American Football

[RavenBish]

I could've taken Fisher in the 2nd if we hadn't taken Ogbuehi in the first. As it stands though, the first 3 picks are horrible.

 

[Anon]

On paper, liked our first and 2nd round selections, the secondary should now be very good and deep even when teams play 4 WR sets. A WR in the 3rd suggests either the team isn't high on Janis/Abbrederris as WR4, or as it seems to be, this Montgomery guy is almost certainly our kick returner to take the duties from Harris (now gone) or Cobb (too valuable to do returns).

But still... glaring hole(s) at ILB and I really, really don't want Matthews to have to play there long term.

 

[Kim Mitten]

2nd round pick of the Lions I do not like at all. RB Abdullah - waste of a pick, with all the need on D-Line, which is so thin literally anyone will do now, and they basically pick Riddick but with loads of fumbling issues. Got to just hope he turns out to be solid in the pros.
3rd round was Alex Carter, CB from Stanford, thats a better pick, adds more depth at corner which was a need.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Lance Zierlein doing the NFL.com stream today. Hoping he'll do round 7 as SEC Guy.

 

[RavenBish]

Lance Zierlein wrote every NFL.com write-up which makes me think that he probably spread himself very thin and can't have really watch many players extensively which seems weird to me.

Some better picks from us lately. Not sure at all about the Kroft fella but Dawson and Shaw seems very good value picks for where they were taken. Let's just make sure Shaw's apartment is on the ground floor lolololol

 

[Craig]

Decent second and third round last night for us.

Mitch Morse in to push Kush for the center spot possibly, but has played effectively at RT and LT too so great to have some versatility there. Chris Conley in at wide receiver, coming from a Georgia team that plays similar run offense to the Chiefs so should have no trouble settling in if called upon. Steven Nelson another good defensive back too.

 

[RavenBish]

Falcons have nailed the draft completely. Beasley was the best player in the entire class, Hardy is fantastic and Jarrett is an unbelievable get at that position. I like Jalen Collins too.

We've basically drafted physicality which I'm ok with I guess. The o-line should now be sorted for the next few years. 2 TEs to cover Gresham going (yaayyyyy bye Gresh you shithouse ))) and Eifert's, as good as he is, concerns about staying healthy. I liked the Hardison and Dawson picks the most I think and I reckon they're likely to contribute this year straight away and Josh Shaw was someone I watched a bit and liked in 2013 but no idea what happened after his balcony snafu - we don't usually have big physical press-corners though so that's a nice change of pace from the usual smart 5'10 zone types...and i kinda hope they at least consider moving him to safety long-term.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Very much enjoyed Swaim's efforts in burnt orange, so happy for him in that regard, but I would not have been trading back up for a pure blocking TE who would surely have been available as a priority UDFA.

Overall:: No running back, no receiver. Surprising. Pretty pronounced lean towards measurables types overall. 1st and 2nd rounders both have question marks attached, but very good value at the positions, and both can make the defense better from day 1. Wish they could have found a clipboard holder QB project, for the millionth year in the row, but still, Superbowl rings pretty much in the bag.

 

[Kim Mitten]

Overall: A real 'we'll have to wait and see in a couple years time' draft for the Lions. There is the possibility of 4 starters from this group, which if they start and are NFL worthy would make the draft an immediate success. Tomlinson, I think, is a fantastic add with the trade involved the O-Line looks massively better. Abdullah is likely to see a lot of snaps, returner and in the run game. If he sorts out the fumbles he is a steal, if he doesn't he won't last long.
Gabe Wright the DT is likely to start just because of how thin DT is currently, much depends on the likes of CJ Mosley who haven't had an offer anywhere, still think the Lions should bring him back and probably will, a couple of injuries on the D-Line pre-season and this team may as well right off 2015.

Still from this draft should see a massive improvement from the O, don't expect the D to be at the level of last season, but if it can be even half as good the coming season promises much, even with the tough schedule.

 

[Anon]

Apparently have an every-down ILB from the 4th, Jake Ryan, in our attempt to replace Hawk and his flowing blonde locks of the past. So it's him and Barrington in the middle for 2015, plus there's talk of Nick Perry moving inside on a contract year, no 5th-year pickup for him which was understandable.

Needs addressed in general though, and at least 3 new players on ST with one of them surely hoped to be a returner.

And this Hundley kid to sit behind Rodgers and possibly Tolzien too. Had read his physical measurables were great, but had a poor o-line in college and play suffered as a result. Nevertheless, with him drafted that definitely means the end of Flynn; all the best to the guy who got us out of some tight spots and helped rescue that 2013 playoff push.

 

[RavenBish]

Christ, the Seahawks are scumbags. I'm just going to be reduced to praying the Packers beat them for the next few years.

http://deadspin.com/the-seahawks-didnt-care-whether-frank-clark-punched-a-w-1702249803

 

[RavenBish]

Jesus, that Cowboys O-line now. Good lord. They might seriously get 2,000 yards out of Darren McFadden.

 

[Aberstone]

Tom Brady "was probably aware" about Deflate-gate, suspend him for the opening game!

 

[Renegade]

I didn't think deflate-gate could get more tedious than the two weeks leading up to the Superbowl.

It is "more probable than not" that I was very, very wrong.

And yeah, Dallas getting a first round offensive lineman for undrafted value is just ridiculous. I was hoping he'd join someone like the Bills, but this was probably a wise move for his financial future. If he gets two or three good years playing alongside Smith, Martin and Frederick, his market value will be high and he'll get paid the sort of money he deserves.

 

[Renegade]

Dante Fowler...jeeeeeezus.

 

[RavenBish]

Brady could get suspended for 10 games and it won't matter. Pats will do fine with Garoppolo and Brady will be fresh for the play-offs, that's how it works.

 

[Anon]

Re: Fowler, that's bloody awful...

Brady has to get a significant suspension. I care more about suspending players who attempt to cheat via ball tampering or adderrall etc, than I do those those caught with a bit of weed in their system.

 

[Renegade]

It know it's all just wild conjecture, but how fake does Tom Brady look in that interview? He looks and sounds like a politician lying through his teeth in it. Of course, this could just be due to him feeling awkward and the Patriots telling him not to say anything. I think he would have been more forthright in defending his innocence (and better off for it) if he were 100% innocent though.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-netwo...750/Brady-avoids-questions-about-Wells-Report

I don't think he'll even get a game tbh, especially if it means it's the season opener.

 

[Anon]

Terrelle Pryor signs with the Bengals...

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

I wonder at what point (if ever) incoming recruits will look at people like Terrelle Pryor, Nick Marshall etc... big impressive afoletes and collegiate superstars, but now scrabbling to catch on to an NFL roster via position change or a likely vain attempt to acquire the skills asked of an pro QB. Meanwhile a comparable peer who played QB in high school but was recruited as a DB or WR or whatever just got drafted in the 3rd round, signed for $3 milly and has a chance to have a decent wee career. But most of em still want to be QBs, even the ones who don't project to the NFL at all, and don't want to hear it.

Mack Brown was right with the whole "recruited him as a safety" thing IMO.

 

[RavenBish]

Oh.

Filed to ESPN: Tom Brady suspended four games, Pats lose 1st round pick in 2016 and a 4th in 2017, and team fined $1 million, per source:

Which means Brady's first game back is against *sigh*...the Colts.

 

[RavenBish]

Terrelle Pryor signs with the Bengals...

Cut Dalton. Start Pryor. *closes eyes and dreams of the Lombardi*

 

[Stagat]

Pats protesters handcuffed themselves in lobby of NFL office. Expecting police.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

And a GoFundMe page to help poor old Mr Kraft™ pay the fine. I would make a QUIP about changing it from Stockholm Syndrome to Foxborough Syndrome, but after last Thursday...

 

[Gator]

Every season the offseason seems to get longer and longer. As a Colts fan our offensive line STILL has too many question marks over it, especially at RT an RG and has done for years, and I would loved a D-lineman or some ILB help in the 1st round of the draft to help stop us get pancaked everytime we have to go up against Jonas Gray, Lagarette Blount or whoever the Patriots decide to have run over us that week. At least Mathis is back to help an anaemic pass rush.

Our offense though with Luck, Andre, Hilton, Moncrief, Dorsett, Allen, Fleener and Gore has potential to do some serious damage.

 

[kieran_vale]

So then Greg Hardy has his ban reduced from 10 to 4 games which of course means he is back in time to face the Pats. Of course the thing that I find interesting here is in Goodell's NFL domestic abuse is worthy of the same punishment of being "more probable than not" being "generally aware" that some of the equipment guys may try to keep the air pressure lower in the balls (and that depends on what gauge you believe). Whilst I fully expect Brady will have his ban reduced it doesn't exactly send out a good message at the moment.

One thing I will say with Hardy it's noticeable that once again it seems once it goes to an independent arbitrator the original punishment is almost always overturned.

 

[Renegade]

Maybe they are taking into account that he missed all of last season too. I know it was the Panthers who chose not to play Hardy, but he's still spent a year away from the game. Brady should get two max.

 

[Anon]

I find the direct comparisons between Hardy's and Brady's suspensions lengths to be more than a little ridiculous. They should be on completely separate streams and it baffles me why they aren't analysed as such.

Brady obstructed a league investigation into him having knowledge of cheating - I care much, much more for NFL game suspensions because of that sort of activity - and PEDs fwiw - where there's an attempt to cheat the rules (or stall investigations) and directly skew the game we watch. But as the league has decided to tackle personal conduct outside of the game, which I'm not against, there's no need to compare the two types of offence on the same scale, otherwise in terms of harm to human beings if Hardy gets 4 games then any type of ball tampering/cheating should get a $50 fine on the scale of comparative severity.

 

[Anon]

Anyhow, hard to believe it's been 5 months since the season imploded in Seattle, the season is starting to gather pace now.

Still feels like it was a Super Bowl we should have won - everything was aligning, the team was getting better in all areas, and we'd beaten the Pats during the season as well. Those multiple implosions of our own making won't be forgotten, however much Wilson puts it down to God speaking to him.

 

[chairboyexile]

Arizona sighn first ever female coach in the NFL