(02-07-2022, 01:19 AM)HandsomeRob86 Wrote:

(02-06-2022, 04:29 PM)Bullseye Wrote: Agreed that it's always tough, but as impressive as your list is, it doesn't compare with mine in terms of age.

By 2004, McNair was in the league ten (10) seasons and was 31.  He only played 3 more seasons after that.  He was not young.

Manning had played in the league seven (7) years and was 28 by 2004.   Not young in NFL terms (though he continued to play for a decade more).

Tom Brady was 27 by 2004.  Jake Plummer played 8 years and was 30 by2004 when Rivers and Big Ben arrived.  Again, not Young by NFL standards.

In my initial list, by contrast...Mahomes is 26, Allen is 25, Burrow is 25, Justin Herbert is 23, Lamar Jackson is 24, Mac Jones is 23, Mayfield is 26.

That primary list did not include Deshaun Watson, who is only 25, Zach Wilson, is 22, and Trevor Lawrence is 22.

The group I listed is younger overall and all more closely concentrated in age  than the group you listed above.

Of course, the fact many of your guys were older than my group didn't make them any less great or make them any easier to beat in the playoffs.  But the concentration of young, talented signal callers (which is part of my point) we now see in the AFC is unlike anything I've seen before.  That combination of youth and talent will mean TL will have to excel for longer and make more opponents tougher to beat for a longer period of time.  The surrounding talent requirement is exacerbated because of that.

So on your list, mac jones is a game manager, mayfield is looking closer to starter than pro-bowl level. Lamar Javkson shine is starting to come off. Hes starter level, but the guy is very beatable. Allen and Mahomes are beast, burrow is looking the same, and herbert is a very solid guy as well but probably not in same tier as other 3. The guys I expect to be starting in 10 years are basically only the last four (Allen, Mahomes, Burrow and Herbert). I think mayfield will be out for sure by then, Mac will likely be replaced by then, and Wilson I think will be ruined by Jets. We will have to see how we do with Lawrance. If he doesnt take a big jump this year, it will be hard to see him as a starter in 10 years as well. The AFC is only 4 qbs deep imo without Watson.

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(02-06-2022, 05:32 PM)Newton Wrote: I think the assumption that free agents will not want to come to Jacksonville is probably premature. With the new coaching staff that is player friendly, and a new EVP that ultimately controls the roster of decisions, I’m not sure the gm will really be a big problem.

We were still the worst team in the league last year and not a destination at all. No body is rushing to come to us. We will likely overpay for anyone we get.

Quote:8. I think this falls under the I’m Just Saying banner … Patrick Mahomes is still only 26, with plenty of career left. But when he started this four AFC-title-games-in-four-years run, Tom Brady beat him, and Brady was 41, and Mahomes was soon to be king of the mountain, mostly alone. But here came Josh Allen as a major threat in Buffalo. And in ’20, Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert popped up in the same conference, not to mention the 2019 MVP, Lamar Jackson, and the badly tarnished Deshaun Watson. Imagine if Aaron Rodgers gets dealt to the AFC in March or April. Mahomes’ conference next year could be the top-heaviest for quarterbacks since the NFL split into conferences in 1970. It’s a long way of saying that Mahomes played four straight AFC Championship Games at homes and got just one Super Bowl ring out of the four. Not optimal, if you want to chase all-time greatness in the quarterback pantheon.