bingo415

Congratulations! You are approved for the Eastern Washington Eagles! Please activate your new position by doing the following: * Go here to create your Depth Chart (noting redshirts currently in use). * Apply for Account Elevation for your new Eastern Washington avatar here * Don't forget to request Eastern Washington on the Interface, and CROOT, CROOT, CROOT! While the FCS schools don't technically have a commissioner, a few coaches have really stepped up and might be a good resource for the world of FCS... @Suffocation @SageBow, and @SolutionA are among other vital members of the community.

This was a fun draft for the Saints FO. We were totally torn between Ortiz and Jenkins, thinking that both could go at 2, and us sitting at 4. Then the Falcons took AJJ and we did a hilarious little happy dance in the war room... While I wasn’t with the Broncos yet, i’m Incredibly happy they took Tomlinson at 19...he’s been a mainstay for what has turned into the best OLine in the game.

I've noted your application for California. I'd like this school to close by Wednesday. Stay tuned.

I bring it up because of the similar stats (through 3 years) that Mariota and Roethlisberger have racked up, as noted here: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MariMa01.htm#all_sim_scores In his 4th year in the league, Ben went 32 TDs to 11 INTs and was selected to the Pro Bowl, his first (first super bowl ring was in his 2nd year...). Mariota, well beyond a bust, is only slightly behind Ben's pace statistically...that may be the difference between pick #2 and pick #11 in terms of supporting cast. Certainly that is true of the Super Bowl. My point, initially, was just that if a QBs career continued, presumably for as long as Ben's, these guys would have a case to be made. I think Mariota fits that, but I'll grant that maybe he and Titans need to ramp it up...

Exactly. That's a pretty stacked Top 9 actually. Only Cal, Utah, and OSU seem to be completely out of it at this point. Really looking forward to the UDud-UA game this week...

1) You're probably right, but let's say 4-6 more seasons of Matt Ryan 2016-18 leads me to think he could get in) 2) You're also probably right, but I would certainly not say he's a bust. 3) Cousins: I think he might be in the best position (at least with team around him) to do well in the post-season, and possibly continue a career that has been eerily similar to Eli's through first 5 years. 4) I considered Cam, but it certainly feels like we're over the top of the roller coaster with Cam. He's not necessarily getting better, and since the Super Bowl season has declined...at least in his place among top-tier QBs. 5) Yeah, mostly forgot about Russ, but he's certainly right there, and actually is improving in all the typical QB measurements. Wouldn't be surprised if he's able to pull off another 2-4 playoff wins over his career and build the stat case. 6) Favorites of this new generation: Mahomes, Trubisky (who's WAY better than most thought he'd be), Goff, Wentz. Who else?

I like the Messi/Lebron angles for sure, but I'll add Usain Bolt. It's one thing to be the fastest man in the world, but he was the fastest man for about a decade or longer, and the sheer distance he put between his records and previous records is complete insanity.

These are great. Excellent analysis of big games in the Conference. I think the Colorado win was a bit more impressive than you mention--Naylor is a good QB, and maybe CU's D is the perfect antidote to Aaron Harden. Pretty happy with the win in Tempe, always hate playing ASU and was pretty scared of Is Carlson. Glad to hold him to fewer than a 100, even if he and Townsend did manage over that together. Very not happy giving up 4 freaking sacks...I figure my offense needs to score 21 in a given game to win. Totally the case here, and I think should be against WSU as well. Wonder if a new coach will turn them around.

I think you're probably right, unless somehow the Chargers win the Super Bowl this year, and somehow Rivers wins the MVP, which he really shouldn't, but whatever. I think it's Brees and then Mahomes, but that's just me. Pretty freaking phenomenal that there are likely 6 HoF QBs in or just past their primes right now: Brady, Rodgers, Brees, Eli, Rivers, Ben. And then there's a whole slew of guys that are possible HoF QBs if their careers continue apace: Matt Ryan, I'll say Marcus Mariota, maybe Kirk Cousins if he picks it up. Another 10 years of Goff and Mahomes at current production is a possibility. If Wentz can stay healthy, there's a possibility. I just don't necessarily want to wake up in 15 years and hear that Dak Prescott is a HoF candidate because Dallas has two Super Bowls on the strength of Zeke Elliot and Prescott just tossing it up to Amari Cooper for 5 years...

The Pacific-12 Conference announces two open coaching positions following the Week 7 games in the 2022 season. Both are tremendous opportunities for up-and-coming coaches, or long-term coaches looking to make the move from G5 to P5. Washington State University, recently vacated by Coach Arc, was a preseason favorite to win the PAC-12 North division. While the recruits haven't been signing with the Cougars in droves, there are intriguing talents currently on the doorstep. The University of California at Berkeley, recently vacated by Coach Quasar, is ideally located in the rich California recruiting territory, and features a slew of immensely talented players on the roster, especially serving a redshirt year out. Applications are open for these two positions. Come join a fantastic Conference of coaches and schools on the rise. Reply below with questions, or contact @bingo415 or @Jieret.

I get the logic there, but football has only so many Quarterbacks, and if you're aren't the best one in a given year, it's difficult for me to equate that to Jordan. Because while Jordan was Jordan (obviously the best in his year basically every year), you can also say that Karl Malone was the best Power Forward for 6 years straight at the same time, and Charles was the best small forward for 5 years straight at the same time...in basketball, position-dependent dominance is slightly different (for me) than football.

Thank you for applying. I'm verifying that Arc has really lapsed from Wazzu. As soon as I do, I'll leave it open for one day, and then go from there. Cheers!

Hi there! Welcome! Your best bet at this point is to continue forward with the Wyoming application. To wit: @TuscanSota, are you the MWC commish? California is a long-tenured job that will be open shortly, but likely preference given to an existing member of the site. Sit tight, and someone will be along shortly. Best to get familiarized with the site and community in the meantime. Cheers!

But he's never been THE guy, in any one season, and I think that should be a priority. Matt Ryan had 2016, where he was the best QB in the League. Ben's never had that. 2 Super Bowls is obviously nice, but then again Trent freaking Dilfer won a Super Bowl. Ugh, I hate Manu Ginobli. Not an HoFer in my opinion. I just can't get behind a guy playing 25-30 mins a night. Was he hilarious and awesome at times? Yes. HoFer...not for me, though he'll probably get in.

I totally agree with this. I'm never really in favor of the guys (in any sport) that play forever, happen to find themselves on good teams, and win a lot, but never once are you like "Oh yeah, Ben is a Top 3 QB in the League." Never. But, for me, same thing applies for Eli and Rivers. Those guys have been MOSTLY solid for 15 years. Is that impressive? Sure, but I don't think it's HoF worthy...

I love this! CU was deserved victors. Who win’s next year?!!

Back at ya. Went a little better than expected, just surprised our OLines played so poorly, and we were able to hold Carlson down.

Looking to close on some top shelf special teamers shortly, which should help immediately in the third aspect of the game. Wishing I had a couple prospects back that have recently committed elsewhere, but overall quite happy with where this class is going. Welcome to the University of Oregon, men!

Thomas Wheeler looks for an open man against Las Vegas Apologies for missing the last week of Power Rankings...holiday concert schedule got the better of me. I was hoping that the Question prompts after Week 5 would be enough to gin up some discussion, but that didn't really seem to go anywhere. So, returning to a familiar format, here we go. Lots of movement in the Top 12 over the last two weeks, as we're starting to see some stratification. Potential #1 seeds are making their cases for the top spot, but only two undefeated teams remain. The major shakeup is in the #6-18 range, really, with most of those teams flip-flopping regularly. Where's your team at this week? Find out below... Remember, if you don't like where you are in these rankings...play better! 1. Miami Dolphins (6-0) 2. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-0) An undefeated Miami at this point is not exactly a surprise. They HAVE kicked everyone’s patoot throughout this first part of the season, have couple REALLY good wins (DET early, LVR recently), and have simply been dominant, despite losing key cogs for portions of time. It looks like they’ve come through most of the OL injuries in the clear, and the offense is still humming. This definitely feels like a case of Coach K winning a COY at Duke: well, yeah, they should win all the time, they’re the Dolphins. But Coach @smckenz3 has done a very good job of holding it all together and kicking tail. Now, the Steelers being 7-0 IS a bit surprising. I think folks had an idea of what could be possible in the preseason, as Brooksheer opened his Revenge Tour with some nice performances, but I’m not sure that anyone would have said they would be one of two undefeated squads at basically the halfway mark. The offense has been fantastic, and despite a palpable talent gap on defense, PIT is playing together so well as a team. Their chemistry is excellent and the coaching has been stellar. Kudos to @joedchi and the crew. We're totally gonna ignore the almost-choke-job in DEN on Sunday... 3. Green Bay Packers (5-1) 4. Tennessee Titans (5-1) 5. Detroit Lions (5-1) I’m lumping these three together. All are one small slip-up away from the top two, and all are playing wonderfully unified football. All have shown flashes of dominance and all have snuck past for a win. Perhaps TEN should be slightly ahead, since they’ve already had a couple really nice wins, including the shootout in Nashville against the Raiders. Seems like the Titans could use one more dangerous edge rusher to compliment Tyler Jones and their nasty back 7. Rookie Tyrese Thompson has been a plug-and-play contributor and TEN is even starting to see some gains in the ground game. Their schedule is brutal, though, so we’ll see where they end up. Barring injury, I think the Titans are the #2 seed in the AFC. The two NFC North kingpins are fascinating case studies in Front Office perseverance. The Lions, preseason contenders since forever, finally have the right mix of just about everything to be truly scary. And it feels as though the DET FO didn’t do anything grand to achieve that mix. Just kept drafting well and signing good players to long-term, team-friendly deals. Plus having three Defensive All-Pros helps, and a couple behemoths on the OLine opening holes for rookie Kenyon Randall (surefire OROY at this point, right?). The Packers, meanwhile, just keep winning. Jason Johnson shuffles out with his cane and slings another two touchdowns every game to the best WR unit that no one talks about. This FO certainly HAS made some flashy moves, but that was before their Super Bowl season—now, it more about sustaining that greatness with good chemistry and a shot of adrenaline in the play book periodically. Luckily for the rest of us, GB and DET play each other TWO MORE TIMES. Can’t wait. 6. Carolina Panthers (5-2) 7. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-2) Welcome back, Panthstars! Oof, after a troubling two weeks of dingers to open the season, Carolina is right back in the hunt in the NFC and somewhat surprise leaders in the South with the squeaker over New Orleans on the weekend. Skaggs is Skaggsing again, and Mike Latta is just a damn good football player. The leading receiver changes week-to-week, and that’s just fine for Skaggsy (though one should note the noticeable drop off for TE Curtis Henry in his second season). The defense has mostly been good, led by Kendrick Droughns and Nate Tensi, he of the complete shutdown job on Sean Jenkins in week 7. Jacksonville, on the other hand, has slipped a tiny bit due to some surprising bobbles on the road. Losing to Dallas in Big D isn’t a huge problem. Getting blown out in Dallas while your best player has 8 carries IS a problem. That has felt more aberration than regular spice for the Jaguars this season, but they did miss a chance against the Titans to have a really stellar win. Now, they’ve mostly mowed down mediocre-to-bad squads and failed against the two teams that really had something going for them. Jaguars, right now, are IN, but with the Chiefs, Jets, Colts, and Bengals playing pretty well, we’ll see how long that lasts. 8. Washington Football Club (5-2) 9. Philadelphia Eagles (3-3) I know it’s strange to have a 5-2 team just ahead of a 3-3 team, but that’s where we are in the NFC East. Washington is starting to play big man football. Steve Jordan is an animal, and Ricardo Reed is the most underrated quality back in the League. The Eagles would LOVE to have a Ricardo Reed, especially now that RB Marshawn Miller is done for the season. The Eagles ran into some injury problems weeks 3-6, but have looked better of late and are starting to get back to the team I thought they’d be in the first quarter of the season. It will be very interesting to see how these battle it out (they have one remaining game, in D.C.), and if/how they hold off the Cowboys, who just missed the top 12 this week. Two predictions: PHI’s injury woes continue, with a big name going down soon, and the Iggles limp to 8-8. WAS, on the other hand, rides a relatively easy schedule to a surprising #3 seed in the NFC at 11-5. Right now, neither team would win a playoff game against the #5 or #6 seed. 10. Kansas City Chiefs (4-3) 11. Cincinnati Bengals (4-3) 12. Las Vegas Raiders (4-3) The leader of the AFC West is 4-3. That’s better than the NFC West, at least, though mostly pathetic. Kansas City has buckled down and gotten back to a run-first outfit leaning on its best player, Terrence Rodgers. They’ve gotten really good production from the rookie QB Harris, and the defense is salty in most spots. They are coming off a couple really nice wins (NO and HOU back-to-back). Too bad they play an AFCW schedule (multiple games about the AFCS coming up). All this dittos the Raiders, who I think are clearly the best three-loss team, but they’ve lost two in a row and are one monster DE sack away from Nick Hall’s arm hanging loosely from its socket. It, of course, may not matter if the Raiders continue to get punt and kick return touchdowns and huge games from no-name tight ends. Just left lamenting the fact that both the Chiefs and Raiders are imminently “get-able” this year and the Broncos have not the QB to get that done. If you need me, I’ll be over there, putting my arm in a band saw. Coming later this weekend...Part Two, #13-32 "New Bottoms!!!!" Moving Up: , , , Falling Down: , , ,

Oh, my bad. I saw Severe (I thought, or I'm making things up) and jumped to conclusions. Glad he's not, what a talent. But, you'd be fine with Troy White solo as well. Hey, remember how you should have traded Troy White to the Broncos before the 2021 season?

That might as well be 40 in the NFL.

And how! That’s a heck of job he’s doing with what, on paper, isn’t necessarily a 7-0 roster...

In my write up I mention that DAL just missed the Top 12 (they’re #13). And, the games I hypothetically have you losing to get to 12-5 are at JAX, at DET, and GB. So, we’re good!

Mostly because KC is coming off two nice wins and your win over them was a bit ago...plus the recent loss to TEN. You're essentially equal with Cincy and KC, I feel.

Yeah, I'd love folks to point out those awesome upcoming matchups that I either gloss over or ignore to talk about other things. Thanks for reminding!