NFL 2016

[WayAbvPar]

8-8 is Jeff Fisher's specialty.

[Paelos]

This is the QB desperation I've been referring to for years. Peyton is now gone. Brady ain't far behind. More than half the teams now are playing with sub-par if not shit QBs and the landscape is horrific for producing even halfway decent NFL QBs going forward.

You're going to see teams do more and more of this as they cling to the idea of the QB-driven league. The teams that change the dynamic and figures out how to do it with a system that any average QB can run, that's what will win. Hell, Denver did it last year because Peyton was pretty much a disaster.

[01101010]

... the fuck? Do they really think either of those guys is going to justify a #1 pick? Or giving up that fuckload of picks they agreed to? Goddamn. Just in this draft alone the Rams lose 2 2nd rounders and a 3rd rounder, not to mention the 1st and 3rd rounder from next year? I realize their QB situation is shitty but these guys don't sound to me like Andrew Luck so much as Joe Flacco. That might be an improvement over what they have but shit that's a lot to give up.

As for LA fans getting used to 8-8, I'm pretty sure no one in LA gives a fuck right now, nor will they until the team actually wins.

Precisely. There is no surefire pick other than maybe Tunsil and maybe Ramsey. This is an even bigger reach than RG3 for Washington. RG3 actually won stuff at the D1 level. This just reeks of publicity move. But hey, at least now the Browns can trade down for more picks and suffer through the year with RG3 and Shaw.

[HaemishM]

You're going to see teams do more and more of this as they cling to the idea of the QB-driven league. The teams that change the dynamic and figures out how to do it with a system that any average QB can run, that's what will win. Hell, Denver did it last year because Peyton was pretty much a disaster.

Denver did it with an all-time great defense. The offense NEVER really got on track at all, it just managed to not step on its own dick enough times to win enough games. I don't see them repeating that success with whatever the fuck they are going to put under center this year. Nor do I see many teams that will be able to replicate the formula because defenses that good do not grow on trees.

[Rasix]

With the first pick in the draft, the LA Eternal Dumbasses select Carson Wentz out of Bumfuck North Dakota! And the crowd goes mild! Good for the Titans, I guess. 

And in other news, Josh Gordon failed another drug test.  The world continues to spin.  I don't care how unjust or what "dumb shit that should be legal" he's getting busted over.  This guy is too stupid to play.

[WayAbvPar]

And/or has a serious addiction problem. But being addicted to pot is directly related to native intelligence I think

[HaemishM]

Yeah, I'm all for the argument that busting dudes for pot is fucking ridiculous. But Gordon is a serial dumbass - if you've pretty much lost your livliehood before because of pot, you need some serious help or you are a serial dumbass and probably will just fuck up all that money you would have gotten some other way.

[Malakili]

A largely unproven QB with a good skillset being picked after a gigantic blockbuster trade and who will have to start immediately because of the high profile nature of the trade/pick. What could possibly go wrong?

[HaemishM]

The one good thing I can say about the Rams trade is that at least the QB will have a STUD running back to take some of the pressure off of him. Gurley is the real fucking deal. Of course, by the time that QB is NFL competent, Gurley's body will probably have started breaking down because he's a RB but still. 8-8!

[Paelos]

The one good thing I can say about the Rams trade is that at least the QB will have a STUD running back to take some of the pressure off of him. Gurley is the real fucking deal. Of course, by the time that QB is NFL competent, Gurley's body will probably have started breaking down because he's a RB but still. 8-8!

Gurley was the only sure-fire thing in that draft in my mind, but I watched him play at UGA. And of course the Falcons passed him over for Vic fucking Beasley because they are dumbasses.

[K9]

Yeah, I'm all for the argument that busting dudes for pot is fucking ridiculous. But Gordon is a serial dumbass - if you've pretty much lost your livliehood before because of pot, you need some serious help or you are a serial dumbass and probably will just fuck up all that money you would have gotten some other way.

I'm not entirely convinced by this. The last time he was busted it was only one of two samples that he provided that was over the limit, by an amount less than the margin of error on the test. He'd passed something like 100 tests before that. I'm pretty sure if all players were tested as hard as that kid there wouldn't be much NFL left.

Not saying he's some sort of saint, but the extent that the league has gone after him is frankly ludicrous.

On the Rams trade, my guess is that when trying to launch yourself into the void of indifference that is LA, having someone shiny and new under centre might fill a few more seats than Nick Foles or Case Keenum.

[Paelos]

How is drafting the guy out of ND that nobody has ever seen play going to make a splash though?

I mean you could draft Goff, but assuming that a large part of LA people are USC fans it might be stupid to take a rival from Cal. It would be like the Falcons drafting Tebow in my mind.

[K9]

I guess some people who are paid a lot more than me believe that there's some special premium that comes with the #1 pick that can polish any turd.

[Hoax]

... the fuck? Do they really think either of those guys is going to justify a #1 pick? Or giving up that fuckload of picks they agreed to? Goddamn. Just in this draft alone the Rams lose 2 2nd rounders and a 3rd rounder, not to mention the 1st and 3rd rounder from next year? I realize their QB situation is shitty but these guys don't sound to me like Andrew Luck so much as Joe Flacco. That might be an improvement over what they have but shit that's a lot to give up.

As for LA fans getting used to 8-8, I'm pretty sure no one in LA gives a fuck right now, nor will they until the team actually wins.

Precisely. There is no surefire pick other than maybe Tunsil and maybe Ramsey. This is an even bigger reach than RG3 for Washington. RG3 actually won stuff at the D1 level. This just reeks of publicity move. But hey, at least now the Browns can trade down for more picks and suffer through the year with RG3 and Shaw.

ehhh

Nothing is surefire but in addition to Tunsil and Ramsey everyone says Miles Jack is the real deal and Hargreaves might be an even better pure corner than Ramsey. Ronnie Stanley is the defacto undisputed #2 OT and is certainly good enough for the elite/tier-1/bluechip type status, its not his fault Tunsil is in the same class. I think there are 5 teams that are getting as-lock-as-it-gets nfl contributors for their pick with those guys.

All in all this is a good draft class but it has a lot of traps. Pass rusher and WR are weak as fuck at the top and those are positions that teams love to reach for.

If you are drafting RB or LB the general wisdom on X > Y > Z has felt pretty consensus between all the "experts" but I pity a GM who has to take a stab at which DT out of the 8 or so is the best one, WR is an even bigger mess. Someone has to take a WR early even though none of these guys seem like they've earned high draft status.

[HaemishM]

Because 4 weeks of eye rape is not enough, every NFL Thursday game this season will have "Color Rush" uniforms.

Fuck you, Nike.

[TheWalrus]

Goddamnit.

[WayAbvPar]

God that is fucking stupid. As if the Thursday games weren't painful enough to watch already.

[K9]

In other offseason news, guess who just got fired by his second agent?

[Bungee]

Read somewhere he is getting quite cocaine slim. Looks about right. That dude's a wreck.

[Cyrrex]

Looking more like Johnny 8-ball these days.  I'd put him at about 170 pounds max in that picture.

[K9]

Apparently he's got a tattoo of CDXX (420 in roman) and a weed leaf on his left hand now. Because nothing says taking things seriously like drug-related hand tattoos

[HaemishM]

Cleveland Browns go ahead and Browns up a trade.

So I guess that means either the Browns didn't think they could adequately ruin Carson Wentz or Jared Goff's careers as NFL QB's, or they really are utterly incapable of doing anything right and want to see how much more they can break RGIII. They give the Eagles the #2 pick and a 4th rounder in 2017 for an absolute fuckload of picks, including the #8 pick this year, a 3rd and 4th rounder from this year, the Eagles 2017 first round pick and the Eagles 2018 second round pick.

Which means the Eagles really don't think Bradford is any sort of long-term solution and want one of those two QB's of their own to break.

[01101010]

Cleveland Browns go ahead and Browns up a trade.

So I guess that means either the Browns didn't think they could adequately ruin Carson Wentz or Jared Goff's careers as NFL QB's, or they really are utterly incapable of doing anything right and want to see how much more they can break RGIII. They give the Eagles the #2 pick and a 4th rounder in 2017 for an absolute fuckload of picks, including the #8 pick this year, a 3rd and 4th rounder from this year, the Eagles 2017 first round pick and the Eagles 2018 second round pick.

Which means the Eagles really don't think Bradford is any sort of long-term solution and want one of those two QB's of their own to break.

We are  in a holding pattern as Browns fans. I think it is a great trade given the fact there is no decisive #1 qb. All the talk has been on Tunsil at Tackle and Ramsey as DB but when it comes to QB, it was a committee. Goff, Wentz? Cooke or Lynch? I don't think there is a Luck in this draft. They aren't winning anything this year so Bank some picks and see what shakes out... probably nothing but burn outs and lazy players, but who knows.

[HaemishM]

Oh I think it's a great trade for the Browns (and a really stupid one for the Eagles - this is the kind of trade you make when you think you are one piece away within the next two years - which the Eagles aren't). It's just that you know the Browns will Browns up those picks with extreme Trent Richardson like prejudice.

[WayAbvPar]

The good news for the Browns is that if they accumulate enough picks, they will eventually stumble onto some talent by accident. Gonna be a couple of teams with dicey QBs and no draft picks. Dark days ahead for Philly and LA (which is good news for my NFC team!).

[Azuredream]

I think the fact that the Browns only move down to #8 is pretty big. They should still be able to land a top-tier talent if they don't Browns it up.

[TheWalrus]

The good news for the Browns is that if they accumulate enough picks, they will eventually stumble onto some talent by accident.

Should be statistically probable, but it is the Browns. Worth attaching some odds to.

[Goumindong]

The good news for the Browns is that if they accumulate enough picks, they will eventually stumble onto some talent by accident.

Which, due to being the Browns, they will ruin

[Hoax]

Lets see:

Tunsil
Ramsey
Miles Jack
Hargreaves
Ronnie Stanley

So even if after the two QB's those guys are all gone... That leaves the Browns picking from the just under them tier of Zeke Elliot and your choice of a deep ass class of D-linemen? Bosa? Bruckner(the dude from Oregon?) there is for sure some pro bowl d-line talent in this draft though counting on the Browns to get it right..

[Rasix]

If Elliot or Bosa drop to them, they won't be able to resist.  Most mocks show Elliot being available at this spot, but that was before the trade.

[Hoax]

Yeah but there's also the chance some team talks themselves into one of these mediocre seeming "first round by default" WR's. Or some team has an extra high grade on one of these top DT's.

But after this trade it seems for sure that Bosa and/or Elliot will be there for them. But never underestimate the new front office's desire to seem like they are doing things some extra smart, cutting edge, stat-based way. They may have extra reluctance to pick one of the Buckeyes in the first round.

[01101010]

Word on the street is that the Browns want to continue to move back to grab more picks. I can't say that makes me comfortable in any way. There has to be a point where you get a quality player rather than a boatload of kids that will probably not make the roster anyway. Bill might be able to reap the fields in the mid-to-lower draft tiers, but I highly doubt Team Harvard will have the same results.

[HaemishM]

That sounds to me like they might be trying to ensure they get Paxton Lynch in the 2nd round (so as not to pay 1st rounder money) and still get at least one first rounder that might not suck.

[Paelos]

These two trades are the best news for the Cowboys EVER in the draft. Because they don't want a QB at the first slot.

[Sir T]

So, remember Deflategate? Its time for more Deflategatehate.

A federal appeals court has reinstated Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for his role in the Deflategate saga, a punishment that had previously been reversed by a lower-court ruling.

http://www.boston.com/sports/new-england-patriots/2016/04/25/tom-bradys-four-game-deflategate-suspension-back

The Majority opinion

https://www.scribd.com/doc/310383399/Brady-appeal-decision#fullscreen

The Dissent (Judge Katzmann)

https://www.scribd.com/doc/310383627/Dissent#fullscreen