Buffalo Junction

Collins torn his ACL and MCL late in the season. It’s entirely possible he’s not ready by training camp.

IIRC, Collins can also bump inside to guard if Brown beats him out at RT or if Morse gets injured and Bates needs to move to center.

Hopefully Kyle Allen can go et in JA17’s ear immediately when he drifts away from the mechanics he works on with Palmer. That might be worth his salary without a snap.

Rodgers sat for three years (05’-07’) like Jordan Love, not five. As for HOF QBs, there were several others competing against Favre and Rodgers in the NFC during that timeframe. Favre lost to Aikman’s Cowboys three times before getting to a SB. Lost to Elway in his second SB. He then lost to Steve Young, Kurt Warner, Vick, McNabb, Eli Manning, etc. Rodgers is a bit more interesting as he didn’t face the same number of HOF QBs. Still lost to Warner and Brady. Lost to the 49ers an inordinate amount of times to sandwich his career. He’s had plenty of talent around him though. Even the past few years he’s been playing with multiple probowlers and all-pros on both sides of the ball. Heck Micah Hyde was stuck behind multiple pro bowlers for the start of his career. There have been some freakish plays mixed in that rival our own “13 seconds”. Most notably the onside kick against Wilson’s Seahawks and the “Fail Mary” with replacement refs that robbed GB of home field advantage. Having a pro bowl DT retire mid career, pro bowl CB and all pro safety retire from injuries mid Super Bowl window also screwed that team. Most folks don’t remember how good some of those Packers teams were. For example, that Super Bowl team had a HOF safety, 3x all pro safety, and two pro bowl corners one of which was rounding into a top 5 CB in Sam Shields. Winning Super Bowls is difficult. We’ve all had our expectations slanted by the Patriots success and most recently Mahomes/Reid and the Chiefs. McCarthy certainly screwed the pooch with game management several years against other playoff coaches, but he was/is no Dick Jauron.

They are. Once again…. If you have a link to any clinical research performed In the USA between the Nixon and Bush II presidencies feel free to post it.

If you have more information than me feel free to share with the group. Lord knows I’m not an expert on testing drugs. “Starting in 1966, several states banned their use. In 1968 LSD was outlawed nationwide, and in 1970 Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act, classifying that drug and psilocybin, along with several others, as having a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use.” https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/johns-hopkins-scientists-give-psychedelics-the-serious-treatment/

Probably didn’t help that no one was allowed to research any of this for decades lest their patients brains get cracked into a hot skillet like and egg. 🤪

There are some studies that show increases in neuroplasticity with treatments of psychedelics. It’s very early in the research stage thanks to the schedule 1 legality issues. There are some notable examples of former fighters, solders, etc using psychedelics to help cure depression, ptsd, and other problems which are often symptoms of CTE. I’d have to look for more information, but there’s a bunch of literature one can dig through.

In related news…. New Balance is exited to be extending their sponsorship of Toma, and will be celebrating the extension with a hybrid lawn mowing and golfing training shoe to be released on Fathers Day 2024.

Yup. Holcomb called plays last year as interim DC in Carolina, and before that as DC in Arizona

I hope he’s not sick or dealing with a tragedy.

If Benford is transitioning to safety then getting a FA to start for at least the beginning of the year is a good idea. It’s a position in flux due to Poyer (FA), along with Hyde and Hamlin’s injuries. I’d almost want to see a vet like Adrian Amos brought in on a 2-3 year deal to cover a Benford transition and possible injury to Hyde who may be gone after this upcoming season.

Excellent opportunity for Webb. He’s certainly put in enough work to earn a reputation around the league to get this job. Perhaps he’ll be ready for an OC promotion when Dorsey/Brady move on.

Richard Sherman and Roquan Smith did it, but there are a couple notable differences. Neither are QBs, and they both scored much higher on the wonderlic. Sherman graduated from Stanford. Roquan Smith majored in economics and has a track record of shrewd contract manipulation going back to national signing day.

I hope Lamar gets paid and resets the market. Allen is already signed long term to relatively team friendly deal. A monster deal to Lamar early in the off-season would put a ton of pressure on the Bengals, Chargers, and possibly Jaguars later to tie up their cap with exorbitant QB contracts and guarantees moving forward.

The bigger difference is that KC shored up its Oline, and turned it into a strength. That improved the running game and allowed Mahomes extra time to find the 3rd and 4th option. Couple that with the best offensive coach in the game and Kelce and you have a formula that works. Their WR corps doesn’t suck, but it’s a lot of guys who fill specific roles and need some additional scheming (Reid’s strength). By contrast, we had a first year OC trying to scheme around an Oline that too often had Knox’s routes delayed while chipping, and Allen playing off script after his first or second read. This Bills team certainly needs more talent at WR, but without fixing the Oline they won’t be able to use upgraded talent consistently. They absolutely need to find some improved physical talent though. Maybe shore up guard, see if they can nab a Paris Campbell on a prove it deal, and find a reliable slot. No clue how they do it with the current cap, but 🤷‍♂️ it’s gotta happen.

Nah. He’s chasing Tina Turner now instead of Jesus.

Touching the ball on that punt which ended up as a turnover. Doesn’t devalue having core teamers, but it does accentuate the need to pay the correct guys if you’re paying for specialists; same as every other position. I’d like to see better roster management on teams, as well as Oline, Dline, WR. Kumerow should have been put on IR.

Ted Thompson was certainly a moneyball guy. I can’t recall him signing a single big ticket free agent during his whole term as GM. The biggest was probably Julius Peppers who they got at a considerable discount because he wanted to play as a 3-4 rush backer to wind down his career.

Why not. It worked against New England the other year.

As good as Oliver can be at times, he tends to not be a primary difference maker. He will beat 1 v 1 matchups and often not they washed by double teams, but if you take out Von and/ Jones he tends to perform in the average range. By that I mean he doesn’t make splash plays often or usually keep the second blocker in a combo from climbing to the second level. That said, him not developing further could be due to injuries, or it might be on coaching. I don’t have an answer there, but I do think he has the potential to improve.

I’m not worried about kickoffs. The issue is that many of the best special teamers (guys who stay in the league and get paid) excel in multiple roles on teams. Experienced upbacks usually call and change protections on punts and are also some of the best tacklers in kick coverage. While going for touchbacks will eliminate KO coverage it still leaves blocking and covering punts which are frequent spots for turnovers or flipped field position.

Playing to Beane’s strengths would be trading 2nd and 3rd round picks for starters and drafting rounds 1, 4, 5, 6 & 7. His first round record isn’t bad; Allen (top 3 QB), Edmunds (gonna get $18+MM), trade for Diggs (all pro), Oliver (average starter), Rousseau (stout starting DE that’s improving), Elam (showed flashes). Oliver has been disappointing, but he was a consensus top 10 talent.

Because having good special teams usually won’t win you a game, but bad special teams play can often lose you a game. The tighter the game is the more influence special teams has with turnovers, field position, and momentum. Poor jammers or up backs can lead to turnovers, bad gunners can lead to big returns, bad holders lead to missed field goals, etc. There’s a reason why guys like Taiwan Jones and Kumerow make rosters every year.