t96

Posted before in this thread, he broke his leg late in 2015 after being dominant in the slot that year too, pretty sure that injury prompted us to sign Finnegan out of retirement (who to his credit was great as a late season injury replacement off the street). Not that it would've made much of a difference in the SB anyways with our OL getting killed, but we got absolutely decimated by injury at CB late that year with Bene breaking his leg and I think Peanut Tillman tore his achilles or something in like week 16. That was rough. But yeah Bene was truly a great slot corner, one of the best in the league, before that injury. Then in 2016 he came back out of shape and without the agility he had before and was just not good. Rivera inexplicably matched him against Julio without any adjustments that game and then we cut him. He had declined enough anyways but I hardly blame him for the Julio game. Dude was a slot corner who was already struggling that year, not someone you matchup against a guy who at the time was easily a top 3-5 WR in the league, if not the best...

I saw the same thing lol, couldn't believe my eyes. Apparently they were so hurt at safety they signed him to practice squad in November and he immediately slotted in for 7 starts. All at safety. Pretty sure the tiny dude was Sanchez and was one of the victims along with Benwikere to Julio's infamous 300 yard game. I think he only caught passes against those 2 guys all game, with most being against Bene. Barely played after that, rightfully so.

Of course, I agree. Gamble did it way longer here. If Bradberry played at that level here for as long as Gamble it'd be closer. Bradberry actually has had a pretty under the radar career post-Carolina too. Many will remember the game-ending hold in the Super Bowl but the dude did have a pro bowl season and another 2nd team all pro season after leaving. Gamble (outrageously) never even made a pro bowl.

I was as big of a fan of Josh as anyone and was pissed about that situation then and still am today. But Bradberry was also a legit #1 corner for a while here, not as flashy as Josh or as mentioned before in this thread not at the level of Josh's peak, but he was more consistent and just a quiet stud. Like Gamble was. Was just correcting the post from before about how the draft was completely wasted trying to replace him, which is a notion I just disagree with. Bradberry was a great pick and legit #1 corner. As I already posted, the rest of the draft was an absolute disaster but we did come away with a Josh replacement. And yeah it should've been both but I'm just evaluating the moves after the Josh fiasco. Also worth noting we did have Bene who was coming off 2 incredible seasons before breaking his leg late in 2015. I don't think anyone expected him to fall off nearly as much as he did following that injury. If he had gotten back to that level of play, Bradberry on the outside with him in the slot would be a decent pair to bolster a corner group. Those 2 plus a veteran outside CB signing after the Josh fiasco would've been a reasonably good group. But Bene couldn't get his conditioning back and sucked and DG was confident in 3 rookies which was dumb as hell.

Bradberry was a great pick and worthy replacement. Rest of that draft was ass though

I think Rivera could've been an all time great HC if he were like 20-30 years older. Dude's defensive mind was legit and he was a hell of a leader, but he couldn't adjust and adapt to the modern game.

soft society these days man. profanity, the horror

It's early to say anything about these guys' durability. Cam was the biggest tank in the league who would never miss a snap until he wasn't. TD missed 3 seasons due to ACL tears and his career was written off and then he became an absolute ironman.

Steelers don't exactly have much offensive talent or great coaching on that side of the ball but I do think people are overlooking Rodgers and he'll do way better there than he did in NY. Honestly think the Steelers can win a playoff game with him, something they haven't done in a decade. Realistically don't think they can contend for a Super Bowl and beat teams like the Chiefs or Eagles, but I do think they can improve on the trash QB play they've had since Big Ben fell off and then retired.

Check your facts, pal. Mahomes started the last game of the regular season his rookie year as the Chiefs benched their starters due to playoff position being locked in. And in that one game he showed significantly more than Bryce has shown in his entire career as a starter. Which is what my post was alluding to. Regarding Cam: Going into 2015 he had 50/1 odds for MVP https://www.cincyjungle.com/2015/8/11/9130505/nfl-mvp-odds-released-for-2015-season But going into 2014 his odds were considerably higher as he was coming off a season where he was clearly a top 10 QB before his 2014 was hampered by injury, a bad team and a down year in terms of his play too. Going into 2014 he was 25/1, tied for 8th best MVP odds in the league. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2014-nfl-mvp-odds-peyton-manning-the-obvious-favorite/ Bryce's odds right now are about 100/1. Again, Bryce is absolutely nowhere near the conversation or even the same stratosphere as those guys and putting any amount of money on him to win MVP would just be throwing your money away.

I personally just don't see it on the field. He's had some nice plays, yeah, but overall my eye test says middle of the pick starter in the 15-17ish range. Which again, is completely fine, great for where he was drafted and the position is not a weakness for the team. But he's not a guy who draws significant attention from the D and helps open up the passing game. Not a factor at all as a receiver. He was 15th in scrimmage yards last year (2 WRs ahead) with high usage and an average at best yards/touch. He's running behind a very good OL lately too. Hopefully he continues to improve and proves me wrong and shows those flashes of elite play more consistently but I just don't see it yet. I like the Dowdle signing and think they will complement each other well. They are nowhere near Double Trouble. 1300+ scrimmage yards is honestly a pretty low benchmark these days and plenty of JAGs have hit it in recent years. Not saying these guys are JAGs (jury out on Dowdle) just that 1300 yards can easily be achieved by a JAG with high enough usage and in good offenses with good OLs.

I still think Hubbard is about as average of a starter as it gets at RB, which isn't necessarily a bad thing especially for his draft position, but he's not a guy that teams will ever gameplan for. Every other player on that list was at least at times. I don't like investing a ton in the position but I would still try to keep upgrading. Maybe not next offseason as we already have Chuba locked up and will hopefully get to see what if anything Brooks can offer, but the year after that I'd start looking again for a potential game changer at RB. Not expecting to find one immediately but take some shots on day 3 or in FA. As for our career rushing leaders, yeah it's really not great overall even with the franchise being "only" 30 years old. Stewart and Williams both dealt with injuries AND having to deal with each other (and eventually Cam) taking carries for several years, otherwise could've seen either of them surpassing 10k. McCaffrey wasn't here all that long, was hurt a lot, and his receiving usage took away from rushing yards. Cam's numbers are pretty damn high for a QB whose career was ended pretty early due to injuries.

nah it'd just be throwing money away lol. Cam had already shown he was a top 10 starter and Mahomes in one game his rookie year showed more than Bryce has shown his whole career

Idk maybe. Guys like Favre, Rodgers, Brees also only having 1 kinda takes the heat off the Colts only getting 1 with Manning. And none of those QBs had to deal with the Pats dynasty or Steelers/Ravens mini-dynasties (no they are not dynasties but both those teams were in the mix pretty much every year in the AFC and both won 2 SBs in Manning’s career). Honestly think if the Manning Colts were in the NFC they’d have won 2-3. An elite QB is a big deal but you still have to build a team around them. They could’ve been like the Dolphins with Marino.

He seemed like a somewhat cool dude, much cooler than Tepper or JR. He did bring Indy a team and a Super Bowl (largely due to timing of getting Manning, but still), but I didn’t think he was a great owner, has had the drug issues, etc. RIP. Wonder if his family will sell his sweet guitar collection