NFL 2023: The preseason / predraft thread

Wasn't this part of the problem that RG3 ran into? I recall him being so thin. Like, in my mind, he was Randy Moss thin.

Contrast with Russell Wilson and how he really could take hits (combined with his ridiculous early-career nimbleness and ability to escape, which, to me, seemed to come from his infield baseball background).

RG3 had a narrow frame, yeah.

He weighed roughly the same as Russ, but stretched across a body that was 3 inches taller.

The two other QBs whose builds most closely resemble RG3 are Stele's Louisville All-Stars: Teddy Bridgewater and Lamar Jackson. One who had to fight through some serious injuries to keep his career going, and the other whose injuries are part of the biggest current intrigue in the league.

Russ is thicker than all those guys. His weight fluctuated over his career, but even at his leanest, he was still reasonably sturdy. He was just short, not small.

Bryce Young is an inch shorter than Russ, and his real playing weight might be 20-30 pounds beneath everyone I've listed here. (Alabama listed him at 6-foot and 194 pounds, and given how inaccurate the 6-foot part was, nobody has much faith in the 194. I suspect the reality was more like 188).

Realistically, he's probably at least 10-15 pounds lighter than Kyler Murray, at the same height. (Murray wasn't afraid to be weighed again at his own Pro Day, and he's actually packed on more weight since then.)

Lamar somehow made things even weirder.

The league issued a warning to teams against negotiating with the non-agent that was supposedly reaching out to teams on Lamar's behalf.

And then:

Yahoo Sports wrote:

Jackson immediately denied the report:

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/RJc1zue.png)

Francis also denied he had been contacting teams for Jackson when reached by ESPN, saying "I don't speak for Lamar."

Less than an hour later, however, Jackson posted a video identifying Francis as his business partner and himself using his "The Entire Gym" invention, introducing the distinct possibility the pair used the NFL as part of a marketing ploy. Their product appears to be a set of compact gym equipment stored in some kind of suitcase for mobile workouts.

Bro...

When this whole Lamar saga started this offseason, there had to be some members of the NFLPA who were happy they'd finally have some evidence to file a lawsuit charging the NFL with collusion, using how nobody would even offer a contract to a star QB a few years removed from a unanimous MVP award.

Those people are now in the NFL concussion protocol from banging their heads against their desks repeatedly.

WR DJ Chark is continuing his tour of disappointing NFL franchises by signing with Carolina.

Edit: As someone pointed out on Twitter, Chark has played only on cat-related teams: Tigers (LSU), Jags, Lions and now Panthers.

And next year, after Cincinnati loses Tee Higgins in free agency, he'll join fellow LSU alums Burrow and Chase on the Bengals.

The Ravens need receivers that can actually catch.

So, of course, they signed... Nelson Agholor.

"He got it the first time" kills me every time.

The Robbie Gould era is truly over in San Francisco, as the Niners have traded with the Panthers (again?) for kicker Zane Gonzalez.

No word on the exact trade value, but the report I saw described it as a swap of draft picks. The Niners are absolutely swimming in day 3 picks, so, makes sense to use some of that value for an established kicker that costs $2m a year versus the $5.5m they spent on Robbie a year ago.

Gonzalez hit 90.9% of his kicks in 2021, but missed last year with a groin injury. Carolina found an even younger kicker in Eddy Pineiro, so Gonzalez was expendable.

EDIT: Trade compensation is now reportedly "a conditional late round pick in 2025", so I guess they'll gladly pay Carolina Tuesday for a hamburger kicker today.

IMAGE(https://www.pbh2.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/internet-gifs-i-get-that-reference.gif)

It's a good thing that kickers have been sure bets across the board these past couple of seasons.

Eddy Pineiro was money for the Panthers last year: 30 of 32 on XPs and 33 of 35 on FGs. He'll start the 2023 season with a 19-straight FG streak. To the credit of the former regime, they hired a good special teams coordinator and trusted him enough to bring in His Guy when Gonzalez got hurt.

But.

There's a sliver of Panthers Fandom still sore at Pineiro for missing two kicks (one XP, one FG) in Atlanta in the PJ-to-DJ game.

Had Pineiro made both or either kick, Carolina would probably have won 8 games, probably have gone to the playoffs (Carolina held the divisional tiebreaker) and probably be picking 19th in the draft instead of 9th and now 1st. Carolina wouldn't be kicking the tires on Bryce Young or CJ Stroud and probably would have showered a ton of money on Derek Carr or Jimmy G (or worse).

It's not quite the Texans winning in Week 18 to give the Bears the No 1 overall pick, but it's weird enough.

The kicker didn't take his helmet off.

Stele wrote:

The kicker didn't take his helmet off.

This is the Way.

Enix wrote:

and probably would have showered a ton of money on Derek Carr or Jimmy G (or worse)

Either guy would have been Carolina's next Steve Beuerlein. You missed out.

Enjoy your new Kerry Collins instead!

The eventual 30 for 30 on this is going to be titled "This is Why You Get an Agent; the Lamar Jackson Story."

3 way trade.

Jets get Rodgers
Ravens get Love
Packers get Lamar

It will never happen but I can dream.

Before they tagged him.

jowner wrote:

3 way trade.

Jets get Rodgers
Ravens get Love
Packers get Lamar

It will never happen but I can dream.

I'm going to point out the "dream" here is the guy with 50 career attempts, not the all-time great or the guy who won an MVP a few years ago. Hope is a weird thing.

I had to look up "Love + Packers" to figure out who the hell you were even talking about.

jowner wrote:

Jets get Rodgers
Ravens get Love
Packers get Lamar

Colts get Lamar
Ravens get Rodgers
Packers get Foles

*Legion* wrote:
jowner wrote:

Jets get Rodgers
Ravens get Love
Packers get Lamar

Colts get Lamar
Ravens get Rodgers
Packers get Foles

As bad as the Lamar situation is I don't think the Ravens would take a worse one in Rodgers.

I do like in this situation though the Jets just get screwed.

My first reaction to the "Love to Baltimore" idea was "why the hell do we need a golfer?".

jowner wrote:

I do like in this situation though the Jets just get screwed.

Oh they have a plan too, they sign Cam.

*Legion* wrote:
jowner wrote:

I do like in this situation though the Jets just get screwed.

Oh they have a plan too, they sign Cam.

A Flacco vs. Cam QB battle? I would pay to not watch that.

Paleocon wrote:

My first reaction to the "Love to Baltimore" idea was "why the hell do we need a golfer?".

Well obviously this would be balanced by picks etc. It's also not actually happening.

That said I'm not sure what the Ravens plan is for 2023 if Lamar goes full Rodgers.

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst is now openly acknowledging that the team "won't necessarily get a first-round pick" in exchange for Rodgers.

Denver gave up two 1sts, two 2nds, Noah Fant, and some other odds and ends for Russ. They were prepared to offer much the same for Rodgers.

Giving up that offer in order to get one more 8-9 season out of Aaron Rodgers has to be one of the biggest cases of GM asset mismanagement in recent memory. They gave up the opportunity to jumpstart a rebuild around Jordan Love twice. They could have gotten those two 1sts last year, and probably three 1sts if they traded him before the 2021 season.

Sounds like the likely offer now will be a 2nd round pick plus a conditional mid-to-late rounder in 2024 if Rodgers doesn't retire before next season.

I just don't get it. I haven't gotten it the whole time. I know I'm kinda harping on it by bringing it up so much over the past 2 years, but it's just so inexplicable to me, I keep trying to wrap my head around it.

Well apparently the Russ deal was not the same deal on the table for Rodgers because of age concerns.

I'll dig up where I read that eventually but ya.

The specifics matter. Same difference when people assume the Packers could of kept Davante when in reality he was done with the Packers (Rodgers?)

I'd take a 2nd this year and a 2nd next year with caveats that up it to a 1st that don't involve a SB.