Lauren Williams AJC Beatwriter talks state of the Hawks

[deester11]

24 minutes ago, AHF said:

We are already cooked but that isn't a commentary on Hunter.  It is about Trae, JJ, Kobe, OO and Bey all being out.

This we know. And still....i stand on the question of having to lean on Hunter.  I'd rather not, but circumstances I reckon. Ha. 

[AHF]

25 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

Opened, but all I get is the Falcons and their new QB.

I don't follow the Falcons closely but wow that is an incredible overpay for a mediocre QB.  I recognize that mediocrity is a step up from last year but this screams desperation to me.  What are the odds that our massively paid new QB gets the second playoff win of his entire career with us?  The one guy who just looks amazing with that deal is the agent.  He has been killing it from day 1.

[deester11]

6 minutes ago, AHF said:

I don't follow the Falcons closely but wow that is an incredible overpay for a mediocre QB.  I recognize that mediocrity is a step up from last year but this screams desperation to me.  What are the odds that our massively paid new QB gets the second playoff win of his entire career with us?  The one guy who just looks amazing with that deal is the agent.  He has been killing it from day 1.

I follow closely. This is my thought too.  Smh 

[JeffS17]

8 hours ago, bleachkit said:

Who are we going to get this summer? NBA is tough, quality free agents just hard to come by and are expensive. Seems like we might need to luck out in the draft. 

I think we're in a position where internal development is going to be the only thing to save us, outside making smart trades for better on-court fit (i.e move DJ).  No single draft pick is doing anything for us next year, with the exception if we win a top 4 pick (unlikely).

[JayBirdHawk]

2 hours ago, AHF said:

I don't follow the Falcons closely but wow that is an incredible overpay for a mediocre QB.  I recognize that mediocrity is a step up from last year but this screams desperation to me.  What are the odds that our massively paid new QB gets the second playoff win of his entire career with us?  The one guy who just looks amazing with that deal is the agent.  He has been killing it from day 1.

......and one coming off an Achilles injury. I guess the thought process is 'if only we had a half decent QB last season' we'd be in the playoffs. 2year deal at $40 per, then $10 mil in year 3. Unguaranteed in year 4.

[cam1218]

I mean at this point, there is no reason to extend Hunter’s minutes. With all of these injuries we are going to suck regardless, and the last thing I want is another set back for him.

[hylndr11]

1 hour ago, AHF said:

I don't follow the Falcons closely but wow that is an incredible overpay for a mediocre QB.  I recognize that mediocrity is a step up from last year but this screams desperation to me.  What are the odds that our massively paid new QB gets the second playoff win of his entire career with us?  The one guy who just looks amazing with that deal is the agent.  He has been killing it from day 1.

You do not follow the NFL at all if this is really what you are thinking here, atleast that is what it looks like from this wording.

[bleachkit]

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I didn't mind the Cousins deal. First of all, we didn't trade for him, so no draft capital was expended. Yes he's coming off an injury but all reports suggest he's on target to recover. He's not a guy who relies on athleticism anyway. And yes the deal is a lot of money, but it's really only two years of big guaranteed money, and then a partial commitment to year 3. He's a consistent guy, who knows how to get the ball out on time. I don't see any reason why he couldn't be successful here. Now the Falcons can let the draft come to them, they don't have to reach for a quarterback or make a deal with the devil trade to move up. 

Edited March 13 by bleachkit

[JayBirdHawk]

25 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I didn't mind the Cousins deal. First of all, we didn't trade for him, so no draft capital was expended. Yes he's coming off an injury but all reports suggest he's on target to recover. He's not a guy who relies on athleticism anyway. And yes the deal is a lot of money, but it's really only two years of big guaranteed money, and then a partial commitment to year 3. He's a consistent guy, who knows how to get the ball out on time. I don't see any reason why he couldn't be successful here. Now the Falcons can let the draft come to them, they don't have to reach for a quarterback or make a deal with the devil trade to move up. 

They'll need to fix the OLine.

[KB21]

Dang.  I thought we were talking about DeMarcus Cousins, and I was thinking WHAT?

[KB21]

Wow!  They are starting Wes Matthews and Vit at forwards.  

[TheNorthCydeRises]

14 hours ago, theheroatl said:

I'm not as big of a fan of Lauren as you but she should have said.. "Hawks MUST increase their size and defense at the wing and at center.. it's been a complete joke this year"

 

I prefer beat writers that ask tough awkward questions.. IMO, Ken Seguira and Jeff Schulz were some of the best at this

Schultz was a troll.  Even when the Hawks were much better than they are now, he rarely gave the team credit for anything.

Lauren is easily the best asks beat writer since Sekou.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

4 hours ago, bleachkit said:

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I didn't mind the Cousins deal. First of all, we didn't trade for him, so no draft capital was expended. Yes he's coming off an injury but all reports suggest he's on target to recover. He's not a guy who relies on athleticism anyway. And yes the deal is a lot of money, but it's really only two years of big guaranteed money, and then a partial commitment to year 3. He's a consistent guy, who knows how to get the ball out on time. I don't see any reason why he couldn't be successful here. Now the Falcons can let the draft come to them, they don't have to reach for a quarterback or make a deal with the devil trade to move up. 

Crazy how the Falcons got talked out of adding Lamar, who won the MVP.  But then turn around and overpay for Cousins, who has 1 playoff win in his career.

Lamar was the perfect fit.

[bleachkit]

7 hours ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Crazy how the Falcons got talked out of adding Lamar, who won the MVP.  But then turn around and overpay for Cousins, who has 1 playoff win in his career.

Lamar was the perfect fit.

How were they going to get Lamar? He's been under contract with the Ravens. There are no reports the Ravens were seriously entertaining a trade. 

Edited March 14 by bleachkit

[AHF]

14 hours ago, hylndr11 said:

You do not follow the NFL at all if this is really what you are thinking here, atleast that is what it looks like from this wording.

Because we didn’t pay a mediocre QB as if he is a legit star with $100M of guaranteed money?  We are paying a guy who will be 36 years old who has put up individual numbers without achieving any team success who was lost for the season the 8th highest salary in the league next year.  That feels like a desperate move to me.  My coworker who is a Vikings fan is somewhere between laughing his *** off and feeling sorry for Falcons fans.  I feel like this is a stopgap step towards mediocrity while we wait to find the longterm solution at the position.  I’ll grant that he should be an improvement over what we had last year but that is a lot of money for a guy I would not consider a top 10 QB.

Chef’s kiss to his agent though.  The guys is #4 in career earnings among active players with that number on the rise coming of a major injury in his mid-30’s.  QBs who have won a single playoff game over 12 years don’t usually get paid like that.

[Afro]

39 minutes ago, AHF said:

Because we didn’t pay a mediocre QB as if he is a legit star with $100M of guaranteed money?  We are paying a guy who will be 36 years old who has put up individual numbers without achieving any team success who was lost for the season the 8th highest salary in the league next year.  That feels like a desperate move to me.  My coworker who is a Vikings fan is somewhere between laughing his *** off and feeling sorry for Falcons fans.  I feel like this is a stopgap step towards mediocrity while we wait to find the longterm solution at the position.  I’ll grant that he should be an improvement over what we had last year but that is a lot of money for a guy I would not consider a top 10 QB.

Chef’s kiss to his agent though.  The guys is #4 in career earnings among active players with that number on the rise coming of a major injury in his mid-30’s.  QBs who have won a single playoff game over 12 years don’t usually get paid like that.

This isn't directed at you, but I think this is a fine example. 

NFL fans are pretty terrible when it comes to "narrative" based conclusions. 

This is the exact same thing that was said about Matt Stafford. That turned out fine. 

This is the exact opposite of what people said about Goff(he was a nobody/carried by Mcvay) and that turned out fine. 

People see big numbers and don't realize that's just the cost of things. This deal isn't that far off from Daniel Jones... It's 7 mill a year off from Lamar. 

[Afro]

1 hour ago, bleachkit said:

How were they going to get Lamar? He's been under contract with the Ravens. There are no reports the Ravens were seriously entertaining a trade. 

He was an RFA and the Ravens would have matched absolutely any offer unless some team offered him something RIDICULOUS. 

It also would have tied up all of the Falcons cap space for 5 days while the Ravens decided to match or not(we NBA fans know this too well). No Bates. No Onyemata. No ellis. None of them would have been signed. 

It also costs TWO firsts to sign an RFA. One of those would have been pick #8. So you can add No Bijan to the Bates, Onyemata, Ellis list. 

Not a single other team was interested in this charade from the Ravens. But the Falcons are the ones that get shit on. Alight. 

 

People are so quick to recognize the shaft the Hawks get from the media, but are super eager to just accept the same negative narratives when it's the Falcons. 

Edited March 14 by Afro

[Mikey]

22 hours ago, theheroatl said:

That’s not entirely true and you know that. There are plenty of ball dominant players that play together in this current NBA.

doesnt matter if it works in the nba. It is proven it does not work for this iteration of the hawks

[AHF]

1 hour ago, Afro said:

This isn't directed at you, but I think this is a fine example. 

NFL fans are pretty terrible when it comes to "narrative" based conclusions. 

This is the exact same thing that was said about Matt Stafford. That turned out fine. 

This is the exact opposite of what people said about Goff(he was a nobody/carried by Mcvay) and that turned out fine. 

People see big numbers and don't realize that's just the cost of things. This deal isn't that far off from Daniel Jones... It's 7 mill a year off from Lamar. 

We'll see if he is one of the best 8 players in the league this year.  If he can lead us to a championship like a healthy 33 year old Stafford and be the long-term answer like a healthy 27 year old Goff then I'll stand corrected in a big way.  In more realistic terms, if he can just get the Falcons a single win in the playoffs I'll definitely tip my cap and admit I underrated Cousins.  The fact that he is hurt and will be 36 is definitely a factor for me along with having viewed him as a mediocre QB.  

FWIW, here are Cousins QBR rankings the last 5 years:

2023 #7*   (* - partial season)

2022 #22

2021 #15

2020 #18

2019 #13

I view him when healthy as more of an #11-20 guy which is what I would call mediocre.  And that can be plenty to have big success in the NFL where the team is good enough to not rely on the QB to be the engine of the team.  I'm just not confident that the Falcons are that team.

Either way, I don't care about the Falcons nearly as much as I used to and probably only actually watch a handful of games the last couple seasons so I'll readily admit to being a casual fan of the Falcons and NFL at this point.

 

 

[REHawksFan]

32 minutes ago, AHF said:

We'll see if he is one of the best 8 players in the league this year.  If he can lead us to a championship like a healthy 33 year old Stafford and be the long-term answer like a healthy 27 year old Goff then I'll stand corrected in a big way.  In more realistic terms, if he can just get the Falcons a single win in the playoffs I'll definitely tip my cap and admit I underrated Cousins.  The fact that he is hurt and will be 36 is definitely a factor for me along with having viewed him as a mediocre QB.  

FWIW, here are Cousins QBR rankings the last 5 years:

2023 #7*   (* - partial season)

2022 #22

2021 #15

2020 #18

2019 #13

I view him when healthy as more of an #11-20 guy which is what I would call mediocre.  And that can be plenty to have big success in the NFL where the team is good enough to not rely on the QB to be the engine of the team.  I'm just not confident that the Falcons are that team.

Either way, I don't care about the Falcons nearly as much as I used to and probably only actually watch a handful of games the last couple seasons so I'll readily admit to being a casual fan of the Falcons and NFL at this point.

 

 

I gave up being a diehard Falcons fan a few years ago due to the flawed ownership (Uncle Arthur is a terrible owner imo that meddles in too many team affairs).  So in that regard, we are alike in our rooting interest.  

Here's what I'll say about the Cousins deal.  1. He's lightyears ahead of what they had in Ridder; 2. They have a decent offense full of young, talented pieces other than QB, so in theory, a competent QB is really all they need; and 3. the deal is really just a 2-year deal for $45M per year with $10M of dead money if they cut him after year 2. 

Yes, that's a lot.  But the alternatives were worse and likely required a more long term commitment.  Trading for Fields was going to cost you something to get him and there's no guarantee Fields is any better than Cousins.  Plus you'd have to commit to him long term. Trading up in the draft would require a lot of draft capital and would also not be any guarantee of success or that you'd even get the guy you wanted.

Kick the rock down the road and see what happens with Cousins over the next two years.  You try to draft his replacement with one of your picks either this year or next. If it completely doesn't work due to his age or injuries or him just sucking, then you get a high pick next year to use on a QB.  If it does work, you're likely winning the bad NFC South and seeing what happens in the playoffs.  Then you figure out the QB next year.  

I just don't see the downside here given the options they had (or didn't have).