Awkward Model

@inJustFox @GuruFantasyWrld Except Tate wasn’t WR2 in 2024, it was Egbuka out of the slot (who actually had 1 more target than Jeremiah). He was also hurt for several weeks last year before dominating Michigan and scoring the only TD against for Ohio State against Indiana.

@GuruFantasyWrld I don’t understand how everyone is so willing to forgive Tate’s target share because of a younger Smith. Smith had 31% and 23% shares in over the past two seasons. Tate had 19% and 15%. There’s still plenty of targets to be had. Smith is elite, but that doesn’t excuse sub-20%.

2026 DYNASTY ROOKIE DRAFT TAKES - Carnell Tate WR1; upside would not be questioned if not for playing with Jeremiah Smith - Makai Lemon WR1B; off-season noise is just noise - Omar Cooper Jr. has WR1 upside - Eli Stowers will be a legit NFL target-earner; it doesn’t matter if he can block - Sadiq’s profile NOT a red-flag - Jadarian Price underrated; could see him taken as high as 1.02 in rookie drafts post-NFL draft if the landing spot hits; he will get RD2 (potentially RD1) NFL Draft Capital - Jonah Coleman a potential gem; clear RB3 behind Love/Price; arguably ahead of Price in a vacuum - Antonio Williams can ball; 4-Star Recruit (96 Prospect Grade) with true freshman breakout will seem obvious in hindsight - Elijah Sarratt is not an NFL Receiver; cannot separate & is below-average after the catch - Michael Trigg is a more intriguing TE sleeper than Oscar Delp - Nicholas Singleton is good

@JustaBengalsFan Literally Oregon tried to play Dillon in the CALEB DOWNS ROLE, like one of the players here actually defined the schematic position b/c of his IQ & versatility

I truly don’t understand a lick of how this is a debate

@TheFireMaan Yes it could be. Look at hit rates further you get from the high 1st. We’re not maximizing chances at an impact player that way. It’s a cheap way to add more guys to a team that needs to fill spots, not a way to get a player to help turn around the D. Missing playoffs = disaster

Trading back a few spots in round 1 isn’t the end of the world. Picking up an extra 3rd pick could become our back up C for 2026 and starter in 2027

@james_hardy14 @gameonjmoney It won’t. It will fill spots cheaply. That’s the goal, keep the boat afloat for as little as possible (not paying Burrow would’ve imploded the fanbase), not to maximize any one year. Winning a championship is not the goal. Keeping fans on a morphine drip for their support is.

@gameonjmoney That’s just nasty. I’d rather take the “guaranteed” talent than gamble when I can’t even remember the last time when a trade back has helped us.

😞😞Presented without comment 😔😔

@d4thHand What the fuck are you on about, the Joker’s power literally came from…the bombs. He could still blow them both up. The prisoner tossing the detonator wasn’t about outmaneuvering him strategically, it was about self-sacrificing so the prisoners couldn’t blow up the innocents.

There is a scene from the movie The Dark Knight that captures something essential about the nature of strategy. The Joker has planted two bombs on two ferries - one carrying civilians, one carrying prisoners. Each ferry has the detonator to the other's bomb. The Joker announces that by midnight, if neither ferry has blown up the other, he will blow up both. The clock ticks and panic spreads. Civilians scream at each other, prisoners pace their cages. But then, something unexpected happens. On the prisoner ferry, a massive convict stands up, takes the detonator from the guard, and throws it out the window. He understands that the Joker's power comes not from the bombs but from the panic. Without the panic, the Joker is just a man with a countdown and no leverage. That is the mark of an intelligent man. He never lets urgency from others override the patience his strategy requires. People mistake urgency for importance. Something can be urgent without being important. Something can be important without being urgent. An intelligent man know the difference and does not rush. He slows down, asks questions, checks his assumptions... he knows that most decisions do not need to be made right now and that the ones that do are, more often than not, traps. There was this story I was told about a general who was outnumbered five to one. His advisors urged him to attack immediately, before the enemy's reinforcements arrived. "We must act now!" they cried. "Urgency is our only advantage!" The general said nothing. He waited. He watched the enemy's movements. He studied the terrain. His advisors grew frustrated, he didn't care. He let them call him cowardly, question his leadership... he didn't mind. And then, on the seventh day, he saw what they had missed. The enemy had positioned their supply lines poorly. A single strike would cut them off. He attacked and boom, the enemy surrendered within hours. Call the General slow but he was patient. And his patience won the war. The advisors congratulated him. "You were brilliant, sir". The general smiled. "I was not brilliant," he said. "I was just not rushed." An intelligent man never lets urgency from others override the patience his strategy requires because he knows that speed without direction is chaos. And chaos serves everyone except the man trying to build something that lasts.

@PlutoCooked It would look like the Bengals got new ownership

Bengals and Giants fans, what would realistic Dexter Lawrence trade together look like?

@dferguson909 @NBA__Courtside The Warriors literally called Kevin Durant from the parking lot begging for help after 2016 but yeah sure no one feared LeBron fucking James

@NBA__Courtside Nobody fears LeBron. They feared Kobe. You can see Battier getting chills just thinking about it

Shane Battier on why Kobe Bryant was the hardest player he ever had to guard: “Because there were guys that were faster and stronger and could, you know, fly and more talented than me, but I thought I was smarter than every player I played against except Kobe. Kobe was the one guy was mentally a guy I couldn’t wear down mentally or break. And so I had played Kobe I don’t know 40 times in my career. And he was a month older than me. His mentality was like unlike anybody I played against, right? If Kobe had 20, he wanted 30. If he had 30, he wanted 40. If he had 40, he wanted 50. If he had 50, he wanted 60. It was non-stop. So I just remember just like, you know, sitting in Marina Delray Ritz going to the Staple Centers. I’m just thinking to myself, “Oh sh*t man. I got this guy tonight. I got this monster. The anxiety was real. It was real. Kobe did a really funny thing with me. Like we played this game with each other that only knew we were playing. And one day he’d be super friendly to me. Hey Shane, what’s going on man? How’s the Family? How you doing? Playing great. Next day, man, stone cold assassin. He wouldn’t even look at me. Wouldn’t even look at me. You know, I fall, he’d step over me. Do all that bullsh*t right? Next game, hey man, what’s going on? So he was always trying to like play this psychological warfare.” (Via @hoopinghollerin)

@brandonseamon97 @Jacobjiw0 @CoachMinich I don’t think the transfer thing can or should hold given the rapidly changing landscape of CFB (he also transferred from…playoff Bama to natty-champ Buckeyes). And if they pass on Downs b/c he’s “short” it’d be like passing on Burrow for “small hands.”

@Jacobjiw0 @CoachMinich Bengals seems to like their safeties 6'0-6-1 and 31-32 arm length

Definitely going top 10 Mendoza Love Tate OT1 Bailey Reese That means 2 of these will be there at 10 Downs Styles Delane McCoy Bain Possibly more if any of these sneak into the top 10 Simpson Tyson OT2

@zimwhodey @Ajigel Nah don’t be silly. Cleveland had a bonkers title drought in ALL sports, LeBron was literally “The Chosen One,” etc. The downtown mural, the Decision & Return. Burrow would be a legend forever and there’s def similarities but LeBron breaking The Curse clears

@Ajigel Bigger

Joe Burrow winning a title in Cincinnati makes him a larger than life figure. He can’t get that same allure anywhere else no matter how hard the world tries to convince you differently. It’s the most title hungry place on earth.

@Brooksob53 @codiki Missed-tackle percentage is a rate statistic, not a volume statistic. Also it’s “fewer” games not “less.” You simply don’t know stats or language or ball. Have a good day.

@awkwardmodel @codiki Because he gets to the ball more than Downs does. Thieneman in 5 less games has way more tackles and solo tackles.

Y’all reading the yea leaves yet? Need my help? Downs “no comment” at pro day Bengals sign Dugger Links with them to DE, and CB by big media. Late surge of teams “have Dillan T” higher on their board. The Bengals aren’t that high on Downs They aren’t taking him at 10 IMO

@Brooksob53 @codiki Dillon didn’t play with more depth btw. Oregon lined him up in the box CONSTANTLY. 357 box snaps to Caleb’s 185. So I guess we’re done here if you just don’t know what you’re fucking talking about.

@awkwardmodel @codiki You said he’s the best tackler your eyes have ever seen. Thieneman is slightly worse, but gets to more ball carriers while playing from more depth.

@Brooksob53 @codiki Downs has “more range” as a DB w/ a more proven variety of alignment snaps. Idk what’s meant by “ball production” here unless you mean INTs or maybe PBUs, in which case this is no longer really a serious convo. Downs also has a PR TD against a Top 5 team. Huge playoff moments.

@Brooksob53 @codiki You’re proving my point if you think the difference in Downs & Dillon is athleticism and yet Downs is the even by the percentages an equal/better tackler.

@benga1scentre People are saying this about safety but…who is saying this about corner? Starting NCB is literally up for grabs. I still think they should take BPA but this isn’t a convo I’m seeing

When the Bengals drafted Dre Kirkpatrick in the 1st round they already had Leon Hall, Adam Jones, Terrence Newman, and Nate Clements on the roster. So, I don't think two starters, on expiring contracts, will deter them from corner at all.

@codiki @Brooksob53 That’s a fair take w/ development but saying “better” now is wild, Downs is not only a bonkers IQ player and positional chess piece but one of the best/most consistent pure tacklers I’ve ever seen in college football. He lays the wood and rarely lets dudes go (sorely needed)

@awkwardmodel @Brooksob53 I think he has possibility of more upside due to athleticism. Downs instincts are off the charts though.

@DollarBlitz @BarryOnHere I guess if you’re just gonna fucking ignore everything then you’re just gonna ignore it. Have a good one.

@awkwardmodel @BarryOnHere I know. I watched the whole thing. All the LeBron guys are stats guys when it’s convenient. In no world is 4.4 pts 10 rebs .25 blocks and 1 steal picking up the slack for Jordan’s 33.6 ppg 6 rebs 6 assists. Those are finals # s. Make up more shit. lol.

An overlooked part of MJ's title runs is that literally none of his best teammates ever missed games in the playoffs. He always had Pippen, Rodman, Grant, etc. there to pick up the slack. Insane luck. Never had to play a dynastic team in the Finals with Timofey Mozgov & Matthew Dellavedova as his best teammates.

@DollarBlitz @BarryOnHere He’s arguably the greatest rebounder ever and a B2B Defensive Player of the Year on low usage (aka the 5 points weren’t cripplingly inefficient) what the FUCK are you talking about. Picking up slack can mean preventing a bucket or snagging second chances off misses

@BarryOnHere An overlooked part of Jordan’s career is two 3 peats with 2 entirely different roster builds. Rodman picked up the slack? You’re into stats. Rodman averaged 5 pts a game as a Bull. Rodman this Rodman that. Hes not valuable in your world so stop using him in your points.

@NaimTheDream @CurtisScoon Tweet: Dumb people were arguing which rapper had more money in 1995 This dude: WELL ALLOW ME TO JOIN IN

@CurtisScoon Nobody said he was a billionaire…but he was still a star in every right…By 1995, Puff had launched Jodeci, Mary J, Craig Mack, BIGGIE, Total, Faith Evans….In 1995 Master P was probably still selling crack and nobody outside of NOLA and Cali knew him….You tripping.

If you’ve ever been locked up it doesn’t take long to realize most of the people behind bars aren’t exactly critical thinkers. I was in a holding cell in 1995 and all the idiots talked about was who had more money, Puff Daddy or Master P. It was at that moment I decided to get my life together. The thought of having to spend a prolonged period immersed in that type of ignorance scared the shit out of me.

@retneysholocron Did you like…not finish RotJ? The entire climax is him throwing his saber away to acknowledge his father’s humanity, even in face of death. And it’s that compassion which turns Anakin & saves the literal day. THAT dude considering killing his nephew IN COLD BLOOD is REGRESSION

ROTJ: Vader threatens Leia, Luke goes berserk out of fear and cuts off his hand. TLJ: Luke sees the future, ignites his saber and stops immediately. That is growth. That's him handling a moment of fear BETTER as an older Master, dealing with the pull of the dark side BETTER. His confrontation with Vader and Palpatine did not make him a perfect man for the rest of his life. He is still a human with flaws and natural emotions who will make mistakes. Accept that; I did.