Heavy Hitter Crew

[Seminole Red]

ok, posts are there, could ya go in and make me an assistant mod, also Tree and Eliscoming...ty

were going have a free football board.

your also going to have to pm admin and have them make you an assistant and me head mod so I can make all the changes

[CollegeKid28]

Ok no problem.

[Seminole Red]

free boards are only reserved for stock boards...non stock boards can be free but they have to be grandfathered/ real old. your old board would work....

let me make a few posts there then ill need you to pm admin and make me moderator...or add me as an assistant then pm admin and make me mod so I can revamp the board

then I can turn it into a football talk board that will be free....

if you can...no one uses it

[CollegeKid28]

Hi Seminole, I got your PM. I am not a member so I can only reply publicly. You are more than welcome to use that old board I created. Do I hub not allow people to create free boards anymore?

[Seminole Red]

Gang concerns at Cowboys/Raiders practice

August, 12, 2014
By Tim MacMahon | ESPNDallas.com

OXNARD, Calif. -- The joint practices between the Dallas Cowboys and Oakland Raiders are a Super Bowl of sorts for the Oxnard Police Department.

The police presence would be increased regardless of which team came to Oxnard to practice against the Cowboys. But it's especially important with the Raiders coming to town.

That's because two of Ventura County's most violent street gangs wear the apparel of the two teams. The Colonia Chiques, the county's largest gang, wear Cowboys gear. The Southside Chiques wear Raiders gear.

"There's obviously a gang rivalry between the two, but we've seen nothing that's seeped its way out here at all," Oxnard police commander Andrew Salinas said as the crowd filed in a little more than an hour before Tuesday afternoon's practice. "We feel that the steps we have taken to proactively approach this event have helped greatly. As you can see, it's a family event and everyone's having a good time."

Those steps started with doubling the normal police presence for practices. Salinas said there are approximately 30 officers on the scene, including a K-9 bomb unit, plain-clothes officers in the stands and parole and probation officers.

The Oxnard police also installed an observational tower in the parking lot that provides a view of the entire facility and increased searching methods at the front gate to prevent fans from entering with weapons and/or alcohol.

The Cowboys/Raiders-related gang rivalry was the lead story in Tuesday's edition of the Ventura County Star. The city's gang injunction forbids known gang members from wearing the team-affiliated gear within certain "safety zones," but the River Ridge facility is not included in that area.

Salinas said Ventura County's violent crime rate has "plummeted" in the 10 years since Oxnard implemented the gang injunction. Nevertheless, it was identified a significant concern as soon as the practices between the Cowboys and Raiders were scheduled.

"There was an initial concern, but after seeing this evolve today, there's been very little concern with that at all," Salinas said. "We were more concerned actually with the fan rivalry than we were with the gang situation and what it represents here in this community. Other than that, we've been very happy with what's transpired here."

[Seminole Red]

Speaking Tuesday, Jaguars coach Gus Bradley confirmed Blake Bortles will get first-team reps "at some point" this summer.

"For me to say he’s not going to would probably be inaccurate," Bradley said in classic coachspeak. However, Bradley again intimated the Jags plan to stick with Chad Henne all season, claiming the team has "really rallied around" him. We'd like to take Bradley at face value, but Henne is not a starting-caliber talent, while Bortles has shown well thus far. At some point, there's going to be a controversy.

[Seminole Red]

Geno Smith will start the Jets' second preseason game against the Bengals on Saturday.

There had been noise that Michael Vick may be gaining ground in what was thought to be a "competition" in name only, but that doesn't appear to be the case. ESPN New York's Rich Cimini still expects Smith to be named the starter, barring "injury or an epic meltdown." Cimini believes official word could come within the week. The Jets are all in on Smith for Week 1, but he won't have much room for error.

[Seminole Red]

Christine Michael - RB - Seahawks


Christine Michael remains the No. 3 running back on the Seahawks' latest unofficial depth chart.

The Seahawks are making Michael earn his leap ahead of Robert Turbin. Michael technically came off the bench behind Turbin in Saturday's preseason opener, but still got run with the first-team offense, and was the more-impressive back. We remain much higher on Michael's talent than Turbin's, and consider Michael Marshawn Lynch's likely handcuff.

[Tree]

LOL. True that and all sports do apply with that name

[Seminole Red]

Clay: I agree that using the preseason as a resource to understand each team's depth chart is key, but it's important to not overvalue (or discard) a player based on it. Andre Ellington is a fine example of this. Last preseason, he didn't appear in Arizona's first preseason game. In Game 2, he was fourth in line at tailback and played the last 18 snaps of the game. In Game 3, he was fifth in line and played 13 of the final 18 snaps. In the finale, most of the starters sat out, but Ellington played 28 snaps. Even worse, he struggled to a 3.5 YPC during the preseason before leading the NFL in the category during the regular season. It's important to keep a close eye on preseason usage, but, as Adam stated as related to Bernard and Ellington, be sure to apply some common sense.

[Seminole Red]

Levitan: We saw some interesting running back usage over the weekend that is worth tracking over the next two preseason games. Andre Ellington got every single first-team snap, including third downs and red-zone. Bishop Sankey didn't get any first-team reps, but did impress. Giovani Bernard didn't rotate with Jeremy Hill or BenJarvus Green-Ellis at all. Le'Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount shared the work — could we be looking at a B&B backfield? (Don't put me in a vacant for saying that, Stringer and Avon).

To be clear, a lot of this usage had to do with the first team getting just one or two series. Obviously, Ellington and Bernard aren't going to play every snap of an entire game. But there are signs here we need to watch.

[Seminole Red]

Daugherty: It's important to remember Levitan's point that preseason usage is *far* more telling than preseason statistics. When people say the preseason is "worthless," or something of that nature, that should be what they're referring to. God bless him, but not reading too much into Logan Thomas' fourth-quarter stats. I am, however, quite interested in the fact that Andre Brown didn't receive a single touch in Saturday's game. Usage > numbers is just something all exhibition observers have to keep in mind. It's all good and well that Lache Seastrunk stuffed the stat-sheet against some second- and third-string defenders, but not nearly as informative as, say, Andre Williams getting goal-line carries with the first-team offense.

[Seminole Red]

Chet Gresham: I'm interested in seeing how handcuff running backs are doing. I want to grab guys who will have opportunity and talent if the starter goes down. Carlos Hyde, James Starks, Jeremy Hill, Devonta Freeman, Christine Michael, Ronnie Hillman/CJ Anderson, all would be in nice spots if they became the starter. I like to look at usage. Are they getting work between the tackles, near the goal line, passing game, on third downs, etc. And I also want to see if they can execute in those situations.

[Seminole Red]

Raymond Summerlin: One of the things I am interested in every preseason is the line play on both sides of the ball. Although great backs are great no matter who is blocking for them, so much of an average running back's effectiveness is built on how effective their offensive line is at creating holes, and how effective their opponent's front is at disrupting the play. It’s usually easy to see how good teams will be in both areas early in the preseason. The Jets, for instance, showed early last preseason that their run defense was as stout as they come, and then preceded to shut down Doug Martin, Stevan Ridley, C.J. Spiller and Chris Johnson the first four weeks of 2013. By watching New York in the preseason, we were able to identify them correctly as a matchup to avoid despite the fact that they were mediocre at best the year before.




To that end, I will be paying attention to the offensive lines on teams like the Ravens, Jaguars and Giants. All three have "trendy" running backs, and all three were atrocious run blocking units last season. It will also be interesting to see how formerly formidable outfits like the 49ers, Seahawks and Cardinals do after losing key players along their front sevens.

[Seminole Red]

Adam Levitan: Clay's observations on Trent Richardson are scary. The interior of that offensive line is atrocious and won't do him any favors — at this point I'm backing off.




Moving on, usage if far more interesting to me than stats in the preseason. A good (or bad) series or quarter is often a fluke if we don't ask ourselves why.




Therefore, I want to see exactly how (or if) Bill Lazor is moving Mike Wallace around. Is he really going to do the things the Eagles did last year that helped produce a career outlier year from DeSean Jackson? What about C.J. Spiller? The way he's been pounded between the tackles and removed on all passing downs/red-zone downs through two preseason games is scary. Also, if Torrey Smith has improved his route tree enough to be a true "X" in the Gary Kubiak scheme, he's going to be a steal in the fifth or sixth round.

[Seminole Red]

Mike Clay: My chief concern with Ertz is target volume. I think part of why the team was okay with trading DeSean Jackson was because they plan on continuing to spread the ball around. It won't surprise me if no one on the Eagles exceeds 20 percent of the team's targets. That said, Ertz is going to play more, the Eagles are going to score a lot, and I'm projecting him to lead the team in receiving touchdowns. I like him in the middle rounds.




Sticking with the Eagles theme, I also can't wait to see Jordan Matthews. He's their most-talented wideout and I think he can be in the WR2 conversation by mid-season. It won't take him long to earn an every-down role.




Another guy I was anxious to see was over-sized pinball Trent Richardson. He's still the same, mediocre back we rolled our eyes at in 2013. Of all the backs I've watched so far, he's the least explosive out of the backfield. Add in his affection for running into his linemen, and you have a must-avoid player on draft day.




There are definitely a few other guys I plan on watching closely. They include the Jake Locker/Justin Hunter connection, Lamar Miller's usage in Bill Lazor's offense, and the running back rotations in New Orleans and Detroit.

[Seminole Red]

Daugherty: It's a weirdly huge year for tight ends. All four of those guys Evan mentioned were on my Preseason Watch List. I'd throw in Zach Ertz. Common sense suggests he's going to have a much bigger role this season, but not if he whiffs on his blocks in the preseason. Evan is right that the drop off is immense after the top four at tight end, but we might finally be getting a big-time infusion of young talent. They won’t all break out at once, though.




Can't forget Andre Holmes, either. Liked the noise he made down the stretch last season, and apparently so did the Raiders, as he's been running with the first team. I think he could Cruz himself into a huge role if he keeps up the momentum.

[Seminole Red]

Evan Silva: I'm a believer in grabbing elite tight ends early in drafts and being aggressive at that position, because the fall-off behind the top four is immense. It's a classic case of position scarcity. At the same time, tight ends have a relatively high injury rate; each of this year's top four tight ends has had injury issues in the past (Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronkowski, Julius Thomas, Jordan Cameron). Therefore, I like the idea of pairing a top tight end with a breakout candidate tight end in the later rounds.




So I'm watching guys like Ladarius Green, Travis Kelce, Zach Ertz and Gavin Escobar closely. Kelce already had something of a breakout performance last Thursday night, which will lead to more opportunities. I want to see if Ertz will be an every-down player in Philly's 2014 offense after playing under 50 percent of last year's snaps. I want to see Green high-point passes like he did in San Diego's preseason opener. I also want to see his usage when Antonio Gates begins playing in exhibition games. Escobar is a guy I'm watching closely from a Dynasty perspective. The defense-less Cowboys are going to be a pass-dependent team in 2014, and Escobar might wind up playing a much bigger role than people expect.

[Seminole Red]

glad its a grandfathered board, sure is old enough

[Seminole Red]

heavy hitters....all sports apply

[Seminole Red]

correction/ 10 1/2 years....I didn't recognize any of the posters either

[Tree]

I saw that and less than 250 total

[Seminole Red]

sounds good to me

[Tree]

I wouldn't

[Seminole Red]

last post here was 1/22/04....10 1/2 years

[Seminole Red]

I don't think ill even change the name

[Tree]

LOL! Nope

[Seminole Red]

I thought ya meant randall Cunningham from the eagles

[Tree]

I noticed that. In my notes, I marked a lot of players teams because they were new

[Seminole Red]

fresh faces for later rounds

[Seminole Red]

so many new players to try this year on new teams

[Tree]

I took him on a flyer last year. He paid dividends

[Tree]

There was a Benny Cunningham that was a TE for the Steelers in the late 70s early 80s

[Seminole Red]

haven't watched bernard

[Tree]

LOL

[Tree]

When compiling my rankings if there was a tie I always went with the "new" guy. I already know what some of these bums are going to do. So I went with the fresh face

[Seminole Red]

must be randall's son

[Tree]

5 is too low for AP. I like Allen also

[Seminole Red]

being from AUBURN ? I don't know....lol

[Tree]

I don't know if he is worthy of 12 but I really like Bernard. He was a bright spot for me last year

[Seminole Red]

ive got 4/5 new/rookies doing great ill dig em up later....N.O., BUFFALO, SAN FRAN , SKINS, ATLANTA

[Tree]

Benny Cunningham??? He played back in the 80s. LOL

[Tree]

I don't care about that. Can he run and score TD's? LOL

[Seminole Red]

Patrick Daugherty: Who do you need to see the most from this preseason?




We all know it can be easy to overstate the importance of a few August performances. Take, for example, last year’s preseason leaders. We also know you can ignore the exhibition season your own risk (Alfred Morris, Victor Cruz).




In no particular order, I’d like to see Lamar Miller run with confidence and effectiveness in the Dolphins’ new offense, Jordan Matthews and Brandin Cooks translate some of their practice hype and for the Arian Fosters of the world to show they still have something left in the tank (Editor’s Note: Poor start, Jordan.).




Editor’s Note: Our 2014 online Draft Guide is now live here! Inside you’ll find exclusive columns, rankings, projections, six different mock drafts and tons more.

[Tree]

I have liked Britt for a couple of years now. Produced decently until he got hurt. I am trying to give newer names a chance.
Kelce made a real nice play against Cincy. He could possibly be a bargain for someone

[Seminole Red]

Who to scroll down for:
163. Danny Amendola
175. James White
183. Markus Wheaton
185. Andrew Hawkins
186. Darren McFadden
190. Marqise Lee
211. Kenny Britt
213. Malcom Floyd
215. Ahmad Bradshaw
223. Shonn Greene
237. Roy Helu
245. Travis Kelce
246. Lance Dunbar
259. Mark Ingram
306. Ronnie Hillman
307. Cody Latimer
334. Andre Holmes
339. Donte Moncrief
422. Benny Cunningham

Strategy: It’s the usual suspects. My favorites here as fliers are Danny Amendola, Markus Wheaton and Kenny Britt. … Note that Darren McFadden is completely buried in these default ranks. He’s going to get the outside work as a complement to Maurice Jones-Drew and is one injury away from RB2 upside. We can probably get him in the 12th or 13th round on CBS against average opponents. … Ronnie Hillman has gained some separation from C.J. Anderson as Montee Ball’s backup. Yet Hillman is at 306 and Anderson is at 249.

[Seminole Red]

Where the buzz guys are ranked:
50. Cordarrelle Patterson
71. Terrance West
92. Zach Ertz
94. Rueben Randle
95. Devonta Freeman
98. Brandin Cooks
112. Ladarius Green
123. Jeremy Hill
124. Jay Cutler
133. Andre Williams
134. Justin Hunter

Strategy: Again, Cordarrelle Patterson is not a sleeper. I hate passing on truly unique talent, but I’ll likely have to. … We also aren’t getting any breaks on Terrance West or Zach Ertz here – they’ll rise to the top of the applet quickly once we get into Round 8 or so. … Devonta Freeman is ranked as if he’s already secured 10-15 touches per game. I like him, but he’s not there yet. … Given how much buzz Brandin Cooks, Ladarius Green, Jeremy Hill and Justin Hunter have generated, they are nice and low here. It’s an opportunity. … Jay Cutler again sticks out to me as an elite value at quarterback, just as he did on Yahoo and ESPN. I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up with Cutler as my QB1 in 80+ percent of my leagues this year.

[Seminole Red]

Players listed lower overall than expected:
5. Adrian Peterson
24. Jordy Nelson
41. Andre Johnson
49. Keenan Allen
75. Jordan Cameron
84. Marques Colston
87. T.Y. Hilton
101. Robert Griffin III
121. Dwayne Bowe
122. Bernard Pierce
127. Cam Newton
148. Philip Rivers
155. DeAndre Hopkins

Strategy: As noted in each of the previous two sections, Jordy Nelson should be there in the mid- to late-second round of drafts against the majority of our opponents. Gobble him up. … I’m not in love with Keenan Allen as a second-rounder, but I’d gladly take him in the fifth as he’s ranked by CBS. … Zach Ertz (92) and Dennis Pitta (70) are ranked reasonably high by CBS. The one tight end that really stands out for being so low is Jordan Cameron. Therefore, I’ll end up with him in a lot of CBS spots. … T.Y. Hilton’s stock has been fluctuating rapidly as reports come in about the health of Reggie Wayne’s knee and Hakeem Nicks’ mind. With Hilton so low here, we can likely afford to make a bet on talent and let the chips fall where they may. … The quarterback spot is interesting, as I alluded to when noting Tom Brady above. Cam Newton (127) should be available especially late, and Philip Rivers (148) is fine for a late-round target.

[Seminole Red]

Players listed higher overall than expected:
4. Calvin Johnson
12. Giovani Bernard
13. Le’Veon Bell
17. Alfred Morris
26. Toby Gerhart
27. Andre Ellington
31. Bishop Sankey
44. Ray Rice
65. Steven Jackson
68. Tom Brady
71. Terrance West
76. Seahawks D/ST
78. Stephen Gostkowski
100. Eric Ebron

Strategy: The CBS ranks are a little funky at the top, with Calvin Johnson above Adrian Peterson and Giovani Bernard at 12. Just ignore them and ride with your own list. If you can’t make your first-round pick for yourself, it’s time to get a new hobby. … Similar to Yahoo, we will be unable to get sneaky with Toby Gerhart or Andre Ellington on CBS. They’ll be really, really hard to get at reasonable prices. … I’m thrilled to see Alfred Morris at 17 here, someone will be disappointed in their second-round pick. … Owners following the news know Bishop Sankey is going to be part of a RBBC. He’ll likely be the lead dog in that committee before too long, but 31 is still way too high. … I talked about Steven Jackson in my Over the Hill video. He’s done. … Given where some other quarterbacks are in this applet (see below), Tom Brady at 68 is crazy. … CBS annually has D/ST and K absurdly high in their default ranks. Not only is Stephen Gostkowski 78 , but Phil Dawson is 96, Steven Hauschka is 103 and Matt Prater is 104. I’ll still wait until the last round for my kicker.

[Seminole Red]

Who to scroll down for:
165. Andrew Hawkins
180. Johnny Manziel
196. Zach Ertz
200. Kelvin Benjamin
210. Benny Cunningham
212. Ladarius Green
220. Andre Holmes
223. Jordan Matthews
231. Malcom Floyd
249. Ronnie Hillman
302. Cody Latimer
352. Travis Kelce
372. Donte Moncrief

Strategy: We can throw some haymakers here when our opponents aren’t even looking. They’ll come in the form of Zach Ertz, Kelvin Benjamin and Ladarius Green mostly – three true touchdown-scorers that should be targets in Rounds 10-14. … The rest of the scroll-down list is similar to the other sites. Our goal when drafting on ESPN should be to extract value, not get too sneaky with deep sleepers.