Showboat

RB is becoming more like the TE position used to be where there are 2 or 3 guys who will be a featured back and put up pretty consistent numbers. Everyone else is mired in RBBC specialization with no certainty that they will even be on the field when their team gets into the redzone.

The nugget I take from this is that you think Odunze has the best chance of all the rookies to crack the top 5. Obviously, it is near impossible to rank the rookies until we see where they land and get some camp/depth chart reports (and even those are a bit like reading tea leaves). Are you expecting him to land in a better situation than Harrison or do you think he is actually a better prospect than Harrison (or were you really just being creative and throwing out one of the top rookies at random). Leagues will be won on guessing right on which of the top guys won't even crack the top 20 and which rookies/sleepers will get into the 5 or 10.

I don't think the Vikings will just hand a workhorse role over to Chandler - he's got about a 50-50 chance for the "meat and potatos", but he'll need to beat out whoever they bring in and Akers is still hanging around. Most likely it will be some form of RBBC which pretty much all teams are transitioning to.

Need is a strong word. I think it would be a mistake for the Vikings to sign Cousins for the price he is asking. The only thing Cousins has shown is that he is not a crunch-time QB. Any RB the Vikings may draft or sign is a threat to take touches away from Chandler.

This is where we disagree. I could certainly be wrong, but I really do believe there will be teams out there willing to give Mayfield $30M. The Vikings for one should certainly be looking at an alternative to Cousins. It's a game of chicken that the Bucs will be playing, unless the owners collude to not offer free agent QB contracts until after the draft. It is certainly a huge advantage if a team can get the right rookie QB, but "getting their guy" is no guarantee - even sure-fire generational talents like Luck and Lawrence won exactly how many championships?

It's been an interesting discussion. Mayfield is young enough that I could see a Plunkett-esque type career in that he could win it all with the the right team (which may just be the Bucs). $15M would be a steal but not realistic IMO - some team out there will give him $30M+. Cousins IMO is the finished product - he will get you stats and probably to the playoffs with any kind of decent team around him, but is a proven choker when it matters most. Definitely not worth the $40-45M it would take to land him. Wilson could be an interesting bridge if he could be had for the league minimum with the Broncos on the hook for his massive salary - I just don't see a QB whisperer on the Bucs staff who could get anything more out of him than Payton was able to last season. Going with a rookie is definitely an option, but not without risk - history is littered with highly touted college QBs who flop when they get to the NFL. A combo of Wilson and a rookie may be the best option for the Bucs, but there will be regrets if Mayfield end up with the Vikings (for anything less than $40M) and earns a ring or two.

Thought I read a report that Agholor re-signed with BAL (I know - an unexciting first domino to fall).

Mahomes is certainly the best QB in the NFL right now. He is already in that Montana/Bradshaw bucket. If he can remain one of the few elite QBs for the next decade-and-a-half, and continue to deliver championships, he certainly has a chance to challenge Brady for the GOAT title.

Still, at the end of the day a coach is what his record says he is. It is silly for anyone to suggest that Reid or BB isn't a good coach.

Coaches and QBs always get too much credit for winning and too much blame for losing in the ultimate team game. Where would either Brady or BB be if they had Scott Norwood instead of Vinitieri/Gostkowski all those years. Arguably, Payton Manning's two Super Bowl wins were due to elite defensive play rather than any difference he made at QB. And even the Chiefs this year have relied mostly on a solid defense that allowed Mahomes to make a clutch play here and there.

A pair of #3 seeds in the Super Bowl? I still think the 49ers win, but it would be nice to see some different uniforms in the big game.

He's got people skills. What is wrong with you people?

It's funny that this is the same Jim Harbaugh that Ditka prohibited from calling audibles.

And the league-winning question is which two or three in your top 5 won't even make the top 10 and who will be in the top 5 instead?

It's what the Panthers should have done last year (and also what the Raiders should have done before going with McDaniel).

You should have included the awesome "could manage riding a peacock in the middle of Missouri easier than they could manage figuring out how to get to a Peacock broadcast of the game" line.

Haha. Good luck. It's all about money and if more money can be made even if less (or different) people watch, that will be the path that is followed. It drives all of the decisions: international games, Thursday games, NFL network/ESPN/Amazon, 17/18? game seasons, etc. Pay per view probably isn't far behind.

I see a lot of hype around Puka Nacua having a chance to set the rookie receiving record that has stood since 1960. It seems to be a big nothing-burger to me. The record was set in a 14 game season before implementation of all the recent rules changes that make passing the ball easier than ever. Breaking the record in a 17 game season with a bye week thrown in does not seem all that impressive to me.

R.White may not be a no-brainer. He had a productive season, but 3.6 ypc may cause the Bucs to look for an upgrade next year.

Don't think Henry on the wrong side of 30 with a fair amount of mileage on the tires should be in the top four rounds. Best case is that he carves out a Jerome Bettis-like goal-line back role someplace. More likely is that he is done - the cliff comes up abruptly for heavily used RBs. Kelce shouldn't be drafted in the first four rounds either (but he may very well be in many leagues). There wasn't a large sample size, but Anthony Richardson was looking like the real deal and could be a league winner if he drops (and learns to protect himself better) - I'd much rather take my chances with him several rounds later than Stroud in the fourth.

Or more likely they have given up on Russ - at this point Stidham may give them the best chance to win. During their little hot streak they were mostly just relying on Russ not to make any big mistakes.

I think the FU threads serve well as the airing of grievances. The feats of strength - I'm not sure....

Kudos to Gabe for softening the damage done to me by Higgins earlier.

If Cincy isn't going to use their time outs there, not sure why they didn't just go for it on 4th and 17.

Had I known, I'd have gladly compensated you to keep your eyes glued to the game.