Matt in KC

Overrated: Wood immediately came to mind. It you guys see him get blown up and pushed back 4 yards on the first offensive play of the Cleveland game? It almost destroyed the play. Underrated: It has to be one of these guys. O: Robert Woods D: Kyle Williams - He has never had the national hype and attention of Mario; and Hughes and Dareus are also getting attention with their contracts coming up, but Kyle has been a monster for us, and id the leader of the D-Line. ST: Easley easily; and perhaps he is the most underrated on the whole team. I was hesitant to list a ST player here, but I don't think most people, including many fans on this board even, appreciate how good he has been for us. If we had another #81 closing from the left, I think we would likely have one of the best punt coverage teams of all time.

My Ranking, as receivers: Watkins > Woods > Harvin > Goodwin > Thompson > Hogan > Easley / Davis > Lewis My prediction: Watkins > Woods > Harvin > Goodwin > Thompson > Easley | Davis to PS (or lost on waivers)

The Cleveland game was my answer to your question. I assume he said that beforehand since I haven't heard him say that after.

Did you watch the Cleveland game?

He's a highly-tuned machine, cautious whenever he gets dinged. He said he could have played most of the games last year when Maron kept him out. Against the Browns he just went and got his ankle taped and went right back in, and looked good. I love what they are doing with the QB competition. I don't claim to understand it really, but it seems to be working!

I think going into the game last night Hogan had already been passed by Thompson on the depth chart. It is hard for Hogan to make the team!

The NFL lawyers turned down the request, but Mara agreed. One of the main points I heard was that the Cowboys are scheduled to play the Patriots week 4, so Mara's involvement would be a direct conflict of interest for him, impacting Brady's ability to play against his division rival. (How crazy would it be if Mara really thought a 3 game suspension was fair?) Game 4 (week 5), not week 4.

Thanks for the link. I am not surprised Berman is putting more pressure on the league, to pressure them to settle; they come to the court in a much stronger position with the CBA. My current assessment > 10% chance they settle > 20% chance the judge rules against the League > 70% chance the judge affirms the League's right to dictate punishment per the CBA, and that their actions were "good enough" in this case I started with the following, but the reports have shifted my opinion: > 25% Settle >2% Rule for Brady >73% Affirm Leagues punishment

I am not convinced any of the other backs is really ready to be the feature back for a full game. When that happens I may agree it makes sense to ask FJ to retire if the others are progressing. For me the RB cut question is this: if any one of the other RBs is lost, will the team need this player on the field? If the answer is a clear no, it is time to see if the other items point to the player being worth it (ST, disaster coverage, leadership, opportunity cost, and salary).

The "again" in this thread title drives me crazy; and it is going to be worse if anyone posts in it after Fred starts practicing again.

This sounds too conveniently configured to make us feel bad for Tom and think he should not be punished. You know, the kind of thing a PR firm might come up with.... Because the Pats have already accepted their punishment without appeal, they have admitted guilt as far as most fans understand. The above story does not hurt them more; it just helps Brady's legacy. But I don't buy it. There is a lot tying Brady to this still, and any Gazelle concerns wouldn't have impacted Brady's ability to turn over carefully selected and reviewed text messages like was requested. I don't doubt, however, that Belichick knew about the deflation in general, if not the details. Thanks for the civil discourse!

Thanks for the response. I didn't hear the judge discredit the Wells report, just ask some tough questions in the limited public period, the theater of which I believe was to put pressure on the league to settle. Direct evidence is not required. Circumstantial evidence abounds. Given the "preponderance" threshold to find guilt is rather low, and their investigation was obstructed, I think they clearly succeeded. The main points related to Brady: > Texts, video (of the bathroom), air pressure readings, and McNally interviews all pointing to ongoing ball tampering ongoing, and in this case > Texts referencing Tom, Brady's calls and his testimony about them; destruction of only the critical phone; unbelievable testimony about pressure preference and the "two stooges," the autographed swag all point to Brady's involvement. It's enough for me (and most reasonable people I think), but I can agree we disagree.

What gives? Why have you posted 3 juvenile pot-shots at Goodwin in a thread highlighting him being a great person? Everyone on here has concerns about his durability already.

Very refreshing to see this. Goodwin is a class act.

I've appreciated your posts on this topic, including the link to today's update. Why do you the 4 game suspension is absurdly unfair? I certainly think the investigation met the required threshold to consider him guilty. Do you just think the penalty is too high, compared to. . . past fines for similar equipment violations? And preemptively, sorry if you've said this previously, maybe even multiple times. (I don't see it in the last 5 pages.)

Great; thanks!

Hmm... That's good news, if so. Everything I read yesterday said he was getting an MRI today. Then I saw Schefter's tweet from 5:45 am this morning. It looked like an educated guess based on the "we don't think it's off the bone" comment after practice, rather than anything based on the results.

Given McCoy is getting an MRI today, I don't understand how anyone, including Schefter, has anything "informed" to say about the severity and duration until the scans are reviewed.

It is a Game of Thrones reference (synonymous with "Dragon glass") as is Valerian steel and Whitewalkers

That's enough hamstrings I am starting to think strength and conditioning might really be a problem!

That's it, I'm pickin up Bronson Hill for my fantasy team

I think this is shifting my initial opinion that the Bills carrying 5 RBs was clearly too many. . . .

Noooo!

Leave me out of this.

Do you really think that people who want to talk about lost FAs should open a different thread? For cuts, I will add Jason Peters' name. We were fortunate enough to get him back (from the NYG PS I think) after cutting him once.