(11-29-2023, 11:01 AM)NewJagsCity Wrote:

(11-28-2023, 11:00 AM)Caldrac Wrote: That's interesting. I didn't see that a lot last year and I am just now seeing it this year from this past game. I figured maybe that was apart of it as well because it was pretty loud in that stadium on Sunday.

I'll give the tinhorns fans credit. They might be salty on social media but they turned out and did their job on Sunday.

They aren't that bad. Go check out the Tacks or the Chefs boards sometime if you want to experience the dregs of Fandom.

For sure. Could just be the twitter/X crowd that's bad. I am sure every fanbase, including ours, has it's good eggs and bad news bears only types. 

(11-29-2023, 11:08 AM)NoShoes Wrote:

(11-29-2023, 10:57 AM)Caldrac Wrote: I was high on LaPorta. Kept mocking him to us over and over again. Great football player. Really fits the mold perfectly up there for the Lions. I think he'll eventually get more opportunities. Maybe this is a Baalke trait. He's good about finding guys, they just take more than a year to acclimate instead of being ready to go out of the box.

Watching Trevor, Travon, Lloyd, Cisco, Campbell all take big year 2 jumps I don’t think that should be ignored.

Yep. That's the stance to take. I think Strange has shown some flashes here and there. It's probably really hard trying to find yourself on an offense as well that's honestly loaded across the skill position groups. Distribution struggle is real sometimes. 

(11-29-2023, 12:18 PM)Jaguarmeister Wrote:

(11-29-2023, 10:30 AM)NYC4jags Wrote: He whiffed on multiple blocking assignments in the game

He does it way too much to keep getting the snap count he's getting IMO, but I understand their commitment to bringing him along - he has very big upside when he acclimates

What's criminal is his ineffectiveness in the pass game thus far to be selected so high - I'm optimistic it will improve but I can't ignore it while we watch LaPorta thrive this year

LaPorta was selected significantly higher than Strange though.  Packers doubled up at TE selecting Musgrave (also significantly higher than Strange) and Kraft (the next TE off the board after Strange) in the first half of the 3rd round.  I think Strange may have been the target all along given who was already off the board and assuming they didn't feel strongly about Torrance or any other OL piece, but still wanted depth at TE and another piece that could develop into an effective addition to the protection game.  Perhaps he also develops into an effective receiver as well, but I think he was primarily taken for his blocking skill and potential.  Just needs a little more time.  He's flashed and had some highlights with his blocking thus far though.

Agreed. I still really enjoyed the Penn St. highlights I found on him on the night they drafted him. I was excited then and I am still excited for his future. I wasn't expecting a Dallas Goedert or Zack Ertz type of talent out of him though. I immediately thought, "Oh, okay, this is a big guy that likes to bruise people that can occasionally catch you sleeping in the passing game".

I thought of him being Pederson's H-Back type of TE player that he had in Philadelphia. Behind Ertz and Goedert. He had Trey Burton. He wasn't the move type TE or field stretcher the way the other two guys were but he would work the underneath game really well, do a lot of motion stuff close to the line of scrimmage and block in the running game. 

That's exactly who I saw when I looked at his highlights at Penn St. I was eyeing Oklahoma's Brayden Willis in this draft for this exact same role. San Francisco took him in RD7 though. He hasn't done anything out there that I am aware of. But, again, hard to find yourself on an offense, much like ours, that, it's clearly already stacked across the board skill position wise.

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