beasy2487

So your theory is that people on fan forums speculate and then are proven or disproven by hindsight? Interesting.

Dark horse in this discussion is Steven Means. If Means shows enough to make the 53, I can't see how we keep 7 receivers unless we give up a corner. Given recent memory, I don't see us prioritizing a 7th receiver over a corner or a pass rusher. Given that and disregarding IR, I think it's Brown vs. Campanaro vs. Butler for 4 and 5. Perriman(2) and Waller(6) are protected by draft status, Smith Sr(1) is self-evident, and I think Aiken(3) has proven himself to our coaching staff. I could also see us bringing in a vet to push for the 3 spot, meaning only one of Brown/Camp/Butler makes the team. I think the skillset of said veteran would help determine which of the three we keep.

I spy, with my little eye, something that rhymes with sphinx.

Franklin Delano Walkervelt edit: I am also legitimately shocked that only one person has mentioned the dreaded Oneil Cousins.

Haha you lobbed it up, Gabe and I had to spike it.

Post of the year candidate

Amputated finger for JPP?? Whoa.

Don't be silly, the Ravens of old couldn't score 14 points .

And you know what makes up for those ducks up the seam? Gronk. The funny thing is, in the end it was the trick plays that were the difference. I think it's funny that people want to point to other things. We got beat with a WR TD pass and a rule so obscure it is now obsolete. That's football at its highest level. Our guys played and coached their tails off and lost a game by a small margin that they were supposed to get blown out in. The Pats pulled out all the stops and got their swan song SB...which was supposed to solidify Brady's legacy...if it weren't for that pesky cheating issue. Their time is over if our guys do what they're capable of over the next 3-5 seasons. I'm excited to see it play out.

Yea the Pats had to pull out every trick in their bag to beat us at home in the playoffs with no secondary. Hell, they had to change the rulebook to get that win. People seem to forget that we weren't even supposed to be in that game so much as pushing the entire Pats team to its proverbial limit. I'm so proud of what we were able to accomplish last season. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if there's anything you can knock Pees for in the second half of that game, it's not selling out on the interior pass rush. I think that's where Pees got out coached by Belichick and Co. In my opinion, we should've sat B. Will and gone all out with Suggs, Ngata, Jernigan, and Doom, rotating in McPhee at all 4 positions. Interior pressure was our only hope and Belichick accurately guessed that we would still hedge against the run, so by abandoning it he put us at a disadvantage once our secondary wore down.

From where I'm sitting the opposite is true. I look at Brown's TD numbers his rookie year and I see a guy that made plays when nothing was expected of him (either from the fans or from the opposing defense). Then last year, when the #3 WR spot was all but up for grabs, he disappeared. We can talk about "taking advantage of opportunities" as much as we want, but at some point you make your own opportunities. Torrey Smith struggled mightily last year, Smith Sr. disappeared for long stretches toward the back end of the season, Jacoby's confidence was completely broken by mid-season, and Campanaro was oft-injured. Given those circumstances, Marlon had nothing but opportunity to establish himself as the #3 WR on this team and he just couldn't do it. 24 receptions for 255 yards and no scores?! When you're 6' 5" and have the inside track for WR3???? Extremely disappointing. I think Marlon Brown is a solid WR4 or WR5. The thing is, we have other guys that can play WR4/5 that have the potential to do more (i.e. Butler, Campanaro and Waller). With Aiken primed to solidify himself as WR3 and Waller, more than likely, locking up the last WR spot, I think it's Brown vs. Butler vs. Campanaro for WR4 or 5. Any two of those three could make it but I'd prefer Camp and Butler, simply because I think we've seen what we're going to get from Brown--mediocrity.

Yea I also think Perriman is going to be sneaky good on screens. He explodes off the line and with his size/speed it should be nothing to make the first defender miss. Then with the athleticism we have at G/T and the size we have at WR/TE, getting blockers out in front and into the second and third levels should something we are very good at. If it plays out that way we'll be giving teams nightmares with the quick passing game.

I think you're going to see more of Joe in the shotgun, coupled with quick passes to Juice and the RBs to replace some of our more traditional early down running plays. I also think you're going to see more screens. Should be interesting.

I'm not high on Brown. He had his opportunity to separate last year and fell short. I don't think he uses his size well and even in these OTAs he was getting boxed out by smaller DBs (that aren't allowed to hit). Our offense needs guys that can win one-on-one and I'd like to see some others given the opportunity.

Hoping our WR corps shapes up something like Sr. > Aiken > Perriman > Campanaro > Butler > Waller. Nice mix of size, speed and technique.

Yea I think from a scheme perspective Pees called the game exactly as he had to and did a great job. My only knock on him for the Pats game is that he left Ngata in for the lion's share of the snaps in the 2nd half after the Pats abandoned the run. With the way our secondary was playing, our only hope was interior pressure on Brady. For that reason I would've had Jernigan out there much more. Otherwise though, totally happy with Pees and look forward to the product we put on this field this coming season.

Meh, Flacco stays on the field. Doesn't matter how talented you are if you can't stay healthy. Agree with you that Jimmy is better if health isn't a factor, but given Joe's durability (not for lack of hits taken) I think he's easily the second best on the team behind Yanda. I would only give Yanda the edge because of his ability to play RT. It's crazy that he can play above average at RT while also being the best Guard in the league. That said, Jimmy is definitely a top 5 player on this team.

Nope, I just like to give the lords of the forum an opportunity to feel superior every once in a while. It's all the rage this summer. The Upshaw situation reminds me of Suggs in the SB. Bayless got on him for not getting to Kaep and Suggs' response was that's why Skip has never and will never win anything meaningful—because he doesn't understand playing in a scheme. Suggs was hindered at that point and QB mobility was a factor, so they put him on contain to keep Kaep in the pocket. In my opinion they do a lot of that with Courtney because of his lack of burst. Instead of risking the outside lane I think Upshaw has historically been schemed to contain (even on passing downs). The times I've seen him get pressures and hits have been green dog and broken plays. I think Upshaw is going to have to prove in practice that he can benefit us more as a rusher than we lose by taking him off contain. I'll be interested to see if he can make it happen.

yea sounds like he's given Jimmy a few techniques he can choose from but the press technique is where he has the upper hand. glad Smith figured that out.

I definitely think the CBs have some say in how they line up. I remember in 2013 right before Jimmy really came on Pees was on record saying that Jimmy "has a technique he can use, we just need to get him comfortable." I took that as referring to him getting over his early struggles with the double move and having the confidence to press. Shortly thereafter we saw Jimmy on receivers like glue. the key point in that statement is 'he can,' which says that there is some choice to me.

nuh uh. according to this thread, Upshaw couldn't find a potato sack in Boise, so much as dream of coming anywhere near an NFL quarterback. facts have no place in this discussion.

Suggs has really had a perfect career. Would love to see him pad those stats over the next two years, get another ring, and waltz into the hall like his big brothers.

i couldn't disagree less

I dunno it seems like you might be putting a little too much stock in the media. We're not even in training camp yet. I'm not sure we have any idea what we're going to get out of any of the rookies at this point.