Buffalo Junction

I’ve had Sweat going to GB in my brain for a while. He seems like the perfect 3-4 OLB/4-3 DE tweener for Pettine’s defense. I honestly think he has more value for a 3-4 unless he can perform at the higher weight.

Not concerned about the heart. My concern would be that he packed on a substantial amount of weight between the season and the combine. He’s not a young player as he went to MSU, got booted, then did JUCO. As a result I’d be more concerned that his body doesn’t actually want to carry the extra muscle (like Maybin). I’d be a lot less concerned about that if he was a 19-20 year old sophomore. For reference he’ll be 23 in September.

In general I agree, although I don’t really recall any real injuries before the retirement other than the broken leg. I was surprised that they extended Wood, but I could understand the methodology behind the move. Hughes is interesting because his production over the past few years is a case of horseshoes and hand grenades. I honestly haven’t sat down and watched him individually, but it’s almost anomalous that he can repeatedly get that close without finishing the job. The strange part is that it’s not a single year, but every year since Mario left. How much of that is him vs the rest of the defense I can’t say. Perhaps we should have shipped him to GB when they hired Pettine and we were trading everyone on offense. ?‍♂️

I wasn't a big fan of the extra money, but I think extending Wood made sense within the structure of their plans. McBeane knew they were going to draft a QB, and having a veteran like Wood at center assisting with calls, protections, etc. is definitively beneficial. They scrambled last offseason and grabbed Bodine who had experience, but failed to perform at a needed level. Fortunately they rectified the problem with the Morse signing unless something unexpected occurs.

The question is, why did he struggle? Was he still recovering from his off-season knee surgery? Was it the injured finger? Failed communication between him and Darnold? Poor guard play next to him? Some combination of the issues listed? Long’s Performance standard is likely somewhere between his Jets and Redskins tape. However, I’m going to assume that Beane knows more about this than we do. Still... Long is not a guaranteed starter. He could be beat out by a draft pick or vet. At the moment he’s probably going to replace Groy as our interior swing guy. He’s going to have to win a starting spot. Keep in mind that he was let go by Gase, the opposing HC during his worst game... It’s also worth noting that PFF’s o-line ratings often deviate from reality by significant margins because their analysts don’t have intimate knowledge of schemes, assignments, and adjustments. I haven’t seen PFF say whether Long’s snapping woes factored into his rating. What we do know is that Long had a crap year with an underperforming team after playing significantly better on his first contract, he’s only played center for two years, and he was injured last year. How he does here is anyone’s guess, but he plugs a hole by being at least a depth guy that can fill in at three positions. I imagine that’s the plan. Full on competition at every spot except center. They’ll let Morse and J Allen get into a groove early, and fill all of the spots around that. We’ll likely add some rookies into the mix as well. This is going to be fun to watch.

Background... “Spencer Long At the midseason point, I was very impressed with Spencer Long. After all, he had just come into the starting lineup in Week 3 to strengthen the team’s weakness at center. In our midseason grades, I said the following of Long: All of that rings true to the end of the season. Long has continued to play well, though he was slowed down by a concussion at the close of the season. He has earned the right to be the team’s starting center moving forward, and definitely should be a solid player moving forward. Long’s Season Grade: B” https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/season-grades-for-the-washington-redskins-offensive-line-010817%3famp=true

Oliver is the John Randle/Charles Barkley gamble. I’m not sure that he has enough elite traits to dominate the competition at the NFL level. As a smaller guy he needs elite strength and quickness coupled with hand fighting technique. I really wanted to see him at the combine.

As much as I hated Brian Cox when I was younger, I have to admit that he really added some WWE style drama to the phins rivalry. I can’t recall if he was a “dick” elsewhere, but he was certainly the ultimate heel when he came to Rich Stadium.

You don't need a bonified #1 prototype WR. However, the alternate solution is to scheme around that.... This means having a set of players that creates a mismatch against every defense. The Rams do this by having three #2 WRs and a dominant RB. I'd be more than happy to follow the Rams' method where you overwhelm a defense with a multitude of #2 receiving options; particularly with a younger QB that is still growing into his leadership roll.

This^^^^^ Beane basically filled all the holes on the roster, so now he's free to pick whomever he feels is BPA in every round of the draft. It's going to come down to how he has guys graded when we pick. I doubt he's going to be gunning for a TE, but I'm sure he'll go with a TE if he feels it's the best prospect available.

I doubt they are thinking of replacing Mack. I think it’s more dependent upon whether they think Bell can play around 50% of his snaps in the slot. If so it provides a lot of scheme versatility.

Ballard is being judicious. They’re likely going for Bell. After that I expect them to shop vets who get cut... Bargin bin for 1 year deals they can use for depth and comp picks later.

Pretty much. I just think that the drought built up the idea in the media. When you couple that with the weather: moving a game to Detroit, etc. it get played up even more. No one likes losing, bad weather, and high taxes. This team needs to turn the corner in an obvious way to make this a prime destination.

Well, the first two went to the playoffs las year. Green Bay has been a dominant franchise since 1992.

The Packers are quietly filling holes. They stole Amos from Chicago as well. I'm interested to see the money involved.

Additionally, if you found the link on TBD, the link has already been posted on TBD.

That would actually be a pretty cool thing as a father.... Playing in the same city with your son, being able to attend each others games, etc. I can imagine that there's some appeal to that situation.

Joking about booty calls is a good way to end a mutually beneficial arrangement.

The problem is there’s only room for one of those contracts at each position. Definitely the ultimate ego stroke contract though.

IIRC, Sterling Sharpe was the last player to have a real escalator contract. However it wasn’t directly tied to the cap. It was a 5 or 6 year deal that guaranteed that he would be the highest paid WR (by $1) every season.

You just need the proper coach. “Right turn Clyde”

Irv Smith seems to fit the mold of H-back rather well. I don’t think he displayed enough speed & athleticism to be a smaller TE you can split out reliably in the NFL. What the value is on that... ?‍♂️

I’m not sure if they go after Barr. Barr would have been the logical FA replacement if Alexander had retired. I’m not sure if the money lines up with need now. That said, the combination of Barr and Edmunds could really change the timing and depth of routes while providing versatility with blitzes.

Makes sense. I’m assuming D Bush has issues with sifting through traffic and getting off blocks? Admittedly, I only watched one Michigan game this year, and wasn’t keying in on LBer play.

Day 2 if we’re picking him, or day 2 in general? 5’11” isn’t a huge deal in today’s nfl with all of these spread concepts and 11 personnel sets. I could see Bush going in the late 20’s.