NFL (since 2016)

[crystal falace]

"Free agency started last night and was pretty crazy some huge money being spent. Osweiler getting £18m a year for the Texans, leaving the Broncos without a QB, Giants have spent a fortune on good but not great players, Oliver Vernon has more guaranteed money than JJ Watt. lots more deals but cant be bothered to list them all."

[El Scorchio]

There will never be another Jim Brown! Greatest player ever. I love this video of him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6cCXNBeVfc

[Far Cough]

No more Jim Browns for them then?

[El Scorchio]

"The Jets to be fair were very good for a couple of years under the foot lover Rex Ryan, but mostly dreadful. Think they suffer from starry eyed clueless ownership a little bit like the Redskins. Weirdly Cleveland only have the third worst record in the last 10 years- the Rams and Raiders have been (slightly) even poorer."

[ooooh Morley Morley]

"The draft system is there to help teams like the Browns who regularly finish low in the rankings but I think they have had Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder doing their scouting. They have drafted 5 QBs in the last 10 years!!! I can only think of one other team who have been so spectacularly inept despite being given so many first round draft picks, the Jets."

[El Scorchio]

It's hard to believe with all the help in pace to prevent it that the Browns can be so spectacularly awful for such a long time. Maybe they are cursed- not even Belichick could do shit there as the head coach. Art Modell firing him probably in retrospect ranks as one of the dumbest moves in NFL history. The Ravens could have won a hell of a lot more than just one Super Bowl with him coaching the murderer Ray Lewis

[ooooh Morley Morley]

In the last 10 years the Browns have drafted 14 players in the first round... 9 of them are no longer with the organisation and most of those had left the Browns by the end of their 2nd year. Maybe they are better off trading all Draft picks for players as they can't pick a decent college player for shit.

[ooooh Morley Morley]

The Browns have an awful record of trades and drafts... even Kevin Costner made a better fist of it. ;-)

[El Scorchio]

They'd be fucking stupid to do that. But then they are pretty fucking stupid.

[crystal falace]

Think garrapolo will end up at the browns as they have a mid first round pick to trade along with their number 1 overall pick

[El Scorchio]

Here you go: http://www.footballxos.com/download/offense/pro-offense/2004-New-England-Patriots-Offense-Charlie-Weis.pdf There's a load more playbooks on that site too actually.

[El Scorchio]

"I did have an electronic copy of a Patriots old playbook a few years ago, but I think it's been lost. The level of detail is extraordinary- they even get told where to stand in the huddle. It's over a hundred pages long and they all need to memorise it."

[bobbymoore]

I watched on the bbc the other day how Matt Ryan did some of his calls.... there were 20 odd words in it for 1 play and he read most of it off 1st go. It's astounding. The whole game is. So technical. I have a greater appreciation of the sport than I did a few years ago.

[El Scorchio]

"Fascinating isn't it- the level of detail. Also really interesting how they select and train all the coaches to keep continuity and evolution going. Really hardcore stuff. You can see why the standards never slip. It seems more like mental torture and conditioning than anything else, but I suppose that's what brings the results on the field."

[bobbymoore]

"El Scorchio 1:14 Tue Feb 7 Thanks for that, really good read."

[Grumpster]

Am sort of thinking that Garropolo will probably join us with Kaepernick leaving.

[El Scorchio]

"Yes- I feel much the same way. Absolute genius, but it's things like recording opponent's practices which really sour things. And we only know the stuff they've actually been caught for... He doesn't even need to do it."

[Grumpster]

"Shame that for all he's achieved, it's impossible to have any respect for Bellichek."

[El Scorchio]

"bobbymoore 11:10 No prob! Here are a couple: http://www.masslive.com/patriots/index.ssf/2016/12/bill_belichick_patriots_coachi.html http://www.si.com/nfl/2017/01/12/bill-belichick-philosophy-nfl-coaches-blanket-coverage Really interesting stuff, I think."

[ooooh Morley Morley]

"Many ex players are saying he's the greatest, many commentators are saying he's the greatest, it is generally accepted he's the greatest by American sports media but Dave from Ilford disagrees. *Thumbs up* Incidentally saying someone thinks he's the greatest QB isn't an insult to the legacy of Montana, Elway, Marino et al they are still great players."

[bobbymoore]

"El Schorcio ""The coaching and front office set up is the best there's ever been. I read a brilliant article about how they recruit and develop their coaches recently."" Do you have a link at all? Would like to read that."

[El Scorchio]

"I don't think he's not required as he's clearly still a top player, but I think the Patriots without Tom Brady would do better than Tom Brady without the Patriots."

[kylay]

"It begs an interesting question though Scorch. If this brilliant scheme doesn't require Brady, then why keep him all of these years as he is clearly the biggest hit on the salary cap? They could then take the savings and strengthen the team further."

[El Scorchio]

"You've misunderstood my use of the word 'system'. I'm referring to the way the coaches operate a plug and play system for the players based around a scheme they want to run, rather than just fitting the scheme around certain players. Obviously it's nice to have Moss or Gronkowski to scheme around, but largely they go out and find the players who can play a certain role. Often unheralded guys. The schemes make the stars and the team is greater than the sum of it's parts. One player goes down, they've got the next guy ready to plug into the system without the team suffering. Illustrated perfectly by Cassel, Graoppolo and Brissett coming in and winning when Brady was injured. What has Cassel done anywhere else? Absolutely nothing. When they trade Garoppolo for a bunch of draft picks he'll go on to do nothing for whoever acquires him as well. The coaching and front office set up is the best there's ever been. I read a brilliant article about how they recruit and develop their coaches recently."

[crystal falace]

"A system quarterback is he? Even though he's operated in just about every different system of football you can play, Be it the game manager with defence in the early years Or the record smashing gunslinger in 2007 Or the dink and dunk offense of recent years Or put the entire team on his back in the last 2 super bowls and come back from record deficits agains the best defence of this generation in the seahawks and rhen a historic offense in atlanta His 5th ring has undoubtedly cemented him as the GOAT, and is anyone betting against him getting another one or two?"

[El Scorchio]

"Brady has had immense help from the best coaching/drafting and scheming that has perhaps ever been seen in the NFL. It's telling that Matt Cassel went 11-5 and Brissett and Garoppolo only lost one game between them when they were playing. He's a great player but a cog in the machine and has been part of a great team his whole career, (which is the whole Patriots way of working) rather than a Peyton Manning, John Elway or an Aaron Rodgers. Belichick is the genius there. What I really want is to see him playing with another team outside of the Patriots system, but sadly that'll never happen."