NFL News, Rumors and Musings

[Don Wassall]

The Packers went many years after Mark Chmura without a starting White TE. This year, two talents are battling it out -- last year's third round draft pick Jace Sternberger who was injured almost all of his rookie season, and Robert Tonyan. It seemed like Sternberger had no competition for the starting job this season but Tonyan is in the thick of things, at least according to Matt LeFleur and some media reports. Tonyan has worked out the past three offseasons with George Kittle.

Some links: https://www.espn.com/blog/green-bay...ight-end-could-finally-find-role-with-packers

https://www.packers.com/news/recove...an-looks-to-capitalize-on-a-big-career-chance

https://madison.com/wsj/sports/foot...cle_d5edc8a4-9e90-50b8-a48a-4588e6eaf74d.html

 

[Bucky]

Tonyan caught Packers fans eyes with this long TD. Became an instant fan favorite.

He's done a good job of adding strength and weight since being with the team. The fact that he's been working out with Kittle last 3 off-season really makes sense to me! No wonder his improvement. Iron sharpens iron. Not to mention the chemistry he's developed with Rodgers. It'd be nice to see him and Sternberger stay healthy and Packers go heavy 2TE

 

[Don Wassall]

The Eagles worked hard to upgrade their WRs after having perhaps the worst group in NFL history last season. But one by one they're again falling by the wayside already; currently it's down to DeSean Jackson (who missed all of last season with an injury after Week 1) and some scrubs and never-weres:

Eagles WR Jalen Reagor left practice with a shoulder injury.
Reagor left practice holding his arm and appeared to be in pain. He went into the locker room and did not return to practice. The team has not given an update on his status yet but Ian Rapoport reports that "there is optimism it isn't serious but he'll undergo tests to be sure." This news is a major concern for Philadelphia as the team is incredibly thin at wide receiver. Alshon Jeffrey (Lisfranc) is currently on the active/PUP list and Marquise Goodwin chose to opt out of the 2020 season. Reagor was taken with the No. 24 pick to be an immediate playmaker for Carson Wentz. Now they'll be relying on DeSean Jackson and a handful of young players to start at receiver. J.J. Arcega-Whiteside has reportedly had an impressive training camp and would be in line to start if Reagor misses time.

 

[Leonardfan]

The Eagles worked hard to upgrade their WRs after having perhaps the worst group in NFL history last season. But one by one they're again falling by the wayside already; currently it's down to DeSean Jackson (who missed all of last season with an injury after Week 1) and some scrubs and never-weres:

Eagles WR Jalen Reagor left practice with a shoulder injury.
Reagor left practice holding his arm and appeared to be in pain. He went into the locker room and did not return to practice. The team has not given an update on his status yet but Ian Rapoport reports that "there is optimism it isn't serious but he'll undergo tests to be sure." This news is a major concern for Philadelphia as the team is incredibly thin at wide receiver. Alshon Jeffrey (Lisfranc) is currently on the active/PUP list and Marquise Goodwin chose to opt out of the 2020 season. Reagor was taken with the No. 24 pick to be an immediate playmaker for Carson Wentz. Now they'll be relying on DeSean Jackson and a handful of young players to start at receiver. J.J. Arcega-Whiteside has reportedly had an impressive training camp and would be in line to start if Reagor misses time.

Hopefully Ertz and Goedert remain healthy this year for Wentz.

 

[Bucky]

Too bad Chip's no longer there. No way they'd sign guys like Cooper and Hall again..

 

[Don Wassall]

For whatever it's worth. I have very little faith in Kliff Kingsbury's truthfulness at this point but of course nothing would be better than to see Andy flying up and down the field.

Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said he wants to expand Andy Isabella's role.
Kinsgbury elaborated, "I have to do a better job of expanding his role and finding ways to get him on the field and get him utilized." The offense attempted to use four-receiver sets early into Kyler Murray's rookie season, but there simply wasn't enough talent at receiver to make it happen. With DeAndre Hopkins in town, the Cardinals likely up their use of four-receiver sets (23% of Arizona's late-season pass attempts were in four-receiver sets). Isabella figures to start in four-receiver sets immediately but has his work cut out to break into three-receiver sets with Hopkins, Christian Kirk, and Larry Fitzgerald ahead of him. With that said, Isabella's speed makes him a quality late-round target in 12- and 14-team fantasy leagues.

 

[Shadowlight]

As well as the Ravens played last year I just don't believe they can go all the way. In fact I think there will be some backsliding this year. They lost TE Hayden Hurst. They still have outstanding TE Mark Andrews their best receiver but it was their two tight end sets that teams had most difficulty in defending. TE Boyle is a solid player but lacks the dynamic athleticism of Hurst.

I think they caught a wave last year. Still a good team but I predict, like I did last year, they will get knocked off. My track record last year was good. I predicted here the Chiefs would beat the 49ers in the Super Bowl. The key though for predictions is to not bet. Ha.

But the Ravens are a media darling and we all know why. I guess they weren't all that interested in turning QB Trace McSorley into their Taysom Hill after all. Experts are divided as to whether Trace or Tyler Hundley will win the 3rd QB spot. And I don't understand how washed up Robert Griffin still holds on to the 2nd spot?

 

[Extra Point]

Good point about Robert Griffin. He was washed up the second year he was in the league.

 

[Leonardfan]

As well as the Ravens played last year I just don't believe they can go all the way. In fact I think there will be some backsliding this year. They lost TE Hayden Hurst. They still have outstanding TE Mark Andrews their best receiver but it was their two tight end sets that teams had most difficulty in defending. TE Boyle is a solid player but lacks the dynamic athleticism of Hurst.

I think they caught a wave last year. Still a good team but I predict, like I did last year, they will get knocked off. My track record last year was good. I predicted here the Chiefs would beat the 49ers in the Super Bowl. The key though for predictions is to not bet. Ha.

But the Ravens are a media darling and we all know why. I guess they weren't all that interested in turning QB Trace McSorley into their Taysom Hill after all. Experts are divided as to whether Trace or Tyler Hundley will win the 3rd QB spot. And I don't understand how washed up Robert Griffin still holds on to the 2nd spot?

The Titans laid the template on how to defeat the Ravens in their playoff victory last year. "The Blank Canvas" isn't so blank anymore and teams will be better prepared to defend against the offense (think the Gremlin in 2012 on the Redskins). Big Ben returns to the helm for the Steelers, hopefully Mayfield has his head on straight - Cleveland got him two quality TEs - Austin Hooper and Mackey Award Winner Harrison Bryant. Mayfield just needs to control the two primadonna WRs and the Bengals have the prolific Joe Burrow.

I hope McSorely sticks around and develops but Haurbaugh showed no desire to utilize Trace last season. I personally would of loved to see him move to DB - he's a very good athlete and ultimate competitor. My only worry is that he is not willing to be moved around like Tebow. I still wish Tebow would of agreed to become a running back - he would of been fun to watch.

 

[Shadowlight]

I agree. The Ravens caught people on their heels last year but defensive coaches have had a full year to access the "novelty" and will be better prepared.

The Bills added MLB AJ Klein who has gotten better each season with the Saints and ex Steelers LB Tyler Matakevich who is a lock to make the team because of his special teams worth.

DT Justin Zimmer is considered a long shot to make the team. Don't be shocked with what I have to say next. Edge Trent Murphy is on the bubble. But it has more to do with money than on field play. 8 Million is involved. Still to me they would be stupid to release him. For starters he had 9 TFLs last year as a rotational player. He has always been valuable in pass rushing situations and is a very smart player.

It is always a bad idea to get rid of heady defenders. Look at what happened to the Patriots defense after edge Rob Ninkovich retired? They struggled to replace him the following year.

 

[Shadowlight]

No drama with the Las Vegas Raiders. They brought in three outstanding defenders for all three levels, Carl Nassib, Nick Kwiatkoski and Jeff Heath. That is called big time poaching from clueless teams.

They even did a cute thing recently by having players wear classic Raider uniforms. TE Jason Witten wore #87 Dave Casper and this was a no brainer, WR Hunter Renfrow wore #25 Fred Biletnikoff.

As reported earlier S/LB Tanner Muse will wear #55. I call him Minute Rice. That's how long it will take him to ingratiate himself to Raider fans.

I'll cut to the chase. This is my favorite NFL team for the upcoming season. You can bet on it no pun intended. Ha.

 

[Shadowlight]

Nothing of importance to report regarding the Falcons. It appears they will keep hybrid FB/TE Luke Stocker on the roster.

Look for talented DE John Cominsky to play a bigger role and of course they brought in a very athletic TE in Hayden Hurst but lost productive TE Austin Hooper.

Overall though the Falcons remain a team that is a glass half empty enterprise.

 

[wile]

I linked to this King story on two places this one is for the sudden newfound respect for Ryan Tannehill, just like that he is now a budding superstar I wonder why (don't bother I know he went Social Justice Warrior Superstar)
titans-training-camp-nfl-fmia-peter-king

 

[Shadowlight]

They might as well rename the Panthers as "Christian McCaffrey and the 52 Dwarves." The Matt "Ghoul" era has begun. As predicted here HC Rhule had arguably the worst caste infested draft. They had the temerity to complain that the Saints stole QB Tommy Stevens from them. No you dolts. Want a player bad enough you make sure you draft him before other teams. Just ask the Giants GM about QB Daniel Jones? The panty waist Giants media and their dweeb fans whined for months that they could have selected Jones later in the draft. Poppycock. The GM zoned in on the budding superstar and got his man. That is how it is done.

To think this had the best twin killers with Luke Kuechly on D and CM on O. And throw in future Hall of Famer TE Greg Olsen.

The biggest drama is whether WR Brandon Zylstra will make the team. Reports from training camp have been glowing. But we have heard that song before and seen the rug pulled out. So at this point all we can do is hope for the best.

LB Jordan Kunaszyk is mixed race.

 

[Shadowlight]

And now the late night comedy team that keeps Bucky tossing and turning at night. For years the Packers plot is simple enough for first graders to understand. They are successful because of QB Aaron Rodgers. He is roughly 90% of the reason they contend every year. Take Aaron off the team and the Packers might get demoted into the Big Ten where they can battle out close affairs with the likes of Illinois and Northwestern.

The media tried to change the subject last year by drooling over the defensive edge Smith brothers who entered the season like German Shepherds and ended the season like Poodles. The 49ers mowed them over in the playoffs as if they weren't there. It was one of the most disgraceful defensive performances in a big game I have ever witnessed.

This past draft was a masterclass in idiocy. Being completely tone deaf they did everything in their power to grab QB Jordan Love in the first round. Thus pissing off the one player that is holding up the entire house Aaron Rodgers. Predictably Love has struggled through camp. The GM Gutekunst ( might as well ditch the letter s in his name) is a dithering fool. Even the media thought it was a foolish move.

Not too much drama as far as the 53 man roster.

Rookie TE Josiah Deguara might sneak in as a 4th TE to join promising young talents like Robert Tonyan and athletic Jace Sternberger.

WR Jake Kumerow looks safe (for now) but it is hard to tell if they will increase his sparse playing time?

LB Ty Summers, who plays special teams, is probably the best athlete on the team so reason dictates you work him into the defense. But for the Packers reason doesn't factor into their decisions.

 

[Shadowlight]

I'll get this out of the way. I do not like the Broncos. This is a team that is built on caste principles.

The most intriguing thing about them is their QBs. Starter Drew Lock is a very good athlete. I was surprised to see Jeff Driskel as the back up. Driskel has bounced around ( Lions, Bengals) and I am not sure he is starter material but I root hard for him anyway. This once baseball prospect is easily one of the fastest QBs in the NFL.

On the back end of the TE depth chart Jake Butt and Troy Fumagalli look to battle it out for a spot. Michigan vs. Wisconsin all over again. Ha.

GM John Elway who is marinated in caste think shocked me when he drafted promising DE Derek Tuszka. They have been working him out as an outside linebacker ( think Rob Ninkovich and Trent Murphy mold) so at this point I would say it is 50-50 he makes the team. If he does make the roster it would be a nice development for a team with so little to cheer about.

 

[wile]

Geez my buddy Shadow calls it right, a slight quibble of a possibility the Packers' head shed might realize that Rogers is fading faster than a broken light bulb. If I were GM of that team and Rogers started sounding like a political activist a klaxon alarm would be screaming red hot in my brain, but then again I'm not an overpaid true believer like Gutekunst.

 

[Leonardfan]

The Jaguars cut Leonard Fournette - 4th pick of the 2017 draft. My guess is Rodent Nagy will go after him. It sounds like the Rodent is playing coy with the Bears qb situation. Trubisky does not even know what the coaches are doing. It's going to have an impact on a young QBs psyche. Nagy has really stunted and hurt Mitch Trubisky.

As for Doug Marrone - He has been able to jettison all the malcontents from that team - Ramsey, Ngakugaboogoo, Fournette etc. The team is now Gardner Minishew's. Minishew is a talented QB who is fun to watch and has an equally entertaining personality. He has quickly become one of my favorite players in the league. He had a better year then Magical Midget Jr. out in Arizona but of course is overlooked. I am hoping the Jaguars win the AFC south this year.

 

[Shadowlight]

I tend to agree that Aaron is showing some signs of slippage but like Tom Brady it is from such a high pedestal that it isn't detrimental to the team as far as I can tell.

If discussing a team that has been the most consistently dreary caste by the numbers outfit over the years the Lions would be front and center in that discussion. And not for nothing like the weirdly blackish Kansas college football team they have stunk year after year. Might want to change things up fellows? They seem to be allergic to having white defenders.

This colorless team offers little in way of 53 man roster intrigue. The addition of WR Amendola gave them a bit of a face lift last season. Amendola proved he still has gas left in his tank. Nice career for him.

Their TE situation is interesting. Like so many teams they are loaded with T. J. Hockensen, Jesse James and Isaac Nauta.

I highly touted Hockensen and I admit he didn't play to his talent level last season before he got injured. It reminds me a little bit of another player I thought was a sure shot in Miami's Mike Gesicki and he got off to a rocky start as well but seems to be heading in the right direction now.

I suspect other forces like lack of steady QB play affected T.J. some but like Gesicki I fully expect Hockensen to live up to his potential.

 

[Shadowlight]

Speaking of the Bears and Nagy ( see above post) their QB Mitch Trubisky is the QB the media dumps on the most. Mitch is at his best running around and making plays with his athleticism and legs. Nagy instead put him in a straight jacket last year and kept him in the pocket. Nagy looks like a guy that has escaped from a mental facility.

They intend to carry up to 5 tight ends which include Jimmy "the turtle" Graham. Who doesn't like snail ball?

They did do one thing right by drafting TE Cole Kmet who looks like a can't miss stud.

One of the most discussed players here at CF the past few years is RB Ryan Nall. As long as they don't bring in another running back, which we can't put past them, all indications point to Ryan making the squad. Saved perhaps by the fact he has been a steady special teams player?

I believe they have only one white player on defense in non starter DL Brent Urban.

But don't worry the Bears are on top of things. If things go askew they can always blame the white kicker. And Mitch of course that is if he is still the starter? Although I suspect they will blame Mitch even if he isn't playing.

 

[wile]

Pack should have traded for Trubisky to sit behind the political activist till the guy ran himself out of the NFL. Anyway Gutweasel might not be a football savant, but he no doubt plays the social game and is cashing out even as the product got woke and goes broke. And that is where we are in the midst of the elite's "Social game" even the guy who owns NASCAR flies out every weekend, not from NC but the Hamptons in NY, they are all looters but they loot billions while Jogger-americans pick up some cheap china shoes.

 

[Shadowlight]

Searching looking kicker hum he doesn't look all white, don't mind me, lets see THERE I found one. The punter is white. Bryan Anger # 9 on the Texans. Who says the NFL lacks diversity?

What is left to say. J.J. Watt is an all time great but perhaps after all the missed time, age and injuries, to me he looked like he had lost a step last season. Still a talent though. Maybe he will be fresher this season?

FB Cullen Gillaspia was injured during training camp so may be put on IR. QB AJ McCarron is the back up QB.

Like Porky the Pig used to say "That's all Folks."

 

[Bucky]

Searching looking kicker hum he doesn't look all white, don't mind me, lets see THERE I found one. The punter is white. Bryan Anger # 9 on the Texans. Who says the NFL lacks diversity?

What is left to say. J.J. Watt is an all time great but perhaps after all the missed time, age and injuries, to me he looked like he had lost a step last season. Still a talent though. Maybe he will be fresher this season?

FB Cullen Gillaspia was injured during training camp so may be put on IR. QB AJ McCarron is the back up QB.

Like Porky the Pig used to say "That's all Folks."

Sad. Houston has done everything in its power to be more Black Power. Long gone are the glory days 10yrs ago when they were one of the Whitest rosters in the League.

I agree, JJ is aging just like I didn't want to admit Kuechly was last season. I think he'll stick around for a few more season's barring injuries, he thinks Deshaun will lead them to a Championship.

 

[Red Raider]

They might as well rename the Panthers as "Christian McCaffrey and the 52 Dwarves." The Matt "Ghoul" era has begun. As predicted here HC Rhule had arguably the worst caste infested draft. They had the temerity to complain that the Saints stole QB Tommy Stevens from them. No you dolts. Want a player bad enough you make sure you draft him before other teams. Just ask the Giants GM about QB Daniel Jones? The panty waist Giants media and their dweeb fans whined for months that they could have selected Jones later in the draft. Poppycock. The GM zoned in on the budding superstar and got his man. That is how it is done.

To think this had the best twin killers with Luke Kuechly on D and CM on O. And throw in future Hall of Famer TE Greg Olsen.

The biggest drama is whether WR Brandon Zylstra will make the team. Reports from training camp have been glowing. But we have heard that song before and seen the rug pulled out. So at this point all we can do is hope for the best.

LB Jordan Kunaszyk is mixed race.

I’m 99.99% sure Kunaszyk is fully white. He does have some tanned skin but he has multiple pictures with his parents on his Instagram and he has fully white features besides his darker skin. He’s a good player, he might have a big role with Kuechleys retirement.

 

[Leonardfan]

Sad. Houston has done everything in its power to be more Black Power. Long gone are the glory days 10yrs ago when they were one of the Whitest rosters in the League.

I agree, JJ is aging just like I didn't want to admit Kuechly was last season. I think he'll stick around for a few more season's barring injuries, he thinks Deshaun will lead them to a Championship.

I have to disagree with JJ! As for me I am Jags fan in that division now.