dave mcbride

Agree with your take, but this … is not what a “Karen” is. In fact, it’s nearly the opposite of being a Karen. (And I have a ton of problems with the term, btw.)

Given his recent unmasked press conference (where masks are definitely required for the unvaxxed) and his unmasked appearance at the NBA final game in Phoenix (where masks were required for the unvaxxed, although there was no testing or ID requirement), my viewis that he IS vaxxed but doesn’t want to show up his unvaxxed teammates. Basically, I think he’s saying that he’s on everyone’s side, meaning all of his teammates. Just my opinion based on the evidence available. I have to think Beane told him there $200+ million reasons to get vaxxed in the recent negotiations.

Reads like it could be a mocking joke to me. I wouldn’t necessarily take that as evidence that he’s saying he’s vaxxed. He’s clearly not by the NFL’s standards. He’s now retweeting that fine and upstanding gentleman Lenny Dykstra: .

I forgot which former NFL star said it, but he said years ago that what drives a lot of players out of the league are the cumulative shoulder injuries. He basically said it ends a lot of careers. I am in no way suggesting that anything of the sort is going on with MacKenzie; only that the idea that shoulder injuries are essentially minor is false. Again, MacKenzie may be basically fine soon, but you are right. Indeed, that specific injury ended Plaxico Burress’s career: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1735752-plaxico-burress-torn-rotator-cuff-could-it-really-end-his-career. @ScottLaw, there’s a wide receiver for you. To ensure you I’m not being alarmist, I assume MacKenzie’s injury is a lot more minor than that.

Many, many professional athletes are poorly educated and some are even quite dumb. Never forget that.

My take on Allen given his recent unmasked press conference (where masks are definitely required for the unvaxxed) and his unmasked appearance at the NBA final game in Phoenix (where masks were required for the unvaxxed, although there was no testing or ID requirement) is that he IS vaxxed but doesn’t want to show up his unvaxxed teammates. Basically, I think he’s saying that he’s on everyone’s side, meaning all of his teammates.

Enh ... Belichick was a primary reason those Giants teams won those SBs, and he had turned Cleveland around before Modell the crap hit the fan in 1995. Brady is the GOAT, but Belichick's defensive schemes won a number of those SBs/championship games. They're both all-time greats.

As a Pats fan friend of mine put it, "Fortunately, the coach makes up for the gm's mistakes." (And yes, I believe he is the greatest coach of all time.)

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/08/25/with-cam-newton-out-mac-jones-is-seizing-his-opportunity/ As I said elsewhere, Newton's decision to not get vaccinated may end up being a pretty poor business decision. Florio makes an excellent point about Belichick/McDaniel not wanting to deal ever again with a surprise quarantine of their starting QB in the middle of the season. Ryan won an MVP and should have won a SB MVP if not for terrible decision making by Kyle Shanahan late in the game. He's been a pretty terrific player albeit with some ups and downs over the years. He was actually pretty good last year despite losing Julio Jones for half the season and the Falcons fielding a horrible defense and one of the worst rushing attacks in the league (31st in rushing yards per attempt). I know you're not ripping him or anything like that. I think he sits between very good and elite, with some elite seasons over the years.

Shoulder injuries can be bad. A shoulder injury ended Tony Boselli's career. Not saying that's the case here, of course, but I wouldn't automatically assume it's minor.

This thread is not only merely dead; it’s really most sincerely dead. I’m kinda amazed that Rosen keps getting chances. He may end up being like an accelerated version of Fitz — 9 NFL teams in 7 seasons as opposed to Fitz’s 9 in 18 seasons. Rosen is already at 5 in 4 seasons.

Oh well.

Yep. I want him starting that game with a good o-line in front of him.

I think they probably are desperate. I doubt the coach/GM want to go 0-and-whatever if Ryan goes down. What are the other options? RG III? A nearly 41-year old Shaub? Someone in this thread actually mentioned Kaepernick. They don't have a backup QB right now. That's not actually viable in the NFL. Not saying it's going to happen, and a 4th is too high, but they need to get a QB pronto and preferably at least a week before the season starts. 0-16 is nothing any team wants to deal with, and if Felipe Franks as your QB, 0-16 is a plausible outcome.

Why isn't he a real QB? Super-productive for years in the toughest college conference (to the point where he basically had helped UGA win a national championship if not for a crazy defensive breakdown in OT), drafted in the fifth round by a good organization, regarded by just about everyone as a mid-round draftable prospect ... I'm not saying he's great but this isn't Gary Marangi we're talking about here.

Also, Denver's QB situation last year was terrible - Drew Lock with Jeff Driscoll and Brett Rypien behind him. You would think that Bortles was a more appealing backup option than those stiffs.

Didn't know that. But how was able to be on a practice squad? Wouldn't he be ineligible, or did the rules change last season because of covid?

I generally agree with you about trade ideas on the board, which is why I never propose them. In this case, the Falcons have to get someone, and at least Fromm is playing NFL football every day now in a complex, well-designed offense and also happens to have been an extremely successful QB at Georgia. It makes a certain amount of sense. Not saying it'll happen, of course, and yeah, a fourth is probably asking for too much.

Maybe not! https://thefalconswire.usatoday.com/2021/08/22/atlanta-falcons-feleipe-franks-rookie-miami-dolphins/

Good point about the waiver line. I didn't realize what their slot position was. But yeah, if it were to happen, it'd have to very, very soon. It's at least worth a try, although Beane hardly needs my advice in these matters.

Might be a bit steep, yeah, but I was thinking we get slightly more for him than what we invested in him (a 5th) given the circumstances in Atlanta.

Who knows how good he is? A good qb evaluator (Beane) felt he was worth a fifth 18 months ago, and we really haven't seen him play behind a real offensive line. I do know that RG III is awful and that Josh Rosen has gotten dumped everywhere he's been very quickly.

Rosen and RGIII are really bad players. Kaepernick will not be playing for the Falcons. Shaub is in his 40s and Bortles hasn't been on a team since 2019. Fromm has at least been through camp with a really good team and is in game shape.

Is Rosen or RG3 better than Fromm? I am not sure; both RG3 and Rosen are terrible. But yeah, there are some names out there, most of whom are bad. Bortles intrigues me slightly because he has a little bit of success in the league and is physically decent. But he's been out of the league since the end of 2019.

It's amazing to me that Bortles is completely out of the league. Didn't play last year and threw two passes in 2019. He's not that old (29) and his numbers while not great are moderately OK (for a backup) -- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BortBl00.htm. Maybe he doesn't want to play anymore.