Flugel

If it makes you feel any better some fans booed him when he was running onto the field too.

Yeah, about 95% of Giants fans wanted to run their GM out of town when he selected Jones at #6. It was a shock to everyone. Media does that all the time. For example, that Colin Cowherd hack likes to attack certain things about Baker since he continued to be wrong about Baker's leadership and talent. Hack makes sure he doesn't talk about baker and his wife delivering Christmas gifts to under-privileged kids and families in Cleveland or impacting the life of a young girl to the extent he showed up to speak at her funeral service. Those would be far too mature to sell his audience Baker has a great side to him as well. 1 day I was home from work and changed the channel to his show while he was ranting how Baker only beat 1 winning team and blabbed that about 7 of his TD passes were against the Bengals. Meanwhile, he wanted his audience to feel sorry for Darnold going to a bad team. In doing so, he sure stayed away from the reality Baker went to the team that was 0-16 in 2017 and 1-15 in 2016. Meatball on spaghetti, Cleveland didn't win either of their first 2 games in 2018 while Baker entered the 3rd game with a 14-0 deficit vrs Darnold's Jets - that Baker led us to victory over. Telling ALL of the story erases the juice he angled up against Baker.

I like this kid. Glad we're stashing him!

The same defense was only 4-5 when Flacco was their QB. Then they went 6-1 when Jackson was their QB. When Jackson took over - they surged up to #2 in Rushing. In the process, there was an article on December 5th stating since Jackson took over at QB the Ravens have led the NFL in time of possession (holding the ball an average of 37:20 per game). They weren't doing that w/Flacco and you know it. When their offense did this for their defense, their defense played with much fresher legs in the 22:40 duration they had to take the field. And when your defense only has to play 1/3 of the game - less yardage and points are yielded. That mattered way more than you and Gips seem to think it did. Do I think Lamar Jackson is a good passer? No. But I do think he is a beyotch to catch on 3rd downs as many of his opponents learned. If you think that same team was headed for 10-6 and playoffs with Flacco last year - you're sniffing the same glue Gipper got into today. So, where are we as it pertains to the subject heading? The Division Champs were ranked #2 in rushing last year and they just added Mark Ingram. My guess is they liked how that time of possession formula worked in their favor on both sides of the ball so they want that success to continue. The best defense can be a good offense that keeps its defense seated 2/3 of the game. Outside of Pittsburgh, there isn't a team I hate more than Baltimore so I'm FREAKIN done with this conversation.

No more ping pong Gips. It is what it is. Baltimore won the division last year after switching QBs and winning 6 of their last 7 regular season games. You're not going to convince me Jackson had zero to do with their hot finish until you've convinced yourself of that; which you have yet to do. They strengthened their offense with weapons like Ingram and Brown; while they upgraded the 32 year old Eric Weddle at Safety with the 29 year old Earl Thomas who made another Pro Bowl in 2017.

Catch your breath. I want them to suck more than you but slapping a blindfold over my eyes to join you here ain't gonna do it. You can spin doctor this stuff all you want. Fact is, they were losing last year before they made the QB change while we were winless before we made our QB change. Even the night Baker took the field we were down 14-0. Both offensive lines sure looked better after the QB changes didn't they? Not only that, both T Suggs will be 38 years old in October; so he can retire and enjoy his grand children in the same state he played his college football in too many moons ago. All his best football is in the rear view mirror. Earl Thomas is an upgrade to Eric Weddle, who lost at least 1 step if not 2. Mark Ingram is a massive upgrade to any of the dime a dozen RBs they looked to last year. Their offensive line is very good. Their TEs are young, talented, and another year wiser with experience. The foot speed of Marquise Brown was an invaluable help to Baker in the big-play department at Oklahoma as well as their next Heisman Trophy Winning QB. Of course he upgrades the Rats' offense; especially in the 2nd half when defenses are gased from chasing the QB they couldn't catch all afternoon. And just when an opponent wants to put a spy on the QB, they have a lot of talent at TE as well as RB Mark Ingram out of the backfield to attack the area the spy departs from. They're built to control the ball, wear defenses down (while their own defense rests) and score TDs with the dangerous footspeed assembled. It doesn't get easier to defend them with tired legs, which was why they started a winning streak when they changed QBs. If your way to cope with it all is to pretend they did zero in the offseason - then have at it Gips.

Nice job with that Gumbs! I read this thread from back to front so I didn't realize you already took care of where where Johnson played college ball. I thought Gray broke some tackles and moved the pile pretty well against Washington. If he can blaze at that size like you show above - he might stick around especially if he's good on STs. I'll have to pay more attention to how well he blocks. Another thing he has going for him is the appreciation our FO (Eliot Wolf and Alonzo Highsmith in particular) has for the U as the inventory of camp bodies from that program clearly illustrates.

I'm gonna get myself in trouble here but I thought Johnson looked better than Hunt (who doesn't need to be sharp until November). The good news is between Johnson and Hilliard, it looks like they can both play well in the offense and on STs if given the chance. We'll be okay.

He did indeed! He played right here in Tampa at the USF just like Marlon Mack did once upon a time...

I hear that a lot Bob; but he rarely sets a great example as a QB when he gets game action IMO. I've seen him in previous fill-in duties looking very Blaine Gabbertly; and that ain't good. We already have a QB Coach who seems to like Stanton being around for that presence you mentioned; but we're just a twisted ankle from starter away from being sentenced to him at QB. For all that experience, he still processes things way too slow to be successful. If we cut him, maybe we can just make him the Assistant QB Coach or something. Sometimes QBs that struggled like Trent Dilfer, Jordan Palmer, Kellen Moore, and Ryan Lindley (our current QB Coach) make good QB Coaches or even OCs. They know the challenges they couldn't overcome with any degree of consistency while they've practiced the fundamentals throughout high school and college (often attending many QB Camps along the way) to have the background and knowledge to teach the position. We're at a point where we have to have a backup QB that doesn't drop anchor on every drive. Nobody will equal Baker's pre-snap intellect that leads to all the quick-decisive throws that made our offensive line give up far less sacks than we had been used to seeing here. I think Gilbert gives us a better chance for scoring drives at #2. I guess we can always keep Stanton as the #3 and stash Blough on the practice squad.

Yeah, I've heard we weren't the only team that would have drafted him in round 2. That said, I still find it a head scratcher that we drafted him with our 1st pick in round 2 based on the level of competition change he was heading into. Even though Bitonio went to the same school, he's really the only exception to the rule I see from that program that adapted quickly to the NFL trenches. Corbett didn't draft himself so the expectation of emerge quickly or bust still seems unfair. Then again, NFL poverty is a 6 digit salary many of us can only dream about... People in here have accurately equated his turbulent beginnings to Cam Erving. Today, Erving is the projected starter at LG for the Chiefs after filling in as a starter for a good stretch on their playoff team in 2018. While Erving still doesn't look like a 1st round pick - he's found a very good offense that considers him reliable enough for keeps. Anyone remember Tony Mandarach? He was an early disaster at LT in Green Bay for Lindy Infante. When Infante went to Indy, he gave Mandarach another chance as an OG and it paid off. He started on their playoff team and held that job down for a few years. Robert Gallery was also a trainwreck at OT for the Raiders but later settled in as a reliable starter at OG for the Superbowl team that lost to Tampa. Some guys just take longer than others. Right now, Corbett is still pretty new to playing Center so I expect some bad snaps in the shotgun early on. I think we'll all agree Corbett isn't ready to start yet. That said, I would understand it if we DON'T cut his asss just yet. I agree great talent evaluators can make mistakes. Even a Bill Walsh can draft a Gio Carmazzi (out of Hofstra) over a local boy like Tom Brady while 31 other NFL teams also saw nothing special in Tom Brady as well. BTW, that Hofstra program that once had WRs like Wayne Chrebet and Marques Colston - no longer has a football program fwiw.

They'll miss Mosley and T Suggs (although he turns 38 in October so they were going to start missing him soon even if he stayed); but they got better and more experienced everywhere else... Here's the thing.We had zero difficulty stopping their offense when Flacco started last year as the scoreboard reflected. When Jackson started, we couldn't get their offense off the field. You can pretend otherwise but we couldn't. I'll even concede, we got screwed on Jackson's fumble at the 2 yard line that would have gone for a TD. That said, we weren't one of the teams that forced him into mistakes. Why all that about last year? Because their offense added 2 serious scoring threats to it (Ingram and Brown) that will make his job even easier this year. If you want to pretend they're a BINGO Free Space for us - go right ahead...

So would Moses Malone if he could ever stop stuttering...

3 isn't a couple anywhere but your cell phone my man! As much as I HATE saying this Gips, the Rats quietly re-loaded their 1st place roster extremely well. They've been re-loading playoff rosters with great success for years - it's why we still hate them. You know what happens when you forget to look out for #1? You step in #2. Their RB position was weak last year - now it's a strength. Earl Thomas is a huge upgrade to their back tier. And when Baltimore gets back to extending drives and winning time of possession battles; that opens up a perfect play-action pass scenario to Marquise Brown against some very tired legs on defense. You can say what you want to about Lamar Jackson; but check out their record before he cracked the starting line-up in 2018 vrs what it was when he started. He turned Joey Bottaflacco into Joey Botta-Onewayticketouttatown.

Larry, he was on the Patriots last year when football wasn't his priority once again. It's like the knucklehead that watches the 1st Rocky movie countless times thinking if he just watches it in another theater that Rocky might finally win. Do you know how much money I wasted? They don't cure every tin man without a heart in NE, right Kenny Britt? Kenny? The didn't even get uno out of Ochocinco. They just got No-show Sinko'd.

I hear ya. But they did heat up and make a playoff run last year; so I think there will NFL teams taking them more serious than fan speak and message boards. The last time we played them it felt like they ran a 10k on us with the football. Then again, that was the fanny kick we needed to improve our defensive line during the off-season. Despite losing Mosley and T Suggs, they made the following significant upgrades: S Earl Thomas, RB Mark Ingram, and former Baker big-play fave - WR Marquise Brown. They have a good group of young TEs and a solid offensive line IMO. Worst of all, they have one of the most reliable kickers in the league that can make a high percentage of FG attempts between 50-60 yards in close games. I keep hearing because RG3 got hurt that it is a given Lamar Jackson will also get hurt; but he has that Russell Wilson intangible where defenders rarely ever get a solid shot on him (only he's faster than Wilson). Wilson used to take a team with a very mediocre-shakey offensive line to the playoffs/Superbowl no matter how much he wasn't supposed to be the QB of his draft class doing that best. The biggest question mark I see with the Rats is their LBer Corps; which is exactly what a lot of fans of other teams have been saying about our LBer Corps. It could come down to who puts the better defensive line in front of them and I like our chances here. If there's 1 franchise outside of Pittsburgh this franchise should never sleep on - it's the Rats. They need to be terminated and ex-terminated...

You never bother anyone so don't worry about it J. This old knucklehead likes those long winded posts so keep em coming...

Doesn't every Vag need a great Bush? I thought Devin Bush was better than Devin White Pre-draft in the film I watched of the 2. Slightly better instincts in Bush. All the hype was on White's foot speed and the only thing that separated the 2 in the 40 was 1-2 hundredths of second when the 2 ran in the 4.4s. Of course, Bush would be the 1st player Pittsburgh has traded up for in round 1 in a long time. Vag is usually full of yeast; unfortunately I agree w/him this time about Bush. Now back to the comfort zone of disagreeing w/ Vag. Mack Wilson is the steal of the draft. I had a blast digging up different videos of him to share in different threads in April and May. He showing all the same instincts in practice and in the preseason opener. Nick Saban doesn't have to beg anyone to stay when you look at how easily he re-stocks his team with all the top recruits. However, it sure sounded like he was begging Wilson to stay when he learned Mack wanted to enter the draft early in 2019. In fact, he's still fussing about losing him early to the draft. That says all that it has to about Wilson.

We signed a FB called Courage. That works...

Believe it or not, Chubb is actually faster than Michel. When you make it to the state finals in Georgia for the 100 meter dash - you're not slow. As recently as the combine, Chubb ran a 4.52 forty while Sony Michel ran a 4.54.

Not to change the subject but were Takitaki's ancestors in charge of setting up Gipper's text messaging?

Who talked about Takitaki's weaknesses in this thread? I see an inventory of zero. And where did the pre-draft analyses peg Tom Brady as a QB in the NFL? Did I or didn't I point out the flaw I saw with Takitaki's tackling? In fact, I also saw it on film after we drafted him so if you noticed the LBer I posted my excitement for throughout April and beyond - was Wilson. For example, I put film of Mack Wilson in 3 different threads I participated in throughout April and May alone. I don't remember showing much film of Takitaki if any. Me and you aren't wired the same. I do enjoy your passion and what you contribute most of the time. That said, my walk with the sport was to learn and self evaluate using film so it's the way I do it. While you'd rather have a draft report or PFF give you the tell-all; I like to see film. I like to witness 1st step instinct in a LBer that puts him in position to beat faster foot speeds to an area in order to defend a pass or make a tackle vrs the run. Takitaki showed me a nose for the ball (reflecting good instincts) the other night; but his tackling needs work my man. I already gave the specifics. There's sooo much more to learn with playing LBer at the next level vrs much more complicated passing offenses. Meatball on spaghetti here, is now you factor in Takitaki is going to a defense that likes to use only 2 LBers so it's real easy to get Ticky-tacky with Takitaki in NFL game #1. His head is spinning and it showed at times. All that said, most of the battle for rookie LBers is getting them in position on time to consistently make the play. I thought that happened quite frequently the other night and so did the commentators. I've also heard it's happened throughout training camp so I'm not the reason there's a lot of buzz and excitement about the guy. Again, I'd like to see better tackling fundamentals from him; and I think it's doable since I've seen 8th and 9th graders do it. If you also noticed in the thread about the importance of the LBers, I'm not in a hurry to chase Schobert out of the starting line-up when he made the Pro Bowl just 2 years ago. He's only 26 years old so there's an experience volume to cash in on. Kirksey can be a reliable starter when/if healthy. If I had to say what LBer I think can be a superstar that I confess a great deal of optimism toward despite how early it is - it's Mack Wilson. I think he's going to replace 1 of our previous starters in the very near future.

How about a little perspective on this... 1st, you were responding to Clevs, not Cal. 2nd, it wasn't that long ago the depth chart at RB looked like this: 1) Chubb, 2) Hunt, 3) Duke and 4) Hilliard. If you were disappointed he didn't look like a polished version of Alvin Kamara in our 1st preseason game - that's on you. The lack of overall game experience was reflected in the fumble and the holding penalty. Duke had plenty of fumbles that ended drives while he was here; especially during our stretch of 1-31 football. 3rd, if you looked at Chubb's 1st pre-season game last year - you'll see a similarity with the ypc. I remember reminding someone that it was only his 1st preseason game when someone pointed out he sucked too. This what the preseason is for - learning what guys are good at and what they need to improve on as well as what they shouldn't be doing. If we couldn't score from the 1 yard line at Tampa on 2 consecutive plays last year running behind Zeitler with a bigger, work horse back like Chubb - I doubt we're going to ask the 202 lb Hilliard to do this when the games count. Last but not least, when Baker was our QB the other night - Hilliard played like we needed him to. He had 2 receptions of the 5 passes Baker completed in our 89 yard drive that ended with a TD. Truth be told, he DID look pretty good like Clevsies said. 2 targets = 2 completions. Pretty amazing how easy it looks when there's a reliability of accuracy from the guy throwing the passes.

Or, he could have learned grabbers get stiff armed when he was a RB in high school Aggies. My only question is did he do that to Haskins or Mingo?

I'll start with the good GOOD and there was plenty of it on Defense. Our defense was FLYING off the ball. They made Washington's offensive line look like a bunch of mannequins, There was a lot of hustle and intensity that seemed infectious out there. I saw some very good instincts getting our young LBers where they needed to be consistently. Mack Wilson has changed the football wood factor in here from balsa to sequoia while there's a lotta likey-likey for TakiTaki. I'm pumped up about both guys. They seem like ideal students of the game. If I had to nitpick, I'd like to see Taki Taki come under control a little better before he attempts to tackle someone because he ran by some tackles and attempted to arm tackle. While I applaud the hustle - I'd like him to have something to show for it at the end of the play. It's stuff he'll be able to improve with time. All that said, it was his very 1st NFL experience at a position there is so much to learn. You summed up my feelings about Safety extremely well LS. Murray got baked on that first scoring drive. I haven't seen enough of Morgan to know if he still has it or not. It was only a limited 1st observation; but I wasn't impressed with Whitehead and Redwine. This defense has a lot of speed and talent in it so playing Safety shouldn't look difficult IMO.