2016 NFL Off Season Thread

[gunnar hendershow]

Well gang it's safe to say that the Ravens had the best Round 4 of the entire draft at least.

[The Buscher]

I actually turned ESPN on at the very end (even though NFL Network is my go-to coverage show) just because I know they always guesswho they think Mr. Irrelevant will be and it was funny seeing them all give Kiper shit because his Mr. Irrelevant wound up getting picked second to last.

[Lineker]

Top undrafted free agents

It seems that Arizona have now added a young QB in Coker; and baby Gronk has been snapped up by Buffalo.

Brian Hoyer has signed a one-year deal with the Bears.

[Chris2K]

I know it happens every year and the majority of them were probably expecting it, but that's such a huge list of young guys whose dreams were just taken away from them and it kinda makes me sad :(.

[FestiveJack]

2 hours ago, Chris2K said:

I know it happens every year and the majority of them were probably expecting it, but that's such a huge list of young guys whose dreams were just taken away from them and it kinda makes me sad :(.

I'm sure they're fine. They have their Swahili classes to fall back on. 

[The Buscher]

It really is crazy to think about just how many prospects there are every year between the draft, UDFA signings, and tryouts.  My alma mater is a D3 school and a couple of years ago their RB led the nation in all purpose yards and actually broke the NCAA single game rushing record (originally held by Tomlinson) for like 2 weeks before someone else broke it.  Scouts actually came out to the school to watch him.  He didn't get drafted which was no surprise, but he didn't sign as an UDFA and as best I can tell he didn't even get an invite to attend a rookie minicamp tryout even though hundreds of players get invited around the league.  And that's the best player that's ever come through my school. 

Some guys are doomed just by where they're born, really.  If you don't grow up in a football hotbed it is tough to get noticed.  The best high school prospects in Connecticut usually end up having to go to UConn because unless you go completely batshit during your high school career you're not even going to be a blip on the radar of big D1 programs.  There was an OL in the next town over who got a scholarship to Florida a few years ago but never got to play as he tore his labrum three times.  I can't remember anybody else from my area of the state going to a big school for football.

At least Scott Lutrus (who is from another neighboring town) got to be a big fish in a small pond at UConn and he got into a handful of games with the Colts one year.  That constituted headline news in the local papers here.

[jrhodes]

Very happy with the Bears draft overall. Only player I'm not sold on is Deon Bush.

I think Daniel Braverman could end up being one of the steals of the draft. Great pick up in the seventh round.

[Meacon Keaton]

Cream rises to the top. If they're good enough to play at a big D1 school, they'll dominate no matter where they are. If they're in Connecticut or Delaware (where I'm from) or Texas, they'll stand out and be noticed. Delaware is mostly just MAC talent, at best, but every so often there will be an offensive lineman that finds his way at Florida, or Texas A&M, or Auburn.

As for the D3 running back not getting a look, that doesn't surprise me at all. There's hundreds of kids that had decent careers in college (Shock Linwood at Baylor for instance) that has not been picked up for a rookie camp yet. When you have 122 D1 schools, and even more D2 and D3 schools, with over 100 players each, and only 32 teams that carry 80 guys, at the highest point, you're going to have a lot of talented guys not make it. It's why even some of the most dominating college players end up not cutting it in the pros. It legit is the absolute best of the best.

[The Buscher]

Yeah, the guy played in Germany last year and now is off to the CFL.  Hopefully he can make a name for himself there.  Really nice guy.

I agree that the cream will eventually rise to the top but I do think you need to do substantially more to even get noticed in certain areas of the country.  High school football is such an afterthought here in Connecticut, unfortunately.  I went to one of the biggest high schools in the state and aside from Homecoming or the years we'd host our top rival I never really got the impression that the students cared much about who was winning and it was little more than an excuse to have something to do on a Friday.  A guy in a nearby town threw 8 TDs in a game last year and it barely got a blip in the local paper.  You do that in Texas and everybody in the state knows about it the next day.

[Szumi]

Happy see to see Ryan Keiser was invited to a Ravens camp for a tryout. He graduated from my high school after taking the team to their first ever state title. Walked on to Penn State, earned himself a scholarship, and I believe was a defensive captain before he graduated. He hasn't played competitive football though since the 2014 season. He broke his rib right before the Ohio State game that year, and the broken rib peirced his intestines, leading to multiple surgeries and months in the ICU. Even if he doesn't get signed, it's an awesome hometown story, especially considering my town has only ever produced one professional or Olympic athlete ever.

[Maxx]

I love seeing people (usually not Eagles fans) defending poor* Sam Bradford and his hissy fit.

He's not good, he's never had to earn his starting spot or his money and now there might be competition and he's throwing a hissy fit.   I'm sure they made him a bunch of promises, like every team does to every player.  Yeah it's lame that they lied to him, but he still got paid, he still gets to be a starter and prove his worth.  But he's not a Roseman guy, he's not a Pederson guy, they didn't bring him in.  Ultimately the Eagles did what they thought was best for the future, and rightly so, as Bradford hasn't proved shit.  His entire career has consisted of him getting a shit ton of money for average at best results.  And then he even comes out and says he won't play for Kelly, the only guy in the league who has really shown interest in him.  Fuck Sam Bradford, earn your money and your spot for once.

*lol no

[The Buscher]

Sam Bradford is terrible so I'll be quite happy if he ends up being the Eagles starting QB to open 2016.

[TCO]

I think the problem he has is that he's likely there for 1 more season before he gets cut or traded. Wentz is going to play sooner rather than later, no matter what. That would also make it 3 offences in 3 years, which is not ideal for his own future. Plus he probably saw it as a chance to escape to the Broncos and have a chance to QB the defending Super Bowl champions.

I understand why he did it but it doesn't make less of an entitled prick. Hope he stays in Philly and they suck together for another year.

[Lowerdeck]

13 hours ago, Buscha Syndergaard said:

A guy in a nearby town threw 8 TDs in a game last year and it barely got a blip in the local paper.  You do that in Texas and everybody in the state knows about it the next day.

 

It wasn't Ansonia was it?  That sort of thing seems to be a yearly event down there.

[gunnar hendershow]

17 hours ago, Buscha Syndergaard said:

Yeah, the guy played in Germany last year and now is off to the CFL.  Hopefully he can make a name for himself there.  Really nice guy.

I agree that the cream will eventually rise to the top but I do think you need to do substantially more to even get noticed in certain areas of the country.  High school football is such an afterthought here in Connecticut, unfortunately.  I went to one of the biggest high schools in the state and aside from Homecoming or the years we'd host our top rival I never really got the impression that the students cared much about who was winning and it was little more than an excuse to have something to do on a Friday.  A guy in a nearby town threw 8 TDs in a game last year and it barely got a blip in the local paper.  You do that in Texas and everybody in the state knows about it the next day.

Part of it is the assumed level of competition. Scouts assume the average player coming out of Texas or Florida or Ohio is better than the average player coming out of Connecticut or New Hampshire. Especially at the highest levels of high school football. The schools are huge and families basically move for their kids to play there. While cream does rise to the top sometimes you have really talented players from these tiny states who attend the local D1 school and it's poorly coached so they don't develop as well as they would at a major SEC or Big Ten school.

[Maxx]

6 hours ago, TCO said:

I think the problem he has is that he's likely there for 1 more season before he gets cut or traded. Wentz is going to play sooner rather than later, no matter what. That would also make it 3 offences in 3 years, which is not ideal for his own future. Plus he probably saw it as a chance to escape to the Broncos and have a chance to QB the defending Super Bowl champions.

I understand why he did it but it doesn't make less of an entitled prick. Hope he stays in Philly and they suck together for another year.

The only way he's playing sooner rather than later is if Bradford gets himself benched.  I think they had every intention of keeping him on the bench for the season, as it would insane to throw a guy who has never seen anything resembling the speed and talent of even an SEC defense, let alone an NFL defense, into a starting role.  

[TCO]

11 minutes ago, Maxx said:

The only way he's playing sooner rather than later is if Bradford gets himself benched.  I think they had every intention of keeping him on the bench for the season, as it would insane to throw a guy who has never seen anything resembling the speed and talent of even an SEC defense, let alone an NFL defense, into a starting role.  

Oh I know he'll be on the bench for a least a season. I just meant barring Bradford reaching god level, he's gone no matter what after 2 years. If he went to Denver now, he could establish himself now and potentially be the guy. The trade instantly ruled out that ever happening in Philly and any dip in his play will have the always lovely patrons of Lincoln Financial Field calling for the #2 pick. 

He's shot himself in the foot now though and he deserves to be in that awkward situation.

[Meacon Keaton]

I don't know. I can see it from his angle. The Eagles reportedly told him that they were ready to win now, with him at quarterback, and that they were going to use their early round picks to get guys that could help them win the East in 2016. He liked the sound of that and agreed to the contract extension.

They got him locked in, turned around and did the exact opposite by selling the farm for the future. 

Bradford is an injury-risk and likely has a very limited lifespan left in the league. But I doubt he see's it that way. He was most likely thinking, "Ok, I'll take the two-year deal, and we'll win the East and when that two years is up, I'll get a nice four or five year deal out of it." It'd be one thing if the Eagles (mainly Roseman) had been upfront from the get-go, letting him know that he was a place-holder and not the future of the franchise before he signed. But Philly was afraid to be in the same situation Denver ended up being in, and didn't mind blatantly lying to one of their players to prevent it.

Has the guy gotten away with highway robbery for being paid a shit-ton of money to not really produce? Yes, but I'm not going to fault the guy for being paid what teams were willing to pay him. And I can't really fault him for thinking he was going to have an honest shot at being the QB for the foreseeable future, because that's what he was told, and then getting mad when he's been lied to.

[The Buscher]

9 hours ago, Lowerdeck said:

 

It wasn't Ansonia was it?  That sort of thing seems to be a yearly event down there.

It was Newtown.  Ansonia had the 48 game win streak, though.

[Maxx]

4 hours ago, Meacon said:

I don't know. I can see it from his angle. The Eagles reportedly told him that they were ready to win now, with him at quarterback, and that they were going to use their early round picks to get guys that could help them win the East in 2016. He liked the sound of that and agreed to the contract extension.

They got him locked in, turned around and did the exact opposite by selling the farm for the future. 

Bradford is an injury-risk and likely has a very limited lifespan left in the league. But I doubt he see's it that way. He was most likely thinking, "Ok, I'll take the two-year deal, and we'll win the East and when that two years is up, I'll get a nice four or five year deal out of it." It'd be one thing if the Eagles (mainly Roseman) had been upfront from the get-go, letting him know that he was a place-holder and not the future of the franchise before he signed. But Philly was afraid to be in the same situation Denver ended up being in, and didn't mind blatantly lying to one of their players to prevent it.

Has the guy gotten away with highway robbery for being paid a shit-ton of money to not really produce? Yes, but I'm not going to fault the guy for being paid what teams were willing to pay him. And I can't really fault him for thinking he was going to have an honest shot at being the QB for the foreseeable future, because that's what he was told, and then getting mad when he's been lied to.

Well then he just sounds like an idiot for believing that they're going to fix the mess Kelly left them with via one draft.