VW82

I agree with the points about lack of separation and incomplete route tree but the bigger issue IMO is he just isn't a good fit with Allen. Josh needs to see the receiver separate to want to throw it -- that's why the Beasley and Brown signings were so key. Also, when you're not technically open ball placement becomes a much bigger deal which is something we can probably all agree Allen struggles with. I don't mind the idea of retaining Duke as a practice squad specialist who gets brought up for certain match ups or due to injury, but the idea that he can be an every down receiver for Josh isn't very realistic. I like him more when paired with Barkley but hopefully we won't ever have to see that in an actual game.

I would have rather traded Bodine somewhere else or taken the chance he'd sign somewhere else. I guess we must have been convinced he was signing there.

I can't believe we did this. If we cut Bodine and he signs with the Pats then so be it. 6th round pick is not worth the kind of intel he'll give our biggest rival. The last guy I want on that team is the center who's been helping groom our young QB. Very ballsy move by Beane.

He's the captain of our special teams. DiMarco is making the team on that alone though I suspect Dabol also has plans to still occasionally use i formation .

I don't think there are any WRs on the bubble. We're going to keep our top 6 and that's it, especially now with Beane saying they haven't ruled out keeping Kroft on the active roster (four TEs).

I am also very high on our D and McD's scheming. As an aside, that's the part I find most hilarious about the Ed Oliver angst -- the idea that our awesome defensive head coach who does nothing but hit on picking players on that side of the ball, including guys taken way down in the draft (D. Johnson, Milano, T. Johnson, Joseph)...that he'd whiff with the number nine overall pick on a stud DT. Just LOL. I promise you Oliver is going to be good. If the pedigree doesn't convince you, or the comments from the other players, then you can still count on McD being awesome picking defenders as strong evidence he's going to be good. That is all.

I was one of the people sort of saying this under the context of we have so many RBs, WRs, and TEs this year that there is going to be a numbers crunch, and having to occasionally split Knox or Sweeney out wide in the red zone in place of Duke might be the least painful alternative. Would we prefer to cut Sweeney? Or cut Yeldon given how rickety our RB corps looks? McBeane did a much better job bringing talent in quantity this year. There will be hard decisions. Duke is one of them.

Bet he makes a comeback in two years -- maybe for Indy, maybe for someone else. Sometimes these guys just need a year or two off to get healthy and start feeling like themselves again. He's only going to know whether that itch to compete is completely gone once he truly gets away from the game.

Remember Edmunds vs Rivers last year? There are going to be growing pains with Oliver. He’s undersized and is going to get pushed around some until he figures some things out. Thankfully we have a very deep dline rotation which should be motivating for Oliver to do that sooner rather than later.

He made some positive plays early. That scramble on the first series when we were backed up was what gave Zay the opportunity to forget to look for the ball. At first I thought Allen might have gone early but after watching it again I agree it's 100% on Zay. Allen made two drive killing mistakes in his first four possessions. His teammates messed up on the other ones. Offense needs better starts if this team is going to be good. Actual game planning will obviously help.

I recall and yes you called it but I still think it wouldn't have been the correct move. We couldn't predict for sure that we'd be successful bringing in so many new receivers with his talent. Also, having Zay through this off season and camp had the added benefit of one good culture guy in the receivers room that really knew the offense. I'd argue that on its own is worth the 6th round pick or whatever we might have got for him.

The problem with that is Zay, Foster, and McKenzie were the only NFL wrs on the roster in Feb. Imagine if we'd traded him (assuming Zay was even tradeable) and FA hadn't gone as planned? I still think Zay gets this season to sink or swim. Foster looks like the guy far more entrenched in the doghouse.

I started to come around to the idea we might cut Zay after that first play to start the game but there are too many iffy guys on the bubble. Foster has four total targets in three games (all came in the same game, one catch). Duke over Foster seems reasonable to me. Do we like him over someone like Wade? I also think we have to consider Dawson Knox when debating how many receivers we'll keep. Surely McD/Dabol has plans to eventually split that kid out wide.

The difference is we've seen it pop up and be problem in the real games more for Allen than those other guys so it's harder to ignore. There are reasons for optimism too (I still think he's got something cooking with Beasley) but so far he's very up and down.

Everyone seems overly focused on the INT which was brutal but it was his overall start to the game that makes me nervous. He wasn't great to start game one and even though his stats were solid in game two he was off target on some easy throws (Beasley/Shady) out of the gate. This is the same trend from last year. Lots of times Allen is able to overcome it and find his rhythm later in the game but the frequent shaky starts are worrisome and probably a bigger sign that something isn’t quite right than Josh making the occasional horrible throw across his body into triple coverage.

Shady is still the best player on the team and Gore is going to be really helpful when healthy.

That PI ruling might have been the final nail in Ray Ray's coffin. Mackenzie and Duke are both too far ahead now.

So you're pinning that first 3rd down to start the game on Allen? Perhaps he shouldn't have thrown it but it was on the money and Zay wasn't even paying attention despite the fact the play was designed to get him the ball. Yes, officials agreed to decline the interference penalty. Why are you being so confrontational? Let's enjoy the game.

Dropping passes and offensive PI penalties are usually a bad thing. Nice to see the catch held up though.

Zay is having one hell of a rough night.

Barkley inspires a lot of confidence for a back up QB.

Can't wait for someone to go back and add in the lost rushing yards from dumb/non-penalties. Hopefully this is a sign that our running game is going to be much better this year.

Oliver is so fast. He rushes like a DE.

Nice two min drill

Not as long as we keep taking penalties to start every series.