NFL 2013-2014 Season!

[Helios]

Le'veon Bell (Mendenhall's replacement. I noticed he was dropped as well, though this is also kinda disappointing since he's pretty damn good. Just needs to keep a better grip on the ball sometimes) is supposed to have great potential too. But yeah, the Steelers NEED to prevent a bunch of injuries for anything to work this time.

I watched the guy in college. He's legit. As long as he doesn't get injured and gets some decent blocking, he'll get you guys the rushing you need to help Ben out. The real question is how good the wide receiver corps is with only Antonio Brown and some young guys (is Emmanuel Sanders still on the team or did he go to the Pats? I can't remember). Lots of pressure is gonna be on Wheaton to somewhat replace Wallace and Brown is gonna have to be the #1 guy (when really he's more of a #2 guy), so I'm not sure how good the passing attack will be.

look at this nigga holdin this shit doe, dawg he [Greg Jennings] put the team on his back doe

for madden

Ponder's gonna have to get the ball to Jennings first, and Jennings needs to not be injured for a change as well haha

[Lord Raven]

I'm not sure you watched the video in good enough detail, how is he runnin with a broken leg

Is Ponder really that mediocre though? I feel like Vikings fans have more hope for him as the future than at least half the league feels about their young QBs (I would list examples but there's too many to list). I feel like Ponder will take the place of the people barely outside the Top 10 once 3 of the Big 4 (Brady Brees Rodgers Peyton) retire, which for all we know is around 4 years away at most. Not only because he could improve but some of the upper echelon of talent is gone at that point. Also because we will probably see Roethlisberger out of the league in that time because his window is actually closing very quickly now, and Eli Manning will eventually stop giving a shit about life and accept that he's the funniest fuckin guy in the NFL.

I don't watch enough Vikings games but generally from what I hear their only real weapon last season was like Kyle Rudolph. I haven't even heard of any of these fuckin WRs on their roster for that season. That's severely unhealthy for a young QB who doesn't have Peyton Manning/Tom Brady levels of talent and experience.

[Hawk King]

I have no idea how the Bills will do this year. All I can say is that Kolb sure as fuck better not start over Manuel.

[Anacybele]

I watched the guy in college. He's legit. As long as he doesn't get injured and gets some decent blocking, he'll get you guys the rushing you need to help Ben out. The real question is how good the wide receiver corps is with only Antonio Brown and some young guys (is Emmanuel Sanders still on the team or did he go to the Pats? I can't remember). Lots of pressure is gonna be on Wheaton to somewhat replace Wallace and Brown is gonna have to be the #1 guy (when really he's more of a #2 guy), so I'm not sure how good the passing attack will be.

Ponder's gonna have to get the ball to Jennings first, and Jennings needs to not be injured for a change as well haha

Hey, cut Brown some slack (this guy is honestly underrated). He might not be as fast as Wallace, but he's still damn good. And we still have Sanders (despite that he had some issues last season, which he better not repeat this year), which I'm glad of, because when he gets stuff done, he damn well gets stuff done. His only problem is that when he DOES mess up, he messes up big time.

Brown had pressure to replace Hines Ward, and I think he's done it. So Wheaton can live up to Wallace's legacy too if he really tries.

[shadykid]

man, you guys definitely follow football more than I do

at least before the season starts

Edited July 16, 2013 by shadykid

[Da Bear]

man, you guys definitely follow football more than I do

at least before the season starts

Yeah this. I only really pay attention once the preseason starts....

[Anacybele]

I honestly pay more attention when the preseason starts. lol But I started the thread early this time because I actually DID pay a bit of attention beforehand for once because of some newspapers and magazines at my work. I happened to notice NFL players on the front. lol

One of the newspapers even had Big Ben on its front page! :D

Btw, this is my favorite Steeler theme song (though it was made before Hines Ward retired). <3

The Super Bowl Steeler fight song from awhile ago is close behind though (the one that goes "Here we go, Steelers! Here we go! Pittsburgh's goin' to the Super Bowl!" and is from when Willie Parker was on the team). :D

[Randa]

I blame gambling. I need to know as much about a team's game plan against big players. How the offense and defense will react to different playmakers. I study how teams previously played bigs stars, and as consequence the opening they left. And I average around .730 for my picks paying this much attention. Ten bucks a game. Makes pretty good money for a highschooler.

Edited July 17, 2013 by Randa

[shadykid]

I blame gambling. I need to know as much about a team's game plan against big players. How the offense and defense will react to different playmakers. I study how teams previously played bigs stars, and as consequence the opening they left. And I average around .730 for my picks paying this much attention. Ten bucks a game. Makes pretty good money for a highschooler.

uh oh, don't go bankrupt in vegas later in your life

[Randa]

I don't have to worry about bankruptcy I can count cards. I'm not joking.

[shadykid]

I don't have to worry about bankruptcy I can count cards. I'm not joking.

but can you count them while drunk

[Phoenix Wright]

man, you guys definitely follow football more than I do

at least before the season starts

I read up on draft picks for the Rams and the Niners--that's about it.

I really don't care too much until the season begins.

However, I also have college ball that I keep up with at the same time.

[Lord Raven]

Yeah, I'm up for starting this fantasy league btw

Give me a list of who's in and I'll start it

[Helios]

I'm not sure you watched the video in good enough detail, how is he runnin with a broken leg

Is Ponder really that mediocre though? I feel like Vikings fans have more hope for him as the future than at least half the league feels about their young QBs (I would list examples but there's too many to list). I feel like Ponder will take the place of the people barely outside the Top 10 once 3 of the Big 4 (Brady Brees Rodgers Peyton) retire, which for all we know is around 4 years away at most. Not only because he could improve but some of the upper echelon of talent is gone at that point. Also because we will probably see Roethlisberger out of the league in that time because his window is actually closing very quickly now, and Eli Manning will eventually stop giving a shit about life and accept that he's the funniest fuckin guy in the NFL.

I don't watch enough Vikings games but generally from what I hear their only real weapon last season was like Kyle Rudolph. I haven't even heard of any of these fuckin WRs on their roster for that season. That's severely unhealthy for a young QB who doesn't have Peyton Manning/Tom Brady levels of talent and experience.

The video is really old bro I've seen tons of times haha. Besides it's Madden (but still pretty dope). Unfortunately, in real life, Greg Jennings gets injured a lot and doesn't play. And he'll be turning 30, which in football terms means he's getting old.

I don't know many Vikings fans, but the ones I do don't like Ponder. 1) They reached for him with their first round pick when they could have gotten better players, and 2) He's not as talented as most other QBs in the league. He's definitely in the lower echelon of QBs. Out of the starting QBs in the league right now, I'd say he's better than: Matt Flynn (maybe), Kevin Kolb, Blaine Gabbert, Mark Sanchez, and (barely) Jake Locker. Not a great list to be a part of.

He had Percy Harvin as well, and Adrian Peterson can catch the ball. The other receivers (like Jerome Simpson) aren't that bad, but aren't amazing either. He'd probably do better with better receivers, but he's still not that great. He HAS to step up this year, otherwise the Vikings need to draft a new QB. Maybe that'll be motivation for him to live up to being a first round pick (though he shouldn't have been one anyway).

man, you guys definitely follow football more than I do

at least before the season starts

I follow free agency and the draft, though that feels like forever ago so I barely remember it now. I like to stay up to date with my team haha.

Yeah, I'm up for starting this fantasy league btw

Give me a list of who's in and I'll start it

Me, Fenrir, you, Randa...I think bearclaw said he'd play...that's only 5. We need more people before we start a league.

[Lord Raven]

Broken leg...

Most Vikings fans I know complained to no end about receivers never being able to get open. Greg Jennings was a big part of Rodgers development after all. Besides three years isn't even that great a sample to gauge a QB considering someone like Eli Manning was shit until a certain part of 2007, Alex Smith was awful until the Harbaugh era, Flacco certainly wasn't something to brag about until this year (he was finally a serviceable game manager and franchise that we needed in a while but if not for that defense he probably would be under a million times more scrutiny every year).

It's almost like everyone expects Tom Brady and Peyton Manning right out of the draft everytime they get a QB. I think Vikings fans are sorta jaded by the fact that they've not had a franchise QB in ages so they want this to turn out right.

Also, randombobman. I'll get him on fb

Edited July 17, 2013 by Lord Raven

[Lord Raven]

I hate how Internet doesn't seem to work and sends your post twice

Edited July 17, 2013 by Lord Raven

[Da Bear]

Me, Fenrir, you, Randa...I think bearclaw said he'd play...that's only 5. We need more people before we start a league.

I'd need to make an ESPN account first <_<

[Lord Raven]

If you have gmail then it can be done through yahoo; you can link yahoo to gmail in like 2 minutes.

[Helios]

Broken leg...

Most Vikings fans I know complained to no end about receivers never being able to get open. Greg Jennings was a big part of Rodgers development after all. Besides three years isn't even that great a sample to gauge a QB considering someone like Eli Manning was shit until a certain part of 2007, Alex Smith was awful until the Harbaugh era, Flacco certainly wasn't something to brag about until this year (he was finally a serviceable game manager and franchise that we needed in a while but if not for that defense he probably would be under a million times more scrutiny every year).

It's almost like everyone expects Tom Brady and Peyton Manning right out of the draft everytime they get a QB. I think Vikings fans are sorta jaded by the fact that they've not had a franchise QB in ages so they want this to turn out right.

Also, randombobman. I'll get him on fb

For Madden...

When you draft a QB in the first round, you expect first round talent. Ponder is not first round talent. He's more comparable to the QBs from this draft, and even then he wouldn't have even been the first QB off the board lol. Like I said though, if he doesn't produce this year, Vikings need a new QB.

Oh yeah forgot about him. That'd be six. Maybe some of the guys who were in last year will play too (but idk if they're still on SF).

[Randa]

I think you guys are being way to quick to judge ponder. He isn't an elite quarterback but he's the next tier down. He's basically a poor man's Flacco. He has about the same abilities and comes much cheaper. The difference between the two was the weapons around them. Ponder's first year he had nothing around him. Two years ago the defense had some secondary problems and his primary receiver didn't want to be there. Last year he showed potential, but with his best receiver being injured and the rest of the squad being less than amazing it was hard to expect much from them. And we can't forget the fact that AP had 348 carries last year. This means the sample size to base our judgement off of is rather small. Defenses will most likely do as the packers did in the wild card game and say screw the pass game just try to shut down Peterson. This means that they will face a lot of 4-3 looks with a linebacker either blitzing or one on Rudolph. This allows playmakers like Jennings and Patterson to have one on ones on the outside. We will still see a lot of AP running, but this will most likely be the year in which a balanced offense can show us what sort of a player ponder is.

[Anacybele]

Flacco's definitely not a franchise QB. He's ranked lower than Big Ben on the most recent QB ranking list and Ben is near the middle. I read this in a magazine. I think Aaron Rodgers was number 1 followed by Pey-Pey and uh... Dang it, I forget who was next. Pey-Pey should be number 1 though, if you ask me. This guy is a beast!

(Pey-Pey is Eli's nickname for Peyton, btw. I find it so cute! XD)

I think Ben is number 12 or something while Flacco is a couple places down from him. But imo, Ben ought to be a little higher, perhaps number 8. He might not be real fast, but this guy can take a ton of hits and keep playing. He's named the toughest QB in the league and has a cannon for an arm.

Edited July 17, 2013 by Anacybele

[Randa]

3 would be Brady. I would put him seven.

Rodgers

Peyton/Brady(I will not make a decision on who's better)

Brees

Eli

Ryan

Ben

[Anacybele]

Well, I won't complain, 7th is even better than 8th. :3

But don't care about lists, Pey-Pey will always be a better QB than Rodgers to me. :P

[Lord Raven]

To build up on a previous point, the standard for developing newly drafted QBs was much of the time to have them as a backup or a year or two before they're ready. Sometimes times it's actually quite long (re: Aaron Rodgers), but someone like Kaepernick, Brady, etc had at least a full year to develop. Ponder was thrust into starting 5.5 games in, after a lockout.

It's been a trend as of late to start people instantly (you can thank the Ravens and Falcons for that) and get results. It's hard to get over this mentality when it's been happening quite a bit, but in reality some people aren't instantly ready for the NFL and need time. I firmly believe that had Aaron Rodgers started immediately for the Packers, he wouldn't be the guy he is now. Vikings fans are generally like "The stars haven't aligned as well as we'd like but he's doing well all things considered." I don't watch enough Vikings games to see it happen, but I also hate the drooling over stats and bulk stats. Progress is what really matters when you start a young, and Ponder's made progress and hopefully for them will continue for a couple years to do so. I'm not sure who's in the next draft, but this draft's QBs were laughable enough that Ponder would probably go well over them.

Flacco's definitely not a franchise QB. He's ranked lower than Big Ben on the most recent QB ranking list and Ben is near the middle. I read this in a magazine. I think Aaron Rodgers was number 1 followed by Pey-Pey and uh... Dang it, I forget who was next. Pey-Pey should be number 1 though, if you ask me. This guy is a beast!

(Pey-Pey is Eli's nickname for Peyton, btw. I find it so cute! XD)

I think Ben is number 12 or something while Flacco is a couple places down from him. But imo, Ben ought to be a little higher, perhaps number 8. He might not be real fast, but this guy can take a ton of hits and keep playing. He's named the toughest QB in the league and has a cannon for an arm.

Stop. STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP. Flacco is our franchise QB. You know why I know this? Because prior to Joe Flacco we had 15 starting QBs in 12 years. Joe Flacco? 5 in 5 years, and another 6+ is definitely well within his reach because he's healthy. I don't care how average his numbers are, how good our defense is, etc. Flacco plays well when he's called upon to do so (and he was told to be a game manager and not mess up for a while, btw, because they wanted him to ride our defense). Flacco has intelligence in the position, and most importantly he's shown lots of improvement over the years and he's never had a losing season before. Bulk stats are dumb anyway because he's got Ray Rice for his running game and as of this season, Bernard Pierece. He's shown to be more efficient passing than many other QBs despite not putting up a 4000 yard season, because he doesn't always ever need to throw the ball when necessary simply because the run game doesn't always get shut down enough to require him to do so. Ravens don't play for stats or records in the slightest; they play to win and don't need to look flashy doing so. I would not trade Flacco for any other QB ever, even if he will never be the best. He is reliable and he is the best we've ever had.

Fucking Kyle Boller was our most consistent starter prior to Flacco ("consistent" since I don't think he's started a full season in his career) and he played so streaky and awful more times than not and he just wasn't cut out for it. He wasted our years with Lewis, Suggs, Jamal Lewis and Reed at their prime, and Jonathan Ogden on our line. He wasted our years with Rex Ryan as our DC. And I wouldn't even pin it all on him; Brian Billick was too arrogant to really make him develop how him, the fans, and the team wanted him.

And even despite that Joe Flacco would still probably succeed with Brian Billick. Joe Flacco was riding Lewis on the tail end of his career and when Lewis went down - he proceeded to put the team on his back and upon the firing of an old OC he played with a level of confidence that Baltimore had never often seen before in their QBs. At least, not that consistently (Kyle Boller had some amazing games). But the difference is that he kept up this confidence for 5 and a half games straight that he played fully. (Not only that but there were many flashes during that dreaded Broncos game way back in December despite the blowout. Hell, the Redskins game - our defense and Special Teams were on their knees blowing the game, it was not on Flacco too much because they let a backup get a TD, a 2 point conversion, and the ST let their return guy come into field goal range).

You want my QB ranking based on this previous season?

1. Rodgers

2. Peyton

3. Brady

4. Brees

5. Ryan

Peyton's career at this point is leaps and bounds better than Rodgers. But he's also been a starter for close to a decade longer. I can see Rodgers being probably the second best QB to Montana in the general eyes of the NFL (I would still disagree and would Peyton Manning above them all) once his career's over. Peyton Manning has had less success with about as much by this point in time compared to Rodgers.

There's my Top 5. From there, I'd rate Flacco over Ben because he started 16 and Ben didn't; Flacco also had a worse receiving corps than some of these guys listed (but it's shown they can make plays so it's not that big an excuse). Ben is unimaginably frail; even during our O-line problems (pre-McKinnie) Flacco could take a hit and get back up. Ben's time is running out because no way in hell is he playing past these injuries day in and day out, Flacco/Wilson/RG3/Kaepernick/Luck's time is creeping in. Don't judge your rankings on a magazine, watch the damn dudes play and watch how productive they are. I don't care how "tough" you claim Ben to me, he almost never completes a full season because he goes down on injuries, and he's too old to keep this crap up for too much longer. I respect the hell outta the guy and wish him the best, but Steelers need to find someone they can develop fast before Ben goes down for good.

As for Eli, he is the single most streaky player in the league. I would only bet on him during playoffs where he's on the road the whole time. If I were a Giants fan I would get a heart attack every single day I watch him play.

Edited July 17, 2013 by Lord Raven

[Randa]

Just because Flacco is the best QB you've had in the history of the franchise doesn't mean he is a franchise quarterback. If I said you could have any quarterback in the league to start a team right now would you chose Flacco. If you can name five players you would take over him going forward than he is not a franchise quarterback. He isn't someone I would want to build a team around. Or at least not my first choice.

Edited July 17, 2013 by Randa