Sports

[gardenman]

Two weeks from today and the Eagles start training camp! It's coming fast now! Despite all the talk of training camp being an open competition, I think it's safe to assume Jalen Hurts will be the starting QB. (Barring a big trade just before camp.) 

The defense will be interesting to watch. We've got a lot of hybrid guys at linebacker, defensive end, and safety. New defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon says he wants the eleven best defenders on the field together and will figure out the alignment later. The biggest defensive end that's likely to make the roster is Ryan Kerrigan at 267 pounds. Most are closer to 250 pounds. (The only guy bigger than Kerrigan is Matt Leo, a guy at 280 who's from Australia and likely won't make the team.) Our linebackers tend to be around 240 pounds. Our safeties are just behind the linebackers in terms of size. I have a feeling we'll see nine guys near the line of scrimmage and any combination of those nine could come at any time. That'll complicate life for the opposing offenses. 

The Eagles have announced they'll have joint practices with both the Jets and Patriots in the preseason, so that'll be nice. It's a chance to see how your guys do against someone else.

[gardenman]

Adam Schein has a ranking of each division based on the strength of the QBs. He's got the NFC West in first. Eh, okay. I think he's way overvaluing Stafford though. Then the AFC West, AFC North, NFC South, AFC South, NFC North, AFC East, and finally the NFC East. He does say it wouldn't surprise him if Jalen Hurts wasn't the second-best QB in the NFC East by the end of the year.

One of two things is going to happen this year. I'm going to be proven wrong when I say Stafford is just an average QB, or Stafford will show the world he's just an average QB. I just don't get the "Stafford's a QB God" viewpoint that many/most experts have. He's had some really good receivers in the recent past and hasn't looked all that good. Now he's in a new system with new players around him. Eh, I just don't see him looking great in 2021.

We had the first anonymous whispering about nonbelievers in the Eagles locker room over the new coaching staff. Lane Johnson, the Eagles' right tackle isn't taking this nonsense lying down anymore.  He's demanding the reporter disclose the reported source and not keep them anonymous. He's seen this kind of nonsense fracture the team before and he's not putting up with it any longer. Name names or don't report it. (With 90 guys on the roster it's almost impossible for there not to be one or two guys, maybe more, who don't like the new coaches. It really shouldn't be news and shouldn't be spread around by the media.)

Our previous "anonymous" leakers to the media (cough, Malcolm Jenkins and Alshon Jeffrey) are gone, but someone else wishes to pick up the mantle and Lane Johnson isn't going to let that happen if he has any say in the matter. If you have a problem, put your name to it and stand up like a man. Cowardly backstabbing isn't something that you want on a team. 

[teganslaw]

Former players Michael Robinson and Lorenzo Alexander were on NFL Total Access and listed the 5 best defensive lines going into 2021. Both agreed that the WFT was #1. There was some disagreement about the Browns being one of the 5 best. Washington could be off to a good start. 

Who could be the largest threat to the Bucs in the NFC? Total Access had three different answers: the Cowboys (Jane Slater answer) , Rams and 49ers were the top ones. Cynthia Frelund is all for SF. She uses analytics for her answers, but I think that their qb situation is too uncertain. I'd wait until they play a few games.

I'm another one who thinks that Matthew Stafford is overrated. Experts think that Stafford is the one to lead them to a Super Bowl. I don't think that the team will be much different than when they had Goff. 

[Spurt]

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@teganslaw wrote:

Former players Michael Robinson and Lorenzo Alexander were on NFL Total Access and listed the 5 best defensive lines going into 2021. Both agreed that the WFT was #1. There was some disagreement about the Browns being one of the 5 best. Washington could be off to a good start. 

Who could be the largest threat to the Bucs in the NFC? Total Access had three different answers: the Cowboys (Jane Slater answer) , Rams and 49ers were the top ones. Cynthia Frelund is all for SF. She uses analytics for her answers, but I think that their qb situation is too uncertain. I'd wait until they play a few games.

I'm another one who thinks that Matthew Stafford is overrated. Experts think that Stafford is the one to lead them to a Super Bowl. I don't think that the team will be much different than when they had Goff. 

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@teganslaw @gardenman 

Defensively my WFT is in great shape, our D-line is one of the best in the NFL, and the team improved the roster at LB and in the secondary too....Now I need to see what that revamped offense can do....CANT WAIT! 

Jane Slater should be wearing her Cowboy Cheerleader outfit when she makes her predictions.. she always goes with the Cowboys LOL...(she's been a reporter for the Cowboys too---not exactly an unbiased source ) . 

Yep, Cynthia likes analytics but Im not sold on them...it may work in MLB but not sure its exactly effective for the NFL...And your right, SF seems to be not only Cynthia's favorite, but they are also all of the medias "little darling", despite as you pointed out TEGANSLAW, they have a big question mark at the QB position..... 

As far as Stafford, I dont think he really got a fair shake in Detroit, their ownership is known as being cheapskates and they never surrounded Stafford with decent talent---they gave him basically one weapon to work with and a lousy o-line. ....I mean somethings wrong with their front office when both the Lion's NFL stars in different decades--(Barry Sanders and then Calvin Johnson) decided to entirely quit the NFL....I think those two just got tired of being beaten up and the team never left NFL purgatory. When Stafford joined in 2009, the Lion's best seasons were in 2011, 2014 and 2016 they were a Wild Card team and lost, and havent done much since (mostly 3rd and 4th place finishes in their Division)

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@gardenman 

Yep, I dont trust any of these anonymous sources --- it could be a player that has their own beef to pick with the team---perhaps feel they arent being paid enough, or have a beef with coaches!!!  If what you say is true, BE A MAN AND GIVE YOUR NAME!!!  Any and all troublemakers should be cut by the team---they can do more damage than they can contribute!

Now it could also be just a reporter that is exgaggerating things he/she has heard, and they trying to make a name for his/herself to land a bigger contract (always follow the money$$$). ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski ---has done that a lot, and some say he's now stirring the pot with the Rachel Nichols/Maria Taylor incident, he was even suspended by the network for a profane email he had sent on twitter to a government official---I dont trust some of the media people....some have their own agendas....

[gardenman]

The starters on the WFT d-line are the best, but depth is an issue. There's just not a lot behind them. If they lose a starter or two for a while, things could get messy. Those guys take a beating too. The WFT needs to find some competent spares.

[gardenman]

Richard Sherman has gotten himself into a wee bit of trouble. He may have been a teeny bit intoxicated when he drove his car into a barrier at a construction site, then tried to break into an inlaws house. Not an ideal situation for a free agent still looking for a team. Teams might be just a wee bit skittish about hiring him.

[Spurt]

Dwayne Haskins made the news---right before camp he gets injured. Looks like in order for Haskins to stay out of trouble and be transformed into a solid player and citizen he needs to dump this woman!!!  First she sets up the strip club birthday party setting which cost Haskins his QB job with the WFT.....and now this!!!!   The good news in this recent incident he didnt retaliate and hit her back, maybe he is learning something....but for how long is he going to put up with this...There's gonna be more trouble down the road if these two stay together.............SMH!

Here's the scoop--

Dwayne Haskins, was injured in an altercation perpetrated by his wife, Kalabrya Gondrezick-Haskins, at a Las Vegas hotel earlier this month, according to multiple reports. Via the report, Gondrezick-Haskins allegedly punched Haskins in the face with police finding part of a tooth in the hotel room after the incident. It described Haskins’ injuries as “substantial in nature,” including a split lip and a missing tooth. He would be taken to a hospital due to his facial injuries. Haskins posted video of his proposal to Gondrezick-Haskins on his instagram earlier this week. Despite the engagement post, Gondrezick-Haskins told police they got married in March.

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@gardenman wrote:

Richard Sherman has gotten himself into a wee bit of trouble. He may have been a teeny bit intoxicated when he drove his car into a barrier at a construction site, then tried to break into an inlaws house. Not an ideal situation for a free agent still looking for a team. Teams might be just a wee bit skittish about hiring him.

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@gardenman 

They even had to use a K9 to subdue him.....SMH

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

Well, Kalabrya is pretty anyway. She's a basketball player and likely fairly competitive. It would be interesting to know why she punched him. Ah, he and his friends snuck off to a club without her and her friends. He was smart not to retaliate. They've been together for a while now, dating back to his college days. The fight took place in the hotel room, so someone had to report it to the police. Was it Haskins? If so, that implies that the relationship is likely ending. I doubt that she called the police on herself.

And now I see that he called hotel security to remove her from the room and that's how the police got involved. Interesting. He seems to have taken the smart approach of not dragging her out himself and letting the authorities handle the situation. That could be a sign of growing maturity. If he's smart, he'll end things with her. Hopefully, he was smart enough to get a prenup before marrying her. She plays for the Indiana WNBA team so they should be a couple of hundred miles apart for a while.

All in all, Haskins handled it about as well as it could be handled. Kudos to him on that. Here's hoping he learns from this and breaks up with her. Having her arrested likely hasn't improved her temper any and the best thing to do is to move on.