Shive

I could see him in a Taysom Hill type of gadget role to take advantage of his athleticism.

From my understanding, that would be part of the criteria for overturning the call on the field, but the fumble in itself should have been reviewed to help determine if there was a clear recovery. In this instance, the refs are essentially refuting the existence of the fumble. Edit: I don't necessarily blame the on -field refs, because it's on the booth to see the replay and decide that at the very least there was a fumble that should have been reviewed.

Expectations just have to be managed with Cain. I was definitely on the Cain Train, but I realize that expecting him to blow up year was just too premature. He's essentially a rookie that spent the last year focusing on rehabbing from a really tough injury, not honing his craft. Also, an ACL tear takes a long time to truly recover, since one of the main obstacles is the mental distrust of that repaired knee. It took Hooker essentially an additional season/offseason to return to form. That seems to be the norm and I'd expect Cain to be in the same position. He'll need development time too and the PS is perfect for him to get that. He also gets to work against our starting CBs on a consistent basis, which is huge. I'd like to see Cain after an off season of honing his craft vs rehabbing an injury. If we're still having this conversation this time next year, then maybe it would be time to move on.

I think those stats are a bit skewed in the fact that Wilkins got those lead rb carries behind an underperforming OL that hadn't gelled yet. That was during our losing streak to kick off the season. His biggest issue was ball security, but as long as that's cleaned up, he should be getting a solid share of snaps.

This. They were hardly ever successful and now they're nearly impossible.

Since they eliminated the running start on kickoffs, on-side kicks have gone from really difficult to almost impossible. When your defense has been struggling, the worst thing you can do is give the other team a short field.

I can see this as them being extra careful to avoid another Luck situation where there was a leak before the official announcement.

Agreed. We've used him more between the tackles, with no positive results, and way less out in space like last year where he can do some damage.

Interesting... Mack seems to run faster, but can't argue with facts.

Aside from the fumbles, Wilkins was my favorite RB early in the season. He doesn't have that breakaway speed to take it to the house like Mack, but his vision and balance are phenomenal. I was pumped to see him back in the rotation this week, because Hines doesn't do much for me between the tackles.

Hooker made multiple tackles where he was the last line of defense. Tackling isn't his greatest attribute, but I don't think it's anywhere near being a weakness for him either. He may whiff on a tackle or 2, but makes the tackles that matter.

Considering there are numerous folks on this forum that consistently beat that drum, there is no way anyone could have known that your post was sarcastic. It just read as just another person upset that CB insists on building this team with "choir boys". You may want to use a /s tag in the future or just understand that most people aren't going to take your sarcastic post as intended.

100%. He is absolute opposite of our locker room culture. Bringing AB in would completely destroy what CB and Reich have built so far.

It was from his signing bonus, so money that was paid up front to him as a bonus for signing a new contract. It's not Irsay paying him the rest of his contract or anything like that. Luck keeping the money isn't up to him anyhow. He can't just "give it back" to Irsay. Irsay would have to file the request to recoup a portion of the signing bonus with the league. If Irsay doesn't want to do that, there's no other recourse for Luck. Also, what Luck "earned" is completely subjective. He didn't play out his contract and therefore isn't being paid the game checks he would have been paid over the rest of his contract (the non-guaranteed money). He did however endure a career fraught with playing through injuries that any one of would leave any of us incapacitated for a while, let alone showing up on Sunday, putting his injured body on the line week after week. Irsay wanted to let him keep that money as a way to say "sorry" and "thank you". Who are we to determine whether he earned the money or not?

I think that gesture by Irsay was a "sorry we failed to put a functioning OL in front of you for most of your career and almost got you killed". Procedurally, Irsay would have had to officially file a request to recoup the signing bonus. He opted not to, effectively allowing Luck to keep it. It's not like Luck keeping that money hurts our cap position moving forward or anything either. It was from the signing bonus, which is essentially Irsay just giving Luck money out of his pocket for services rendered. This is legitimately a non-issue.