Sports

[Spurt]

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@PARedbird wrote:

@Spurt - I'll just mention this for a hot minute and that's it.  Not sure if you follow Chris Suchan on FB but go and read his post from yesterday.  Very heart-wrenching!  Even though he has almost 4,000 comments, I also posted a comment to him.  He said he started reading thru them and plans to read them all to acknowledge everyone.  What a most wonderful person he is!!     If you happen to read thru any of them, mine begins with "Amen" in capital letters.   I posted around 10 last night.  

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@PARedbird 

I do Facebook a little bit and I do follow Chris Suchan and also follow former Ksat weatherman, Meteorologist Steve Browne (he was at Ksat before Chris started at News4, loved Steve's critter cam, when Steve left thats when I switched all my news watching to News4, you know I also love Don Harris for Sports! )....I have responded to Chris's Flood coverage and let him know how much I appreciated all his hard work, time, and effort!  Some of those I also responded AMEN too....I also did the same for him on Twitter too.....Thanks for the heads up!!!

[gardenman]

The Chargers kick off training camp season today with rookies reporting. A lot of nervous kids hoping to make a good impression will be arriving. 

Over the next ten days, all the other teams will kick things off too. An interesting time for the kids. In the OTAs, some likely had their confidence bolstered. "I can play in this league!" Others realized they were seriously outclassed. "Are those guys even human?" With the pads soon to go on, things pick up a bit in intensity. Running around a tackling dummy to get to a coach pretending to be a QB is one thing. Getting around a pro-bowl caliber offensive lineman is another. 

Rookie wide receivers who were getting a clean release in the OTAs with no real contact will find themselves being mauled at the line of scrimmage by veteran DBs. Egos will get bruised. 

Managing the egos of the kids will be a challenge for the coaches. You don't want a kid mentally destroyed in camp. You want to put them in a position to succeed, while also learning some hard truths. You've got to match rookie versus rookie a lot to keep the vets from killing a kid, but still give the kid a taste of what the real NFL is like.  If you have a kid who's overly cocky, you put them against a vet to bring them back to reality. If you've got a kid who isn't as confident as he should be, you give him some more favorable matchups to build him up.

[Spurt]

@teganslaw 

The Colts Quenton Nelson is listed as one of the top10 guards or centers offensive lineman, some ranking him #1 by some execs, coaches, scouts...They mentioned his durability and in 2024 his 94.4 pass block win rate and 77.1 run block win rate.

OTHERS IN THE TOP 10: Humphrey, Smith, Dickerson, Thuney, Lindstrom, Meinerz, 

I'm surprised the only Eagle mentioned was Cam Jurgens, an honorable mention whom they called "a poor man's Jason Kelsey". I viewed the Eagle's oline to be the best in the NFL....

[gardenman]

Browns second-round pick Quinshon Judkins managed to get himself arrested just before camp. I'm sure the Browns are thrilled over that. 

@Spurt 

Cam Jurgens gets downgraded in some eyes as benefitting from an all-pro on either side of him in Landon Dickerson and Mekhi Becton. The Eagles have as solid an o-line as there is in the league, so the lesser-known guy gets devalued. They'll ask, "How good is he without an all-pro on either side of him?" Maybe he'll get more credit this year without Becton there, but we'll have to see.

[Spurt]

This is an interesting question posed by Washington sport's journalist, Mark Tyler.....How many Washington players would start for the Eagles? Any thoughts????

Offense:

QB: Jayden Daniels over Jalen Hurts - Daniels’ upside is far greater than Hurts.

RB: Eagles

WR1: Eagles

WR2: Samuel over Smith - I’m going with Deebo here because of the versatility and YAC.

Slot WR: McCaffrey/Lane over Dotson - Yes, I’m taking either of these players over the bust Dotson.

TE: Eagles

LT: Tunsil over Mailata - Tunsil is the better pass protector. Mailata is the better run blocker. Because the NFL is 60/40 Pass/Run, I’m taking Tunsil.

LG: Eagles

C: Toss-up - Biadasz vs. Jurgens

RG: Cosmi over Steen - A heathy Cosmi is a top 10 right guard in the NFL.

RT: Eagles

Defense:

EDGE: Eagles

DT(3-tech): Eagles

DT(1-tech): Payne over Davis - Payne will have another breakout season opposite Kinlaw/Newton.

EDGE: Eagles

LB MIKE): Wagner over Dean - Dean may be younger and more athletic, but Wagner is better.

LB (WILL): Toss-up - Luvu vs. Baun

CB1: Lattimore over Mitchell - Mitchell is a good young corner, but a healthy Lattimore is still a tier above (health being the key word here). This could change after another good year by Mitchell.

CB2: Jones/Amos over Ringo/Jackson - Ringo and Jackson are about as average as they come.

Slot CB: Toss-up - Sainristil vs. DeJean

FS: Martin over Blankenship - This may be a bit of an unpopular opinion now, but I start Quan over Reed.

SS: Eagles

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Overall, I have picked 10 Commanders who I believe would start for the Eagles. I have three positions I view as toss-ups (center, WILL linebacker and slot CB). That leave the Eagles with nine.

Breaking down the Big-5:

QB - Commanders (not much to debate here. Despite the SB ring, Jayden is just better).

WR1 - Eagles (Brown takes this one over McLaurin).

OT - Eagles (even though I gave the slight edge at LT to Washington, the combo of Johnson and Mailata is better than Tunsil and Conerly)

EDGE - Eagles

CB1 - Commanders

*I have both tackle spots here in my Big 5, as the importance of a RT has grown significantly. Because of this, the Eagles take the Big 5.

Breaking down each roster by groups:

QB Room - Commanders

RB Group - Eagles

WR Group - Commanders

TE Group - Eagles

OL Group - Eagles

DL Group - Eagles

EDGE Group - Eagles

LB Group - Commanders

CB Group - Commanders

S Group - Eagles

*The Eagles claim the better overall roster, as they pull out big victories in both trenches. Although they lost some key pieces here, they still edge out the Commanders in this ever-so-important area.

The Eagles can also claim both the better offense and defense as they edge the Commanders by one in each.

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Creating the Super-Team 

Offense:

QB: Jayden Daniels

RB: Saquon Barkley

WR: A.J. Brown

WR: Terry McLaurin

WR: Deebo Samuel

TE: Dallas Goedert

LT: Laremy Tunsil

LG: Landon Dickerson

C: Cam Jurgens

RG: Sam Cosmi

RT: Lane Johnson

Defense:

EDGE: Nolan Smith

DT: Jalen Carter

DT: Daron Payne

EDGE: Jihaad Campbell

LB: Bobby Wagner

LB: Frankie Luvu

CB: Marshon Lattimore

CB: Quinyon Mitchell

Slot CB: Mike Sainristil

S: Cooper DeJean

S: Quan Martin

*The super team above is split evenly with 11 Commanders and 11 Eagles.

[teganslaw]

CBS Sports predicts that Daniel Jones will out duel Anthony Richardson for starting QB. Richardson has to prove that the can stay healthy (he still has some soreness in his shoulder.) The article also claims that Jones is more accurate. 

SPURT, that is an interesting comparison between the Commanders and Eagles. I don't see kickers mentioned. Jake Elliott or Matt Gay? I would take Gay before his injury, although it's close. There is a chance he can become as good as he was before. 

[Spurt]

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@teganslaw wrote:

CBS Sports predicts that Daniel Jones will out duel Anthony Richardson for starting QB. Richardson has to prove that the can stay healthy (he still has some soreness in his shoulder.) The article also claims that Jones is more accurate. 

SPURT, that is an interesting comparison between the Commanders and Eagles. I don't see kickers mentioned. Jake Elliott or Matt Gay? I would take Gay before his injury, although it's close. There is a chance he can become as good as he was before. 

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@teganslaw 

Yep, you're right....no STs....I'd take Matt Gay...and no one is better than our wonderful fan favorite and overall good guy Punter Tress Way!!!!..(He does so much in the community. Aldo, Tress and his wife adopted a baby that had heart problems in order that the child could get the surgery and care he required)..Tress Way had a slightly better net average and more punts inside the 20-yard line. Braden Mann had a higher overall average yards per punt and more touchbacks......Tress Way has more passing yards in a Conference Championship than Cowboy's QBs Dak Presscott and Tony Romo had in their entire careers.  Tress gets the nod  

I'm not to sure about which Long Snapper.....Charley Hughlett vs Tyler Ott...Ott a former ProBowler, Hughlett just signed with Philly in 2025!!!...giving edge to Ott!

[Spurt]

This is kinda funny, yet kinda sad too.....I can understand why Houston would be the lowest probably because players spend most of their time off the field STUCK IN TRAFFIC!!!...and that's H Town 🙄🤣

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

My big issue with the Super Team is Jayden Daniels' experience level. He had a good rookie year. A lot of kid QBs do. A lot never get back to that level. Jalen Hurts is insanely consistent. You know what you'll get from Hurts. 

Tunsil over Mailata is a bit of a reach. Mailata consistently grades out higher than Tunsil. And two teams (Dolphins and Texans) have given up on Tunsil and traded him away. That's a red flag for me. Teams don't just wave goodbye to a good left tackle. The Dolphins trading him makes some sense as they got back two firsts, a second, and two players. A big price paid by the Texans to get him. The Texans then let him go for a third and seventh in 2025, and a second and a swap of fourths in 2026. That's a serious drop in value for the big guy. I'm pretty sure the Texans weren't just being nice to the Commanders and giving them a bargain. "I like you kid. Here's what I'll do for you..." Age is less of a factor for offensive tackles. They can play well into their thirties. I don't know. Maybe the Texans were feeling generous. When you give up two firsts and a second to get a guy. Then extend him twice, then give him up for a much smaller price than you paid, there are red flags flying. And yeah, the penalties are an issue, but they've always been an issue with him. Something about that trade just feels off to me. It's not like the Texans were blessed with a plethora of good, young, offensive linemen. They know something the Commanders will learn. 

Big Dom works hard to keep the Eagles well down on the list of most guys arrested. He does a good job of sorting out the true nature of a guy. 

Jihaad Campbell would probably not be a starter for me, but Zach Baun would. (For the record, Campbell will start out as an inside linebacker, not edge, and go from there.) No offense to Wagner or Luvu, but Baun is better.

[gardenman]

If the Commanders keep recycling older guys, they can probably lower the arrest rate. Guys in their late twenties, early thirties are a bit less likely to get arrested.  Teams have a better feel for their character at that point. The knuckleheads will have sorted themselves out.

The teams building through the draft, bringing in guys in their early twenties who've never tasted true freedom with loads of free cash, are more inclined to get into trouble. 

A year-by-year, breakdown might be more informative. Teams have changed a lot since 2000. New GMs, new priorities. A team near the top of a 25-year-old list may be near the bottom of a five-year list. And a team near the bottom of a 25-year-list might now be near the top of a five-year list.