NFL 2016 Offseason Thread - Fins' Quest to Defend Their Crown

Kaines

Potato Supreme
18,403
51,803
Challenge accepted.

We need to up our hate, guys.
.
rrr_img_124177.jpg
 

Merrith

Golden Baronet of the Realm
18,794
7,364
Response from the other NFL thread as it belongs here instead of there where only two teams are worthy of discussion.

When it comes down to it, a lot of people didn't like the Cowboys' 2015 offseason moves, Hardy chief among them. However, when it comes down to it, they certainly didn't hurt the team as much as people liked to think. McFadden, once he took over the starter job, ended up 4th in the league in rushing despite being in a limited role the first few weeks of the season so losing Murray was a wash and McFadden was significantly cheaper. Hardy wasn't quite the force people expected of him, but he still contributed and ended up second on the team with 6 sacks. Their FA acquisition for the last three years has been to sign players to help fill in holes and then approach the draft with a best player available mindset (Jerry's fascination with JFF notwithstanding). Quite a few talking heads haven't caught on to this and summarily bashed the Cowboys for doing very little. Especially for Running Back.

It takes a few years to really get a good sense of a draft but Jones was outstanding and played literally every secondary position at one point or another. Gregory got injured and never was quite right, but rookie pass rushers can take a year to get going. Rest of the draft is yet to be determined but I'm hoping their Tackle (Green) will compete with Free this offseason for the RT spot. Oh, and then they picked up Collins as a UDFA giving them a 3rd first round talent and he definitely showed flashes of that once he took over for Leary.

But back to the initial topic. People were lukewarm on their offseason moves, kind of liked the draft, and kept up a revolving door of "Veteran RB to the Cowboys" rumors. They still remained in the conversation with regards to being a good team in the NFC but by the end of preseason it was the Eagles who were touted as the team to beat, not the Cowboys. Then things promptly went to shit, as things are wont to do when your franchise QB and franchise WR go down with injuries.

I believe NFCE will be pretty competitive with each other in 2016. Outside of the division remains to be seen.
Wasn't exactly a banner year for running backs in the NFL. Only 3 guys topped 1,100 yards rushing, and that's with Gurley getting 1,106 in only 13 games.

The Eagles hype seemed to be coming from a few loud corners, but wasn't an universal as you make it sound from what I remember. Cowboys were still the favorite for the most part, with a few loud voices trying to play up the Eagles with the uncertainty at RB for the Cowboys. I distinctly remember a bunch of us making fun of Convo talking some shit late in preseason/early in the year because most of us thought it was ridiculous that the Eagles would be a better team than Dallas. If Romo is healthy they easily outperform the Eagles and almost assuredly win the division with 10+ wins.
 

Gravel

Mr. Poopybutthole
41,755
143,196
Outside of the Chargers, it appears everyone finally figured out that you can draft a running back in rounds 3-5 and they'll be just as (if not more) successful as a first rounder. Running backs are cheap, and the position translates very well from college (e.g. any college back should be able to transition to the NFL).

With that cheapness it means you can carry 3 guys that are all similar in skill level and have a much more successful running back by committee than you could 10 years ago. It wouldn't surprise me if the trend of very few 1000 yard backs continues for a while. It also doesn't help that the league has been pushing pass friendly rules for the last 15-20 years.
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
15,104
-1,030
I think that they need to start calling intentional grounding more. Both Brady and Wilson had multiple times during the playoffs where they just flung the ball in some random direction to avoid a 10+ yard sack. I know they don't like quarterbacks getting hurt but sacks are my favorite plays to watch and that pussy shit drives me nuts.
 

moontayle

Golden Squire
4,302
165
Outside of the Chargers, it appears everyone finally figured out that you can draft a running back in rounds 3-5 and they'll be just as (if not more) successful as a first rounder. Running backs are cheap, and the position translates very well from college (e.g. any college back should be able to transition to the NFL).

With that cheapness it means you can carry 3 guys that are all similar in skill level and have a much more successful running back by committee than you could 10 years ago. It wouldn't surprise me if the trend of very few 1000 yard backs continues for a while. It also doesn't help that the league has been pushing pass friendly rules for the last 15-20 years.
Caveat: You still need a 'back that works in your blocking scheme. Murray had huge success in Dallas' zone blocking but Philly doesn't use zone blocking and, well, we saw those results (makes me wonder if the new coach will try to make that happen). Conversely, despite McFadden's relative success this year, they still had to adjust their blocking scheme to fit his style a bit more.

But you're pretty much right. Guys like Peterson and Gurley are outliers these days.
 

Lenardo

Vyemm Raider
3,704
2,638
for the patriots- of their 54 man roster there are zero "key" free agents they need to resign, most everyone of the "core" is signed for next year.

vollmer might get cut or restructured (would free 4 mil in cap space)- this year he played all year out of position due to solder going in IR, him back means that vollmer could move back to his natural position.
defensively,

Mayo will be either cut or restructured to free up cap space (most likely restructured imo he does not seem to be a "give me the money" type of player-he live in foxboro kids goto school there etc)

most of the free agents for the patriots are "middle" guys

18 free agents, none of which are "core"

Ryan Wendell C 29 NE TBD $2,400,000 UFA
Tarell Brown CB 31 NE TBD $2,000,000 UFA
Tavon Wilson FS 25 NE TBD $1,342,057 UFA
Akiem Hicks DE 26 NE TBD $1,259,588 UFA
LeGarrette Blount RB 29 NE TBD $949,632 UFA
Nate Ebner FS 26 NE TBD $684,150 UFA
Brandon Gibson WR 28 NE TBD $665,000 UFA
James Develin FB 27 NE TBD $660,000 RFA
Sealver Siliga DT 26 NE TBD $660,000 RFA
Dane Fletcher ILB 29 NE TBD $581,353 UFA
Justin Coleman CB 22 NE TBD $435,000 ERFA
Rufus Johnson OLB 25 NE TBD $435,000 ERFA
Brian Tyms WR 26 NE TBD $363,000 RFA
Cameron Fleming G 23 NE TBD $360,000 ERFA
Brandon King FS 22 NE TBD $332,647 ERFA
LaAdrian Waddle RT 24 NE TBD $103,235 RFA
Steven Jackson RB 32 NE TBD $68,823 UFA


imo wendell hicks imo were the best of the bunch

waddle fleming for oline were not that effective
siliga had spurts

tyms, gibson were useless
blount was decent but got hurt and is getting old, jackson we did not see enough of- and the Oline didn't rush block well so we have no idea, he could be a decent resign if he has it in the "tank" still
johnson, king wilson and brown- not much from them this year

ebner is a good special teams guy and is decent on the field, he might get resigned.

so AFC East imo goes to the Pats next year - barring injuries to brady
 

Arcaus_sl

shitlord
1,290
3
so AFC East imo goes to the Pats next year - barring injuries to brady
They had the same divisional record as the Bills. The only impact player the Bills have up on Free Agency is Harvin who only played 5 games. Division could go any way right now.
 

Merrith

Golden Baronet of the Realm
18,794
7,364
Caveat: You still need a 'back that works in your blocking scheme. Murray had huge success in Dallas' zone blocking but Philly doesn't use zone blocking and, well, we saw those results (makes me wonder if the new coach will try to make that happen). Conversely, despite McFadden's relative success this year, they still had to adjust their blocking scheme to fit his style a bit more.

But you're pretty much right. Guys like Peterson and Gurley are outliers these days.
This is the main thing, although not all backs are as scheme dependent. Also, just in general, Murray went from one of the best run blocking O lines (and frankly one of the best overall) in the league to one in the bottom half of the league. I do think some RB's are still worth a 1st or a 2nd round pick, but as you said, guys like Peterson and Gurley are the exception and not the rule.
 

Merrith

Golden Baronet of the Realm
18,794
7,364
Dude is 5-10 against the Pats. That includes having Sanchez as your best QB at New York. Since Rex started coaching, the Pats are averaging a .750 win percentage. They have a worse win percentage against Rex. Do the math!
1-0 against them in the playoffs too.
 

Arcaus_sl

shitlord
1,290
3
46-50 as a head coach. Teams are poorly coached and do stupid things on a regular basis.
What coach is 46-50? Rex has had only two losing seasons in 7 as a head coach. His record as a head coach is 58-60. If you remove the one 4-12 season he is 54-48. With all of the shit that the Jets front office provided him it's a miracle he came out even that close to .500.
 

Sutekh

Blackwing Lair Raider
7,489
107
What coach is 46-50? Rex has had only two losing seasons in 7 as a head coach. His record as a head coach is 58-60. If you remove the one 4-12 season he is 54-48. With all of the shit that the Jets front office provided him it's a miracle he came out even that close to .500.
Yeah ... if you just simply remove 20% of his losses his record looks good!

Are you retarded?
 

Rengak

Blackwing Lair Raider
2,879
2,761
He's still just one win away from achieving an eternally employable record of .500
 

moontayle

Golden Squire
4,302
165
He's still just one win away from achieving an eternally employable record of .500
Except he talks too much. If he mostly kept his mouth shut he could have himself a Fisher-like career and perpetual holder of "they're about to turn the corner" rhetoric for whatever team he's on.