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2021 Around the League Thread


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25 minutes ago, AZBearsFan said:

That’s what I meant about the maddening inconsistency. I have no idea who I’m getting with Murray any given Sunday. It’s like a shorter, faster version of Good Jay/Bad Jay. Give me Fields’ long term potential over that ride. 

Losing a top WR like Hopkins has definitely stifled that offense. I think Murray's ankle injury also slowed him down at the end of the season.

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20 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

My biggest concern right now with Fields is he has no hit avoidance mechanism.   He takes hardest possible shot when hit too often.  He isn’t going to last unless he changes.

Agreed with the bolded part. He definitely got better with that toward the end of the season though IMO. More sliding when he should, etc. A lot of the BIG hits he took were on plays where the defenders made illegal hits, especially those later in the season (the Kendrick’s ejection hit and multiple shoulda been roughing the QB plays come to mind). 

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13 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

I think he wants to hold ball too long like bad Rodgers.  He is playing backyard football and isn’t as good at as he thinks he is.  

My biggest concern right now with Fields is he has no hit avoidance mechanism.   He takes hardest possible shot when hit too often.  He isn’t going to last unless he changes.  

If I was in his life I would make him do drills all offseason to fix that.  All it takes is peripheral vision and subtle movements to achieve, but it has to become instinctual.  He is so big it never mattered before, but it matters now.  

It's really concerning.  Before Fields was starting I was worried about him taking lots of hits behind patchy OL and confuounding offensive scheme more than I was about him being "ready."  Once he took over it was hard not to be excited by the flashes, but man oh man were the hits bad, especially because they were such a bad soup of avoidable hits and zero time from the OL.  Hopefully the timing and flinches he must have picked up this season can be reversed. 

The new GM better make solidifying the OL a priority as we still really don't much enough about the rookies and we know too much about the vets.  If nothing else Fields is going to need a cleaner pocket if he's going to develop to potential. I know there are all kinds of grades and stats that say the Bears OL was better than people think, but a) those are pretty selective b) if you watched all the games you know there wwere  long stretches where the pressure was immediate and intense enough to make anything but a scramble or rollout a finished play.  It's optimistic to think that the 2022 Bears offense is going to be great, but if they have the opportunity to give Fields more time to grow and be a pocket passer I'm ok with it comign at the expense of not having the skill position guys catching balls. 

As for the drills to make him better at shifting and knowing when to dump the ball off, I'm all for it but you'd have to educate us as to how that works.  Nothing weirder than when you have a skill that's helped you succeed now be a liablity at a higher level, and for Fields I feel like the instinct to show up and be the toughest SOB is something that might be as much mental as rote practice. 

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3 minutes ago, abstract_thought said:

Losing a top WR like Hopkins has definitely stifled that offense. I think Murray's ankle injury also slowed him down at the end of the season.

And it should be expected that would be the case (with losing Hopkins). He’s been recovered from the ankle injury for weeks though. Hopkins’ absence shouldn’t negatively impact the decision making this much though. He looked completely lost out there last night, and has several times over the last month. 

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1 hour ago, RunningVaccs said:

It's really concerning.  Before Fields was starting I was worried about him taking lots of hits behind patchy OL and confuounding offensive scheme more than I was about him being "ready."  Once he took over it was hard not to be excited by the flashes, but man oh man were the hits bad, especially because they were such a bad soup of avoidable hits and zero time from the OL.  Hopefully the timing and flinches he must have picked up this season can be reversed. 

The new GM better make solidifying the OL a priority as we still really don't much enough about the rookies and we know too much about the vets.  If nothing else Fields is going to need a cleaner pocket if he's going to develop to potential. I know there are all kinds of grades and stats that say the Bears OL was better than people think, but a) those are pretty selective b) if you watched all the games you know there wwere  long stretches where the pressure was immediate and intense enough to make anything but a scramble or rollout a finished play.  It's optimistic to think that the 2022 Bears offense is going to be great, but if they have the opportunity to give Fields more time to grow and be a pocket passer I'm ok with it comign at the expense of not having the skill position guys catching balls. 

As for the drills to make him better at shifting and knowing when to dump the ball off, I'm all for it but you'd have to educate us as to how that works.  Nothing weirder than when you have a skill that's helped you succeed now be a liablity at a higher level, and for Fields I feel like the instinct to show up and be the toughest SOB is something that might be as much mental as rote practice. 

You just simulate situations in different ways.  Be creative.  

For example, I would do a pass blocking/ Pass rushing drill with kids where I was QB in pocket.

I would set a winner time.  So like if a DL touched me within 2.5 seconds they won and if they didn't the OL won.  Then as OL got better I would increase it to 3 or 3.5 or whatever.

But I noticed I could cheat the game if I wanted by moving just a little when they got close.   They would blow right by like a bull or sometimes they would still touch me but it would be just barely and I knew if it was live that wouldn't have mattered.

Then I thought, this would be a great drill for my QBs as well.  You really learn to make the small movements and what a difference they make.   

When I used to watch Brett Farve I would think why doesn't he get hurt as much as other QBs?  I watched him close and noticed he is almost always moving away from the hit.  He rarely stands still in pocket like a lot of QBs are taught.  Stand and deliver and take the shot they say.   Screw that I say.   Those guys are 350 lbs.   If you can't make the strong arm slightly off platform throw you aint the QB or you aint gonna last.  

 Its because of physics.  A body in motion tends to stay in motion and is lighter.   And force times whatever is whatever and meets an object at whatever.  Whatever the science is. 

 I know if I plant a stick and kick it, it will snap in two.   If I throw a stick and kick it in air, I am just going to move it from one spot to another and the stick isn't going to be much bothered.

When Barry Sanders played, all 11 guys would be trying to murder him.  But they rarely could, because he constantly moved away from the hits and you couldn't get that clean shot.

Now Walter Payton would deliver blow first, so he didn't get worst of it, but he was still taking blows.   But guys like Earl Campbell they are just taking shots and relying on their size and strength.  Which will eventually give.

 

 

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4 hours ago, HuskieBear said:

Champ Kelly is interviewing with LV for their GM job. 
 

super hope he gets it for two reasons: 1) it would prevent us from hiring him, we gotta completely clear house, and 2) we get 2 3rd round picks due to the diversity hire 

How would Raider's fans react to hiring someone from a GM staff who just got fired?

Everyone wants people from successful teams.

It would be cool to get the 3rd rounders, but I wonder if he is really in the running.     

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19 hours ago, dll2000 said:

How would Raider's fans react to hiring someone from a GM staff who just got fired?

Everyone wants people from successful teams.

It would be cool to get the 3rd rounders, but I wonder if he is really in the running.     

Oh, probably not. And they probably don’t want him. I really just want the draft picks

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Ian Rapoport

@RapSheet

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14m

The #Panthers are expected to hire former #Giants HC and ex-#Packers OC Ben McAdoo as their offensive coordinator, sources say. They need to work out the contract, but there aren’t expected to be issues. McAdoo is back as an OC, where he initially rose to prominence.

 

Wonder who will be the Panthers next HC after this season? 😂

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Tom Pelissero

 

@TomPelissero

 

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36m

 

#Steelers DC Keith Butler informed the team he is retiring, per sources. Butler played 10 NFL seasons and was an assistant for 23 more, including 19 in Pittsburgh, where he was part of two Super Bowl wins. A big hole to fill on Mike Tomlin’s staff.

Another huge loss for Pitt this offseason...loved how basic yet effective Butler's D was.

 

 

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28 minutes ago, Madmike90 said:

Tom Pelissero

 

@TomPelissero

 

·

 

36m

 

#Steelers DC Keith Butler informed the team he is retiring, per sources. Butler played 10 NFL seasons and was an assistant for 23 more, including 19 in Pittsburgh, where he was part of two Super Bowl wins. A big hole to fill on Mike Tomlin’s staff.

Another huge loss for Pitt this offseason...loved how basic yet effective Butler's D was.

End of the Big Ben era has them looking at a pretty significant reset. Wouldn’t shock me to see them target Martingale to fill that role - he obviously knows the division really well. 

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