SpongeWorthy

The Vikings want to keep him pretty badly but they know they have to cough up big money to extend Peterson. On big third downs they had Taylor in the game just as often as Peterson. He's a fantastic receiver and pass blocker. The Vikings run blocking is not what it was and I would attribute most of the decline in his YPC to that. Peterson has pretty quietly turned into a 4.4 yard per carry guy instead of a 5.5+ beast. When I watched Taylor I saw a player that still had good legs...unlike Tomlinson who just looked like he had nothing left.

He wasn't very good last year. Not that he had a ton of carries or anything but it's something to consider when you take into account his age too. I mean, he did a nice job catching out of the backfield, but Forte does that too. Every time I watched him he looked fast and ran hard. His YPC has slipped quite a bit the last couple years but so has Peterson's. I'm not saying he's a huge priority but for a team that needs better playmaking and could use a boost in the running attack I think he could be a very good pickup. He's basically been stuck behind a young Jamal Lewis and a young Adrian Peterson his entire career. Going from a gimp Forte and Kahlil Bell or Garrett Wolfe to Chester Taylor and a healthy Forte could be a big boost.

Yeah.

Because he's really good. It's not like he's LT or anything and is a 30 year old RB who has racked up 300+ carry seasons consistently.

Well I'm excited for the next 24 hours or so. If we could get two guys out of the Peppers, Kampman, Taylor, Rolle, etc. group I would be pretty happy. And then throw in Manumaleuna and maybe a decent lineman or receiver.

Season suspension, minimum. Same as the Oregon football player should have gotten. I'd probably include the postseason too, considering how late in the season that happened. I'm thinking "season" as in not back until the same point next season. I don't get that. What pro athlete would get a season long suspension for throwing a punch? In the NBA you would probably get somewhere in the 5-10 range, MLB would be about the same, the NFL would be a 1 game max (you'd probably just get kicked out of the game you were in ala Tommie Harris), and punching is institutionalized in hockey.

I'll take Eric Berry.

And I would probably be prepared to be disappointed if you're expecting a stud OL to come in. There just aren't many out there. Colon was just given a first round tender by the Steelers and Mankins will probably get a 1st and a 3rd. The rest of the linemen seem to be restricted FAs or old.

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Wilson-Vanden-Bosch-to-hit-free-agency.html Vanden Bosch would be a cheaper alternative to Peppers that would be an improvement. He won't be cheap either I imagine.

Schefter was just saying the Bears are in desperation mode to sign Peppers. Peppers and Marshall would be huge.

This laughable. Wisconsin has a lot of talent each year. To pretend otherwise is either foolish or racist. Uhhh no. They don't get many guys to the NBA and never have top classes. Like I said they get guys who fit their scheme. They don't try to get the top recruits. They scout to find guys who can play defense, have good shooting range and have a good work ethic. Do you really think they get great talent? That is laughable. They develop guys and get them to play well in their scheme. That is all Bo Ryan and his staff. Like I said taking that job means you aren't going to get great recruits are going to have win with less talent that your competition. Wisconsin I believe is also a bad state for basketball recruits. In the past five years they have put Alando Tucker and Devin Harris in the NBA. Illinois has put Luther Head and Deron Williams Indiana put in Eric Gordon Minnesota hasn't put anyone in Michigan hasn't put anyone in Purdue has put in Carl Landry Michigan State has put in Shannon Brown, Maurice Ager, and Paul Davis Northwestern hasn't put anyone in Ohio State has put in Mike Conley, Greg Oden, and Daquen Cook Iowa hasn't put anyone in Penn State hasn't put anyone in That's just off the top of my head, but looks like they have decent talent compared to even the big boys in the Big Ten. In fact they with Illinois have put in the only All Star level talent. So again, yes the Badgers have had good talent. You've done a fine job of illustrating how the Big 10 produces crappy NBA players.

All I'm saying is that I would be plenty happy with a 2nd rounder for Olsen. The list of players traded for a 2nd round pick or better in the NFL is smaller than you'd think and they're usually for better players or at least players at a more valuable position. Off the top of my head the only guys who fetched better than a 2nd rounder in the last few years are Jared Allen, Jay Cutler, and Roy Williams. Allen is elite, Cutler is a potential franchise guy, and the Williams trade has been a huge bust. Tony Gonzalez went for a 2nd rounder and while he's old, he's still way better than Olsen.

Olsen for a 2nd rounder seems about right to me. I don't know why you'd have to throw in anything else. You can get a stud with baggage (ala Moss) for a 2nd rounder. Olsen doesn't have baggage but he's never been great either.

Let's stuff Gibson on the bench while Atlanta murders us on the glass. Good job Vin.

I'm also starting to get depressed by Noah's absence.

Also yeah, we're not guarding anyone any more and Kirk is trash. Flip/Warrick from Tyrus/Salmons is a pretty big downgrade on defense. Warrick's nice but he really is a taller version of Salmons. He's a black hole on offense and he has the same, ugly Cloverfield beard as Salmons too.

I just don't get our offensive system. Why do we run so much pick and roll with Brad and Rose? Brad isn't even a good spot up shooter (you'd think he would be but he actually sucks at it) and he certainly can't roll. You have one of the most destructive one on one players in the league and you insist that he needs a pick and roll big nearly every single time. And it's not like it's just Brad because Vinny insists on running it with Noah too. I understand all of our shooters are crap but spread the damn floor and let Rose go one on one. It's not [expletive] rocket science.

Well that's great. Is Rose coming back? If Rose isn't playing I won't be able to stomach this snuff film.

What happened to Deng?

Bruce Campbell will certainly be the internet's favorite prospect especially now that people know he's a workout warrior.

Figure of speech. If you asked me if I would trade Peavy for the packages that the White Sox gave up or for the rumored packages the Cubs were offering, I would not. You would give up a lot for potentially one year of Adrian Gonzalez, since he becomes a highest bidder free agent at the end of his remaining one year deal? I'm not as bold as you. I bet Hoyer is doing cartwheels over the payroll flexibility and good, young arms the Padres got for Peavy. As for Gonzalez, I remember someone mentioned here last year in one of the game threads in a series where Gonzalez was absolutely murdering us: "He's the left handed Pujols." I don't think it's that far off if he's in the NL Central. If you take away his home splits at Petco and the 150ish PAs against the Dodgers and Giants where he was pretty average he's arguably the best hitter in baseball. He's worth a gamble.

I would be interested. You could have a very good platoon with Forte and Taylor. That article mentions Taylor is 30 but he's a "young" 30 as far as running backs go.

While it would be great to land Gonzalez, the cost is simply not going to be worth it. He has 2 years left on his deal now, which means he will have 1 year left if/when Lee walks. Unless you can be assured of locking him up for the next 8 to 10 years, the talent you would have to give up to get him would be astounding. Gonzalez is dirt cheap this year and next. Anyone who trades for him will be giving up the farm. The guy who traded Peavy and everyone prior to Peavy is gone. They have new ownership and a new GM who isn't going to just dump people for the sake of dumping them. Gonzalez is cheap enough that San Diego has no reason to trade him. Besides being from San Diego and a minority in a town that would love to increase their minority ticket sales, he's a classy individual that the town clings to now that just about everyone else is gone. He is one of their last hopes to put butts in seats in an economically unfriendly climate. I wouldn't say they got rid of Peavy for nothing. The trade is looking pretty darn good right now for the Padres. I would give up a lot for Gonzalez too. He'd absolutely mash away at Wrigley and away from Petco and the NL West in general.

Turner called for the pass a lot this year too you know. We were one of the most pass happy teams in the league.

Yeah, Tate has a great ability to catch the ball in traffic with his arms full extended and not bobble it. He's like Steve Smith in a lot of ways. Small but stout, fast as hell, and can muscle the ball in a crowd.