I didn’t notice until just now that we didn’t have an off-season thread, so here goes.
The combine is currently going.
In a shocker, Jason Witten decided to unretire and rejoin the Cowboys. In related news, ESPN gets a free upgrade to MNF.
Get rid of Booger and they might have an somewhat decent product.
I hear the over/under on how many kickers will be shown doing field drills (i.e. anything other than the 40-yard dash) is 1/2.
Then again, from what I have heard, kicking and punting drills are along the lines of:
Placekickers:
Kick from 4 yards deep in the end zone (i.e. 6 yards from the goal post), to show how well they can get height on the ball immediately (so it becomes much harder to block the kick)
Then, kick from various distances (30 to 50, I think) and positions (center of the field, left hash mark, right hash mark)
Go home
Punters:
Punt for distance
Punt from around the 50, aiming for each of the “coffin corners” (i.e. try to get the ball out of bounds inside the 5, first aiming left, then right)
Go home
And is this the year somebody does 50 reps (of 225 pounds) in the bench press?
If accurate, that surprises me a bit, since few NFL punters these days even try coffin-corner punts. Thanks to the influx of Australian footie punters, starting in the 1990s with Darren Bennett, the preferred technique now, if the punt is likely to land near the opponent’s end zone, is the “drop punt” – a high, short punt, which, due to how the punter drops the ball from his hands before punting it, is relatively unlikely to bounce in the direction of the punt (i.e., into the end zone).
Here’s a thread to discuss what’s going on in the NFL during the off-season. I don’t follow the draft as avidly as others do, so that can be a separate thread if there’s interest.
I keep hearing that the Washington Redskins are a top team to acquire Antonio Brown and I don’t know why. They’re going to be without a real QB next season and I’m not even sure Alex Smith ever comes back. I don’t think drafting Kyler Murray is their answer, they’d have to move up and there are too many other holes the Redskins need to fill. Hopefully they’ve learned from the RG III debacle not to mortgage the future.
SenorBeef actually started a thread a couple of days ago, but it’s been slow so far: https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=871602
Didn’t see the one from Beef, I’ll ask a Mod to merge these.
Apparently DK Metcalf is winning the combine. 27 reps for a WR. 4.33 40. 6’4, 225. That’s Calvin Johnson territory for size/speed.
And Stephen Hill’s.
It’s almost comical how ripped that dude is. Some team will fall in love with his measurables and “upside”, and make him a first round pick (wouldve been Al Davis, RIS) despite a lack of actual production. But he just screams “workout warrior” to me.
Apparently after trading up for their franchise QB Josh Rosen last year, the Cards are interested in drafting Kyler Murray with the #1 pick. I’m all for drafting a QB every year, but that’s so much capital at one position. They must not like Rosen at all. Of course, the amount of disinformation out there is ridiculous, so take it for what it’s worth.
I’m interested this offseasons in watching the drama in Pittsburgh as they lose Bell and Brown, and seeing where they end up. Should be fun. I’m also looking forward to the development (or not) of the young QBs. I think Darnold had a horrible start , but looked legit toward the end of the year. It will be interesting to see if Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen (and to a lesser extent Mitch Trubisky) can learn to actually pass the ball. Finally, I’m looking forward to the draft. It’s always interesting.
If they’re pretty sure he’s not going to develop into the guy, then it makes sense to draft a replacement. A lot of time has been wasted giving years to busts because of their high draft investment.
Just saw the Rosen to the Redskins rumors on a couple of sports blogs. The Redskins can get Rosen and try to develop him. Colt McCoy isn’t the answer, anyway. The Cards can take a chance on Murray.
Look at the Bucs with Jameis Winston. Heisman Trophy, first overall draft pick, and a mediocre 88/58 TD/Int rating so far. No playoff appearances and only one winning season (an uninspiring 9/7 record in 2016) which was also the only year they weren’t in last place in the division in his career. Combine that with off-the-field problems, yet after 4 years he’s still there.
I mean, the Bucs haven’t been any good since ‘07 but still, he sure hasn’t helped.
He can’t turn.
He has the strangest SPARQ chart you’ll ever see.
I believe this is evidence that he is actually a custom Madden game character who was min-maxed and then somehow became corporeal.
“Dude, your guy has zero points in Route Running and Maneuvering!”
“Yeah, I ran out of build points. Who cares? I’m just gonna run fly routes with him.”
Someone on reddit made a flowchart to decide your favorite team.
That’s one of the funniest things I’ve read for a long time. 
When watching a movie, do you root for the bad guys?
“Patriots”
Do you cringe at gruesome leg injuries?
No
Washington Redskins