MasterStrategist

Defense: Groot. He'll benefit from a healthy Von, more consistent AJE, and Solomon bringing a very good pressure rate. 12 sacks for Groot. Offense: Rookie Ray Davis. Yes Cook will still be the primary guy, but Davis has great vision/very quick feet and adds a dimension to the running game and 3rd down role. I think he'll get 700 total yards of offense, 7 total TDs

Brady is counting on an intermediate passing game that is more efficient, and a solid rushing attack. We will see if it works, but the plan isn't confusing. Just might not be what you want to see. Coleman/Shakir/Samuel will be our main WR targets, plain and simple. Some combo of Hollins/Shorter/Hamler/Claypool will get some outside snaps and likely less than 40-45 targets. Our downfield passing game is a concern of mine too. But, once Brady took over they're focus down the stretch LY was short/intermediate passing. Occasional "scramble" play hitting Gabe deep. Coleman can fill that role at minimum. We are counting on YAC from guys like Samuel/Shakir, Coleman to an extent. Coleman to be our 50/50 downfield guy, but also someone who wins underneath/intermediate with his quick release and strength at break of route. Kincaid will be used in a variety of ways, his role expanded at end of year. Add in Cook/Davis and Knox as a safety valve. This is just a completely group of players. We have more diversity than LY, IMO, in terms of getting everyone involved at least at the 1st two levels of passing attack.

Shakir is the definition of a complementary WR. People like to 'extrapolate' his stats to a full season, based on a small sample. He had some big plays, then some games where he wasn't exactly consistent. In terms of targets, I'd guess in the 70 range...if he can stay healthy. He got banged up in preseason LY, which is why he didn't have a role early on. Fighting off the rib injury. Shakir is a nice guy as a WR3/4. He's an average slot, IMO. We have a better slot WR on the team, in Curtis Samuel. Samuel creates better separation, and similar YAC ability. That's all to say, this is how I see our targets shaking out (barring injury): 1. Kincaid 2. Samuel 3. Coleman 4. Shakir 5. Cook 6. Knox/Davis/other WRs & RBs I think Samuel will lead the team in receiving, but won't surpass 900 yards. I see Kincaid, close to that as well. Coleman in the 800s too, and Shakir around 700-750. We have a "full" complement of players this year, I think our best "1-1" matchups will be: Kincaid, Samuel and Coleman. Not a knock on Shakir, but with Samuel on board...it's a total wildcard how they plan to use 2 primarily slot guys. Samuel is better there, IMO. If I had to guess, both Smauel and Shakir get close to 50-60% of their snaps in the slot ( Samuel on the higher end). I'm not confident in Shakirs outside game, especially downfield. I think Coleman is going to be integrated early and often. He might be one of our best blocking WRs by end of camp, and can see Brady running a more balanced run/pass attack. Our best weapons as of now might be in the backfield and Kincaid. Samuel then Coleman then Shakir. I'd be hitting the under 1k yards HARD, if any betting sites have that prop bet on Shakir.

I was responding to your "unedited" post, about ppl being cranky/needing to get out more. I do see you edited that part out now. All good, seems you changed your tune after editing. There's people who think this is the "best ever" while some think it's "unwatchable/horrible". I'm personally in the middle. Solid, but way too long IMO, and some very good lines/jokes, some really poor ones/bad delivery. Some topics that were joked on perfectly, others I thought would be better left out. But overall I'd only watch again if edited to like an hour, 3 hours wasn't necessary again JMO. But agree with you, if anyone is making a "strong" stance should definitely watch the entire thing/at least watch the first hour.

Everyone has a different sense of humor, based on when they were born/how they were raised etc. I was early 80s and my sense of humor/what I find funny is different than alot of my younger co-workers. I don't think it's about needing to get out more or unwind. Different strokes for different folks, and everyone matures at different stages in their life (some not at all). Honestly having kids can change ones perspective/actions on a lot too, including humor. Doesnt mean you become some uptight/grouch over night or lose sense of humor. Just things change. This coming from a dad of a 6 year old. Back to "Roasts", some people like myself grew up going to roasts/some family member being part of them OR watching. My experience, they used to be more focused on that individual person and good humored jabs, yeah things crossed the line a touch but nothing meant to be cruel/ill-willed. I could careless about language, but they weren't laced with as much profanity as now. Just a different tone to "roasts" now, again this isnt even coming from someone who is that old (40). But to each their own on what they consider a "good roast" nowadays.

Fair enough on Cam, but he's the 4th safety. Agree Hardy has a solid chance to make it, but let's review your 2 points: 1. We didn't keep 5 safeties LY: well call Cam what you want, but he was our 4th safety. Hyde, Poyer, Rapp, Cam, Hamlin was the depth chart 2. Secondary, again call Cam a position less player. Here is who we kept LY (on original 53): 5 guys above + Tre, Dane, Kaair, Benford, Taron, and Neal= 11 total secondary on the 53 Now, this year: Rasul, Benford, Elam, Cb4 (outside guy), Taron, Hardy, Edwards, Rapp, Bishop, Cam, and Damar(!) = again 11 So with your expertise, I'll ask again, who do you think overtakes Damar on the current preseason roster?

Again, I'm not debating what playing time/facts about how valuable he was LY. I'm saying we are very likely to keep a 5th safety. He is cheap, likely improving with a full/normal offseason, and been in the system for multiple years. What we saw in 2022, and back to his days at Pitt, he is a capable backup. I'm talking about a pure football standpoint. His story is/was remarkable, he is a great person too. But if we're talking purely about who our 5th safety would be, you think it's more likely we sign a vet for that spot- who is likely to be more expensive, riding the pine as well, and less familiar with our scheme? Hyde aside, who I don't think is signing until mid season (if he even returns), you think we cut Hamlin in preseason for who?

If/when we sign another capable vet, then this becomes more likely. Although, Hyde is the only vet that I think would be on our radar...I put that at a very low % too (at least to start the season). This team has kept 5 safeties in recent years. Let's not act like Hamlin was useless in 2022, if he shows that caliber again in training camp. I'm confident he'll be closer to that, than what we saw in limited action LY

This isn't Beane/McD 1st rodeo. You act like this was a "fan driven" decision. Beane and his staff are giving him a "chance" to resurrect his career. They see anything that is negatively impacting the team, they aren't afraid to cut him. Just because he's signed, doesn't mean they have to hold onto him any longer than they so choose. Claypool hasn't been a training camp distraction. If he makes the 53, let's see how he handles himself when/if the team starts losing. Low risk= cut him whenever you want/Low $ contract to sacrifice dead cap

Why are we trying to trade a capable 4th/5th safety? When said player is cheap on a rookie deal, has been in our system for a few years and was actually decent depth in 2022? I think it's fair to say last year wasn't the best version of Damar, coming through his long recovery to even participate in football activities. Let's see how he does in training camp, if another rookie/cheap guy beats him for safety #5, so be it/cut him and he 100% signs with Pittsburgh (at the very least P/S)

You nailed his issues. One of the "underlying" causes of those issues, is the teams inability to win games. Both with Steelers and Bears, this had a significant impact on his attitude/approach. With Miami, I think the biggest issue wasn't learning the playbook/he was already dialed out after all the drama with Chicago LY. Not excuses, but getting back around a winning culture/top end QB could be enough for him to re-dedicate himself. Agree, low risk/high reward type signing.

Chill man, I was just saying it's an insensitive topic to some ppl...especially if you've had any family/friends deal with a similar experience. Like someone joking about cancer, why even bring that material in? Plenty of other good material to roast Brady and others on, just didn't think it was necessary or smart to even include AH. Like I said, rest of the roast was solid. Ppl can have different opinions on what is "off limits" in a roast. It was "Roast of Tom Brady", I didn't understand the rationale of including AH to begin with. Moving on, I'm not upset about it, seems like many others on social media/family are though

Roast itself was good, minus the Aaron Hernandez suicide jokes. Dude committed a crime, condemn him for that...but suicide shouldn't be joked about on national tv....during MH awareness month, Hernandez still has a daughter, I could go on and on. That part wasn't smart to include IMO. Rest of the roast was great though

Exactly. Problem LY, we didn't have a player who could win 50/50 downfield passes.

In recent history, it's been 2nd Thursday in May. So May 8th seems very possible, 15th at latest

Don't disagree, I just see Hollins in a "likely lock" category, not certain though. I see us keeping 2 more big bodied guys on the 53 roster, between Hollins, Shorter, Shavers and Claypool, I'd say Hollins has the "highest floor" and proven S/T ability and run blocker. I'd love to see Claypool return to rookie form output, or Shorter/Shavers make a big step...perhaps all or 2 of these happen. But I'd put lower odds on that compared to Hollins at this point. Hollins is a solid WR5, just hoping one of above or the likes of Hamler/etc show us something better as a WR4

To me, it just shows we want a balance of big body/x-receiver types and slot/Versatile types on the team. Going into the draft, we already had 2 slot/Versatile receivers, but just Hollins as a semi proven big bodied receiver (at least his blocking skills). We needed a couple more big body types, at least 1 starter, for the roster. And likely 1 more slot/Versatile type (if we keep 6/for return duties). At least for Practice Squad. Beane is seeing if one or two of these "fliers" sticks (Claypool, Hamler, Cephus) OR hoping that Shorter, Shavers takes a step, and has Isabella as a fallback slot/returner. I'd be more confident if we had a proven/more consistent upgrade over Hollins in that WR4 spot. Just gotta hope now that 1 of the guys above stands out in training camp.

Definitely a low risk signing, a year after the Bears wasted a 2nd round pick; we're not giving up any draft capital and it's likely a vet min contract. The way I see it, it's likely we keep 6 WRs on the 53, and have a balance of 3 bigger/X-body type receivers and 3 slot/quicker types: a. Big Body Types (1 lock, 1 likely lock, 1 open spot): Lock: Coleman Likely a lock (>75% chance): Hollins Competing for a spot: Shorter, Shavers, Claypool, Cephus, UDFA Slot/Versatile types (2 locks, 1 open): Locks: Samuel, Shakir Competing: Isabella, Hamler, Bryan Thompson, UDFA *this excludes UDFA names, perhaps 1 makes it based on return ability Maybe Beane has another vet, post June 1, in mind. Otherwise, it seems he's sprinkling in some "semi successful" vets (with flaws), with some young unproven talents to compete for a 1-2 spots. It's not a horrible strategy, but when your #4 is Mack Hollins, I don't like it. If we had a solid #4, this strategy seems valid and less risky. Beane has had some success on these 1-yr deals, or a younger guy taking a big step in year 2-3, so I'm optimistic until I see otherwise this training camp/Fall.

Spot on, I came away with the same conclusions after watching Mich ST vs FL ST snaps. Travis extended plays, and Coleman seems to do very well being "qb friendly" on those play types. But Jordan was inconsistent with ball placement, and his timing was a typical college QB at many times (little anticipation/underthrew Coleman on some deep passes). His contested catches were quite solid when the QB put it where it was intended (ie: back shoulder, away from defenders leverage, etc). He even bailed out Travis quite a few times. Travis might be a quality backup someday, but I think Colemans game will transition to Josh's playing style and benefit of much better ball placement. We also finally have a WR capable of drawing Def Pass Interfernce penalties downfield, alot weren't called in college but NFL is much different.

I don't disagree and I tried to premise in my post, that talent is the ultimate equalizer. Admittedly, I've only watched 30-40 minutes of YouTube snaps/not just highlights, from Mich ST and FL ST. 2b is definitely the "talent" trait from the list that I posted. The rest were qualities about Keon that touched more on what was learned from the couple interviews that I've seen. I was simply alluding that Keon has more talent than just on the field, he has the intangibles that should help as well (again big caveat, just from watching 2 interviews). The personalities I've been around like his are usually contagious, have just as much impact on the locker room/leadership as well.

Nice to see some actual quality/NFL depth players signed, with Morrow/Jones/Draft (Wash kid). To go with current backups Williams and Spector. No more wasting on the S/T only types, like Big Red, or having a break glass moment with AJ Klein. Assuming that Chiefs game left a very sour taste with Coach/Beane, re: LB depth as well as other positional body types/play style.

How are you getting 3-4 drops against Boston College? You must be grading this extremely difficult against Coleman intentionally. Travis' ball placement is horrible on half his throws, not only against BC but others. He's also late with his throws until Keon is wide open on others, and under threw at least 2 long TDs to Keon. Back to BC game, Keon back shoulder in end zone his arm is being arm barred on 1st pass...that would've been a 1 handed catch...is that 1 of your 4 drops? How about the crosser where Travis throws the ball behind Keon, into double coverage...does that count as another? You can be against the pick, that's your opinion. But if you're counting 15 drops, that just seems like biased judgment of what you deem "catchable", bad throws/uncatchable, and what are true 50/50 balls. First play vs LSU, Travis throws that pass at least 1 foot over a 6' 4" man who also got a great vertical on the play, was that a drop?

I think he's a natural "talker"/energetic dude. Beane seemed to allude to his personality being very likeable, after the pick. Re: interviews, I think the few things I'm learning about his game: 1. This guy lives/breathes football. Talent is a big aspect of making it in the NFL, but a close second is the dedication and love of the game to drive you to be better 2. Attitude. He's got the right attitude as a rookie, demonstrated by things he'd saying and doing: a. importance of forming a close bond with Josh, b.. how he is on the field/dawg/using his basketball skills to help him win 1-1 matchups, and c. Reaching out to Reed already, yeah it might be a small thing, but not something everyone does and it shows his respect for the great players that came before him and the want to learn how to succeed and do well in the Blo community. That says alot to me about this approach 3. Maturity, he seems like a fun/funny guy, but also very grounded All this won't overcome a lack of route running/speed/ability to win 1-1, but it shows he's likely got the intangibles to succeed. I have a feeling his talent will be displayed very early, with his wingspan and physicality at the route break/catch point.

If anyone even listened to the Beane presswr, the word "transition" came up as a response to filling leadership roles/parting ways with vets. Every year is a new roster/new dynamic. Now, too many are using that to put words in Beanes mouth (ie: don't get expectations high, 2024 is a rebuild/2025 is the focus, etc). To pull out a 'Tomlinism', "the standard is the standard". It's playing "playoff caliber" ball all season, reaching the dance and trying to make a run at a SB. Anything beyond that is pure speculation/reflection of what posters think this team is capable of.

100% agree, Beane has alot of faith in Shakir taking another step this season. You've made some great predictions in the past on here, so I'm hoping you're spot on with this one too. I'm still concerned about having a 2nd boundary/field stretcher. I guess we'll see in June/July if Beane makes another move with the Tre $s. I think Brady has plenty of solid weapons at his disposal, Shakir being one of those. I see 4 guys capable of 700-900 yards with Kincaid, Samuel, Shakir, and Coleman. I'm hoping we can find a WR4, a field stretcher better than Hollins. Shorter/Shavers/Hamler are big wild cards. But yes, drafting just 1 WR certainly shows faith in our current group + Coleman. Hoping you and Beane are right here.