# NFL Training Camp & Preseason 2014 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 5, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-training-camp-preseason-2014/694899 "2014-08-05T21:58:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-training-camp-preseason-2014/694899/81 "2014-09-01T23:00:43Z")
Having a rookie get drafted at your position in the second round should be enough to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-training-camp-preseason-2014/694899/82 "2014-09-01T23:24:00Z")
As to Mallet, I hated him coming out in the draft, and I’m not surprised his current price is just a conditional seventh rounder. I am amused that the Patriots were looking for up to a high second round pick for him just a few months ago and now, after teams get a chance to see that he still kinda sucks, the Pats are getting next to nothing for him. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-training-camp-preseason-2014/694899/83 "2014-09-02T00:07:34Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > Patriots trade Ryan Mallett to the Texans for a conditional 7th Round pick. Seems like a pretty good deal for everyone, particularly Mallett, who might actually get a chance to play if Fitzpatrick plays like he usually does. Pats were going to release him anyway, so getting anything at all is a bonus. Looks like they’ve settled on Garoppolo as the heir apparent (for now). > > Actually, the loser in this deal is Case Keenum, who was released by the Texans. I thought he looked decent filling in when Schaub was hurt, but I guess Mallett makes him expendable. I suspect he’ll land somewhere, though. St. Louis, maybe? Pats drafted him in the 3rd round just 4 years ago, so you could paint the Pats as losers. I suppose a 7th is better than nothing and having a backup QB for 3 seasons you don’t end up using isn’t necessarily a waste, but I’m sure the Pats thought they’d be able to get a Matt Schaub type deal from someone (8-10 swap in the first and two seconds). Had they pulled the trigger pre-draft that might have managed a 4th rounder. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-training-camp-preseason-2014/694899/84 "2014-09-02T03:32:42Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > He’s definitely not very comfortable with the offense yet. Which is fine, he’ll have till the middle of the season to learn, and then the rest of the season to not be very good. I would hope nobody would honestly expect a rookie QB to light it up right away, but the whole hype machine surrounding him has undoubtedly skewed expectations. But ultimately, he’ll succeed or fail based on those improvisation skills, not because he suddenly becomes a diligent student of the game. Then he will fail. Nobody succeeds in the NFL an improviser. Nobody. You can add improvisational skills on top of the disciplined pocket passing - the way Steve Young and Favre and others have - but they are not a substitute for it. You cannot name a successful, longtime NFL QB who was not a student of the game. My guess is he has the same career as Vick, minus the dogfighting - a lot of highlight plays, a lot of excitement, but ultimately a disappointment. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-training-camp-preseason-2014/694899/85 "2014-09-02T11:35:37Z")
> [@furt](#): > > You can add improvisational skills on top of the disciplined pocket passing - the way Steve Young and Favre and others have - but they are not a substitute for it. Don’t forget Aaron Rodgers. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-training-camp-preseason-2014/694899/86 "2014-09-02T13:44:18Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > I’m sure the Pats thought they’d be able to get a Matt Schaub type deal from someone (8-10 swap in the first and two seconds). Had they pulled the trigger pre-draft that might have managed a 4th rounder. Probably, given that there’s a history of Brady backups going on to adequacy elsewhere (Cassel, Hoyer). Certainly they expected Mallett to look better in camp than he did. But, even if he’s as far out on the bubble as a player can be, he still has his old QB coach back, his competition in Houston is undaunting, and it’s not inconceivable that he can actually play someday. It better be soon, though. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-training-camp-preseason-2014/694899/87 "2014-09-02T13:54:10Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > So, the rams cut Sam and didn’t even keep him on the practice squad. Do you think the whole thing was a PR stunt? Considering how very low key the entire situation was, almost certainly not. How much actual news was generated due to Sam, except the almost complete lack of news? Apparently, even NFL players and staff are capable of acting in a mature, professional manner. Who knew? The Rams are absolutely stacked at defensive tackle, so keeping even a practice squad spot for Sam means less depth elsewhere where it is more needed. They had an embarrassment of riches in his position. On the other hand, they have a distinct QB problem and can’t seem to develop wide receivers. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-training-camp-preseason-2014/694899/88 "2014-09-02T13:56:58Z")
More on that - Brady is such an intensely competitive sumbitch that he insists on playing every down, even with the game well won, despite the risk of injury, and Belichick lets him despite that and the lack of development opportunity for the backup. They’ve both been criticized for that for years now, and it isn’t going to change. Maybe Mallett would have been a commodity today if he’d ever been allowed to play, but that wasn’t going to happen under The Patriot Way. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-training-camp-preseason-2014/694899/89 "2014-09-02T15:40:40Z")
[Mini Coach Ditka gets a player!](http://www.boston.com/sports/blogs/obnoxiousbostonfan/2014/09/madden_15_glitch_tiny_linebacker_kirksey.html) > [@](#): > > Madden 15 has also given the NFL its smallest player ever - Cleveland Browns rookie linebacker Christian Kirksey. > > In reality, Kirksey stands 6-feet-2 and checks in at 235 pounds before breakfast. But in the world of Madden 15, he stands all of 14 inches tall and, in a terrific irony, plays for the Titans. Great video clips, too. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-training-camp-preseason-2014/694899/90 "2014-09-02T19:25:21Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Pats drafted him in the 3rd round just 4 years ago, so you could paint the Pats as losers. I suppose a 7th is better than nothing and having a backup QB for 3 seasons you don’t end up using isn’t necessarily a waste, but I’m sure the Pats thought they’d be able to get a Matt Schaub type deal from someone (8-10 swap in the first and two seconds). Had they pulled the trigger pre-draft that might have managed a 4th rounder. Yep, from a drafting perspective, no question he was a bust for the Pats. Maybe it’s just better for them to draft QBs in the 7th? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-training-camp-preseason-2014/694899/91 "2014-09-03T11:30:34Z")
Odd statistic. The Seattle Seahawks, who the new pass defense penalty enforcement rules seem tailored to stop, had 0 defensive holding penalties in the preseason. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-training-camp-preseason-2014/694899/92 "2014-09-04T01:04:00Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Considering how very low key the entire situation was, almost certainly not. How much actual news was generated due to Sam, except the almost complete lack of news? Apparently, even NFL players and staff are capable of acting in a mature, professional manner. Who knew? > > The Rams are absolutely stacked at defensive tackle, so keeping even a practice squad spot for Sam means less depth elsewhere where it is more needed. They had an embarrassment of riches in his position. On the other hand, they have a distinct QB problem and can’t seem to develop wide receivers. While the Cowboys, where Sam is going, is, I hear, in some need of even decent defensive players. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-training-camp-preseason-2014/694899.md?page=4)