NFL 2014 Off-Season Thread

YES. Miami hires Bill Lazor, Phili's QB coach as their OC! This is a hiring I can be excited about!

Most Bengals fans are sad to see him go, but happy for him on personal level. The man deserves his shot.

Come on down, Jim Schwartz.

Tea_sl said:

Most Bengals fans are sad to see him go, but happy for him on personal level. The man deserves his shot.

Come on down, Jim Schwartz.

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It's gonna be Guenther. I honestly don't want Jim Schwartz. Every 3rd & 1 would be a guaranteed offsides jump. The man lacks discipline.

This is the worst news of the morning. Jackson needs to bring consistency to the offense because I don't think our defense will be nearly as good.

Alex_sl said:

It's gonna be Guenther. I honestly don't want Jim Schwartz. Every 3rd & 1 would be a guaranteed offsides jump. The man lacks discipline.

This is the worst news of the morning. Jackson needs to bring consistency to the offense because I don't think our defense will be nearly as good.

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Is Dalton really the answer in Cinci? He strikes me as good enough to occasionally get you in the playoffs, but not clutch, and not talented enough to do anything while there. I think he's a downgrade from Carson Palmer.

Ambiturner_sl said:

They stopped doing it 5-6 years ago for some reason. I always thought that was more entertaining than the pro bowl. You'd have things like seeing what qb could throw the furthest, kickers could kick the furthest, bench press competitions, etc. Jason Taylor was a damn beast and won pretty much everything he was in every year.

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Maybe had something with Robert Edwards destroying his knee and ending his career in the rookie beach bowl game thing. Made teams nervous about players getting hurt in this frivolous stuff.

My favorite thing from these skill competitions was when one guy won the bench press reps thing and when they interviewed him after he said something about it barely counting since Larry Allen didn't compete. Next year Allen was there and just dominated.

Only thing I can find on it.

"Cowboys lineman Larry Allen went first in the strongest man portion of the Pro Bowl Skills Competition, and proceeded to bench press 225 pounds 43 consecutive times. I can't even fathom that. The closest anyone else came was 35, a mark achieved by LeCharles Bentley of the Saints and angry Steelers lineback Joey Porter. Porter then attempted to stab Larry Allen in the chest for blatantly disrespecting the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Lions D-lineman Shaun Rogers got to 23 reps, laughed at the absurdity of doing 20 more, and quit. Giants DE Osi Umenyiora did 4 reps and quit, which was probably the best strategy of the day."

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Larry Allen was a damn beast. He supposedly was able to bench 705 raw, which means no special suit that allows you to lift much l more weight. The world record at the time was 720ish.

Gecko_sl said:

Is Dalton really the answer in Cinci? He strikes me asgood enough to occasionally get you in the playoffs, but not clutch, and not talented enough to do anything while there. I think he's a downgrade from Carson Palmer.

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Dalton has been to the playoffs every year he's been in the NFL. The Bengals only had two playoff appearances with Carson Palmer. Dalton's young. He finished only his third year. I can say I'm frustrated with him, but I can't discredit the wins we've gotten with him. The first half of the Chargers playoff game was very different than the second half. Dalton's stat line was spectacular in the first half. I think a different OC - particularly Hue Jackson - will be a very good change for the offense.

Defensively, the Bengals have the talent so I don't expect a massive dropoff in the quality of the defense unless it gets ravaged by injuries like it did this season. Marvin has done a good job of choosing personnel so I believe he'll make the right decision, but I think Zimmer was one of those special guys who's presence will be missed no matter who replaces him.

I was hoping the only major coaching change in the offseason would have been Gruden to Jackson so we can see how that single change would affect the team. Plus, this is a contract year for Marvin so if this ends up in another one-and-done or .500 season, I liked the idea of promoting Zimmer to HC.

Meh. Bengals life.

Gecko_sl said:

Zimmer for HC with Norv Turner as OC and the Vikes could go far.

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On this note per Schefter:

Vikings have requested and received permission to interview Browns OC Norv Turner for Minnesota OC job, per source.

Dalton is incredibly frustrating because he had the stretches and flashes where he looks legitimately great. Not elite, but certainly more than good enough. I also don't put a lot of stock in QB "clutchness", by this point in their careers these guys have delivered in clutch situations dozens of times. He's certainly inconsistent though, but only time will tell if he matures out of that.

As for DC, I'm not worried too much about Schwartz's discipline or lack there of. I think Lewis will tamp that down pretty well, and Schwartz has a good track record both as a DC and working with Lewis.

Zimmer plus Norv makes the Vikings almost instantly competitive I think.

Tea_sl said:

Zimmer plus Norv makes the Vikings almost instantly competitive I think.

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Vikings still don't really have a QB, do they?

They certainly don't, but presumably they pick someone up in the draft. Shit, if you look at the boards then that someone could even be a guy like Bridgewater. Regardless there's going to be a guy there that is an instant upgrade.

Love the new OC hire for the Giants.

Alex_sl said:

It's gonna be Guenther. I honestly don't want Jim Schwartz. Every 3rd & 1 would be a guaranteed offsides jump. The man lacks discipline.

This is the worst news of the morning. Jackson needs to bring consistency to the offense because I don't think our defense will be nearly as good.

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Reports he's already been promoted. Which is good because I heard both Zimmer and Gruden were looking into him for their DC spots.

Tea_sl said:

They certainly don't, but presumably they pick someone up in the draft. Shit, if you look at the boards then that someone could even be a guy like Bridgewater. Regardless there's going to be a guy there that is an instant upgrade.

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With the exception of Andrew Luck, most QBs coming out of college are in no way prepared for the NFL. I think the best method is to get the best vet QB on the market and plug him in and try to develop a second or third rounder in house.

Use that first round pick on a blue chip lineman, LB, or DB if ones team has a losing record and get a good journeyman QB in there.

There are a dozen free agent QBs who actually can read a blitz, study, and play competently. A guy coming out of college in round 1 will be immature, unready, and will be at best a poor game manager. Don't the vikes have Cassel? Why not give him a go and actually let Ponder learn and develop behind him?

Hahaha. Saw this post on reddit a couple days back.
My friend and her mom just rented a car at the Fort Lauderdale??"Hollywood airport and found this in the back seat... : WTF



WHELP TURNS OUT ITS FUCKING RYAN TANNEHILL'S.
Automatic rifle found in FLL rental car and posted on /r/WTF is registered to Ryan Tannehill. : miamidolphins

God damnit Lauren.

edit: the dipshit who posted the article called it an automatic rifle, it's semi-auto.

Gecko_sl said:

With the exception of Andrew Luck, most QBs coming out of college are in no way prepared for the NFL. I think the best method is to get the best vet QB on the market and plug him in and try to develop a second or third rounder in house.

Use that first round pick on a blue chip lineman, LB, or DB if ones team has a losing record and get a good journeyman QB in there.

There are a dozen free agent QBs who actually can read a blitz, study, and play competently. A guy coming out of college in round 1 will be immature, unready, and will be at best a poor game manager. Don't the vikes have Cassel? Why not give him a go and actually let Ponder learn and develop behind him?

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The college game is so advanced offensively right now that I think that sentiment is far less true than it used to be. Look at first and second round QB picks from the last three years and there is a staggering amount of talent that produced immediately. QB's enter the league in a far better position than they used to. You don't need a Luck caliber QB to be successful in Minnesota. You need someone that can spell some relief from the ridiculous 1920's defensive schemes teams use to stack the box against AD. Norv can pull shit out of an offense with a semi reliable QB, and I'm nearly certain Zimmer will get the defense in the top 10 range. It's not a recipe for a deep playoff run, but it's enough to make them an immediately scary opponent.

This year's and next year's QB classes are absolutely loaded too. There's a legitimate shot that Bridgewater falls into the Vikings lap, and there's absolutely no position that upgrades a team faster than QB. Whoever they pick up in the draft if they go QB is going to be at bare minimum of league average type of guy, which is enough to make the Vikings not suck. It's not like Minnesota is extremely talent poor either.

Cassel is pretty fucking bad. Enough so that going from Cassel to Alex fucking Smith was good enough to make the chiefs competitive. I think the situations in KC and Minnesota are pretty similar, and I'm not even granting the Vikings that level of success.

QB is the Vikings greatest position of need, and they're going to have an opportunity to get someone in the draft that is NFL ready.

Tea_sl said:

QB's enter the league in a far better position than they used to.

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To be fair they're also the first generation of QB's to enter the league since they decided to change all the rules to favor them in every way. It's not just that the college offenses are so super duper, it's also that the NFL game is closer to that silly shit than ever because defense is put at such a disadvantage. Matt Stafford has broken 4500 yards each of the last three years. That's the NFL these kids are coming in to now.

The Vikings Defense is in just as much need as they are at QB. Hopefully Zimmer helps shake up the defense enough to be credible, but that alone won't give me hope. I'll agree that if we got even a mediocre QB who can consistently make passes and not turn the ball over and give just a little bit of threat of being able to put the ball deep, then the Vikings offense would be in great shape.

I'm all for blowing our first pick on a QB and letting him learn through trial by fire; I'm also for putting that draftee under Matt Cassell and letting him teach the kid while we have an 8-8 season. The franchise was an embarrassment this year but if they get it together quick, things could get really interesting up here.