NFL 2020 Season: Gravy Edition!

Sadre Spinegnawer said:

This whole fucking ordeal is gnawing on my last nerve. No baseball season, even barely half of Spring Training. I have zero confidence in the NFL or NBA giving me what I want, because what I want is not going to happen: I wants stands of fans, biting their nails at a seconds-left field goal attempt from 50 yards in nasty stadium wind. I want the whole arena electric and on their feet as some creature from another planet flies in the air, spins, and gently floats a perfect layup. I want that surge that the crowd and the crowd alone brings.

Here is the deal, I guess. The leagues want to GET MONEY so they are desperate to get product out there. I understand.

But I wonder if the players would take a "plague year" break, heal and get stronger, and rather just wait till we can play real, crowded events.

Just ranting. I gotta vent somewhere.

edit: a friend of mine from a soccer country tells me he just can't imagine, because in many soccer countries, the stands just become this jumping, shouting mass of people, arms linked, songs, etc. They make the Dawg Pound seem stiff heh.

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So you'd rather have no sports? What kind of sick, twisted person are you?

jooka said:

With all that's going on, what is the likely chance the owners are colluding again? The twist this time is getting Kaeperick a job for the PR.

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Did Cam Newton ever get picked up?

jooka said:

With all that's going on, what is the likely chance the owners are colluding again? The twist this time is getting Kaeperick a job for the PR.

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I almost think that would just be so transparent to people it would dig whatever hole they're making deeper. Dude's on the wrong side of 30 and has now been out of the league for 3 full years. How many QB's have we seen ever do something like that and come back into the league?

jooka said:

I could see them using it as a part of a bigger PR campaign. Get him a back up spot that comes with a chance to compete for the starting job. The time away is is worrisome sure, but the wrong side of 30 doesn't apply as much for QB's

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The problem with this plan is I am not convinced he wants to play even as a professional clipboard holder. Then on top of that whoever signs him would have to deal with the ZOMG QB CONTROVERSY IN X every time their starter stepped on his dick

Rude said:

Did Cam Newton ever get picked up?

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Newton's problem is the same as the potential perceived one with Kaepernick's was. Even if he takes the higher end backup money to go somewhere, he's still more of a "threat" to an established starter than some others. I kept seeing people say the Jets should have signed Cam over Flacco, but frankly Flacco at his point in his career is more solidly in the "I'm obviously just a veteran backup" guy and not any real threat to be considered a starter.

Any team with Jets' situation with a guy like Darnold who's clearly their starter (at least for another year or two to see if he can prove to become a long time one or just another wash out young guy) wouldn't make sense to sign Cam. Only team I could even think of that it would really potentially make sense is the Bears, but they just traded for Foles and took on rest of his contract so...yeah.

Plus I think despite any possible perception that Cam can still be a starter that these injuries he's gone through the past couple seasons have kind of broken him.

When is the new rule change coming? The one where all the white guys can only play defense and the black guys are all offense?

Harshaw said:

When is the new rule change coming? The one where all the white guys can only play defense and the black guys are all offense?

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Most likely accelerated to this season. And they'll start docking draft picks if the team has a white head coach and more than ten white football players.

Merrith said:

Newton's problem is the same as the potential perceived one with Kaepernick's was. Even if he takes the higher end backup money to go somewhere, he's still more of a "threat" to an established starter than some others. I kept seeing people say the Jets should have signed Cam over Flacco, but frankly Flacco at his point in his career is more solidly in the "I'm obviously just a veteran backup" guy and not any real threat to be considered a starter.

Any team with Jets' situation with a guy like Darnold who's clearly their starter (at least for another year or two to see if he can prove to become a long time one or just another wash out young guy) wouldn't make sense to sign Cam. Only team I could even think of that it would really potentially make sense is the Bears, but they just traded for Foles and took on rest of his contract so...yeah.

Plus I think despite any possible perception that Cam can still be a starter that these injuries he's gone through the past couple seasons have kind of broken him.

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I mean nobody has been able to evaluate his recovery because of all the chinalung restrictions. Unless he's completely retarded he has to know getting signed as a starter for the upcoming season is super unlikely at this point, but I'm sure he can find a 1 year backup deal which has to be better for his career than just taking an entire year off.

zzeris said:

That doesn't even go into the primary reason not to sign them...expensive backup that had regressed before injuries. Newton hasn't had a good season since 2015. That's a long fucking time ago. His main value was being able to run when his passing wasn't on point. Same with Kaepernick. Kaepernick averaged 190 yards passing and a TD per game his last year. That's terrible QB stats and if they've already figured you out, why pay for complete mediocrity? Especially drama queens like those two. Just find a cheaper, easier backup and move on.

This reminds me of the NBA where people pay outrageous sums for a guy who might get you 12 minutes a game. JAG material. Those two are $10mill a year backups at best and neither one of them is willing to do the job at their true value.

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I agree that Cam's injury concerns are pretty serious (and I think he's probably done because of them, honestly). Some of Kaepernick's passing numbers his last year have to have been affected by his receivers that year. Gabbert in his 6 games that year only averaged 154 passing yards a game. Their top two receivers were Jeremy Kerley (played all of 9 games over 2 seasons after 2016 in the league) and Quinton Patton (never played another NFL game after 2016).

It's actually ridiculous how well Lynch and Shanahan have done rebuilding that roster.

zzeris said:

Cam averaged 32 total TDs a year his first 5 and was an all around hard to manage threat. He also passed for over 4,000 yrds his rookie season.

Show me the year that Kaepernick was a high volume passing stud instead of a running threat? Guy never passed for 3400 yards in a single regular season no matter how much coaching and player talent was there. Add up his best passing year and he averaged 210 yds, and a passing TD a game. He had one single year where his comp % was over 60.3% Guy milked a fantastic team to the SB but beyond Green Bay's inability to stop his running game, he was never a great QB. He was Johnson/Dilfer/Flacco with more athleticism.

I think it's ridiculous to compare him to a much better player in Newton. Newton just broke down. Kaepernick was easily figured out. Let him pass, they lose. Cam had 45 total TDs in his best year. Kaepernick had 85 his entire career. Garbage QB.

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I never really was comparing the two directly as players? Certainly never said Kaep was some passing savant. Simply noted that using his average passing yards per game from his final season without any context doesn't really tell a full story.

You mention Cam's rookie season going over 4k yards, the only time in his career he did such. He also had his most passing attempts in a season that year with 517. Only hit 500 attempts in one other season in his career. Can note that Kaepernick only even had 400+ attempts in 2 seasons of his career. He never hit 500. As far as "talent that was there"? I mean if we're going to compare the two teams, I mean Kaepernick had Crabtree and Vernon Davis as probably his best two pass catchers? Although neither for his whole time there. Davis a higher tier player than Crabtree in my opinion (as far as at their positions go). Even then, I don't think Davis was better than Greg Olsen. Crabtree definitely not Steve Smith. Don't get me wrong, I still think in their primes Cam is a better passer than Kaepernick by a good bit, but I don't think they had it equal with pass catchers around them, either.

I mainly was comparing the potential perceptions, both they themselves had and others around the league, of them being MAYBE still capable of being a starter in the league versus an obvious backup. Cam in 2020, and Kaepernick back in 2017. QB landscape is a little different now versus then, too. But also versus guys like a Flacco, or even an Andy Dalton now in 2020. Maybe all teams just agree with me that Cam is probably done after the injuries, too. At this point anyone thinking Kaepernick could contribute even as a backup 3 years out of the league is wishing for a miracle in my opinion, too.

zzeris Was kind of weird to see Cam had his most passing attempts his rookie year, too. Always end up going down rabbit holes when I do stat look ups like that. You'd figure at some point they would have wanted him to settle more into pocket passer versus running as much. Wasn't even like that was his best passing year, 21 TD/17 Int his rookie year but year they went 15-1 and to the Super Bowl he put up 35 TD and only 10 Int on less attempts (only like 20 less, but still).

Cam is a great QB as much as I hate to say it but his injury issues the last two years are keeping him from getting a contract somewhere. Plus as already mentioned, if you're borderline on your starter but don't want to admit it as either a coach of a front office Cam Newton is a pretty intimidating backup.