Ravenslifer

If we end up looking at FA receivers these are the names I'd be hoping for - Brian Hartline, Mike Williams, Percy Harvin, Kenny Britt.

I suppose - it would all depend on his price. And he is still pretty young at 28 - somehow I thought he'd hit 30 at least. That's probably more important to me - IMO if we target any FA receiver, it should not be a guy like Senior again who will be gone in 2 years at the most - I'd like a guy who at least has a shot of sticking around 5+ years, whether a draftee or a FA.

I'll pass on him, he's exactly the kind of receiver I think Joe would struggle with. He catches less then 60% of the passes thrown his way every season, he's tall but not huge or very physical and he doesn't fight for a lot of receptions, and he drops way too many critical passes. I honestly think a guy like Brian Hartiline would have much more success with Joe specifically than a guy like Johnson would.

Hartline is a pretty decent receiver - still pretty young, solid guy, only 2 years of above average production so he should come fairly cheap. I don't know how long he'd be on the market, because he's the kind of veteran move that would help a lot of teams. I'd be all for picking him up now if the FO wanted to make that move.

That's because a bunch of people think stats and pro bowl value = importance to a team. They don't believe that a viable franchise quarterback is better than any pro bowl RB or receiver. Doesn't mean they're right, but that's how a lot of people are - they think "decorated player + stats" = deserves a payday

Sure, if we had the cap space. I wouldn't expect any big name receivers to come here - more likely if we sign someone it will be a vet ala SSS last year. I'm thinking along the lines of a Kenny Britt or Hakeem Nicks type signing, if Torrey were to leave.

I agree with Sami - Atlanta had one of the worst passing defenses in the league in 2013 with DeCoud and released him. Carolina, coming off a great defensive season, picked up DeCoud and proceeded to have a worse passing defense in 2014.

Wenning is fine. People keep bringing up Bulger, but the reality of THAT situation was that Joe was in year 3; his first 3 years we went with the experience in Smith, Bulger, and Boller. Joe doesn't need a veteran backup - I can see the idea being a guy capable of starting in case he goes down, but the reality of the situation is that if Joe goes down, the season is done regardless - there is no backup that has the playmaking ability Joe does. Look at every other top quarterback in the league - most of their backups are career backups. So who would we bring in - Blaine Gabbert, Jimmy Clausen, Jason Campell, Colt McCoy? What have any of these guys shown that makes anyone think Wenning won't be as effective in a reduced role, basically handing the ball off and throwing 15-20 times a game?

They mean a coach can't make a lateral move without being agreed to by the team the coach is currently under contract with e.g. an OC can't become someone else's OC while under contract unless the current team agrees. In Kubes' case, he made a vertical move from OC to HC; this is allowed.

Yeah that's what I noticed looking up the numbers - a lot of those games he had no choice but to pass, pass, pass. That shouldn't happen in Baltimore.

Slight caveat to that would be, though, that Chicago's defense this season was absolute garbage. It's hard to argue for running the ball when you're defense gives up 30+ points in 7 games.

It's still a WCO style, so I'm good with it. But his results in Chicago weren't so great.

The reality of the situation is gun vs. center don't make a difference for Joe numbers wise if you really break down the split statistics on ESPN and Pro-Football Reference - what makes a difference seems to be whether we're running a base 2 receiver 1 TE set, where he struggles, or a 3+ receiver set, where his numbers are on another level entirely. It just so happens that the premise of the shotgun formation is to spread 3+ receivers out while giving the QB enough space and time to compensate for the diminished blocking up front, so Joe sees more 3 receiver sets in shotgun than under center.

I agree, but if there's one guy I'd take it would be Fitz: he's young enough to stick around for 3-4 years, IF that's the direction the FO chooses to go in.

Realistically you could say the same thing about Steve Smith with Carolina. In the 2 years before Newton he has 1400 yards combined. He gets 1400 the first year with Newton alone, and another 1200 the next season. And Fitz probably would have cracked 1000 if he had started all 16 games - he had almost 800 in 11 starts.

I think that was his point - what cornerback can actually match up with Antonio Brown - he's made some good CBs look pretty pedestrian. He had a good game when we had Jimmy early in the season, then absolutely destroyed us in the second game. He played well in both his games against Joe Haden, played well against JJ, against pretty much every opponent this year.

I remember back in 2008 when everyone was talking about how John was the wrong choice, an unknown, and the 3 guys whose names floated around the most were Jason Garrett, Mike Smith, and Rex Ryan. Now 2 are gone and John is the only 1 of the four with a ring as HC.

Dannell Ellerbe done for the season.

Tough end, but I thought it would be something like this without Altidore. The U.S. just has never had a consistent threat to score at any world cup. Still, considering everyone thought we couldn't even get out of the group, to be that close to a quarterfinal appearance was a great accomplishment.

I pray, pray, pray Altidore somehow finds a way back in this tournament.

I don't think it's about the money - I think he's looking at it from the perspective of having lost in the finals three times to a team made of mid to late 30-somethings (San Antonio twice and Dallas once), and realizing that what he has with the Heat right now is not good enough for long-term success. I think his goal is around 7 rings, and he doesn't think what they have in Miami now will get that many opportunities. He could be saying to himself that if he took less money and the others did as well, they could bring in another big name - or he could be thinking that D-Wade just doesn't have it anymore and he's got to go somewhere else to win. I honestly think LeBron doesn't care about where he ends up or how much money he has to give up to get good players around him, as long as he has rings for both hands by the time his career is over.

Well they've done similar things with clear video evidence to the contrary before. Heck, they might think having Suarez on the pitch will increase TV ratings.

Because the loser of the tiebreaker would have to play the Belgians, a top 10 team, vs. Algeria, a team considered borderline top 25 in this tournament, and that would be us because of goal differential.

LeBron just opted out of his deal - smart move for him, IMO, if his goal is to win several more rings. He may go back to Miami, but as presently constructed they just weren't good enough, and now he has several options to choose from. He really needs to think about the players he wants to spend the rest of his prime years with.

Should have had the win, but after the way the game started I'm pleased with the draw. I'm actually not too worried about the Germans in terms of keeping it a close game, but I'm afraid what Ronaldo just did, they could do to us 2-3 times if we're not careful. But all in all I'm pleased with the way Jurgen Klinsman has handled this team.