great. But if you have an 8.8 player sitting there at a position you’re already pretty good at and an 8.3 player at the position you desperately need, I don’t want the 8.3 guy magically becoming an 8.9 because the depth chart says we need him.
Draft the best long-term assets you can and use free agency and trades to solve immediate problems. Because once you go into a draft saying, “We HAVE to come out of here with an edge and a tackle,” you’ve already shrunk your board before the draft even starts…
4 Likes
And I get all that too, but he sat on what 30 million , he did believe and like the guys. That’s were we may disagree you think it’s coach speak kinda thing and I think Brad really believed we were good. This same thing happened last year with the oline. I believe and we’re you will differ is that Brad can be terrible at evaluating his players.
Well that’s part of the problem Brad doesn’t use FA much as a builder. That’s were he fails is his inability to use FAs to fill out and finish the roster.
1 Like
This is something to discuss
Lions are sitting on 30 Million rn, They obviously are setup to make a move when they deem necessary
Issue is idk if Brad believes in pulling the trigger yet, and given our… “easier” schedule until our bye, makes sense to wait just to see how the team looks. If they struggle with the Jets and Cards, i expect a trigger to be pulled, but even then i still feel we need to pull a trigger even now.
things are GRIM in that back 4 rn
1 Like
Agreed, but we also don’t have any linebackers that can cover. Tight ends are torching us. Shep’s go to strategy appears to be blitzing a ton and praying. And probably the most glaring issue is the miscommunication and players looking so confused on the sidelines. That points more to coaching than talent when players don’t know their assignments.
I do agree, but Short week against Buffalo with their new stadium opening is hell for any team in the league tbh.
I do agree that coaching was bad, but the team flat out looked unprepared to start that game in its entirety across the board. Offense did get going eventually, but the quick 3 and outs meant the defense was on the field longer/getting gassed, led to more shit.
Not defending shep by saying that, it was a teamwide failure and thats on Dan, there is always that one or two games a season where the team did not look ready to play at all
remember the Ravens game back in 2023?
Shades of that this game tbh
1 Like
https://x.com/sfdata9ers/status/2100992495920549952?s=46
Mostly what we’d want to see. I’d like to see a bit more tempo at times but we’re not static like we seemed to be at times under Morton. Plenty of play action. Obviously protection was a massive problem on Thursday but hopefully a healthy OL will mitigate that.
One thing I’d really like to see is Jamo on those drag routes after the other WRs clear out. He’s a complete nightmare in those scenarios. Granted, he’ll have to catch the ball.
6 Likes
Yea in terms of presnap looks the offense looks good. Its just the individual play calls.
Running 8/10 times on 2nd down up the middle in the second half was just stupid. I get you gotta make them respect the run. But come on.
I do now… I paid good money to have that erased from my memory.
1 Like
Not good enough to compete with high powered teams…so according to you, only a couple teams can win the SB.
Are the Rams out too then? Nobody has looked worse than them after week 1.
I hate takes like this. If we play the Bills 10 times, we are good enough to win at least 3 of those. I swear to god you give some people the moon and it’s never good enough. If we aren’t 15-2 we suck…because we’ve been there before…
Where has he failed??? We have won 36 games the last 3 years! Average of 12 wins a season. 45 games in the last 4 years…it took him one year to build a competitive team from scratch. If we win 10 games this year, that’s 55 wins in 5 seasons for an average record of 11-6.
How in the world is that failure? Especially with a franchise that has ranked among the bottom 5 in all of sports for the large majority of their existence.
1 Like
I think playing with a defense that is totally gassed and can’t get off the field might limit the play calling when your offense is on the field. To go into a hurry up and risk a 3 and out is sending your gassed defense back out with no rest.
Exactly though
even when the Lions were kicking ass with AG and BJ, they had their occasional stinker game where they looked completely out of sort. Part of me is hoping this recent Bills game was just like that, but also Josh Allen is a monster and that Bills offense is on another level, considering they made a Superbowl Defense look like a wet paper towel in week 1.
10 day rest, maybe some reinforcements if they do pull a JPJ trade or another CB trade.
2 Likes
I like that understandable 0.0% RPO for Goff. 
. He might be the most athletic orange cone on the planet.
1 Like
Dude we were 15-2 team on the brink of a Superbowl, we have not progressed we have only regressed, Brad last year said the interior oline was fine and there poor play cost us the season and playoffs . This year he likes and choose this Secondary, he has failed to remotely improve this team the 2 years. You believe this secondary is going to get better, about like people thought interior line would improve, it didn’t either. Brad has failed to use FA to improve this team or week positions. He leaves huge holes by liking his guys.
I’m glad you are happy just not being a bad team I get it. But some know we were close to that Superbowl. And now we’re miles from were we are. We have a great core and weapons to complete with most teams, but we have not been able to get over that hump and have gotten worse the last 2 years.
I hate these sunshine and rainbow takes while this team and Brad has this Dollar Tree secondary. Allowing 11 scores out of the last 12 drives.
Brad Bot
1 Like
I do think Josh Allen is the best player in the nfl by far. So we will see. I do expect rapid improvement on defense in weeks 3, 4 and 5. If not, well then changes gotta be made.
3 Likes
This thread is absolutely hilarious 
1 Like
The start of this thread title has 4 trench players listed as the exception. How is that neglect?
The 1st pick of Brad’s tenure was in the trenches. The 2nd pick was in the trenches. The 3rd pick was in the trenches. The following year 2 out of the first 3 picks were in the trenches. The following year he absolutely crushed the draft with core position players while getting blasted for not taking glamour position players…while also spending a 3rd round pick in the trenches. The following year the 3rd, 5th and 6th player he took were in the trenches. The following year the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th picks were all in the trenches. This year the 1st and 2nd picks were in the trenches.
Again…how is that neglect?
3 Likes