HappyDays

Kelce is smooth. That is who Kincaid's movement and understanding of leverage reminds me of. A big part of Kelce's greatness is that he and Mahomes are always on the same page. We know how good the offense looked when Allen and Beasley were always on the same page. Now add 8 inches and 65 pounds to that player. I think the kid is a natural football player. The main knock on him I've seen is that most TEs take a year or two to acclimate to the pros. I just think he is an exception. For someone that started playing football later in life he has elite instincts as far as making himself available to his QB. His ability to find the gap in zone coverage, catch the ball, then immediately turn his hips and start running in the most efficient direction while still securing the catch is something I've only ever seen from Kelce.

He dropped because of a back injury he suffered near the end of his senior year which kept him sidelined throughout the offseason - he didn't participate at his pro day or the combine. His talent as a player was undeniable. There was once another TE that fell in the draft because of a back injury. He ended up having a pretty decent career.

I listen to Simms and Florio all the time. Simms in particular flat out overrates the Dolphins roster. Their OL is way too messy to say they are a top 3 roster.

I'm no scout, I leave that up to the experts like @GunnerBill. All I know is that when I watched some of his college tape it was plainly obvious to me that he was going to be successful in the NFL. The fluidity of his routes, the fluidity of his run after catch, the catching ability, the instincts to find gaps in zone defense. For the life of me I couldn't find a single reason to think he would fail in the NFL, as long as he stays healthy. Never thought he would drop to us. Couldn't be happier we got him.

He will, but he is losing out on reps and Isabella can be the beneficiary of that.

Shakir suffering a broken rib has given Isabella a golden opportunity to prove that he deserves a roster spot over him. Personally I think Isabella has shown more.

A couple updates from today's practice:

Two plays that he was not on his preferred side, one of which his face mask was blatantly grabbed and pulled down.

So you haven't watched him take a single snap at LT then?

You can take meaningful things away from preseason reps. I don't think Joe Marino was trying to say that Josh is a problem, he was just saying some of the criticism of the OTs was overblown. Later in the podcast he said that he still felt Spencer Brown looked "vulnerable" out there. The coaching staff kept Dawkins and Brown out there after the other starters were pulled so that tells you what they thought.

A guard and a center shouldn't enter the conversation when you're talking about a proven elite pass rusher. Other than Jones they have no one in their front 4 that offenses have to game plan around. I guess if they want to win all out shootouts that's one strategy but they tried that in 2018 and they fell short of the ultimate goal.

No communication. Interesting. I have no clue why the Chiefs are playing chicken with the most important player on their defense but I'll take it.

Lions/Chiefs to open the season could be a true shootout. Both very well coached and highly talented offenses. Neither defense will have a true difference maker on the field.

Well that's nonsense. They wouldn't have won either of their Super Bowls without Chris Jones. They wouldn't have even made it to this past Super Bowl without him wreaking havoc against the Bengals. Him sitting out until week 8 won't completely derail their season but they need that difference maker on their defense to make it all the way.

Of course we play them week 14... But maybe him sitting out costs them a couple extra games and the #1 seed becomes more attainable.

You're not the first person I've seen bring up this idea, but that article you linked says he has only shown proficiency on the left side and when the Cardinals tried him at RT in 2021 it was a failed experiment. He also only played LT in college. So probably not a swing tackle option. I would rather stick with the cheaper, not in a contract year, longer time in the system option in Ryan Van Demark for the backup LT if that's all we're getting out of the player. We are fairly deep at guard right now so maybe we can find a team that's our inverse - weak at guard depth / strong at tackle depth - and swing a player for player trade with them? I've seen people praise Anderson's and Broeker's performances in the preseason games. We already have Bates ready to step in at all 3 interior spots. Maybe that makes David Edwards expendable to find a legit swing tackle?

Sorry I just realized I typed the wrong name. SHAKIR has the broken rib, not Elam. I had a brain fart.

MLB is not just a position of concern though. CB is a position of concern. LT and RT are positions of concern. We don't necessarily have ideal starters at those roles but they are starting caliber players. MLB on the other hand is a gaping hole without even a known replacement level player. I don't know of any other contender that has that kind of vulnerability at a full time starting position.

I don't know where else to post this, so I'll put it here - Elam has a broken rib per my usual source. It apparently won't be a major issue for the regular season though. EDIT: I meant to say Shakir, not Elam.

Yeah the tackle play was not bad as I thought after my first watch. I am still worried about Dawkins' conditioning though. I don't expect our OL to be elite, I am just hoping for middle of the pack. Allen has not looked that quick to leave the pocket since his rookie year. I don't believe he has suddenly regressed, I think it was drilled into his head that his first priority was to not take any hits in a meaningless preseason game so it affected his play. I also think once he watches the tape and sees that he can trust his interior to hold up and handle stunts, unlike last year, he will be more willing to step up in the pocket and deliver. It was a good podcast, thank you for posting it.

I say let's see how the offense looks in real games before drawing conclusions about Allen's willingness to take easier completions. He was doing it last year right up until he busted his UCL which I believe forced him and Dorsey to cut back on some of those shorter routes that put stress on the elbow. His accuracy noticeably dipped after the injury and the kinds of throws you're talking about require precision. In the limited reps he had against the Steelers I can tell his elbow is back to regular function and his accuracy has returned to normal.

So the example you choose to die on a hill is a 2nd and 24? You realize if he takes the 7 yard in cut there it is now 3rd and 15 at best, AKA 3rd and long? And then on the next play he would have to stand a few seconds in the pocket to deliver a long strike? Seems clear to me that you got stuck in the weeds trying to criticize a play that you have no business criticizing and now you're trying to BS your way out of it. If you want to make a point that Allen and the offense need to take easier throws sometimes, have at it. But you chose a bizarre example to make your point on.

I didn't see the problem as Allen not taking what the Steelers defense gave him. He took several quick open throws. The issue to me was that he looked like he was terrified to take a single hit, presumably because the coaches drilled that into his head. I know Allen has a tendency to get a little wild at a hint of pressure but some of his reps on Saturday were way beyond what he looks like in real games. I choose to believe that it is because his priority #1 was to avoid taking hits in a meaningless preseason game. In general the further away I get from the game the better I feel about the offense. Brown and Dawkins were not as bad as I thought on my first watch, Morris was hopeless trying to play Knox's role as the blocking TE, Allen as I mentioned above was more concerned with avoiding contact than playing the position. I expect the offense to still be a top 3 scoring offense as it has been every year since 2020. Hopefully it will be less boom or bust than it was last year. Adding Kincaid and Harty and bumping Cook up to the #1 RB is hopefully a sign that the team wants the offense to be more efficient/on schedule. The defense on the other hand I am genuinely concerned about. Poyer and Hyde may have lost a step, I am not fully confident Tre White is his old self again and I'm even less confident in whoever will be playing across from him, MLB currently may not have even a replacement level player to perform the job, the pass rush looked as ineffective as it did to close out 2022. I worry that until Von Miller is fully recovered we will have zero true game changing difference makers on that side of the ball. Even the Chiefs who have had mediocre defensive talent throughout the Mahomes era at least had Chris Jones giving OCs nightmares and capable of taking over games. Who is that guy on our defense that opponents have to game plan around? When is the last time a Super Bowl participant didn't have a single guy like that on defense? It's a troubling thought.

Yeah taking the 7 yard in route on 2nd and 24 will work every time because the defense gives it up for free. You really blew my mind with that one. By your logic Allen should literally never stand in the pocket and take deep shots. Every long developing play has the potential to become a sack. That is why 2nd and 24 is not easy to get out of... I think our offense should feature more quick game than it did last year, and I believe it will, but miss me with the "1 out of 10 times this perfectly executed deep route and throw will be a strip sack." What kind of point do you think you're making here?

I think week 1 is the best possible timing for this matchup. People point to Brady and Stafford as examples of top QBs that went to new teams and immediately found success, but it took both of them at least half a season to fully find their footing. I expect Rodgers to have a similarly rocky start. Cook is coming off shoulder surgery, Hall is coming off an ACL tear. The OL is a giant question mark, as far as I know they still aren't 100% sure who their five starters will be. There's a lot the Jets still have to figure out and I don't expect all those questions to be answered in three weeks. Say what you want about the Bills, at least all of our core starters are the same players they were last year. Obviously the glaring exception is MLB which is a legitimate concern right now. Other than that I think our team's continuity compared to the Jets gives us a strong advantage in week 1.