Betsy
•
4d
This is awesome! I’m proud to say I know you 😊
Sunny Spyridon
•
5d
You are exactly what the World Wide Web needs BB. I am excited for you and unbelievably proud of you! 💚
Latest NFL Articles
'Let’s be bold:' Inside Press Taylor’s office
Who's calling plays? Where is NFL offensive football heading? How can Trevor Lawrence take the next step? We sit down with the man central to it all: Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor.
Our 2024 NFL Season Preview series continues with today’s conversation with Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor.
100 hour weeks with 4 kids under 8? That can't be easy on his wife.
Cowboys Mailbag Preview Wk 3: Chargers
One last preseason game on Saturday afternoon to help determine the final 53.
For certain radio reasons, I come to you live to day from the city of Las Vegas. I believe we even have preseason NFL football being played in this town tonight, but for me, this is a down-and-back for Friday’s show.
I believe Lamb gets signed this season but not Prescott or Parsons. Prescott because of his contract demands and Parsons because it's not time yet. I also believe Jerry would sign Prescott to an extension if he gave Jerry even one little-bitty face-saving inch in the negotiations, but he won't.
Solid questions this week, and great feedback Bob.
Denver Broncos Preseason Week 1 Breakdown
A deep dive of the schemes that created big plays for the Broncos offense.
I know it’s just preseason but football is back. The Broncos offense lead the way with 410 total yards and 34 points in week 1 of the preseason.
MORE: How many QB-coach combos are better than Jordan Love and Matt LaFleur?
A season can come down to how good the coach and quarterback are on a given team. So, how many teams have it better than the Packers?
This week, The Leap covered the aftermath of the Green Bay Packers' preseason performance against the Denver Broncos, Lukas Van Ness' progress as he follows the Rashan Gary development plan, and the pre-cutdown moves the front office could realistically make before Tuesday
Dominant play vs. Browns shows Packers not paying lip service to defensive rebuild
We've heard this song and dance about making philosophical changes to the defense before. With revamped personnel and a new mindset, the Packers may have done it.
Good morning!
The Jordan Love deal won't cost the Packers nearly as much as you think
The top-line numbers from Jordan Love's new extension don't accurately reflect how the deal fits into the Packers' books over the next few seasons.
Before we start today's newsletter, we'd like to take a moment to reflect on how far The Leap has come and share our plans for the future.
What did the Packers Family Night practice reveal?
A year ago, Jordan Love and Christian Watson struggled to get on the same page during training camp. That has changed in a big way this time around.
Good morning!
I’d be interested to see who makes the official back up QB for Love having seen the family day highlights.
David Long Jr., and the beast within
He's the most violent linebacker in the sport. Each death created a monster on the field... at a steep cost. Can the Miami Dolphins linebacker strike the balance? Long's story will shock you.
DAVIE, Fla. — Everyone close to David Long Jr. keeps dying. It’s morbid. It’s his reality. The 27-year-old linebacker grew to brace for bad news when the phone rings. The horror. The shock. The play-by-play accounts choked out by tears and heavy breathing on the other line. Always the faraway relative chasing a football drea…
Wow. Just an incredible portrait of somebody who has been thru and overcome so much. Such strength to allow himself to try to find joy and peace after all he went thru. Absolutely will be rooting for David this year, and hope that 3rd contract after this year is the proper one!!
Excellent article man. You caught the somewhat unspoken violent and ugly reality of life and football and what it takes to bridge them so well
I'm in The New York Times
Plus, advice from an amateur sports GM
Thank god, is what I said and how I felt when NYT accepted this essay.
Ken, I subscribe to the New York Times and read your article and it's beautiful and well put together. I assume you spent hours working on it. I think the main problem why Americans are not participating in sports is due to weak work-life balance. Cost is another factor. Over-scheduling your day is one too. I'm excited for you, Ken. I have all your books and love the way you write. By the way, you'll be a great psychotherapist and outdoors leader. Take care brother, Joseph in Maine USA.
Marianne spotted it in The NY Times this weekend so I read it! You can make anything sound interesting, even breathing and nasal strips! Love his. I can picture you there doing your thing!
June ADP Update: Keep/Trade/Cut
Mike looks at the updated ADP to keep, trade, and cut similarly drafted IDPs.
Cheesy game show music begins playing…
Abandoning the Air Raid
Why Neal Brown and many others are ditching the Air Raid in college football and seeing more success.
Coaches have always said football is a cyclical game. We are in the midst of another offensive transition, especially at the college football level. Teams that have struggled like Kansas, Missouri, and West Virginia are making comebacks and doing it through tough running games. We’ve looked extensively at Kansas and Missouri’s offenses here.
Explaining why Kenny Clark landed a new deal before Jordan Love
On Sunday, the Packers signed a massive extension with one of their star players, just not the one most expected.
Good morning!
I saw that Tucker Karft might be in the PUP list last week. I'm hoping this means he's recovered! He and Luke Musgrave can be a special tight end duo this year!
'I'm ready to die right now:' Alex Green relives it all
Once the cheering stops, life can take a very dark turn for NFL players. The former Green Bay Packers running back opens up to Go Long subscribers.
Thanks for setting that up Tyler!
Speaking of radio - there’s still no sign of your KEXP performance on their YouTube page. Did that not wind happening or does it just take longer than I think for them to post stuff ?
I was the gentleman in Philadelphia who asked Jenny a question during the VIP portion of The Fillmore show. I thank the people around me for not being angry with me with how I respond to live music, but Colin, I want to thank you personally here for calling out to everyone to give it up for Jenny. I truly think she is an incredible musician. All of you are but her endurance to play accordion the way she does has always made me flap. Thank you for making music that draws an inclusive and accepting audience.
News with Nuance: May 24, 2024
Your Friday dose of News with Nuance: the week's biggest stories, unpacked + more ..
Hi Readers,
MORE: Inside the key changes Matt LaFleur made to the 2023 Packers offense and who benefitted
Jason Hirschhorn studied the 2023 Packers offense to find key differences and evolutions from previous Matt LaFleur teams and what he found may surprise (and some may not).
On Friday, The Leap published a feature story detailing how the Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur reshaped the offense in the wake of Aaron Rodgers' departure and how the unit found its footing behind a handful of staple concepts (and a lot of Dontayvion Wicks).
Every quarterback is an ink blot test
What we learn about ourselves when watching prospect quarterbacks
By Matthew Coller
Mailbag: Is Baseball Dying?
Pretty much, though I still like baseball
We take a break from our regularly scheduled NBA-questioning to address a different sport with worse problems. A subscriber asked me if baseball is dying. Without beating around the bush, the answer is “yes.” Baseball is still very much here and lucrative (for now). Shohei Ohtani
I always get a kick out of "is [insert sport here] dying?" discourse, because in all my life I cannot recall a single example of it actually happening. I'm not sure what "death" would even look like. Sure, some sports get less popular, but they still play the games.
Larry Merchant had a great quote about boxing that I think can be applied to baseball as well: "Nothing will kill [it], and nothing will save it".
Even before the first officially recorded major league baseball game, people were bemoaning the death of the sport (it was 1868). As long as we keep getting sunny summer days, teams will continue to sell tickets to diehards and casual fans alike.
I wrote this for a prior post but it feels even more relevant here:
As if we needed more proof that (to paraphrase Churchill’s fake quote) God loves babies, drunks, the U.S.A. and football, we don’t need to focus on football’s lack of RSNs or its Covid timing or its handling of red/blue America or even its immunity to the player empowerment era - we can just look at how advanced analytics have crippled the watchability of the NBA and MLB while turbocharging the NFL.
NBA advance stats led teams to generally forsake everything but three pointers and free throws.
MLB advance stats led pitchers and batters to focus on the three true outcomes of home runs, strikeouts, and walks.
NFL advance stats led teams to minimize running plays in exchange for more passing plays.
The reason the NFL won with these changes is the same reason the NBA and MLB lost. The fun in these games is directly proportional to how much of the field/court is in play.
The NFL passing game revolution was both vertical and horizontal and made almost every inch of the field usable. The NBA and MLB’s revolutions took away giant swaths of the court/field and thus minimized motion and action.
What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Reflections on the Resurrection, Salvation, and Eternity ✝️
Today, we reflect on the greatest day in history: the Resurrection of Christ. What is the purpose of our lives? Why were we created? As we look around the world and see things spiraling out of control at free-fall speed with no bottom in sight, it seems we can easily lose hope. Things appear to go from bad to worse each day.
Most Christians do not understand their own religion. This free booklet, Discourse On Agape, wil help you gain understanding: https://discourseonagape.org/booklets/
One does not promote Love with fear.
Finland digs in
The second-newest NATO member has been preparing for this moment for decades
One of the best playgrounds for children in Helsinki is the size of three NFL football fields, dug into bedrock 25 metres below a street-level car park, and built to survive a nuclear bomb.
Very timely piece. And Canadians should take note. We need to shore up our own northern and other defences… with some ‘steely determination’ of our own. The world is changing.
Excellent piece Paul! And, timely as was said above. In an earlier time in my career I was involved in arctic shipping and Finland was the global leader in ice breaking research and development. Amazing those Finns!! I’m so pleased you are able and willing to do things like this trip!!
WBEZ/Sun-Times CEO accepts a 19% raise, then cuts 15% of his unionized staff
... less than three weeks after the conclusion of the spring pledge drive
I’m a monthly NPR donator and a Sun-Times subscriber. Part of NPR’s problem is, I’d be willing to bet, the drift to identity programming. Any time I turn on the station, I think I have a very high probability of hitting a segment about <insert identity group here> as part of the programming.
I don’t mind talking or hearing about marginalized groups, but if you are going to take that slant with every segment, many people are going to tune out because “this isn’t relevant to me”. And people who tune out aren’t going to be donors so you better make sure the ones who stay are enough to support your station. Sometimes I’d like to hear a restaurant review that did not lead with the owner’s orientation, immigration status, or marginalization statistics. Sometimes I’d just like to hear the answer to the question, “how’s the food?”
Thanks for the tip about that amazing QVC appliance. I'm really on the fence about which color to choose. Puce? Greige? I'm leaning toward yellow-ish. I was relieved to hear they're all in stock.
And Joanie: amazing song. Proof that music can save our lives. It's playing in my head now and I'm happy about that.
Brian Gutekunst took the long way to find value in 2024 NFL Draft
It was a big of an "eat your vegetables" draft for the Packers, filling key deficits on defense. How did the Green Bay front office do matching need with value?
Good morning!
I wouldn’t place as much faith in the consensus board as you do; but more to the point, I’d like to hear why the Packers drafted them. I expect them Packers (at least) know a lot more about these players then a bunch of media yahoos.
Another thing to add to this analysis is the highest available player. Should we really give credit for getting the #35 guy at pick 42 if the #25 guy was still available?
Maybe also look @ the highest rated player at the position taken.
What to Make of Shohei and Ippei
So many unanswered questions about the gambling scandal that has rocked MLB
Admittedly, I have no real skin in this game. All of you who know me (at least the past decade of my existence) know that I have turned myself into a Hanshin Tigers nerd. I started a blog in 2014, a podcast in 2015, got featured in the papers in 2017, received a digital column in April 2018, passed Level 1 (top tier) of the Tigers Proficiency Test in Au…
This is about as comprehensive a piece as anything I’ve read on this developing story so far. Well done!
I think at the very least Ohtani knew about Mizuhara’s gambling problem and was genuinely trying to help him out. The team dropped the ball (pun intended) by making a quick statement and then doubling back. I don’t believe Ohtani was directly involved in the gambling per se, but this puts a stain on his stellar image and draws a lot of negative attention to the sport. I am curious as to how the MLB will handle this. I have a feeling they will help protect Ohtani for the sake of the $$$, but either way not what we needed to start off this season. 😔
Measure What Matters
Why some numbers and measurements can steer us wrong—and how to better assess performance and improve.
Audio Housekeeping:
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