NFL Preseason Thread *Predictions/Discussions*

[Deejay]

So he had a good season? All hail Ryan Grant the best running back of all time.

Reuben Draughns ran for 1,000 yards a couple times too, does that make him better than any other back on the Giants roster?

Edit: I seriously want to hear your answer to this.

[Plow]

First, Is it that damn hard to condense and argument into maybe 2 damn paragraphs? Second, I don't google my arguments, so there's no need to correct my spelling of names. You know what I'm saying and I know what I'm saying.

Sorry, I had spelled it wrong earlier and someone commented, that was a jab at myself not you.

Now, to hit points individually. The Giants were an anomaly. The Vikings have lines that are probably better than the packers. You build a team from the inside out, but line play isn't going to win you 13 games, and neither is RoDDDDDDDDDDgers.

Tell that to the Chiefs teams that went 13-0 and shit based absolutely no question whatsoever 100% positively on their offensive line and not another thing in the world.

They have potentially a great QB....You asked if we had watched him play, so I have to ask you, have you seen him play? Really? And you still think that?
Your view on Favre is skewed. Well, not so much Favre, but the Green bay front office.

Ted Thomspon knows that Favre would be better than roDDDDDgers, that's why he told him not to report to camp to compete for his job. He also knows that he can't bench Favre for Rodddddgers.

The ONLY significant playing time he's had was coming in for a hurt Favre down 17 points against the Cowboys last year. 18 completions 201 yards 1td 0 int, brought them back within 3. You got me, he's terrible. And he can't bench Favre for Rodgers, but he can tell him to gtfo of the organization and stay the hell away from the team rofl...

Funny you brought up the Dolphins. Favre has a home in Miami and it was speculated that maybe he'd head that way. Favre is a competitor. he wants to play and teach.

I got lost in all the glorious absurdity of your post, so I may not have hit all my points, but off to work I go.

If Favre gets traded to an unsuccessful team he won't play. He wants to come back because he can't handle going out *almost* on top.

[tyven]

So he had a good season? All hail Ryan Grant the best running back of all time.

Reuben Draughns ran for 1,000 yards a couple times too, does that make him better than any other back on the Giants roster?

Edit: I seriously want to hear your answer to this.

i actually thought droughns was a solid pick up for you guys last year and i would probably play him more on first and second down than derrick ward. but anyway to apply my point to droughns, i wouldnt call him overrated after his first thousand yard season and then say a guy with ONE career hundred yard rushing game is better.

thats seriously the only point im trying to make. i dont even like the packers or ryan grant. i just think its laughable for you to call him overrated and worse than bradshaw or ward. i do think jacobs is a superior back though.

[Deejay]

Ah, I completely understand your point. That's just my fanboy showing. However, after this season I think Bradshaw/Ward will prove that they're better. Grant's been getting his penis sucked by everybody since he had that 200 yard game and I really don't see him doing what he did last year. That's just my opinion though.

[Plow]

You guys realize Grant was the running back at Notre Dame (starting in place of injured Julius Jones), and ran for over 1000 yards during the first of the only 2 remotely decent seasons they've had recently?


He's not some nobody from nowhere, he was expected to eventually turn into a good player, he fell in a club or some shit and put his hand through a bunch of champagne glasses, severed an artery and almost freaking died while on the Giants practice squad in his first season out of college.

Last season was his first after returning from that.


And, most importantly, regardless of who's the prototype(jacobs) the speedster(morency), etc, they can't be compared because he's the "heart" guy.

[Weltall]

I'm surprised we haven't seen someone make up a College Football thread yet. I'm waiting for the Pick Em games to show up on ESPN.com, figure we (BG) only did College Pick Em last year, should do both College & Pro this year. Maybe the Survivor/Eliminator pool for NFL as well.

Probably because it is the same shit every year.

Step 1. Set aside Texas/Michigan/USC/Ohio State.
Step 2. Let me beat on Christian schools, and then let them each play their 1-2 tough games a year.
Step 3. Let the SEC teams beat on each other, see which one comes out on top.
Step 4. Take the SEC team that came out and whichever of the teams in step 1 ended up rolling the table.
Step 5. Let SEC team beat the shit out of the overrated team from step #1.

[Tyche]

Probably because it is the same shit every year.

Step 1. Set aside Texas/Michigan/USC/Ohio State.
Step 2. Let me beat on Christian schools, and then let them each play their 1-2 tough games a year.
Step 3. Let the SEC teams beat on each other, see which one comes out on top.
Step 4. Take the SEC team that came out and whichever of the teams in step 1 ended up rolling the table.
Step 5. Let SEC team beat the shit out of the overrated team from step #1.

So true lol, but I need to add to it.

6. An overrated OSU goes to a BCS bowl game and gets humiliated.
7. Michigan fails to live up to expectations.

[Mizango]

Probably because it is the same shit every year.

Step 1. Set aside Texas/Michigan/USC/Ohio State.
Step 2. Let me beat on Christian schools, and then let them each play their 1-2 tough games a year.
Step 3. Let the SEC teams beat on each other, see which one comes out on top.
Step 4. Take the SEC team that came out and whichever of the teams in step 1 ended up rolling the table.
Step 5. Let SEC team beat the shit out of the overrated team from step #1.

Flawlessly done. Kudos for that.

Not to mention that all you would get out of me from a College football thread is Boilermakers posts 24/7.

Edit: Nice save Ty, I forgot about Michigan and it always being "the year".

[Plow]

Probably because it is the same shit every year.

Step 1. Set aside Texas/Michigan/USC/Ohio State.
Step 2. Let me beat on Christian schools, and then let them each play their 1-2 tough games a year.
Step 3. Let the SEC teams beat on each other, see which one comes out on top.
Step 4. Take the SEC team that came out and whichever of the teams in step 1 ended up rolling the table.
Step 5. Let SEC team beat the shit out of the overrated team from step #1.

On the other hand, Ohio State and Texas have played each other twice recently, OSU and Michigan play each other every year, OSU and USC are playing the 2nd week, Texas is playing Arkansas the 3rd week, and in case you haven't noticed, the Big 12 beats itself out of the rankings just as much if not more than the SEC. Don't get me started on K-State being up at halftime of the big 12 championship when UCLA loses guaranteeing them a spot in the championship if they win, lose in triple overtime and go to the damn Alamo Bowl.

It's not exactly easy to win the Big 10 every freaking year either.

Also Oregon would probably have been the best team at the end of last year if Dixon (I think that's his name >.>) didn't get hurt, that kid is like Michael Vick with a brain.

[Tyche]

@ Plow

The Chiefs team that had Trent Green playing the season of his life and Priest Holmes broke the TD record, and Gonzalez was...well, Gonzalez? I'm sure the o-line helped that flourish, but it wasn't the only reason. They had a QB and a RB having career years. Being "absolutely 100% just because of the o-line" is absurd. Ignore this if you are talking about the few really good season under schottenheimer where they had HoFer Marcus Allen and sported one of the best defenses in the league.

Re: Aaron Rodgers: So were being unfair by pointing out that he's came in in 2 significant spots and come out injured both times, yet you think it's fair to say he'll be the next Tony Romo because of his play in 1 game...Totally fair!

Re Favre: You have to be anti-Favre or completely oblivious to his mindset. He was willing to go to Tampa...you think that Favre thinks he automatically makes that team a championship contender. He has a better shot in green bay. Favre wants to play, it's as simple as that. Maybe he wants to be choosey about his teams, but he's obviously willing to play for teams that aren't favorites to win. Have you watched any of his recent interviews, because your point of view and reality seem to be complete opposites.

[Deejay]

@ Plow

The Chiefs team that had Trent Green playing the season of his life and Priest Holmes broke the TD record, and Gonzalez was...well, Gonzalez? I'm sure the o-line helped that flourish, but it wasn't the only reason. They had a QB and a RB having career years. Being "absolutely 100% just because of the o-line" is absurd. Ignore this if you are talking about the few really good season under schottenheimer where they had HoFer Marcus Allen and sported one of the best defenses in the league.

It was their line. Priest Holmes was a bust with the Ravens until he got to run behind arguably one of the best run blocking teams ever. The O-Line WAS the reason why Priest flourished lol.

[Tyche]

27 TDs and it's all the o-line. Okay. I guess that explains green's perfect passer rating. o-line can only carry you so far, you have to have a trigger guy and a runner. Holmes was a really really decent RB. Iirc, he had a 1,000+ yard season with the ravens and won a superbowl there. He and jamal lewis i think? He only started sucking after his string of injuries.

[Deejay]

27 TDs and it's all the o-line. Okay. I guess that explains green's perfect passer rating. o-line can only carry you so far, you have to have a trigger guy and a runner. Holmes was a really really decent RB. Iirc, he had a 1,000+ yard season with the ravens and won a superbowl there. He and jamal lewis i think? He only started sucking after his string of injuries.

He was 2nd string the year they won the superbowl. Jamal Lewis took his job as a rookie and ran for like 1400 yards.

And then Holmes exploded with 3 straight 1500 yard campaigns with the Chiefs. I'm sure it was just one huge coincidence though. Nothing to do with the Chiefs o-line.

[Tyche]

Yeah, because the chiefs won 13 games every year with that o-line. It's all about o-line play. Rushes for 1,00 yards with the ravens, replaced by a 1400 yard rushing rookie, traded, and runs 3 more seasons over 1,000 yards. All o-line. Drops off after injuries. I guess if the o-line is responsible for those 13 wins, whose responsible for not even going above .500 the two other seasons that holmes was a fucking monster? We'll pass the buck!

[Deejay]

To answer your question, check what their defense was ranked during those bad seasons.

And show me a 13+ win team with a shitty O-line.

[Tyche]

I'm not saying you can win 13 games with a shitty o-line, you can't. I'm saying you can't win 13 games with the best o-line and no trigger man and rusher. A good o-line will win you some games and make your average QB look good, but there's a lot more than o-line that going to go into it. The O-line and QB play are a mutual relationship. A bad QB will make a good o-line look bad. Vice Versa.

[Deejay]

Yeah, but even the best QB can't pass without a solid line. Theres no such thing as a good team with a bad O-line. You simply can't do anything if the linemen don't block. The only player I've ever seen play well without a good line is Vick, and he only did it with unworldly speed.

[Tyche]

Even then, he wasn't a great passer.

[archibaldcrane]

The only player I've ever seen play well without a good line is Vick, and he only did it with unworldly speed.

If you didn't mean "the only QB" then well....Barry Sanders.

[Byrd]

It's not exactly easy to win the Big 10 every freaking year either.

While it's not "Easy" to win any conference every year, the Big 10 certainly doesn't have the slate of marquee programs the SEC does. Ohio State and Michigan obviously are traditional powerhouses, but there's a big step down after that. Wisconsin and Penn State are usually good as of late, and every once in a while Purdue, Iowa, Michigan State or Illinois does something decent, but there's just not the depth every year that there is the SEC. The SEC may not have the best team in the country every year, but as of late, there's no arguing they have the deepest roster of quality teams. I would argue its considerably harder to win the SEC every year than any other conference.

It's a different culture down there, and football is simply more important. My brother (an Oregon State student and a die-hard football fan) spent last fall at the University of South Carolina, and was astounded at how the football team's ups and downs affected the mood on the entire campus for the entire week after the game.

As an interesting side note, take a look at this list of athletic recruiting budgets as compiled here:

1. Tennessee
2. Notre Dame
3. Florida
4. Auburn
5. Kansas State
6. Georgia
7. Nebraska
8. Arkansas
9. Duke
10. Ohio State

That's five SEC teams in the top eight, before any Big East, Big 10, ACC or Pac-10 school. Football is just prioritized differently there; there's an institutional and cultural dedication to athletics (especially football) that is simply unmatched in other parts of the country.

And before anyone accuses me of being an SEC honk, I'm also an Oregon State grad and generally root against the SEC teams, largely because of their generally obnoxious, overbearing fan base.