Getting a TE this draft wouldn't be the best idea. But are we seriously going to act like this season wasn't inflated for Fedorowicz. Hopkins had a down year because the qb obviously didn't know the offense and had to fall back on the TE as a safety blanket who's route is usually something simple and easy to remember like a drag. Our TE group is far from anything to be mesmerized over. We will need an upgrade at the position no later than next year even if it means letting CJ walk and making Griffin the #2. We need a Hunter Henry type guy and I'm still pissed we missed out on him last year.
So in the same post you are going to argue that one receiving target had his numbers inflated due to bad QB's and another receiving target had a down year due to bad QB's.....way to be consistent. The reason TE's got the targets they did was because for a lot of the season they were the only ones getting open with any regularity.
Hypothetical. What would you do if OJ Howard is on the board, best OT's and top 3 QB prospects are off the board?
Football Outsiders' early 2017 NFL projections Spoiler Things change rapidly in the NFL. A team that was bad one season is sometimes much better the next season or vice versa. But dramatic year-to-year changes actually happen less often now than they used to. From 1999 to 2008, a dozen different teams turned things around and went 11-5 or better after a season in which they were 5-11 or worse. Since 2009, only three teams have done the same thing. The decline of parity is reflected in this first round of Football Outsiders' 2017 team projections. Eleven of the 12 teams that would make the playoffs based on mean projections are teams that made the playoffs in one of the past two seasons. Nevertheless, there will be some new blood in contention, and in particular, a new city. Both the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers rank seventh in their respective conferences in this initial forecast, meaning there's a good chance one of the two teams will give Los Angeles playoff football for the first time since 1993. Our projection system starts with Football Outsiders' Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA) ratings for the past three seasons, although last year's ratings end up about six times as important as either 2014 or 2015. (You'll find last year's final ratings here.) Offensive projections also incorporate a separate projection for the starting quarterback done independent of the team. After that, we account for general regression trends and incorporate a number of other variables that measure everything from turnover ratios to personnel and coaching changes on both sides of the ball. Each team has a forecasted record but also, for those of you wanting more detail, a more exact "mean projected wins" number. We also list strength of schedule based on average projected DVOA of next season's 16 opponents, ranked from the hardest (Dallas is No. 1) to the easiest (New England). When considering these numbers, remember that this is not the final, official Football Outsiders forecast for 2017. Numbers will change over the next few months because of personnel moves, including the NFL draft. We also might work on improvements to our forecast system, and that would alter our 2017 projections. Also note that stat projections naturally consider a wide range of possibilities. There's a lot of randomness in the NFL: Player development is difficult to predict; injuries have a huge impact; and even the better team on an individual day might not win because of the arbitrary bounce of a fumble or a tipped pass. A team projected to go 7-9 could realistically end up anywhere between 3-13 and 11-5. Taking the average of so many possibilities, all teams end up grouped more toward 8-8, with very few teams listed with double-digit wins or losses. We've tweaked the results slightly to get a more realistic spread of win-loss records, but nonetheless, the numbers published below don't mean that we expect the 2017 season to end with no team below 5-11. Here are the results: AFC South 1. Tennessee Titans: 8-8 (8.1 mean wins; SOS: 29) 2. Jacksonville Jaguars: 8-8 (7.5 mean wins; SOS: 30) 3. Indianapolis Colts: 7-9 (6.6 mean wins; SOS: 28) 4. Houston Texans: 6-10 (6.1 mean wins; SOS: 10) This will continue to be the worst division in the NFL, but at least Tennessee and Jacksonville seem like teams on the rise. The Titans ranked 15th in our DVOA ratings last season, best in the AFC South, and they've made some strong free-agent additions on defense. So has Jacksonville, and the Jaguars project to have a top-10 defense, but there's no reason to expect the offense to get any better. Houston might have won the division last season, but the Texans ranked a dismal 29th in our DVOA ratings. That first-place finish doesn't do the Texans any schedule favors, because there's a big difference between playing the Patriots and playing the other AFC East teams. The quarterback position is a colossal question mark, which is enough to outweigh a defensive projection that gives the Texans a boost with the return of J.J. Watt. Meanwhile, the Colts continue to experiment with just how much a bad defense can fritter away the prime years of a good quarterback. Full AFC standings Here's what the 2017 AFC playoff picture would look like according to our early projections. 1. New England 2. Pittsburgh 3. Oakland 4. Cincinnati* 5. Tennessee 6. Kansas City* 7. Los Angeles Chargers 8. Baltimore 9. Jacksonville 10. Buffalo 11. Indianapolis 12. Miami 13. New York Jets 14. Houston 15. Denver 16. Cleveland * Wild-card teams
Gruden's takeaways on top QBs Deshaun Watson, Mitchell Trubisky Spoiler ESPN NFL Insider Mike Sando went to Orlando, Florida, to watch Jon Gruden's QB Camp tapings with seven draft-eligible quarterbacks. Below, Sando has written up Gruden's biggest takeaways from the interviews and throwing sessions, in Gruden's voice. First up in the spotlight are Clemson's Deshaun Watson and North Carolina's Mitchell Trubisky, the two quarterbacks seen as likely first-round picks in this class. Catch the SportsCenter TV specials starting at 8:30 p.m. ET Tuesday on ESPN2 and WatchESPN. Five takeaways on Deshaun Watson 1. No QB in this draft has shown greater poise What stands out on film and when you watch Watson in person is just how much he thrives under pressure and how much poise he has when he plays. He never, ever gets rattled. That is a tribute to him and will remain important for him. 2. Vocal leadership should be a point of emphasis NFL teams are looking for CEO quarterbacks who take charge both on and off the field. Watson is a communication major, but he is not as outwardly vocal as some other quarterbacks. That could be an area for him to focus on at the next level. Everyone communicates now on social media. We are talking about old-fashioned, face-to-face communication with your teammates. You've gotta be able to communicate the play, the formation, the shift, alerts and reminders. You must communicate with your coach, the owner, the media and the fans. 3. Watson has plenty of arm Watson has a big arm. He does not necessarily have a Nolan Ryan fastball, but he has plenty of arm and good accuracy. He threw the ball well from under center in the on-field portion of our visit. You could tell he has been working on that in his free time. He did throw 17 interceptions this past season and 32 over the past two, but it was not like he had tons of missed throws or forces. A lot of the interceptions fell into different categories. When you play the way Clemson plays -- that fast, that many games -- sometimes you are going to get a little reckless. The majority of those picks should be correctable. 4. Sitting out as a rookie would be best It will be no shock if Watson is a Day 1 starter. That is the way of the world. He is going to give you everything he's got, and you'd better be ready to tackle him on game day. This is a 21-year-old true junior, however. Ideally, Watson would sit for a year and really get acclimated to the new terminology and how the NFL works. We could have three quarterbacks taken in the first round of this draft and five or six in the top 50 picks, but a lot of them didn't come in as surefire No. 1 picks. There is real upside with Watson and with this class overall. It's just that some of them are underclassmen who are going to take a little bit of time, and they'll need to get connected with the right people at the next level. 5. Watson is as advertised Clemson coach Dabo Swinney says great things about him. Teammates say great things about him. Opposing coaches say great things about him. You hear great things about him overall. You spend a whole day with somebody and see for yourself it is true. He is what the NFL needs. Watson has the heart of a lion. This man knows how to compete, knows how to win. He will just have to adapt to a new playing style. He will have to get better in the pocket and learn a new language and communicate better. But if you get Watson in your town, get a ticket. Five takeaways on Mitch Trubisky 1. Trubisky is a mystery Trubisky is one of the great quarterback mysteries in the draft over the past 10 years, a one-hit wonder with an incomplete body of work, to say the least. It's hard when you have only one year of tape. It would have been great to see Trubisky stay at North Carolina and win an ACC championship. Most of the time, you look for 25 to 30 starts. This is not uncharted water, however. We had a young man named Cam Newton leave after one year. Trubisky is accurate, he is athletic, he has got a real aptitude for it and you can feel his passion when you're around him. 2. Trubisky has more seasoning than his résumé suggests While most of the underclassmen are quite green, Trubisky is more like a fifth-year senior. He waited his turn at North Carolina. He did not quit, he did not transfer, he did not run away from anything. He stayed there as a redshirt, he backed up Marquise Williams for two years, he stepped in when needed and then he did a good job in his one year as a starter, taking North Carolina to the Sun Bowl. 3. Situational football was a concern When you really study situations -- backed-up offense, four-minute offense -- you can tell Trubisky hasn't played extensively. North Carolina lost the Georgia game because of a backed-up problem on a screen pass resulting in a safety. The Tar Heels had another safety the following week against Illinois. Quarterbacks must execute in these situations. We ran Trubisky through backed-up situations during our workout and forced him to execute without mistakes. 4. Trubisky showed exceptional recall It was surprising to see how calm and composed and sharp and detailed he was during the hours we spent in our meeting. Quite a few young people struggle to communicate. They struggle to take notes. They struggle to stay engaged for long periods of time. Trubisky was one of the guys that would have stayed for a doubleheader. He seemed to have a photographic memory. We haven't had a QB Camp visitor who took more copious notes and was more interested or more engaged for a longer period of time than Trubisky was when he visited. 5. The intangibles are there Trubisky has all the intangibles that you are looking for -- passion for the game, work ethic, preparation, mental toughness. He might not lead the nation in those four categories, but he is close to the top of the food chain. This man loves football. He has a lot of great intangibles. It is important to him.
Ricky won't ever get fired. Can you imagine if they fired BOB? They would be back to where we were pre BOB
I've began to have that feeling as well. Webb seems like that QB that will surprise a lot of people by possibly going late 1st/early 2nd. I like what I see with him (he seems to have a great deep ball and can make all the touch passes) but it looks like one of his weaknesses could be his ability to drive the ball down the field and read the field. I'm all for taking him in the 2nd. Not sure how I would feel about taking him in the 1st though.
Spoiler AFC 1. New England Patriots: 13-3 (13.2 mean wins; strength of schedule: 32) 1. Pittsburgh Steelers: 13-3 (13.1 mean wins; SOS: 27) 1. Oakland Raiders: 9-7 (9.0 mean wins; SOS: 15) 2. Cincinnati Bengals: 9-7 (8.8 mean wins; SOS: 26) 1. Tennessee Titans: 8-8 (8.1 mean wins; SOS: 29) 2. Kansas City Chiefs: 8-8 (8.1 mean wins; SOS: 4) 3. Los Angeles Chargers: 8-8 (7.9 mean wins; SOS: 14) 3. Baltimore Ravens: 8-8 (7.8 mean wins; SOS: 19) 2. Jacksonville Jaguars: 8-8 (7.5 mean wins; SOS: 30) 2. Buffalo Bills: 7-9 (6.9 mean wins; SOS: 23) 3. Indianapolis Colts: 7-9 (6.6 mean wins; SOS: 28) 3. Miami Dolphins: 6-10 (6.3 mean wins; SOS: 18) 4. New York Jets: 6-10 (6.3 mean wins; SOS: 25) 4. Houston Texans: 6-10 (6.1 mean wins; SOS: 10) 4. Denver Broncos: 6-10 (6.0 mean wins; SOS: 6) 4. Cleveland Browns: 5-11 (5.4 mean wins; SOS: 11) NFC 1. Seattle Seahawks: 11-5 (11.2 mean wins; SOS: 21) 1. Green Bay Packers: 10-6 (9.8 mean wins; SOS: 12) 2. Arizona Cardinals: 10-6 (9.7 mean wins; SOS: 24) 1. Dallas Cowboys: 10-6 (9.5 mean wins; SOS: 1) 1. Carolina Panthers: 9-7 (9.3 mean wins; SOS: 31) 2. Atlanta Falcons: 9-7 (8.6 mean wins; SOS: 17) 3. Los Angeles Rams: 8-8 (8.1 mean wins; SOS: 20) 2. New York Giants: 8-8 (7.8 mean wins; SOS: 7) 3. Philadelphia Eagles: 8-8 (7.6 mean wins; SOS: 5) 2. Detroit Lions: 7-9 (7.4 mean wins; SOS: 9) 4. Washington Redskins: 7-9 (7.2 mean wins; SOS: 2) 3. New Orleans Saints: 7-9 (7.2 mean wins; SOS: 22) 3. Chicago Bears: 7-9 (7.0 mean wins; SOS: 13) 4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 7-9 (6.9 mean wins; SOS: 16) 4. Minnesota Vikings: 6-10 (6.4 mean wins; SOS: 8) 4. San Francisco 49ers: 5-11 (5.2 mean wins; SOS: 3) ________________________ You already know the answer to that question.
If we do end up having a joint practice with the pats jimmy g to Houston confirmed IMO. Anybody else get that feeling something just feels funny about doing a joint practice with the pats in particular.
I think both of them would need to be fired. But I highly doubt Smith would be. I do think BOB would be though.
"Hey, that Osweiler fella looks pretty good in these practices. Sign him Rick!" But really, no it doesn't mean anything.
No, one receiving target benefited from the QB not even trying to look for other targets because he can't make throws.
