NFL (since 2016)

[crystal falace]

"Free agency started last night and was pretty crazy some huge money being spent. Osweiler getting £18m a year for the Texans, leaving the Broncos without a QB, Giants have spent a fortune on good but not great players, Oliver Vernon has more guaranteed money than JJ Watt. lots more deals but cant be bothered to list them all."

[southbankbornnbred]

"Personally, given that the Fins have got Rosen already, I wouldn't have taken the risk of tanking - not for Tua. He's a very fine young player, but putting the whole future of your franchise on that one kid who is NOT an immediate NFL fit is a big risk. If it works, and he's Vick-like, then great. But if it fails and he's out of the league injured within three seasons, the Fins will have wasted a huge opportunity to rebuild now, around Rosen, at a time when Brady and Belichick are clearly thinking about when to retire. Don't bother me, though. It just gives the Jets a better chance of storming the division when the GOATs go."

[southbankbornnbred]

"The thing is, if the Fins are tanking - which, let's face it, they very obviously are - then there are two risks to it. Firstly, Rosen is a decent QB and they just picked him up for a second round pick. So they really have somebody they should be trying to built their offence around. He was a first rounder in the same year as Mayfield, Darnold and Allen - which tells you a lot about the quality of that draft. He just didn't fit with how Arizona wanted to play under a new coach, so Arizona drafted Murray as a scheme QB. So the Fins potentially got a bit of a bargain. I could see Rosen being a solid starter in the NFL - somebody like Cousins or Dalton - if he's given time to learn the playbook and they back him with weapons around him. Secondly, if they are tanking for Tua, it's a risk. The kid at Alabama does look very good indeed. He has a cannon for an arm and he's making the game look simple. But the Tide always make the game look simple - they have the best coach in college football and they have the best system. Tagovailoa is a product of that system, but it has produced very few NFL-suitable QBs. He might buck the trend, of course, and he does look the part. But he relies on his legs quite a bit and he has an instinct which looks for space outside the pocket. There's a touch of the wanderer about him - which could be dangerous in the NFL. Especially when you've got Belichick plotting the opposition's defense, and the Jets' defensive line seeking to rip you apart. He's either going to be Vick or Griffin III. And the chances are it's the latter, simply because there haven't been too many Vicks. Personally, I think he needs to sit in the pocket a little more and learn to be a little more Esiason. He certainly has the arm for it. If he keeps wandering out of his pocket when he doesn't need to, somebody's going to hurt him bad - unless he has Vick's speed. So it's a risky strategy for the Fins to go all in on the young leftie - especially when they have Rosen on the roster already. It could be a stroke of genius - or a complete over-reach which will kill their chances for the next five years. Don't get me wrong, he's a great player to watch. And if the tank works then the AFC East is going to get interesting even when Brady finally calls it a day. Darnold, Allen and Tua could be quite a division."

[crystal falace]

"Feel sorry for Brian Flores ( Dolphins new head coach) being given absolutely nothing to work with and will essentially be pissing off the owners if he actually manages to get anything out of these players and win a couple of games. Would hope he'd get at least 3/4 seasons to oversee a complete rebuild as he is a very gifted defensive mind and has learned under Bellichick, but badly run organisations like the Dolphins will probably get rid of him after next year when Tua doesnt miraculously turn the whole team around on his own. FWIW id be much more inclined to skip Tua in the draft next year and pick up valuable defensive or line pieces high in the draft and then aim to try and get the Larewnce lad from Clemson i believe, i've not watched alot of college football but he looks far better suited to the Pro game"

[southbankbornnbred]

"Be interesting to see how Allen deals with our revised defense now that we have a half-decent edge rusher and another excellent inside lineman who will prevent every opposition from double-teaming Len Williams on every down. One-on-one, Williams is an absolute stud lineman. His namesake, Quinnen, looks like a chip off the old block next to him, too. Ironically, Allen might need to keep running just to stay healthy."

[zebthecat]

Go Fins! #tankfortua

[ATHammer]

Disappointed. If a player in any sport throws a game and is caught he gets banned. The Dolphins have thrown a whole fucking season and no one says a word. Used to love the sport but no more. Fucking disgrace.

[Takashi Miike]

"I was just talking about the guaranteed money side of it, we were stung with rodgers injury and it's fucked us for multiple seasons. the only top level qbs of recent years for me are mahomes and possibly mayfield. I like josh allen and he may have an easier time now they have some decent receivers, if he had to keep running as much as he was, he would have eventually got badly hurt"

[crystal falace]

Cousins had actual leverage though he was a free agent and could negotiate with multiple teams. Think the Bears and Patriots showed last season that if you don't show your hand until after the timer goes and McVay can no longer talk in Goff's ear he has a bit of a deer in headlights look about reading a defence.

[Takashi Miike]

"they can thank kirk cousins for that, and elliott's far more important to the scum doing well than prescott"

[crystal falace]

"Cant believe that contract the Rams gave Goff, he's a top half quarterback at best and now he's got £110 million guaranteed! crazy Just seems like every QB who's due an extension is just going to demand to be the highest paid regardless of how good they actually are, (all of them except Brady anyway)"

[Mr. Burns]

"Nutsin deluded as usual, said the same thing last year and look what happened."

[Hermit Road]

Well whoever got Zeke Elliott has had a result. The geezer is a beast.

[Grumpster]

"Let's hope so Nutsin, as otherwise I'm another score down to burnsy!!! Just be nice to not have so many west ham like injuries this year."

[Nutsin]

"Niners win the wild west, Jimmy Gunslinger lights it up and the D-line Dominates"

[ironsofcanada]

"Mr. Burns 12:45 Thu Sep 5 cockney hammer 11:54 Wed Sep 4 What the camera and everyone sees will count this year, boys. Geaux Saints."

[Mr. Burns]

"Yeah sounds good grumps, I'm IN."

[Grumpster]

Same bet this year Mr B? I mean I wouldn't want you to have to pay for the chelts naps out of your own pocket :o)

[Mr. Burns]

"Well said cockney, only man with any taste round here."

[cockney hammer]

go rams horns up good luck for the new season

[crystal falace]

"Yeah could come down to whoever gets the ball last in patriots chiefs again because their defence is going to be shit. I couldnt believe how far McCoy fell in our draft, was nobody else aware of him signing with the chiefs at the time? it did still have him down as a free agent which probably put some people off, wouldnt surprise me at all if he's the starter and getting the bulk of the workload by the end of September"

[Takashi Miike]

"my superbowl pick is the chiefs, hill being allowed to do what he wants and not get banned, and signing mccoy was the final piece of the jigsaw"

[southbankbornnbred]

"Yeah, I was looking at the Patriots' defense a couple of days ago - that's a deep chart, too. Belichick has done his homework on those guys - again."

[crystal falace]

"Yeah they always find a way to negate ther pressure with quick passes and dumpoffs to running backs. there's some great stuff from the divisional round last year where Joey Bosa was miced up and he's begging Brady to ""stop getting rid of the ball so damn fast"" Tell you what i am excited for this year is the patriots defence, looks so versatile and dangerous on the front 7 could be the best they've had since way back in 04, have possibly the best cornerback in the league and what may be the deepest secondary"

[southbankbornnbred]

"Crystal - yep, no doubt that cornerback is where the Jets' defence is weakest right now. Johnson is going to have to step up and start justifying his salary, but there is little depth there on the chart. What Gregg Williams will do to try to mitigate that, is throw mixed schemes at Brady, Allen and Rosen (if he starts in Miami). There will be no 3-4 or 4-3 blueprint from Gang Green - he'll rotate the system according to opponent and game situation more than most coaches, giving him the option to backload CBs in nickel formations etc. Going to get interesting - but the whole system will rely heavily on getting pressure up the middle from the two Williams lunatics. They are going to be quite a handful in tandem. But as we all know, if Brady gets time to plant his feet, every side is screwed. It won't be easy for the Jets, but I fancy that Gregg Williams will have a few tricks up his sleeve. This will probably be the most pressure on Brady since the early days when Rex Ryan was calling defense in New York."

[crystal falace]

"Sounds like the Cowboys and Zeke might be getting much closer to a deal, i drafted Tony Pollard (zeke's rookie backup) late as i thought he'd get at least a few games as the starter early on as it seemed like Jerry Jones was making no progress on the deal."