Official 2018 Other NFL News

[Anti-Polar Bear]

SportsCenter @SportsCenter
Alex Smith has agreed in principle to a 4-year, $94 million extension, $71 million guaranteed with the Redskins. (via @mortreport and @AdamSchefter)

All that frogskins for a game manager?

Smith and Bradford have received awholelotta money for doing nothing extraordinary. But more power to them for exploiting the pig owners.

[George Cumby]

Imagine the fallout if he acquired the Marshall Islands!

Lol

There will be nothing atoll left under the salary cap.

[mraynrand]

Lol

There will be nothing atoll left under the salary cap.

that's what Marsahall's girlfriend said.

[pbmax]

Next stop, no punting at all. Analytics firm in the NFL business.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/02/sports/football/eagles-analytics-super-bowl-lii.html

Edj’s data indicates that the rest of the league treats fourth-down calls as a novelty, going for it mainly toward the latter stages of a game out of desperation, but the Eagles have shown unrivaled aggressiveness. Not so much in their frequency of attempts (26, second in the league to Green Bay’s 28) or their success (65.4 percent conversion rate, third behind New Orleans and Jacksonville), but in their timing. Of their 26 attempts, 11 came before halftime.

[mraynrand]

^^^

"When you have a lockdown defense like the Packers, that leads the league in 3-and-outs, there's no reason not to increase the 4th down attempts!"

"When you have a terrible defense like the Packers, who never stops anyone, and a QB who is in total command of your offense, you'd be crazy not to go for it on more fourth and shorts"

[texaspackerbacker]

Chiefs trading Alex Smith to Redskins. Where does Kirk Cousins end up?

The question is, is Alex Smith a better QB than Cousins? I'd say yes. They probably would have had to pay Cousins about the same money.

I'd guess the most likely spot for Cousins to end up is Kansas City. I doubt they want to play with Mahomes and/or a first round draft pick starting.

[mraynrand]

I'd guess the most likely spot for Cousins to end up is Kansas City. I doubt they want to play with Mahomes and/or a first round draft pick starting.

wtf?

[pbmax]

tex, have someone bump into you. Your brain's needle is stuck in a groove.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

The question is, is Alex Smith a better QB than Cousins? I'd say yes. They probably would have had to pay Cousins about the same money.

I'd guess the most likely spot for Cousins to end up is Kansas City. I doubt they want to play with Mahomes and/or a first round draft pick starting.

The cap can always be cooked, but the Chiefs are gonna have to do alotta cooking to fit Captain Kirk and his titanic contract under their cap. Thanks to Dorsey, KC is in the dreaded cap hell. That's why they're getting rid of A-Smith, the epitome of game manager.

Don't be surprised to see Dorsey overpay Captain Kirk. Rand's a Star Trek fan, as well as a closeted Browns fan, so he'd be jolly.

[Cheesehead Craig]

I'm going with Denver. They are an absolute mess at QB. I don't think he'd want to go to the Jets or Cleveland, because why bother? MN I think is going to go with Keenum or Bridgewater. So that leaves Denver as the team with the biggest QB team where it can be turned around in a hurry. They don't have the cap space that the others do, but I think they would make the contract work.

[pbmax]

Jerry Coleman reports that Ozzie Newsome may be stepping aside as GM and making way for Eric DeCosta.

[pbmax]

I am rooting for no one ahead of the Packers in the draft order to get Cousins, so QBs keep getting drafted. None of these teams should be allowed to sign him:

1 Cleveland
2 NY Giants
3 Indianapolis
4 Houston
5 Denver
6 NY Jets
7 Tampa Bay
8 Chicago
9 San Francisco
10 Oakland
11 Miami
12 Cincinnati
13 Washington

He should go to Minnesota, they need more contenders to the throne.

[mraynrand]

^ you have someone specific in mind you want to drop? Didn't see it or forgot...

[gbgary]

I am rooting for no one ahead of the Packers in the draft order to get Cousins, so QBs keep getting drafted. None of these teams should be allowed to sign him:

1 Cleveland
2 NY Giants
3 Indianapolis
4 Houston
5 Denver
6 NY Jets
7 Tampa Bay
8 Chicago
9 San Francisco
10 Oakland
11 Miami
12 Cincinnati
13 Washington

He should go to Minnesota, they need more contenders to the throne.

yup. i want the no-brainers to be pushed back to us.

[pbmax]

^ you have someone specific in mind you want to drop? Didn't see it or forgot...

No idea. My prognostication skills are normally bad. My draft prognostication skills have proven over time to be unfathomably terrible.

I do not understand what translates from college to the pros at all. All height/weight/speed prospects seem like crapshoots. I make fun of Madison beat writers who still believe Kevin Stemke was wronged by Packer and NFL coaches who couldn't make him a pro punter, but I am at a loss to explain why this happened.

My suspicion is that part of the problem is coaching and then salary. NFL coaches refuse to adjust except in small increments, so college coaches lap them repeatedly with less practice time and that messes up the evaluation process. Like predicting which 23 year old computer engineer will build you a good six cylinder diesel.

QB salaries make a hash out of running your QB, though that has changed very slowly. Rather than build offenses for the QBs available, the NFL prefers to change its rules to make it possible to survive 16 games as a pocket passer. Part of this is TV money and production ruining everyone's brain.

I posted two articles yesterday somewhere that I said failed to actually grasp ANY of Belichick's advantages. Did you know he asks his coaches to evaluate the previous game with players on Monday and then start work on the next opponent Monday night? Stunning, I know.

I think his advantage is that he is not tied to any specific defense or offense and is willing to change them wholesale season to season. And the guy doing the drafting knows exactly what he wants. And he can hit the sweet spot between effective and value (tiny white WRs who are quick but not fast) with regularity.


TL;DR?

EDGE or nickel DT who can pass rush like he breathes. I was hoping the Packers would luck into DeCosta or McCloughan (as uber scout possibly) so they could find the next Suggs or Preston Smith (Wash) or Patrick Willis.