NFL 2013

[Ingmar]

Guys, I really think you are overvaluing Richardson, maybe based on his fantasy production. He did have a lot of TDs last year, but he's otherwise very average, and not a good fit at all for a Norv Turner offense. Also note that nobody that drafted him is in charge of the team now. They can replace him with a later round pick just fine. Stockpiling picks to rebuild the team while not giving up anything important is a really good move for a team in Cleveland's position. I'd go so far as to say that I think Indy overpaid a bit.

[Mithas]

How would they unload their roster?  Is there anyone else worth having?

Joe Thomas is one of the best left tackles in the game.

[ghost]

I place little value on Richardson.  I place even less value on the Brown's capability to draft well and field a decent team.  

[Ingmar]

How would they unload their roster?  Is there anyone else worth having?

Joe Thomas is one of the best left tackles in the game.

And they're going to keep him, because he really DOES have a lot of value.

[HaemishM]

I can almost guarantee that in five years we are going to look at this deal and think that the Colts made out like bandits.  

I already think that now.  

EDIT: To add to this, I think Indy makes out well because he gives them another weapon they don't have since Vick Ballard got injured. He's a decent running back who can catch the ball. That fits an Indy offense perfectly. He doesn't have to run more than 3.5 yards a carry (and he should get more with Indy because of the danger of their passing game). I think he instantly makes that team better even if Ballard was healthy.

[Nebu]

As weak as the AFC is, the Colts should have a draft pick that's pretty late in the round.  It's always better to take a known commodity than a draft gamble unless you are trying to build depth at another position.

[sickrubik]

As soon as some Broncos fans saw the Richardson thing, they immediately started talking about the idea of Broncos unloading a draft pick for Joe Thomas, with Clady being lost for the season.

As far as value, they have Greg Little, Davone Bess and Cameron who would be fine for a late round pick. Do they have the ability to pull in any other higher round picks besides Richardson and/or Thomas? No, of course not. "Unload" doesn't really imply value.

[01101010]

Guys, I really think you are overvaluing Richardson, maybe based on his fantasy production. He did have a lot of TDs last year, but he's otherwise very average, and not a good fit at all for a Norv Turner offense. Also note that nobody that drafted him is in charge of the team now. They can replace him with a later round pick just fine. Stockpiling picks to rebuild the team while not giving up anything important is a really good move for a team in Cleveland's position. I'd go so far as to say that I think Indy overpaid a bit.

And again, last year was under Shurmur and his predictable offense, he was a rookie, and hurt and still managed almost 1k yards on that team. I think the jury is still out on his value overall - though I agree he is injured a lot ever since college. I'm assuming he'll be huge in a better called offense and having a better QB. I think teams playing the colts now have to consider the run and the pass a threat - something no Browns opponent had to do since he was the only threat on the field.

And I think Joe Thomas is second guessing that 7-year contract (with 5 to go) for a team that is not even rebuilding at this point, just in a constant state of dumb.

[01101010]

As soon as some Broncos fans saw the Richardson thing, they immediately started talking about the idea of Broncos unloading a draft pick for Joe Thomas, with Clady being lost for the season.

As far as value, they have Greg Little, Davone Bess and Cameron who would be fine for a late round pick. Do they have the ability to pull in any other higher round picks besides Richardson and/or Thomas? No, of course not. "Unload" doesn't really imply value.

You could not give Greg Little away and he would probably kill a package deal with any team. He is actually worse than Braylon was in the drops dept. Davone Bess is the best receiver the Browns have unless Gordon steps up. I don't see any of that happening because Hoyer will never have the option of passing the ball facing non-stop blitzes till he gets a concussion.

[Ingmar]

It's always better to take a known commodity than a draft gamble unless you are trying to build depth at another position.

I think this is demonstrably not true. Tim Tebow is a known commodity, QED.  

The main point though is that outside of Adrian Peterson type players (which Richardson is not), RBs are very replaceable. In fact I'd say other than kickers/punters they're the MOST replaceable position. They also don't last very long, iirc they have the shortest average career of any position. If you know you're not going to be going anywhere for a couple years, a 22 year old RB could very easily be out of the league when your rebuilding efforts pay off 3 years down the road. Turning him into a pick that could easily be a starting lineman of some kind? I'd pull the trigger just about every time.

[ghost]

I'm always a bit shocked when running backs are taken high.  They are injury prone and tend to flame out quickly. 

[sickrubik]

You could not give Greg Little away and he would probably kill a package deal with any team. He is actually worse than Braylon was in the drops dept. Davone Bess is the best receiver the Browns have unless Gordon steps up. I don't see any of that happening because Hoyer will never have the option of passing the ball facing non-stop blitzes till he gets a concussion.

I already said I don't see them unloading their team, so I'm not interested in an actual argument over the actual perceived value of Browns players.

[Paelos]

They still have $27M in cap space according to one site. Soooooooo, yeah.

They can sign some replacements and redo this.

[sickrubik]

Browns just formalized the McGahee signing, who will do good for them.


https://twitter.com/InsideNFLMedia/status/380821074843168768

"I talked to [Browns OT] Joe Thomas a little bit earlier. He said, 'Hey look, we are all on the trading block now.'"

Now, I know that it's likely shock talking, but... still interesting to hear.

[Paelos]

New GM, new plans, no QB?

He's right. Except for Joe, because he's immovable with his contract and his value.

[MrHat]

So there is no way to watch these Thursday night games unless its a local team or you have NFL Network on your cable box?

NFL.com does this weird live commentary thing but no live Thursday stream.

[sickrubik]

So there is no way to watch these Thursday night games unless its a local team or you have NFL Network on your cable box?

NFL.com does this weird live commentary thing but no live Thursday stream.

Nfl.com/tnf has options. There are also... Other means like atdhe or firstrowsports, but definitely install an ad locker before hand.

[Cyrrex]

I don't think we know yet how good of an RB Richardson is or isn't.  3.5 YPC...if you break out your Cleveland Browns to Any Other Franchise conversion table, that roughly equates to 6 YPC.  What I am saying is that all Cleveland Browns skill position players are automatically worse than their counterparts on any other team, simply by being surrounded by ineptitude.  I am not even joking a little.

That said, there are only a small handful of "special" RBs in this league.  AP, Lynch, Forte, probably McCoy.  Two years ago I would have put Gore, MJD, Rice and CJ2K on the list, but not anymore.  Did I miss anyone?  The rest of them are totally replacable.  Decent RBs grow on trees.

The problem with this trade as far I am concerned has only a little to do with the value of what they might be giving it up.  It is moreso the message they are sending.

[K9]

So the Chiefs are 3-0, and their next three opponents are the Giants, Titans, and Raiders.

Anyone want to make bets on the 6-0 chiefs?

[Paelos]

5-1, they'll drop a game somewhere due to offense.

[shiznitz]

Cablevision carries NFL Network.  I didn't even know until I checked earlier in the week.  Of course, I expected a much better performance from my Eagles. Ugh.  That looked like last year.  The Chiefs are not good.  They managed 4 turnovers, 3 of them providing fantastic field position and they still couldn't put the game away. 

[HaemishM]

I put that up to the Philly defense. It's got holes, but you guys have a decent pass rush. The Chiefs aren't Super Bowl caliber, but they are a decent team with good playmakers like Charles.

[Tannhauser]

So the Chiefs are 3-0, and their next three opponents are the Giants, Titans, and Raiders.

Anyone want to make bets on the 6-0 chiefs?

No.  This is the NFL.  Giants and Titans both have good chances to beat them.

[sickrubik]

Von Miller tried to cheat the system, had help from tester

 

[MrHat]

You think Cleveland's front office is going "NO STAHP!"

[sickrubik]

Missed this during the morning's news:

Cleveland fielding offers for and open to trading WRs Josh Gordon and Greg Little. At least one team has made a quality offer for Gordon.

$5 says that team is the Patriots.

[Nevermore]

Actually, Philly came to mind when I saw that.  After DeSean Jackson they have garbage for receivers.

[sickrubik]

Actually, Philly came to mind when I saw that.  After DeSean Jackson they have garbage for receivers.

As opposed to New England's great roster of receivers so far this season.

New England always ends up with draft picks, so I figued they would be the most likely to jump, plus Brady has apparently been quite unhappy with the receiver corps(e) and quite vocal about that.

[Tannhauser]

Great afternoon of football!

The Lions break a 21 game streak and, for the first time in franchise history, beat the Redskins at D.C.  A good game, but the Lions defense really needs to improve if they want to challenge GB. 

Speaking of the Pack, oops!  You don't just stroll into Cincy like you own the place.  Well, you did in the past, but my pick for the AFC North champs really did a gut check to a puzzled GB team.  A lot of teams will be studying that film.  GB thou art mortal. And 1-2.

How bout dem Browns???  Mind=blown.  Sure it was against the Viqueens, but I'd say the Browns will take the win.  Great ending.

Titans beat the Bolts.  Titans flying under the radar and the Bolts are the Bolts.

Giants thrown bodily out of Charlotte. I don't get the Giants.  Don't know if they are a good team that does bad things or a bad team that does good things.

Crazy afternoon.  Best hit of the day=Pam Oliver getting 'run over' by the marching band.  Seriously?

[Paelos]

SF getting dump trucked in their own house.

I'm not sure what to think about them anymore.

[Malakili]

For once in my life I'm glad I no longer live in an area of the country that shows Giants games and that I therefore didn't have to witness this travesty.

[Ingmar]

SF getting dump trucked in their own house.

I'm not sure what to think about them anymore.

What I'm thinking is we could really use Josh Gordon.

[Paelos]

Well the Jets won. Back in the top 10?

Maybe!

[Surlyboi]

Not top 10. Geno had some good looks today, but Jesus, the penalties. And there're still the two interceptions.

[Cyrrex]

While it was a bad weekend for picking the winners, it was overall just a delicious day of games.

Miami is 3 and 0?  And Atlanta is 1 and 2?  I like.

New Orleans...shoot, I don't know.  The only sorta good team they have played is Atlanta, and obviously the Falcons are not in a good place right now.  Plus, they had Sean-Payton-returning-fairies supporting them during that game.  I think we need to see what happens when a real offense puts them to the test.  Which, hysterically, might be Chicago?  I think they will squeak out a win over Miami at home next week. 

Andrew Luck goes in and beats his old coach?  I like, even if I don't like Luck.  This is some bad joo-joo for San Fran.  I suddenly think they are in deep shit.  Seattle may have broken them.  Hope for their sake that they have a few tomato cans lined up for the next few games.

Speaking of Seattle, maybe, just maybe, that offense is on track now.  We'll see.  If so, watch out.

Giants get curb-stomped in Carolina.  I don't hate the Giants, but I am tired of them, so good.

I don't like that the Cowboys won, because now we have to talk about them.  At least DeMarco Murray earned me a couple fantasy points for a change.

Chicago now 3 and 0 after putting a beatdown on Pittsburgh, who are still winless.  So delicious.  Note that behind Denver, Chicago has the highest PPG average after three games.

Can we stop talking about how great RG3 is now?  Because without that extra gear, he is a below average QB.  He may never be the same player he was last year...even if he heals (and make no mistake, he is not healed), they may not let him.  And thus he will fade away. 

I shoulda known Andy Reid would go in and win in Philly.  Karma, or something.  I always seem to find some reason to pick the Eagles to win their games, but I never seem to learn.

Houston is giving up a looooooooot of points.  It isn't surprising that they lost in Baltimore, because the Ravens still seem to have a good home field advantage there.  But it IS surprising that they got taken to the woodshed like that, especially considering Baltimore's struggles.  Both of these teams are 2 and 1, but there is no reason to feel good about either of them IMO.

It is bad for the league that New England is 3 and 0.  Because at some point, Gronk comes back, Amendola's vagina heals, Pats pick up a free agent receiver, and then BAM.  Suddenly they will be potent again.  We can't even blame it on the division they're in, at least not yet.

Jets are 2 and 1?  Who is letting that happen?  And even worse, how are things looking for them if Geno stops doing stupid shit?