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The 2017/2018 NFL thread

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As far as the Eagles go, idk man, probably another .500ish year

Probably going to start a rookie CB in Rasul Douglas with Jalen Mills (2nd year)

I think we have some growing pains on Pass Defense this year but show flashes of greatness. Next year, enter Sidney Jones to a 3rd year Jalen Mills (move to slot CB), with a 2nd year Rasul Douglas, and our corners suddenly don't suck anymore. Only problem is that by then, Malcolm Jenkins will be old

Jordan Hicks should make the Pro Bowl this year. I'd bet money I don't have on that happening if he plays in more than 12 games

Our line is... unproven. Fletcher Cox had a down year after getting paid, but he should bounce back. Derek Barnett sounds good, but who really knows. Brandon Graham, god I just don't know sometimes. If he doesn't have a solid year this year (double digit sacks, yeah put up or shut up COULDA HAD EARL THOMAS DAMMIT), I say we move on from him.

Not even sure if Mychal Kendricks is on the team anymore. He isn't fast enough to do what he did best anymore (drop into coverage, chase down runners with his lateral quickness), and he isn't big enough to be a run stopper. So get the fuck out. Sorry, but not sorry. I want some beasts at LB

Carson Wentz has weapons now, he should improve this year.

apparently Nelson Agholor looked good in OTAs. Sweet dude. The Eagles lead the league in 1st round draft busts so I'll hold my excitement until he actually shows the fuck up for games.

Torrey Smith might not be as fast as he used to be, not sure how much he will help.

Alshon Jefferey should have a good year with Wentz, but I hope they don't get too comfortable with each other and Wentz just starts heaving up balls to Alshon for no reason when he gets in trouble (see: he can't avoid pressure for shit) which will lead to interceptions.

You know, back in the day guys like Brett Fabre got away with throwing a lot of INTs because you took the good with the bad. Now, guys like Brady and Rodgers have set the bar so high, you can't just be a gunslinger anymore. You have to be throwing 3-4 TDs a game AND less than 15 picks a year. The level of QB play is just insane anymore. And Idk if Wentz is going to be near that upper echelon of play yet.

Good news is, our schedule is favorable as fuck this year. We got a bye before the game in Dallas, and we play Chicago and Carolina for our 2 other NFC games (as opposed to Dallas who got GB and Atlanta, Giants get Detroit and TB, Washington is irrelevant, ok they got Minnesota and NO)

But, and there's always a but, I still don't know if Doug Pederson is the guy going forward. He seems like the guy who got the head coaching job because everyone else turned it down or went elsewhere. He does have good clock management skills, but he made some pretty questionable calls last year.

All in all, probably an 8-8 year, but I just want to see how our defense plays. And as long as we lose competitive games, I can live with that record this year

I just don't understand why we didn't bring a starting CB in during free agency. A decent secondary would add 2 or 3 wins to the team. I think Doug Peterson has the potential to be a good coach of the front office would pull there head out of the sand and start upgrading the team with proven talent.
 
I feel like Vegas is sleeping on the Dolphins this year, with our over/under set at 7 wins. Yes, we overperformed our talent by going 10-6 last year, but our overperformance occurred as a direct result of our excellent coaching staff with Adam Gase at the helm. We also managed to outperform our talent level despite suffering a ludicrous amount of injuries to key players throughout the year. Reshad Jones, Mike Pouncey, Brandon Albert, and ultimately even Ryan Tannehill either missed significant portions of the season or were knocked out for the year, along with nearly our entire secondary and linebacking corp, which were already deficient to begin with.

Our roster has only seen improvements this offseason. Lawrence Timmons and Reakwon McMillan are better than what we had at linebacker last year (they only need to achieve mediocrity in order to constitute an improvement), Charles Harris adds some depth and athleticism to our defensive end spot, and the return of Reshad Jones, one of the top 3 safeties in the NFL, is sure to bolster a secondary that played surprisingly well last year due to the emergence of some previously unknown and undervalued players. The only spot where our defense is ostensibly weaker is defensive tackle next to Ndamukong Suh, where we are relying on historically unreliable players such as Jordan Phillips.

On offense, the addition of Julius Thomas could be huge. We essentially played without a tight end last season, and Julius Thomas was critically undervalued in his free agency due to playing in a broken system in perennially broken Jacksonville. The receiving corp of Jarvis Landry, Kenny Stills, and Devante Parker has the potential to be one of the top 5 in the league this season, assuming Parker finally comes into his own, which is a strong possibility. Wide Receiver has perhaps the widest transition from the college level to the NFL, with most receivers not truly hitting their stride until year three (which Parker is going into), where a huge jump in production often occurs. Additionally, habits relating to his diet, fluid intake and sleeping patterns were not addressed until just before last season, so this will be Parker's first full year of good condition.

The offensive line is an enigma, with oft-injured Brandon Albert gone, and Laremy Tunsil sliding over from guard to his much more natural left tackle position. The success of the line ultimately depends on the health of center Mike Pouncey, who has been dealing with lingering hip problems that some say are potentially career threatening. The coaching staff says Pouncey will be ready, but there is ample reason to doubt their optimism. Watching the o-line with and without Pouncey last season was like watching two different teams.

Tannehill is confirmed a good, potentially great quarterback going into this year.

All that said, I'm predicting the Dolphins finish around 9-7 this year. We benefited from a lot of lucky breaks in close games last year, and it is unlikely for that luck to continue into this season. We plugged a lot of our areas of deficiency, but they were so abundant that many of those areas are still deficient. Ultimately, I think we do a much better job hanging with the elites this year, and can even envision us stealing a game off of the Patriots. There's still a gap between Miami and the likes of NE and Pitt, but it has narrowed considerably. Our record still backslides by a game because the luck we had late in games last season will not continue, and what will likely be a tougher schedule this season.

I have been waiting for the dolphins to really break out for three years. During this time they seemed to play down to poor opponents and almost rise to difficult ones.
 
chargers have i think the 3rd hardest schedule in the league..

if the colts dont make the playoffs they should move to san diego
 
I have been waiting for the dolphins to really break out for three years. During this time they seemed to play down to poor opponents and almost rise to difficult ones.

Indeed.

I've been waiting for the Dolphins to break out since Marino retired in '99. It's been a painful process. Things are finally turning.

I think Adam Gase may be the most talented coach to enter the league since Bill Billichick. Everybody who has ever worked with him, from his assistant coaches all the way to Peyton Manning, raves about his ability to teach concepts and set culture.

It's process oriented guys like that, such as Billichick, Carroll, Cowher and Parcells who not only find success, but make it last. System guys never last too long, because process oriented guys adapt. Look at how many systems Brady and the Patriots have run over the course of his career.

So basically, I'm optimistic. How's that for a change?


chargers have i think the 3rd hardest schedule in the league..

if the colts dont make the playoffs they should move to san diego

I never put much stock in preseason schedule rankings. More than half the league fluctuates wildly year after year in terms of record, with only the likes of Pittsburgh and New England guaranteed success, and Cleveland and Jacksonville guaranteed failure.

Your 3rd most difficult schedule could very well end up 3rd easiest by year's end.
 
I feel like Vegas is sleeping on the Dolphins this year, with our over/under set at 7 wins. Yes, we overperformed our talent by going 10-6 last year, but our overperformance occurred as a direct result of our excellent coaching staff with Adam Gase at the helm. We also managed to outperform our talent level despite suffering a ludicrous amount of injuries to key players throughout the year. Reshad Jones, Mike Pouncey, Brandon Albert, and ultimately even Ryan Tannehill either missed significant portions of the season or were knocked out for the year, along with nearly our entire secondary and linebacking corp, which were already deficient to begin with.

Our roster has only seen improvements this offseason. Lawrence Timmons and Reakwon McMillan are better than what we had at linebacker last year (they only need to achieve mediocrity in order to constitute an improvement), Charles Harris adds some depth and athleticism to our defensive end spot, and the return of Reshad Jones, one of the top 3 safeties in the NFL, is sure to bolster a secondary that played surprisingly well last year due to the emergence of some previously unknown and undervalued players. The only spot where our defense is ostensibly weaker is defensive tackle next to Ndamukong Suh, where we are relying on historically unreliable players such as Jordan Phillips.

On offense, the addition of Julius Thomas could be huge. We essentially played without a tight end last season, and Julius Thomas was critically undervalued in his free agency due to playing in a broken system in perennially broken Jacksonville. The receiving corp of Jarvis Landry, Kenny Stills, and Devante Parker has the potential to be one of the top 5 in the league this season, assuming Parker finally comes into his own, which is a strong possibility. Wide Receiver has perhaps the widest transition from the college level to the NFL, with most receivers not truly hitting their stride until year three (which Parker is going into), where a huge jump in production often occurs. Additionally, habits relating to his diet, fluid intake and sleeping patterns were not addressed until just before last season, so this will be Parker's first full year of good condition.

The offensive line is an enigma, with oft-injured Brandon Albert gone, and Laremy Tunsil sliding over from guard to his much more natural left tackle position. The success of the line ultimately depends on the health of center Mike Pouncey, who has been dealing with lingering hip problems that some say are potentially career threatening. The coaching staff says Pouncey will be ready, but there is ample reason to doubt their optimism. Watching the o-line with and without Pouncey last season was like watching two different teams.

Tannehill is confirmed a good, potentially great quarterback going into this year.

All that said, I'm predicting the Dolphins finish around 9-7 this year. We benefited from a lot of lucky breaks in close games last year, and it is unlikely for that luck to continue into this season. We plugged a lot of our areas of deficiency, but they were so abundant that many of those areas are still deficient. Ultimately, I think we do a much better job hanging with the elites this year, and can even envision us stealing a game off of the Patriots. There's still a gap between Miami and the likes of NE and Pitt, but it has narrowed considerably. Our record still backslides by a game because the luck we had late in games last season will not continue, and what will likely be a tougher schedule this season.

I can't wait to squish the fish.

Go BILLS!

Tannehill is confirmed a good, potentially great quarterback going into this year.


uhhh?

that's like me saying Taylor is confirmed a good, potentially great quarterback going into this year (which is not the case.)
 
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for real.

might fall into a month long k-hole to get there quicker.

hopefully it doesn't bring me back to 2011.

if it's gonna transport me through time, make it 1990 so I can stop Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, and the rest of the bills from partying w/ hookers and cocaine on the night before SB games.
 
afc east predictions?

1: patriots (going for 9 consecutive divisions)
2. bills
3. dolphins
4. jets

i think bills and dolphins will be close. bills have better o-line but maybe the dolphins have the better overall defense...

alasdair
 
Can't argue with you there.

Good chance the Dolphins top us this year.

We always seem to fuck up the divisional games.
 
you were 1-5 against the division last year. you managed to win was at gillette against the pats - the hardest game :) - but lost your home game against the jets!

alasdair
 
that game was a complete disaster against the Jets....

Is Gilmore gonna be your top CB?

I always liked him, but he had a propensity to give up big plays...

I hope we torch him this year.
 
he has a big incentive to shut you down and you have a big incentive to torch him.

i always love division games. no matter what anybody says, they're generally competitive and there's a solid chance of an upset - rams beating seahawks, etc.

the jets are a shambles but, for me, even at gillette beating the jets is not a foregone conclusion...

alasdair
 
are they changing the rules to admit teams who finish last in their division?

:)

alasdair
 
Can't believe we're almost there already. Preseason games are only a week or two away. For the first time in a long time, I'm genuinely excited rather than tentatively hopeful about my team's prospects at the start of football season.

AFC East is well represented on Bluelight, apparently. Dolphins will definitely finish second in the division behind the Pats. There is absolutely no reason to assume the Bills have jumped ahead of anyone this season.

1. Pats
2. Dolphins
3.Bills
4. lol Jets

Also, we should get a College Football thread going this year. We missed out on a lot of heated discussions last year by not having one. My Canes are looking pretty nice as well, closing out the season strong with stars in Ahmmon Richards, Shaquille Quarterman, Michael Pickney and Mark Walton emerging and only poised to get better.
 
^ less than a week!

i am vibrating with excitement - excited to see the pats back in action. the reports from camp are great and the team looks as strong as ever.

also three weeks or so until my fantasy draft - so pumped for that too!

alasdair
 
A shame that Tannehill gets knocked out for the year just as my capacity for optimism and level of excitement for football season were returning to normal, mentally healthy levels.

I was actually pretty excited about Tannehill, as he played at a reasonably high level last year, and was by all indications only poised to improve this coming year. Prior to this injury, he was being mad slept on as most people either seemed to disregard or simply didn't know just how well he did last year.

Additionally, there were several analytics guys pointing out that Tannehill was a top 12 QB with potential to jump into the top 8 according to their individual metrics for rating QB's. The argument being that he had less help last year than almost any other QB in football, with a significant number of errors by his receivers resulting in his statistics not being as good as they should have been (and they were still pretty damn good).

Not saying I was ready to gulp down the kool-aid, but I was taking some cautious sips.

We're stuck with Cutler now who is a total enigma. I've always really liked Cutler as a quarterback, but I worry what physical wear and tear, and what 11 years of being devalued and shit on despite more than solid play has done to his psyche.
 
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God I hope the Texans are better this year but I'm predicting 7-9 :( More of a rebuilding year of sorts but as long as Tom Brady is in the AFC it really doesn't matter how good you are.
 
zeke out for 6 weeks!

sammy watkins to the rams!

jordan matthews to the bills!

:)

alasdair
 
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