Icege

Jimmy Horn Jr will give us those 8yd gains on WR screens when he starts to figure it out

Good lord Moton got annihilated

I think that's why they've made it a point to have a deeper WR room this season. Having different weapons and scheming them open to their strengths is only going to make the offense better.

Always fun to see articles linked and immediately be able to tell who from the replies even bothered reading it. The mention about going to more empty sets and why now makes Canales' tendency to go five wide after a 1st down run that went for a first down. I'd get frustrated seeing the run game work only to move away from it, but now that I know it was part of trying to rebuild his confidence and catering scheme to the players (I know folks aren't used to this, but Canales and Evero have both shown early on that they won't force their scheme if the players accel in other ways). Moving away from heavier sets and giving Bryce more options takes advantage of his much praised processing ability. Giving Jonathon Mingo an extra 1.5sec in his route wasn't exactly going to get him any more open. Now, after the recent SI video, it sounds like coach and QB have found a happy medium to the point of Bryce leading meetings to teach concepts (and let his teammates know his preferences and tendencies based on what he sees). There's still going to be growing pains, especially on the recently patched together defense, but there's finally some competence it seems in the locker room.

I see this type of sentiment often, especially in regards to Bryce. But for the life of me, I cannot find anywhere that lists the expected statistical performances for each draft pick to be considered "worth it." I can find trade values, I can find contract values, and I can even find data that shows the chances of success for different positions taken at different times during the draft. But I cannot find anything that states what a player should put up at the very least to be considered worth the selection. Which also begs the question... if a player was traded up for, does the value of those picks given and the supposed statistical baseline added to where they were drafted? For example, if Chicago had drafted Bryce and his career arc was identical without trading the pick away, is there now a lower baseline for him to have to hit? Does Bryce have to do more than Cam because Cam wasn't traded up for? I'm sure folks can point at recent stat lines and say "Better than that!" but when I've had this same convo in the past it turns into less stable fans getting nasty when they realize that there isn't really a statistical baseline that they're pounding the table for.

I think that rather than supplementing the pass rush by blitzing ILBs that Evero is going to send more DB blitzes (especially from the slot). If Ransom wins the starting job, that'll be something that both him and Moehrig can do which would play in to the rotations that the defense leans on. There's going to be a lot of pressure on the DL to protect the LBs as well as the DBs to muddy things up enough for QBs to have to hesitate. Veeeeery interested to see if they target a safety during cuts (especially with Kyle Dugger rumored to be on the outs from New England)

This is why I respect your takes even if I disagree with some. Even when low on the team and questioning stuff that might oversell them, you give the same energy to the stuff that might be underselling them. It's a great example that other Huddlers could certainly benefit from adopting as well.

I was watching a podcast with Kyle Long and one of the guys... I think his name was Brock Vereen? He mentioned that the RB room in Carolina wasn't impressive despite it being the only one with two 1k-yard backs from 2024 in the room. Kyle Long also thought we were dog water and wouldn't get over 5 wins. He gave them the two against the Saints, Miami, Arizona, and the Jets. I've got 7 wins as the team's floor atm... those five games Long gave them plus Jacksonville and at least splitting with Atlanta.

Oh, for sure. Winning an award for "best guys off the field" doesn't necessarily translate to "best guys on the field" and at times you'll need to have one or three of those players that the best you can do to defend them is, "Yea... they're assholes... but they're our assholes so keep your mouth shut about them." At the same time, again this is speaking strictly for myself and not condemning opposing views, I'm a fan and don't have to worry about losing my income because of their performances. If I were a front office member, my focus would probably be more on how they help the team win games vs. whether or not I trust them behind the wheel at 2am on a Saturday. As the customer, I want my football team to win games and be valued, contributing members of the community.

Speaking for myself, I care about the person more than the player. If they're not a good player, they just hurt the team. If they're not a good person, then they can hurt their team and the communities that they are a part of. Similar to how I don't believe in giving a person a pass for being a scumbag just because they can run fast and catch a ball for a team I like. Character still counts (despite how much it seems not to in today's society).

It feels like Blackshear, Horn Jr, Moore, and Mitchell are all competing for those final spots... though I can see the team potentially taking a 7th DL or a 5th S if they land a guy like Kyle Dugger.

Very promising to hear about the offense looking decent and the defense showing up. The pass rush still being a work in progress as Scourton and Umanmielen get their pro legs underneath them is going to be a thing but it sounds like Evero's disguised coverages are helping give the rush time to get there. I don't think we have the talent at ILB to consistently send a guy on a blitz in order to aid the rush, but with the improved secondary play (Hell yea, Corey Thornton!) I think we're going to see a return to more of what the team did in 2023 - 2024.

Trevon Moehrig hit mentioned earlier

Canales presser started.

Sheena tweeted that XL has been catching everything today!