tukafan21

Huge difference in kicking a FG that has to stay within a small margin of error and kicking off when it just needs to stay in bounds. I'd say that kicking the laces on those to where it adds a little wobble to the ball flight would be more effective when someone has to try and catch the ball, you don't need a nice smooth flight path like on FG's.

Sure, but correct me if I'm wrong, they also changed the missed FG rules a little while back (maybe 5ish years ago I think?). Maybe I'm remembering it wrong, but years ago, if you missed a FG, the other team got the ball from the LOS, but now they get the ball where it was kicked from, right? If I'm remembering it right, that meant missing a 55 yard FG with the old rules would give the ball to the other team at their own 38 yard line, where as a miss from 65 yards now gives them the ball at your own 45 yard line. 10 yard difference in the FG length, but 17 yards difference in field position for the other team. When you combine that with how much stronger kicker's legs are today, the risk level for a 55 yarder back then is nowhere near comparable to a 65 yarder now.

You're conflating being able to throw a vertical route with a defense needing to always be worried about it and needing to keep a safety deep on most snaps because of it They're two very different things. Yes, if/when a team leaves themselves vulnerable over the top and we get the right 1 on 1 matchup, you need to take the shot. But that's not going to be a go-to play for Bryce in his career, because it's just not his style of game/arm, so wasting such precious little preseason snaps on those throws as opposed to a throw he's going to be attempting multiple times every week, just wouldn't make any sense. And yes, it's always been one of my main concerns with Bryce, both pre-draft and still today, that his physical limitations will always restrict what we can do with him as our QB. But he also has certain strengths that even some of the better QB's struggle with, in particular, his ability to place passes with touch. That's why getting game reps, even preseason, on those outside touch throws is exactly what they should be doing, because it's helping him get his timing down with T-Mac on a play they plan on running on a consistent basis this year and into the future. I always said that hat Bryce does well meshes really well with what T-Mac brings to the table. That size, catch radius, and hands catching ability is a picture perfect skill set for someone with Bryce's touch pass placement. They're going to feast on those high and outside throws along the sideline where the defender won't have any chance of breaking up the throw.

Well in that case, then it's pointless to discuss, because Bryce just doesn't have the arm to make teams stress about being vertically challenged in that way. It's just the way it is with Bryce, every QB has their own strengths and weaknesses that teams will be afraid of or not. And no, preseason games are not just practice vs players that don't know you. Just like Canales was saying for his reasoning for playing the starters, even a preseason game is just a different environment than practice, and it's more than just once the ball is snapped. It's the overall process of the mentality needed for game day. Making that pass/catch in a stadium filled with fans and opponents you don't know is night and day from making it out on the practice field, no matter who is on the other side of the practice field rep. And working on your strengths is VERY different when you're talking about a running game vs the passing game with a 1st year combo of QB and his #1 WR, it's apples and oranges.

Nobody is consistent from 65 yards. Justin Tucker is the best long distance kicker in league history and even he's only 64/96 from 50+ in his career. So again, they'll try those super long ones in end of half situations or in the 2nd half of games to where a made FG will tie or take the lead. But in the first half or when they have a lead (or down more than 3 points), they aren't going to be trying many 65+ yard FGs.

You focus on weaknesses in practice, but with a 1st year together QB/WR combo, you focus on strengths in preseason games to get your timing down in game situations. And I think your question of who that guy should be depends on your definition of "go route" If you're talking about a Tyreek Hill type of go route, to where you're hoping to throw it past the back end of the defense for someone to run underneath, then yea, it's XL. But as you noted and I said numerous times in the lead up to the draft when people wanted us to get a pure speedster #1 WR (like Golden), Bryce doesn't have that type of arm to properly take advantage of a pure speed guy. But if you consider a deep jump ball a "go route" as it still technically is the same route for the WR, then it's T-Mac over XL 100 times out of 99. I'd even make the argument that before he even steps onto the field in a regular season game, that T-Mac is a Top 5 deep jump ball WR in the league already, it's probably his greatest strength because of his size and hands.

lol, that's a great point and something I've taken to an extreme level in talking with my friends recently. Was joking with someone last week that I'm actually now fine with losing the SB's because if we won either of them, it would likely have been a butterfly affect that lead to us never ending up with T-Mac, everything over the last 30 years lead to my most perfectly imaginable scenario. Now sure, it was mostly tongue in cheek as I'd love to have won a SB. But T-Mac was already my favorite college player of all time and now he's a Panther. I think I've actually been rather reserved in expressing my excitement about it on here, which is saying something considering how annoying I'm sure I've been on here since draft night (and the pre-draft process), LOL.

Yes and no End of half situations, sure, but in reality, even if he has the leg for that long of a kick, 98 times out of 100 they aren't going to even consider it because missing it gives the other team crazy good field position.

huh?!?! Either I'm not following you here or you are woefully wrong on a few fronts First is that yes, we know Bryce is pretty good at that sideline fade touch pass, which is EXACTLY why it should be what they are throwing in the preseason and getting reps of. That's not a pass/play that you can easily just throw a QB/WR combo out there and run without practice as it's all about timing and knowing each other's tendencies. So since that's going to be a go-to play call for Bryce/T-Mac this year, it needs these preseason reps to learn each other's styles and timings so they hit the ground running in Week 1 and not take the first month of the season still feeling each other out. Beyond that, I genuinely have no idea why you'd say that should be an XL route and that it's not the type of WR T-Mac is, as it's very literally the exact opposite of that. It's the PERFECT route for T-Mac because of his size, catch radius, and hands, he excels at working the sideline where the QB can put the ball where only he has the chance to catch it. And when you combine that with his away from his body hands catching ability, it's a perfect combo. Whereas XL's worse hands make that a significantly more difficult catch and not at all his forte. And while yes, T-Mac is a great go-route guy because of his jump ball ability, there is an easy argument to make that XL's pure speed makes him the better deep ball threat than T-Mac, because he can run past the defense in a way T-Mac can't. (albeit, with the above, I still think it leans T-Mac's way because of Bryce and him not having a cannon for an arm where he can throw it past the safeties anyways, he's more of a jump ball deep ball QB, which again, is a major strength of T-Mac's)

Throwing a go-route does nothing to help Bryce and T-Mac get on the same page with each other, as that's essentially just run as fast as you can and throw it as far as you can and hope he can get under it for the catch. They can do that in practice all day and it's pretty much the equivalent to a preseason game. But throwing the fade, to work on beating the defender, making a throw in live action to where only T-Mac has the chance to get it, that's something that isn't as easily replicated in a practice situation. I think there will be plenty of times this year that T-Mac gets 1 on 1 coverage without safety help over the top and they audible at the line for a go-route with Bryce throwing a jump ball for T-Mac to go up and make the catch over the defender like he did countless times in college. But throwing the fade here in Week 1 of the pre-season was 100% the right decision for what we needed to get out of the game.

I think this is a big leap to make based on a preseason game where our two best players weren't even suited up. In the same way offenses won't run their best plays in the preseason because they don't want to put them on tape for opponents to study, defenses also tend to run very generic play calls to not give away their schemes they plan on using that season as well. Missed tackles are either on the individual players or their position coaches who should be coaching them up in that area, not the DC who is more of the scheme coach. I'm not absolving Evero, especially after last year, but just saying you really can't judge coordinator schemes based on the preseason, they purposefully run vanilla stuff which is usually going to create some poor plays.

Yea, that sack was either on Bryce for not getting rid of it or just a well played by the Browns DE, whichever way you want to view it, but it certainly wasn't on the OL. Someone got beat in the middle of the line on a strong bull rush, but Bryce stepped up into the pocket well to avoid it. The DE that was rushing against Ickey ended up getting the sack, but there really isn't anything an OT can do when they pass block perfectly, keep their man at bay, and then the defender turns to run back towards the LOS to chase the QB because they took off running. Literally the only way for the OT to stop that is to grab and hold the DE, so in no way would that be a sack on Ickey.

The one in the Endzone probably was a drop by it's definition, but in reality, that was just a rookie in his first game not quite yet on the exact same page as his QB on a timing route. Bryce had an absolute perfectly timed pass, he threw it before T-Mac even made his shake move at the top of the route, let alone before he was even starting to turn. That ball was on him the second he turned his head, and sure, it's one you still hope he catches, but in his first ever game and still getting that timing down with his QB, I don't really view it as a "drop" as much as just not a completed pass. The other was one that again, would have been nice to see him catch it, but he was hit by multiple defenders basically simultaneously as the ball getting to him, would have been a tough catch for anyone. I was actually impressed with what T-Mac did AFTER the dropped TD pass. I don't think I've ever seen a player go and get the ball from behind the end zone after a dropped pass like that. It was like he was upset at himself for not catching it and wanted to get the football in his hands before the next play. He was holding himself accountable before any teammate or coach could say anything, LOVED seeing it.

Pickens has 2,800 yards and 12 TDs in 3 seasons Sure, I’ll give you that he has an obscene amount of talent and potential, but at some point you have to look at the production and realize he’s just a good, but not great, player. Lamb is a Top 5 WR, pbviosuly, but Pickens probably doesn’t crack the Top 25 right now.

What?!?! Prime Smitty and Moose >>>>> Lamb and Pickens

How does trading multiple firsts for Parsons and giving him a massive contract do anything to solve our MLB problem?!?!

Can only fill so many holes in one offseason, this was just the last one in the priority order, it is what it is. Also always likely to end up seeing some vets be cap casualties towards the end of camp, likely will be able to find someone before week 1 to sign

I wasn't a fan of that either, probably for the same reason they didn't like it. They were an amazing duo, but they weren't like some of the others in league history where they were polar opposite type of players and things like Thunder and Lighting made more sense (like CJ2K and Lendale). Yea, Stew was certainly more physical than Deangelo, but he had plenty of speed himself. And it's not like Deangelo was just a pure speedster himself either.

Because we had too many holes still to fill and if you do that, then you HAVE to carry 3 QB's on the active roster or you wasted the pick. As it is, all our draft picks this year are likely to make the 53 I think, and if Bryce goes down and/or doesn't show improvement, it's another lost season and we'll need to draft, trade, sign a new QB in the offseason, not hope a 5th or 6th round pick from this year turns into something legitimate. If Bryce improves and shows to be the guy of the future, then you take a QB in the mid rounds next year with the hope that they can be a solid backup for the 4 years of their rookie contract.

Seeing this catch by T-Mac actually made me realize how much these rain practices are actually a good thing for this team, but more particularly, for T-Mac himself. Arizona has the most days of sunshine per year in the country, he likely doesn't have a ton of practice time catching in the rain, which unfortunately takes one of his biggest strengths and turns it into a borderline weakness. It's difficult to be a pure hands catcher in these kinds of conditions, it's what stood out in this clip so much to me, it's really rare to see him darn near cradle the ball into his body, especially on such a short/easy route like this one.

No player who will get significant playing time this season will play more than a series or two, with the odds that anyone who plays for us from the 2nd quarter on being a player who likely won't ever see meaningful snaps this year. So winning/losing really doesn't matter, it's all about how the starters look and then the overall mindset and attitude of the team, scoreboard is meaningless in this.

Well two things wrong here First, they weren't Thunder and Lightning, they were Double Trouble. And second, if they were Thunder and Lightning, Stew would absolutely have been the Thunder as he was a much more physical runner than Deangelo was.

I can't see how a 30 year old Moore is kept over Horn or Coker who could be here long term and both being better WRs than Moore is too. Then if it's Moore vs Thielen and Renfrow, it also just doesn't seem like his special teams contributions would get him a roster spot over either of them in the end either. Moore is only making the team if we keep 7 WRs or someone else goes down in camp/pre-season (knock on wood)

What the hell else is he going to say to not infuriate the fan base right now and/or screw himself in negotiations either with Parsons or other teams? Taking that at face value is basically the equivalent to thinking the stripper really likes you.