#thinking about that josh interview where he says patrick knows how to give them a satisfying ending

[birdmans]

CHALLENGERS (2024) dir. Luca Guadagnino

[destinyc1020]

So, Idk where this sense of urgency comes from when it comes to Tom and his acting career, but the man isn't even in his 30's yet lol. He has PLENTY of time to do a wide range of roles! 😊

I think the previous anon, maybe referring to the current upheaval of white male actors that has grown over the past few years. The Pauls, Jacobs, Drews, Mikes and Joshes etc...

It's crazy how there's always a white boyfriend of the month, and there's not been the same for black or poc actors for the month, but that's another story, lol.

What anon needs to understand it takes a while to make a movie. These actors only have a few new projects out, which have been delayed due to the strike, and some are even taking breaks whilst having this much online hype. I say online cause they've yet to star as a lead in film like Austin rn with bikeriders imo.

I will say this about Josh and Mike. Those two are very talented but don't seem to want to be in the spotlight. Josh called the Challengers press tour monotonous, and Mike didn't even want to discuss Team Patrick or Art, lol. They act for the arts, not the charts. Even Jacob roles have mainly been supporting, and I guess Drew and Paul are leads for their next roles, but one is an arthouse film, and the other is a sequel. They are very talented, but they are not on Tom's level.

Tom's at the point where we don't know what he's going to do next, and he probably is offered a lot and says no to a lot.

Let's wait until he has an interview soon before we make worrying statements about his career trajectory. The fact he went one year is not working, which means he is more than fine, lol.

It's crazy how there's always a white boyfriend of the month, and there's not been the same for black or poc actors for the month, but that's another story, lol.

I keep wondering though if black little girls and young women are really into actors like that though? 🤔

Seriously though.... Even when you look at the black community.... When are our little girls able to just be little girls or teenage girls who are just carefree, crushing on their latest teen idol, etc? Serious question.

Also, is it that Hollywood is purposely not pushing these black and other moc to be "heartthrobs"? Or is it that the sheer amount of girls sweating them just aren't there enough to put them in the "internet boyfriend"/"it guy of the month" category in the first place? 🤔

That's what I'm wondering....

Re: Tom....

I've been saying time and time again that Tom's career is just fine 🙂 We just have to be patient. I'm starting to sound like a broken record now.

I would like to see some better reviews for some of Tom's upcoming non-spidey/Marvel films. I want to see critics giving his projects outside of Marvel better reviews.

No, I don't think critic reviews mean everything. And we all know that their opinions aren't the be-all-end-all of everything. But sometimes, as a fan, you just want to see Tom's hard work and the project he's in praised more than denigrated. Plus, some of the reviews have been so unnecessarily negative (talking mainly about TCR here) that I'm like.... c'mon... was it really THAT bad? 🤔🤨

My answer is NO.

So that's smthg I'd like to see in the future. But even if I never see that, I'll just be glad that Tom is doing work that he personally loves and enjoys. 😊

[junker-town]

Our 10 favorite predictions for the 2020 NFL Draft

Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

Where does Tua Tagovailoa go? What are some trades that could happen? We have some guesses.

The NFL Draft is one of the most unpredictable events in all of sports. Just when you think your mock draft is perfect, a wild trade happens. Or Aaron Rodgers nearly free falls completely out of the first round.

But the fun of the league’s annual selection process is making predictions, and the 2020 NFL Draft will be no different.

Below, I’ve assembled an all-star draft roundtable featuring writers from SB Nation NFL and several team sites, asking them to submit their favorite draft prediction this year. Let me start things off with my own first-round guess.

The 49ers make two first-round picks

After trading defensive lineman DeForest Buckner to the Colts, the 49ers now have pick Nos. 13 and 31 in the first round. The belief by many is that the team will trade down at least once to acquire more picks. After No. 31, San Francisco isn’t scheduled to pick until the fifth round.

Trading back is plausible. But what if it doesn’t happen? Coming off a Super Bowl run last season, San Francisco’s roster is loaded up pretty well. The 49ers go into the draft with few needs, wide receiver and cornerback chief among them. They could find starters at both positions in the first round. Maybe it’s a combination of cornerback CJ Henderson at 13 and wide receiver Jalen Reagor at 31. Or maybe it’s wide receiver Jerry Jeudy at 13 and cornerback Trevon Diggs at 31.

The fact is, more impactful players are found in the first round of the draft. Accumulating draft capital is fun, but getting instant starters to make another Super Bowl push is more so. — Dan Kadar

The Dolphins trade up, but not for Tagovailoa

When the Miami Dolphins trade up to the third overall selection, everyone will know that it is to take Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Everyone will be wrong.

In the first shocker of the 2020 NFL Draft, the Dolphins will select Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert.

Herbert has some critics in the media, but big, tall quarterbacks with cannon arms still get NFL execs all hot and bothered. Herbert’s arm talent is what made him a top prospect all along, and nothing has changed.

This may not have been Miami’s plan nine months ago, but at the end of the day, the Dolphins will not be willing to risk drafting Tagovailoa without being able to have him on site and examined by their medical staff.

The Dolphins will be thrilled to get their guy, but the fans who have coveted Tagovailoa will not be happy and will complain that if they wanted Hebert, they could have stayed at No. 5.

— Matt Minich, Cincy Jungle

The Dolphins end up with the QB they wanted all along

To say this NFL offseason has been unordinary would be a grave understatement. Free agents were unable to visit team facilities, and draft prospects have put their NFL fate into virtual interviews.

Sure, this impacts every team. But for the Dolphins, things have turned bizarre, during the most critical offseason in franchise history.

By the time you’re reading this, the Dolphins have now been linked to every QB under the sun. And what once seemed like a forgone conclusion — they would try to move heaven and earth to land Tagovailoa — has slowly shifted to Herbert and Jordan Love by the masses.

No one knows what Chris Grier’s master plan is. But when all is said and done, I think Tagovailoa will still be the Dolphins’ pick. And whether they need to trade up a few spots to make it happen, or they stay at No. 5 and let him fall mercifully into their lap. Miami will get the QB it’s always desired.

Tagovailoa, no matter what.

— Josh Houtz, The Phinsider

Tagovailoa gets drafted in the top three

Of all the interesting storylines and surprises that are sure to unfold at the 2020 NFL Draft, Tagovailoa’s landing spot may be the most fascinating one.

Much has been made of Tagovailoa’s medical status. The spread of Covid-19 has made this draft process the most unique in NFL history. NFL teams just haven’t had many chances to get up close and personal with the prospects, and they certainly haven’t been able to get their doctors to form an opinion on the long-term medical outlook of these young players

It’s no secret that Tagovailoa suffered three lower-body injuries during his time at Alabama, and there are still questions surrounding his recovery from last year’s hip surgery. Of all the rumors and speculation circulating around this year’s top prospects, a slide for Tagovailoa has been the most popular projection.

My bold prediction is that we will not see that happen. In fact, I am predicting that Tagovailoa will be selected within the first three picks of the 2020 NFL Draft. I believe that the need for a franchise quarterback always wins out, and a desperate team like the Miami Dolphins or Los Angeles Chargers will complete a draft-day trade with either the Detroit Lions or Washington in order to secure Tagovailoa’s services.

— Justin Melo, Music City Miracles

The Patriots shock everyone and trade up for a quarterback

The New England Patriots have done nothing outside of bringing back Brian Hoyer to help replace the major void that Tom Brady left at positions after he signed with the Buccaneers. They have to be eyeing one of the top quarterbacks in this year’s draft and calling around seeing how much it would cost to move up. Picking 23rd will make it tough, but some team looking to trade back and acquire 2020 and 2021 picks could be enticed to make this deal.

My crazy prediction is New England trading up with the Cleveland Browns to 10th overall and selecting its new franchise quarterback. That quarterback will be Tagovailoa. Teams will feel iffy about his medicals and Bill Belichick will pounce.

— Scotty Payne, Mile High Report

The Falcons trade up to draft Jeff Okudah

It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Falcons traded up from the No. 16 pick. After all, there’s been lots of speculation lately about them jumping up to get cornerback. It also wouldn’t be a surprise if the Lions — the most projected landing spot for Okudah — traded out of the No. 3 pick.

But could Atlanta trade up high enough to get the clear-cut No. 1 cornerback in this draft class? Don’t count out the possibility.

The Falcons have been tied to CJ Henderson, who is a very good player in his own right and widely considered the second-best cornerback after Okudah. If they’re going to give up valuable draft capital to fix one of their biggest needs, though, why not go with the guy who’s elite?

Okudah was in coverage for 865 snaps in his three years at Ohio State, and per Pro Football Focus, he gave up only two touchdowns. TWO. When opposing quarterbacks dared to throw his way during Okudah’s All-American season in 2019, they had just a 45.3 passer rating.

That kind of lockdown ability might remind the Falcons of another cornerback from Ohio State: Marshon Lattimore, who is currently a thorn in their side with the Saints. Building a secondary out of Buckeyes has worked out well in New Orleans. Maybe the Falcons have taken notice and want to do the same with Okudah and his former college teammate Kendall Sheffield.

— Sarah Hardy

The Bills trade up on Day 2

The Buffalo Bills will trade up on Day 2 of the draft. Their roster is filled with quality depth, but do they have enough high-end playmakers to run to the Super Bowl? That’s part of the logic that led the Bills to trade a first-round pick and change for Stefon Diggs last month. I expect the pattern to continue when they begin picking on Friday — packaging picks outside the top 100 to move up in Rounds 2 or 3 and snatch falling talent.

Buffalo doesn’t have room for a handful of late-rounders, but positioning to add Jonathan Taylor or Trevon Diggs or Terrell Lewis? It makes too much sense.

— Dan Lavoie, Buffalo Rumblings

The Chiefs trade out of the first round and select a RB in the second

It’s not what I would do, but it’s what I think will happen. There is simply too much buzz surrounding the Chiefs’ affection for this running back class and their desire to get Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes another talent in the backfield with an early selection.

With limited assets, the Chiefs should be active in looking to move out of the first round to gain additional picks. If they do trade back and wind up with their first selection in the late 30s/early 40s, there is likely to be a talented running back available. A player like Clyde Edwards-Helaire would be a high-floor, low-ceiling move but would likely provide production in a year that will not have the same kind of offseason program to catch most rookies up to speed.

— Kent Swanson, Arrowhead Pride

Laviska Shenault Jr. lands in Round 3 — or later

Shenault, the hard-running, do-anything wideout and offensive weapon, may shrug off the pain from his numerous injuries at Colorado, but football staff, deprived of reassuring medical exams, won’t.

At one point Shenault was considered maybe the best receiver in this draft, but now has a long list of injuries. Let’s review: turf toe and a torn labrum in 2018, both needing surgery. A core muscle injury in 2019, requiring surgery and hampering his combine workout. The stats, talent, and character all suggest a potential star, but I can’t see him getting drafted early given those ailments.

— Dan Lavoie, Buffalo Rumblings

Something wacky happens during the first round

The coronavirus has obviously impacted the way we live our daily lives as well as the 2020 NFL Draft. Teams will be attempting to go through the draft from their homes and communicating via Zoom or whatever route they decide to go. Even commissioner Roger Goodell will be announcing the picks from his basement. So things are going to be much different than we are used to.

I think some teams are going to do something wacky. Maybe we’ll see someone’s internet crash, computer freeze up, or something crazy to cause shenanigans while a team is on the clock (looking at you Cleveland). Maybe, we’ll even see a Goodell pet (does he have pets?) do something funny in the background. Either way, I think we’ll come out of Day 1 of the draft talking about something unforeseen happening.

— Scotty Payne, Mile High Report

[libertariantaoist]

What is the “alternative” media?

If we look at the phrase itself, it seems to mean the media that presents itself  as the alternative to what we call the “corporate media,” i.e. the New York  Times, the Washington Post, your local rag – in short, the Legacy  Media that predominated in those bygone days before the Internet. And yet this  whole arrangement seems outdated, to say the least. The Internet has long since  been colonized by the corporate giants: BuzzFeed, for example, is regularly  fed huge dollops of cash from its corporate owners. And the Legacy Media has  adapted to the primacy of online media, however reluctantly and ineptly. So  the alternative media isn’t defined by how they deliver the news, but rather  by 1) what they judge to be news, and 2) how they report it.

And that’s the problem.

There’s been much talk of “fake news,” a concept first defined by the “mainstream”  media types as an insidious scheme by the Russians and/or supporters of Donald  Trump to deny Hillary Clinton her rightful place in the Oval Office. Or it was  Macedonian  teenagers out to fool us into giving them clicks. Or something. Facebook  and Google announced a campaign to eliminate this Dire Threat, and the mandarins  of the “mainstream” reared up in righteous anger, lecturing us that journalistic  standards were being traduced.

Yet it turned out that the very people who were up  in arms about “fake news” were the ones propagating their  own version of it. WikiLeaks  did much to expose  their game by publicizing the key role played by the Legacy Media in acting  as an  extension of the Clinton campaign. However, the real unmasking came after  the November election, when the rage of the liberal elites became so manifest  that “reporters” who would normally be loath to reveal their politics came out  of the closet, so to speak, and started telling us that the old journalistic  standard of objectivity no longer applied. The election of Trump, they averred,  meant that the old standards must be abandoned and a new, and openly partisan  bias  must take its place. In honor of this new credo, the Washington Post  has adopted a new slogan: “Democracy  dies in darkness”!

This from the newspaper that ran a front page story citing the anonymous trolls  at PropOrNot.com as credible sources for an account  of alleged “Russian agents of influence” in the media – a story that slimed  Matt Drudge and Antiwar.com, among others.

This from the newspaper that ran another big story claiming the Russians had  infiltrated Vermont’s power grid without  bothering to check with the power company.

This from the newspaper that regularly publishes “news” accounts citing anonymous  “intelligence officials” claiming the Trump administration is rife with Russian  “agents.”

This from the newspaper that published a  piece by foreign affairs columnist Josh Rogin that falsely claimed Rep.  Tulsi Gabbard’s trip to Syria was funded by a group that is “nonexistent” and  strongly implied she was in the pay of the Syrian government or some other foreign  entity. Well after the smear circulated far and wide, the paper posted the following  correction:

“An earlier version of this op-ed misspelled  the name of AACCESS Ohio and incorrectly stated that the organization no longer  exists. AACCESS Ohio is an independent non-profit organization that is a member  of the ACCESS National Network of Arab American Community organizations but  is currently on probation due to inactivity. The op-ed also incorrectly stated  that Bassam Khawam is Syrian American. He is Lebanese American. This version  has been corrected.”

In other words, the entire story was fake news.

Rep. Gabbard’s “crime” was to challenge the US-funded effort to overthrow the  regime of Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad as contrary to our interests and  the prospects for peace in the region. For that she has been demonized in the  media – and, not coincidentally, the very same media that is now an instrument  in the hands of our “intelligence community.” For it is these spooks who, for  years, have been canoodling with the Saudis in an effort to rid the region of  the last secular obstacle to the Sunni-ization of the Middle East. That they  have Tulsi  Gabbard in their sights is no surprise.

And of course it’s not just the Washington Post: the entire “mainstream”  media is now colluding with the “intelligence community” in an effort to discredit  and derail any efforts at a rapprochement with Russia. We haven’t seen this  kind of hysteria since the frigid winter of the cold war.

My longtime readers will not be shocked by any of this: during the run up to  the Iraq war, the media was chock full of fake news about Saddam Hussein’s fabled  weapons of mass destruction, which all the “experts” told us were certainly  there and ready to rain death and destruction at any minute. Who can forget  the series of articles by Judith Miller that  adorned  the front page of the New York Times – which were merely Bush administration  talking points reiterated by Donald Rumsfeld & Co. on the Sunday talk shows?  Miller has now become synonymous with the very concept of fake news – and yet  how quickly we forget the lesson we should have learned from that shameful episode  in the history of American journalism.

So fake news is nothing new, nor is the concept of the “mainstream” media as  a megaphone for war propaganda. What’s different today is that many are waking  up to this fact – and turning to the “alternative.” I’ve been struck by this  rising phenomenon over the past year or so: Matt Drudge gave Antiwar.com a permanent  link. Our audience has increased by many thousands. And I’ve been getting a  steady stream of interview requests. I was quite pleased to read the following  in a  recent piece in The Nation about the media’s fit of Russophobia and  the key role played by the journalist I. F. Stone during the 1950s:

“To conclude where I began, think for a moment about I.F. Stone during his  haunted 1950s. While he was well-regarded by a lot of rank-and-file reporters,  few would say so openly. He was PNG [persona non grata] among people such as  [New York Times publisher Arthur] Sulzberger – an outcast….

“Now think about now.

“A few reporters and commentators advise us that the name of the game these  days is to sink the single most constructive policy the Trump administration  has announced. The rest is subterfuge, rubbish. This is prima  facie the  case, though you can read it nowhere in the Times or  any of the other corporate media. A few have asserted that we may now be witnessing  a coup operation against the Trump White House. This is a possibility, in my  view. We cannot flick it off the table. With the utmost purpose, I post here one  of these pieces. “A Win for the Deep State” came out just after Flynn was forced  from office. It is by a writer named Justin Raimondo and appeared in a wholly  out-of-bounds web publication called Antiwar.com. I know nothing about either,  but it is a thought-provoking piece.”

Well, we aren’t quite “wholly out of bounds,” except in certain circles, but  all in all this is a great compliment – and it’s illustrative of author Patrick  Lawrence’s point, which is that

“We, readers and viewers, must discriminate  among all that is put before us so as to make the best judgments we can and,  not least, protect our minds. The other side of the coin, what we customarily  call ‘alternative media,’ assumes an important responsibility. They must get  done, as best they can, what better-endowed media now shirk. To put this simply  and briefly, they and we must learn that they are not ‘alternative’ to anything.  In the end there is no such thing as ‘alternative media,’ as I often argue.  There are only media, and most of ours have turned irretrievably bad.”

We here at Antiwar.com take our responsibility  to you, our readers and supporters, very seriously. We’re working day and night,  24/7, to separate fact from fiction, knee-jerk “analysis” from intelligent critique,  partisan bullshit from truth. And we’ve had to work much harder lately because  the profession of journalism has fallen on hard times.

Blinded by partisan bias, all too willing to  be used as an instrument of the Deep State — and determined to “control exactly  what people think,” which is, as Mika Brzezinski put it the other day, “our  job” – the English-speaking media has become increasingly unreliable. This  has become a big problem for us here at Antiwar.com: we now have to check and  re-check everything that they report as fact. Not that we didn’t do that  anyway, but the difference is that, these days, we have to be more careful than  ever before linking to it, or citing it as factual.

The day of the “alternative media” has passed.  We are simply part of the media, period: the increasingly tiny portion of it  that doesn’t fall for war propaganda, that doesn’t have a partisan agenda, and  that harkens back to the “old” journalistic standards of yesteryear – objective  reporting of facts. That doesn’t mean we don’t have opinions, or an agenda –  far from it! However, we base those opinions on what, to the best of our ability,  we can discern as the facts.

And we have a pretty good record in this regard.  Back when everyone who was anyone was telling us that those “weapons of mass  destruction” were lurking in the Iraqi shadows, we said it was nonsense – and  we were right. As the “experts” said that war with Iraq would “solve” the problem  of terrorism and bring enlightenment to the Middle East, we said the war would  usher in the reign of chaos – and we were right. We warned that NATO expansion  would trigger an unnecessary conflict with Russia, and we were proved right  about that, too. The Kosovo war was hailed as a “humanitarian” act – and we  rightly predicted it would come back to haunt us in the form of a gangster state  riven by conflict.

I could spend several paragraphs boasting about  how right we were, but you get the idea. Our record is a good one. And we intend  to make it even better. But we can’t do it – we can’t do our job – without  your help.

There’s one way in which we are significantly  different from the rest of the media – we depend on our readers for the financial  support we need to keep going. The Washington Post has Jeff Bezos, one  of the wealthiest men in the world – not to mention a  multi-million dollar contract with the “intelligence community.” The New  York Times has Carlos Slim, another billionaire with seemingly bottomless  pockets. We, on the other hand, just have … you.

Okay,  I’ll cut to the chase: we’ve come to a crucial point in our current fundraising  campaign, and now it’s make it or break it time for Antiwar.com.

A group of our most generous supporters has pledged $31,000 in matching funds  – but that pledge is strictly conditional. What this means is that we  must match that amount in the short time left in our campaign in order to get  the entire $31,000.

To be frank with you, our fundraising campaign  has been less successful, so far, than I had hoped. We’ve been getting lots  of smaller contributions, but the numerical total is disappointing. We really  need to ratchet things up, and I’m appealing to you, my readers, to put us over  the top. Some of you have been coming to this space for over a decade: I know,  because I get letters and Twitter messages from you all the time. Now I’m asking  for your support, because we really do need it.

Please, send your tax-deductible donation  now – because we’re not the “alternative media,” we’re the best media you’ve  got.

[clubsocial-india]

New on Sports Illustrated: Why Jacksonville Drafted Leonard Fournette Will Really Disappoint Jaguars Fans Now

With Leonard Fournette now on the waiver wire, let's revisit the decision to draft him fourth overall in 2017. Plus, which other running backs are watching Alvin Kamara's contract situation, Ja'Marr Chase opts out, Logan Ryan to the Giants and more.

So here we are, 10 days away from the regular season…

• The backstory of Leonard Fournette is relevant today, as the former fourth overall pick hits the waiver wire, and (fair warning) what I’ll write here is going to be painful for Jaguars fans to hear. After Gus Bradley was fired late in the 2016 season, the team started the process of finding a new coach—and a number of guys that interviewed for the job (Josh McDaniels and Kyle Shanahan were on the list) told the team in no uncertain terms that it needed to move on from 2014 first-rounder Blake Bortles. In fact, one reason Doug Marrone was able to win the promotion from interim coach was because he was pragmatic in his thought the process, and willing to try and get Bortles right. His plan to do it was interesting: Take the ball out of the quarterback’s hands. So that offseason, the Jags went about building a ball-control offense. And in the draft, there was a perfect back to play that style, in LSU’s Leonard Fournette. Jacksonville took him, with the decision made to run it back for another year with Bortles, eliminating the chance the team would take Deshaun Watson or Patrick Mahomes. Again, in summary, the organization made the call to stick with Bortles, then did all it could to minimize his impact on games by taking a back that would fit the kind of offense that he would necessitate (rather than more-versatile Stanford star Christian McCaffrey). For a year, to Marrone’s credit, it worked. The Jags made the AFC title game. But the long-term fallout has been undeniable. Bortles wound up lasting two more years, and his failure necessitated overspending on Nick Foles, who lasted just one year. Meanwhile, while Fournette’s fit worked in the short-term, the price paid there was missing out on McCaffrey. Three years later, both Bortles and Fournette are without jobs, and Mahomes, Watson and McCaffrey are stars. And it can all trace back to the team sticking with Bortles for a season too long.

• As for Fournette’s future, he hits the wire Monday carrying a $4.17 million number for 2020, which is why he could go unclaimed—that’s a pretty decent chunk of money to be spending on a back less than two weeks before the opener. If he does clear, the idea of Pittsburgh makes sense to me, maybe because I remember what the similarly-old-school Jerome Bettis was before he went there, and how becoming a Steeler resurrected his career. And, for what it’s worth, Fournette’s got old offensive coordinators of his in Green Bay and Chicago. It’ll be interesting to see what’s next for him.

• Alvin Kamara’s run at a contract, presuming that’s what his absence from practice is, is interesting in a number of ways. One, there’s the fact that the Saints can report the absence as unexcused, which would cost Kamara an accrued season and make him a restricted (rather than unrestricted) free agent after the season. Two, there’s the choice to do this now, rather than at the beginning of camp, which actually could be solid strategically, in that the Saints need him present a lot more now than they would in late July or early August, when a holdout would typically be staged. Three, he’s a great player, and the team is in a win-now spot. They need him. So if this is the way to get a contract, and he’s confident it’s going to happen, Kamara doesn’t need to worry about accruing that season (even if does have an impact on his post-career benefits). Lots of push and pull on this one. Stay tuned.

• Also likely watching the Kamara situation: Cincinnati’s Joe Mixon and Minnesota’s Dalvin Cook. Both guys are going into contract years. How close Kamara gets to draft classmate Christian McCaffrey’s four-year, $64 million extension should at least clarify the landscape in negotiations for the other two. Kamara and McCaffrey, to be sure, are unique weapons not tied down to simply playing tailback. But Mixon and Cook have versatility too. And even if they aren’t what Kamara and McCaffrey are, if both Kamara and McCaffrey are over $15 million per year, it becomes clearer that the latter’s deal isn’t simply an outlier.

• Shout out to NFLPA president J.C. Tretter on asking the league, via a post on the union web site, for the continuation of daily testing into the season. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the success the league has had—just four of 2,600 players are on the COVID-19 list as of this writing—it’s the importance of constantly testing players. It’s pretty simple. If you don’t let COVID-19 into the building, then it can’t spread. And as well as it has worked, I think Tretter’s right. Continuing with the testing would be money well invested for the NFL.

• One thing that was interesting to hear while I was in Tampa: Fourth-year TE O.J. Howard was ecstatic to be working with Rob Gronkowski. In checking in with some people there, some concern did exist as the Gronkowski trade went down in April that Howard might not take the news well. Instead, the opposite happened—and Howard’s agent actually called the team soon thereafter to tell them that the former top-10 pick couldn’t be happier. So when I talked to Howard on Sunday, I made sure to ask him about that. “Rob is one of the greatest ever to play the position,” Howard told me. “It was an opportunity for me to go and learn, and just become a sponge and soak up a lot of knowledge. I’m always about learning more, putting more things in my toolbox, continuing to sharpen those tools and become a better player. So this is an opportunity for me to do that with him and Tom [Brady]. I couldn’t be put in a better situation at a young age, Year 4. This is only the beginning for me, it’s been a great opportunity for me to have a chance to have my career take off.” That, of course, is a great attitude to have, and it’s showing up in his play, too. Howard’s cleaned up his problem with drops, and been a star in making circus catches in contested situations all month.

• While we’re there, and just to accentuate the point I made in the MMQB column, here’s promising second-year receiver Scotty Miller on how positive Tom Brady’s been in camp: “That’s something I’ve noticed from him since the day I met him. Just extremely positive. I’d heard stuff about him, that in New England, he’d get on guys or whatever. But with us, he’s as humble as it gets. I mean, if he puts the ball on my chest and I drop the ball, he’ll be like, ‘My bad, I gotta give you a better ball,’ where it’s not his fault at all. That gives us all confidence, when we see our leader being humble and wanting to work on his game every single day. It tells us, if he’s doing that, we need to be doing the exact same thing, always willing to take the blame, and always doing your best on every single play.” And how have his teammates taken to following him? Well, I was told last week that among the veteran skill players—guys who worked with him over the spring and summer—the Bucs have seen zero (0!) soft-tissue injuries. That’s despite the adverse summer conditions in Tampa, and despite the COVID-affected camp schedule. I can’t say whether they all took up Brady’s training methods, but I do know the team thinks those guys watching and being around Brady over that time helped.

• Four weeks ago today, I gave you 12 non-quarterbacks who I believed had the sort of NFL standing to seriously consider opting out of the 2020 college season. LSU WR Ja’Marr Chase, on Monday, officially became the fourth guy on that list to do it. Those left: Clemson RB Travis Etienne, Oregon OT Penei Sewell, Alabama WR Devonta Smith, Alabama CB Patrick Surtain, Alabama WR Jaylen Waddle, Ohio State CB Shaun Wade, Florida State DT Marvin Wilson, and Alabama LB Dylan Moses. LSU had another player opt out Monday as well—per our own Ross Dellenger, massive Tiger DT Tyler Shelvin won’t play this fall, and move his focus to getting ready for April’s draft. As it stands now, he’s probably a Day 2 pick, and so the decision to go is understandable. Also, the sudden exodus from LSU highlights something pretty interesting—the three programs that have the most sustained national success over the last decade (Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State) haven’t had a single opt-out yet.

• Good signing by the Giants, bringing Logan Ryan aboard at $7.5 million for this year. Before becoming a starting corner for the Patriots, Ryan was a core special-teamer for Joe Judge in Foxboro—Ryan was a gunner on the punt team as a rookie—so the two know each other exceedingly well. And just as Ryan was able to help Mike Vrabel establish some of those New England standards in Nashville the last two years, he should be able to do the same for Judge in Jersey the next four months. But really, this was about Ryan as a player. The Giants believe he’s still got plenty to give in that department.

• The Derwin James news is super disappointing, but another reminder that, many times, pre-draft concerns are warranted. I got asked a lot in 2018 how James slipped all the way to the 17th overall pick, where the Chargers snapped him up. Well, James was outstanding as a true freshman at Florida State, suffered a catastrophic knee injury as a sophomore, then came back and was less than 100% himself as a junior before declaring for the draft. The concern wasn’t over James’s ability to play. It was over his ability to stay healthy. Sadly, that concern’s proving warranted as a pro.

September 01, 2020 at 05:30AM Why Jacksonville Drafted Leonard Fournette Will Really Disappoint Jaguars Fans Now from Blogger https://ift.tt/2GcTIfb

[yahoo-puck-daddy-blog]

What We Learned: What do the Flames have in net?

Travis Hamonic (left) and Mike Smith (right) are introduced by Flames GM Brad Treliving (center). (Jeff McIntosh/CP)

(Hello, this is a feature that will run through the entire season and aims to recap the weekend’s events and boils those events down to one admittedly superficial fact or stupid opinion about each team. Feel free to complain about it.)

Flames GM Brad Treliving has been on a bit of a media tour in the last week, and a common theme keeps coming up.

Understandably, he’s been asked by multiple people — Bob McKenzie for TSN, Eric Duhatschek for the Athletic, and more besides, I’m sure — what the hell he thinks the Flames have in net. Mike Smith and Eddie Lack is the tandem the Flames are more than happy to go with. The Mike Smith and Eddie Lack who played in the NHL the past couple seasons? And the Mike Smith who’s 36? You gotta be joking, right?

But a lot of what Treliving said made sense, at least on the surface: If you look at Smith’s performance last season, he was a .914 goalie overall — and .925 at 5-on-5, which is potentially a better indicator of quality — despite the fact that he faced the most scoring chances and high-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes of hockey than any other 1a or 1b goalie in the league (those with at least 1,000 minutes at full strength).

The .914 is a little below league average, which is to be expected, because it’s Mike Smith and he played for Arizona. But .925? That was 19th out of 49 goalies, and it’s actually pretty good. Add in the fact that the Coyotes gave up nearly 32.6 scoring chances of all qualities per 60, and almost 13.3 — more than 40 percent of them — were of high quality, and you think to yourself, “Hey, Mike Smith played well, huh?”

Meanwhile, the Flames’ goalies last season — Brian Elliott and Chad Johnson — faced much easier circumstances. Elliott’s high-danger chances against per 60 minutes ranked eighth-lowest in the league. His scoring chances against was third-lowest. Johnson was considerably worse off (36th in both categories) but still faced far less difficult circumstances than what Smith did.

You can say what you want about the Flames’ goaltending last season, but the quality of that defense certainly made it fairly easy on Elliott, who got into 49 of their 82 games. Then they upgraded that defense both by letting some iffier aspects of that team go (so long, Deryk Engelland) and bringing in a guy they figure will be a very solid addition to their second pairing (welcome, Travis Hamonic).

That Hamonic acquisition in particular is crucial because it gives TJ Brodie a partner who can actually play hockey at an NHL level; remember when there was talk the Flames were going to trade Dougie Hamilton? It was because Brodie was getting his minutes with Mark Giordano, while Hamilton had to lug Jyrki Jokipakka up and down the ice, to ugly results. Then Hamilton got bumped up to the top pair, and all of a sudden it was Brodie who had to carry the water for Dennis Wideman, and the same thing happened. Hamonic was rotten for the Islanders last year, no doubt, but all indications are that if you give Brodie someone to work with who can skate backwards, he’s going to deliver positive results. Hamonic, for whatever concerns you may have about him, is a huge upgrade from the Flames’ fourth option last season.

Plus, if Glen Gulutzan is smart, he’ll shore up those matchups for Brodie and Hamonic by putting them out with the “3M line” of Mikael Backlund, Michael Frolik and Matthew Tkachuk, who were an incredible unit last season when Tkachuk was just a rookie. Brodie, more often than not, was out there with the Johnny Gaudreau-Sean Monahan-[fill in the blank] line, and none of those guys are proven play-drivers in the way the 3Ms are. Giordano and Hamilton can fend for themselves against top-end talent, but a little shelter from the storm should go a long way for Brodie and Hamonic.

So they now very clearly have one of the best top-four groups in the league and even if you don’t like Michael Stone and Matt Bartkowski as that third pair (and frankly, there’s no reason you should) you can rest easy knowing they’ll probably combine for about 14 minutes a night against bottom-of-the-barrel competition.

The thinking is Smith, given what he’s faced in Arizona the past few years, will raise his save percentage thanks to the lower number of chances the team in front of him allows. With this in mind, it’s theoretically possible that Smith will deliver 50 or so games of much stronger performances than what the Flames got from Elliott or Johnson last season. On the other hand, it shouldn’t be that hard. The Flames had the ninth-worst 5-on-5 save percentage in the league last season.

The goal here shouldn’t even necessarily be to exceed the league average in terms of overall save percentage; the Flames made the playoffs last year (and sure, it didn’t go well) with outright “bad” goaltending. Getting something even in the mid-range of the league probably assures them another trip to the postseason.

But there’s a huge caveat to all this, which is that the Flames understand what being 36 years old means for goaltenders, even those who, like Smith, have a relatively small number of games played given that age. The problem is that their new backup, Eddie Lack, was one of the worst regular goalies in the league over the past two years. In fact, his .902 save percentage over that span is second-worst in the league among all goalies with at least 50 appearances, ahead of only Antti Niemi.

The good news, one supposes, is that like Smith, Lack kinda has the benefit of saying, “Well the team in front of me sucked!” The Hurricanes gave up the 16th-most scoring chances and ninth-most high-danger opportunities per 60 among all goalies with at least 500 minutes at 5-on-5 last year. So perhaps the operating assumption is that he’ll turn around behind a defense this good, too. But at the same time, he faced the 10th-fewest shots per 60 minutes in the league last season; Smith faced the absolute most.

So if you figure the Flames are going to limit Smith’s starts to 50 or 55 (which would be wise), that means you’re getting 20ish games of Lack, who’s an almost total unknown.

The issue, then, is something else Treliving brought up in these interviews: He said when Smith is on his game, he’s one of the best goalies in the league. That’s one of those things that’s true of almost any goalie with an even half-decent track record — anyone can rip off a run of .925 for five, even 10 games. So how likely is it that Smith, at 36, goes on that kind of run for more than a little while? You have to imagine the answer is, “Not very.”

It’s worth noting he started off incredibly hot last year then faded hard down the stretch. Smith was .932 in his first 16 games, but went .906 in his last 39. Not sure to what you can attribute that, whether it’s the workload, his age, or both. Or neither, one supposes.

The point is, Treliving can talk about all the best-case scenarios he likes with his goaltending choices. That doesn’t change the fact that, for the second straight summer he’s turned over his entire battery because the organization just hasn’t developed any real answers in-house in years. God, when was the last time the Flames developed their own goaltending, period? (Going back to 2000, the only guy they drafted who played more than a handful of games in a given season is freakin’ Joni Ortio. And Joni Ortio is awful.) They have a few promising guys on the way, in Jon Gillies and Tyler Parsons, but that doesn’t help them this year.

And that’s really the problem: It’s another year of rolling the dice, hoping for the best, in or around the prime years of guys like Gaudreau, Monahan, Backlund, Frolik, Hamilton and Brodie. They have so much young skill on this team that to even enter the season with a, say, 50/50 chance of torpedoing it with bad goaltending seems wildly irresponsible.

But Treliving may be right insofar as everything could work out exactly right for them. If that happens, they might even avoid getting completely embarrassed by the Ducks in the playoffs for the first time in a while. Wouldn’t that be great?

What We Learned

Anaheim Ducks: Have you guys heard Ryan Miller has wanted to play in California for a long time? It’s true!

Arizona Coyotes: Derek Stepan is one of the leaders on the Coyotes because he’s one of like six guys on the team who can legally rent a car.

Boston Bruins: Doesn’t speak very highly of Boston’s forward depth if Kenny Agostino is even close to sniffing a roster spot.

Buffalo Sabres: The way the Sabres’ lines are shaping up, maybe they won’t get completely caved in the second Jack Eichel steps off the ice this year.

Calgary Flames: God damn are the Flames’ owners gross. There’s absolutely no excuse for what they’re asking for from the city in the midst of an economic downturn.

Carolina Hurricanes: Wow, the Hurricanes might actually have a goalie who’s good. Brave new world, man.

Chicago Blackhawks: Yeah a second line of Patrick Sharp and Nick Schmaltz joining Patrick Kane seems like a pretty clear downgrade.

Colorado Avalanche: I have a lot of reasons why not them.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Things may be getting ugly between the team and unsigned RFA Josh Anderson. The good news is they have absolutely no history, organizationally, of starting a long, slow, acrimonious process that alienates their promising young forwards who they end up trading.

Dallas Stars: I will never get tired of the annual “This guy who can’t play really wants to make the team, and he just might do it!” PTO stories. If RJ Umberger makes the Stars, that’s an indictment of the team rather than a credit to the player.

Detroit Red Wings: Yeah that’s usually how it works with two goalies.

Edmonton Oilers: Folks, Milan Lucic is In The Best Shape Of His Life.

Florida Panthers: Bob Boughner is one of those guys where people have been saying for years, “He should really get a crack at coaching in the NHL.” The junior results are all there, right? This is an interesting team for him to take over; I could see things going either way.

Los Angeles Kings: Every team should do this. What fun!

Minnesota Wild: This is the right approach with any over-30 guy you expect to carry a decently heavy load for you.

Montreal Canadiens: Man, David Schlemko has been on seven teams in the past three seasons? How is that even possible?

Nashville Predators: No no no no no. Don’t do this. Don’t.

New Jersey Devils: Regardless of our various allegiances, I think we can all agree that one thing every NHL fan should want is for something to go Taylor Hall’s way for once.

New York Islanders: Keep the dream alive!

New York Rangers: Chris Kreider is one of the more fun players in the league to watch when he’s on his game, so I’m with the Rangers’ coaching staff on this one.

Ottawa Senators: I’m not holding my breath.

Philadelphia Flyers: This actually seems not-encouraging.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Sid Crosby apparently loves podcasts. Bet he’s a big Chapo guy.

San Jose Sharks: Not sure if you guys heard what happened to Patrick Marleau, but…

St. Louis Blues: “Probably almost nothing” is my guess.

Tampa Bay Lightning: I want Steven Stamkos to play the full 82 so badly. Feels like we’re being consistently robbed of his talent. C’mon Steven!!!

Toronto Maple Leafs: Morgan Rielly has had 11 D partners in his short career? That’s crazy, right?

Vancouver Canucks: Now this is a headline.

Vegas Golden Knights: Speaking of “don’t hold your breath,” this is an all-timer.

Washington Capitals: Barry, I gotta tell ya: Nah.

Winnipeg Jets: Connor, I only want what is best for you!

Play of the weekend

Folks I have actual highlights to share with you. Can you even believe it?!?!?!?!?!?!

This Boeser kid looks like a good one. By the way he played college hockey.

Gold Star Award

Oh my god hockey is back!!!!!

Minus of the Weekend

Sign Jagr.

Perfect HFBoards Trade Proposal of the Year

User “CoopWills23” is going out on a limb.

Ryan McDonagh 
for
Tyler Bozak
Jake Gardiner
2nd 2018 & 2nd 2019 or 1st 2018 & 3rd 2019

Signoff

It’s a perfectly cromulent word.

Ryan Lambert is a Puck Daddy columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here.

[junker-town]

Matt Duchene is ‘open to’ a trade from the Avalanche, so let’s find a new home for him

Duchene’s comments seal his fate. But to where?

Matt Duchene’s divorce from the Colorado Avalanche finally reached some inevitability this week.

Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post reported on Thursday that Matt Duchene would be “open to” a trade from the Avalanche, who currently sit dead-last in the NHL standings.

“I’m open to it,” Duchene said Wednesday. “When I say open to it, I know it’s part of the business, and it’s something that might happen. I’m not hiding from it. I’m not running away. I’m not banging my head. I understand it’s part of what we deal with as pro athletes.”

Duchene really opened up in that interview and sounded as ready to move on as a player could possibly be while still sounding happy where he was. So, by my count, there’s three factors at play right now that all but guarantee Duchene won’t be in Denver past the trade deadline or (at the latest) next season.

Depth. Colorado has a ready-made center to step in and take Duchene’s place as early as next season in Tyson Jost, who they selected 10th overall in the 2016 NHL draft. The Avalanche want him to shed his NCAA eligibility and join them full-time next year, and if you watched him at the World Juniors you know he’s ready.

Future depth. Colorado is almost certainly going to take center Nolan Patrick with the first overall pick this summer, giving them three young and uber-talented players down the middle. Duchene will be surplus to requirements very soon.

Duchene’s willingness to move on. Now that it’s out in the open, it will (and should) happen.

There’s a fourth factor in play, too: there are teams out there in playoff contention who need a center like Duchene and have the assets Colorado would want in return. So let’s figure out where the former third-overall pick should roost next.

The Locks

Carolina Hurricanes

James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

This is the team you hear the most when a Duchene trade comes up, and it makes all kinds of sense.

Avs GM Joe Sakic will want a young defenseman he can start to build around. After all, look at what they’ve been rolling out on the blue line lately.

Yeah. Not great.

Carolina has more than a few defensemen Colorado would like. Jaccob Slavin comes to mind, and not just because he’s a Denver native. He’s an excellent penalty killer, and his offensive game (particularly in transition and exiting his own zone) has improved ten-fold.

If Carolina deems Slavin too important to part with, they could dangle defenseman Roland McKeown.

Craig Custance of ESPN.com listed McKeown as Carolina’s prospect closest to reaching the NHL. What about Haydn Fleury? Or Trevor Carrick? Carolina has options.

And Duchene fills a need for Carolina, who could use a second-line scoring center to put Jordan Staal back on the third in a defensive role he’s more suited to. And he gives them more options on their 23rd-ranked power play. Swap out Derek Ryan on the top unit with Duchene and more pucks are going in the net.

If and when Duchene gets traded, I’m willing to bet a lot of money it’s to Carolina.

The Possibles

Montreal Canadiens

Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports

I don’t think the Canadiens are willing to trade Mikhail Sergachev, who’s coming off a terrific World Juniors for Russia and a strong season for Windsor in the OHL.

But Nathan Beaulieu? Possibly.

Montreal’s defensive depth isn’t as deep as other teams mentioned here, but they have other assets to mix into a potential deal. Of note, the Habs have five second-round picks to deal over the next two seasons. You could see something like Beaulieu, Tomas Plekanec, a first rounder and two second rounders going Colorado’s way if Montreal wants to swing for the fences.

And why not? Alex Radulov, Alex Galchenyuk and Max Pacioretty could use Duchene’s offensive capabilities to take the load off them. Duchene would be quite an upgrade as a second-line center over Plekanec, who is plateauing this season as his career slows down.

New York Islanders

Photo By Dave Sandford/Getty Images

There’s no better way to convince John Tavares to re-sign long term than making a splash to find him a center who can take the scoring burden off of him.

The Isles could make such a move for Duchene, but with caution: they have a lot of scoring forwards coming up through the pipeline, but they don’t want to drain most of their system for Duchene. But Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet indicated the Avalanche would consider taking a potential top-six player for Duchene in a trade, so prospects like Michael Dal Colle or Josh Ho-Sang could go to Denver along with a draft pick or two.

Anaheim Ducks

Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

As we noted in our mock draft, Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler are on the wrong side of 30 years old and Anaheim needs to start thinking about their future down the middle. Luckily, Duchene’s availability comes along right as their defensive depth is stronger than ever. How convenient!

Instead of leaving Sami Vatanen to the expansion draft, it might behoove the Ducks to move him now for Duchene. Especially since prospect Jacob Larsson is quite close to NHL-ready. Toss in a first round pick and this could happen!

The Unlike-lies

Anyone in the Central Division

Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports

Never trade your best players to your rivals. It’s just not good form.

Which is unfortunate, because the Wild, Blues and Predators all have good cases for acquiring Duchene!

Minnesota’s defense and goaltending have carried them to the top of the Western Conference, but adding a playmaking center to a top-six that includes Eric Staal, Mikko Koivu and Charlie Coyle would make them far more playoff-ready than they are now.

St. Louis is quite tired of Jori Lehtera and could badly use a center. Depending on how Ivan Barbashev performs in his first run in the NHL this week, that need could get amplified or dampened. But with just a few million dollars in cap room, it’s not likely a big trade could happen anyway.

And Nashville, as always, is hoarding defensemen prospects. They took three of them last year in the draft alone! Ryan Johansen-Matt Duchene makes for a better one-two punch down the middle than Johansen-Mike Fisher, right? The Predators and Avalanche would make perfect trade partners if they weren’t supposed to hate each other. Alas.

At any rate, with Duchene’s departure from Denver all but certain, you can bet the tight trade market is just a tad bit more active today. It’ll be fascinating to see what happens and how (and if) the Avalanche start their rebuild with a strong splash.