Richard Noggin

How I feel about Brady and the Pats

I use Dweck's work in the college classroom all the time. It's really the foundation of learning: being humble and self-aware and gritty enough to acknowledge room for improvement, and then to set about making those improvements. Unfortunately, there are so many circumstances/traits that can cause people to retreat behind more "fixed" mindsets, including poverty, trauma, immaturity, arrogance, etc.

Thanks, I haven't heard much talk about Johnson lately. The way he finished the season, it stands to reason they want him to be their slot guy for another contract. Impact plays, physicality, and most importantly (and why he had the opportunity to flash), he improved his availability.

Don't let @ScottLaw read this...

I used to follow this approach most days...

I'm having trouble with your Hyde and Hughes takes. Especially Hyde. No way McDermott (and Frazier) part with Hyde this offseason. That dude is essential in ways stats can't convey. Hughes is NOT "done," as you say, both statistically and intangibly. Sacks can be a little like home runs, analytically, in that they can be misleading (baseball isn't a great analogy for football, but hopefully you get my drift). Some players sacrifice steady production for occasional, all-or-nothing glory. Like Jordan Phillips did in his contract year: terrible stats in basically every category except sacks. I WILL agree that at some point soon Hughes WILL be done, and a team can get better sack production from cheaper options. But I say let him play out his contract as the veteran rock of the DE group. Hyde, too.

I also hopped on the DJ Jones train (with Okwara). The posited contract projections for these two are SUPER cap-friendly (creating the kind of dubiousness one experiences when miraculously mock-drafting 1st rounders at picks 61 and 94, for example).

Important for everyone to read perspectives like this. Especially those hailing from Bills country.

To be fair, neither of us knows this. Let's not pretend that we do. I was clearly using the OP's phrasing. And I will argue that he IS a better option, moving forward, than Barkley. At no point would anyone compare him to Allen, so I'm not sure why you included him in your first line.

Experience in the system is what I typed. Webb knows the offense well (as evidenced by his running of last summer's voluntary practices, for example).

I guess we'll never know for sure...

Based on his experience in and comfort with the system, his size, sneaky athleticism, and inexpensiveness.

I think Davis Webb is the perfect backup for Allen next season.

He must, for the first time in his OC career, effectively marry the passing and running games. His offenses have been either lopsided or ineffective for the most part.

Rugby is a very physical and oftentimes violent game, no doubt. I played a bit in high school and college. But it's very different from football in that rugby tacklers almost always seek to wrap up, rather than collide with/knock down ball carriers. It's almost counter-intuitive to the American sensibility. Less protection does not typically equal more damaging collisions.

To be fair, these metrics don't necessarily scream freakish athleticism. They definitely do, however, loudly proclaim top-quartile athleticism. Knox is demonstrably more explosive than the majority of NFL TEs. But he's not Vernon Davis fast, or Gronk big, for example. Those are/were freakish athletes. He's simply very athletic all around.

Come on. His handful of angry runs (after catch) have unquestionably displayed explosive athleticism. The issue with Knox is a lack of consistent hands, blocking (too many total whiffs), and general spatial awareness (too often we've watched him jump or lunge for touch passes he should instead have sprinted underneath). That's a potentially damning list of flaws. Hell, his plus athleticism is probably the only reason he's still in the league.

I'm here for this kind of analysis.

It is necessary to hate all of these things. Whether it's fashionable or not is moot.

No way Barrett is cheaper. The others could oddly be comparable, due to age.

You are free to eat and drink as you please. And I am free to judge the heck out of how you eat and drink, if I am made aware of it. You don't need to care what I think. But if you tell me you use ranch, or overpower expensive whiskey with carbonated corn syrup, then I'm going to comment. That's just how it is.

They're both right. Leave me alone, AND eff your terrible taste.

It's a tough sport to play only casually/occasionally. So many moving parts. And frustrating as heck when you're rusty or just not all that good. But once you get a taste of what real hitting feels like... I'm not good most of the time. But usually around September or October I catch fleeting glimpses of what decent tennis feels like.

Anyone in WNY need a hitting partner? I have only one friend who plays, and he's breaking down (we're in our early 40s). Despite my age and lack of a 2nd serve, I know I've got a solid game in me if only I could get out there more. Any decent opportunities for affordable lessons or singles play? I've never enjoyed doubles much, unfortunately (probably my sometimes erratic service game; gets a little hairy with a partner at the net).

Like the 2019 (or 2020) Bills?