NFL 2011 Post-Lockout, Pre-Season Thread

As soon as I saw this headline, I immediately thought of what the picture in the story was referring to before I even clicked on it.

Rat Boy wrote:

As soon as I saw this headline, I immediately thought of what the picture in the story was referring to before I even clicked on it.

Eh I already don't like Philly. Won't be hard to direct my Heat-Hate towards them. Dunno what it is, but I've never been able to cheer for their teams in any sport. Maybe it's just the classy fans that make them so likable.

Right up there with the Knicks and Yankees.

Rat Boy wrote:

As soon as I saw this headline, I immediately thought of what the picture in the story was referring to before I even clicked on it.

Coming from him doesn't surprise me at all.

Stele wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

As soon as I saw this headline, I immediately thought of what the picture in the story was referring to before I even clicked on it.

Eh I already don't like Philly. Won't be hard to direct my Heat-Hate towards them. Dunno what it is, but I've never been able to cheer for their teams in any sport. Maybe it's just the classy fans that make them so likable.

Right up there with the Knicks and Yankees. ;)

I'm sure we don't like you either so the feeling is mutual.

TheGameguru wrote:

I'm sure we don't like you either so the feeling is mutual.

This explains sports.

Also, go Eagles! I haven't been this excited about our defense since Dawkins was traded to Denver. The biggest question mark might be the defensive coordinator.

What it's not normal for your o-line coordinator to suddenly become a defensive genius??

Barrett Ruud to Tenn.

Plax goes to the Jets. Makes sense in a train-wreck sort of way.

Yes! Ravens snagged Vonta Leach. Clearly FB was a need as McClain cost too much for them to keep. Besides, McClain could go somewhere and be this year's Hillis. Maybe.

Todd Heap signs with the Cardinals. Boooo. I sure hope those young TE's the Ravens drafted last year are ready for prime time. Joe Flacco, you're on notice, we took away your security blanket.

The Patriots have let Ty Warren go. Apparently, Belichick was pissed that he took the summer of 2010 off to finish his college degree, even though the owner of the Patriots urged him to do so. I think that would be called "entrapment" if the government did it to you, but in this case, it's just called douchebaggery.

I'm particularly interested because Warren went to A&M, and returned there to finish his degree. I hope he lands on his feet, and for Belichick, I hope karma is a bia.

garion333 wrote:

Yes! Ravens snagged Vonta Leach.

The fullback just doesn't fit in GB's offense any more, but he was impressive while he was a Packer. I'm not sad about it because William Henderson really deserves the distinction of being the last great Packer fullback.

garion333 wrote:

Yes! Ravens snagged Vonta Leach.

Ugh. There goes the Texans running game. Two steps forward on defense, one big step back on offense. I can't believe they couldn't get a deal done with him.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

The Patriots have let Ty Warren go. Apparently, Belichick was pissed that he took the summer of 2010 off to finish his college degree, even though the owner of the Patriots urged him to do so. I think that would be called "entrapment" if the government did it to you, but in this case, it's just called douchebaggery.

I'm particularly interested because Warren went to A&M, and returned there to finish his degree. I hope he lands on his feet, and for Belichick, I hope karma is a bia.

I think Belichick proved long ago he does not worry about karma.

bighoppa wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Yes! Ravens snagged Vonta Leach.

Ugh. There goes the Texans running game. Two steps forward on defense, one big step back on offense. I can't believe they couldn't get a deal done with him.

We still have Arian Foster, and I really hope the Texans are prepared to pay him next year, because there's a lot to be said for continuity. I think it's important for teams to have some guys who play their whole careers there, etc.

It remains to be seen how good Foster is without a bulldozer running in front of him.

Love me some Oklahoma Drill.

Looks like Cam isn't going to start for the Panthers right off the bat. Carolina is thisclose to signing Derek Anderson, formerly of Arizona.

Word coming in that Randy Moss is retiring. Why am I thinking that he's retiring in the Brett Favre sense of the term?

bighoppa wrote:

It remains to be seen how good Foster is without a bulldozer running in front of him.

Very true. We're gonna see that very soon.

Enix wrote:

Looks like Cam isn't going to start for the Panthers right off the bat. Carolina is thisclose to signing Derek Anderson, formerly of Arizona.

The Panthers have had Kerry Collins, Chris Weinke, Rodney Peete, Jimmy Clausen and Bad (as opposed to Good) Jake Delhomme start at QB. I think we'll survive Derek Anderson.

Man, the new regime really hates Clausen. Based on Legion's dissection of Clausen's play from last year, I'd take him over Anderson any day of the week. Anderson is a hack. The only reason they're signing him is to have a true veteran at QB who can help the kids. Sure, he might end up starting the season, but I expect that wouldn't have been true if Cam et al had more time this offseason to prep.

I can't conceive of why the Houston Texans haven't been pushing hard to go after Aubrayo Franklin. That whole 3-4 transition needs a nose tackle. Actually, it needs an entire line. Drafting J.J. Watt was the first piece, but who is the man on the inside? Shaun Cody? Earl Mitchell? Ehh, neither of those guys scream "anchor of the defense" to me.

Teams have been scared away from Franklin because his presumed price was too high, but the market has gone soft and Franklin is back in SF talking to the team that was letting him walk for his big payday. Houston should swoop in, but I'll be glad if they don't.

Derek Anderson is being signed because he has experience in Rob Chudzinski's offense, and with the compressed offseason, there's little time to teach the offense. He'll be useful for the young QBs to lean on, and maybe for playing a bit early on if/when Cam Newton has absolutely no idea how to run the offense yet.

It's useful to have players familiar with the brand new offense on the roster, and even more so with the offseason all but erased. But he's not there to take any more field time than is strictly necessary.

garion333 wrote:

Man, the new regime really hates Clausen.

So did the old regime. Remember that John Fox started Matt Moore for two weeks, then threw Clausen to the wolves in Week 3.

For someone so experienced with the Charlie Weiss/Notre Dame Pro Style Offense (TM), Clausen was miserable last year. He might be a serviceable pro some day, but it almost certainly won't be with Carolina. I figure he'll stick around as a No. 2 or No. 3 QB until his contract is up, then sign with someone else.

*Legion* wrote:

I can't conceive of why the Houston Texans haven't been pushing hard to go after Aubrayo Franklin. That whole 3-4 transition needs a nose tackle. Actually, it needs an entire line. Drafting J.J. Watt was the first piece, but who is the man on the inside? Shaun Cody? Earl Mitchell? Ehh, neither of those guys scream "anchor of the defense" to me.

Teams have been scared away from Franklin because his presumed price was too high, but the market has gone soft and Franklin is back in SF talking to the team that was letting him walk for his big payday. Houston should swoop in, but I'll be glad if they don't.

If Rick Smith pulled that off I wouldn't feel so bad about losing Leach on the O side. The roster on their web page shows five DTs listed (Guy Mitchell?, Scooter Berry?), but none of them are really the kind of guy that can swallow up two or three blockers. They have a lot of DEs listed as well. Maybe they'll convert somebody.

Wow. I'm sort of liking this condensed signing period. Maybe they shouldn't allow any contact with free agents until late July every year!

I am surprised on the Moss retirement. Just last week it was reported he was in the best shape of 10 years and had been working out like mad in the offseason. I guess his pride didn't let him wait a little longer for things to settle down since he was passed over for the other WRers already signed.

firesloth wrote:

Wow. I'm sort of liking this condensed signing period. Maybe they shouldn't allow any contact with free agents until late July every year!

Are you kidding? My Twitter feed's melted, my eyes are bleeding from reading too much, and I wore out my phone's battery in the span of three days using the web browser on the go. I can't take it all at once.

Rat Boy wrote:
firesloth wrote:

Wow. I'm sort of liking this condensed signing period. Maybe they shouldn't allow any contact with free agents until late July every year!

Are you kidding? My Twitter feed's melted, my eyes are bleeding from reading too much, and I wore out my phone's battery in the span of three days using the web browser on the go. I can't take it all at once.

LMAO! No kidding. My phone needs a vacation