Preseason Indicators that May (or may not) Mean Something

[Loyal]

DX was unfortunate. He had the makings of a great one, but always seemed like a favorite toy that wasn't made to last.

 

[Loyal]

I had the timing mixed up but with the Rams in 2016, he had 51 yards on 6 catches with one TD in the first preseason game. Then he was injured and was on and off the team for most of 2016 but could never stay healthy. Then in 2017 he had 30 yards on 6 catches in the first preseason game, got injured, and was released.

Whittington has 126 yards on 11 catches in two games with 52 yards coming after the catch.

Again. I never saw the hype with Spruce. He had one decent preseason game that was just ok. He had another preseason game that was not impressive and he was playing with our starting QB for at least some of both games.

Whittington has had two preseason games playing with a 3rd string QB and looks night and day better.

SPRUUUUUUUUCE hater!

 

[LOURam85]

Only way I see Tutu getting traded if if x can be ready to go nobody else can do what Tutu can do do and all the other wr are alike

 

[CGI_Ram]

I think the tight ends will be more involved in the pass game than in recent years.

I agree. Jourdan said something about it too, “especially in the red zone”.

 

[Merlin]

Not having AJ for the Lions makes it a likely loss. It was already a tough matchup, as they are physical which is always the best way to beat McVay's teams. Boom will get worked over on enough snaps to unsettle Stafford and he'll probably play like shit.

To beat Detroit we're gonna need a big day from our defense. But I am very pissed off right now about AJ being suspended. I just never felt the dude was trustworthy. First we had the missed time due to blood clots or whatever it was, going off memory here. Then he had a nice season last year but still missed a game late in the season due to some mysterious BS. Just struck me as a guy who will fuck you over if and when you pay him. This suspension reinforces that, to my mind at least.

We are lucky we don't have SF until week three. Lions then Cards isn't insurmountable or anything but this is going to be one hell of a tough opener when Detroit can gameplan for Boom.

 

[Merlin]

Only way I see Tutu getting traded if if x can be ready to go nobody else can do what Tutu can do do and all the other wr are alike

Nobody can give us 400-500 yards on the season and run go routes?

 

[LOURam85]

Nobody can give us 400-500 yards on the season and run go routes?

Speed

 

[Londoner]

Do you guys in the US get the same “pearls of wisdom” from coaches during game breaks?

Most of them are good, but the one from Urban Meyer makes me laugh.

“I have never been in a game where luck was involved.”

What utter nonsense. Luck plays a part in every game.

 

[WestCoastRam]

Every time there is a camp star I think of Nelson Spruce. Then again, I could also think of Puka Nacua. Its anyone's guess at this point. We will know more when the real games begin.

I do like what I see in Whittington. Limmer's looking like a viable backup. Verse and Fiske are starter material. I keep hearing Tre White sticks to receivers like glue. Bruss is all of a sudden looking like a legit backup. There was a time we thought he would be cut this year.

I do think the difference was Spruce was on a team without much talent, easy to shine there. Additionally, it was apparent from his actual plays that a lot of it would have a hard time translating to regular season.

 

[WestCoastRam]

Not having AJ for the Lions makes it a likely loss. It was already a tough matchup, as they are physical which is always the best way to beat McVay's teams. Boom will get worked over on enough snaps to unsettle Stafford and he'll probably play like shit.

To beat Detroit we're gonna need a big day from our defense. But I am very pissed off right now about AJ being suspended. I just never felt the dude was trustworthy. First we had the missed time due to blood clots or whatever it was, going off memory here. Then he had a nice season last year but still missed a game late in the season due to some mysterious BS. Just struck me as a guy who will fuck you over if and when you pay him. This suspension reinforces that, to my mind at least.

We are lucky we don't have SF until week three. Lions then Cards isn't insurmountable or anything but this is going to be one hell of a tough opener when Detroit can gameplan for Boom.

Agree, I'm open to bringing him back on a friendly deal next year if he plays like he did in 2022 but happy to shop elsewhere for LT.

He's only slightly more available than Noteboom is if you squint at it.

 

[snackdaddy]

I do think the difference was Spruce was on a team without much talent, easy to shine there. Additionally, it was apparent from his actual plays that a lot of it would have a hard time translating to regular season.

Yeah, we were starved for legit receiver talent. It was that bad under Fisher when it comes to receiver talent. All he cared about was if the guy could block.

 

[Merlin]

Nobody can give us 400-500 yards on the season and run go routes?

X Smith ran a nice 40.

For the record I agree speed is needed but the speed Tutu provides only gets a partial return. He is better than Smith too but I wonder how much better.

 

[AvengerRam]

Not having AJ for the Lions makes it a likely loss. It was already a tough matchup, as they are physical which is always the best way to beat McVay's teams. Boom will get worked over on enough snaps to unsettle Stafford and he'll probably play like shit.

To beat Detroit we're gonna need a big day from our defense. But I am very pissed off right now about AJ being suspended. I just never felt the dude was trustworthy. First we had the missed time due to blood clots or whatever it was, going off memory here. Then he had a nice season last year but still missed a game late in the season due to some mysterious BS. Just struck me as a guy who will fuck you over if and when you pay him. This suspension reinforces that, to my mind at least.

We are lucky we don't have SF until week three. Lions then Cards isn't insurmountable or anything but this is going to be one hell of a tough opener when Detroit can gameplan for Boom.

I don’t see the drop off from AJ to Boom as a likely outcome changer in Week 1.

In fact…I’ll take it a step further… it’s a win either way.

 

[Merlin]

I don’t see the drop off from AJ to Boom as a likely outcome changer in Week 1.

In fact…I’ll take it a step further… it’s a win either way.

Dropoff is vs a power rush. Boom surrenders real estate. AJ doesn't. AJ weakness is vs twitchy types, similar to Hav.

Hutch does a bit of both. He is a mismatch for Boom.

 

[PhillyRam]

I don’t see the drop off from AJ to Boom as a likely outcome changer in Week 1.

In fact…I’ll take it a step further… it’s a win either way.

The problem will be RT if Havs can't go or if he is limited.

 

[Merlin]

The problem will be RT if Havs can't go or if he is limited.

I expect they will move Hutch around. I would.

 

[Jacobarch]

Whittington looks like he just has it. I said the same thing last preseason about puka. I don't think he'll have the same season puka had. However I think he'll eventually earn that spot in the top 3.

 

[rdlkgliders]

Do you guys in the US get the same “pearls of wisdom” from coaches during game breaks?

Most of them are good, but the one from Urban Meyer makes me laugh.

“I have never been in a game where luck was involved.”

What utter nonsense. Luck plays a part in every game.

• Rationalist perspective
  Probability is only affected by confirmed causal connections. The gambler's fallacy and inverse gambler's fallacy are examples of reasoning problems that arise from common beliefs in luck. These problems involve denying the unpredictability of random events.
  
  
  
• Modality theory
  This theory states that a lucky event occurs in the actual world but not in a wide class of similar worlds where the initial conditions are the same. Epistemologists like this approach because it involves "a true belief that could very easily have been false".
  
  
  
• Normative theory of luck
  This theory focuses on circumstances where success can be a misleading indicator of merit. For example, higher performance may not indicate superior merit or set a good benchmark for learning and imitation.
  
  
  
• Philosophy of action
  A common claim in this area is that acting because of luck prevents free action.
  
  
  
• Epistemology
  A platitude in this area is that coming to believe the truth by sheer luck is incompatible with knowing.

 

[Merlin]

I believe the only force of randomness in this universe is thought. Everything else can be solved if you know enough.

Rolling a die for example just appears to be random. But if you knew the hardness of the die, direction of spin, velocity, starting position, arc, medium it is travelling in, hardness of the surface you are rolling on, gravity, etc., etc., then I believe you could predict the roll with 100% accuracy. It is "random" because we lack the real time processing power to solve it. Down the road AI will be able to solve this type of stuff in real time and tell you your roll after you let go of the die.

Computers use sampled noise to do RNG, or they used to. Which appears random for sure. But if you knew everything about the cosmic background, it might not be random. I doubt it is. This is just our ignorance making it seem random.

Only thought seems to break free of this. At least in my thinking. Maybe I'm wrong too who knows but it makes me wonder if thought is special or some sort of desired result. Probably not of course but I still wonder about that.

 

[bubbaramfan]

That's very thoughtful Merlin.