NFL 2011-2012 Off-Season Pre-Draft Catch-All

*Legion* wrote:
garion333 wrote:
*Legion* wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Who did they have as a fullback?

They didn't. They ran 2 TE as a base formation.

Hmm, perhaps they'll add in some plays with him as fullback. He's also a receiving threat out of the backfield, so adding him in might create some matchup problems between him and the RBs.

I think Tolbert's miscast as a fullback. He began that way in San Diego but he blossomed as a rotational tailback. In 2-back sets, he would actually be tailback with Jacob Hester lead blocking in front of him. He's kind of a downhill head-of-steam runner, and I think some of that would be lost taking carries at fullback, where he has less room to get his momentum going.

He's definitely cast right for a 3rd down back, though he hardly looks the part at over 240 pounds. But he's surprisingly agile, and while he's no driving run blocker like a fullback, he's a very effective pass blocker.

My guess at this point will be DeAngelo on 1st and 2nd down, Tolbert on 3rd down and rotating in on some earlier downs here and there, and Stewart taking over for DeAngelo when he inevitably breaks something.

Fair enough. I was thinking more offset packages or split backs. I don't know. I don't know enough about Carolina to be able to put these things together. Perhaps it's as simple as the fact that RBs are super cheap right now and they now have three veteran backs and Tolbert was a cheap insurance package.

I cannot wait to see the impact Manning has! Of course, since he doesn't play defense we'll need him to keep up with the scoring the defense gives up.

Kinda glad the Manning circus is over. With that said I'm ready for the Jake Locker era to begin, he looks like he could have the potential to be great down the road.

I prefer to imagine Bud Adams having a temper tantrum up and down the halls of the team complex.

Is it evil of me that I want a photoshop / picture of Manning "tebowing"?

PFT is saying that the Broncos are offering him more money than the Colts did ......... wow. He'll be, what, 47 by the end of that 5 year contract?

DSGamer wrote:

Is it evil of me that I want a photoshop / picture of Manning "tebowing"?

It's been done already. Poorly, but it's been done.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/L3b7u.jpg)

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Agree with Dan here. Gotta dump him so he won't distract. It's like that conquistador (Cortez?) burning his ships. Ain't no going back.

Agreed. Elway has never liked Tebow and I think he'd love to get rid of him. As for Tebow sticking around and 'learning under Manning', I don't see it. He was pissed when Manning first showed up there for a meeting and called off various interviews that day, including IIRC, some non-football charity stuff. I think he wants to be -- and believes he's qualified to be -- an NFL starting QB.

I see very few teams showing much, if any interest.

garion333 wrote:

PFT is saying that the Broncos are offering him more money than the Colts did ......... wow. He'll be, what, 47 by the end of that 5 year contract?

We'll see how much is real and how much is phony baloney money.

But it sure sounded like compensation level was a big deal for Manning in his search.

garion333 wrote:

Fair enough. I was thinking more offset packages or split backs.

I would love to see the old Bill Walsh split backs, throw-to-Tom-Rathman offense return, but I think it's good and dead. The "Pro Set" is pro no mo'.

2 TE seems to be a thing now. It's like an entire generation of linebackers were incorrectly blessed with ball-catchin' hands, so now we've got all these 250 lb pass receivers.

*Legion* wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Fair enough. I was thinking more offset packages or split backs.

I would love to see the old Bill Walsh split backs, throw-to-Tom-Rathman offense return, but I think it's good and dead. The "Pro Set" is pro no mo'.

2 TE seems to be a thing now. It's like an entire generation of linebackers were incorrectly blessed with ball-catchin' hands, so now we've got all these 250 lb pass receivers.

It's not just that. Lining up at TE has the advantage of disguising the play better (the TE can stay in to block) as well as getting downfield quicker. The latter being at a premium given the speed and strength of modern DEs.

The cycle we are in of the 3-4 coming back into vogue helps the TE's too. Less often do they have a lineman firing into them. Really helps their release since most of these guys are big wide receivers more than they are fast blockers. Beating press coverage by a linebacker is not a tremendous challenge for most of them.

Send Tebow to Philly he'll soon know what being a NFL player is really all about...that or Andy Reid will eat him.

What tebowing looks like now.

IMAGE(http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t22/Gumbie84/sadtebow.png)

Peyton's new jersey:

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/KyZXF.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/TgUqA.jpg)

Not sure what this means in regards to Alex Smith, but David Garrard just signed with Miami.

Guess his new nickname can be "Plan D"

"@fivethirtyeight: BREAKING: Tim Tebow leads Toronto Argonauts to third consecutive Grey Cup. #tweetsfromthefuture"

Tweet of the day.

jowner wrote:
"@fivethirtyeight: BREAKING: Tim Tebow leads Toronto Argonauts to third consecutive Grey Cup. #tweetsfromthefuture"

Tweet of the day.

If he did that in the pass-happy Canadian league, that'd be pretty impressive. It worked for Flutie, if Tebow can do the same, he should go for it.

sheared wrote:
jowner wrote:
"@fivethirtyeight: BREAKING: Tim Tebow leads Toronto Argonauts to third consecutive Grey Cup. #tweetsfromthefuture"

Tweet of the day.

If he did that in the pass-happy Canadian league, that'd be pretty impressive. It worked for Flutie, if Tebow can do the same, he should go for it.

yea second after I posted that I realized he can't throw the ball...

jowner wrote:

yea second after I posted that I realized he can't throw the ball...

Oh come on, man. Haven't you heard? Throwing doesn't matter. Intangibles and all that

Jeff-66 wrote:

Not sure what this means in regards to Alex Smith, but David Garrard just signed with Miami.

Guess his new nickname can be "Plan D"

I'm imagining the Dolphins trading for Tebow, and creating their new Don Strock / David Woodley rotation setup.

Except this time, it's 236 pound run-like-a-RB guys running the option. (Both guys are listed at NFL.com as exactly 236 pounds. Can NOT be coincidence!)

Garrard comes in on the 3rd downs.

Leroyog wrote:

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/TgUqA.jpg)

You win the Internet withat one.

I prefer:

IMAGE(http://cdn.ksk.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/foxkiss.jpg)

And

IMAGE(http://cdn.ksk.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/broncos2.jpg)

The latter of which is terrifying. What's also terrifying is the Tebow Truthers popping up in comment sections all around the internet, basically making out Elway and Fox to be...

...well, Pontius Pilate and Judas, really.

EDIT: OOH, OOH, can we get Taylor Swift (or, more reasonably/accurately, Katy Perry) to work in here as the story's Mary Magdalene? I will pay $100 American Dollars for her next song to include the line "I don't know how to love him".

EDIT to the EDIT: I swear to god, I had no idea Colin Kaepernick was black...ish. Whatever. The last name completely threw me.

Prederick wrote:

EDIT to the EDIT: I swear to god, I had no idea Colin Kaepernick was black...ish. Whatever. The last name completely threw me.

Me too. I looked him up a few weeks ago because Legion just won't shut up and was confused. Kept thinking I had typed in the wrong name.

According to Wikipedia:

Kaepernick was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. An adopted child of Rick and Teresa Kaepernick, Kaepernick is of mixed European and African descent and the youngest of their three children.[1][2] He lived in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin until age four and attended grade school in Turlock, California.

All I knew him from was NCAA 10. I'm pretty sure he was white in that game.

Regardless, he's an interesting prospect. I hope he gets a shot this year.

Schefters three teams to watch for Tebow trades all make no sense to me.

Jax, the lazy pick. The 49ers? not sure where he fits in there.... and my favorite nonsensical pick. The Green Bay Packers.

edit: and looking at the 5 year 96m Manning deal you really have to question if the 49ers were ever really in the running. Of course what of that is real money and what is performance dependent is key but wow.

I call shenanigans on 'I don't want to go to the NFC cause I have to play my brother' and other bs. At the end of the day $$$ was very much a factor as winning. SF was such a better win now team unless someone wants to make a solid argument that the 49ers O line is so bad Denver might be a better fit.

There very much seems to be a stink of money about this whole thing. Very much so.

P.S.: Best take so far on the Manning/Tebow deal. (potentially NSFW - language)

Late to the Mike Tolbert party, but you're missing the point to say the Panthers have three RBs. True, Tolbert is insurance in case Williams and/or Stewart go down. Both stayed pretty healthy last year because their carries were way down.

But the Panthers' special teams has been horrible for the past few seasons, and that's where Tolbert (and last week's signing of Haruki Nakamura from the Ravens) comes in. Special teams will win (or lose) you a game or two every season, and Carolina figures that they're close to the playoffs.

Tolbert also gives them a big-bodied FB for short-yardage situations. Yeah, Cam Newton scored a lot of rushing TDs last year, but a lot of those were on third down after the Panthers started 1st-and-goal from the two. Carolina isn't really a short-yardage team, and that hurt them sometimes last year.

Carolina's use of two TE sets last year was something they hadn't done before, but they had two TEs who could catch. Next year, Shockey's almost certainly gone, and the other TEs not named Greg Olsen couldn't catch a cold during a Canadian winter. With WR David Geddis healthy again, I suspect Chud might use the WRs more. Maybe Tolbert becomes some sort of H-back for 'em? Or maybe he becomes a special teams/RB backup like Mike Goodson has for years.