The Caleb Williams experiment is over so they’re going to draft Shedeur Sanders
And the circle of life continues
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Please, I so want the Giants to choose Shedeur. The Sanders circus in NYC would be must watch entertainment. Maybe they’d even name Deion HC?
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Don’t be mean
I said at the time, and I stand by it… Justin Fields is a far better QB than Caleb Williams and they should not have moved on so quickly.
Now, now, mean would be pointing out that the Bears took Caleb, leaving Jayden to the Commies. But, I would never do that!
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Tough to say since the Bears made such a hash of it for both QBs. In my view, Caleb has shown more ability (and numbers) already than Fields behind an OL that was even worse than that during Fields’ tenure. As a Bears fan, I felt the Bears never gave Justin a platform. I was shocked they couldn’t get more than a 6th rounder for him and was pretty sure he’d take over for the Steelers. Clearly, Tomlin saw something he didn’t like when he benched Fields for Wilson after 6 weeks. I’m curious if Justin can dislodge Wilson next season and will be rooting for him. If anyone can provide a stable platform, it’s the Steelers.
It’s difficult to tell with the HC and OC changes that Caleb and Justin went through, but from having watched a handful of games this season, I already feel more confident in Caleb’s arm than Fields’. Accuracy and holding on to the ball are problems, but they were for Fields too. I’m hoping Johnson or Monken agree with me 
and we can see Caleb and Justin develop under good coaches.
Having said all that, I’m a terrible evaluator of QB talent but I did think RGIII would never hold a candle to Andrew Luck. I am worried the Bears will destroy Caleb as the Colts did Andrew (although Andrew seems content and happy with his life).
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My closest friend (and fellow Red) drafted Caleb in the fifth round of our league just to cut me off. I quietly welcomed Jaden to my franchise, Them Scouser Again, in round 7. Said differently, I am the man and I hate da Bears.
Btw someday I will have to tell you an amazing Ron Rivera story since he played a role in both our teams. A brave and classy person.
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I lived in Charlotte when Ron was there. Met him once in passing, seemed a good person. Good friend of mine had an interaction with him first day he arrived. When we do get together, we can regale each other with our stories.
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Rescued my Ethiopian college roommate and me from a bunch of racists at a U2 concert in Oakland. Awesome person. Always wished I could thank him again because I was rattled at the time.
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Just remember this performance (and his whole season really) when Jalen Milroe throws the ball 70 yards at his pro day and NFL Scouts start talking about him being the #1 pick 
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That was dire. Michigan basically did not have an offence, and won anyway.
So I guess the Bears will draft him, @Alright_Now_Legend ?
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Should I become the Goldbridge of da Bears?
Congratulations on the win, @Arminius
I am so disillusioned with college football and struggling to watch this mess.
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Yeah, the transfer portal has made it so chaotic. Michigan was down 8 players entering the draft and 16 entering the portal. Orji, the #2 QB is leaving too, but played. It is becoming more and more like Seinfeld’s ‘cheering for laundry’, and I have to wonder how stable the current configuration is.
But on the bright side, a weak 7-5 Michigan team beating a #11 9-3 Alabama shuts down all those SEC whiners bitching that the SEC should be guaranteed half the CFP spots or the like because SMU had a bad game.
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It wont. Big teams who lose in bowl games that arent part of the play offs always claim that it doesnt count. Probably UCF’s biggest win ever was in the Peach Bowl against Auburn the year they awarded themselves their unofficial national title. The storyline of the game was they were the two sides with most right to be aggrieved at missing out on one of the 4 play off spots - UCF because they were undefeated, and Auburn because although they had 3 losses, one was to #1 Georgia in the SEC title game, a team they had already beaten alongside also beating the then #1 ranked Alabama.
UCF won the game and to them it proved false the argument that their record was solely the result of a weak (AAC) schedule. Auburn said “Nuh uh. It was only the peach bowl and our good players couldnt be bothered so the win doesnt count.”
College football is broken and trying to shoehorn parts of it into the structure of the 80s when so much has changed creates farce
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I like the transfer portal because I think the players should have the freedom to choose where they go especially with how many pkayers get absolutely shafted by coaches who pretend they’re dedicated to a player only to get them on campus then ignore them.
I think what we will see in future years is the “top” teams becoming seperated from the rest of the colleges and mostly recruiting through the transfer portal - while High School graduates mainly go to the other tiers of colleges in the hope of being recruited by the big schools after a couple of years at Troy, for example.
The unrestricted free agency thing thats going on probably isn’t sustainable but I think the product on the field has improved this season.
At the very least the transfer portal window should be shifted so it doesn’t disrupt the ongoing season. Nominally, I think it was because some transfers could happen to allow changing schools in January, not sure how that can be reconciled.
You are probably right that a tier of teams will emerge that use the rest of the game as a proving ground, but I am not sure even the two superconferences (SEC and Big 10) would be stable against that.
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I’ve been left behind. I detest the portal. I enjoyed college football because I saw recruits develop as students and athletes over 4 years. In other words, I believed universities had a mission to educate and loved seeing the kids grow. That’s gone now and I don’t identify with the athletics even at my own alma mater, which is trying to adjust to the new world but sadly may have to exit football and basketball because it limits transfers and is having trouble figuring out how to educate athletes flying from the West Coast to the East Coast every week. Even more sadly that will crush the “Olympics” sports at which the university excelled, but is now seeing a decline. I loved being a student in dorms and classes surrounded by top class athletes who were an integral part of the my college experience. I can’t imagine that sense of community exists any more.
I personally hope my alma mater goes D3 and sticks to its mission. But I think I’m in the minority when it comes to the direction of college sports.
As someone who didn’t know about US college sports until a few years ago I find the old system absolutely bizarre. Especially in Football when there is nowhere to go after college unless you’re playing in one of the very limited pro positions.
Players have 4 years in their college career, likely their last chance to play the sport they have dedicated their young lives to, and it can all be blown up by the coach just barefaced lying about you importance to the program. Then you add on that most of them were not being paid (and officially none of them were) then it just looks like pure exploitation.
I certainly understand wanting the old days back but I think the current system, while messier, is far more beneficial to the players. The cosches that hate it seem to be the ones who hate having players that can make choices now.
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Oh, it’s definitely more beneficial to the players. No question. And good for them in some sense (if it helps them go pro or benefit financially). I just place more emphasis on a proper education and I don’t see it happening with portals and conference realignment. There is no way athletes are transferring 4 times and receiving a degree with integrity. We’ve upended the mission of colleges for the 1.5% that will go pro. I think the retirement of Jay Wright and Tara Vanderveer speaks volumes. Both focused on graduating their athletes and have spoken about losing the joy in working with student-athletes who are now focused on NIL or transferring to the greener pasture. In fact, my alma mater’s graduation rate for athletes has fallen from 97%+ to 93%. I find that troubling.
As for your point on coaches mismanaging athletes’ careers, it’s a fair point. I do think the portal now helps advance the mobility of athletes, but that doesn’t address the coaches who were and are still guilty of now treating teams as portfolios with stocks to buy and sell. Those coaches are now even more so going to undermine athletes in their own self-interest. Yes, the athletes can move and revive careers elsewhere in the hope that the next coach doesn’t do the same. But I’m back then wondering how the athletes are being educated.
Finally, institutions genuinely focused on academics are going to really struggle with transfers. At my alma mater, transfers comprised 1-3% of a class. So the spots were scarce and may now have to be given to athletes instead of non-athletes. Arguably the school could just increase the class size, but then again it loses some of its academic advantages.
In my mind, it comes down to the mission of a college. Sadly I think the concept of “student-athlete” is now largely a farce. Again, I fully admit I’m a dinosaur.
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I think we can all agree that student-athlete is actually athlete-student when it comes to college priority, especially for the players who are NFL-bound
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