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    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 54: Kyle Crabbs - Build my own chair at the table
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 53: James Koh - Divorce the information from emotion
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 52: Will Brinson - That's how it'll have to be
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 51: Charles McDonald - Not an escape from reality
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 50: What you've learned - For you, by you
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 49: Jourdan Rodrigue - Let's see what you think then
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 48: Justin Twell - Long process to come back
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 47: Justin Lonero - It's time to relearn life
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 46: Scott Bischoff - Life presented the greatest challenge possible
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 45: Al Zeidenfeld - Little steps along the way
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 44: Jason Romano - Just a different dream
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 43: Matt Harmon - But here we are (Season 1 finale)
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 42: Gregg Rosenthal - I have to make it work or else
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 41: Jon Moore - Determiner of what I want
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 40: Uncle Chaps - Just have fun with it
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 39: Bob Harris - The best addiction I've ever had
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 38: Scott Fish - Everybody working together to make this big
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 37: Jene Bramel - Ask the questions you want answered
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 36: Mike Tagliere - Never going to leave this candy store
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 35: Ben Cummins - Starting at ground zero
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 34: Field Yates - It's the nature of what we do
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 33: Chris Heil - I gave it everything I had
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 32: Sal Stefanile - Just make them notice you
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 31: Adam Levitan - Accept an alternate lifestyle
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 30: Matthew Freedman - It's not built for everyone
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 29: George Kritikos - If your heart's not in it people notice
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 28: Marcas Grant - Certainly never expected this
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 27: Steve Palazzolo - I understand the questions that come
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 26: Matt Miller - To build bridges not burn them
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 25: Graham Barfield - A human game played by humans
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 24: Pat Daugherty - I just said yes to everything
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 23: Eric Galko - There's always work to be done
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 22: TJ Hernandez - In some roundabout way
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 21: Alex Gelhar - Homework for the rest of your life
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 20: The Fantasy Footballers - Because we were fans
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 19: Jessica Kleinschmidt - The scariest person you deal with is yourself
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 18: Evan Silva - A willingness to work hard
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 17: Jeff Risdon - It's hard to be in the middle
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 16: Cecil Lammey - Because I didn't ask for anything
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 15: Patrick Claybon - If you shine people will see you
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    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 13: Adam Rank - Honestly just don't go away
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 12: Adam Pfeifer - Being happy is doing this
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    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 9: Matthew Berry - I've done it without being negative to anyone
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    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 7: Matt Williamson - I got lucky, but I made my own luck
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    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 5: Josh Norris - You don't have to have an opinion on everything
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast Episode 4: Rumford Johnny - Elevate somebody or get out of their way
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast episode 3: JJ Zachariason - No one cares because you're not established
    • The Backyard Banter Podcast episode 2: Matt Waldman - Popular doesn't necessarily make it good
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    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 28: We''l see you in a bit.
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 27: "Ehhh how about you people relax with that one"
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 26: Mail Satchel - Davante Adams debate & "friends of the show"
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 25: NFL Network's Top 100 Players This or That
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 24: Mail Satchel - Surviving without Charlie and Tight Ends to Watch
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 23: Jeremy Maclin reaction, news recap and did Harmon pull off that hat?
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 22: Mail satchel - WE ARE THE PODCAST OF THE PEOPLE
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 21: Reception Perception review of sleepers, breakouts and surprises
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 20: Evan Silva destroys our MFL10 hopes and dreams
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 19: Mail satchel - Will Brandon Marshall thrive with the Giants in 2017?
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 18: We Are Pretty Mad
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 17: Mail satchel - Rompers, clean eating and the 2007 NFL Draft class
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 16: NFL depth chart breakdowns and being sick of bad Eddie Lacy jokes
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 15: Mail satchel - Drafting too many rookies, breakouts and bell-cow RBs
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 14: French press vs. pour over coffee & mock draft review with James Koh
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 13: Mail satchel - Los Angeles Chargers the hipster's team of 2017?
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 12: NFL Draft rookie fits and a cast iron running back with Matt Waldman
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 11: NFL Draft preview and drumset vomit with Josh Norris of Rotoworld
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast Episode 10: Mail satchel - Dynasty debate, bad impressions and hipster bands
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 9: Perfect Prospect Parings — identifying NFL fits for draft prospects
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 8: Corey Davis, DeVante Parker and what to drink at your draft
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 7: Carlos Hyde, Laquon Treadwell and NFL Draft rookie big board part 3
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 6: Valuing Jordan Howard for 2017 and NFL Draft rookie big board part 2
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 5: NFL Draft rookie top-12 big board and in-depth beer interview
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 4: Kaepernick saga, Harmon shaves his beard and Franchise gets roasted
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast Episode 3: Eddie Lacy, Free Agency, music & beer and picking best QB roommate
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 2: Early Free Agency Fallout, Combine Standouts & Mailbag
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast - Episode 1: NFL Scouting Combine preview and washed vets
    • Fantasy Hipsters Podcast: Teaser episode introduction
  • Reception Perception: 2017
    • Reception Perception: Investigating any correlation between the results and draft prospect age
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    • Reception Perception: Nelson Agholor can bounce-back in Doug Pederson's offense
    • Reception Perception: Improved technician Donte Moncrief is set to explode in 2016
    • Reception Perception: Only one concern can hold Sammy Watkins back from his ceiling
    • Reception Perception: Bruce Ellington has a chance to flash this season with the 49ers
    • Reception Perception: Albert Wilson and the Diary of a Truther
    • Reception Perception: Willie Snead built an impressive resume we must not ignore
    • Reception Perception: Welcome the ascending Tyler Lockett to rarified status
    • Reception Perception: Kamar Aiken is the answer to the Ravens receiver riddle
    • Reception Perception: DeSean Jackson and Josh Doctson make the Washington wide receivers a strength
    • Reception Perception: Browns make a refreshing first pick in Corey Coleman
    • Reception Perception: The fruitless search for fatal flaws with Laquon Treadwell
    • Reception Perception: Why there will never be a cumulative or overall grade
    • Reception Perception: The changing variables for Torrey Smith point to a rebound
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    • Reception Perception: Keyarris Garrett is a unicorn in this draft class
    • Reception Perception: Malcolm Mitchell is a top-10 receiver in the 2016 NFL Draft
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    • Reception Perception: Jeff Janis, trump cards and sorting through the noise
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    • Reception Perception: Steve Johnson is the Surest Sleeper Around
    • Reception Perception: Target and Contested Catch Data for Sophomore WRs
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    • Reception Perception: Why we Must Consider the Entire Range of Outcomes for Sammy Watkins
    • Reception Perception: Data Results from Year 1
    • Reception Perception: Scanning Through the Dolphins Receiving Corps for Fantasy Answers
    • Reception Perception: Allen Robinson is Quietly on the Precipice of a Massive Breakout
    • Reception Perception: Michael Crabtree is Exactly What the Raiders’ Passing Game Needs
    • Reception Perception: Justin Hunter and Wisely Shopping the Clearance Bins
    • Reception Perception: How Kevin White Began His Ascension to the Top
    • Reception Perception: Sammie Coates Falls Along a Dangerous Archetype
    • Reception Perception: A Video Rundown of the Data
    • Reception Perception: New Browns Receiver Dwayne Bowe Bring Value to a Depleted Pass Game
    • Reception Perception: Expectations and an Odd Coupling Doomed Mike Wallace in Miami
    • Reception Perception: Andre Johnson Still has Plenty Left to Offer the Colts
    • Reception Perception: Randall Cobb Made the Right Call Sticking With the Packers
    • Reception Perception: Where Do We Go From Here, Percy Harvin?
    • Reception Perception: Devin Smith and The Value of a Trump Card (FBG)
    • Reception Perception: The Siren Song of Dorial Green-Beckham (FBG)
    • Reception Perception: Impending Free Agent Michael Crabtree
    • Reception Perception: Amari Cooper Under the Microscope (FBG)
    • Reception Perception: Sammy Watkins and Cordarrelle Patterson
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Rapid Reactions Heading into Week Five

By: Matt Harmon

Jaguars Trade LT Eugene Monroe to the Ravens for Multiple Third-Day Picks
Ravens Perspective:
  • If you are the Ravens, this move is a no-brainer. Eugene Monroe is a top-ten left tackle in this league and has played at a really high level the last two years, though his running blocking has dipped to start this season. Monroe is a free agent after this season, but he can always be franchised, and he is worthy of that distinction. The Ravens offensive line play has been horrible thus far in the 2013 season, and the tackles have been particularly poor. Bryant McKinnie has long held the reputation of a lazy player and, despite playing really well to take this team to the Super Bowl last year, he now looks completely finished either physically, or mentally with playing football. Getting McKinnie out of the lineup and inserting Monroe in at left tackle should be a huge upgrade, and will hopefully improve the play of everyone else on this line. Not to mention, the Ravens hardly gave up anything to acquire Monroe’s services. They gave Jacksonville at least two picks somewhere from the fourth round or lower. For a team that has had trouble locating a blind-side protector, and has been pretty poor on offense this year, this trade is another homerun by Ozzie Newsome. 

Jaguars Perspective:
  • On the flip side, I have no idea why anyone could consider this a smart move for Jacksonville. Sure, they are not going anywhere this year, or anytime soon, and can use all the draft picks they can get. However, they barely got anything of consequence for a very good player, and if you are going to have a fire sale of your player you should really be giving away players like Maurice Jones-Drew, or Paul Posluzny though General Manager, David Caldwell, says the team has no interest in trading them. Both of those players cannot be in Jacksonville’s long-term plans but could help a contender. My biggest problem with this trade goes back to last April’s draft. With a ton of holes on the roster, but a solid left tackle, at least, in Eugene Monroe the Jags opted to use the No. 2 overall pick on a player who would play right tackle, Luke Joeckel. Now that they have shipped Monroe off to Baltimore in exchange for peanuts, they'll flip as struggling player in Joeckel to the left side. So, now the Jaguars have a left tackle in place, but a gaping hole on the right side of their offensive line; this trade just feels too much like treading water to me. I understand you are a very bad, and rebuilding team, but I do not understand why a solid player like Monroe could not be a part of that program, and if you decided he was not going to be, the smart thing to do would have been to ship him off before the draft so you could make yourself a better team this year. 

Cardinals Trade LT Levi Brown to the Steelers for a Conditional Late Round Pick
  • This trade is not nearly as a big of a deal as the other offensive tackle trade this week, and here’s why: Levi Brown isn’t very good. Brown is a heavy-footed, and slow moving left tackle that gets beat like a drum in pass protection. He actually put out some solid work before going on IR last season. This year he has been dreadful and it sounds like the Cardinals were ready to release him if Pittsburgh did not trade for him. I don’t have a problem with the Cardinals dumping Brown, despite the fact they are only 2-2, because they cannot get much worse production from one of their backups. For the Steelers, this is a clear desperation move. Their left tackle, Mike Adams, has been an abject disaster this season, and while Brown might not be much better, it’s nice for Pittsburgh to have an alternative to Adams. Brown may even be able to be to be an upgrade as a run blocker for Pittsburgh, which would greatly help their offense. Just don't go betting on a player who has never played well outside of a contract year.


Patriots Place DT Vince Wilfork on Injured Reserve
  • This injury is a massive blow to the undefeated New England Patriots. As the Patriots offense has struggled to jell early in the season, the defense has been there to pick up the slack and get the team off to a fast start. Behind Tom Brady, Wilfork is the player the Patriots could least afford to lose. A mountain of a man listed at a generous 325 pounds has been a borderline Hall of Fame type player and is the golden standard amongst nose tackles in our generation. He obviously is an immovable object in the run game and commands constant double teams, but he also has underrated movement skills that make him a complete handful for teams. Replacing him will be a near impossible task and even worse, their depth at defensive tackle is not a strength. Former Raider Tommy Kelly has played well for the Patriots so far, but he will have to play more snaps now that Wilfork is gone, and that is not a good thing at this stage of his career. I have said that the Patriots are set up well for the rest of the season because they would only get better on offense, but with Wilfork gone, we should expect at least a semi-significant drop off on defense. Make no mistake; this is an injury that affects the defense at every level. 

Buccaneers Release QB Josh Freeman
  • You rarely see a former starting quarterback released in the middle of the season; then again, nothing about the Freeman situation was normal. I am planning on writing a NFL Ramblings column on why Freeman failed, so I will be brief in my analysis here. It was clear from the beginning that Freeman and head coach Greg Schiano were a poor match. Their personalities crashed and Schiano never made an attempt to make it work, and Freeman regressed each year since 2010. Freeman was benched last week in favor of rookie, Mike Glennon, and if that was not enough, there have been a number of reports attacking Freeman’s character that may or may not have come from the Bucs organization. Those reports and the Bucs ridiculous strategy to call all 32 teams to pawn off Freeman resulted in a dearth of any sort of trade market. This divorce needed to happen, because Freeman’s presence was clearly only going to cause more problems, but it never should have gotten to this. As I said, I will go into this in more detail in my NFL Ramblings column, but for now, I am not sure where I see Freeman landing next.

Browns Lose QB Brian Hoyer for the Rest of the Season
  • Man, this is probably the worst I have felt about an injury situation in a long time.  Hoyer is a Cleveland kid, born and bred, and had to be so excited to go play in front of his hometown. Unfortunately, fate knocked him out for the season on one of the first few drives of last night’s game. Hoyer was playing so well for the Browns some were even saying that they might not have to force a quarterback in April’s draft. Well, this injury erases any possibility of that scenario occurring. The Browns will have to turn back to Brandon Weeden, despite the fact it is now public knowledge they do not believe in him. Weeden holds the ball too long, and still struggles a bit mentally with the finer aspects of the game. Even though they still managed a win last night, all the good feelings around the Browns and Brian Hoyer are gone now. 

Panthers Trade LB Jon Beason to the Giants for a Late-Round Draft Pick
  • On the surface this looks like the Giants fleeced the Panthers for a former Pro Bowl player, but that is not the case and this trade really is not a big deal. Beason was once one of my favorite players in the league and considered just a notch below the great Patrick Willis when it came to middle linebackers. However, a series of lower body injuries have sent his career spiraling ever since the 2011 season in an eerily similar fashion to what occurred with another great Carolina lineback, Dan Morgan, in the early 2000’s. Beason lost his starting middle linebacker job to the even more impressive Luke Keuchly and has never reestablished himself as a great player. This offseason he had a micro-fracture surgery and looked downright bad before losing his starting outside linebacker job to the incredibly mediocre Chase Blackburn. For the Giants, it is worth the risk to see if Beason can become even a decent player again in a new environment, and in Carolina, he was the type of fiery leader this Giant’s defense desperately needs right now. For the Panthers, they really do not lose much in this trade, as Keuchly has already replace Beason as a player and leader on this team. I am really pulling for Jon, as by all accounts he is a great guy, but I have my doubts this trade proves to be anything of consequence. 

 



 

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