Mannock

So what do you say about round 1 of the draft? I'm surprised Jawaan Taylor wasn't picked. He was mocked high on a lot of mock drafts and was projected as the best tackle (though it was a close race I think). Very surprising. I liked that the Falcons picked Chris Lindstrom so early. I was hoping he would slide to my Packers down at #30, but that wasn't even close to happening. Two tight ends drafted before any WR. That's really something. Thought some team would trade up into the first round to grab Drew Lock or Will Grier. Surprised me that it didn't happen. As for the Packers, I feel content. I was crossing my fingers for Hockenson or Ed Oliver at #12 but it was a long shot. Rashan Gary has a big upside and we will see how it pans out. I like that they traded up to get the safety they wanted (and dearly needed). Feeling good so far.

The QB class being as thin as it is this year, he will most likely be the first QB off the board this year. I'm not totally sold on Murray but enough hype has been created for him to be coveted in the draft this year.

New deal done for Russel Wilson according to the latest reports. Smart of Seahawks to get this done. Wilson is one of the best and he's only 30. *edit* And Wilson is now the highest paid player in the NFL. *edit 2* http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001026538/article/russell-wilson-seahawks-agree-to-4year-140m-deal

You didn't respond to my point. Snowden could show how innocent civilians got murdered by the US military. They face no charges for that, despite breaking the law. So why should Snowden?

But why should Snowden face the law for "cyber espionage", when the US military murders countless civilian innocents, without ever having to face up to any sort of law? Snowden broke the law, but he did the morally right thing, much like Daniel Ellsberg did for example.

I was only a lurker on the old BIS boards and quite frankly only remember Gromnir from back then. But it's still nice to see this old community of friends coming back and checking up on eachother. I'm experiencing the same thing on another board. It's heart warming.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. Aaron Rodgers shot back at the Bleacher report article. https://eu.packersnews.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2019/04/08/packers-rodgers-rips-smear-attack-murphy-quote-defends-mccarthy/3405676002/ I know I'm biased, I love 12, but there was a lot of gossip stuff in the original article and stuff that has been known for quite some time, coming from the same two players as always. Aaron is certainly not easy to deal with all the time, but no one is liked by everyone. There's a lot of people coming to his support too. I'll side with my QB1 on this one.

Did anyone read the Bleacher report article about Rodgers and McCarthy? Some dynamite. However, Jennings and Finley, their opinions were already known. And there was a lot of anonymous comments that felt a lot like school yard gossiping. So a bucket of salt to go with that.

That pressrelease was such a farce. The Romero's were credited with creating Doom, Quake, Wizardry 8 and Jagged Alliance. What has John accomplished after he left Id Software (ie when he was part of creating Doom and Quake)? Daikatana? Awesome. And his forte is FPS and they are now making a strategy game. And Brenda wrote the friggin manual for Jagged Alliance. She was a writer for JA2, but that game didn't excel because of its writing let me tell you. She can have credit for Wizardry 8, but that's a game which is soon 20 years old. Her resume since that game is Playboy: The Mansion and facebook games. To that, you can add her kickstarter campaign for a generic "old school RPG", put forth in the backwash of the successful campaigns of PoE, Wasteland 2 and Shadowrun, which was an obvious attempt at grabbing money from nostalgic RPG fans without any idea of what the heck they were trying to make. Luckily that campaign failed. Color me not impressed. I love Paradox strategy games (and don't mind their DLC model either) but seeing them working with the Romeros is seriously off putting.

Have anyone taken a closer look at LB Devin White? He's by most people regarded as the top ILB in the draft but I saw yesterday a video on him where his poor tackling was pointed out. He tackles very high. Anyone else noticed this? Isn't that a problem or is he highly regarded because his ILB competition (in this years draft class) is so poor?

Gronk retired is a serious blow to the Patriots. But it seems to be a deep TE class this year, so they'll probably pick someone up in round 6 and turn him into a star.

Anyone know who's the developer? I haven't had time to google and stuff.

I want to add that I am not at all surprised Packers didn't try to resign them. I guess they could have been resigned on team friendly deals but I think both Clay and Cobb were expecting to get some money on the market, and they clearly did. I am not sorry however. Their production have been steadily declining the last few years and both have been hampered by injuries (even though Clay played all games last season, he still only got 3 and half sacks). It was definetely the right decision to let them go, but it's still emotional. Especially Clay. They adressed a lot of their needs in FA, but the biggest need to me, if you just look at the current roster, it's definetely safety. They got Amos in FA which was good, but there's no good option for the other starting safety. But I think their plan is to fix that in the draft, possibly with the #44 pick. Other than that I agree in basic with your assessment. They need another body in the O-line. Doesn't really matter if it's a guard or a tackle, cause the guy they signed in FA can play all positions along the line. Generally, Packers have been picking O-line players in the later parts of the draft and develop them. I think they will do the same this year, unless there is an obvious value pick. Given the two Smiths they signed in FA as edge rushers I would agree interior DL is more of a need than the edge. I think they will go for one with the #12 pick, possibly Ed Oliver. This depends on one thing though... And that is the TE position and TJ Hockenson. If he's still on the board at #12 I think they'll pick him. Why? Because they have been trying with FA for years to get a good TE going and the results have been poor (Cook was decent but they didn't manage to resign him). They have Graham now but his numbers last year were crap compared to what they pay him. So I think they will address this in the draft. Hockenson will be their #1 choice since he's such a good blocker, which they will be needing in Matt LeFleur's run scheme. Problem is, I think Hockenson has a high probability of going earlier than #12 and if so, they'll go interior DL at #12 and try to pick up a TE at #30, with Fant and Irv Smith Jr being the top choices. That's my prediction at the moment. And I suppose you have to consider some team trying to trade up at #30 to grab a QB and Packers might go for that trade, and that messes everything up of course. But if no trades occur, this is my prediction for the Packers.

Clay Matthews to Rams and Randall Cobb to Cowboys. Feels like the end of an era (especially if you think about Jordy leaving last season).

A lot will reference Airwolf but my first thought is The winds of war.

He's making good money out of that modus operandi, so who can blame him? But as of right now he's not been signed as a backup, but as a starter, so that is kinda new (looking at the cycle picture). And from what I understand, Dolphins won't trade up this year to get a QB, but rather wait until next years draft.

I'm also quite certain they'll draft a safety given that they released Brice. They are still very thin there. Maybe Adderly or Rapp perhaps?

Well, it's all in line with how they handled last years draft.

Yeah, they're taking a chance of course, but what was the alternative? To get two rookie edge rushers in the draft to play along Fackrell and Gilbert (and keeping Perry I suppose)? I rather take my chances with the two Smiths they brought in (even though I get that they most likely will earn a lot more than they produce on the field). What I really like about this FA surge is that in the draft, the Packers don't have to steer away from the best player on the board and go after need. At pick #12 they can go after a blue chip player, regardless position. I guess you could say safety and TE are still a bit of a need, perhaps safety in particular (if they don't convert a corner to safety). But safety is not that huge of a need it was two days ago and I'm pretty sure Packers will pick a TE in the first round (Hockenson if he's available at 12 and if he's not, they will pick Fant or Irv Smith Jr at 30, depending on who's available).

I'd actually say Rosen is a better option. But other than that there's crap on the board. I get why the Bucs stick with him for another season even though that most likely will mean they have to spend a whole lot more ammo next season to get a new QB (regardless if it's in FA or via draft).

Here's something that's not a smokescreen. Case Keenum traded to the Redskins. I just don't know how to assess that. I mean is he a place holder for the possible return of Alex Smith in the 2020/21 season? An expensive place holder in that case. On the other hand, they might think that if he tanks, they hopefully will have a high draft pick next year and can draft their franchise QB. But the Redskins are in a pickle with the QB situation, so whatever they had done, it would have been risky I suppose. *edit* Oh, and if the Cardinals are just playing tricks right now, it's some masterful pupeteering and I would applaud them for it. As for the Bucs, yeah they need a new QB. But I think it's smart of them to not go all in on this QB class which is rather thin.

Yeah, I think the Cardinals are stupid if they move on from Rosen. I mean they even traded up for him; ie spent a lot of ammo on him, just a season ago. Sure he didn't perform great this past season, but he hadn't much quality pieces around him either. I think they'd be much better off trying to upgrade their team (especially the O-line) than going after a new QB.

The Cardinals seem to be all in on him regardless though. The interesting thing is Josh Rosen however. I think there's a team which has a great chance to get a very promising QB at a steal price.

Jachai Pollite was one of the possible draft picks slated for the Packers at 12, but seems to have dropped it big time at the combine. Performed poorly both physically and at the interviews. Dropping out of the 1st round even it seems. I'm putting my bet on Ed Oliver for the 12th pick currently.

And they paid him $5M. Crazy money for a 37 year old backup. On the other hand, I thought they were crazy dealing a first round pick for Amari Cooper, and that turned out fine in the end.