2026 NFL Preseason

Saints DE Michael Heldman having a great game. He was a draft afterthought despite being a productive played in the MAC.
 
I've been watching the Rams-Chiefs game off and on. Have to say both rookie QBs have impressed me. Both Simpson and Nussmeier play in a similar manner and it's interesting watching them process and go through reads. Still baffles me how Nussmeier lasted until the 7th round. He did come up a little slow in his last drive in but stayed in the game and threw a near perfect 40+ yard pass from his end zone to a WR that dropped it (the WR did have DB Nick Andersen by a step).

Dean Connors looks like he belongs as well. Powerful runner and great catching the ball out of the backfield. As I type this he just caught his 2nd TD!
 
I've been watching some of the Seahawks-Cowboys game and there's been a lot of praise of Rylie Mills, from the announcers to the players interviewed on the sideline including Sam Darnold. He's currently listed as a second string defensive tackle, but one of the tackles he's behind is Jarran Reed, who's now 33 and not very good. Would be great to see Mills break through this season along with Jordan van den Berg. Seems there's a small but undeniable resurgence taking place by Whites at defensive tackle, a strength position that Whites would dominate except for the Caste System.

Agree with Leonardfan's observations about Connors. He just looks and plays like an NFL running back, seems comfortable and gotta hope he somehow gets a chance. Jake Funk had an opportunity with the Rams a few years ago but ruined it because of non-stop injuries going back to his days at Maryland.
 
This is high praise from one of the best coaches, but he mentioned it being fun at the end, which I don’t like as much. It would have been better had he said Dean is making a strong case to be in the team and make an impact

 
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Snow Plow said:
Here is number 2 for Dean. I had never seen him before but he looks really good.

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Yeah Dean Connors was in our 2025 RB thread ; and Stats were posted scanning Box Scores Weekly here too

From the state of Hawaii...nice All purpose back playing on a bad team at Rice

During the 7th round of the NFL Draft getting late i posted hoping /predicting he'd be at least Mr.Irrelevant
Dude was worth a late round pick..this is why CF exist
 
Connors ran a 4.45 at his pro day. His RAS is 9.70, an elite score among running backs. He ran and caught for almost 4,000 yards at Rice and Houston and scored 31 touchdowns. He averaged 5.2 yards per rushing attempt.

And OurLads currently has him as one of two fifth string RBs on the Rams depth chart. He'll need a true Hillis Curse scenario to get a sniff this season.
 
Yes, I had heard of him from this site but just had not seen him.

He does look as athletic as his RAS score. At least he has a coach that has been white friendly with Kupp, a plethora of tight ends, Dolac, Fiske, Landman, and of course all white QBs.
 
As a side note, the Cowboys are looking to be one of the blackest teams in the league with Beebe and Ferguson as the only starters with Bass, Keegan, and Schoonmaker as backups. They do have Luepke, but they make sure to not use him a lot.
 
My .02 of Confederate money is that Connors is one of the better prospects that have been championed on this site in a few years.
 
Connors was the star RB of the day for sure. 6 for 22 rushing and 4 for 29 receiving with 2 TDs. Just want to mention the others who played.

Will Shipley 7 for 22 yards
Carson Steele 1 for 2
Cam Skattebo 4 for 19

Regarding the Giants, they also have 3 White WRs. Gunner O was lost for the season, so his spot could be had by one of these athletes.

Braxton Barrios had a catch for 9 and returned punts and kicks. He has the advantage for this reason.
Dalen Cambre had 1 catch for 20.
Ryan Miller had 1 catch for 14. He has looked good for the Bucs in past seasons.

The 3 defensive standouts from yesterday IMO were the aforementioned Jayden Price (CB), Nick Anderson (safety) and Michael Heldman (DE).

Heldman had 6 tackles (3 for a loss), 2 sacks and 3 QB hits. Who knows how much of the game he played but this is an elite stat line.

Anderson lead the way with 9 total tackles (1 for a loss) and 2 pass defensed. Great showing for a team that will take chances with UDFA White athletes.
 
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The Ravens-Eagles game was on in the background last night for me. It was encouraging to see former UCONN QB Joe Fagnano have a strong performance - 22/28 224 yards 1 TD / 1 INT. The Ravens have "pro bowler" Tyler Huntley as the backup but Fagnano should be a player that the Ravens hold onto. If not, one of the other NFL teams should take notice. He's an overaged rookie due to all the covid nonsense but he's played a ton of football and was elite last season at UCONN. The Ravens also opted for Fagnano over mexican Manziel.

The Eagles looked bad all night. I saw one run by Shipley that was blown up in the backfield due to blown blocking assignments by the offensive line. Steele only played late in the game. I have a difficult time believing both of them make the final roster but I have a more difficult time believing that Steele who is only 23 years old is not a solidly entrenched rotational running back on any NFL team. The Eagles only White defender I noticed was 2nd year DT Ty Robinson who had a sack. No sign of Cole Wisniewski or Tucker Large in the secondary. The Ravens actually had 5 White defenders on the field - the playmaking LB Dom DeLuca from PSU, LB Reid Williford, DE/LB Ethan Burke, DL Aaron Graves from Iowa and DB Silas Walters.

The Jaguars need to do better at the backup QB position. Plenty of really good QBs should be available after the cut day. Wouldn't mind seeing Mason Rudolph end up there if he is cut or traded by the Steelers. Zach Wilson also performed well and will hopefully be the #2 behind Shough. Interestingly enough the Saints also have QB Hunter Dekkers who was removed from Iowa State (Purdy's original successor) due to online gambling and then pushed off to community college purgatory but is in the Saints camp. Hopefully Brendan Sorsby is able to survive the nonsensical punishment given to him and be drafted next season rather than take the Dekkers route.
 
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Zach Wilson has a good shot at being Shough's backup. He's playing well and Rattler has been bad enough that there's speculation he may be cut. He's another "Desmond Ridder type," not good enough to even be a third string NFL quarterback.

Kellen Moore may be what Wilson needs to revive his career. Zach threw a short TD pass to rookie third round pick Oscar Delp in the Saints game yesterday.
 
Jack Kelly led the Giants in snaps and tackles in their game. He's reminiscent of Micah McFadden, a late round draft choice with the talent to start sooner or later.

gmenhq.com

Unheralded Giants rookie may be closer to a real role than fans realize

Linebacker Jack Kelly isn't exactly churning out headlines as the New York Giants head into training camp. The rookie sixth-round pick is more focused on earnin
gmenhq.com gmenhq.com
 
Freethinker said:
Connors was the star RB of the day for sure. 6 for 22 rushing and 4 for 29 receiving with 2 TDs. Just want to mention the others who played.

Will Shipley 7 for 22 yards
Carson Steele 1 for 2
Cam Skattebo 4 for 19

Regarding the Giants, they also have 3 White WRs. Gunner O was lost for the season, so his spot could be had by one of these athletes.

Braxton Barrios had a catch for 9 and returned punts and kicks. He has the advantage for this reason.
Dalen Cambre had 1 catch for 20.
Ryan Miller had 1 catch for 14. He has looked good for the Bucs in past seasons.

The 3 defensive standouts from yesterday IMO were the aforementioned Jayden Price (CB), Nick Anderson (safety) and Michael Heldman (DE).

Heldman had 6 tackles (3 for a loss), 2 sacks and 3 QB hits. Who knows how much of the game he played but this is an elite stat line.

Anderson lead the way with 9 total tackles (1 for a loss) and 2 pass defensed. Great showing for a team that will take chances with UDFA White athletes.
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Pre season stresses me out because I know how hard it is to run behind 2nd-4th string linemen. Hard to shine as a pre season RB. You could throw Saquon Barkley behind a third team line and he’ll probably look underwhelming. IMO offensive line might have the largest skill gap between starts-backups
 
jacque said:
Pre season stresses me out because I know how hard it is to run behind 2nd-4th string linemen. Hard to shine as a pre season RB. You could throw Saquon Barkley behind a third team line and he’ll probably look underwhelming. IMO offensive line might have the largest skill gap between starts-backups
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With offensive linemen it is not just about talent/skills but about cohesion. That is paramount. Backups do not have as much opportunity to form that.
 
Lineman have been going down like bowling pins this year in training camps and the Cardinals 2nd round pick Chase Bisonitis is out for the year. I think even Inspector Closeau could solve this mystery...
 
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