JosephC

RB-Dilin Jones and WR-Eugene Hilton in the transfer portal. They are now down to 3 scholarship running backs (1 true freshman) and 4 scholarship wide receivers (2 true freshman). McIntosh better have some big money ready to fill these holes, I wish I had confidence that Fickell and staff will do a good job in identifying enough talent to avoid a complete disaster, but after last year, I can't say that I do. They have also hired a new cornerbacks coach, and the old cornerbacks coach has been given a new role of "secondary coach." So they have a cornerbacks coach, a safeties coach and a secondary coach. I looked up if they were still limited to 12 "gameday" coaches, and it looks like that rule was eliminated a year ago, so nobody has to get fired to fit all these secondary coaches onto the staff.

As you said, Lions are probably just average and now even worse as they've mailed it in. Brosmer had 51 yards passing, minus 48 yards in sacks, so the Vikings had 3 yards passing in this game and the Lions still lose. That is terrible.

Two months ago, I would have said cutting Jacobs really isn't on the radar. But now I look at the roster, and with LT, C, NT, CB, CB, LB (assuming Walker gone, which it seems like the odds are better than 50/50 now) all looking like significant need areas, I don't think anything is off the table. If you still like Morgan as a LT, subtracting Walker, Jenkins, Rhyan from the offensive line, and then conceding that a player like Jacob Monk is probably not an NFL-quality player, and a second offensive lineman is a major, major need in addition to center no matter how you look at it. If they had 9 draft picks and a first rounder, it would probably be a safe bet that they would be drafting 3 offensive linemen. The once 30 million in cap carryover largely vanished after the Parsons trade, so the cap carryover will probably be something like 5 million. When adding in the rookie cap numbers and enough minimum salaries to get to the roster minimum, they are about 0.5 million over the cap. So right now, it looks like they would project to be about 4.5 million under the cap. Elgton Jenkins gets cut, that frees up 20 million. Rashan Gary gets a full restructure, that takes his cap number from (roughly) 28.0 million down to 18.9 million, so 9.1 million in saving there. At one time I thought the 4.5 million under the cap + 20 million + 9.1 million = 33.6 million...that would be enough (even though I would like that number to be more in the 40-45 range ideally). But now looking at the list of needs and no first round pick, I think there is likely more moves than just Jenkins and Gary and it will be interesting to see what those are. My guess is that Jacobs and Nate Hobbs would be the next two in line.

Historically, the smaller bowl games have been money losers for teams because the payouts do not offset the travel expenses. Schools have still done it for lots of reasons. A reward for the players. Donors like bowl games. Extra practices which have been considered a big deal by pretty much all coaches. But with the opportunity to throw money at future players, are teams really going to be willing to lose money on going to a bowl game? This doesn't apply to Notre Dame, as they were a top 10 team so they would have been going to a very good bowl with a nice payout. But do I believe Kansas State bailed on a bowl game because of a coaching change? I don't know. Obviously there are many, many coaching changes every year, and generally teams don't withdraw from bowl games because of that. It does seem like a second tournament would be a logical outcome, as just the factor of "win and play another game" would raise the stakes and keep many more fans interested. I don't think there needs to be any type of incentive, like the winner getting an automatic bid into next year's big tournament, to raise the interest level. Just the fact that there is a bracket, which American sports fans have a very weird infatuation with, would be enough to significantly increase interest.

I'm not suggesting the Packers totally give up on Morgan. But after a promising pre-season, I don't think there is anyway that the team can pencil him in as a starter for any OL spot in 2026. Even with this problem, I still don't think they will bring Rasheed Walker back. Add LT to the list of PRIMARY needs, along with C, NT, CB (maybe times two with this one) and LB if Quay Walker also leaves (which seems more and more likely as days pass without an extension getting done).

Finally, a pretty good looking QB in the portal that should be in Wisconsin's money range. TCU's Josh Hoover, who was a top 10 QB prospect coming out of high school. Listed as 6-2, 200. Redshirted in 2022, started 6 games in 2023 and has been the team's starting QB the last two years. 31 career starts, 9600+ passing yards, 65% completion percentage, 71/33 TD/INT. No rushing statistics worth mentioning. Nothing spectacular about him, he's just a good, experienced player. One year of eligibility left, which IMO is a positive as he wouldn't spook Carter Smith into the portal next year. 247 has put a 0.93 grade on him. In 2025, that would put him in the #4-#6 range on the QB list. In 2024, #5-#6. But with Sorsby, Lagway, Raiola and Leavitt (reported) already in, there already 4 players that seem solidly ahead of Hoover, so I think he'll probably end up in the #7-#10 range in this class when all the names are in (time will tell on that). In 2023, the Badgers brought in Mordecai (0.91 grade) who 247 had as the #7 QB. If the Badgers are going to spend more money, Hoover seems like a realistic target.

First portal guy that has caught my attention as a "realistic" get for the Badgers is Kansas State WR-Jayce Brown. 6-0, 179...isn't the biggest or fastest, but has a knack for making plays downfield. Has started 28 games and only has one year of eligibility left. 27 catches, 437 receiving yards, 3 TDs as a true freshman in 2023, 47-823-5 in 2024 and 41-712-5 in 2025. Career 17.1 average yards per catch. Seems like what the Badgers would be looking for - a productive, experienced guy who can contribute immediately, but is not a physically high-end guy and that will push his price-tag into a reasonable area for Wisconsin.

Don't call them the Ditkas, they will win if they are the Ditkas. Packers 73 - The Mike McCaskeys 9 (see 1994)

I don't think you needed to put this in blue. Only a matter of time until a high pick NFL bust who was a great college player comes back and says, (1) it shouldn't matter if I was paid as a professional player as I am no longer associated with a professional league, (2) eligibility limits are illegal, arbitrary eligibility rules hurt earning potential of individuals, if I am enrolled and taking classes, I am a student and should be able to play on the football team. We've already seen this with "community college years" shouldn't count. If that is the case, why should there be any limit on how many years a player can play?

McRoy was a very highly thought of prospect out of high school. Had a redshirt season at Oregon and then transferred to Arkansas where he played in 6 games and started 1. It sounds like he has been pretty shaky in what game action he has seen, both in the running game and the passing game. A high upside guy that just hasn't been a very good player so far. As you said, Grimes redshirted and then only played in 1 game against Wagner. Rivals had him as a TE coming out of high school. I'm not sure if he'd command much, if any NIL money at all. Under the old 85 scholarship limit, I would rather the Badgers just completely pass. But with the way things are now, it's not like the Badgers are going to be pushing a great player off the roster if they add Grimes. 247 has credited McRoy with a 0.85 grade on the transfer portal page, and that is pretty unimpressive for a guy who was so highly regarded out of high school. Their year-to-year grading scale might still be pretty fluid as we are in a new age of transfers, but in 2025 the 0.88 players ended at #347 overall and in 2025 the 0.88 players ended at #501 overall, so with a grade of 0.85, it's questionable if McRoy is even considered a top 500 player in the portal after all the names are entered in. There are already 122 players in this class that 247 have graded 0.86 and up, and that's only a fraction of all the players that will eventually be in the portal. Based on the talk in Madison, it sure sounds like the Badgers are pursuing a "high school recruit, draft and development" strategy on the offensive line. The fact that they only landed one OL high schooler has almost guaranteed that they will pick up at least 2 offensive linemen in the transfer portal. However, I'd guess that all the offensive portal guys this year that will be targeted with be players with some significant college playing time experience. With the easy schedule next year, Fickell and the rest of the coaching staff likely will not survive another pathetic performance, so I would think they would be looking for PROVEN college performers. They might like McRoy's upside, but based on what I've read, neither McRoy or Grimes seem to fit the bill as a PROVEN college performer.

It's pretty amazing how "short" the NFL passing game has become, and yet the league cannot seem to find QBs that can make pretty simple throws. Looking at the highlights of that Colts game, I see one pass to the tight end 11 yards down the field, one pass to the tight end 12 yards down the field, one back shoulder throw to a wide receiver 16 yards down the field, and one other down the field throw to a wide receiver that was a bad overthrow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7o2S7zgHF0 The rest is the typical boring NFL short passing game, totally built around the concept of "this 5 yard pass will turn into a 10 yard pass because the first guy will miss the tackle about 90% of the time." Looking at those highlights...swing pass to WR, numerous dump offs to RB, little 5 yard square in, little 5 yard crossing route. And yet we need a "big time" QB to come in and run this crap. Rivers finished that game with 27 attempts and 120 yards. Maybe the will open up that offense in a couple weeks, but considering Rivers can't move at all, I kind of doubt that they will.

As you said, Mets are planning to use Polanco at 1B. So he's the likely short-term replacement for Alonso. In comparison to Alonso, yes, he bring some defensive versatility. In a pinch, he could be bounced to 2B or 3B and provide below average defense. There is nothing you can do with Alonso except have him play 1B (where by DRS, his -9 was the worst in baseball last year among qualifying 1B) or DH.

I guess I don't see how Polanco is a ridiculous overpay. You guys have lost all perspective on Met dollars versus Brewer dollars. The Mets have been running a 320 million dollar payroll. So 20 million per year is roughly 6.25% of their payroll. If running a Brewers payroll of 110 million, the equivalent financial obligation for the Brewers would be a 2 year, 13.75 million dollar contract. I doubt too many Brewer fans would be complaining about that type of a deal since Polanco had a .800+ OPS last year, gives some defensive versatility, is an average to above-average baserunner and projects to be a 1.9 WAR player next year by Steamer. Now back to the reason I came to this thread in the first place, have the Dodgers signed Kyle Tucker yet? That was going to be my post until I saw the Polanco stuff. If anything, I think Stearns may have screwed up this off-season, not by swapping Polanco for Alonso, not by swapping Williams for Diaz...but by making these cost-cutting moves to allow him to sign Tucker. I have this feeling that the Dodgers are just going to throw the 3 year, 180 million dollar deal out there and just destroy the hopes of all non-Dodger fans out there.

I just picked one group out of the hat. The entire offense sucked. I've seen Wisconsin offenses led by Alex Hornibrook, who was awful, average more than 30 points per game in Big 10 play. I've seen Wisconsin offenses led by Joel Stave average more than 24 points per game in Big 10 play. Chryst's offensive lines weren't nearly as bad as some people would want to make out now. But OK, let's play that game. Chyrst's offensive lines sucked and his offensive line coach was horrible. In Chryst's last full season at Wisconsin, with that terrible offensive line, the team scored 27 points per game in Big 10 play. The year before that was the messed up COVID year, and even with a crappy three game stretch where the offense looked awful, they still played 6 Big 10 games and averaged 22 points. Year before that, 29 points per game against Big 10 competition. The Badgers scored 9 points per game in Big 10 games last year. The last time the Badgers scored that few points per game versus the Big 10 was 1988. Last time they were under that number was 1968. And just think how the rule changes over the years have favored offense. The 2025 Badger offense was pitiful and the only way you get to depths like that is if the entire unit was crap. 2025 stats: Vinny Anthony II + Trech Kekahuna + Chris Brooks Jr. + Jayden Ballard = 75 catches, 876 yards, 3 touchdowns Skyler Bell (UConn) = 101 catches, 1278 yards, 13 touchdowns

The talk/rumor from the alums today was that the powers-that-be were not happy about any aspect of the offensive line. They thought this year's play was poor, the development that the players had shown was poor, and the recruiting at the position was poor. I honestly don't know how Blazek is singled out and how...just to pick one...the wide receiver coach still has a job? I think the same can be said about the entire offense, it's not like one bad group turns the entire unit into a 9-points per game in conference play big black hole of nothingness. Rumors are that one or two coaches may still be fired, but it's unlikely to be any more than that.

I see the Journal-Sentinel is reporting that offensive line coach AJ Blazek was fired earlier today. I didn't see this news on any of the Madison sites (WJS or local TV stations). I was a huge fan of the Blazek hire, but from everything I was told that group was extremely "soft" and not even close to the standards that we've seen from sub-par offensive lines of the past. It was time for him to go. The new offensive line coach is Eric Mateos, who has been at Arkansas the last two years. He had previously worked with Grimes at both Baylor and BYU. https://arkansasrazorbacks.com/coache/eric-mateos/ Hopefully a couple more of those offensive coaches are under the microscope.

Looks like a bunch of Michigan assistants just became available. Maybe it's time for the Pickell to do some shopping and get some upgrades.

I see it the exact same way. I think Alonso would be a decent bet on a 3-year deal. 5 years, this will likely end up being a bad deal for Baltimore. Average value per year is reasonable, but forced to pay him and use a roster spot on his those last couple of seasons just doesn't seem like it will work out.

Now I see reports that Leonard has a PCL sprain and Rivers may be "forced" to start. Forced? I think Rivers starting is what the Colts wanted all along. If old man gets killed, I am not interested in hearing a bunch of crying about it. I wonder what Corey Linsley and B.J. Raji are up to these days?

For some reason I keep thinking of Jordan Phillips, who was another huge DT that played college ball at Oklahoma and was a 2nd round pick of Dolphins back in 2015. I know Riley is a different guy who is younger and played his college ball at Oregon, but for some reason I keep calling him Phillips.

Arizona State QB-Sam Leavitt heading to the portal. Will be a redshirt junior next year. Began his college playing days at Michigan State, played in 4 games and preserved the redshirt, and then transferred to Arizona State where he played the last two years. Led Arizona State to the college football playoff during his first year there, and was getting some late round one/round two mentions early this year. Suffered a foot injury, had surgery in early November and missed the end of the season. I found one article that estimated he got paid roughly 3.1 million this last season. Hard to tell where he will rank once all the transfers get their name in the portal, but a very good chance that he will be one of the top 5 QBs available. SI has an article up and they speculate that the top 5 landing spots for Leavitt would be LSU, Miami, Texas Tech, Indiana, Florida State.

You see what the 1-win (previously) Titans did this weekend? They went into Cleveland and beat the Browns. Screw all that nonsense about, "the Browns defensive line is great, they can beat anybody on a given week." That is crap. The Browns are terrible. If the Packers can lose to the Browns, they can lose to any team on any given week. NFL players play when they wanna play. NFL teams with talent can be really good...when they want to be good.

That's why I used terms like "not definitive" and "primarily." There are always going to be situation in ballgame, whether it be rotating guys to different spots due to player fatigue or simple down-and-distance, where players are going to get bumped to a different spot for a few snaps here or there. But in this last game, it looks like Brooks and Brinson were the 3-techniques and Wooden and Phillips were the nose tackles.

Obviously not definitive, but based on the Bears game, it looks like it is "primarily" Brooks/Brinson at 3-technique and Wooden/Phillips at nose tackle. Also, since Bo Melton has played 56 snaps at wide receiver and 0 snaps as a defensive back this season, can the Packers just go back to listing him as a WR?