u/SnthonyAtark

https://preview.redd.it/7j5dvqteo3yh1.jpeg?width=254&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f662a0b1871cb33a446a7992708cb2b896ce0604

That’s funny because I accidentally posted the cropped version lol

https://preview.redd.it/urf30htg52yh1.jpeg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7d57660d65825dfd9eb014d214935ffb172e7a09

Same concept

I mean you may as well. He’s 35 & on an expiring contract.

Yeah, I think the Lions are probably favored against the Rams. Maybe it’s a pick em if they’re playing in SoFi at night.

I mean, they are currently moving to have the AD search now instead of December when the new president even starts. Something tells me they want a new AD in place sooner rather than later so they can can get the ball rolling on a potential new hire.

I agree. I’m also Catholic, but the issue I have with Catholic teaching on the matter is that it’s largely impractical (will expand later). I’m also in medical school & have interacted with a lot of people in the field, and a lot of them just refuse to give their patients birth control.

The official Catholic stance on birth control is that most of it is bad because it “directly interferes with the procreative act,” which is why Catholic teaching firmly opposes all forms of birth control that are not abstinence. From their perspective, they are preventing their patients from sinning, and there is also an argument that removing consequences from sex (i.e. pregnancy, STDs, etc.) enables it. It’s also worth noting that the vast majority of these physicians are not just dropping their patients, and in medical emergencies or cases of SA, they are not withholding the needed care, and they support the usage of OCPs when they aren’t used for strictly preventing pregnancy (I.e. to alleviate period-related issues). The approach I’ve seen is most of them are just convinced that the benefits of utilizing abstinence or controlled abstinence outweigh the downsides of modern birth control. I would argue that where most of them are coming from is well-intentioned, even if it is impractical.

The overarching issue with their logic is that the Catholic Church also teaches the concept of “concupiscence,” which is the idea that humanity is inherently drawn to sin & that it is practically impossible for a human being to NOT commit sinful acts. On the grand scale of things, using birth control that prevents fertilization is a lesser sin than an abortion. It’s proven that telling teens don’t have sex doesn’t work; they will always do it anyway. So at that point, it’s either do you give them access to birth control or do you withhold? They’re going to do it regardless of anything you say, and if there is a pregnancy, they are the exact demographic that is likely to get an abortion. So from a practical standpoint, prevention is absolutely better, but Catholic teaching is unable to accept that no matter how much you tell them not to, teens are going to fuck each other & the church’s own teachings on human nature are congruent with that finding.

With prenatal care, that’s the portion that a lot of Catholic physicians actually agree on. The Catholic OB/GYN docs that I know have specifically opened up clinics specifically to provide that care & counseling to pregnant women at the community level (I.e. don’t require insurance) as well as offering postpartum care young mothers with pediatricians in the same clinics. I respect them very deeply for actually trying to practice their faith in a way that actually supports & cares for others and is attempting to reduce abortions by offering an alternative & support as opposed to most conservatives being content feigning care about abortion until the baby is born, at which point stripping healthcare & resources from them so they can fend for themselves with no support becomes the standard because why care for a human being after they’re born?

Yeah, and we’re at a point now where even if preventing abortion is your most important issue because of your religious practices, the Republican party’s platform largely goes against the rest of the teachings of Christ.

As a side, but Brock Bowers needs to just change his position from TE to WR. He already plays WR full-time, and getting a TE-market resetting deal of like $22 million APY, he’d be making less than the likes of Courtland Sutton, Michael Wilson, and Alec Pierce; players he is better than at the position they play lol

Appreciate you haha

Sure, LaPorta is better than both in contested situations as well. Loveland I think is a better & more diverse route runner who can also line up more as a receiver than LaPorta while also being a much more effective run blocker in-line & about the same in pass pro (though I wouldn’t really weigh that too much, as both are running routes like 80+% of the time). You could argue LaPorta is a more effective receiver, but Loveland is a more complete TE, which is why I give him an edge.

Kraft vs LaPorta is much more interesting. It comes down to preference on how much you weigh receiving vs blocking. Kraft I think is actually overrated as a receiver by a lot of packers fans. He’s got very poor lateral agility when you watch him, which makes him really stiff when running routes. His route running just looks kinda bad when you watch, but it works anyway. Weirdly though, his blocking is so good (Kraft is top 3 amongst TEs) that teams have to respect him as a blocker, allowing him to draw favorable matchups consistently in a way LaPorta doesn’t that allow Kraft to be open anyway. His contributions as a receiver are because of his blocking, whereas LaPorta is the opposite with serviceable enough run blocking that he can be trusted to do it, but he is not making an impact as a 6th OL out there the way guys like Kittle & Kraft are. As a receiver, he’s clearly great, but he’s not Bowers, Loveland, or McBride where he can line up consistently as a WR or all over the formation and still be effective. I think it’s splitting hairs, though.

Flaired lol

I think Brad could actually make it work similar to what he’s done with the contracts for Hutch, Kerby, Jack Campbell and ARSB. Next year, they will have a collective cap hit of $64.9 million despite having a combined $116.75 million average yearly value of their contracts next season.

Stands to reason Branch & LaPorta could also get paid and it be within reason.

Praying the Buccaneers continue to suck & fire Todd Bowles. Connected to DC from his time in Miami. Runs an aggressive scheme that fits DC’s style, and likely will not be an NFL HC again. Would be a great long-term solution for DC if it happens.

He’s probably not worth the market-resetting contract he’s going to command, but right now the ship has sailed on drafting TEs that can replace LaPorta at the moment - college football has a lack of TE talent currently. I would resign him if I’m Brad Holmes.

Posters saying he’s top 5 are probably overestimating it a little because I’d say he’s in the 5-7 range. I would say he’s a great receiver and serviceable but not great blocker in-line, but the receiving aspect is what shows up in the box score & in fantasy so that’s what people weigh more when the in-line blocking is just as important. I would put all of Loveland (great blocker & great receiver), Kittle (elite blocker, great receiver), Bowers (elite receiver), and McBride (elite receiver) ahead of him for sure, and I’d probably put Kraft (elite blocker, mid receiver) at 5, LaPorta (mid blocker, great receiver) 6, and Dallas Goedert (good blocker, good receiver) at 7 with 5-7 being closer and in the same tier.

I don’t know if he’s “right” in the sense he’s getting screwed by the Lions, but I can certainly understand feeling how he does. His perspective is absolutely valid.

If you’re the Lions’ GM, are you giving a guy coming off of a spine injury a record-breaking deal this offseason? Definitely no

That said, his comments make it sound like there has been minimal communication from the front office. If the plan was to just see how he plays after the injury, it would be in Brad Holmes’ best interest to communicate something along the lines of “hey man, we want you to be part of our organization for years to come, but coming off of the injury we can’t offer you the top of the market deal you want right now. Let’s play out the season then revisit this later in the season or after. Just keep doing what you’re doing and hopefully we’ll get there.”

Correct. I’m Catholic, and I have such a hard time understanding why they do so little to prevent pregnancy in the first place. Giving children no resources to prevent pregnancy & then shaming them is completely impractical. Teenagers are stupid & will have sex anyway, but this reality is completely ignored.

My dad is the same way and says abortion is the one issue he cares about. But hey, as long as abortion it’s illegal it’s okay to strip the children of healthcare, allow school shootings, withhold support from their education, and deprive them of food so that the ultra wealthy can continue feeding their pathological levels of greed lol

Because being born is all that matters, not the world they’re being born into.

This 👆👆

It’s insane to me that some of my extremely progressive friends opted not to vote in the 2024 election because Kamala wasn’t pro-Palestine. On one hand, I get that being a major issue making you not want to vote for someone. However, when the election boils down to Normal boring lady vs Hitler 2.0, your reason for not voting needs to be better than “yeah but boring lady didn’t agree with me on this issue so I’m not voting for her.” An abstained vote may as well be a vote for the opposition because they consistently turn out.

At least the Lions are fun to watch. The defense is bad but the DL is good & gives us some fun stuff, even if the coverage has been ass.

Michigan’s offense isn’t even a fun kind of bad. It’s just straight ass.

Yeah, and Paris Johnson Jr. being put on season-ending IR probably isn’t a great sign.

Yeah, and they’re getting better every week too. Miller had some miscues, but growing pains are to be expected with a rookie tackle.

The Lions do, which is why we cut Terrion.

Well, the Lions might because they now have a starting center/guard surplus & Scruggs is already familiar with the Texans, but I doubt they trade to get him back midseason at a premium when they just traded him away & he hits FA this offseason.

No no, it was all just the cheating.

It’s the same with 2023. Going into the game, their fans were saying “We’re going to win and invalidate the last two years since you can’t cheat now” because Stallions was gone, Harbaugh left Sherrone in charge, and they had 6 weeks to change signs.

Now? We only beat them in 2023 because we cheated. Go figure lol