Jene Bramel

I've been hesitant to reply but I'm hoping to put together defensive positional tiers again this summer. There may not be as much strategy as in previous years. It may just be a short introductory vignette leading into each table of tiers w/ a line of context. I much prefer the underpromise and overdeliver approach. The combined draft board is very likely to continue in future years. We've made two strong IDP hires in the past month to improve the breadth of our coverage this year. I think Joe will be announcing those soon. Whether it's me or one of our new hires, I think the expectation is for the tier series to continue as well. While I don't believe I can continue the RTD -- -- I'm planning on covering defensive injuries more closely this year and we have at least two additions to the inseason IDP offerings I think everyone will really like. I really appreciate the interest in and the kind comments on the tier features. They take a ton of time to produce to my standards and the first set at each position is the most time-consuming and the basis for every adjustment until the end of the preseason. With some luck, the first set will be done by early June.

My apologies, everyone. I'm trying to find a balance between my non-FBG responsibilities, which have grown from a 5-10 hour per week part-time schedule to a 35-50 hour per week commitment since September 2015, my family life, and my FBG duties. It's become very difficult to cover two full football beats -- injury and all things defense -- for 32 teams. Neither of them is getting my full attention right now unfortunately and no one recognizes it more than me. Adequately covering the injury beat requires lots of organization and research -- the additional injury articles this year are simply me publishing my prep work at the request of David and Joe and many readers -- which takes me many hours per week. And that doesn't include offensive line and defensive injuries -- both of which are under-reported and critical. Adequately covering every team's defensive talent is another significant undertaking. In past seasons, it included at least 30 minutes of film study on every team each week, considering snap count trends, and examining Larry's spreadsheet data he'd so graciously put together to save me time in calculating the metrics I've used for 10-12 years. Writing RTD during the season was a two-day undertaking to adequately present notes on every team, update the every-down linebacker table, discuss stat crew and tackle opportunity metrics, and make waiver wire suggestions. I also have a major role in the prep and recording of our weekly podcast. In past years, I was also doing a full 32 team update on Sunday morning. That time is just not there anymore. I'm also painfully aware of my forum absence, and the delayed replies to emails, PMs, and DMs over the past two seasons. I've written and deleted a variation of this post many, many times over the past 14 months. I don't want this to come off as excuse-making. My time constraints have nothing to do with the product you purchased/expected. I'd like to write that I see things changing and my columns and coverage returning to what they were. Frankly and sadly, if I can't get them back up to an acceptable level for my own expectations, I may cut back the RTD back even further and focus on the every-down linebacker table and notes and increase my coverage of defensive injuries at the expense of team-by-team notes, tiers, and metrics. John and I also recognize that our IDP content isn't what it once was. We have a few minor contributors, but we are essentially a three man band with Aaron taking over Larry's spreadsheet and working to get the upgrades and waiver suggestions out early in the week. I'm hoping we can add some folks this offseason to increase our defensive coverage. I completely understand why some of you are disappointed in the current state and timing of our IDP coverage. If you're so inclined, please express to David and joe how important you see IDP coverage to your FBG subscription. It helps support the arguments John and I make for more support in the offseason. Appreciate y'all.

I'm sorry you feel your expertise was brushed aside. I value everything that comes into my email inbox. I saved our conversation from 2014 because the information you shared on Andre Ellington was very helpful. At your suggestion, we briefly discussed exchanging emails on injury situations and rehab protocols and I expressed my interest. It looks like the conversation ended there. Thanks for your contribution in the Dez Bryant thread. It's great to have knowledgeable folks willing to help out on the message board.

Heartbroken for you and your family, Shady. Riley will be remembered by so many people here and in the IP community. Peace and comfort.

No ostomy is the ####. Great news, Maurile!

Thinking of you and your family, Shady. Riley is beautiful. I know it may not always seem like it, but your family is doing a great job advocating for Riley and supporting Justin. Don't second guess your instincts. They're coming from love. Keep fighting as a family. Riley is fighting, too. Appreciate the updates. All the best to your family, brother.

I really hope the Eagles find their way to a 4-3 and re-sign Vinny Curry. That may be the best chance for all three linebackers to hold value. All three are so similar, it's hard to project who will play which role, whether 3-4 or 4-3. And they're all under contract (as is DeMeco Ryans). I'd loosely tier them Kendricks = Hicks > Alonso > Ryans. Alonso was always a bit of a mirage to me, with statistics pumped by the Buffalo stat crew and opportunity. I'm nervous about the ACL, too, though he did surprise with what seems to be a stable recovery from the partial tear. Hicks' pectoral issue shouldn't limit him this offseason. I'd play this the same way we played the CHI situation this summer. Pick the player you feel has the most all-around talent or wait and see who seems most undervalued. We should have a better expectation after the Eagles hire a coach. With any luck, we'll get a personnel assessment around draft time. I think we'll see changes in Miami's depth chart, too. For now, I'd roster only Jelani Jenkins, crossing my fingers he finds a way to be much more durable than he's been as an every-down linebacker. Zach Vigil got some run as an up-and-comer at one point, but never cracked the lineup despite injuries to those ahead of him. OTAs will matter here.

The entire front seven is a mess and the coaching situation is unknown. Among the defensive end group, Jason Pierre-Paul and Robert Ayers are not under contract for 2016 and Owa Odighizuwa has durability concerns. But those would be the three I'd consider rostering through the offseason. JPP still has his legs, but I still have a hard time believing he'll be get back to a dominant two-way end with his hand injuries. He'd be a hold in shallow leagues and a sell high if already rostered. OO is a roster hold in leagues where 30 or more DE are on rosters. He's got the most upside of this group. I believe in his talent and ceiling, but the loss of developmental time this year may delay his arrival. I think he's a more skilled and technically ready version of Demarcus Lawrence, who really struggled early this year in his first real snaps as a pro. Ayers is talented enough to produce when given a good volume of snaps, but his ultimate value is dependent on opportunity. And we won't know that for certain until after free agency and the draft.

I don't anticipate getting a full set of tiers out before getting back from the Senior Bowl in late January. And those will be cursory compared to the first full set of tiers I'll do just after the NFL draft, where I give every team and position group some deep thought as my basis for everything to follow in OTAs, camp and preseason. If you guys would like to turn this thread into a discussion of unclear situations, I'm game to contribute my best guesses at 2016. Hopefully, others will as well.

I think I goofed up a database function here. Can someone confirm the article is readable now? Thanks.

We had to cancel the podcast unexpectedly this week. I lost my voice, John was traveling and in a hotel with poor access, and Aaron was unable to fill in on very short notice. Bloom tweeted about this earlier this week, and we're sorry to have disappointed everyone. I'll have much more on our IDP coverage and content at some point. As those of you who have emailed and tweeted me have likely recognized, I'm struggling to keep up with things this year. Briefly, however, there's absolutely no mandate from Joe and David to decrease our IDP coverage and any perceived drop in service this year is entirely because those few of us who have long been doing the work of many have seen their non-FBG responsibilities skyrocket this year. Know that we are aware of everyone's concerns and trying very hard to meet the high expectations we've always set for ourselves.

Footballguys will have snap counts this year displayed on player pages, game logs, and elsewhere. Doug Drinen is also going to have them in their own weekly report. All counts will be on one page, separated by position, with every week to date on the same page. Offensive counts are ready now everywhere. Defensive counts are on player pages and game logs. We're hoping to have defensive counts displayed in a weekly report by the end of the week. Future weeks should have these counts ready by late Monday, possibly earlier. I'm really excited about these. If you're not a subscriber and can't see the weekly report, here's a screenshot from a tweet I sent yesterday.

This absolutely plays a role. For example, here's a great article from Mike Tanier, with reference to a study showing an increased risk of ACL tears in players who land in a certain way. Similar factors may be known for other biomechanical issues. Fatigue and subclinical muscle strains probably play a role, too. Things like this are on the cutting edge of injury metrics right now. The GPS data is being used in all sorts of proprietary ways from team to team. Some are undoubtedly way ahead of others.

Have no idea what prompted them to kill the statistics sub. We learned on Friday our stat provider has included snap counts in our package this year. That means we'll have snap counts displayed in their own easy to use and navigate report (similar to the target reports), on player pages, on game logs, on game recaps, and probably other places very soon. The game recaps and count report is already ready and possibly posted on the Week 2 page. Defensive players aren't up yet, but I'm told should be W2 at the latest. So, you'll have a non-Gamebook option shortly if you're interested.

Upside DL3 at best. I'm not sure how he'll fare as an all-around player as a rookie. And I'm generally not high on rookie edge rushers. Maybe there's Anthony Barr potential here, but I'm going to need some on-field convincing. Thanks, I'll add him into the dynasty stash tier.