Thurman#1

This is my guess. I don't see Dorian being able to handle the "play like a lineman" part of the Hoecht role. But Solomon yesterday did seem to maybe have the "quick as a linebacker" abilities. But it may have been more surprise than ability for Solomon the other day. We'll see. You have to be a really special guy. Not sure it's on the team at all.

Nice!!

Yeah, exactly. Noticed the same thing. You don't see too many 217 pound DTs.

It's not publicly traded. So that valuation is an estimation, at best.

Agreed, and very much so. People complain, with some justification, about keeping Shavers out there. The guy blocks very well and very consistently. It all adds up. Mike Gillislee!!!! Wow, that's a blast from the past!!!!

Yeah, but it cost Thurman. Take a look at his year by years Yards Per Attempt stats. 1988 4.3 on 207 carries 1989 4.2 on 298 carries 1990 4.8 on 271 carries 1991 4.9 on 288 carries 1992 4.8 on 312 carries 1993 3.7 on 355 carries 1994 3.8 on 287 carries 1995 3.7 on 267 carries 1996 4.2 (way down to) 154 carries 1997 4.1 on 93 carries 1998 4.2 on 36 carries 1999 4.9 on 28 carries After those first five years with so many carries, he lost a step. Again, he was still very good but not what he'd been. And if you look at his passing stats they show the exact same pattern, his yards and Yards Per Catch nosedived after those first five high mileage years. James Cook is 5'11" and 190 while Thurman was 5'10 206. That's a very significant difference. Thurman, in size, was a very close match to James' brother Dalvin, not to James. And defenders were smaller in Thurman's day.

I hope you are right about that. I'm not convinced, but I definitely hope you are right. Thurman Thomas was also a guy who mostly squirted through things and didn't take big hits. But time took its toll, as it generally does. After those first five years his YPA took a very noticeable dip, and though he was always a very good RB, he wasn't what he'd been in those first five years. I agree that James and Dalvin have different styles, but also different body types. At 5'10, Dalvin is shorter but 15 pounds heavier. James isn't nearly as big and strong. I worry about his wear and tear, but from your keyboard to God's ears.

He is playing sensationally. The question is whether we should keep running him at this pace, and whether his body will hold up under this strain. And whether he can in fact hold up at a pace like this for three or four more years. His brother couldn't, and he is a bigger stronger dude, though with a more bruising style. In any case, the contract they gave James looks like a very good one, even with signing him a year early, which usually implies the team gets a discount. I'm hoping they ease his workload a bit, getting him out of games early whenever possible. Ty Johnson looked pretty good against the Chiefs, maybe if Ray and Ty start to look as solid as they did last year we can do that more. Thurman was an absolute work horse, but he was never really quite as good after those first five years. And Thurman was 15 pounds heavier than James is.

IMO they aren't there yet, except maybe the Chargers. But it's a new group of up and comers, two or three of whom will likely be for real, though not really this year. Except for the Chargers, I think. They can beat anyone on any given day, if they play their best and Herbert is on fire. Yeah, this is a reasonable argument. I don't think the Chiefs lineup is as great anymore as they were the last few years.

Must be hard being so tempted to argue with yourself. Your idea here about trading Oliver, genuinely, it's dead stupid. Clearly you don't get that. But it is.

Van was spectacular, Murph was very good, and Brown is really solid. IMO.

It isn't every year, even though it does seem like it. We've had I believe two years with far below the usual numbers, one or so that was about average, and three of the last five higher than usual. The problem is that these numbers are always wildly variable, even on teams with great training and conditioning staffs. The largest amount of NFL injuries are unpredictable and unavoidable. Again, even teams with great preparation have years when they're over the average and years when they're under and average. It's when things start to be more unvarying that you can see you have a problem. And this staff is very new, so it's hard to know what's up with them yet. Having said that, a bad staff can make a big difference. It isn't clear these guys are bad. If / when it becomes clear, I hope they do something about it immediately. I'm sure they will.

Great idea. Get rid of Ed Oliver, Josh Allen, James Cook and Spencer Brown. That will make us feel that we're all macho and that we're doing something.

The problem isn't never winning a playoff road game. The problem is Kansas City. Let's not kid ourselves. Since they became a good enough team, in 2020 to win playoff games, they've only had three away games, all losses to Kansas City. And the problem wasn't being away. They lost their home playoff game to Kansas City as well. The problem is Kansas City.

Josh's completion percentage is higher than it's been since 2020. And shorter passes will tend to do that.