NFL 2020 Off-Season

[worstblogever]

In some funny NFL News...


- Another team that didn't take A 2nd rd QB in this QB heavy draft was ... Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers have an injured Ben Rothlisberger coming back from elbow surgery and the Steelers backup QB's on roster (Mason Rudolph & Devlin Hodges) accounted for together 2,800+ yards passing 18 TDs and 17 Ints . Steelers GM Kevin Colbert claimed the team was happy with their QB situation and how Rudolph showed promise. (WTF ?)

Rudolph is going to be known more for getting brained on the head by Myles Garrett than anything else.

I dunno, man. I really think they're scared of pissing of Big Ben by bringing in a real successor. If they did, they'd have a situation like what Green Bay is seeing with Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love. And while Rodgers seemingly has no f***s to give, Ben has always been very protected by that organization. They've circled the ranks to help him regardless of if he's raping women, riding a motorcycle without a helmet, or after any number of PR appearances that he's punked out Yinzer fans for. The "Why Your Team Sucks" features on Deadspin with him were rife with fans sharing stories about him being a douche.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Green Bay wasn't alone in drafting a QB sooner than needed, despite already having a franchise passer locked up. My Eagles surprised everyone, including their own fans by drafting Jalen Hurts with the 53rd pick, despite the fact the team had far more pressing needs at cornerback, linebacker and defensive line. The fans were suitably pissed because they saw the team as having wasted that pick (not to mention failing to trade up in the first round to snatch prized wideout CeeDee Lamb before Dallas chose him) since we already had Carson Wentz. GM Howie Roseman had spent the last several days in spin control mode, saying that even with Wentz, the team couldn't pass on a talent like Hurts, leading people to wonder if head coach Doug Pederson plans to use him like the Saints do Taysom Hill, something I find debatable. My guess? The Birds drafted Hurts as insurance since Wentz has yet to finish a season without going down from injury, but even that makes no sense as they could've picked up a veteran from off the street (paging Joe Flacco or Andy Dalton). I wish I knew how things will work with Wentz and Hurts, but I have no idea.

[babyblob]

Bengals released Andy Dalton this morning. We all knew it was coming after the drafting of Burrows and the fact that a QB heavy off season kept him from being traded. The talk from the sports casters in town seem to think that Dalton will end up in Jacksonville.

[worstblogever]

Bengals released Andy Dalton this morning. We all knew it was coming after the drafting of Burrows and the fact that a QB heavy off season kept him from being traded. The talk from the sports casters in town seem to think that Dalton will end up in Jacksonville.

Jacksonville or New England. The Jags are serious about wanting to give Minshew a chance.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Jacksonville or New England. The Jags are serious about wanting to give Minshew a chance.

Just like the Pats are willing to go to war with Jason Stidham.

Does anyone think it's possible the new season will start with Dalton, Joe Flacco and Cam Newton on the street?

[The Whovian]

They made a good job keeping Moore but a big issue with McCarthy is he will not make adjustments at all to his system he runs. In fact one former defensive player who hadn't played for the team over the TV called out every play the team would run a few years after he had left the Packers. Because McCarthy did no changes to his system and the play calls were the exact same.

Its why people have said there was a reason Green Bay finally had to let him go.

McCarthy isn't running the offense though, Moore is. He will add some wrinkles here and there, but Moore was brought back specifically to run the offense because it was so good last year. He also brought in Nolan to run the defense. Mike is going to break down how to attack other teams, but let the coordinators call the plays.

Last year, Moore started out calling the plays and our offense looked unstoppable. Garrett stepped in and told Moore he wanted a more balanced attack and to run it more. That's when we started getting predictable. We ran it almost every time on 1st down and teams figured it out. McCarthy will let Moore do his thing and he'll be more creative.

Add in CeeDee Lamb to our offense and I just don't see how teams will stop us. Last year, teams would stack the box against Zeke, double Cooper, put a LB on slow Witten and pray their corner could cover Gallup. Some times it worked, some times it didn't. But it did slow us down. Now though, with Lamb, defenses can't do that. We have three legitimate #1 WRs. Cooper and Lamb will split time on the outside and in the slot, with Gallup on the other outside spot. You want to stack the box to stop Zeke? Okay, have fun trying to cover our WRs one on one. You want to give them help over the top? Okay, watch Zeke run wild against a weak front. Teams are going to have to pick their poison now.

[The Whovian]

Just like the Pats are willing to go to war with Jason Stidham.

Does anyone think it's possible the new season will start with Dalton, Joe Flacco and Cam Newton on the street?

I don't see Cam on a team to start the season, but if someone's QB goes down with an injury, I think he will be the first of those three called. The other two might be on a team as a backup, but they won't start.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Rudolph is going to be known more for getting brained on the head by Myles Garrett than anything else.

I dunno, man. I really think they're scared of pissing of Big Ben by bringing in a real successor. If they did, they'd have a situation like what Green Bay is seeing with Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love. And while Rodgers seemingly has no f***s to give, Ben has always been very protected by that organization. They've circled the ranks to help him regardless of if he's raping women, riding a motorcycle without a helmet, or after any number of PR appearances that he's punked out Yinzer fans for. The "Why Your Team Sucks" features on Deadspin with him were rife with fans sharing stories about him being a douche.

Its really shades of the situation back in 1983 to be exact. With different players and GM. In fact we can revisit that situation and think of how it had the same deal in a way.


- Back in 1983 as that QB heavy draft was hitting the Steelers themselves faced an unknown future. Terry Bradshaw was coming back from elbow surgery (I can't find the image but he shows off the scar in 1983) and the Steelers was confident Bradshaw at 33 had more seasons left in him.




- Also the Steelers had Mark Malone waiting in the rings from the 1980 NFL Draft as a 1st rd QB they selected then. He had appeared in 1981 in some action and the team felt he would be ok to be the QB at some point. So they didn't seem to think they needed a QB with Bradshaw coming back a year later from his elbow surgery and having Malone there who was learning.


- Plus the team had backup Cliff Stoudt who had been with team for 7-8 seasons so they felt confident in the QB room then.


- Chuck Knoll was head coach then and the defense he felt needed rebuilding. The teams vaunted Steel Curtain had gotten old by 1983 and gone as Joe Greene, L.C. Greenwood, Dwight White and Ernie Holmes all retired. The defense was shifted to a 3-4 due to this and how the league was throwing more. So Knoll needed DEFENSE badly to replace guys who were gone. 4 out of the 1st 6 draft picks all went to defense. Which sadly none panned out.


- Dan Marino was there as we know. At the time one of the Rooney's felt Marino would face huge pressure being a player from that area. That the team didn't want him facing that pressure.

[Gray Lensman]

Just like the Pats are willing to go to war with Jason Stidham.

Does anyone think it's possible the new season will start with Dalton, Joe Flacco and Cam Newton on the street?

Even if a team has confidence in whoever they have at any position, if the chance to upgrade (or what they think of as an upgrade) happens, most tems will do an about face and go for who they think is better. The question is whether or not they are right when they make that decision.

[TriggerWarning]

Just like the Pats are willing to go to war with Jason Stidham.

Does anyone think it's possible the new season will start with Dalton, Joe Flacco and Cam Newton on the street?

Dalton will be on a team. If he doesn't land on a team where he has a good chance of starting from day one (Jacksonville or New England) he will do like Tannehill did last year and pick a team with a shaky starter and sign an incentive laden one year contract. Or maybe even some team with superbowl aspirations and a solid QB signs him as insurance as he would instantly be one of the best backups in the league if the starter went down. Seattle would be a good example.

Flacco I'm less certain about as age and injuries have caught up to him. He could land as a backup eventually but no team will look to him in a starting role.

Newton is going to have to prove to teams that he can still be a QB without his physicality as thats what made him so great for a few years. If he is willing to settle on a backup role I could a team like Seattle signing him. I use Seattle for he and Dalton as they are a good team with a firmly entrenched starter but would fall apart if Wilson got hurt. Dalton or Newton could help keep the team afloat for a few games if it was a short term injury - much like Moore did with the Chiefs last year.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

NFL teams could each lose $100M if games played without fans?

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the sports world to a stop and delivered a staggering economic blow around the world. The NFL has largely avoided any hits during the ongoing crisis, but that could quickly change when the 2020 NFL season arrives.

While the NFL is still planning to hold a full season as scheduled, everyone around the league might need to start preparing for an economic hit that could take the NFL years to recover come.

Even as the NFL tentatively sticks to its plan for a full 17-week season, the league is already anticipating a historic blow to its bottom line. The NFL already seems to be preparing to play games this season without fans in attendance with Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank admitting it’s a realistic possibility. An unprecedented situation like this would carry economic ramifications.

We're talking $3.2 billion for the league as a whole that could be lost, and that's if the full season is played. Should the season be shortened, or, in the worst case scenario, cancelled altogether, the losses could be cataclysmic (my hyperbole, not the author's).

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Flacco should retire really. He had his neck injury last year and in one game (Aikman or Romo) picked him apart as he couldn't move. That he's lost his mobility which is a big problem here right now. As Vinny Testeverde said back a decade ago , once a QB loses his legs , its downhill from there.

This is how bad it got for Flacco. Sure the Denver offensive line had some issues. But a few sacks was Flacco being unable to move much there.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

As teams are now starting to pick up the 5th year options on the 2017 1st rd draft picks ; a couple have sent some clear messages that they aren't guaranteed to be with the team in 2021 and have had their 5th year options declined. Leonard Fournette (RB) from the Jacksonville Jaguars was informed the team will not be picking up his 5th year option. As much as Fournette has rushed for 2,600+ yards in 3 seasons and 1,000+ yards receiving ...the team has had issues with Fournette's behavior. The kicker was after the team decided to go with Gardner Mishew for the next season and Fournette told how he wanted Cam Newton signed.

Then today the Chicago Bears informed Mitchell Trubisky (QB) they are not picking up his 5th year option. The Bears traded for Nick Foles and have told Trubisky he has to compete with him now. This is quite a stunning move for a 2nd overall pick in 2017.

[MRP]

Andy Dalton has signed a 1 year deal to be Dak Prescott's back up in Dallas. $3 million guaranteed (Cooper Rush was set to make $2.1 million as the back up and he has only thrown 3 passes in the NFL) but up to $7 million in incentives.

-M

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Andy Dalton has signed a 1 year deal to be Dak Prescott's back up n Dallas. $3 million guaranteed (Cooper Rush was set to make $2.1 million as the back up and he has only thrown 3 passes in the NFL) but up to $7 million in incentives.

-M

That would seem like a smart move. While Prescott has been durable (I don't think he's missed a start), you never know when a QB could suffer a serious injury that could require extended time for the team's backup. God knows I wished my Eagles signed a proven veteran (paging Joe Flacco) to be the understudy to Carson Wentz who's had an injury history.