MasterStrategist

Basically a compression sleeve. Super common, helps with swelling/inflammation, circulation, a little extra stability. Encouraging he is full-go for 2 straight days.

I think we keep 6 WRs, especially if Claypool shows he's a capable S/T player. But agree on Hollins, he'll be a core S/T and likely used in the old Kumerow role.

Again, not fair to say he's "washed" yet. If it happens early this year, then bring on the comments. It takes 12-18 months for most NFL players to get over the mental hurdle, knee strength/surrounding muscles close to 100%, and start re gaining the agility. We saw Tre go from a superstar to dud (year after acl) to good player (2 years out). I think we will see Von get back to being good/very good, not great.

Exactly what I said at the start, you are now changing the discussion. I said people needed to let go of what he said. And also said his play was bad, as was Tres at the same point in his recovery. You continued on to say that you had a problem with what Von said to media/etc... so for you now to change the discussion to play on field is just showing you are grasping at straws now. We already agreed his play=Tres play=poor/very bad, but what could be reasonably expected. Just to be clear, you're only OK with the "Von hate", because he decided to speak with media LY and was overly optimistic about his return? Or is there some other underlying issue you have with how the situation was handled LY? I'm losing track of your train of thought, because youre jumping around/changing the focus of the discussion.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/38858807/buffalo-bills-von-miller-denver-broncos-future This is one example of an article/quotes in season. Dr Anderson also quoted here. I know he made a ton more media comments, but he's getting interviewed weekly and has to say something. Would you rather he just tell all the fans his knee still doesn't feel right? Again common sense is something that can be used, that's my point. Again, why do we hold it against Von for being optimistic LY? He also made plenty of comments that were "realistic" too, ie: see above link. Fans just couldn't get past the fact of his contract in combination with some other comments he made.

"The talkin" as you say, is just each players confidence/bravado...you have to be able to let that go. What matters is the output on the field. Both Von and Tre needed more time than 1 year to get back on track. Just because Von was confident, and Tre by all accounts didn't talk because he really took the injury hard mentally/almost depression at first, doesn't matter either way. Everyone handles adversity differently, from a mental and physical stand point. Von chose to be optimistic and his "talkin" is part of that inner drive/confidence. It's real, not fake attitude, and just his way of going about his business and what he believed he could do to help his team LY. Von is guilty of getting certain fans' hopes up for LY. You can choose to believe every word Von, Beane, Coach, Josh, anyone on this team says, but the reality is these guys have certain ways of dealing with media based on their personalities, and everyone should use some common sense as well. Josh saying he was fine after his elbow injury in 2022 was an example of his true 'tough' attitude/grit, he isn't going to admit he's severely injured. And that's just another thing that makes Josh a great teammate and player in my eyes...in this day and age where some would rather spew excuses. All that matters is what version of Von shows up this year. 2022/close to 2022 Von OR a washed up player who got their end of career derailed by a bad injury. My money is on the former, and we will get a solid preview in about a month.

In all fairness, all the "hate" he got for LY was unwarranted. I mean Tre didn't even get this heat 2 years ago, when he actually took much longer to return and also looked 'washed'. If anyone on this board has actually played high level football and dealt with an ACL, it takes most 1 year to feel even comfortable (mentally) to cut/etc off that leg with the same force as prior to injury. It takes another 3-6 months to get the muscle/twitch back to normal and work through residual scar tissue/mental aspects as well. That's why most say it takes almost 2 years to regain prior form. Except for rare occurrences/very young players to get back to form sooner. Von does talk alot, but it's not like we had a better replacement LY. Who Kingsley? Von might not be the same as 2022, but he'll be very close this year IMO. 8+ sacks minimum, I'd put him in the 10-12 range

Biggest ? has to be Joe Brady and how his offense scheme will look come September, use of our various weapons. Make no mistake, he inherited Dorseys scheme and you don't make any big changes in season. Those last 7+ games just showed us how well he plans, adjusts in-game, etc. But ultimately we still need to see. Player/position wise. It's LB to me. That's the most important group in a McD defense. Is Milano going to be his old self? Can Bernard take another step, or has he reached his ceiling? Our secondary, we need a 4th corner to step up OR wait on final cuts. Safety play went into full decline mode LY, I don't see us being much worse and could be better if Bishop contributes immediately.

This is our best collective/deep group at DT. That's going to make a big difference in not allowing QBs to step up in thr pocket. Groot: this is his year to really breakout. 10-12 sacks. Safe floor is 8 IMO. AJE: he'll get more pass rush opportunities, has been improving each year. He's safe for 6 sacks, but I'd say he could easily get 8 if healthy. 10 tops if he takes another decent leap Von: biggest wildcard of group. Said earlier this offseason, that IMO Von has 1-2 good years left. He came back way too soon LY, age/injury he won't be the same as 2022. But he is still an 8-10 sack guy. Safe floor is 6. They get to 20 easily IMO. I'd certainly hit the over. DT improvement, hopefully 2 healthy LBs, and what could likely be a more athletic secondary.

I saw Cook take a huge step forward in training camp LY, which anyone who watched Cook in college saw his natural skills. I think he's still got some room to reach his ceiling. By some accounts, he's looking like he put the work in this offseason to make another leap. His ceiling is much higher than Davis IMO. Davis is a good back as well, and adds a different skill set, also another good pass catcher. Cook has much more elusiveness/burst, and a better natural route runner. Davis caught a decent amount of screens, is at least on equal footing, if not better, than Cook at pass pro (from a physical stand point). I don't think Davis has the feet of Cook, or the ability to run outside as much in pros. We shall see, I'm rooting for them both and probably our best 1-2 in quite a while. Cooks problem has been confidence/over thinking. He's going into year 3, has gained the confidence and I'd be willing to predict he outperforms last years total yards from scrimmage (on fewer touches).

Some reasons to be optimistic, some to be concerned about. Many ?s at key positions and coaching, along with players returning/still recovering from major injuries. I'd put us as a Tier 1b/2 team entering the season, but this is likely the most volatile team we've had in a while...could see us finishing the year anywhere from 1-12 in rankings. I'd peg us in the 5-9 range then for now. I do like the offseason moves though, and think we have some young, ascending players on both sides of the ball that will take a big step. Plus Brady and Babich are very good coaches IMO.

Josh is obviously a MVP type QB, and he's single-handedly won us quite a few games. He's been nearly unstoppable in the playoffs (minus Bengals loss when everyone played horrible). But to brush aside his turnovers and focus on the "good stats", is also a bad stance. IMO, he had a very average season LY, at his standard. He has self admitted that he made too many turnovers, some of those cost us games (Jets and Broncos). He had a great stat game against Miami, but his turnovers took a lot of points off the board and needed a great punt return to win it, and defense stepping up. So yes, the offense was wildly inconsistent but a decent part of that was Josh LY. We were very fortunate to even make the playoffs LY. He needs to have a better regular season/more consistent and efficient, especially with a new/young group of playmakers.

We called on John Brown and Beas, they didn't eat up any significant snaps though. So that's mute in my eyes. Again, I think plain average. What is the 3rd straight year? 2021? Thought that was a strong group.

Clearly the league viewed Troy way different than a lot of pre-draft rankings. Maybe Troy pans out, but Beane clearly liked who we have (and adding MVS). Re: Rd 2, that's your take, but Cole Bishop is going to be a leader at S for us for a long time. Real good player, where we have stop gap options. S is clearly an important piece to McD defense, so the argument of spending a 4th+ and being fine is just not aligned with their philosophy. And backup 3tech, what happens on 35%+ of our snaps when Ed/Daquan are rotated out? On top of that, who gives you any confidence if either goes down? Not to mention, it's the 1 position where we don't have much young talent to build around. So it comes down to what Beane liked in our WR room + a need for a backup DT. As you've said before, Beane isn't wasting $$ on Jordan Phillips/Tim Settles of the world. That tradeoff makes us better as a team, compared to adding Troy Franklin who the team spent A LOT of pre draft time with, and didn't pick him when given the chance a couple times.

Cephus was already being worked out, basically before the draft concluded. Honestly, what you're saying is my point about anyone (making mistakes). Beane has made them, as has the poster you're alluding to, it doesn't mean you carry that over someone's head forever. So yeah, Beane made a mistake on LYs WR4/5, doesn't mean he made another error this season. In my book, Beane put together a very good group in 2020 and 2021, 2022 was so-so, and 2023 was the only "mistake" year at skill spots (although Cook took a big leap, Kincaid looks promising, and Shakir is still improving/played well down the stretch with more targets). All that to say, Beanes track record has been better than most give credit for at the overall skill position group. Proof will be in the pudding come Fall.