thebandit27

A number of federations already test. I know lifters that compete natural (as I do), and I know lifters that use. In general, the natural meets I've been to are largely self-policed in addition to testing; vis-a-vis: natural exists because guys don't WANT to use. I understand why some guys do; breaking records won't happen without drugs. I won't touch the stuff; way too many long-term effects, and I have a family to consider. It's with noting, IMO, that the users I know are also the hardest working dudes in the gym, regardless of whether they're on or off cycle.

I generally look for the following traits in transition guys: - shorter limbs - built lower to the ground - better working toward the center than away - gets lost in space

I'm prepared to be skewered, but I'll go with Sammy. Sitting in the stands, the dude is just always open. It's amazing.

Not sure if serious, but... It's not really fair to go straight body weight comparison, because the strength ratios get muddied when athletes pass about 300 lbs in weight. However... My competition weight is about 165 lbs, and my competition 1RM in the deadlift is 505 lbs; slightly more than 3xBW. Adrenaline gets you through the lift, but immediately after you get a massive head rush. Things turn purple. If you don't take a DEEP breath, you tend to collapse forward onto your knees and drop your head between them. Your heart pumps like it wants to beat out of your chest, and your legs feel like gelatin. It goes on for what feels like forever, but in reality is probably 45 seconds or so. By the time 2-3 minutes passes, you're breathing normally again. Now consider that Hall is pulling more than twice that amount of weight. I'd imagine, because of the relative leveling of the strength/strain curve, he's in a similar spot though more extreme.

That's inhuman. I've gone 3xBW on a deadlift, and the whoppin' THAT puts on your CNS is palpable. I can't imagine how that dude felt for the next 2 minutes.

Two things: 1) Serious question: Have you read Rex's playbook? It's not a 1-gap or 2-gap scheme exclusively. It's split between both. 2) What could possibly have you under the impression that Rex needs 5 years to get the personnel for his D? What are they really missing? A true NT? Maybe a playmaker at safety? There's a lot of hyperbole in there.

Good thing we've refrained from calling it a "go"

And then run the curl to get the girl. (this is going to get ugly, isn't it?)

Run the fade and then get paid

Martin originally told me (back in December) that his goal was this fall, but apparently things with the developer moved faster than he anticipated, so he started thinking about summer. Whatever he does, rest assured it'll be fantastic and well-publicized. Make sure you're following his social media pages.

I think that Listenbee will make the team, but I believe that whoever earns the 3 role will need to be able to block. That's something that Kolby is deficient in right now. I do think that he'll get 5-8 snaps/game for the exact purpose of threatening the defense with his deep speed.

I agree with most of this; my statement about Brady being frustrated was based upon his demeanor during the game--he acted the way he does when things aren't going his way (which is not often). I also think that it's unrealistic to expect to prevent big plays from Brady altogether; it's far more reasonable to try to limit them. Do what Belichick does: take away the thing that your opponent does best (get the ball to Gronk). Anyway, here's hoping that Rex does more of what we saw in that game and less of what we saw in weeks 2-7.

If indeed what's being reported by sources is accurate, then yeah, he's got a major issue. Yes, it's absolutely up to him. He needs to get help.

I think he's basing that on the fact that both have had HC interviews recently.

Definitely; I have DJ noted as a guy that I need to go back and focus on...he was getting some nice push in the run game from what I saw.

Check the context of the post to which I responded. The statement was, effectively, that Taylor's offense will suffer without his "first-down machine". My point, in that context, is quite clear: a guy that accounted for 18 total passing first downs does not qualify as being Taylor's first-down machine, nor should his defection be something that holds back the offense. For comparison's sake, Greg Salas had 3 first downs on 3 receptions (5 targets) in his only game time last year. Does that mean that Salas will be a great player, or even better than Hogan? No. The point, as I said, is that they didn't lose a guy that was their primary, secondary, or even tertiary first-down producer in the passing game.

I know it may not sound like it, but 6 days really isn't a lot of preparation time between games to coach these guys up. Most of the detailed coaching happens in the offseason; in-week coaching is more about installing the game plan and scripted plays, working on any new wrinkles, and studying opponent's tendencies. Don't take this the wrong way, but your post above appears to be duplicitous. On one hand, you're chiding either the QB or the coach for operating with a scaled-back playbook, citing the idea that a good enough QB/OC would be able to use the entire thing (ignoring the fact that Taylor didn't even become the starter until September, and was splitting starter's reps 3 ways--at best--his entire first season under Roman). Then, however, you chide Roman for not knowing the clay he has to work with, when it seems to me that that's the biggest compliment we can pay him: he knew how to utilize Taylor to make him effective. All QBs/OCs adjust the playbook to what these guys can/can't do; all of them. I can guarantee you that Josh McDaniels comes up with play designs/concepts that Brady rips out of the playbook and tells him he doesn't want called on Sundays. That's just the process of developing an offense. There are things Brady can't do, and so McDaniels avoids them. No matter how much you coach up Brady, he's never going to run the same playbook as Cam Newton. Anyway, I don't want to beat this point to death, or try to change your opinion. Here's to hoping that Roman and Taylor can take the next step together. Regarding the receivers, I do give credit to guys like Edelman for doing their jobs. To me, it's more a symptom than a cause. Brady's ability to read the defense, identify coverages, and re-position his targets before the snap really opens things up for these guys. I'll also say that they're coached to run pick plays like no team I've ever seen. On literally every underneath route, there's someone rubbing a defender away from his man, making him unable to redirect the route. They've almost taken the same stance on OPI as Seattle took on DPI the year that they won the Super Bowl: they can't call it every down, so just keep doing it and we'll take the 2-3 penalties per game in order to derive the benefit on the 15-20 times we get away with it. It's smart football actually; doesn't mean I don't hate it. The biggest reason that Rex was able to frustrate Brady the 2nd time around last year was that he was able to take Gronk out of the game. That's their bread-and-butter. If you can scheme Gronk out of the game without dedicating two full-time coverage players to him, you're going to have a higher measure of success against Brady, because as good as guys like Edelman and Amendola may be at foiling underneath man coverage, they aren't better than the top NFL corners when matched 1-on-1 (hence why they didn't make big plays against teams like Buffalo or Denver). It'll be interesting to see how NE folds Hogan into their approach. He's not a quick-twitch guy like Edelman or Amendola, but he's a solid route-runner and a good blocker. I'm sure having a bigger guy that can wall off defenders on those pick plays is going to be a boon for their approach. One thing I know about Hogan is that he's hardly a 1st-down machine. In 2015, Tyrod converted 129 first downs via pass; of those, ~87% went to WR1-WR3 or TE1 (41 went to Watkins, 27 to Woods, 26 to Clay, and 18 to Hogan). That means that Hogan was responsible for only 13.9% of the 1st downs that Tyrod converted via pass (compared to 31.7% for Watkins, 20.9% for Woods, and 20.2% for Clay). Moreover, Hogan was 4th among the above-mentioned in terms of the percentage of his targets that resulted in 1st downs. Watkins converted 41 of his 95 targets for 1sts (43%), Woods converted 27 of 81 targets (33%), Clay converted 26 of 77 targets (34%), and Hogan converted 18 of 59 targets (30.5%). IMO, regardless of how we analyze it, Hogan is in no way a first-down machine. If I'm Buffalo, I'm really hoping that between Robey, Seymour, White, and Moore I've got a 3rd corner that can man up against Amendola so that I can use Gilmore's size against Hogan to keep him from clogging up coverage lanes. Then I can have Darby follow Edelman around the field and use my interior back-7 to mix things up against Gronk and keep Brady confused. I'll gladly commit 6 defenders to stopping NE's 4-5 passing options (including a guy like Lewis or White out of the backfield) if it means confusing Tommy Boy.

Martin Cooks already closed (I was there for the closing party--so was Doug Whaley)--he's opening a new place "very soon" on Niagara Street. Similar style, but they'll only be doing the prefix menu once/week; everything else will be a la carte.

Ah yes; good call

Then let it begin Sorry...had to... Oh I definitely agree that the Asian fare is better in Toronto as a whole. It's all personal preference of course; I just happen to think that Sun holds up in comparison.

It increased non-shared revenue significantly, just as it was intended to do in order to placate the Jerry Jones/Daniel Synder types that were upset that Buffalo wasn't maximizing their own revenue potential. Therefore, success.

I do agree that I'd like to see Rex innovate a bit more so that he didn't have the whole square peg/round hole issue last year. That said, I would hardly call Roman a dinosaur. He's got a very innovative approach to the run game--he'll run out of any personnel grouping--11, 12, 22, 21; he'll run zone-read concepts, he'll run packaged plays, etc. I'm not sure it's accurate to categorize his approach old/tired simply because he didn't want to burden his first-time starting QB with too much of the playbook.

I'll tell you who's a football player: Adam Bisnowaty - OT/Pittsburgh He's not a great athlete, and he need to bulk up his lower body to anchor against bull rushes, but this dude can play. He locates well, uses his kick-slide to reach defenders, can shed and work up to the 2nd level, and he's downright nasty. Watching him pull and work toward the center in run blocking, he's a guy whose best fit may be at guard, but all I know is that I like this kid. I'll be watching closely--he could be a mid-round pick that contributes early.

I just don't see any way that a guy can go from Olympic long jump training--which is pretty much a gravity sport requiring a guy to be as slight as possible--to NFL ready in 10 weeks. That's true, IMO, for any guy, but it's especially true for a guy that has a significant injury history and hasn't practiced since October. Now add in the fact that he said he feels like he's been through 10 regular-season NFL games at this point, and--to me--it adds up to a guy that's simply not going to be physically capable of participating in the offseason to any degree of relevance.

The whole situation is stupid; Albert played LG in college, and since he's the guy that's injured and on the decline, and Tunsil is presumably the LT of the future, AND they can cut Albert next offseason and save $7M against the cap, Albert should be the guy that moves to LG.