Does Te'o get his job back?

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

Butler is concerning. WTF happened?

Big contract?

[Beerman]

It's the same type of stuff we've talked about with Butler. He shows flashes, but never really puts it together for long stretches. I know tackle numbers are overrated to an extant, but they do show you are always around the ball. Butler simply isn't making plays for whatever reason. There's no injury excuse so far this season. He simply needs to put himself in a position to make plays and finish them.

[thelightningwill]

I hope my belief that Butler is a me-player and not a team-player isn't proven by a nose dive after a big contract extension (which I thought was a mistake). The look-at-me celebration dance Butler did while we were obviously getting eliminated from playoff contention by the Lions a couple years ago was all I needed to know about his attitude toward the Chargers. The dude, I think, is all about himself.

But, whatever. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he's just played crappy this year and will get his shit back together. That's what I hope anyway.

I don't usually like early contract extensions that involve any kind of guaranteed salary. There's no telling if the player will continue to play at a high level or if injuries or attitude will affect his future.

There are exceptions. Philip Rivers is pretty much everything to the Chargers. So, if we have to guarantee him cash and just hope he doesn't get injured or start playing shitty, then let's do it.

And, sometimes, my ideas backfire. I thought giving Weddle a contract extension earlier was dumb. But that dude has got way better since the extension and proved re-signing him early was the right thing. I was wrong in that case. But I still think, in general, extending contracts and guaranteeing money earlier than necessary is a bad idea.

[Yubaking]

The thing is, Te'o is more versatile than Conner. That's why he was selected to start over Conner. Unless you think that our entire coaching staff is dumb as a jar of rocks, then.... you might be the jar of rocks.

And Yuba, no offense, but when everyone else is arguing against your opinion, maybe they aren't the problem.

What I said was that Conner has looked more impressive than Te'o so far in the preseason plus regular season combined. I am very comfortable in having that position. What other people may think does not concern me all that much.

Te'o literally has made no "plus" plays that stand out in my mind. Conner has made several. Te'o has made some "negative" plays. I do not recall Conner making any.

I have no problem with people arguing that Conner faced easier competition in the preseason than Te'o has in the regular season. I agree with that. But even considering that, the limited play I have seen from Conner is more impressive to me than what I have seen from Te'o. Honestly, I find it somewhat surprising that other posters on this forum do not see it that way because the difference seems pretty clearly in Conner's favor from just the games.

As for our coaches, they have a chance to see him more. Seeing a guy in practice or in other situations that haven't happened in games could easily yield a different conclusion as to which player actually is better. Also, one player can play better at one point, but then another player who was behind the first player, can overtake that player with better performance. That doesn't make the coaches wrong.

The funny thing is that in "Homerville" all of this is seen as a slam against Te'o. It isn't. I think Te'o is a developing player with average physical skills and above average instincts. So far, he has been an average player for the most part with a few below average moments. It isn't a ringing endorsement of him, but I am not calling him a POS either.

Really, this is about Conner more than it is about Te'o. Who cares about Te'o?! He is average. Conner has been brilliant in flashes and that makes me want to see more of him.

And I have already acknowledged that with greater exposure comes the risk that weaknesses will be exposed. He may not end up being better than Te'o at all. I am just excited about Conner playing because I expected him to be some scrub and he looks a lot better than that so far. That's what this is about, not the very average Te'o (which is a statement of fact at present, not an insult).

[Yubaking]

You're inability to follow along is only surpassed by your inability to evaluate what you're watching, which is legendary. Remember the boat and AP stories...those were cool stories. Preseason ranks up there with the Vaughn Martin played on a legendary defense, therefore... analysis you put forth at one point. Just ridiculous attempts to validate 'analysis'.

Wow, talk about the pot calling the kettle black. You tried to say that I was drawing a conclusion about Conner from one snap after I had already stated that I was considering Conner's preseason performance in my discussion of him. Post 56, first paragraph, second sentence, all day long.

Equally lame is your notion that Conner's two forced fumbles (on only a small number of plays) is irrelevant to the issue of whether or not Conner is good at forcing fumbles.

Any more "brilliant" analysis you want to throw out there?!

[QSmokey]

If you are not acquainted with Swami, you do not know the true level of insult that that is. It just might be the worst thing anyone has ever said about me on this forum (and I get bashed 10 times as much as anyone on this forum).

It's right up there with one of us calling another one of us a Raiders fan. Maybe not quite that same degree of "dogshitification" of another human being, but it's up there.

LOL! I get called that on a daily basis. Doesn't bother me one bit. Even if it is true.

[Yubaking]

I stopped reading here. The bolded part explains why. John 'Third String' Jenkins. No one else.

And our top FA signing should have been a DT, not Donald Brown.

*flushing toilet sound*

It's obvious that you stopped reading that discussion. If you had, you might have discovered that Jenkins has not fully recovered from a June pectoral surgery and therefore has not been able to challenge a NT that is better than any NT on our roster as he was expected to by his coaches because his performance was so good as a rookie.

I cited two sources that give just a little bit of flavor as to how Jenkins is viewed by the those that know and discuss the Saints. Unless you are a closet Saints fan (I am not either), I am going to guess that they know more/better than anyone on our forum that might discuss Jenkins, myself included. They seem to think that he was a steal and a breakout candidate and that he was a wall in the middle of the Saints defensive line.

Basically, he is exactly the kind of NT we needed in the 2013 draft and that we still need. My best guess is that he will show that once he is fully recovered from the surgery that had to be performed in June to repair the damage caused by his pectoral injury.

[QSmokey]

What I said was that Conner has looked more impressive than Te'o so far in the preseason plus regular season combined. I am very comfortable in having that position. What other people may think does not concern me all that much.

Te'o literally has made no "plus" plays that stand out in my mind. Conner has made several. Te'o has made some "negative" plays. I do not recall Conner making any.

I have no problem with people arguing that Conner faced easier competition in the preseason than Te'o has in the regular season. I agree with that. But even considering that, the limited play I have seen from Conner is more impressive to me than what I have seen from Te'o. Honestly, I find it somewhat surprising that other posters on this forum do not see it that way because the difference seems pretty clearly in Conner's favor from just the games.

As for our coaches, they have a chance to see him more. Seeing a guy in practice or in other situations that haven't happened in games could easily yield a different conclusion as to which player actually is better. Also, one player can play better at one point, but then another player who was behind the first player, can overtake that player with better performance. That doesn't make the coaches wrong.

The funny thing is that in "Homerville" all of this is seen as a slam against Te'o. It isn't. I think Te'o is a developing player with average physical skills and above average instincts. So far, he has been an average player for the most part with a few below average moments. It isn't a ringing endorsement of him, but I am not calling him a POS either.

Really, this is about Conner more than it is about Te'o. Who cares about Te'o?! He is average. Conner has been brilliant in flashes and that makes me want to see more of him.

And I have already acknowledged that with greater exposure comes the risk that weaknesses will be exposed. He may not end up being better than Te'o at all. I am just excited about Conner playing because I expected him to be some scrub and he looks a lot better than that so far. That's what this is about, not the very average Te'o (which is a statement of fact at present, not an insult).

Not sure why there's been so much backlash against Yuba on his analysis of Te'o so far. Seems a fair assessment to me. I guess JUST because he's Yuba is reason enough to bash his posts. But, really, who can REASONABLY argue with any of this:

- Conner has looked more impressive than Te'o so far in the preseason
- The limited play...from Conner is more impressive to me than what I have seen from Te'o
- I think Te'o is a developing player with average physical skills and above average instincts
- I have already acknowledged that with greater exposure comes the risk that weaknesses will be exposed. [Conner] may not end up being better than Te'o at all.

Here is one time, IMO, that the anti-Yuba posts are not warranted.

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

It's obvious that you stopped reading that discussion. If you had, you might have discovered that Jenkins has not fully recovered from a June pectoral surgery and therefore has not been able to challenge a NT that is better than any NT on our roster as he was expected to by his coaches because his performance was so good as a rookie.

I cited two sources that give just a little bit of flavor as to how Jenkins is viewed by the those that know and discuss the Saints. Unless you are a closet Saints fan (I am not either), I am going to guess that they know more/better than anyone on our forum that might discuss Jenkins, myself included. They seem to think that he was a steal and a breakout candidate and that he was a wall in the middle of the Saints defensive line.

Basically, he is exactly the kind of NT we needed in the 2013 draft and that we still need. My best guess is that he will show that once he is fully recovered from the surgery that had to be performed in June to repair the damage caused by his pectoral injury.

So in other words The Great Jenkins gets a pass because of injury. Te'o doesn't.

This is what we're talking about dude. You are so dug in on your biases that you use pretzel logic which you couch as 'obvious,' 'clear' and 'unquestionable' to stubbornly defend them. It ought to be embarrassing. Instead you double down on stupid and tell everyone who deigns challenge you that they didn't understand or mischaracterized.

Seriously, enough.

[sandiego17]

B

Any more "brilliant" analysis you want to throw out there?!

Depends, any more preseason to evaluate in comparing players this season? Because, schemes are obviously the same, like ST and ILB roles. 1 snap. That's ok, all of your analysis may has we'll be based on 1 snap. Or none. Same value.

[sandiego17]

- Conner has looked more impressive than Te'o so far in the preseason
- The limited play...from Conner is more impressive to me than what I have seen from Te'o
- I think Te'o is a developing player with average physical skills and above average instincts
- I have already acknowledged that with greater exposure comes the risk that weaknesses will be exposed. [Conner] may not end up being better than Te'o at all.

You forgot

- te'o has easily been the most impressive player at ILB this season (in games that count)
- Conner has played only special teams, with only 1 snap on defense, you're easily impressed
- Conner may very well play well, but that remains to be seen
- you refer to te'o as something more clever than jackhole, but definitely less deserved

Who do you think was the best WR in preseason? OLB? POST 56. How did you miss post 56????

[sandiego17]

So in other words The Great Jenkins gets a pass because of injury. Te'o doesn't....This is what we're talking about dude.

To be fair, nix' injury doesn't count either. And Freeneys means he was a bad signing. Objectivity and consistency on display.