I’ll be honest I was a little shocked when he got released but that’s mostly due to the fact reporters were on their knees over him at camp. The fact that no other team wanted him on their actual roster shows me all I need to know.
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While biting my tongue on the wisdom of trading three picks for him (and a 7th), I’ve never considered Vaki a RB and I don’t think the team does either. He had one offensive snap last year and I think it was a 4th down fake punt.
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Actually, I was wrong about the preseason IR-to-return designations – not only do they count against the 8 returns for the regular season, they automatically count, even if the guys don’t actually come back.
So I have to recant my previous position. If anything, I have to wonder if there’s doubt about Pacheco returning at all this season. Yeesh. So yeah, wait until roster cuts, then put Pacheco on IR and get veteran Conklin back on the roster – the same old shenanigans.
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I think he’s a special teamer first, for sure, but the fact that they shifted him to RB rather than leave him at safety tells me they had some plans for him there, even if it only amounted to a Woodhead-ish 3rd down role. I also think there’s some juice to squeeze there, I just thought that was also true of him at safety.
I’m more referencing contracts.
That Super Bowl winning team let their #1 walk over money even with their #2 having a blown out ACL.
What’s also kinda hilarious is Seattle flat out didn’t give any carries to any other running backs once Charbonet got hurt in the playoffs. They really ran everything through K9
A wide receiver had the 2nd most carries for the Hawks in the playoffs
Possibly
Hard to draw too many conclusions from last year. The team simply didn’t have a 3rd RB role. A total of 6 carries and 0 targets for the three guys not named Gibbs or Montgomery
Yeah it is hard to know for certain, but they do really value special teams, and I’ve heard some in the building say they think he’s the best special teams player in the league, and IF that’s true (I really don’t have any idea, I just know he’s good at it), then perhaps the trade-up isn’t as bad as I first thought. My first reaction to the trade wasn’t positive (I liked the Manu trade much better because at least he was a swing at a sky-high-value position), but then I also admit I struggle to find the proper way to gauge special teams value.
Yeah Im not overreacting…its just a silly plan and I want that to be recognized by smart people 
The really smart people hate when some talk about adding a big name (doesn’t apply to me). Then basically state that depth players aren’t important…”they barely play anyway.” Yet those same smart individuals have shown concerns about depth OL, DL, DBs, etc…
So their viewpoints are valid…we need depth there, but not this time!! Like I get it, you know your stuff…and this isn’t as vital as some other positions. But it’s absolutely a head scratcher and warrants discussion. But I’m overreacting when identifying a legit issue…
At some point it’s either some think they are just that much smarter or they are being super hypocritical. If we didn’t sign Borom, Bartch, and add /Scruggs I guarantee some would be worried about OLine depth. But why??? If our starters stay healthy we gucci right? Makes no sense to me. Especially when the drop off is significantly bigger from our skills guys vs backup guards for example.
I still bet the o10.5 wins and still think we are legit contenders. Theres no panic here or overreaction…the plan is just really strange. That’s all!
Actually 3 WR’s on the practice squad. So we actually have 7 WR options total. They can be elevated up to 3 games each and still remain on the practice squad.
Tom Kennedy gonna be returning punts and kickoffs week 1 I bet
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What he did at RB in 2023 is pretty wild. Much of Utah’s RB room is decimated. He flips over and with just a handful of reps. He gets leaned on moderately against CAL and USC and he goes for 9 yards per carry and 24 per reception. I watched the USC game live and he was the best player on the field. He was a natural. Sample size was fun of course but I definitely could see what I think we saw.
I do believe there is something there. Or was at least. But it’s hard to develop a guy when he can’t stay healthy.
We are absolutely thin lol…it’s one thing to say we couldn’t spend money or had to go cheap at WR/RB as a justification. But to suggest we aren’t thin is completely untrue. Saylors, Meeks, Martin, the other two funny PS guys are nobodies until proven otherwise. Have zero experience at their offensive positions. Tom Kennedy is a “ok” EMERGENCY fill in. If he was more than that, we would’ve seen it by now.
I liked the Vaki move. But admittedly I was moved by one Saturday night. I don’t crunch tape or anything like that so the vibes of one memorable viewing impacts me a lot more than it would for someone that is actually scouting.
Lucky and TK who is the 3rd?
For me, because it’s far, far easier to find production at positions like WR and RB than it is OL, DL and DB. In fact that’s the crux of my stance. It’s a false equivalence to equate one position group with another, because the nature of their supply is vastly different.
You could never find the equivalent of Netflix’s 100+ yard game against Arizona off the street at edge (we should know, we tried), or at least it is far, far more difficult. You could never find a starter to the level of Reynolds or Tim Patrick at those spots.
Basically, and yes I’m going to get into some technical weeds here, skill positions operate like a parallel or redundant system. If one path fails, the system has alternate paths. If we lose WRs, we can play with more TEs, or design plays to go different ways, or Goff can choose to give our healthy guys more targets.
Conversely, the OL and DL are serial, or linear systems. One failure causes a cascading effect. You can’t pressure the QB, the DBs suffer, the LBs go further back, the run defense suffers, etc…
So for me it’s both the supply issues and the way those positions work systemically that shape my point of view.
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I had a 4th round grade on him just as a safety. He was a tackling machine with some rare ball skills. I think he showed those ball skills as a receiver when they played him at RB. I was hoping he could get some run at S last year when we had all the injuries but he could not stay healthy enough to even get in a game.
I totally understand. Even stated the other positions are absolutely more critical.
We just view depth players differently I guess. Because you have suggested the eagles have weak WR depth. Their top 3 is solid, although I don’t love Wicks, but he’s at least Teslaa good at this point. Their 1/2 of Devonta and Lemon is solid. Lemon might not end up a star but he’s a 1st round investment…I would say they did all they could imo. Then there’s Hollywood Brown, Elijah Moore, and Darius Cooper. That puts them 2 spots ahead of us imo. Cooper = Martin…but then the other two have proven track lines in the NFL. Elijah has 3 NFL seasons of 500+ yards…and they have their Tom Kennedy equivalent in Covey on their PS.
THEN (haha) they also invested a 3rd rounder in Eli Stowers.
Eagles brought in guys to fill their depth. They are just as strapped for cash as we are (probably more so). Yet they filled the end of their skill bench with a mix of veterans and high drafted rookies.
I see a big difference between Hollywood and Elijah vs an UDFA journeyman. You don’t…and I guess that’s the difference here.
Whether you say it out loud or not I know you didn’t like the Pacheco only add and nothing else. I know you don’t like the depth behind our top 3 WRs. So i guess I just need to let it go. Our starters at both spots are at the top of the league after all. I just hate what the plan appears to have been to fill their voids left from Kalif and Monty 
The upside case was interesting, a lot of it was just my natural recoil to trading future picks. It snaps back pretty quickly when it was for an OT, QB or draft crush, but Vaki wasn’t any of those. I have come around. Clearly, at this point, it was a better move than the Manu one.
Well, correction, I was completely fine with the Pacheco only add. But then I was a big fan of his. It really sucks that it seems this back injury might be worse than assumed. But when signed I thought he was two or three times the player Swaggy was, and we saw how that turned out. RB is an easy position to fill to me.
I do think we’re thin at WR, but I don’t think it matters enough to worry over. If an issue arises, we have avenues to pivot, unlike we do at DL, OL or DB. To me, at least.
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Al-Quadin Muhammad
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You don’t see the hypocrisy in giving them credit for those wide receivers past production while ignoring their most recent production then implying Pacheco doesn’t count as depth.