• Welcome to PurpleFlock! Be sure to sign up here so that you can chat with your fellow Ravens fans.

Around the NFL: News and Rumors

gtalk12

Ravens Ring of Honor
The worry here is him going back to the Steelers and regaining some sort of form......smh
 

rmcjacket23

Ravens Ring of Honor
The worry here is him going back to the Steelers and regaining some sort of form......smh
I'm not concerned. I didn't find him to be a very efficient back the last year or two in Pittsburgh, so I'm not going to be concerned if he goes back there.

Highly overrated player in my eyes. I think he's less effective than Conner at this point.
 

rmcjacket23

Ravens Ring of Honor
The worry here is him going back to the Steelers and regaining some sort of form......smh
As an aside... I LOVE how bad the Steelers cap situation will be going into 2021.

They'll probably have to slash somewhere in the neighborhood of at least $10-15M in cap space just to meet whatever decline in salary cap will exist in 2021, and their current number excludes contracts for some pretty important and expensive players, like Conner, JuJu and Bud Dupree.

Ben has a cap hit of $41.25M, so unless the Steelers plan to have him play on that number, he'll need yet another extension (at the ripe age of 39) to decrease that. And an extension won't help that much, because only $4M of his 2021 cap hit is in the form of salary. $22.25M of it is dead money that can't be touched, and he's owed a $15M roster bonus on the 3rd league day.
 

gtalk12

Ravens Ring of Honor
I'm not concerned. I didn't find him to be a very efficient back the last year or two in Pittsburgh, so I'm not going to be concerned if he goes back there.

Highly overrated player in my eyes. I think he's less effective than Conner at this point.


I am just not sure what Bell is at this point because it's not like he was used a bunch. On the Steelers though? He was top 5 and a monster catching the ball. I am much higher on him at the time than any version of Connor.


I see what you're saying though
 

rmcjacket23

Ravens Ring of Honor
I am just not sure what Bell is at this point because it's not like he was used a bunch. On the Steelers though? He was top 5 and a monster catching the ball. I am much higher on him at the time than any version of Connor.


I see what you're saying though
But my point is usage is what made him look so good.

2017 LeVeon Bell averaged 4.0 YPC (which isn't great...outside the top 40 among qualifying RBs) and 7.7 yards/reception. His numbers looked gaudy because he had 321 carries and over 100 targets. There isn't a RB in the league who won't put up gaudy numbers with 300+ carries and 100+ targets.

2019 LeVeon Bell averaged 3.2 YPC (which is terrible) and 7.0 yards/reception. People think he sucked simply because he never got the ball, which is partially true, though he was still 11th in the league in carries.

For added context... from 2018-2020, in 27 games, James Conner has averaged 4.4 YPC, 8.3 yards/reception, and has 23 TDs in 27 games. Those are better than anything Bell put up in 2017. It's not as good as like 2014-2016 Bell, but I also don't think he exists anymore. When you average 20 carries/game for four years, and have multiple injuries over that span, you're going to breakdown quickly.

Current LeVeon Bell needs like 18-20 touches a game to be effective. He's not going to get you 4-4.5 YPC anymore, so if you want somebody who's going to put up like 100 yards from scrimmage every game, he's going to need that much volume to succeed. I personally don't value volume backs like him that highly.
 
Last edited:

MaxMikado

Practice Squad
This sounds strange, but I don't know if making the switch to Tua right now is prudent. They're still able to compete in their division, and Fitzpatrick hasn't been entirely terrible.

You don't make a QB switch like this unless: 1) You're supremely confident in the alternative; 2) you consider your season lost already; or 3) the incumbent starter is playing terribly.
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
This sounds strange, but I don't know if making the switch to Tua right now is prudent. They're still able to compete in their division, and Fitzpatrick hasn't been entirely terrible.

You don't make a QB switch like this unless: 1) You're supremely confident in the alternative; 2) you consider your season lost already; or 3) the incumbent starter is playing terribly.

the obvious reason would be that it's their bye week this week so they've got the extra time to make that transition

but you're right that it's seemingly unearned - fitzpatrick just had 2 nice games (admittedly after he had a couple of bad ones) so they clearly must be confident in tua or they feel like they need to see how he is at some point this year so they've decided (because of the bye) to try and give him the best possible opportunity to succeed
 

JO_75

Hall of Famer
This sounds strange, but I don't know if making the switch to Tua right now is prudent. They're still able to compete in their division, and Fitzpatrick hasn't been entirely terrible.

You don't make a QB switch like this unless: 1) You're supremely confident in the alternative; 2) you consider your season lost already; or 3) the incumbent starter is playing terribly.

Hey your back. We were talking about the old forums in the random thought thread and someone asked about you. Should have used your old username lol.
 

JO_75

Hall of Famer


The Cowboys issues begin and end with one person.... JERRY JONES. Until he puts aside his ego, Dallas isn't winning anything. He looks for a Head Coach who won't overshadow him, that won't be too big of a name and take all the credit. When Dallas wins their next Super Bowl, he wants the media attention to be on him and to shower him with all the credit, not the Head Coach. Mike McCarthy is the perfect coach for Jerry, not too big but enough to give off the impression they want to win.
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator


was a pretty uninspiring head coaching appointment - shows just how good the marketing job mccarthy's agent did that offseason with mccarthy pretending to have had an analytical come to jesus year off with his guff about having watched every single play in the NFL in 2019 and that somehow being important or something... he admitted in his announcement presser that he basically lied about that too lol

he rode the coattails of aaron rodgers to a superbowl title and has done nothing else for years

so im not surprised

that being said - its weird that its being seen as a sign of restraint that the cowboys players didnt say anything externally until now - 6 weeks is not a long time lol
 

gtalk12

Ravens Ring of Honor
was a pretty uninspiring head coaching appointment - shows just how good the marketing job mccarthy's agent did that offseason with mccarthy pretending to have had an analytical come to jesus year off with his guff about having watched every single play in the NFL in 2019 and that somehow being important or something... he admitted in his announcement presser that he basically lied about that too lol

he rode the coattails of aaron rodgers to a superbowl title and has done nothing else for years

so im not surprised

that being said - its weird that its being seen as a sign of restraint that the cowboys players didnt say anything externally until now - 6 weeks is not a long time lol

I wonder if they would consider giving us [Redacted]. He looks like he's come back from all those years of layoffs like nothing really happened.
 

rmcjacket23

Ravens Ring of Honor
This sounds strange, but I don't know if making the switch to Tua right now is prudent. They're still able to compete in their division, and Fitzpatrick hasn't been entirely terrible.

You don't make a QB switch like this unless: 1) You're supremely confident in the alternative; 2) you consider your season lost already; or 3) the incumbent starter is playing terribly.
Think its a combination of 1 and 2, with option 4 being "they probably had this planned from the beginning.

I don't think even the biggest Dolphins fan thinks they're a contender for the division, or realistically, even a wildcard spot. Like yeah you're 3-3, but you beat the Jags, Jets and 49ers (without Jimmy G and with a ton of injuries). I think they'll be a 6-8 win team when its all said and done, which I seriously doubt will be enough to be a playoff team, and to be frank, you have no upside in Fitzpatrick. There's a 0% he starts for you in 2021, and may not even be on the roster, so unless you really think Tua is so far away from starting, I would put him in now also.
 

rmcjacket23

Ravens Ring of Honor
was a pretty uninspiring head coaching appointment - shows just how good the marketing job mccarthy's agent did that offseason with mccarthy pretending to have had an analytical come to jesus year off with his guff about having watched every single play in the NFL in 2019 and that somehow being important or something... he admitted in his announcement presser that he basically lied about that too lol

he rode the coattails of aaron rodgers to a superbowl title and has done nothing else for years

so im not surprised

that being said - its weird that its being seen as a sign of restraint that the cowboys players didnt say anything externally until now - 6 weeks is not a long time lol
I put pretty much no stock in these reports. Like yeah, players probably aren't happy, but this notion that they've been unhappy for weeks and are just now saying something is laughable. Its coming out now because they just got trucked in a national game at home.

Mike McCarthy isn't a great coach in my eyes, but I also wouldn't say he's a bad one. They'll have a baked in excuse for the rest of the season because they lost Prescott, but there's a couple things I've been pointing out for awhile that I think the national public is just now figuring out..

1. I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they'd be bad on defense. And apparently, I was underselling.
DeMarcus Lawrence is and has been a very overrated player, who has gotten steadily worse each of the last three seasons in the league, and is easily getting outplayed by the likes of Aldon Smith, who hasn't played football in like 5 years.
People are asking why they would consider giving Dak $40M. Those people should have been asking why they would make Lawrence one of the highest paid defensive players in football history. What a joke of a contract that is.
And mind you... he only counts $9.9M against the cap this year, AND, they already had to restructure his contract after year 1. His cap hit next year (in a year where the cap is going to decrease significantly) balloons from $9.9M to $25M, and that $25M includes a fully guaranteed $17M salary. The only way they can reduce it is by restructuring again, or extending, both of which would be laughable for a declining player.
They have almost no talent in the secondary, their linebackers are always injured, and they're coached by a DC who hasn't put a quality defense on the field in years as a DC, and as merely been bouncing around the league as an uninspiring linebackers coach for awhile.
2. The great offensive line of there's is no more, and many people saw it coming before the season. While they've been decimated by injuries, they lost an All Pro Center to retirement and they've seen declining play from Tyron Smith for years.
3. They've been focusing on trying to be a high-powered offense instead of being a good running team and playing great defense, which is how they were able to compete in the playoffs the prior few years.
4. I would gladly give Dak $40M if I could take back the $21M I gave Lawrence and the $20M I gave Cooper. Those guys are almost entirely irrelevant to any Cowboys game this year.
 

JO_75

Hall of Famer
Everson Griffen has been traded to the Detroit Lions. Per Schefter, the Lions traded a 2021 6th Round Pick for Griffen.

 
Top