NFL - Are You Ready For Some Football?! - Off Season

[-Jrabbit]

I always knew RBs and WRs were idiots.
But having no position on the defensive side average higher than 20 is bit of a surprise.

[Al B. Sure!]

So there are a few instances where players are doing double duty. That doesn't mean that all FBs are capable of that. When FBs block, they don't have anyone right on top of them like TEs do. And as far as carrying the ball, well, you can see where the low scores are.

Few instances? It is very common. Next season, take a look at how many guys with numbers in the 80's line up at fullback and how many guys with low numbers line up at the line. It happens far more often than you apparently think.

[Al B. Sure!]

The stats for that diagram by the way were taken from wikipedia which got it from New Thinking Man's Guide to Football by Paul Zimmerman (also known as Dr. Z).

The book was published in 1984 so it may or may not be outdated.

Still, those numbers are 30 years old so you know...

I think our argument, Lord Avalon, may have more to do with the changing role of the FB position away from a type of RB to a hybrid position more similar to a TE since that time.

Zimmerman was an offensive lineman in college, by the way

[Lord Avalon]

True, there don't seem to be too many "classic" FBs nowadays. HBs are what was once FB size, so either the FB has to be fast enough to be the back, or smart enough (and big enough?) to be like a TE.

[Al B. Sure!]

True, there don't seem to be too many "classic" FBs nowadays. HBs are what was once FB size, so either the FB has to be fast enough to be the back, or smart enough (and big enough?) to be like a TE.

And a lot of offenses do not even utilize a fullback in anything even remotely like the traditional sense. The Colts for example list Jacob Tamme as their FB on their depth chart and used to have Ben Utecht as a hybrid player, as well.

A lot of teams (like the Colts or Bears) don't bother having a specific FB on their rosters but instead expect one of their TE's to take up that role in a heavy or goal-line set.

And for teams that do have a FB, they usually only carry one so when the FB gets hurt, it's usually a TE that takes his spot. For example, the Bengals this year had Jermaine Gresham and Reggie Kelly back there a bit blocking for Cedric Benson.


That's what I'm saying. FB and TE have evolved to be very close positions. I think the relationship and overlap is even greater than between a CB and a safety.

[Al B. Sure!]

Looks like Carson Palmer is entrenched...

Carson Palmer is apparently determined to leave Cincinnati.

Palmer, who has demanded the Bengals trade him, told a confidant he "will never set foot in Paul Brown Stadium again," WCPO-TV in Cincinnati reported Tuesday.

Bengals owner Mike Brown said in January that he will not trade Palmer because the quarterback is crucial to the team's plans.

Several sources told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen in January that Palmer will contemplate retirement if the Bengals do not trade him.

According to Tuesday's report, Palmer said "I have $80 million in the bank. I don't have to play football for money. I'll play it for the love of the game but that would have to be elsewhere. I'm prepared to live my life."

Palmer hasn't talked to the media since making his trade request. A text message seeking comment wasn't returned. Agent David Dunn released a statement saying that "because of the lack of success that Carson and the Bengals have experienced together, Carson strongly feels that a separation between him and the Bengals would be in the best interest of both parties."

Palmer was the franchise's building block when it made him the first overall pick in 2003, Marvin Lewis' first season as coach. He led the Bengals to the playoffs in 2005 and 2009 -- their only winning records in the past 20 years -- and rebounded from severe knee and elbow injuries along the way.

Chad Johnson and Carson Palmer both want out. Marvin Lewis was giving an extension on his terms. I wonder why the cornerstones of the Bengals offense want out

[SlowwHand]

I don't blame Palmer one bit. He's correct on all counts.

[Jaguar]

Palmer put together a much better year than it looks like. His schedule has four games of Pittsburgh + Baltimore, and it's pretty brutal elsewhere too.

Football Outsiders rates his statistical performance as superior to those of Kyle Orton, Matt Cassel, and Joe Flacco.

Palmer could have the best year of his career if he wormed his way into, say, Arizona. He'd play with the best receiver he's ever had, and do so against a joke schedule. True fact: Arizona had a historically easy set of pass defenses to face. Anderson, Skelton, Hall, and Bartel actually, statistically speaking, were significantly *worse* than their numbers give them credit for. And that's just the pure numbers side. If you believe, as I do, that Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Breaston, and Early Doucet III are one of the league's best receiver trios, then their performance just becomes abominable.

The point is that I could imagine a great season for Carson Palmer outside of Cincinnati, and he has little reason to stay. No QB wants to deal with a terrible owner and lead a mediocre team against Hall-of-Fame safeties for four games a year.

[SlowwHand]

I don't think he should go to Arizona and their notoriously cheap-ass owner though.

[-Jrabbit]

He doesn't care about the money, Sloww. He just needs some love. And a decent supporting cast.

Both times I saw the Bengals in '10, Palmer looked notably Pennington-like. I won't say rag-armed, but his injuries have definitely taken the edge off that gun he was packing the first few years IMHO.

[SlowwHand]

With 80 million in the bank, I guess it's not for the money. Like I said, I agree with him on all points.
Going back to another discussion, I don't feel too badly for any athlete. They make their money. If they die broke, it's their fault.

[Al B. Sure!]

There's a lot of teams that are actually pretty good but just don't have a QB besides Arizona: Tennessee, San Fran, Miami, and Minnesota all fit that description and could use Palmer.

Just as Larry Fitz and Steve Breaston would look good to Palmer, so would Kenny Britt and Chris Johnson in the backfield, Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree, Brandon Marshall and Devone Bess, Sidney Rice, Shiancoe, and Harvin...

[SlowwHand]

http://www.nfl.com/draft/story/09000d5d81e918d4/article/mock-10-gabbert-newton-off-board-in-first-four-picks?module=HP_cp2

First mock draft at nfl.com

[Al B. Sure!]

http://www.nfl.com/draft/story/09000...?module=HP_cp2

First mock draft at nfl.com

Cam Newton to the Bengals


And I can't believe Muhammad Wilkerson is actually expected to go in the first round! Wow. I know the guy. Not well or anything but he's an acquaintance of mine from Temple.

He'll be the first Temple product to go in the first round in decades!



Congratulations to Muhammad and wishes that he does well in the NFL.

[SlowwHand]

I find this surprising.

The Green Bay Packers have released linebacker A.J. Hawk after the former first-round pick was scheduled to earn $10 million in 2011. Hawk was one of three players the Super Bowl champions let go along with tight end Donald Lee and safety Derrick Martin. Hawk was the fifth overall pick of the 2006 draft, playing in all 80 regular-season games since then with 77 starts.