NFL 2018 OFF-Season thread

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Figures after I write this, you go and dump Ryan Grant and sign Michael Crabtree. As a Steelers fan I don't like this move.

As posted back Grant failed his physical according to the Ravens. Grant's agent claims this is false. But the failed physical made them pull the offer.

[BeastieRunner]

Patterson has been traded to NE.

[worstblogever]

Patterson has been traded to NE.

That kind of negates the whole freakout over losing Amendola, I'd think.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

According to Peter King , the Denver Broncos never made an offer to Kirk Cousins. Even though players like Von Miller campaigned for Cousins , Elway saw that the asking price was too high. Only 3 teams really wanted Cousins and had bids and they were the Cardinals , Jets and Vikings.

[worstblogever]

Glad to see Arizona addressed their offensive line by bringing in both Andre Smith and Justin Pugh. Right now, though, all the guys they have up front seem to be far known as good run blockers, than in pass protection. Their offense is almost certainly revolving around David Johnson getting 30 carries. If any fantasy players are listening... you'd better grab him in the first round if you can.

[Jackmando7]

Since 2002 there have been only two Superbowls not to feature Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, or Ben Roethlisberger.

[DungeonmasterJim]

That kind of negates the whole freakout over losing Amendola, I'd think.

I'd rather have Amendola. He's really good at being that third option and he has good hands. So many big plays/important moving the chains catches in his time with the Patriots. Although I'm guessing Patterson as a kick returner is probably equal level of skill.

A lot of good players are leaving New England. And their defense is pretty suspect against good QBs. I still think that they win the AFC East again next year but as a fan I'm waiting to see what picks they make in the more quiet weeks of free agency to come. One thing that's pretty interesting is that because of the Patriots success they always have a late first round pick. They almost never get a 'franchise' draft choice yet they soldier through to winning seasons. But I can't help but feel the end of a great run of winning is coming to an end after next season. It'll be nice if I'm wrong.

[Scott Taylor]

I'd rather have Amendola. He's really good at being that third option and he has good hands. So many big plays/important moving the chains catches in his time with the Patriots. Although I'm guessing Patterson as a kick returner is probably equal level of skill.

A lot of good players are leaving New England. And their defense is pretty suspect against good QBs. I still think that they win the AFC East again next year but as a fan I'm waiting to see what picks they make in the more quiet weeks of free agency to come. One thing that's pretty interesting is that because of the Patriots success they always have a late first round pick. They almost never get a 'franchise' draft choice yet they soldier through to winning seasons. But I can't help but feel the end of a great run of winning is coming to an end after next season. It'll be nice if I'm wrong.

Patterson has uncanny abilities in the return game. New England has gotten themselves a winner, there, even if all he does is catch punts and kickoffs. But I suspect they will work him into a short-yardage receiver as well, get him a blocker and have him catch short-yardage stuff that he can then turn into a big gain.

But yes I'm also waiting to see how they are going to really replace Amendola.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

That kind of negates the whole freakout over losing Amendola, I'd think.

Amendola is sort of redundant if Edelman is healthy

[BeastieRunner]

Since 2002 there have been only two Superbowls not to feature Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, or Ben Roethlisberger.

And 50% of them have been Brady.

Patterson has uncanny abilities in the return game. New England has gotten themselves a winner, there, even if all he does is catch punts and kickoffs. But I suspect they will work him into a short-yardage receiver as well, get him a blocker and have him catch short-yardage stuff that he can then turn into a big gain.

But yes I'm also waiting to see how they are going to really replace Amendola.

They still have Cooks, no?

Cooks - primary and deep threat
Hogan - slot and stick
Edelman - primary target and returns
Britt - draw and secondary target
Dorsett - secondary deep threat and stick
Mitchell - exotic, slot, and stick
Patterson - exotic, draw, and returns

I dunno, NE didn't really need to replace Amendola. They also have Gronk and Dwayne. Plus a RB that can catch and run.

They need DEF for when Hightower is out. Hightower is their main man out there. Hightower plays the Super Bowl and I suspect we're having a different conversation this offseason.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Since 2002 there have been only two Superbowls not to feature Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, or Ben Roethlisberger.

Since 2001*.

Oh and one of those teams had to win their division against Ben and then beat Manning and Brady in the playoffs to get there. The other team was the Bucs when Ben wasn’t in the league and Brady and Manning were still sort of finding themselves.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

And 50% of them have been Brady.


They still have Cooks, no?

Cooks - primary and deep threat
Hogan - slot and stick
Edelman - primary target and returns
Britt - draw and secondary target
Dorsett - secondary deep threat and stick
Mitchell - exotic, slot, and stick
Patterson - exotic, draw, and returns

I dunno, NE didn't really need to replace Amedola. They also have Gronk and Dwayne. Plus a RB that can catch and run.

They need DEF for when Hightower is out. Hightower is their main man out there. Hightower plays the Super Bowl and I suspect we're having a different conversation this offseason.

You'd think the Pats would be stocking up on defense after they were lit up like a Christmas tree by Nick Foles and the Eagles in the Super Bowl last month. Bringing in a wideout is perplexing to me.

[BeastieRunner]

NFL is changing the catch rule, end zone rule, AND replay rule.

“Slight movement of the ball, it looks like we’ll reverse that. Going to the ground, it looks like that’s going to be eliminated. And we’ll go back to the old replay standard of reverse the call on the field only when it’s indisputable.”

The new catch rule, Vincent said, will require only that a receiver have control of the football, and any slight movement of the football in the receiver’s hands detected via replay review would not result in an incompletion.

The new rule will eliminate the requirement that a receiver who is in the process of going to the ground while making a catch must maintain control of the football while on the turf to be awarded a legal catch.

The replay standard for overturning an on-field ruling of a catch will be indisputable video evidence rather than clear and obvious.

“The Dez Bryant play, that’d be a catch” under the new rule, Vincent said, mentioning a series of controversial non-catch calls over the years. “The Jesse James play, that’d be a catch.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.544cfd8b9449

If you apply the new rules to the playoffs, only 6 plays and 3 scores are affected. NE loses 1 touchdown in their blowout playoff win, the Eagles and Patriots gain 1 catch in the SB (both drives were scoring drives), the Steelers gain 1 catch in the early round, Titans get 2 catches (on scoring drives), the Vikings gain 1 catch (on a turnover drive), and NE & Philly lose 1 touchdown a piece in the SB. So no big changes except maybe in the Viking/Saints game. Winners stayed the same.

If you apply it to the season ... you got some changes to playoff teams. Like Steelers get 3 negated catches within the 30 during that Patriot game. And Seahawks gain 5 scores in 3 games they lost.

[Scott Taylor]

The Dez Bryant play only happened the way it did because Dez couldn't possibly bring his other arm into play to cradle the ball, due to it being tangled up with the defender. The rule there would have been fine, if the refs had been allowed to bring common sense to bear rather than just following rules like automatons.

"Indisputable" and its definition is going to be discussed alot this season, I bet.

[BeastieRunner]

The Dez Bryant play only happened the way it did because Dez couldn't possibly bring his other arm into play to cradle the ball, due to it being tangled up with the defender. The rule there would have been fine, if the refs had been allowed to bring common sense to bear rather than just following rules like automatons.

"Indisputable" and its definition is going to be discussed alot this season, I bet.

The Dez Bryan play is a catch under these new rules.

They're making it HARDER to overturn a call on the field with the replay rule.

They're also trying to avoid PI in the corner that is rarely called in the endzone.