NFL Preseason Thread

[-Jrabbit]

Not a Google member, and not gonna become one just to see your draft. What were your options for RB2?

[SlowwHand]

Google's ok. I have email I never use.
Google Earth is supposed to be good, but I have oxen running this thing.

[-Jrabbit]

Google = Big Brother

It's in your ceiling, watching you masturbate.

[SlowwHand]

He's bored then. I'm like watching grass grow.
Hey, I'm old! They need to give be a break. Been stalking me for 35 years, and if they think I'm forgetting it, they're crazy.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by reismark
At least one of you remembered.

HEY! You best be checking your facebook wall before you say stuff like that .

Brown's got a big injury history, though. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets hurt the first month, which would leave Henry as the man by default.

Not as if Chris Henry has been Mr. Ironman either.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Oh, and the thing about Chris Henry is that he really didn't run that much at Arizona. He'll easily get by LenDale, but I wonder if he won't be sharing carries with Chris Brown for most of the season.

With Taylor, I agree, I think AP is going to supplant him. So it's an ok pick, but not that great, IMO. As for WR, I think the depth is good (Edwards, Bruce and Jones are good backups), but the starters of Colston and Johnson are merely average.

According to most of the camp news i've heard, lendale is beating him out right now...

[snoopy369]

Shaking my head indeed...

The problem with LJ Smith at 6.whatever is that the value from (LJ Smith - Heath Miller 13th) or (LJ Smith - Dallas Clark 13th) is far less than the value you're losing by not taking another WR or RB there. I realize they might not start, but between bye weeks (a WR there will play five weeks guaranteed if your bye weeks are staggered properly, plus chances in case of injury) and injury/suckiness, it's more valuable than the 20 or 30 points all season (we're talking 2 points per game max) you'll get from LJ versus one of those. TE really has only one player truly worth picking - Gates - and beyond that there are a bunch of equals basically stopping right before LJ Smith (Crumpler, Heap, Winslow, Cooley, Gonzo, in no particular order), and then another bunch of equals (Smith, Davis, Witten, etc.) that you might as well wait on.

Basically the rule in FFL is when there's an unreasonable run on a position before you, unless there is someone who is substantially better than the rest of the available players, DON'T TAKE ONE until later, even if you end up with out a player you prefer to start. No team will be destroyed by one poor starter, when instead they'll have several quality players.

[Jaguar]

Steeltown Ironmen in reis's league is the worst fantasy team I've ever seen.


x 20 at picking Marcus Pollard.

[reismark]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
Not a Google member, and not gonna become one just to see your draft. What were your options for RB2?

Let's see...

Maurice Jones-Drew (splitting with Fred Taylor), Laurence Maroney (injury risk, unproven as a solo back, plays in a pass-heavy offense), Clinton Portis (injury risk - got burned once, won't get burned again), Edgerrin James (shares bye week with Alexander), Ronnie Brown (not a fan of his offensive situation, tough fantasy playoff schedule), Willis McGahee (shares bye week with Alexander), Cedric Benson (injury risk, unproven as a solo back), Thomas Jones (clearly a 2nd round reach now), etc.

I think I've made my point... Travis Henry was the best guy for me given my situation and he would not have been available in the third round.

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
HEY! You best be checking your facebook wall before you say stuff like that .

I don't see anything from you on my wall.

Originally posted by Jaguar
Steeltown Ironmen in reis's league is the worst fantasy team I've ever seen.

Not too surprising at all when at least a third of his team was BAPed due to him failing to pick in the time windows we used (18 hours for the first 6 rounds, 12 hours thereafter).

Though, scarily enough, Pollard wasn't one of those BAPs.

(For those of you wondering why I'm saying BAP as opposed to BAPAY, we're using FOX Sports instead of Yahoo, which I love since FOX gives you divisions for free, while Yahoo makes you pay for 'em.)

[snoopy369]

Travis Henry is also likely to be splitting time, and the Denver RB situation is rapidly changing... of that crew either MJD or Cedric Benson i'd pick ahead of him, and ronnie brown as well regardless of that playoff schedule. But Travis wouldn't be that far behind those guys, so as long as you're willing to take the risk, if it pays off he'll probably outscore them. Just pick up Mike Bell if you can

Pollard had better not be a BAP on any list... he's got to be one of the three worst TE picks available that will see any meaningful time. Several #2 TEs should go before him (including Gregg Olsen, though even he shouldn't go in a normal 15-16 round draft ... ahem ...)

[Imran Siddiqui]

Henry is probably a bit behind Jones-Drew and Maroney. Jones-Drew may be splitting carries a bit (but is getting a bigger piece of the pie), but catches balls well out of the backfield.

[Lord Avalon]

from Peter King's MMQB

Quote of the Week I

"I want teams to know how much I love this game. I want to play football 'til they drag me out of the game. I want to be like Flutie, or Favre."

-- Brady Quinn, to me, last February at the NFL Scouting Combine, talking about his intense love of football.

That love does not spread to training camp, evidently. By missing practices 14 and 15 today, he's blown the very good chance he had to start the season as Cleveland's quarterback.

This holdout continues to blow me away. Quinn told the Columbus Dispatch the other day, "I don't know,'' when asked how far apart he was in talks with the Browns. I've said this from the start with these negotiations: Quinn's nuts for holding out this long. Nuts. The Browns were dying to hand this kid the starting job on a silver platter, and now he's got no chance to earn it until Halloween, at the earliest. I guarantee you that by the time he signs this contract, the difference in the dollars he'll eventually earn between the offer on the table right now will be 2 or 3 percent of the total value of the contract ... at most. And Quinn will think to himself: What an idiot I was for holding out this long.

Quote of the Week IV

"If we don't do something about rookie salaries pretty soon, the salary cap will be meaningless. [Indianapolis defensive end] Dwight Freeney got $30 million in guarantees after leading in sacks over the past five years. [Cleveland rookie tackle] Joe Thomas got $23 million in guarantees for breathing.''

-- Anonymous, but wise, NFL general manager.

Quote of the Week V

"That's a good one. I know I'm fortunate.''

--Thomas, reacting to Quote of the Week IV

Stat of the Week
First, words of praise for Pro Football Prospectus 2007, the terrific, insightful 515-page tome I've been spending far too much time with over the past six days since one of the men who wrote it, good buddy Will Carroll, handed me a copy at Colts camp last Tuesday. The research, done by Aaron Schatz and his crew at footballoutsiders.com, is exhaustive, enlightening, surprising in many cases and an absolute must-read if you like the NFL.

Second: Dwight Freeney is getting worked up over the fact that so many people question how good a year he actually had in '06, when he had an unusually low 5.5 sacks. The Colts agree, and say his pressures were a big part of any success they had on defense. (Which, until late in the season, was pretty limited.) The Prospectus charted pressures at all NFL games last year, and from this research, it appears Freeney might have a point. How they rank the top 10 players in the league in quarterback pressures in 2006:

1. Dwight Freeney, Ind., 33
2. Julius Peppers, Car., 32
3. Kyle Vanden Bosch, Tenn., 29
4. Leonard Little, St. Louis, 26
4. Aaron Schobel, Buffalo, 26
6. DeMarcus Ware, Dallas, 25
7. Aaron Kampman, GB, 24
8. Charles Grant, NO, 21
8. Jason Taylor, Miami, 21
10. Rosevelt Colvin, NE, 20

Interestingly, Prospectus also charted the league leaders in QB knockdowns (Kampman, 35) and the top quarterbacks in being knocked down (Jon Kitna, 94). Insightful stuff.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/peter_king/08/05/camp.impressions/3.html

I wonder if Kitna will lead the league again this year....

[Jaguar]

I suspect he won't, because all those hits are going to put him out of business in the first eight weeks.

[SlowwHand]

I absolutely agree with making players earn it.

Also, let us harken back to the days of Chief Wahoo McDaniel.

Pacman Jones to debut on wrestling show
NFL.com wire reports




NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Aug. 6, 2007) -- Adam "Pacman" Jones is stepping into the ring and giving pro wrestling a whirl.

His latest career move was announced at a news conference. The suspended Tennessee Titans cornerback, who has rarely talked to the media recently, didn't attend as promised but released a statement.

"I am a big fan of wrestling, so I wanted to give it a try," he said. "I respect wrestling and I'm not coming in like it's just a show. I want to prove that I am the greatest team-sport athlete."

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling co-founder Jeff Jarrett said Jones' daughter had arrived from Atlanta on Aug. 5 and the player was with her.

NFL contracts prohibit non-football activities that could cause injury. Jones' agent, Michael Huyghue, said last week he had talked with the Titans about Jones' plans with TNA. The agent said Jones would not be wrestling. A response from the Titans management was not immediately available.

Jones was suspended in April for the 2007 season by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for repeated conduct violations. He dropped his appeal of that punishment in June.

TNA announced Jones had signed his contract and was promoting Jones' appearance on its Web site. His first television appearance will be Aug. 9 during TNA's iMPACT! show, but the show already has been taped, including Jones' appearance.

"He's looking forward to coming in and wrestling," Jarrett said. "He wants to concentrate on the tag-team aspect of wrestling."

Jarrett said TNA has featured appearances from Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, 2005 World Series MVP David Eckstein, Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski and New York Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon.

But none of those athletes appeared while suspended from their day jobs.

Asked how Jones will be portrayed, Jarrett said to tune in and the audience will dictate whether the cornerback becomes a good guy or "heel."

"I'm a third generation in this business. The wrestling business is built literally on conflict and controversy and larger-than-life personalities. I know that the media certainly knows Pacman from one side of his personality," Jarrett said.

"I really think he's a very charismatic guy. When you get to know him from our approach -- very marketable -- and you'll see when you tune into the pay-per-view on Sunday the response he will get. He's a star. He's a star."

Goodell was asked about Jones' wrestling activities when he visited the Titans' camp Aug. 4. Goodell said it was up to Jones to decide what's in his best interest as he tries to earn his way back onto the field.

"I've often said that it's not about what you say, it's about what you do," Goodell said. "It's your actions. And I think the actions will have to determine that."

Jones has been arrested six times since being drafted by the Titans in April 2005, including June 22 when he turned himself in on two felony counts of coercion in a Las Vegas strip club fight earlier this year that left a man paralyzed.

His bid to join the Titans in training camp was denied by the NFL on July 26. Jones' case will be reviewed after the Titans' 10th game, which is Nov. 19.

Jarrett said he and other TNA wrestlers have been working with Jones, and he was impressed with the athletic ability of the first defensive player taken in the 2005 draft.

"I've never been in the ring with someone with more natural athletic ability," Jarrett said.

He wouldn't be the first Titans player to make a TNA appearance. Titans defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch worked the corner for retired tight end Frank Wycheck at a TNA tag team match in June in Nashville.

Vanden Bosch said after today's morning practice that he consulted with Titans officials about what he could and could not do in that appearance. He called wrestling a "soap opera" for grown men and said Jones must weigh whether it's worth doing if team officials don't want him taking part.

"He has to keep continuing to take the little steps to get in good favor with his teammates and this organization," Vanden Bosch said. "I don't know what kind of step this is. It can be a good step. He also has to take steps to rehabilitate his image with the public."

Several Titans declined to talk about Jones. Tight end Ben Troupe said he would record the show if the training-camp schedule keeps him busy with meetings. He hopes Jones will be careful.

"I hope it's worth it, and I hope it don't violate his contract either," Troupe said.

AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

[-Jrabbit]

This says all you need to know about Pacman.
What a stupid pud.