Sports

[Spurt]

---

@gardenman wrote:

I kind of think Shurmur was thinking of all the draft spots the Giants would lose if they played Saquon or threw to OBJ later in the game. Another win and they'd have likely dropped out of the top ten in the draft. As it stands now, they're around fifth in the draft order which isn't horrible. One or two more wins and they could be drafting fifteenth. Moving up from five isn't terribly expensive. Moving up from fifteen? Lots more expensive. If he thinks he'll be back next year (I'm not sure he will) then staying as high up in the draft as possible is best for the organization. They know they won't make the playoffs, or even if they did they wouldn't hang around long, so lose and move up in the draft.

---

@gardenman

Yep, I think the Giants are evaluating their players, but also trying to lose so they wont hurt their draft position--TANKING--TSK TSK!!! 

Well TANKING is a big topic in the NBA it's not fair to advertisers, sponsors, networks that invest a lot of money for what they expect to be competitive games, and also hurts fan of the sport---fans that invest a lot of money in tickets!!!!! And sports betting now that its legal. The same applies to the NFL regarding TANKING---what about "the integrity of the NFL shield" that Goodell always talks about????? Of course Goodell likes to put his head in the sand especially when dealing with certain owners like Mara, Jones, Kraft.......

And also the Giants need a bit of pay back since they held the Redskins to a "gentlemen's agreement" regarding sticking to a hard CAP agreement, when legally and collctively bargained it was a non-cap year!!!  And Mara who was in charge of overseeing the Cap saw chance to stick it to a couple of division teams and took away 18 mill in cap space from Redskins, and 5 mill from Cowboys....I think this a nice way to stick it back to Mara and the Giants!  The Redskins were going to sue but didnt--why make some lawyers rich I guess....

Now I dont think Mara is a stupid as Mark Cuban who actually admitted to urging the coaches of his team to tank, to get a good draft pick....He got fined $600,000 (chump change for him)

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/7677375/sources-dallas-cowboys-washington-redskins-lose-millions-...

[teganslaw]

TE Jack Doyle was placed on IR because of a kidney injury. It must have happened in the last game, but I don't recall exactly when. 

There is Ebron and Ryan Hewitt (who actually is a better blocker than Ebron), but Ebron scores the touchdowns. So the team might still be OK. but it's a large loss anyway. 

I just found out that the Jaguars turned down a trade from the Jets: Dante Fowler for Teddy Bridgewater. This was in the preseason. Fowler was not in good graces with Jacksonville, so I don't know why they turned down to get Bridgewater. Maybe they still had hopes for Bortles?  Well, Bortles is benched and the Colts will face Cody Kessler Sunday. Fournette is suspended one game because of his fight with Lawson where both were ejected. I have no idea what to expect from Kessler.

[gardenman]

The Jaguars and Blake Bortles have been an odd marriage for some time now. They keep hoping he'll fix his issues, but he never does. He'll show a flash of talent every now and then, sometimes for multiple games in a row, then revert. He's kind of a modern day Mark Sanchez/Jay Cutler type guy. They show enough to make you want to keep them around, but never enough to be successful long term. Those guys will keep you around the 5-11 to 9-7 mark and show flashes, then make the big mistake.

I would guess they didn't make the trade for Bridgewater to prevent it becoming a competition for the starting QB role. "We'll give the job to Blake to win or lose." He lost it.

General managers either have a franchise quarterback or they need a franchise quarterback. The Jaguars just haven't known what they've had. They've hoped Bortles would become a franchise quarterback, and he's shown flashes, but he's just not there, and likely will never be there. Bortles is one of those nightmare kind of guys for a GM. Cut him loose and he might go elsewhere and develop into what you wanted him to be. Keep him around and he's good enough to win some games, maybe get you into the playoffs, but maybe not. He's the kind of guy who keeps a GM awake late at night. 

Every team wants a guy like an Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Carson Wentz, Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff, etc. to build a team around. They try desperately to find such guys, but miss more than they hit. The total flops (Jamarcus Russell) aren't so bad. You know the guy's a loser and you cut him free and move on. It's those idiots in the middle that kill you. The Mark Sanchez's, Jay Cutlers, and Blake Bortles of the world just drive a GM crazy. They're good, but not good enough. Do you cut them free and pray they don't suddenly fix their issues? How long can you hold onto the guy? Will he ever turn into what you need him to be? Ugh! Those kinds of guys just drive GM's crazy. The Bucs had Steve Young and let him go. He went on to become a hall of famer with the Niners. You just never know what to do with those guys. The total flops are easy. Cut them loose. The franchise guys you hang onto for dear life. Those guys in the middle? They give you an ulcer.