NFL 2014/15 Non-Fantasy Thread

[Marky147]

Did you hear that Bang?

That was Cleveland's chances of making the playoffs ending.

Josh Gordon tested postive again.

Facing a year long suspension.

What mugs some of these boys are...

He's been busted for hash, which is now legal is many states.

Somewhat surprised it is a banned drug, especially out of season.

I'm not sure where it's legal in the US, but I know it is in some states for medical purposes, to help treatment of conditions.

I may be wrong, but I think that you hear more of players failing for recereational drugs than for AAS etc.

[The Camel]

Yeah I am having to watch on tracker my iPad sucks,

So realistically how far down the draft do you go and find players starting? Ie is a 3rd round pick likely going to play much next season?

Depends on how good the team is already.

Top teams will draft rough players with a great deal of potential who could turn into superstars in 2 or 3 years.

Bad teams will pick players who are ready to start strght away but with less upside.

I would guess about 30% of rd 2 picks would be day 1 starters.

[The Camel]

Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick were both second round picks.

[The Camel]

Did you hear that Bang?

That was Cleveland's chances of making the playoffs ending.

Josh Gordon tested postive again.

Facing a year long suspension.

What mugs some of these boys are...

He's been busted for hash, which is now legal is many states.

Somewhat surprised it is a banned drug, especially out of season.

I'm not sure where it's legal in the US, but I know it is in some states for medical purposes, to help treatment of conditions.

I may be wrong, but I think that you hear more of players failing for recereational drugs than for AAS etc.

It's only legal in two states, Colorado and Washington, I thought it was more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_the_United_States

[Longy]

Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick were both second round picks.

Wilson was a 3rd round pick, he went after a punter in that draft!

This draft is ridic deep at wide receiver, Marqise Lee doesn't go this late in many drafts, really rate him.

[The Camel]

According to Mike Mayock every bloody pick "makes a lot of sense"

Of course it does, that's why it has been made.

Eejit.

[Ironside]

I see the eagles got 7draft picks plus 15 rookie free agents this seems a large number will some of these guys be let go before the start of season or will we have  a lot of rookies in squad (is it 80 player squads?)

[Sheriff Fatman]

I see the eagles got 7 draft picks plus 15 rookie free agents this seems a large number will some of these guys be let go before the start of season or will we have  a lot of rookies in squad (is it 80 player squads?)

It's standard practice for all teams to fill up their initial rosters with undrafted free agents (UDFA's) immediately after the draft.  Teams are allowed a roster of 90 players initially, but have to cut this down in stages to 53 by the start of the season, of which 45 can be active on any game day.

After the final cuts, teams are also allowed to have 8 players on their practice squad, who can train with the full squad but can't play (if someone gets injured and is placed on IR you'll often see reports of player X being promoted from the practice squad to the active roster as a replacement).  Practice squad players aren't secure as a part of the team though as they can be picked up by other teams provided they are signed to their active roster as part of this.

Most of the UDFAs signed will be cut as part of the various roster cuts between now and September.  They'll take part in OTAs (organised team activities), mini-camps and training camps and some will see playing time in the 4 pre-season games each team plays.  Some will then get re-signed to the practice squad, but most will drift around in free agency for a while or end up playing in minor leagues such as the CFL or the arena leagues.

[Sheriff Fatman]

Also, for anyone following the Draft for the first time this year, you might not be aware of this, but it's a fantastic tradition.

The last person selected in the draft is referred to as "Mr Irrelevant" and is invited to a week-long Irrelevant Week celebration in his honour, an award going back nearly 40 years which is paid for by an ex-NFL player who started the award in the 70s.

You can see footage of this year's announcement in the attached link:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000349375/article/lonnie-ballentine-is-2014-nfl-drafts-mr-irrelevant

Reminds me of football team selection at school, although no-one ever invited me to California!

[Ironside]

Another question if a draft pick doesn't sigh a contract what happens can he be picked up by someone else?

[Sheriff Fatman]

Another question if a draft pick doesn't sigh a contract what happens can he be picked up by someone else?

There's virtually no chance of this happening nowadays as the revised contract structure for rookies make the salary figures almost formulaic down the board.  Some will remain unsigned right up to the start of training camp, but everyone will sign them eventually.  The late round picks normally get done first, but the Bears have already agreed to terms with their 1st round pick, which is unusually quick for a 1st rounder.

Effectively, its a similar situation to when veteran players hold out, which does happen every now and then (MJD and DeSean Jackson spring to mind in recent years).  Basically they don't show up for camps and, in a rookie's case, I don't think they're allowed to train with the team until their contract is sorted.  The veteran situations tend to resolve themselves when the player reaches the point in the season where they lose the right to count that season as fulfilled if they don't join the team, as this has an impact on when they're able to become unrestricted free agents in later years (which is their best opportunity to get a big money contract).

Some players from certain colleges (e.g. Stanford) are also delayed in joining their teams due to the rules on graduation.  Andrew Luck was delayed starting camp as Stanford graduated much later than most other colleges and he wasn't allowed to join the team until after this.

The last major issue regarding a player refusing to play for the team which drafted him was with Eli Manning, who was selected No 1 overall by the Chargers, but had already stated that he wouldn't play for them.  The Giants drafted Philip Rivers at No 4 overall in the same draft, and they then traded QBs, with San Diego picking up additional picks in the trade.  I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think the rules on the holdouts state that if the player holds out for a full season then another team can obtain his playing rights in the following season, but I think the team who drafted him is compensated for this in the form of draft picks.

Tighty might know more, but it's along those lines I think.

[Ironside]

so there is no chance of a life long bulls fan saying i am not playing for anyone but the bulls
getting drafted by the dolphins and then playing for the bulls by refusing to sign a contract unless
the bulls compensate the dolphins with some daft picks for the next season

[Sheriff Fatman]

so there is no chance of a life long bulls fan saying i am not playing for anyone but the bulls
getting drafted by the dolphins and then playing for the bulls by refusing to sign a contract unless
the bulls compensate the dolphins with some daft picks for the next season

If he got drafted by the Dophins, he'd probably still be able to play basketball for the Bulls if he could fit both sports in!

If he wanted to play for the Buffalo BILLS though, then that would be a different matter!

The above scenario could only ever play out in a situation like Manning, where he's among the top players in the draft, and nothing like that has happened for 10 years now.  It wouldn't be for reasons of support, but more likely concerns over the competitiveness of a team.

Don't forget that the entire basis of the Draft system is that the worst teams get the best players, so every top 5 prospect in the draft knows that he'll be heading to one of the worst teams from the previous season.

[Ironside]

so there is no chance of a life long bulls fan saying i am not playing for anyone but the bulls
getting drafted by the dolphins and then playing for the bulls by refusing to sign a contract unless
the bulls compensate the dolphins with some daft picks for the next season

If he got drafted by the Dophins, he'd probably still be able to play basketball for the Bulls if he could fit both sports in!

If he wanted to play for the Buffalo BILLS though, then that would be a different matter!

The above scenario could only ever play out in a situation like Manning, where he's among the top players in the draft, and nothing like that has happened for 10 years now.  It wouldn't be for reasons of support, but more likely concerns over the competitiveness of a team.

Don't forget that the entire basis of the Draft system is that the worst teams get the best players, so every top 5 prospect in the draft knows that he'll be heading to one of the worst teams from the previous season.

i was actually thinking of the bears LMAO

what happens if a guy lived in Chicago all his life went to college there and didnt want to move away from mummy and daddy

i am trying to think of a situation like in the UK where a guy signs up for his hometown team thats he supported as a boy and
stays there dispite being too good for that time and them never winning anything (Gerard type)

[Sheriff Fatman]

US vs UK is like comparing apples and oranges.  They're entirely different in structure and the NFL draft system survives on the fact that players don't have freedom as to where they go initially (if they did, then the best players would all go to the best teams year on year, and the league would be much poorer as a result).

The closest scenario to what you're describing is a local kid being picked up as an undrafted free agent via open trials.  It does happen, and some do become succesful players, but the odds are very long on this happening.  Victor Cruz is the obvious current example of someone being successful via this route.  Hit the headlines in a pre-season game then disappeared into the depth of the roster during his first full season.  Got a chance to play in his 2nd season due to injuries and was an instant success (ironically, the first big game he had was against the Eagles, which is why I have such painful memories of him!)