NFL Preseason II

[Kalbear]

Carry on.

First up - the Lions lose their rookie running back for the season. Grats guys!

Second, Ellis leaves NYJ for NE because he got offered $5mil instead of $1mil. That sounds fairly stupid of the Jets, honestly.

Third, we get to see the QB battle of the decade this week as Orton Battles Tebow! WHO WILL WIN?

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

Carry on.

First up - the Lions lose their rookie running back for the season. Grats guys!

Second, Ellis leaves NYJ for NE because he got offered $5mil instead of $1mil. That sounds fairly stupid of the Jets, honestly.

Third, we get to see the QB battle of the decade this week as Orton Battles Tebow! WHO WILL WIN?

1)Brutal luck. That kid looked like an absolute beast. I'll have to bump Best up my draft ue

2)5 million for the season? I'd say the Pats overpaid.

3)Orton, no contest. I don't think Fox is going to rehash his offensive philosophy in order to start Tebow.

[awesome possum]

The Bears announced their tentative offensive line starters yesterday:

LT - J'Marcus Webb: A 7th round draft pick who was abused horribly last season but is a big guy and loved by Mike Tice. There's not much here to believe he can be a starting LT in the NFL, but the alternative was Frank Omiyale or a rookie.

LG - Chris Williams: a former 1st round draft pick who is a certified bust, but since this is the Chicago Bears, they'll wait two years too late to jettison the trash. This man will likely be responsible for Jay Cutler going on the IR by Week 7.

C - Roberto Garza: a veteran Guard taking over for Olin Kreutz. He stood next to Kreutz for years, so he's the most knowledgeable member of the line, and the best replacement. He's an average lineman, nothing special but not terrible. And he's the best lineman we have.

RG - Lance Louis: a 7th round draft pick who was benched last year for being so bad. Yes, on a Chicago Bears line that gave up 56 sacks throughout the year, he was benched for stinking. Now he's the starting RG.

RT - Gabe Carimi: this year's 1st round draft pick and potentially the one bright spot on the line. On paper he should be a great addition to any line. In reality, he's playing on the Chicago Bears offensive line. He's a great run blocker, which is nice, since Cutler will be running for his life half the time.

Every defense on the Chicago Bears schedule is grinning in anticipation at this, and the Bears aren't even acknowledging how bad this can potentially be let alone likely will be.

[Kalbear]

That's so depressing. Sigh. There were good linemen out there. And the Bears had cap room. Bah.

The Bears are putting together teams exactly the opposite way I want to see them. But at least we have the same starting QB for 3 years.

[Maithanet]

1)Brutal luck. That kid looked like an absolute beast. I'll have to bump Best up my draft ue

2)5 million for the season? I'd say the Pats overpaid.

3)Orton, no contest. I don't think Fox is going to rehash his offensive philosophy in order to start Tebow.

Sucks for the Lions. I'm halfway hoping they sign Portis, because he is still very good at grinding out yards and pass blocking, and could relieve some pressure off Best. Portis ought to be playing somewhere; last year when he was healthy he was still a very solid player.

I agree, $5 million sounds very pricey for someone his age. A few elite pass rushers can still get it done at that age (Bruce Smith was a pro bowler at 34 and again at 35, but Ellis is no Bruce Smith). I suppose we'll just have to wait and see on that one.

[Mack Kilimaro]

Ravens sign Ricky Williams to be the backup RB. Should I be excited about this? I guess, as a general rule, one should not get excited about the backup RB.

[Fiddler]

The Bears announced their tentative offensive line starters yesterday:

LT - J'Marcus Webb: A 7th round draft pick who was abused horribly last season but is a big guy and loved by Mike Tice. There's not much here to believe he can be a starting LT in the NFL, but the alternative was Frank Omiyale or a rookie.

LG - Chris Williams: a former 1st round draft pick who is a certified bust, but since this is the Chicago Bears, they'll wait two years too late to jettison the trash. This man will likely be responsible for Jay Cutler going on the IR by Week 7.

C - Roberto Garza: a veteran Guard taking over for Olin Kreutz. He stood next to Kreutz for years, so he's the most knowledgeable member of the line, and the best replacement. He's an average lineman, nothing special but not terrible. And he's the best lineman we have.

RG - Lance Louis: a 7th round draft pick who was benched last year for being so bad. Yes, on a Chicago Bears line that gave up 56 sacks throughout the year, he was benched for stinking. Now he's the starting RG.

RT - Gabe Carimi: this year's 1st round draft pick and potentially the one bright spot on the line. On paper he should be a great addition to any line. In reality, he's playing on the Chicago Bears offensive line. He's a great run blocker, which is nice, since Cutler will be running for his life half the time.

Every defense on the Chicago Bears schedule is grinning in anticipation at this, and the Bears aren't even acknowledging how bad this can potentially be let alone likely will be.

I gotta say,as a huge Lions fan, this made me smile. Hopefully the front four will be able to make that Oline look even worse. Nothing really against the Bears, I mean they aren't the Packers or the Cowboys now, but I really want the Lions to win their monday night game. I have a buddy at work that I would just love to rub it in his face, hes been teasing me for a while now about my Lions.

[Zadok]

Pats must really be desperate for some insight into the Jets defense, because I know they didn't just give Ellis 4M for his ability.

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

If the Bears O-Line is weak it's going to be interesting to watch Cutler try to make do. He seems like a guy who can manage in theory with a really good arm and some decent mobility in the pocket, but I could foresee a pick-fest.

I don't see Cutler as being a terribly tough-minded individual. I think you have to be a real grinder to succeed despite being knocked on your ass every other play. I don't think this will end well.

[Spaceman Hobbes]

Third, we get to see the QB battle of the decade this week as Orton Battles Tebow! WHO WILL WIN?

Quinn.

Is it bad that, as a broncos fan, I want them to start Tebow so he can fail horribly and win only two games? And then the donkeys can draft Luck and move past the McDaniels era once and for all.

[Mexal]

The year of the Achilles injury it seems. 9 so far. In baseball, it was oblique strains. This is a bit crazy, especially since Achilles injuries are really hard to come back from.

[Deaf Dick]

The year of the Achilles injury it seems. 9 so far. In baseball, it was oblique strains. This is a bit crazy, especially since Achilles injuries are really hard to come back from.

I hope Leshoure can come back from this. I'd hate to see his football career echo that of Kijana Carter.

[awesome possum]

Yeah - Unless that O-line surprises it looks like Chicago could take a pretty substantial step backwards this year. I think losing Olson makes it even worse.

I hate that Olsen is gone, but Matt Spaeth is the better TE for the Mike Martz system. He's a much better blocking TE who'll be able to help double team the more troublesome DEs the Bears will face (and with this offensive line, that'll be most of them). And Kellen Davis isn't a bad receiver in his own right, plus the dude is huge (6'7" 270lbs).

Neither will fill the receiving hole Olsen leaves, but having a blocking TE will be far more important this season than a receiving one. Olsen and Manushamuna combined to give up about a dozen of the 56 total sacks Cutler took last year.

I'm not as convinced as some seem to be that Minnesota is going to suck donkey balls. I'm not expecting them to set the world on fire by any means, but I think they'll be respectable.

I think they'll play a good spoiler role. Their offense should be good enough to keep them in some games, but their defense has and will continue to regress. I can see them hanging around on either side of the .500 neighborhood.

The Packers have to be the clear favorite, but if I were a Lions fan I'd be really thinking that this is a year in which 2nd place could be ripe for the taking.

That's a distinct possibility. The Lions defense is going to be tough, but outside of Calvin Johnson, their offense is still fairly meh. A bad offensive line, good but not great running attack and one-dimensional passing game. The Bears and Lions may actually be neck and neck this season as their defense helps win games and their offense helps lose some.

Though Packers will really have to implode for the Lions to come in second behind the Bears.

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

Any of youse guys play Fantasy Football? I've been running some mock drafts on Yahoo, but since they reshuffled their presets I haven't been getting favorable results. Any of you have some juicy late round sleepers? Particularly at WR or RB?

[Reposado]

Here's some Patriots bashing as requested. Haynesworth the monster is a myth. As a Titans fan, I can say there period where he was the best DT in the league was about 8 games, the last 8 games before he was up for a contract. Before that, he was inconsistent and took plays off all the time. Plus he was supported a great cast on that DL. They are not getting a real superstar. I was so glad when the Redskins overpaid for him.

[TheBigTEA]

The Bears announced their tentative offensive line starters yesterday:

LT - J'Marcus Webb: A 7th round draft pick who was abused horribly last season but is a big guy and loved by Mike Tice. There's not much here to believe he can be a starting LT in the NFL, but the alternative was Frank Omiyale or a rookie.

LG - Chris Williams: a former 1st round draft pick who is a certified bust, but since this is the Chicago Bears, they'll wait two years too late to jettison the trash. This man will likely be responsible for Jay Cutler going on the IR by Week 7.

C - Roberto Garza: a veteran Guard taking over for Olin Kreutz. He stood next to Kreutz for years, so he's the most knowledgeable member of the line, and the best replacement. He's an average lineman, nothing special but not terrible. And he's the best lineman we have.

RG - Lance Louis: a 7th round draft pick who was benched last year for being so bad. Yes, on a Chicago Bears line that gave up 56 sacks throughout the year, he was benched for stinking. Now he's the starting RG.

RT - Gabe Carimi: this year's 1st round draft pick and potentially the one bright spot on the line. On paper he should be a great addition to any line. In reality, he's playing on the Chicago Bears offensive line. He's a great run blocker, which is nice, since Cutler will be running for his life half the time.

Every defense on the Chicago Bears schedule is grinning in anticipation at this, and the Bears aren't even acknowledging how bad this can potentially be let alone likely will be.

As a Green Bay Packer fan this made me and Clay Matthews both smile.

As a Badger fan I feel bad for Carimi. The guy is a great run blocker but he has slow feet...it will be interesting to see him pass block in the NFL. I hope he does well though. He is a great guy.

[kingkiller]

Any of youse guys play Fantasy Football? I've been running some mock drafts on Yahoo, but since they reshuffled their presets I haven't been getting favorable results. Any of you have some juicy late round sleepers? Particularly at WR or RB?

Just took a quick look at the Yahoo! ADP's and came up with the following guys who are getting drafted a bit lower than where I think they'll end up... my picks that I'm absolutely salivating over this year are in bold.

WR

Pierre Garcon (pick 87.9)

Santana Moss (95.9)

Johnny Knox (98)

Chad Ochocinco (98.8)

Plaxico (109.4)

Malcolm Floyd (113)

Jordy Nelson (118.6)

Jacoby Ford (122.7)

RB... list of sleepers not as deep here since people usually get their backs early and often...

Ryan Mathews (58.7)

Knowshon Moreno (89.0)

Ryan Grant (92.8)

Felix Jones (98.0

Jahvid Best (99.5 but look for him to go up a few spots now)

Joseph Addai (106)

Brandon Jacobs (118.3)

Tim Hightower (119.)

A word about Hightower... we all know never to trust Shanahan RB's but I feel like he's the most well rounded back the Redskins have. He's an able blocker and receiver which makes sense in the Redskins O, since we probably have to use a lot of playaction. A RB who can do everything well should get most of the snaps, although Torain is the #1 RB as of right now and did great last year. He's also worth a look at 117.6

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

Thanks kingkiller. I really like Ford as well and I think Ryan Grant is a great value say 5-6th round if you can get him there. Kinda like Roy Helu as far as Washington's RB situation goes. Seems like old Leatherface has had some luck with rookie RBs.

[Gold Storm]

I think Ortan gets the nod, he fits Fox's offense a lot more that Tebow ever will. I can see them using him here and there but not as a full time starter.

[SkynJay]

Quinn.

Is it bad that, as a broncos fan, I want them to start Tebow so he can fail horribly and win only two games? And then the donkeys can draft Luck and move past the McDaniels era once and for all.

I want them to start Tebow or Quinn only because I do not believe the Ort will be around next year, so why waste a year on him? (when I think the Broncs have NO chance at playoffs).