The Weird, Wacky and Awesome World of the NFL - General Banter thread V2

Jolly Red Giant wrote: »

No way Bortles would start ahead of Siemian - Siemian is underrated - he is limited in terms of ability but is very intelligent (one of the smarter QBs in the NFL) and being smart counts for a lot as QB. Bortles is lacking something between the ears - and it is a problem with quite a few NFL QBs.

granted I probably haven't seen as much of Siemian as yourself, but from what I have seen he's seemed extremely limited as a passer (not a great thing for a QB). While he may have performed well for a quarterback with low expectations he was still holding back the Broncos, imo. I mean if he was good enough surely the Broncos would have named him starter already over Lynch, who cant even get past his first read!

phatkev wrote: »

granted I probably haven't seen as much of Siemian as yourself, but from what I have seen he's seemed extremely limited as a passer (not a great thing for a QB). While he may have performed well for a quarterback with low expectations he was still holding back the Broncos, imo. I mean if he was good enough surely the Broncos would have named him starter already over Lynch, who cant even get past his first read!

Lynch was a first round pick - Siemian was a 7th. Elway has a lot invested in Lynch - he moved up to pick him. Lynch has bundles of talent, a big arm and can scramble - however, everyone knew that coming out of college Lynch was a (long-term) project. Elway and the coaching staff have been bending over backwards to get Lynch to be ready to be a starter.

Siemian has been well ahead of him since the start of TC (but Elway and Joseph tied their hands by saying that they wouldn't pick a starter until well into pre-season) - and it will take at least another year if not more for Lynch to be in a position to become a starter. That is if Lynch will ever be a starter in the NFL - unlike Siemian, the guy behaves like there is nothing between the ears - he has poor mechanics, can't read defences, can't make adjustments at the LOS and has happy feet once his first read is covered (and when he runs he doesn't keep his head up). Siemian is the polar opposite - he learned how to read defences watching Manning, he makes the right adjustments at the LOS and he is cool under pressure. More than that he is consistent. Many people consider him conservative, but that was likely more the fault of Kubiak running a very conservative offence last season and the fact that Siemian played most of the season with a shoulder injury (he suffered a separated shoulder in week 4 and it never healed) behind a brutally bad OL that nearly got him killed every time he dropped back to pass.

Now Siemian is limited in terms of what he can do physically, he doesn't have a big arm and he does have problems throwing into tight windows because he lacks power and zip on his passes - but, with an improved OL (which the Broncos appear to have) and an improved running game (which the Broncos appear to have) Siemian will have an opportunity this season to show if he is a legit starter in the NFL - time will tell if he can do it (if not then he is a more than capable back-up that the Broncos will need whoever starts).

The only way Lynch sees the field this season is if Siemian gets injured (and that will be a disaster) or the Broncos tank early (4 of the first 5 games are at home) - and if the Broncos season goes down the tubes then Lynch will be thrown in at the deep end to sink or swim with the prospect of a lot of good QBs coming into the 2018 draft.

Personally I think Siemian will produce, at least to a good enough standard to allow the Broncos defence to dominate games - and I think Lynch will be made sit and study and fix all the problems that he has (which he hasn't done to date despite spending a lot of time with Charlie Taaffe during the off-season) - however, I think Lynch ultimately will be a bust and I hope Siemian develops enough to let the Broncos defence do their stuff and make another run at the SB.

Jolly Red Giant wrote: »

Personally I think Siemian will produce, at least to a good enough standard to allow the Broncos defence to dominate games - and I think Lynch will be made sit and study and fix all the problems that he has (which he hasn't done to date despite spending a lot of time with Charlie Taaffe during the off-season) - however, I think Lynch ultimately will be a bust and I hope Siemian develops enough to let the Broncos defence do their stuff and make another run at the SB.

For me the biggest thing is that the best player will play. There's a lot of situations where the QB decision is made by the fact that a front office has invested a lot to get that player. Denver certainly did that with Lynch and ordinarily you'd give him the nod in year two or three (particularly after a poor season) but is there a GM with security than Elway? I doubt it so he can basically admit that they made a mistake and move on with the best player. In this case it's Siemian.
They still have a top tier defence so just need a serviceable QB that will avoid making big mistakes. They can that with Siemian whereas they can't with Lynch. Is he the long term answer? Probably not but they just need a solid placeholder at the moment

Prickly Pete wrote: »

The protest is pointless though.

Far too wide ranging and complicated a problem and so the protest will achieve absolutely nothing because of this.

99% of protests around the World are pointless. Do you think a hundred people outside the GPO does anything to improve situations in Palestine, or disabled rights or any of the other dozens of other campaigns and appeals and issues that people protest about there every month?

It's about raising awareness and keeping the issue in the news and in the public eye. You're talking about the issues and problems in US society in your post and wouldn't have been otherwise. A bunch of NFL players taking a stand (or the opposite in this case) isn't going to stop injustice and entrenched racism in US society but it isn't designed to.

The Browns being the Browns ? This could be a masterstroke or it could be a dumpster fire with a rookie QB crashing and burning.

Got tackled for a loss, but guarantee the coaches were happy he wasnt a mong who punted into a block

I don't see it posted here but vontaze burfict has been suspended for five games for a late hit in the bengals third preseason game against the chiefs. The only clips I've seen show it to be away from the ball and certainly late.

I think his previous conduct has hurt him.

Good.

What's the story with the Bills trading Ragland? I know they want to rebuild but he looked decent coming out of College two years ago and a fourth for a decent young player seems a strange way to rebuild.

Has he flopped in Buffalo?

TOss Sweep wrote: »

What is weird is they never even gave him a chance to perform. Didn't he get injured in pre-season last season? So missus his rookie season and then plays 3 pre-season games and now gonzo. Coaching staff obviously felt he was surplus to requirements and cash in on him for any pick.

I think it' a scheme fit issue. The Bills are moving to a 4-3 set this year under Sean McDermott. But surprising still.

The fact that the league got rid of the 90 to 75 man roster cut down for this season means there will be nearly 40 players from every team cut at once after the last pre season game and the first week of the regular season.