So the Giants let Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones just go....

[StickierBuns]

Has anything more stupid been done in recent memory in the NFL? Why aren't they being eviscerated by the media? Its insanity.

[MAD GAINZ]

Is Daniel Jones resurgence tied to what he learned from KOC last season?

#QB_Whisperer

[greediron]

I think Jones having Saquon and now Taylor makes a huge difference. Signing Jones to a huge contract was their big mistake, then letting Saquon walk. If teams would build the o-line first, then put the skill pieces together, they would then look like Philly.

[purplefaithful]

1). Letting SB walk
2). Paying Jones a bag
3). Letting Jones walk
4). Not drafting a QB in 2024

I do LOVE their DL though...And that was b4 they added Carter this year.

[purplefaithful]

Colts left tackle Bernhard Raimann, who has started all eight games, playing 499 of 499 snaps.
Colts Canton-bound left guard Quenton Nelson, who has started all eight games, playing 470 snaps (94%).
Colts center — and successor to Vikings center Ryan Kelly — Tanor Bortolini, who has started all eight games, playing 480 snaps (96%).
Colts right guard — and successor to Vikings right guard Will Fries — Matt Goncalves, who has started seven games, playing 436 snaps (99% of those seven games).
Colts right tackle Braden Smith, who has started all eight games, playing 471 snaps (94%).
Total missed games: 1
Total missed snaps: 138

Now compare that with the mess Carson Wentz and J.J. McCarthy have dealt with and why they’ve been running for their livelihoods so far this season …
Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw, who has missed two games while playing only 73% of the snaps (233) in the other five.
Vikings left guard Donovan Jackson, who has missed two games while playing 99% of the snaps (277) in the other five.
Kelly, who has missed four games while playing just 63% of the snaps (113) in the other three.
Fries, who has started all seven games, playing 97% of the snaps (410).
Right tackle Brian O’Neill, who has missed two games while playing only 75% of the snaps in the other five (231).
Total missed starts/games: 10
Total missed snaps: 867

That’s how you rebuild through the draft, folks.

Indy’s entire offensive line is under 30. Each player was drafted by the Colts. Raimann, 28, was a third-rounder in 2022.

He was selected 77th overall, 11 spots after the Vikings drafted Brian Asamoah, now a former Viking who never started a game.

Colts coach Steve Steichen can’t call a bad play right now. Run, pass, doesn’t matter. The well-oiled offensive line, which has only three pre-snap penalties compared with nine for the Vikings, makes it happen for Jones or Jonathan Taylor, dueling NFL MVP front-runners.

The Colts lead the league in scoring at 33.8 points per game. The Vikings are 18th at 21.1. Jones has been sacked nine times in eight games. The Vikings have allowed 28 in seven games. Taylor has 12 of Indy’s 18 rushing touchdowns. The Vikings have five.

The Vikings are clunky and unbalanced offensively right now.

O’Connell seems to have lost what little faith he had in his running game. He’s calling runs just 38.3% of the time and is abandoning the run early. (See: incompletions on third-and-1 and third-and-2 early in the 37-10 beatdown by the Los Angeles Chargers.)

Meanwhile, Steichen is conducting a rhythmic thing of beauty and the Colts are about as balanced as an NFL team can get in today’s game.

Why?

The offensive line, not Jones.

Steichen is at 55-45 pass-to-run with Jones completing 71.2% of his passes with 13 touchdown throws, three interceptions, a 109.5 passer rating and his health still intact.

Sorry, Purple Nation, but if Jones had changed course this past spring and re-signed with the Vikings, he wouldn’t be doing any of this. He would be no better off than Wentz, who went 2-3 before a season-ending shoulder injury.

Why?

Because as much as we like to call this a quarterback’s league, it’s still the offensive line that sets the tone for a season’s success. Or lack thereof.

Strib

[StickierBuns]

Of course. OF COURSE. Its always about the lines....it has to start there. Any young QB doing ANYTHING positive, hell any QB doing anything positive, has a decent line. Has to. Because that almost always means a running game too. And combined, that means unpredictability on offense to be able to pass protect and run the football. Which means offensive success. But many fans don't get this. Danny Dimes would not be doing what he's doing if he were in Minnesota today.

JJ McCarthy is going to be under heavy duress all game Sunday against Detroit and some dim-witted fans will call him a bust. 100%. KOC gets so much praise for calling out teams for underservicing their young QBs and although they tried to redo their offensive line, its coming up stinky. Not for lack of effort or design, but.....

[comet52]

Jones never looked nearly this good in NY, in fact most folks roundly criticized the Giants when they gave him that big contract. They are not a good organization and haven't been for a long time. Although, I think finding Jackson Dart might be the first really good thing that's happened there in at least a decade.

They weren't necessarily getting huge production out of Barkley either - he was averaging 3.9 ypc in his last year there but that jumped to a phenomenal 5.8 for Philly last year. He more than doubled his yardage on the ground and became the 9th player in history to get 2000 yards rushing. But the Giants handing him to a division rival to help them win a title was seriously stupid.

[purplefaithful]

Rightly or wrongly, I predict at least one sacrificial lamb if the ship ain't righted:

Chris Kuper is the Minnesota Vikings' offensive line coach. He has held the position since the 2022 season and was hired around the same time as head coach Kevin O'Connell. He is entering his fourth season with the team in 2025 and previously served as the assistant offensive line coach for three seasons.

Man, I really thought their approach was spot on when it came to both lines and fluffing the nest for a rook qb. 

Best laid plans...

[StickierBuns]

Rightly or wrongly, I predict at least one sacrificial lamb if the ship ain't righted:

Chris Kuper is the Minnesota Vikings' offensive line coach. He has held the position since the 2022 season and was hired around the same time as head coach Kevin O'Connell. He is entering his fourth season with the team in 2025 and previously served as the assistant offensive line coach for three seasons.

Man, I really thought their approach was spot on when it came to both lines and fluffing the nest for a rook qb. 

Best laid plans...

I thought it was a good plan as well. I'm not going to say I knew better because I sure didn't. But you and I are fans, those guys get paid a lot of money to make good football decisions. 

I'm not going to set the board on fire the rest of the year by raining down negative crap constantly, but I think its going to be a messy and turbulent remainder of the season for Minnesota.

[greediron]

Colts left tackle Bernhard Raimann, who has started all eight games, playing 499 of 499 snaps.
Colts Canton-bound left guard Quenton Nelson, who has started all eight games, playing 470 snaps (94%).
Colts center — and successor to Vikings center Ryan Kelly — Tanor Bortolini, who has started all eight games, playing 480 snaps (96%).
Colts right guard — and successor to Vikings right guard Will Fries — Matt Goncalves, who has started seven games, playing 436 snaps (99% of those seven games).
Colts right tackle Braden Smith, who has started all eight games, playing 471 snaps (94%).
Total missed games: 1
Total missed snaps: 138

Now compare that with the mess Carson Wentz and J.J. McCarthy have dealt with and why they’ve been running for their livelihoods so far this season …
Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw, who has missed two games while playing only 73% of the snaps (233) in the other five.
Vikings left guard Donovan Jackson, who has missed two games while playing 99% of the snaps (277) in the other five.
Kelly, who has missed four games while playing just 63% of the snaps (113) in the other three.
Fries, who has started all seven games, playing 97% of the snaps (410).
Right tackle Brian O’Neill, who has missed two games while playing only 75% of the snaps in the other five (231).
Total missed starts/games: 10
Total missed snaps: 867

That’s how you rebuild through the draft, folks.

Indy’s entire offensive line is under 30. Each player was drafted by the Colts. Raimann, 28, was a third-rounder in 2022.

He was selected 77th overall, 11 spots after the Vikings drafted Brian Asamoah, now a former Viking who never started a game.

Colts coach Steve Steichen can’t call a bad play right now. Run, pass, doesn’t matter. The well-oiled offensive line, which has only three pre-snap penalties compared with nine for the Vikings, makes it happen for Jones or Jonathan Taylor, dueling NFL MVP front-runners.

The Colts lead the league in scoring at 33.8 points per game. The Vikings are 18th at 21.1. Jones has been sacked nine times in eight games. The Vikings have allowed 28 in seven games. Taylor has 12 of Indy’s 18 rushing touchdowns. The Vikings have five.

The Vikings are clunky and unbalanced offensively right now.

O’Connell seems to have lost what little faith he had in his running game. He’s calling runs just 38.3% of the time and is abandoning the run early. (See: incompletions on third-and-1 and third-and-2 early in the 37-10 beatdown by the Los Angeles Chargers.)

Meanwhile, Steichen is conducting a rhythmic thing of beauty and the Colts are about as balanced as an NFL team can get in today’s game.

Why?

The offensive line, not Jones.

Steichen is at 55-45 pass-to-run with Jones completing 71.2% of his passes with 13 touchdown throws, three interceptions, a 109.5 passer rating and his health still intact.

Sorry, Purple Nation, but if Jones had changed course this past spring and re-signed with the Vikings, he wouldn’t be doing any of this. He would be no better off than Wentz, who went 2-3 before a season-ending shoulder injury.

Why?

Because as much as we like to call this a quarterback’s league, it’s still the offensive line that sets the tone for a season’s success. Or lack thereof.

Strib

I don't get why these billion dollar corporations can't figure this out.  I give KOC credit for finally trying.  But looking at the Colts, they built thru the draft.  Good for them.  Their offense has a stud RB and adequate vet QB that will thrive behind a solid o-line.