Wow, this is the quietest I've seen this forum after a win

[spkb25]

Originally Posted by gosaints1

No, not really. Michael Thomas isn’t and he’s been itching to return to the field since his injury. Armstead suffered a torn labrum in 2017 which required surgery and was supposed to be out for 6 months but he returned much earlier and started ten games that season, making the ProBowl in 2018 and 2019. He is getting on the older side of being an offensive lineman though, seven years is a fairly long time in that position. Peat broke his leg on the field in 2017, then made the ProBowl in 2018 and 2019 also. Lattimore isn’t really an injury bug infested player either. Ruiz, no.

As long as players have diagnosed injuries like “broken fibula” or “torn labrum” requiring surgery, I’m good with it, doubly so for linemen on both sides of the ball, they bc of the physicality of each and every play have a higher propensity for injury. As long as they’re eagerly trying to get back in the field, I’m understanding. Which brings this conversation to Two firsts Davenport. “Hurt elbow” and “Hurt toe” are tough injury pills to swallow. It does seem like he has injury bug’itis and it does seem like every time he flips a page in the playbook he gets a paper cut (yes AG, I know they use digital medium, lol, I’m stating it this way for illustrative purposes only), resulting in a staph infection and then unable to play. That being said:

1) I liked the idea of identifying a need you want in the draft and aggressively going after that player. But I’m biased in that as my personality leans more to the side of higher quality than higher quantity. I frequently say, when referring to friends and family: “I would rather have four quarters ($0.25) than a hundred pennies ($0.01). Better stated by the former George Burns: “The best thing in life is to have an extremely large family..., all residing several states away from you”. lol. Bottom line, I’ve never been a fan of draft pick “hoarding”.

&

2) Davenport hasn’t been “paid” as you intimate. A fair argument can be made that trade of two firsts was expensive. And it’s one that I believe has more truth than falseness. The man has to get on the field and play..., “hurt toe & elbow” are not cutting it.

Bottom line, I think the Saints have drafted well. Have they missed on some? Sure, but I don’t think the draft is a guessing game as you stated in an earlier post. It’s no guarantee, bc the future isn’t known for any of those very young men, but the resources that go into investigating future NFL players is on par with Fortune 500 companies who are looking at investing millions of dollars per year in salary to their employees also. Ultimately, you get burned a few times.

Linemen get beat up. Davenport..., well..., lol.

It’s hyperbole to think the Saints can’t draft, it’s also hyperbole to think the Saints are filled with SP picks that are highly paid for sitting on the injury bench all the time. That being said, hyperbole is your m.o., the “sky is falling”..., your wheelhouse.

So basically everyone except MT is hurt year in and year out.

[papz]

Originally Posted by FinSaint

I, for one, am pretty glad they picked Ruiz with all the injuries to the O-line.

McCoy, Ruiz and Ramczyk are studs to build a dominant line upon for years to come.

To each their own. I've always had the opinion that impact interior lineman are a plenty in the mid rounds as they're often undervalued, under evaluated, and underdeveloped at the collegiate level. With such a shrinking window of opportunity of getting back to a Superbowl, we needed impact help on that second level.

With that said, I have no doubt Ruiz will be a good player.

[Rugby Saint II]

Originally Posted by papz

To each their own. I've always had the opinion that impact interior lineman are a plenty in the mid rounds as they're often undervalued, under evaluated, and underdeveloped at the collegiate level. With such a shrinking window of opportunity of getting back to a Superbowl, we needed impact help on that second level.

With that said, I have no doubt Ruiz will be a good player.

Immediate impact players usually come in the first couple of rounds in my opinion. Payton's philosophy lately has been to draft linemen with a high draft pick then build the rest of the roster with 3rd and 4th rounders needing additional training. We got lucky with Kamara and Cee Dee Duce being available in the mid rounds.

When we drafted Anzalone it was a risk but Payton is a gambler by nature. No one else comes to mind when looking at our picks health record in college. Really, there's not a lot of players who were considered risks when we drafted them. Of course I'm probably missing someone and didn't mention them.

[FinSaint]

Originally Posted by papz

To each their own. I've always had the opinion that impact interior lineman are a plenty in the mid rounds as they're often undervalued, under evaluated, and underdeveloped at the collegiate level. With such a shrinking window of opportunity of getting back to a Superbowl, we needed impact help on that second level.



With that said, I have no doubt Ruiz will be a good player.

True, you can find good linemen even as UDFAs, but good linemen are the building blocks of offense and defense, so spending high draft picks on them is justified in my opinion.

Also, having the fifth year option that comes along with a first round pick gives added longevity to the lines, which is more important to line play chemistry than for skill positions.

[skymike]

Originally Posted by saintfan

I missed the game entirely...but I did get engaged...so there's that.



I'll be back next week to offer my semi-educated opinion(s)...

Hey, you need a DJ, coordinator, or both? I travel.

and congratulations!

[Beastmode]

Going to be interesting how players contracts get paid for the NFL and NBA. The TV contracts won't be as lucrative. Image they take out loans with conditions. Like no more politics on the field period.

[FinSaint]

I would imagine that TV deals won't be coming down in value as fans are forced to watch the games instead of attending them in person.

The revenue losses caused by the lack of attendance is probably the bigger source of budgetory issues.

Note that I'm talking from my behind without any actual facts.

[AsylumGuido]

Originally Posted by FinSaint

I would imagine that TV deals won't be coming down in value as fans are forced to watch the games instead of attending them in person.

The revenue losses caused by the lack of attendance is probably the bigger source of budgetory issues.

Note that I'm talking from my behind without any actual facts.

TV revenues are up and they are expecting huge increases when the next network deals are up in the Spring. With virtually all new programming coming to a halt the advertisers are throwing their whole budgets to sports programming advertising. Companies have a fixed ad budget and they plan to spend those dollars on the programming with the highest overall rating. That is NFL every week and it isn't even close.

[AsylumGuido]

Originally Posted by FinSaint

I would imagine that TV deals won't be coming down in value as fans are forced to watch the games instead of attending them in person.

The revenue losses caused by the lack of attendance is probably the bigger source of budgetory issues.

Note that I'm talking from my behind without any actual facts.

Here's an article that explains in more detail ... Sept. 10, 2020

The NFL Returns, Giving Struggling Networks a $5 Billion Ad Revenue Lifeline

“We’ve got a marginalized college football season,” said Dan Lovinger, evp of advertising sales at NBC Sports Group. “And there’s no doubt there’s diminished capacity overall in prime time over the past couple of years. That is leading marketers to say, where can I go find quality ratings and reach, and Sunday Night Football is first in line for most marketers there.”

As a result, NBC Sports has seen greater Sunday Night Football demand this year than it did at this point last year, said Lovinger, while Fox’s NFL sales are also pacing ahead of previous years, according to a source. And CBS has sold as much NFL inventory going into the season as it did at the same point last season, said John Bogusz, evp, sports sales and marketing, CBS Network sales.

Even in a normal year, the NFL would have been one of TV’s top draws this fall. “The NFL is an important asset from a media plan execution standpoint. It is a consistent product that delivers significant ratings week in and week out without some of the challenges that entertainment programming has, and you know what you’re getting into,” said Gibbs Haljun, total investment lead at GroupM’s Mindshare. “So that creates this opportunity, particularly in the current environment, for clients to look at: Is there a way to expand?”

[gosaints1]

Don’t listen to anybody else wrt ratings. There are very few ppl who aren’t blindingly biased on this topic and are trying to sell a Pontiac Fiero with a body kit to you as a Ferrari. Do your own research as far as ratings. Anybody in the football biz or network media who tells you things are great is selling you the Pontiac Ferrari, same can be said for the opposite “I hate the NFL” boycott crowd, anybody who’s telling you the NFL sky is crumbling is selling you the same Pontiac Ferrari. The truth is there..., in the middle somewhere, changing from game to game, week to week, network affiliate to..., well you get the point.

I use the site below for my “raw” viewer numbers. But choose your own weapon:

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/nfl...hip-2020-2019/

I’m not buying that load AG, you’re quoting network tv and media, their nom de plume is pro NFL bias.