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Guest Agent of Oblivion

The 2009 NFL Offseason

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Guest Czecherbear
All that shotgun spread and spread option bullshit is obnoxious and I hope all its proponents die in a fire.

 

Do you also hate slam dunks and foreign hockey players?

Slam dunks are cool. My favorite team's rival is composed almost entirely of Swedes and various strains of Slavs, so yes on that one! But really, aren't Tebow and all these spread option guys just gonna get steamrolled against NFL defenses? What's the point of doing this razzle-dazzle gimmick stuff that doesn't work at the highest level when you're a developmental league for the highest level? It's a distraction. Run pro offenses.

 

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All that shotgun spread and spread option bullshit is obnoxious and I hope all its proponents die in a fire.

 

Do you also hate slam dunks and foreign hockey players?

Slam dunks are cool. My favorite team's rival is composed almost entirely of Swedes and various strains of Slavs, so yes on that one! But really, aren't Tebow and all these spread option guys just gonna get steamrolled against NFL defenses? What's the point of doing this razzle-dazzle gimmick stuff that doesn't work at the highest level when you're a developmental league for the highest level? It's a distraction. Run pro offenses.

College coaches will do whatever helps them win the most. They don't give a shit about preparing guys for the NFL. Over 95 percent of the players won't make it to the NFL anyway.

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Guest Czecherbear

I don't care about the 95%. Oh well. If only we could have a sensible developmental system like the minor leagues or Canadian junior hockey, instead of academic institutions exploiting poor black kids from Mississippi for financial gain, but it's what's entrenched, so here we are. And some yokels out there, mostly in states shaped like rectangles or in places loaded with Waffle Houses, have the gall to say that not only is it a superior developmental system, it's better than the damn NFL. One of those things I'll never get.

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Adam Jones DONE~ with the Cowboys per John Clayton.

 

Can't find a link right now. Just saw the story on SportsCenter. If true, hopefully this asshole never plays pro football again. I wouldn't be surprised if he pulls a Maurice Clarett. However, Adam Jones would be a perfect Raider :angry: . Imagine JaMarcus Russell throwing to Michael Vick and Plaxico Buress in three years. With Adam Jones taking Aso's spot. Al Davis is probably drooling thinking about it.

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Wfan is reporting that Mangini has been hired by the Browns.

 

I think Mangini got shafted by the Jets, but I don't get this at all. The Browns just fired Crennel so they turn around within two weeks and hire another former defensive coordinator of Belichick's? They might as well have kept Crennel.

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I don't care about the 95%. Oh well. If only we could have a sensible developmental system like the minor leagues or Canadian junior hockey, instead of academic institutions exploiting poor black kids from Mississippi for financial gain, but it's what's entrenched, so here we are. And some yokels out there, mostly in states shaped like rectangles or in places loaded with Waffle Houses, have the gall to say that not only is it a superior developmental system, it's better than the damn NFL. One of those things I'll never get.

You're reminding me of Clint Eastwood in those Gran Torino ads. I'd say college football is a game first and a developmental system second, given that only a few hundred players in a year will even sniff an NFL practice squad. As a game, I love it; the lack of physical development and uneven talent levels require innovation in coaching and the approach to the game, and it tends to have more deliriously nationalistic fans than the NFL. I think it's hard not to adore college football if you go to a college whose team is at all competitive. I'd say the exploitative issue is an entirely different argument to take with college football, unless you want to get really, really invested and write off a sport entirely because of its deficiencies in treatment of its participants.

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Adam Jones DONE~ with the Cowboys per John Clayton.

 

Can't find a link right now. Just saw the story on SportsCenter. If true, hopefully this asshole never plays pro football again. I wouldn't be surprised if he pulls a Maurice Clarett. However, Adam Jones would be a perfect Raider :angry: . Imagine JaMarcus Russell throwing to Michael Vick and Plaxico Buress in three years. With Adam Jones taking Aso's spot. Al Davis is probably drooling thinking about it.

 

Id say the Ravens should sign him, but he wouldnt even be the best player in Baltimore named Adam Jones. They could probably use him though, especially if McAlister is still hurt/not playing well.

 

 

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Adam Jones DONE~ with the Cowboys per John Clayton.

 

Can't find a link right now. Just saw the story on SportsCenter. If true, hopefully this asshole never plays pro football again. I wouldn't be surprised if he pulls a Maurice Clarett. However, Adam Jones would be a perfect Raider :angry: . Imagine JaMarcus Russell throwing to Michael Vick and Plaxico Buress in three years. With Adam Jones taking Aso's spot. Al Davis is probably drooling thinking about it.

Apparently the reason he was released is that Outside the Lines are about to do a report on an incident in Atlanta during his 1 year suspension where he allegedly arranged another shooting outside a strip club. I think I remember it being reported for a second back when it happened, but it just kind of went away until now.

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Some coaching news...

 

- Rob Ryan was hired as the Cleveland Browns DC. He was in Oakland the past few seasons (and IIRC, made the "memorable" TO against the Patriots in 2007).

- Tom Rathman has been hired as the 49ers RB Coach. He was formerly with Oakland and a mainstay at FB during the Steve Young era.

- New Orleans fired DC Gary Gibbs

- Seattle will hire Greg Knapp (famously with Atlanta during the late Vick era) to be their new OC

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I like Waffle House, like most college players just like playing football. Czech, lament the deaths of non-NFL leagues over the years if you want a "developmental system" like baseball has. Football's a radically different sport, you can't expect the same structure and progression. A guy can dick around in the minors through his mid-late 20s and play into his 40s in the majors because he doesn't have someone who wants to decapitate him on every pitch. The pro and college games' differences are what make them both great. If you don't feel the balls-out craziness of offenses in college, then stick to the more disciplined and defensively restricted professional game.

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Guest Agent of Oblivion

Explain "defensively restricted."

 

Do you mean the defenses restrict the scoring excitement, because that's the whole point of fielding a defense.

 

If you mean the defenses are restricted by rules favoring the offense, that's an odd argument to make when most college games have far higher scores than the typical 27-17 NFL game.

 

I don't get where you're going with that.

 

I like college ball well enough, but I can't follow it like the NFL. College ball is an art. The NFL is a science.

 

I don't like watching spread offenses either, but three yards and a cloud of dust doesn't win championships in the NCAA. Trust me, I'm in the geographic center of the Big Ten. When Rodriguez gets his own recruits at the senior level, Michigan will dominate the conference.

 

 

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I meant that the speed and strength advantage of a team of professionals has a much better chance at beating the option, wildcat, spread, etc. than a bunch of kids doing it on the side.

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I meant that the speed and strength advantage of a team of professionals has a much better chance at beating the option, wildcat, spread, etc. than a bunch of kids doing it on the side.

 

Not to mention, most college stars that make it into the NFL put on a ton of weight/muscle thanks to working with training professionals. Many players often put on at least 5 pounds after entering the NFL and presumably have much lower body fat percentages too.

 

Also they can study film and don't have to worry about attending classes so the mental ability to diagnose plays alone dwarfs that of most college players.

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Here's some questions I'd thought I'd ring up to make things in this folder a bit interesting...

 

1. Will Mike Shanahan coach in 2009? If so, who?

 

2. Will Jeff Garcia be Tampa Bay's starting QB at the beginning of 2009?

 

3. How much interest will Darren Sproles get at the start of free agency?

 

4. Will Donovan McNabb be a Philadelphia Eagle at the start of 2009?

 

5. Where will Albert Haynesworth go in 2009?

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I can answer a couple right now:

 

1. I doubt it, given that he's already said he'll sit out a year unless the perfect job comes along. If the Chargers fire Norv, that'd be a possibility, but I doubt that'd happen, and I'm not even sure he'd be interested.

 

3. Probably a fair bit, but I doubt he'll even hit the open market, as San Diego won't be keen to repeat the mistake they made in getting rid of Michael Turner, especially with Tomlinson taking as steep a drop as he did. I'd expect Sproles to get a new contract fairly soon.

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Guest Vitamin X
Here's some questions I'd thought I'd ring up to make things in this folder a bit interesting...

 

1. Will Mike Shanahan coach in 2009? If so, who?

 

2. Will Jeff Garcia be Tampa Bay's starting QB at the beginning of 2009?

 

3. How much interest will Darren Sproles get at the start of free agency?

 

4. Will Donovan McNabb be a Philadelphia Eagle at the start of 2009?

 

5. Where will Albert Haynesworth go in 2009?

 

1. Shanahan will probably sit out unless the right job came along, like CC said. Chargers would be interesting (and kind of funny, since Shanny will have coached all the AFC West Teams by then minus the Chiefs).

2. More than likely, yes.. Unless the right kind of QB came along. There don't seem to be any big names in free agency that could really take over, unless Arizona dumps Kurt Warner and lets Leinart take over next year and Warner wants to keep playing. Even then, I think I see Tampa Bay going for somebody in the draft and letting them develop.

3. Not much, probably. Sproles is still thought of as an NFL Reggie Bush (as in how Bush played at USC, not how Bush is in the NFL) in that he's a quick little guy who is an excellent returner, but probably not much of a big time running back. Almost reminds me a bit of Tim Dwight, who made a few big catches playing as a receiver but made his name mostly as a return man and then when given the full-time opportunity to start, he's just fairly average but grossly overpaid. If Sproles attracts any attention, I doubt it would be for a full-time starting gig.

4. Yes, absolutely. I think if he let down his guard and played like shit the rest of the year after the benching, Kolb would be the new starter but since he's led them into the second round of the playoffs now, he is playing with wild abandon and I think he's won Philly back.

5. Probably nowhere. Titans have a fair amount of salary cap room and Haynesworth holds that defense together.

 

I think the interesting one to look at is actually Terrell Suggs, who I think has a good chance of going to the Packers, especially if Mike Nolan takes the defensive coordinator position there like it's been rumored. He's a year younger than Haynesworth too, and defensive tackles tend to drop off a lot faster than defensive ends and linebackers do. Haynesworth will probably test the market just to get paid bank from Tennessee, though, even though the Titans need a legit threat at receiver if they want to be a really great team. The crop is thin at WR this year though, so I'm thinking Tennessee goes for someone like Bobby Engram instead of Houshmandzadeh, who is also on the market.

 

In fact, here you go TSM. The 2009 NFL Free Agents list (tentative).

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1. Will Mike Shanahan coach in 2009? If so, who?

 

2. Will Jeff Garcia be Tampa Bay's starting QB at the beginning of 2009?

 

3. How much interest will Darren Sproles get at the start of free agency?

 

4. Will Donovan McNabb be a Philadelphia Eagle at the start of 2009?

 

5. Where will Albert Haynesworth go in 2009?

 

 

1. Doubt it. The only team I could've seen him going to was the Browns, but now? I figure he'll take the year off, come back in '10.

 

2. Probably. The real question is will he finish as the starter...wouldn't be suprised to see them draft a qb....a position they desperately need to get younger at.

 

3. More than he deserves. He's a great compliment back, but I don't see him being an every down back. Part of a RBBC? Sure. Can you imagine a Texans duo of Sproles and Slaton?

 

4. Nope. Lions! lol

 

5. Titans will throw everything towards him to keep him. If not Titans, I can see himgoing to the patriots, dolphins, or 49ers. No real reason, just teams I cans ee him playing for.

 

and in regard to Vitamin X...of the 3 Ravens LBs, the most likely one to become a free agent is Bart Scott. Ray Lewis is a lifer, and Terrel Suggs is a player they have already said they will try and keep. look for Bart Scott to leave and Jameel McClain to take his spot.

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Guest Czecherbear
Also they can study film and don't have to worry about attending classes so the mental ability to diagnose plays alone dwarfs that of most college players.

I don't think many college players worry about attending classes either, and they're doing anything but "doing it on the side." Come on. They're unpaid minor leaguers.

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You know, I'm all for Brett taking his time to retire...again. Really, I am. But does he need to keep holding press conference after press conference to say he doesn't know if he's going to retire? It was old the first three years he did it. I get it is a difficult decision but if he doesn't know, he shouldn't need to update anyone BUT the Jets every few weeks. And knowing Brett, he'll wait until the day AFTER the draft to decide.

 

Right now I think it is getting to the point where the NFL teams are just going to force his hand. Cause he doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who can Vinny it on the sideline year after year. The Jets need to move forward like he retired and if he doesn't want to come back to sit on the bench or accept he has to fight to keep the job then bye see ya, enjoy the Hall of Fame ceremony.

 

 

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Guest Agent of Oblivion

Am I the only one thinking Shanahan might take a high profile college job, should one pop up?

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Am I the only one thinking Shanahan might take a high profile college job, should one pop up?

 

I could see that, but are there any real powerhouses out there that are looking to dump their coach after a subpar year? Tennessee filled their void, and no other school really seems like they are rebuilding or they already got their man.

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