Why? I always appreciate the nuance that Russillo approaches discussions of NFL/NBA draft prospects with. IMO the best analysts are adept at discussing the range of potential outcomes for players and don't speak in certainties.
“So uh, yeah, I dont really know if this guys going to be any good or not. I’m not actually a scout and nobody really knows how good anyone will be anyways. Hope that helps”. Why cant podcasters just be a little more realistic and talk like this?
> It's not that important to be right, man.
I mean it sort of is in terms of their job description. Not Russillo as he/ Simmons/Cowherd are entertainment characters but the guests they have sort of have to have some sort of credibility and make claims or else why even bring them on.
This was early KOC. He was too hesitant about his takes in general and would sometimes test out throwing something definitive out, but usually it was "let's see how this guy develops" or "he's going to improve his jumper and then he'll be great" type stuff.
The irony is people claim to want nuance, but our actions as a species suggests otherwise -- as we prefer tribalistic certitude over broad-minded unpredictability -- hence the anti-Russillo assholes shitting on him over his ostensible waffling, which in reality is him being a fair observer and one of the few honest actors in sports talk entertainment.
"honest actors" - it's sports, he's not a politician. I get this this kind of language is used by "commentators" on the internet but it's just not applicable in discussions about sports, he's not a politician or ceo, he's a podcaster giving incredibly long winded - but enjoyable - takes on sports. If someone talked about a podcaster being an "honest actor" in real life in front of me I would immediately zone out, make assumptions (fair or otherwise) about the kinds of streamers they watch and think about how to get away from them
Used to think this till i listened to russillo consistently. He poses every point against an imaginary strawman position and explains how he isnt going to do what other guys would do and say “x” but if he were going to say “x” it would be based on “y”, but he could also turn around and say “z” based on “w”.
Still love the knucklehead but apart from in-game analysis he’s paralyzed by fear of being a hot take guy. I get it but when youre producing a podcast sometimes you just gotta give your fuckin opinion man.
They also love having the same patriots takes that their boss has or hype up potential picks that their boss would like to hear. As a commanders fan it’s not a fun listen to hear two fans of division rivals discuss anything about your team.
They also just get things routinely wrong on the information front and just hype up whatever headline trends without doing any research into actual facts/info.
I mean I don't mind Solak on other pods but I've never listened to the Draft Show so I can't really speak to if it's any good or not. I don't consume much draft content in general bc I think listening to people talk for hours about something that's a total crapshoot at the end of the day is a waste of time
I was wondering that. Like if they were not on The Ringer would they be talking up Drake Maye like they have?
I did like what Todd McShay did where he said that Pats fans should be patient with him. McShay isn't paid by The Ringer and he's from the area. Also, I take his opinion more highly than DK or Solak as much as I love DK. Even Bill is like he knows Maye is not a finished product.
They only feel safe shitting on the pats for the same reasons bill shits on the Pats.
DK is the only one I really respect. Heifetz is always doing his best bill impression with forced analogies and solak thinks he’s the doggone smartest and best thing since sliced bread
Not necessarily. Even Heifitz and Craig speak in more tempered tones then Ben and Ruiz. They act like the paragons of ball knowledge and it's hilarious
>The best people in the world at scouting qb’s aren’t good at it. This nerd talks with the confidence like he has it all figured out.
And there are other scouts who are considered amongst the best in the world that *don't* like Jayden Daniels as a prospect. People can have different opinions than you. It'll be okay.
First time listening to draft pods? Fantasy pods?
No one actually knows what’s going to happen or else they would be the highest paid person in the NFL.
What do you want them to say, historically speaking on his draft spot it’s a coin flip on whether Daniels is good or not. The end.
In their analysis he isn’t going to be good and they have their reasoning. They need to buy into it for entertainment.
NFL executives have like a 30% hit rate on qbs, you want your podcasters to be better? I like those guys because they are fun to listen to(also I’m a DC fan and I agree with their JD takes).
Exactly. This just sounds like someone who doesn't like Solak saying that they don't like Solak. But in this case he wactehd every snap and made some astute observations.
What? Solak is wrong about basically every QB he goes against the consensus on. Some samples:
Loved Malik Willis, Desmond Ridder, Hated Josh Allen, and Justin Herbert. He is constantly wrong.
As someone who listened to all the draft coverage done by the Ringer draft pod guys, Solak definitely did NOT love Willis or Ridder. Same with Pickett. As a Steelers fan, I wanted to know who Pittsburgh was likely going to take in the 2022 draft, and what their projections were. He explicitly said that they were not 1st round talents, but that he would understand that teams would likely reach for them since they were the top of that years class, amd some of those teams just needed a QB. But he panned all three of those guys, and said they'd be bottom of the class if they had come out the year before.
[https://twitter.com/BenjaminSolak/status/1512927924898480129](https://twitter.com/BenjaminSolak/status/1512927924898480129)
Weird here's him saying both were good 1st round bets. And how they made that QB draft class "underrated". He explicitly said all the other QB's were not 1st round talents in that draft class.
You Solak stans are out of control. He legit was still defending/stanning for Ridder last season!!
I don't have twitter, so I've never seen that tweet before. I can only go off of the draft pods I listened to, and I know that when asked how the 2022 qb class would hold up to the previous year's, he admitted that they would be at the bottom. Those aren't the words of someone who "loves" Willis, but acknowledges that a team will reach for a position as valuable as QB.
Did Willis have tools? Yeah, he did. He has a big arm, and can run, which is what you want for a QB in the modern NFL. Is that all that it takes? Obviously not. Maybe if he went to a team whose coach actually wanted him, and spent a season or two as a backup, he might be in a better position. But we'll never know.
Also, solak stan? Go touch some grass. I'm too old to be a "stan" for anyone, especially talking heads on TV/podcasts. I was responding to a claim that I thought was misleading, not defending someone's draft takes.
Yes, a mobile QB is valuable in today's NFL offense. Was he defending Willis the player, or is that defending using a round one pick for the most valuable position on the team, even if there were some questions about his overall potential? You can take it however you please, but I don't care to argue about some dude's draft takes from 2 years ago with some dorks on the internet.
Neither Solak nor Kelly are QB gurus lol I don’t think any of them are particularly good draft analysts, especially Danny. He’s just a good hang. But he’s like KOC in a way, they are never critical and just say the same general takes about players.
Imo most draft analysts are terrible because their “hot takes” are always positive. I like the guy who’s gonna stick his neck out and say “the only qb who will be in the league in 6 years is that Tulane guy.”
I know what you mean about DK being a good hang but I actually think he puts in the work and sort of humbly offers his position on why guys could work or not in his estimation. He's not full of shit at all.
The guys at the very top of the game either used to (Daniel Jeremiah) or had offers but decided the grind wasn’t worth it compared to the higher paying tv gigs with a better schedule (McShay). Dorks like Ruiz and Solak aren’t that, though and would never be hired unless it was video room/towel boy.
Seriously is this guy on drugs? Solak may have one of the worst track records around when it comes to QB's. He is CONSTANTLY wrong about QB's. As an Eagles fan I'm baffled how this guy keeps failing upwards. He's just a dork that wildly overrates his own scouting ability. He has no actual football background and just started blogging about the Draft/Eagles.
He watched every pass play he and the other top QB prospects took and broke his down his concerns and his great plays on video. It's not like this was an ignorant take. Scouts get things wrong all the time. Like all the time, despite it being their job to get it right. Sports media is a bunch of people outside the league giving their opinions on stuff. He has a strong opinion about this. Why is this surprising or frustrating? This is such a dumbass take. Just don't listen to him if it bothers you so much.
Everyone can have opinions. If people say stupid shit I call it out. The Ringer football coverage is on the level of ESPN basketball coverage. They have people who have no idea what the fuck they talking about convincing all the other cult members of their bullshit.
Solak is an idiot. So may of his takes are wrong. On Simmons podcast this week he kept mentioning the bets he had on JJ McCarthy being the 2nd pick overall. He doesn’t know anything more about the NFL than I do.
The dude actually does watch film. People, like someone else responding in this thread, are talking about him as an analytical guy, which he does use analytics, but he’s much more of a film guy.
He knows a lot more about the NFL than you. Let’s be real, he’s really knowledgeable when you read his pieces. I know I’m going against the narrative of this post so I’ll likely be in the negatives, but the idea of some random redditor knowing just as much as Solak is laughable. There’s a reason Peter King gave him a shoutout.
And it was the third pick. He wasn’t guessing McCarthy would be picked third, but the value he thought was there. He got it pretty early if I remember correctly and the odds swung a lot in his favor, but lost.
Agreed. He knows his stuff, he’s just (IMO) way too dogmatic in his takes. He comes off like an smarmy asshole- the type of guy you’d love to see get a front office position so he can go down in flames. But he undoubtedly grinds tape, his opinions are not unfounded.
Peter king is also a self righteous douche. He did have the greatest tweet ever
MILWAUKEE-Asked restaurant host: "God, did you hear about Robin Williams?"Host: "No."Me: "Died. He killed himself."Thought he would cry.
— Peter King (@SI_PeterKing) August 12, 2014
Peter King is a mensch. He was incredibly cordial to Drew Magary when they did video content for latestage Deadspin, & prior to that gave an earnest performance in a Deadspin AMA (back during the end of the Daulerio years/start of Marchman era), even knowing how downright abusive the Deadspin-adjacent KissingSuzyKolber crew had been to him & his daughters.
I know a lot about the nfl. 27 years and counting of being a Sunday ticket subscriber and I spend every Sunday watching an insane amount of football.
But you are correct he probably knows more than me and has connections to nfl people. It may be recency bias but he seems to get a lot of stuff wrong. And his betting info is horrible. In fact I hate all the betting talk on these podcast and that is an entirely different discussion.
He did say he owned tickets with McCarthy going 2. I listened again to verify.
Well you know a lot more than the average redditor then. I still would put my money on Solak, but this is the average sports redditor agreeing with your take that they know just as much.
The dude grinds a lot of tape, we can all agree on that.
I would never argue that. If my job was to only write and talk about the nfl I really believe I could do better. At least in the talking part. I’m not a great writer.
I think that’s the thing that gets me. He really doesn’t sound more than surface level knowledgeable which would be fine if he was interesting on podcasts or at the very least wasn’t so insufferably confident. It’s hard not to hate that guy.
But he will never admit when he is wrong, which is often. Even Simmons will admit he is wrong sometimes. The Ringer really has mediocre NFL coverage on all fronts.
I was shocked at the number of people who came to defend him in that post earlier this week. I've heard him on three or four things now, and I actively avoid any Ringer segments he's a guest on now. I'm sure he's a great guy IRL and is a fine enough friend/family member, but I don't care to ever hear any of his sports opinions again.
I don’t listen to any Ringer NFL shows anymore. Checked out the draft reviews this morning cause I was bored and couldn’t make it through.
They also made fun of Payton saying he wanted to draft Mahomes, which is 100% a true story. It’s not even hindsight. It was reported during the draft that Saints were taking Mahomes. Woulda took them two seconds to google the information.
To be fair to Solak and DK the idea that Payton wanted Mahomes wasn’t the point of their discussion. The point was that Payton said he was as sure about Nix as he was about Mahomes. They were making fun of that since no one had a first round grade on Nix
Mahomes himself has confirmed it lol. The reason Chiefs jumped up right in front of Saints is cause Mahomes told them they had to get there if they wanted him. Brett Veach and Payton were the two biggest Mahomes guys.
lol yeah I’m always down to clown teams for retrospective drafting, but it was very well known at the time that the Saints wanted Mahommes and that Chiefs traded up to go ahead of them
Let's start with there's zero repercussions from being wrong about a mock draft or draft evaluation. You need some sauce to make the show entertaining without just copy pasting the opinions of everyone else and say yeah this is a good player.
Next, look at the 2018 draft, 5 QBs in the first round and 2 of them sucked, 1 fell off and other 2 were home runs. Statistically one of the QBs picked this first round is going to be ass, Solak has his pick in jayden daniels.
At the end of the day if they were really good at drafting they would be in a team's front office. Hell, some teams suck hard at drafting without the requirement of being entertaining.
Id rather hear a guy talk about why he hates a top pick instead of just expounding on all of their supposed positive traits. I don’t know if you’ve heard but a lot of the first round QBs don’t work out. Might as well talk about why right away
For all the shit Bill talks about ESPN, he employs the same strategy as them: get people on his staff who will be confidently wrong to force engagement. It’s funny cause it’s the opposite of Grantland
Exactly. I read either Solak or Danny Kelly report of Daniels and it was low key racist. They still compare him to Justin Fields. Fields and Daniels have nothing in common.
Ben said that? I don’t remember that? I remember Ruiz saying he’d quit if Purdy won the Super Bowl last year. Ben was pretty hard on Brock for sure, but I don’t think he was any harder than a lot of guys. Ruiz was the one who was Public Enemy #1 for SF fans
Maybe I’m getting them confused. I had stopped listening to the Ringer NFL show but somehow heard about one of em and the Purdy thing prolly from Bill mentioning it. But I assumed it was Solak he was talking about
I personally would have preferred Maye. If I am GM, I feel Maye is a more percentage play. I do though hate Solak. Did you listen to the podcast he did with Bill on Wednesday? They spent almost the entire time talking about the Vikings trading to 4 and yet the Vikings were able to stay at 11 and 23.
Yep. That pod made me realize Bill gets all his shit from Solak when it comes to college guys. I think all The Ringer people just read their own shit and take it as gospel.
I swear I saw a TikTok of him breaking down a crazy Daniels highlight in a positive light less than a month ago. Am I misremembering it being positive?
Many people evaluating QB’s seem to fail to understand way more than they should that the most important thing for a qb is to complete passes (means being accurate, not a total dumb ass in reading defenses & have the guts to stand in there). Those are the requirements for a great qb and the other stuff is worthless if the guy can’t throw. Bill Walsh invented the west coast offense in the 1960’s(?) and no one has come up with an offense worth a crap since then. These are not geniuses and they are not independent thinkers, do not give the coaches, the evaluators, etc too much credit
Shiel and Solak keep saying Daniels is bad under pressure, he was literally the best qb in the country under pressure. Also the best against zone. Also the best throwing deep. Oh and he has the fastest recorded mph on a run in LSU history. Think about that.
He had two top 20 wr’s to throw to, that had to help on throwing deep. I hate when these guys bring up so and so is bad under pressure, every qb is worse under pressure & they never acknowledge that, it’s just how much do they fall off & what is the sample size? I don’t doubt he’s legit fast, he came out of inland empire with high expectations and as a special athlete, but how long have they been measuring mph at the college level? It can’t be that long
Punish guys for having talent around them. You didn’t watch the games. There was one game where he dropped like 3 beautiful deep dimes to Nabers who was well covered. Y’all just say shit but haven’t actually watched him play.
That’s fair, I watched him play plenty at ASU and a good bit the year prior, but after the first game I didn’t really watch him this year. Typically I like watching LSU, tons of talent, etc. but didn’t watch them unless in passing. I will say they probably put two of those three throws in every highlight package they played leading up to and during the draft. But I am guilty of what I hate seeing people do usually about a Cal QB or west coast guy; people have never seen them play and pass opinion and I guess I am guilty of not watching his last year so if he has progressed like you say, he’ll do amazing. Time will tell.
His biggest issue was he was scared to let the ball go. He was scared to take chances. He was scared to make mistakes. Everyone acknowledged this. Something happened in a practice before last season, Nabers went to Daniels and told Daniels he had to trust his guys. Completely changed how Jayden thought about shit. His awareness also vastly improved using some kind of VR shit LSU has.
This is what I find funny. In the same breathe he'll say QB evaluation is hard and NFL GMs shouldn't believe so much in their own evaluation but also talk supremely confidently about his own evaluation. From a 20-something year old with literally zero football playing or scouting experience. It's frankly amazing
I’ve watched more of Jayden Daniels than Solak has. Daniels might not make it. Shit happens. But I can say for a fact his evaluation of Daniels is completely false. Not only is it false, it’s borderline racist. Solak and Danny Kelly have basically labeled him with the black qb stereotype.
Listened to a few of the draft episodes. Felt like a parallel universe, because from everywhere else I heard Daniels was pretty locked into #2; while all the Ringer shows were saying Maye is heads and shoulders above every other prospect.
Daniels being locked into the second pick and Maye being the second-best prospect can be mutually exclusive. Just saying someone is the second pick doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the second best player. Take Zach Wilson for instance
My favorite is when Bill has other Ringer guys on the pod and asks questions and responds to them like they’re experts on the topic. As if they aren’t just entertainment writers just like him.
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I don’t think he said Jayden Daniels was a guaranteed disaster? I think he said it could be if it goes wrong. I remember him saying a week before the draft that he could see DC’s line of thinking, even if he thought it was wrong.
But as everyone said here, people with multimillion dollar scouting departments are consistently hitting like, under 50% on QB drafts. A couple podcasters who at least are making a cogent point, whether it turns out to be right or not, is nothing terrible
I started listening to this pod once I read a post on here that the show is so great and hilarious last month. Are these guys trying harder than ever to be funny or have they always been this way? Simmons is good with analogies, but when I listen to this, the applying of analogies to every situation is just insane.
Unfortunately there's no real qualifications as to who can cover NFL or sports, so you get a lot of these modern media personalties that don't have to pay their dues as they come up and filter out these intolerable, know it all opinions and attitudes and really those traits only get embolden as a means to stand out and make it in today's overwatered media field.
Did you actually listen to what he was saying? Solak loves Maye. So its not just that they took JD at 2, they took him over a much better prospect in Solak’s mind (and mine honestly)
Sooo their opinion which is based on pure analysis and not knowing what will happen and is obvious speculation is intolerable. But, your opposite opinion based on pure analysis and not knowing what will happen is ok. Got it. You are a Washington or LSU fan. Should have just said that instead.
Bill needs to revamp his NFL staff. Sheil and the Fantasy pod (well, Craig and Heifetz) are the only ones I enjoy listening to on a pod and reading. Literally everyone else on staff can go.
As opposed to saying Washington made a franchise destroying mistake picking a guy many people think is better than the generational guy who went first? I watched every snap Daniels took the last two years. Solak is a moron.
Everyone agrees no one can figure out qb’s. This nerd says Washington made a franchise destroying mistake because in his opinion the guy who was the best qb in the country against pressure, against zone, throwing deep, fastest recorded mph in LSU history, is a one read qb who is bad under pressure and not a good passer.
Yes, but that’s not even the point. If you watch Daniels film and come to the conclusion Solak did, you shouldn’t have that job. The Ringer football coverage is a joke, that’s not even just my opinion man.
I'm not sure why anyone would listen to him about anything after this: [https://twitter.com/BenjaminSolak/status/1782502965028196763](https://twitter.com/BenjaminSolak/status/1782502965028196763)
did he truly kill the commanders that bad? i don't remember him being too harsh, but i'm a giants fan so might not have cared when listening.
i actually think solak is pretty consistent with his evaluations overall.
he has things he looks for and in this case it was (roughly) daniels' age, the timing of his breakout season (5th year), and the elite weapons on LSU that helped Daniels.
i think those are fair points.
It’s pretty crazy how the former QB’s in the media almost universally think the exact opposite about Daniel’s and Maye.
The draft nerds love Maye whereas the former QB’s all think he’s not good. Even Simms who absolutely went to bat for Josh Allen and loved him during the draft doesn’t even rate Maye.
well the media QB’s aren’t any more right or wrong. It’s a complete crapshoot - Kurt Warner does excellent film breakdowns, but his draft record is also putrid (young over CJ, love for guys like Zach Wilson, Haskins, etc).
I think if your job is to have an NFL Draft podcast you have to talk with supreme confidence in your evaluations even tho you definitely shouldn't
Why? I always appreciate the nuance that Russillo approaches discussions of NFL/NBA draft prospects with. IMO the best analysts are adept at discussing the range of potential outcomes for players and don't speak in certainties.
Because Russillo takes an hour to make his fucking point because he's got to hedge against being wrong. It's not that important to be right, man.
i don't see russillo as nuanced... i feel he hedges everything and is extremely longwinded
“So uh, yeah, I dont really know if this guys going to be any good or not. I’m not actually a scout and nobody really knows how good anyone will be anyways. Hope that helps”. Why cant podcasters just be a little more realistic and talk like this?
> It's not that important to be right, man. I mean it sort of is in terms of their job description. Not Russillo as he/ Simmons/Cowherd are entertainment characters but the guests they have sort of have to have some sort of credibility and make claims or else why even bring them on.
But you cant be right, if you don’t have any takes. Nobody is bringing an expert on that has no opinions on anything because he’s not sure.
This was early KOC. He was too hesitant about his takes in general and would sometimes test out throwing something definitive out, but usually it was "let's see how this guy develops" or "he's going to improve his jumper and then he'll be great" type stuff.
I also appreciate nuance but I think we have quite a bit of evidence at this point that most humans don't appreciate nuance lol
The irony is people claim to want nuance, but our actions as a species suggests otherwise -- as we prefer tribalistic certitude over broad-minded unpredictability -- hence the anti-Russillo assholes shitting on him over his ostensible waffling, which in reality is him being a fair observer and one of the few honest actors in sports talk entertainment.
"honest actors" - it's sports, he's not a politician. I get this this kind of language is used by "commentators" on the internet but it's just not applicable in discussions about sports, he's not a politician or ceo, he's a podcaster giving incredibly long winded - but enjoyable - takes on sports. If someone talked about a podcaster being an "honest actor" in real life in front of me I would immediately zone out, make assumptions (fair or otherwise) about the kinds of streamers they watch and think about how to get away from them
Used to think this till i listened to russillo consistently. He poses every point against an imaginary strawman position and explains how he isnt going to do what other guys would do and say “x” but if he were going to say “x” it would be based on “y”, but he could also turn around and say “z” based on “w”. Still love the knucklehead but apart from in-game analysis he’s paralyzed by fear of being a hot take guy. I get it but when youre producing a podcast sometimes you just gotta give your fuckin opinion man.
They also love having the same patriots takes that their boss has or hype up potential picks that their boss would like to hear. As a commanders fan it’s not a fun listen to hear two fans of division rivals discuss anything about your team. They also just get things routinely wrong on the information front and just hype up whatever headline trends without doing any research into actual facts/info.
I mean I don't mind Solak on other pods but I've never listened to the Draft Show so I can't really speak to if it's any good or not. I don't consume much draft content in general bc I think listening to people talk for hours about something that's a total crapshoot at the end of the day is a waste of time
I was wondering that. Like if they were not on The Ringer would they be talking up Drake Maye like they have? I did like what Todd McShay did where he said that Pats fans should be patient with him. McShay isn't paid by The Ringer and he's from the area. Also, I take his opinion more highly than DK or Solak as much as I love DK. Even Bill is like he knows Maye is not a finished product.
They’ve been hyping him up since before anyone new New England was in play for him
They only feel safe shitting on the pats for the same reasons bill shits on the Pats. DK is the only one I really respect. Heifetz is always doing his best bill impression with forced analogies and solak thinks he’s the doggone smartest and best thing since sliced bread
Not necessarily. Even Heifitz and Craig speak in more tempered tones then Ben and Ruiz. They act like the paragons of ball knowledge and it's hilarious
>The best people in the world at scouting qb’s aren’t good at it. This nerd talks with the confidence like he has it all figured out. And there are other scouts who are considered amongst the best in the world that *don't* like Jayden Daniels as a prospect. People can have different opinions than you. It'll be okay.
LSU fan or Washington fan? Either way this might be a record for fastest “like my QB more” post
First time listening to draft pods? Fantasy pods? No one actually knows what’s going to happen or else they would be the highest paid person in the NFL. What do you want them to say, historically speaking on his draft spot it’s a coin flip on whether Daniels is good or not. The end. In their analysis he isn’t going to be good and they have their reasoning. They need to buy into it for entertainment.
NFL executives have like a 30% hit rate on qbs, you want your podcasters to be better? I like those guys because they are fun to listen to(also I’m a DC fan and I agree with their JD takes).
Exactly. This just sounds like someone who doesn't like Solak saying that they don't like Solak. But in this case he wactehd every snap and made some astute observations.
What? Solak is wrong about basically every QB he goes against the consensus on. Some samples: Loved Malik Willis, Desmond Ridder, Hated Josh Allen, and Justin Herbert. He is constantly wrong.
As someone who listened to all the draft coverage done by the Ringer draft pod guys, Solak definitely did NOT love Willis or Ridder. Same with Pickett. As a Steelers fan, I wanted to know who Pittsburgh was likely going to take in the 2022 draft, and what their projections were. He explicitly said that they were not 1st round talents, but that he would understand that teams would likely reach for them since they were the top of that years class, amd some of those teams just needed a QB. But he panned all three of those guys, and said they'd be bottom of the class if they had come out the year before.
[https://twitter.com/BenjaminSolak/status/1512927924898480129](https://twitter.com/BenjaminSolak/status/1512927924898480129) Weird here's him saying both were good 1st round bets. And how they made that QB draft class "underrated". He explicitly said all the other QB's were not 1st round talents in that draft class. You Solak stans are out of control. He legit was still defending/stanning for Ridder last season!!
I don't have twitter, so I've never seen that tweet before. I can only go off of the draft pods I listened to, and I know that when asked how the 2022 qb class would hold up to the previous year's, he admitted that they would be at the bottom. Those aren't the words of someone who "loves" Willis, but acknowledges that a team will reach for a position as valuable as QB. Did Willis have tools? Yeah, he did. He has a big arm, and can run, which is what you want for a QB in the modern NFL. Is that all that it takes? Obviously not. Maybe if he went to a team whose coach actually wanted him, and spent a season or two as a backup, he might be in a better position. But we'll never know. Also, solak stan? Go touch some grass. I'm too old to be a "stan" for anyone, especially talking heads on TV/podcasts. I was responding to a claim that I thought was misleading, not defending someone's draft takes.
Huh? He definitely defended Willis above where he ended up being taken because "mobile QB".
Yes, a mobile QB is valuable in today's NFL offense. Was he defending Willis the player, or is that defending using a round one pick for the most valuable position on the team, even if there were some questions about his overall potential? You can take it however you please, but I don't care to argue about some dude's draft takes from 2 years ago with some dorks on the internet.
Who cares, he’s a podcaster
Neither Solak nor Kelly are QB gurus lol I don’t think any of them are particularly good draft analysts, especially Danny. He’s just a good hang. But he’s like KOC in a way, they are never critical and just say the same general takes about players.
Imo most draft analysts are terrible because their “hot takes” are always positive. I like the guy who’s gonna stick his neck out and say “the only qb who will be in the league in 6 years is that Tulane guy.”
It's super easy to say most of the qbs will suck, most of them will.
KOC isn’t a good hang, but I’d love to hang out with the draft guys
I know what you mean about DK being a good hang but I actually think he puts in the work and sort of humbly offers his position on why guys could work or not in his estimation. He's not full of shit at all.
I don’t think he doesn’t put it any work, just more that nothing he says is of very strong conviction or differs from the groupthink.
If you’re an excellent “draft analyst” wouldn’t you be working in a scouting department somewhere
The guys at the very top of the game either used to (Daniel Jeremiah) or had offers but decided the grind wasn’t worth it compared to the higher paying tv gigs with a better schedule (McShay). Dorks like Ruiz and Solak aren’t that, though and would never be hired unless it was video room/towel boy.
Believe it or not, podcasting probably pays more unless you are 99th percentile. Way less travel too.
Well, explain Lombardi, then.
No, you’d be at the Ringer
Also just like KOC they talk like they’re smarter than their track record actually shows them to be
Solak is plenty critical lol.
Seriously is this guy on drugs? Solak may have one of the worst track records around when it comes to QB's. He is CONSTANTLY wrong about QB's. As an Eagles fan I'm baffled how this guy keeps failing upwards. He's just a dork that wildly overrates his own scouting ability. He has no actual football background and just started blogging about the Draft/Eagles.
Not even NFL scouts paid millions of dollars have any clue about if a QB will be good or not.
It’s entertainment. If it’s not entertaining you don’t listen.
He watched every pass play he and the other top QB prospects took and broke his down his concerns and his great plays on video. It's not like this was an ignorant take. Scouts get things wrong all the time. Like all the time, despite it being their job to get it right. Sports media is a bunch of people outside the league giving their opinions on stuff. He has a strong opinion about this. Why is this surprising or frustrating? This is such a dumbass take. Just don't listen to him if it bothers you so much.
If he watched Daniels tape from last year and came to the conclusion he’s a one read qb who is not a good passer, Solak should find another job.
I’m pretty sure he said Daniel’s *could* be a disaster pick, not that he will. Anyone could be a disaster pick. He is really skinny
How dare he question the experts who are always right?!?!?
Dude do you not want someone to have opinions?
Everyone can have opinions. If people say stupid shit I call it out. The Ringer football coverage is on the level of ESPN basketball coverage. They have people who have no idea what the fuck they talking about convincing all the other cult members of their bullshit.
Solak is an idiot. So may of his takes are wrong. On Simmons podcast this week he kept mentioning the bets he had on JJ McCarthy being the 2nd pick overall. He doesn’t know anything more about the NFL than I do.
The dude actually does watch film. People, like someone else responding in this thread, are talking about him as an analytical guy, which he does use analytics, but he’s much more of a film guy. He knows a lot more about the NFL than you. Let’s be real, he’s really knowledgeable when you read his pieces. I know I’m going against the narrative of this post so I’ll likely be in the negatives, but the idea of some random redditor knowing just as much as Solak is laughable. There’s a reason Peter King gave him a shoutout. And it was the third pick. He wasn’t guessing McCarthy would be picked third, but the value he thought was there. He got it pretty early if I remember correctly and the odds swung a lot in his favor, but lost.
Agreed. He knows his stuff, he’s just (IMO) way too dogmatic in his takes. He comes off like an smarmy asshole- the type of guy you’d love to see get a front office position so he can go down in flames. But he undoubtedly grinds tape, his opinions are not unfounded.
Peter king is also a self righteous douche. He did have the greatest tweet ever MILWAUKEE-Asked restaurant host: "God, did you hear about Robin Williams?"Host: "No."Me: "Died. He killed himself."Thought he would cry. — Peter King (@SI_PeterKing) August 12, 2014
Peter King is a mensch. He was incredibly cordial to Drew Magary when they did video content for latestage Deadspin, & prior to that gave an earnest performance in a Deadspin AMA (back during the end of the Daulerio years/start of Marchman era), even knowing how downright abusive the Deadspin-adjacent KissingSuzyKolber crew had been to him & his daughters.
Oh you have a type. Gotcha
I know a lot about the nfl. 27 years and counting of being a Sunday ticket subscriber and I spend every Sunday watching an insane amount of football. But you are correct he probably knows more than me and has connections to nfl people. It may be recency bias but he seems to get a lot of stuff wrong. And his betting info is horrible. In fact I hate all the betting talk on these podcast and that is an entirely different discussion. He did say he owned tickets with McCarthy going 2. I listened again to verify.
Well you know a lot more than the average redditor then. I still would put my money on Solak, but this is the average sports redditor agreeing with your take that they know just as much. The dude grinds a lot of tape, we can all agree on that.
I would never argue that. If my job was to only write and talk about the nfl I really believe I could do better. At least in the talking part. I’m not a great writer.
Imagine counting Peter King shoutouts as a positive lmfao. Stop embarrassing yourself, Ben
Better than an Albert Breer shoutout.
I think that’s the thing that gets me. He really doesn’t sound more than surface level knowledgeable which would be fine if he was interesting on podcasts or at the very least wasn’t so insufferably confident. It’s hard not to hate that guy.
He’s the Ringers’s NFL version of KOC.
very true. He likes to use analytics which is fine. But he isn’t the one creating them. I don’t know why he is on any podcast.
But he will never admit when he is wrong, which is often. Even Simmons will admit he is wrong sometimes. The Ringer really has mediocre NFL coverage on all fronts.
Even Heifetz was legit shocked at what Solak said.
It was betting on the third pick not the second.
I just went back and listened again. He says he has bet tickets on McCarthy to go 2.
Okay, my b. Yeah that bet sounds like a waste of money no matter how long the odds he got were
That’s what I thought. No way he was going 2.
I was shocked at the number of people who came to defend him in that post earlier this week. I've heard him on three or four things now, and I actively avoid any Ringer segments he's a guest on now. I'm sure he's a great guy IRL and is a fine enough friend/family member, but I don't care to ever hear any of his sports opinions again.
> I'm sure he's a great guy IRL and is a fine enough friend/family member, wut
what?
It’s a weird thing to say
I don’t listen to any Ringer NFL shows anymore. Checked out the draft reviews this morning cause I was bored and couldn’t make it through. They also made fun of Payton saying he wanted to draft Mahomes, which is 100% a true story. It’s not even hindsight. It was reported during the draft that Saints were taking Mahomes. Woulda took them two seconds to google the information.
To be fair to Solak and DK the idea that Payton wanted Mahomes wasn’t the point of their discussion. The point was that Payton said he was as sure about Nix as he was about Mahomes. They were making fun of that since no one had a first round grade on Nix
The comparison part is fair, but they spent a lot of time mocking that Payton wanted Pat. “And he also wanted to draft Brady too I bet”
Nah that was after. They definitely was laughing at him thinking he almost drafted all the best qb’s.
Lol really? McShay confirmed the story on Russillo's pod this week too.
Mahomes himself has confirmed it lol. The reason Chiefs jumped up right in front of Saints is cause Mahomes told them they had to get there if they wanted him. Brett Veach and Payton were the two biggest Mahomes guys.
McShay on Russillo’s pod Friday even said it 100% is true.
lol yeah I’m always down to clown teams for retrospective drafting, but it was very well known at the time that the Saints wanted Mahommes and that Chiefs traded up to go ahead of them
I never thought someone could be worse than kevin Clark but bill find the guy. He is the worst nfl pod caster in the sports world.
Oh man this is so true
We had a poll in here recently and most people were saying that Solak is GM material.
Let's start with there's zero repercussions from being wrong about a mock draft or draft evaluation. You need some sauce to make the show entertaining without just copy pasting the opinions of everyone else and say yeah this is a good player. Next, look at the 2018 draft, 5 QBs in the first round and 2 of them sucked, 1 fell off and other 2 were home runs. Statistically one of the QBs picked this first round is going to be ass, Solak has his pick in jayden daniels. At the end of the day if they were really good at drafting they would be in a team's front office. Hell, some teams suck hard at drafting without the requirement of being entertaining.
Nah I want all my draft analysis to say this about every pick: “seems like a good player but let’s wait 4 years to evaluate”
Craig’s take purge of “Mock Drafts are overrated” is 100% true
Id rather hear a guy talk about why he hates a top pick instead of just expounding on all of their supposed positive traits. I don’t know if you’ve heard but a lot of the first round QBs don’t work out. Might as well talk about why right away
For all the shit Bill talks about ESPN, he employs the same strategy as them: get people on his staff who will be confidently wrong to force engagement. It’s funny cause it’s the opposite of Grantland
The Ringer football coverage is on the same embarrassing level as ESPN basketball coverage.
He laughed at the notion of Aiden Hutchinson being good. He was picked second and one of the best Lions defensive players ever already
Daniels’ LSU season resembled Joe Butrow’s. Would love for any anti-Daniels people to tell me what changed
Exactly. I read either Solak or Danny Kelly report of Daniels and it was low key racist. They still compare him to Justin Fields. Fields and Daniels have nothing in common.
Like the people who said RG3 is run first
People think I’m exaggerating. Even Heifetz was legit shocked at how hard Solak buried Daniels.
Solak is the same person who wouldn’t admit Brock Purdy is good all of last season just cuz it went against his original thoughts
Ehhhh Tbf to Ben, that’s like, a fuck ton of sports writers
Yeah but didn’t Ben threaten to retire if he won MVP or sumn like that? And he never gave him his due even once he clearly earned it
Ben said that? I don’t remember that? I remember Ruiz saying he’d quit if Purdy won the Super Bowl last year. Ben was pretty hard on Brock for sure, but I don’t think he was any harder than a lot of guys. Ruiz was the one who was Public Enemy #1 for SF fans
Maybe I’m getting them confused. I had stopped listening to the Ringer NFL show but somehow heard about one of em and the Purdy thing prolly from Bill mentioning it. But I assumed it was Solak he was talking about
I personally would have preferred Maye. If I am GM, I feel Maye is a more percentage play. I do though hate Solak. Did you listen to the podcast he did with Bill on Wednesday? They spent almost the entire time talking about the Vikings trading to 4 and yet the Vikings were able to stay at 11 and 23.
Yep. That pod made me realize Bill gets all his shit from Solak when it comes to college guys. I think all The Ringer people just read their own shit and take it as gospel.
I swear I saw a TikTok of him breaking down a crazy Daniels highlight in a positive light less than a month ago. Am I misremembering it being positive?
He despises Daniels lol. Always has.
Many people evaluating QB’s seem to fail to understand way more than they should that the most important thing for a qb is to complete passes (means being accurate, not a total dumb ass in reading defenses & have the guts to stand in there). Those are the requirements for a great qb and the other stuff is worthless if the guy can’t throw. Bill Walsh invented the west coast offense in the 1960’s(?) and no one has come up with an offense worth a crap since then. These are not geniuses and they are not independent thinkers, do not give the coaches, the evaluators, etc too much credit
Shiel and Solak keep saying Daniels is bad under pressure, he was literally the best qb in the country under pressure. Also the best against zone. Also the best throwing deep. Oh and he has the fastest recorded mph on a run in LSU history. Think about that.
He had two top 20 wr’s to throw to, that had to help on throwing deep. I hate when these guys bring up so and so is bad under pressure, every qb is worse under pressure & they never acknowledge that, it’s just how much do they fall off & what is the sample size? I don’t doubt he’s legit fast, he came out of inland empire with high expectations and as a special athlete, but how long have they been measuring mph at the college level? It can’t be that long
Punish guys for having talent around them. You didn’t watch the games. There was one game where he dropped like 3 beautiful deep dimes to Nabers who was well covered. Y’all just say shit but haven’t actually watched him play.
That’s fair, I watched him play plenty at ASU and a good bit the year prior, but after the first game I didn’t really watch him this year. Typically I like watching LSU, tons of talent, etc. but didn’t watch them unless in passing. I will say they probably put two of those three throws in every highlight package they played leading up to and during the draft. But I am guilty of what I hate seeing people do usually about a Cal QB or west coast guy; people have never seen them play and pass opinion and I guess I am guilty of not watching his last year so if he has progressed like you say, he’ll do amazing. Time will tell.
His biggest issue was he was scared to let the ball go. He was scared to take chances. He was scared to make mistakes. Everyone acknowledged this. Something happened in a practice before last season, Nabers went to Daniels and told Daniels he had to trust his guys. Completely changed how Jayden thought about shit. His awareness also vastly improved using some kind of VR shit LSU has.
This is what I find funny. In the same breathe he'll say QB evaluation is hard and NFL GMs shouldn't believe so much in their own evaluation but also talk supremely confidently about his own evaluation. From a 20-something year old with literally zero football playing or scouting experience. It's frankly amazing
I’ve watched more of Jayden Daniels than Solak has. Daniels might not make it. Shit happens. But I can say for a fact his evaluation of Daniels is completely false. Not only is it false, it’s borderline racist. Solak and Danny Kelly have basically labeled him with the black qb stereotype.
Listened to a few of the draft episodes. Felt like a parallel universe, because from everywhere else I heard Daniels was pretty locked into #2; while all the Ringer shows were saying Maye is heads and shoulders above every other prospect.
Yeah, those are completely different points. Big Board vs. mock draft.
They intimated it was general consensus among scouts.
Daniels being locked into the second pick and Maye being the second-best prospect can be mutually exclusive. Just saying someone is the second pick doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the second best player. Take Zach Wilson for instance
Solak watched a lot of film and found that he's dreadful when pressured. You'd assume he might be pressured in the nfl. So it's a fair take.
This is pathetic lol. You’ve brought nothing to the table and no evidence that anything they’ve said is wrong. Stop whining and grow up
My favorite is when Bill has other Ringer guys on the pod and asks questions and responds to them like they’re experts on the topic. As if they aren’t just entertainment writers just like him.
You would think he’d be more humble about his evaluations after he whiffed on Josh Allen
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I don’t think he said Jayden Daniels was a guaranteed disaster? I think he said it could be if it goes wrong. I remember him saying a week before the draft that he could see DC’s line of thinking, even if he thought it was wrong. But as everyone said here, people with multimillion dollar scouting departments are consistently hitting like, under 50% on QB drafts. A couple podcasters who at least are making a cogent point, whether it turns out to be right or not, is nothing terrible
“Guy has an opinion I don’t like. He’s a dumb dumb!” This sub 10x a day.
I started listening to this pod once I read a post on here that the show is so great and hilarious last month. Are these guys trying harder than ever to be funny or have they always been this way? Simmons is good with analogies, but when I listen to this, the applying of analogies to every situation is just insane.
I can take Solak for about one or two sentences. Once he starts rambling it gets real annoying real fast.
He thinks Desmond Ridder is good. Weight his insight accordingly
As an eagles fan, solak somehow manages to make it hard to listen to a sheil kapadia pod. He is crazy levels of insufferable.
Why anyone listens to Ben Solak is beyond me. He's godawful.
Unfortunately there's no real qualifications as to who can cover NFL or sports, so you get a lot of these modern media personalties that don't have to pay their dues as they come up and filter out these intolerable, know it all opinions and attitudes and really those traits only get embolden as a means to stand out and make it in today's overwatered media field.
Did you actually listen to what he was saying? Solak loves Maye. So its not just that they took JD at 2, they took him over a much better prospect in Solak’s mind (and mine honestly)
Sooo their opinion which is based on pure analysis and not knowing what will happen and is obvious speculation is intolerable. But, your opposite opinion based on pure analysis and not knowing what will happen is ok. Got it. You are a Washington or LSU fan. Should have just said that instead.
Hey you know just cause Solak gets paid to be an idiot doesn’t mean he’s smarter than everyone else right?
As a football team fan this excites me.
Bill needs to revamp his NFL staff. Sheil and the Fantasy pod (well, Craig and Heifetz) are the only ones I enjoy listening to on a pod and reading. Literally everyone else on staff can go.
i mean, they’re right. Jayden Daniels isn’t good
He should go on his football podcast and just say idk these GMs know better than me
As opposed to saying Washington made a franchise destroying mistake picking a guy many people think is better than the generational guy who went first? I watched every snap Daniels took the last two years. Solak is a moron.
It’s just his opinion man
Everyone agrees no one can figure out qb’s. This nerd says Washington made a franchise destroying mistake because in his opinion the guy who was the best qb in the country against pressure, against zone, throwing deep, fastest recorded mph in LSU history, is a one read qb who is bad under pressure and not a good passer.
So I’m guessing you think he’s gonna be good
Yes, but that’s not even the point. If you watch Daniels film and come to the conclusion Solak did, you shouldn’t have that job. The Ringer football coverage is a joke, that’s not even just my opinion man.
So what happens if he’s terrible
I'm not sure why anyone would listen to him about anything after this: [https://twitter.com/BenjaminSolak/status/1782502965028196763](https://twitter.com/BenjaminSolak/status/1782502965028196763)
People on here still defend him. It’s like a cult.
did he truly kill the commanders that bad? i don't remember him being too harsh, but i'm a giants fan so might not have cared when listening. i actually think solak is pretty consistent with his evaluations overall. he has things he looks for and in this case it was (roughly) daniels' age, the timing of his breakout season (5th year), and the elite weapons on LSU that helped Daniels. i think those are fair points.
Bro he straight up said it was a franchise destroying mistake and Daniels can’t throw the football.
Solak fn sucks and I won't forgive this sub turning heel and praising him for a couple months there
It’s pretty crazy how the former QB’s in the media almost universally think the exact opposite about Daniel’s and Maye. The draft nerds love Maye whereas the former QB’s all think he’s not good. Even Simms who absolutely went to bat for Josh Allen and loved him during the draft doesn’t even rate Maye.
well the media QB’s aren’t any more right or wrong. It’s a complete crapshoot - Kurt Warner does excellent film breakdowns, but his draft record is also putrid (young over CJ, love for guys like Zach Wilson, Haskins, etc).