Inside The Hashes Football Q & A with Kris Thomas

Inside The Hashes Football Q & A with Kris Thomas 

How far do you think Tua’s injury causes him to fall in the draft?

The late first-round or early second round. The hip injury that Tua sustain in Saturday’s win against Mississippi State was being compared to Bo Jackson’s hip injury that ended his career. However, the difference is that Tua has already gotten surgery on it and could resume workouts in the spring. Although the hip injury is the first serious injury he had, there have been questions about his endurance since last year. He already had to go through ankle surgery to mend a high ankle sprain so two surgeries in the same calendar year aren’t something that scouts will want to take a risk on with a high pick. 

Only three teams I can see taking a chance in the 1st round. The first is Miami. With three 1st round picks they have a lot of capital so even if they want to sit Tua for a year as they assemble better circumstances for him to play with they can afford to do it. This also sucks for Josh Rosen but that’s the nature of the NFL. Second is the Oakland Raiders. Although with the success of the Raiders are having, Jon Gruden could still want to hang his hat on his pick at QB. Carr isn’t a bad QB at all but he’s not the guy who will take you where you need to go. So Tua sitting until Carr’s contract cap hit isn’t abysmal is an ideal situation. Finally the Patriots. I don’t need to go into much depth about that. Either way with the injury Tua shouldn’t be starting week 1 unless you’re confident you can protect him. 

What is Washington’s priority for the NFL Draft should be?

From the firing of Jay Gruden, the mishandling of Trent Williams, to even their rookie QB Dwayne Haskins begging his offensive line to help him, Washington is a train wreck from top to bottom. The first priority is to get a coaching staff that wants to coach and help Haskins grow if that isn’t the case you wasted a 1st round selection. As far as the draft goes Washington has a plethora of holes. Their game plan for the draft should just be the best player available. They need help on both sides of the ball, however, if you’re trying to build around the young QB Haskins getting some help on the offensive line so he doesn’t need to beg. Unfortunately, it is Washington and as long as Bruce Allen and Dan Synder are in charge nothing much will probably change in the fortune of how this organization is run.

Should the Mitch Trubisky experiment be over?

Sadly yes. For the sole reason that there’s a massive shift of a vote of no confidence in the 3rd year QB from the fans of Chicago and even his coach Matt Nagy. The reality of Ryan Pace looking like a genius for turning the bears into a playoff team and a potential Superbowl contender a year later,  the decision of trading up in the 2017 draft and taking Mitch Trubisky over Deshaun Watson and Patrick has reared its ugly head with the lack of consistent offense. Every week and every loss, we see more and more of the lost trust Matt Nagy has for his starting QB and once that trust or lack of confidence begins to take place its almost impossible to get back. Not Trubisky battling a hip injury and the Bears pretty much out of the playoff picture in a loaded NFC, the Sunday Night game against the Rams could be the last we see of the Trubisky era in Chicago. If that is the case the whispers of the former MVP and Panthers QB Cam Newton to Chicago rumors will gain more traction. Either way, the Bears should consider all options to move on from Trubisky after everything that has transpired. 

Do you think Colin Kaepernick will get a contract before the end of the season?

If teams wanted to sign Colin Kaepernick for football-related purposes they had 3 years to do so. The workout Kaepernick had on Saturday in which 8 teams came out, reports said that he still maintains an elite level arm but given that if you followed him he’s been consistent on his training regime to stay ready. The layoff shouldn’t matter as much considering the signings over that span was Jay Cutler was signed after he retired to Miami. Same with Josh McCown to the Eagles this year. Matt Moore was coaching high school football before coming back to the league and last year Josh Jackson started games for Washington after being out of the league for the 3 years. 

At this point, I doubt he will get a contract heading into week 12 of the NFL season. At the earliest, he could get an invite to a training camp for the 2020 season. You can’t tell me there are 64 QBs better than Kaepernick, he’s better than a few starters now. However, the NFL has been adamant that he’s too much of a distraction to give a chance, which is a shame given how much teams have ignored serious character issues for talent before.

Is Carson Wentz being criticized because of his 2017 success and Nick Foles winning the Superbowl in relief? 
Yes. You need to understand the context of the situation that Carson Wentz is in. Going into the season, there was much to rave about how the Eagles offense was going to be much improved with Desean back in the fold, Agholor going back to the slot the two tight end sets with Ertz and Goedert the offense was ready to take off. However, with the injuries to the offensive line, Jackson only playing 5 quarters out of the 10 games, Alshon injures as well, bad drops and uninspiring play-calling, the Eagles are sitting at 5-5. When you have a receiving group that is bottom 5 in every category, and play calling that doesn’t cater to what your personnel, you need to give a little leniency to the criticism towards Wentz. Does Wentz need to be more consistent and play better? Absolutely he does. However, Philadelphia sports fans are one of, if not the most, irrational fanbases out there. The fans wanted to bench McNabb for any backup QB when the first minor inconvenience arises. They want a new goalie after a bad game, heck even when Foles was here they wanted him to bench for Mark Sanchez. With the way the season has gone it’s too soon to sell Wentz up the river. I get that 2017 was a special year but great franchises from GMs to coaching support their QBs with the proper help they need and they haven’t for Wentz.

-By: Kris Thomas

Writer/Interviewer