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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 20th, 2023

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  • I was curious about this because I felt like this has been a problem for longer than that, and after a bit of searching I found this random forum post that compiled some stats around week 1 rookie starters. It’s from 2021, so a bit out of date, and the formatting is a bit confusing, but it’s still interesting to look at.

    Filling out the list after 2020 from memory and some quick Googling, 2021 would add Trevor Lawrence, Mac Jones, and Zach Wilson, 2022 had no week 1 rookie starters (Kenny Pickett wouldn’t start until week 4) for the first time since 2007, and 2023 had CJ Stroud, Bryce Young, and Anthony Richardson.

    As for trends, there was a meaningful bump after 2000, as 10 rookies started week 1 between 2000 and 2010 compared to just 3 across the 90s. The insane 2012 class really kicked it into high gear though.

    I think the league’s increased passing focus caused it to happen more often, but usually out of desperation or with players considered to be generational prospects, but then 2012 seemed to give everyone the impression that it could happen regularly.



  • I think the NFL’s desperation for quality QBs is likely making the problem worse. So many top QB prospects get drafted to dysfunctional franchises with incompetent coaches and massive holes across the entire roster, then get dropped into week 1 with the expectation that they’ll be the savior of the franchise.

    Circumstances matter a lot, and I can’t help but wonder how many “bust” QBs would’ve been better off with a year or two in a low-pressure backup spot to adjust to the league and learn the scheme instead of getting thrown into the fire right away. It seems to work for the Packers. Hell, even Mahomes sat behind Alex Smith his rookie year. I wonder how different his career would be if he had been sent to start immediately…





  • Not as drastic as the headline makes it out to be, or at least so they claim.

    “We acquired Tumblr to benefit from its differences and strengths, not to water it down. We love Tumblr’s streamlined posting experience and its current product direction,” the post explained. “We’re not changing that. We’re talking about running Tumblr’s backend on WordPress. You won’t even notice a difference from the outside,” it noted.

    We’ll see how that actually works out. Tumblr’s backend has always seemed rather… makeshift, so I’m curious to see how they manage to do that. Given Tumblr’s technical eccentricities, a backend migration could probably do a lot of good for the functionality of the site, if done properly. I have my doubts that WordPress’ engineers will be given the time and resources to do a full overhaul/refactor though, so I’m fully expecting even more janky, barely functional code stapling the two systems together.