24 Comments
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Doug Campbell's avatar

Just a quick follow-up .in the Athletic I noted what JS valued in a quarterback should they draft one. That tells you pretty much all you need to know on why he brought DL back.

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Doug Campbell's avatar

Drew Lock in my opinion is much better than his record would indicate.Given time to prepare he has played quite well,The games against Sf and the Eagles 2023 Seahawks. Last year with a terrible Giant team he blasted the Colts out of the stadium

He was excited about that because it was his first full week of practice with the starters all

Year.Check his film,you will see a lighting quick release or buried in the pocket the ball comes out of no where dead on to the receiver.DL was an all state basketball player and is use to a crowd.He is a team not me type of player and seems to thrive when the game is on the line.IMHO he just needs a little support and time to prepare and a

Offensive WC which supports his skill set .His big drawback had been trusting that rocket of arm too much and always trying to make something happen,which can backfire on him.

Their it is my unbiased (joke) opinion on DL

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Maxx's avatar

Pittsburgh still needs a QB... And taking Lock off the market should increase Howell's value if not by the end of the draft, but by the end of training camp. Shark bait, hoo ha ha!!

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KHammarling's avatar

This doesn't change the odds of drafting a QB at all.

Lock is in basically for veteran presence in the QB room during camp. This is nothing more than journeyman scout team QB moving around the NFL.

I still think we could well see JS take a QB on day 3, even day 2. Same thought processes.

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Stephen Pitell's avatar

Scratch Gabriel in the fourth then.

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Brian's avatar

I think this is more of a statement about Howell than anything else. They kicked the tires on Howell on a low cost addition last year and don’t trust him as a backup that can step in if Darnold is injured. I see Lock pushing Darnold more than anything else. I predict now no QB in 2025 looking to 2026 for the long term answer.

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Scott M's avatar

agreed. all of it.

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Randall Murray's avatar

Little bit surprised. My take. They wanted Lock to stick around but he wanted a chance to start so Lock left. Didn’t work out, and he wasn’t on any radar in these recent openings (surprised Steelers didn’t call). So JS wanted insurance behind Geno with someone better than basically everyone, and traded for Howells. JS likes Lock. Seattle doesn’t carry 3 QBs (although that was a PC thing as they wanted DLine and DB depth). Because he’s cheap and better than most others, can see Howells now being traded (Steelers) and since cheap, I think more than the 7th posted here. Unless Tomlin really think Rudolph is better.

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Rusty's avatar

I much prefer Lock to Howell as our QB2. We’ve seen Lock lead the team to a win as QB2. We’ve seen Howell look totally lost as QB2.

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AggieHawk's avatar

Just when I think they’ll zig they zag.

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Grant Alden's avatar

Am I the only one who came to that headline and thought it was a little late for April Fool's?

But I'd trust Lock to come in and be a professional QB. I don't trust Howell. It does crowd the roster if they draft a QB, but I'm really in favor of leaving that until next season. And if we can get...anything...Buhler?...for Howell...nah, they'll wait for us to cut him.

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zezinhom400's avatar

Dillon Gabriel fell to me in R5 in a mock draft I was playing with, what think about him there?

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Scott M's avatar

I like DG a lot. Especially later rounds. Why not...?

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Grant Alden's avatar

That's usually the range I end up picking Willie Lampkin or JJ Pegues or some other bright shiny hope because I don't recognize most of the available names. Which means only that I recognize the impulse.

Gabriel is 6' tall. He has 9.25-inch hands. He is just over 24 years old. He's been on my "do not draft" list for months, fairly or not. Honestly, I think Pete Carroll is likely to draft him, or more likely than JS.

More to the point, I don't know what the point in drafting him would be. We now have two Sams, Drew, John Rhys Plumlee, who's maybe a WR now and probably won't make it out of training camp, and some other guy. So it's already a crowded room. Which I bring up simply because he's 24, and IF he's going to make an impact in the NFL Gabriel needs to be in a situation where he's likely to see the field pretty soon. Same with Tyler Shough, who's even older. If we hadn't just hired Mr. Lock (again), I could see going after either of those (given somebody else's evaluation, not mine!) as back-ups should Darnold get hurt over the course of a 17-game season.

But as the QB room stands (or sits?) it feels like a wasted pick to me. Which isn't to say I'm right.

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zezinhom400's avatar

Yeah prob the only reason I noticed him sitting there is bc I’ve been a Ducks fan all my life. So automatically see all the good stuff and ignore the bad.

Yeah if you pick him then you’re prob saying goodbye to all but one of the guys you listed.

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Seaside Joe's avatar

I promise to never do an April fools joke.

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BEASTMODE808's avatar

Our backup QB position on Lock. 7th rounder for Howell?

p.s. I remember when he and Geno were neck-and-neck in preseason, then he got hurt: wondering if Lock could be the next Geno/Sam comeback player.

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Danno's avatar

I think he got Covid vs hurt, but he lost his chance to win it. He does put the ball in harms way too often, but he does have talent.

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BEASTMODE808's avatar

Right! Covid.

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Bobric's avatar

This is a surprise. The guy does have talent. A better backup than Howell.

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MOBILIZER's avatar

Lock has always struck me as mature adult with a lot of class. And I agree he's got more upside than Sam Howell.

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Danno's avatar

I firmly believe Lock is not a long term answer, and I’m fine with letting him compete with Sam#2 as the back up. But I feel Lock would have done much better had he been thrown into that GB game. I LOVED how he played against the eagles. Can we get a 7th for Howell?

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Scott M's avatar

When your article about giving up on players too early came out, this is the first one I thought about. I loved locks college tape and always thought we could get more out of him.

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Seaside Joe's avatar

He couldn’t have asked for a worse coach (for him) than Fangio.

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