NFL News, Rumors and Musings

[white is right]

https://www.rotoworld.com/football/nfl/player/1874/josh-gordonSo Josh Gordon failed a drug test for the X time but this time it's a new twist he failed a PED test(according to Rotoworld). He is teammates with DK. Metcalf who looks like a walking poster boy for PED usage yet Metcalf isn't pissing hot, something is a miss......https://www.barstoolsports.com/dmv/...ing-dk-metcalfs-attempting-at-running-a-route

 

[Westside]

According to one report Antonio Brown is having his 25 million guarantee from Oakland voided and his 9 million signing bonus from New England also negated.

Brown is a nitwit and a fool.

Luv it!!!!

 

[Shadowlight]

One would hope that the NFL finally has given up on the now overweight and slow Josh Gordon (see above). Have a nice life fella. Goodbye and goodnight. And thanks for wasting everybody's time.

Houston's JJ Watt might be able to return come playoff time?

After the draft we were all wondering how caste teams with caste coaches, Tampa Bay and Arizona, would incorporate their exciting young white picks this season. Well most of the results are in and it is safe to say the final grade for both teams is an F. Unless one is feeling charitable a D-.

For starters both of their tall disruptive defensive linemen Anthony Nelson ( Bucs) and Zach Allen ( Cardinals) have not really played due to injuries. Allen was put on IR earlier with a neck problem and Nelson has been shelved for pretty much the entire season as well.

Then there are the two dynamic wide receiver speedsters. College superstar Andy Isabella of the Cardinals has basically been ignored the entire season as punk coach Kliff Kingsbury has treated him like an undrafted free agent. A couple of glimpses of his talent came through but ultimately the staff had no desire of playing him more than just a few scant seconds a game.

Scotty Miller of the Bucs had slightly better results but he too was an afterthought. Coming off his best game (3-48-1) he had to leave in the first quarter with a hamstring injury. In fact Miller has been dealing with his hamstring since preseason. So perhaps if Miller comes into next season fully healthy then his enormous potential could start to be tapped. Hard to say though with this Arians led coaching staff if Miller will get his chances next season. A healthy Miller makes him among the fastest players in the entire NFL.

Too bad Miller is likely out ( getting an MRI) because I was looking forward to watching him play this Saturday against Houston. The Bucs have had a rash of WR hamstring injuries with their star Mike Evans out and Chris Godwin is likely out for the Texans game too. This could give Justin Watson (ex Ivy Leaguer) who was on the practice squad at times during the season.

Ultimately though the only picture to paint on what seemed like a promising new start for these two teams with two big white defensive lineman and two very fast wide receivers is nothing short of being a huge disappointment.

Whether things improve next season for these four improtant players remains to be seen. Sure maybe the two big fellas come back fully healthy and get ample playing time. And Miller and Isabella become at the very least rotational players who get to flash. But I am not holding my breath based on what I have seen this season.

By the way three games on the NFL network this Saturday. The college bowl lineup this Saturday is not inspiring so along with the Texans-Bucs game to kick things off there will be the Bills- Patriots followed by a night game with the Rams- 49ers tilt.

 

[Shadowlight]

The Raiders also had a promising draft moving on from the "Khalil Mack" shadow that the media played up. Media hero Mack has fallen flat on his face in his second year with the Bears. Playing poorly in recent weeks last week against the Packers I don't think he registered a single tackle.

Anyway while a promising draft it got derailed lately with two injuries.

TE Foster Moreau ( 21-174-5) has the more serious injury as he is out for the season with a knee injury. For some reason the media hasn't given us the full extent of the injury. Hopefully this athletic TE is fully recovered for next season.

WR Hunter Renfrow was just beginning to start but he went down with a rib injury. Not sure he will play in the final two games but Renfrow looks like a Danny Amendola type of talent where his nimble moves has confounded defensive backs. The Raiders offense have recently struggled without him.

DE Maxx Crosby was a raw talent out of a MAC school but he has progressed faster than anticipated. Would love to see him rack up double digit sacks as he only needs one and a half sacks with two games remaining to reach that magic number. His quickness and hustle have really elevated their defense. Mack who?

 

[Don Wassall]

Cooper Kupp's snap count went up to 92% on Sunday from 72% and 28% the previous two games, but the uncoverable receiver was studiously ignored until garbage time. The increased snap count is encouraging, but his being faded as the key piece of the Rams' passing game remains. The only positive in Kupp's demotion is that Tyler Higbee has shown that he's yet another star White tight end when given an opportunity. The Rams play at SF this week in a big game; maybe McVay will come to his senses and feature the Goff-Kupp connection.

 

[dwid]

I

Cooper Kupp's snap count went up to 92% on Sunday from 72% and 28% the previous two games, but the uncoverable receiver was studiously ignored until garbage time. The increased snap count is encouraging, but his being faded as the key piece of the Rams' passing game remains. The only positive in Kupp's demotion is that Tyler Higbee has shown that he's yet another star White tight end when given an opportunity. The Rams play at SF this week in a big game; maybe McVay will come to his senses and feature the Goff-Kupp connection.

I'm watching the game film right now. It appears half of the plays Kupp is lined up pretty tight, blocking an end and releasing and would have been a very short completion. A few intermediate routes where he was not looked at. Seems Goff is locking onto receivers instead of going through the reads. One pass in the first was overthrown where Kupp was open deep and there was a play where Kupp and Higbee were both open deep and it was severely underthrown to Higbee. Another play Kupp was open but the line failed to block and Goff was sacked.

Maybe Goff is getting pressured and lost confidence and trying to get rid of it by throwing to his first read but there's several plays where Kupp is wide open and he's not thrown to. He's forcing it to a receiver that's more tightly covered. If Kupp was open on a shorter route Goff throws it deep, if Kupp is open on a deeper route Goff throws it a receiver that's closer. Even on some of the plays where he blocks and releases if Goff had dumped it off he could have easily ran for a 1st down . Instead he throws it to someone else that is not open or they drop it.

If this was my first time watching I would say he's a bad qb, but I saw him before and he went through his progressions quickly and threw to the open man

 

[Shadowlight]

I think the most important thing is Kupp "got out of Dodge alive." By cruising over 1,000 yards he has allowed to me to at least relax a bit. That is an important number like double digit sacks or batting .300 in baseball. Kupp is their best receiver and best deep threat this year. Big time stat line of 83-1031-8.

That said the young coach McVay has not held up well under pressure as he keeps tweaking the offense to no avail. It is strange that after Kupp's huge day in London that he hasn't become their main focus as mentioned numerous times this season here.

Worth noting all of the Rams receivers put up paltry stats in their blowout loss to the Cowboys and as mentioned above TE Tyler Higbee has become more of a focus and he has produced.

WR Robert Woods who is close to 1,000 yards this season is a solid receiver but is clearly not as dynamic as Kupp.

The other starter WR Brandin Cooks is another story altogether. Having suffered yet another concussion and missing time he has flopped terribly this season sitting at a 35-504-1 stat line with a career low 57% catch rate. One TD for their deep threat?

Tom Brady told this speedster to take a hike because he couldn't follow his instructions. Now on his third team the media considers Cooks elite due to his 4 consecutive 1,000 yard seasons and of course his speed. The media loves nothing more than fast black wide receivers. But I have never been fully sold on him. Of course he isn't a bust like fellow speedster Bengals WR John Ross but Cooks has been a stat stuffing overrated player. Witness his inability to catch a couple of key passes in the Super Bowl. Yes he is fast and combine that with the ineptitude of DB play he has had many flash plays over the years. But the one thing he can't do is catch contested passes or run consistent pass patterns. The Rams signed him to a huge extension a couple of years ago and now with the head issues emerging they will likely live to regret that move.

By the way Kupp has the best WR catch % for the Rams at 69 %. Woods is at 64% and Josh Reynolds, who has 19 receptions has a paltry 48% catch rate.

On defense media hero DT Aaron Donald has 11 sacks but he has not been as nearly disruptive as the previous year. Which is why safeties Weddle and Rapp ( Asian/White mix) have made a ton of tackles. Ole Clay Matthews has rebounded this year and looked fresh with 8 sacks despite missing time with a broken jaw. I thought Clay had lost a step with the Packers but this year he looked like he got his legs back. Hope he gets to double digit sacks this year.

 

[Shadowlight]

Word is Patriots WR Julian Edelman is really banged up and watching him in the Bengals game I tend to agree. He just didn't look like himself. While it would suck to not see him on the field this Saturday against the Bills a rest may be in order. And like Kupp, Julian sailed over 1,000 yards receiving too which helps me relax about everything. The key at this point is to have Edelman healthy for the playoffs.

 

[Shadowlight]

I had mentioned some rookie defensive info above but it is worth looking at this stellar 2019 white class.

49ers DE Nick Bosa--I don't even need to say anything. Best player coming into the draft and that has held form.

Seattle linebackers Cody Barton and Ben Burr-Kirven, both athletic, have played coverage fetches. Recently though Barton has started of late due to injuries. Hard to grade them but they have potential.

The Patriots edge Chase Winovich is as good as advertised. He has 5.5 sacks as a back up but his playing time seems to be increasing of late. A steal.

Giants LB Ryan Connelly was just emerging as a real player but tore his ACL on a non contact play. I watched it live and heard him yell out. Talk about depressing.

Jets LB Blake Cashman who also was getting playing time went down with a season ending injury.

Packers LB Ty Summers is wildly athletic but is now playing coverage fetch. Two other Packer notes. Edge Kyler Fackrell coming off a breakthrough 10.5 sack year has one sack this year as a non starter who sees snaps. Would a team ever demote a black player like that?
Also TE Jace Sterneberger made an appearance this week at long last. If they can get him up to snuff he would give Rodgers a deep seam buster which would be a welcome addition. Graham their starting TE has no speed left.

Chargers LB Drue Tranquill is getting local rave reviews and I think and hope they realize he is their starting LB for the future. I'll never forget Tranquill tearing his ACL at Notre Dame while celebrating a play. Cripes.

Redskins LB Cole Holcomb, another truly gifted athlete, is on the verge of going over 100 tackles and is turning out to be one of the steals of the draft.

Another athletic LB, Andrew Van Ginkel of the Dolphins has been banged up most of the season so too early to grade.

Talented Falcons DE John Cominsky has barely played for the caste riddled Falcons.

LB Cameron Smith ( Vikings) and Edge Sutton Smith ( Steelers) have barely registered at all this season. These last four players have potential but only time will tell if their teams give a rat's ass down the road.

 

[Shadowlight]

The Jags to me have been a ghastly caste team for ages now. Two "smaller" additions this year. Both undrafted this year S Andrew Wingard has seen some snaps on defense.

Michael Walker the premier return man in the draft joined them midstream this year and he is right now averaging 22.1 per kick return which puts him in the middle of the NFL pack. He had a career long 35 yard return and the hope is he builds on that and becomes settled into the position. He also plays wide receiver but his best skill is returning kicks although he has only returned three punts so far.

Speaking of special teams the Pats Gunner Olszewski was performing admirably before he went down for the season.

Meanwhile The Jet's Braxton Berrios continues to widen his lead in the entire NFL for punt returns. Not only is he the only PR averaging over double digits he is now at 11.1 per return. Very impressive display by an overlooked player. A bit undersized like Isabella and Miller, Berrios is also a talented receiver but the Jets don't want to hear about that it seems. The genius Adam Gase couldn't even figure out what to do with TE Gesicki when he was at Miami so hard to see him utilizing Berrios properly in offensive schemes.

 

[Shadowlight]

The Lions and the Fords ( such a sweet group them) are giving Matt Patricia one more year to turn things around. Matt some advice. I'm guessing Matt Stafford will be healthy and you want to incorporate talented TE TJ Hockenson into the offense as a key cog next season. As for the defense? Draft a couple or more white studs including S Tanner Muse. Show some balls you damn idiot or you will be out of job. These dumbass coaches don't realize that stacking defenses with white players exponentially increases your chances of creating a solid winning team.

I have mixed feelings about Patricia but for now it is on the negative side because his defense is a standard suck my you know what all black crap fest. His DBs are pathetic and I am being kind. Get a clue. Draft some tough athletic white defenders which will increase your chances of keeping your job. Otherwise you will be out on your ass as just another caste suck up out in the cold.

 

[Johnny Tightlips]

This article gives an abstract as to why Cooper Kupp and Brandin Cook's usage is down. (The Athletic has more in depth piece but who wants to pay for that?) McVay claims that the he started utilizing two Tight end sets in order to get their running game going. It worked well against the Seahawks and Cardinals as Gurley ran for a combined 145 yards, but on the downside, their deep ball vertical passing game has been stifled. He also made a lame excuse claiming that in their 12 personal running schemes, WRs are asked to block like TEs. I guess according to his logic, Robert Woods and Josh Reynolds (who has seen a major increase in playing time) are their best blockers.Fortunately, Cooper Kupp was back up to 92% of offensive snaps, yet, was not targeted until the game was out of hand. Seems like Sean McVay is a little to smart for his own good and needs to rethink about the schemes that made him successful.
https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2019/12/16/nfl-rams-cowboys-week-15-snap-counts/

 

[Shadowlight]

The 2020 Pro Bowl teams have been announced. See below for full list which includes offensive linemen and special teamers.

Here is a list of the other positions.

RB-Christian McCaffrey

FB-Patrick Ricard, Kyle Juszcyk

QB-Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers

DE-Nick Bosa, Joey Bosa

OLB-TJ Watt

ILB-Luke Kuechly

SS- Harrison Smith

TE-Travis Kelce, George Kittle, Mark Andrews, Zach Ertz

The four tight ends elected are all white which reflects this era's "golden age" when it comes to white tight ends.

Wide receivers Edelman and Kupp were snubbed but perhaps look for their names on post season all star selections. Kirk Cousins? I don't get too wound up about pro bowl selections.

One other curious thing. Both the Ravens and 49er's employ tough fullbacks and top end tight ends. Neither one of the fullbacks run the ball much which is a departure from the NFL back in the "old" days where they were often the team's leading rushers. Juszcyk is used a bit more in the receiving game than Picard but since both teams are having banner seasons you wonder if other teams might think about having a fullback and a big play tight end?

When you watch players like Juszcyk and Kittle play you can't help but think they look like tough old NFL players beamed in from the 60's or 70's. They have that sort of wild physicality that seems lacking in today's game. Hell there are more than a few black cornerbacks now who think tackling is beneath them. The game has drifted towards a pretty boy style where majority black defenses run around like it is flag football. It is all about how players look in their shorts and sprint workouts now and less to do with real football players. As a defensive lover I find all of this insulting to the game.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...-reveals-rosters-for-2020-pro-bowl-in-orlando

 

[Don Wassall]

In 2018 Jake Kumerow had just 8 catches. That was because he lost most of the season to a shoulder injury after foolishly somersaulting into the endzone on a TD reception. This year he's up to a whopping 11 catches for 212 yards. His 19.3 yards per reception stands out along with his ability to make big plays.

When Aaron Rodgers targets Kumerow he averages 12.5 yards per attempt, which is outstanding. When he targets Geronimo Allison he averages a pathetic 5.4 yards per attempt. Yet Allison, who is also plagued by the dropsies, remains the number two receiver on the Packers while Kumerow remains fifth. Reporters keep asking Matt LaFleur why Kumerow doesn't play more and LaFleur responds with the standard bs about the need to "get him on the field more." Kumerow is almost 28, maybe he'll get a genuine opportunity before he turns 30, or maybe he never will despite being the team's second best receiver.

White receivers like Kumerow, Andy Isabella and Alex Erickson (he's played more this season but should be starting on the Bengals) have been screwed over this season. And of course there's the sudden demotion of Cooper Kupp right as he was being recognized as an elite receiver. Adam Thielen has had a lost season due to a bad hamstring pull. A beat-up Julian Edelman went over a thousand yards again but he's now old for a receiver. Kupp also has gone over a thousand yards but was headed for a monster 1,500+ season before the recent turn of events. Isabella's treatment is as pathetic as that of Kupp of late.

Whites can excel over and over again at tight end, but that's where it ends. It's just as blatantly obvious that Whites would excel at receiver (and are vastly under-represented at running back), but WR and RB along with all defensive positions cut to the heart of the Caste System and remain untouchable other than at the furthest margins. The outliers change nothing and there's a pushback taking place against the incremental improvement made at WR in recent years.

 

[Quiet Speed]

In 2018 Jake Kumerow had just 8 catches. That was because he lost most of the season to a shoulder injury after foolishly somersaulting into the endzone on a TD reception. This year he's up to a whopping 11 catches for 212 yards. His 19.3 yards per reception stands out along with his ability to make big plays.

When Aaron Rodgers targets Kumerow he averages 12.5 yards per attempt, which is outstanding. When he targets Geronimo Allison he averages a pathetic 5.4 yards per attempt. Yet Allison, who is also plagued by the dropsies, remains the number two receiver on the Packers while Kumerow remains fifth. Reporters keep asking Matt LaFleur why Kumerow doesn't play more and LaFleur responds with the standard bs about the need to "get him on the field more." Kumerow is almost 28, maybe he'll get a genuine opportunity before he turns 30, or maybe he never will despite being the team's second best receiver.

White receivers like Kumerow, Andy Isabella and Alex Erickson (he's played more this season but should be starting on the Bengals) have been screwed over this season. And of course there's the sudden demotion of Cooper Kupp right as he was being recognized as an elite receiver. Adam Thielen has had a lost season due to a bad hamstring pull. A beat-up Julian Edelman went over a thousand yards again but he's now old for a receiver. Kupp also has gone over a thousand yards but was headed for a monster 1,500+ season before the recent turn of events. Isabella's treatment is as pathetic as that of Kupp of late.

Whites can excel over and over again at tight end, but that's where it ends. It's just as blatantly obvious that Whites would excel at receiver (and are vastly under-represented at running back), but WR and RB along with all defensive positions cut to the heart of the Caste System and remain untouchable other than at the furthest margins. The outliers change nothing and there's a pushback taking place against the incremental improvement made at WR in recent years.

Nice post, Don. The situation is deplorable. What's makes it so bad is it's actual coaching decisions to suppress these talented players. It's not the media or the Deep State. I read something about Todd Gurley being disgruntled. If anybody should be disgruntled, it would be Cooper Kupp.

 

[wile]

I got tired of the whining so I went an looked up Goff's twitter, he basically stopped using it in Sept, them I looked up McVay's and he just grabbed his name and made one tweet so to keep pranksters from it. So at least I made modest efforts to actually ask WTF. If I followed the chodes in the media and I don't I would ask them the next time they open their garbage mouths about those two players. I would have rather asked McVay the question, IMO I'm pretty good at getting people to put themselves on the spot.

 

[white is right]

Tom Couglhin was fired last night, his career has been talked about before as he went from a tough Irish cop type coach to the typical casteon gimp that walks the sidelines these days, his legacy of winning two titles is muddied with his handling of various OBJ meltdowns. https://www.rotoworld.com/football/nfl/player/8488/tom-coughlin

 

[Bucky]

Tom Couglhin was fired last night, his career has been talked about before as he went from a tough Irish cop type coach to the typical casteon gimp that walks the sidelines these days, his legacy of winning two titles is muddied with his handling of various OBJ meltdowns. https://www.rotoworld.com/football/nfl/player/8488/tom-coughlin

Today they're blaming Coughlins's firing for his excessive finings of his affletes. Apparently he was too old school for the Jags. Look for them to go AA route next with coach and GM. Someone the affletes can connect with aka not an old white guy.

 

[PHillisFan]

Today they're blaming Coughlins's firing for his excessive finings of his affletes. Apparently he was too old school for the Jags. Look for them to go AA route next with coach and GM. Someone the affletes can connect with aka not an old white guy.

They still won't have it easy because Marrone , according to Kahn, will stick around and he's known not to take afleet's crap based on the sideline exchange he had with Ramsey before he was traded. I believe Coughlin was the VP of operations for the Jaguars. I am hoping the Jaguars build around Menshew to help me erase the cringy memories of David Garrard and Byron Leftwich.

 

[Bucky]

They still won't have it easy because Marrone , according to Kahn, will stick around and he's known not to take afleet's crap based on the sideline exchange he had with Ramsey before he was traded. I believe Coughlin was the VP of operations for the Jaguars. I am hoping the Jaguars build around Menshew to help me erase the cringy memories of David Garrard and Byron Leftwich.

Agreed Minshew has had a spectacular Rookie Season. Would like for WR Walker to get involved and Wingard at Safety as well. Let's hope Jags can string together a couple of wins to end the season and keep Marrone off the hot seat.

 

[Leonardfan]

They still won't have it easy because Marrone , according to Kahn, will stick around and he's known not to take afleet's crap based on the sideline exchange he had with Ramsey before he was traded. I believe Coughlin was the VP of operations for the Jaguars. I am hoping the Jaguars build around Menshew to help me erase the cringy memories of David Garrard and Byron Leftwich.

My guess is Khan will clean house this year. Minishew has been a very good player - playing in a white QB offense as a rookie and making big time plays. I feel his body of work over the course of this season is more impressive than the 1st overall pick Kyler Murray who is having his college offense tailored to him (do we see a trend here?). Compare the numbers - same number of TDs/Minishew has only 5 ints - He also has 300 yards rushing. If the Jags were smart they would recognize they might have potentially grabbed a quality starting QB in Minishew and have Foles as a solid backup.

 

[Don Wassall]

More data that shows how stupid McVay is for demoting Cooper Kupp. Is Kupp the fall guy for the Rams' unexpected decline this season?

After the week he was played just 19-of-68 snaps, Kupp was back out there in his regular role against the Cowboys where he played 68-of-74 snaps. He caught a touchdown for the third straight game, though he's failed to finish with more than 65 yards in each of the last six games and has seen six or less targets in five of those games. You must wonder why the targets have stopped coming to Kupp, as he's now caught each of the last 14 passes thrown his way. Goff's QB Rating when targeting Kupp is 112.6, while it's 81.3 to Cooks, 77.8 to Josh Reynolds, and 76.5 to Woods.

 

[backrow]

I don't see how they could set Kupp up to be a scapegoat when he catches everything thrown to or near him. It's beyond weird.

 

[wile]

I'm sure nearly everyone here has read that SF's backup QB's younger brother and a friend were stabbed to death in Nashville. I'll spare you the usual conservative outrage, yes it looks like the suspects are post 1965 "Better Americans" but instead tell you youngins that back in the day we white people were a vibrant lot who did the stabbings and curb jobs.

 

[backrow]

Woods now overtook Kupp on Rams by 5 yards. Still only 1 TD. Some deep threat.