#and this won’t be another defamation of jason’s character

[ingek73]

Palace aides fear the review of Duchess Meghan’s ‘bullying’ is being slow-walked

December 13, 2021

By Kaiser

It cannot be overstated: Kensington Palace is Clownsington Palace. They are a complete and utter clownshow. I would place the blame on the lack of professionalism of the senior aides, but really, we have to blame Prince William and Kate. They’re the ones hiring these terrible people. So, Jason Knauf, the Cambridges and the KP staff had a big idea back in 2018: they began a campaign to defame, demean, smear and bully the Duchess of Sussex out of the country and out of her marriage. Part of the campaign was that every single person at KP freaked out whenever Meghan said anything to them. If Meghan asked for the time, aides would collapse into a tearful pile, knowing that Meghan was undermining their confidence. So began the long-con, the fail-safe smear against Meghan, which was boldly revealed just before the Sussexes’ Oprah interview this year: staffers complained that Meghan was a – gasp – bully.

It was one of the most obvious oppo dumps I’ve ever seen, and it came straight from Kensington Palace. Buckingham Palace compounded KP’s attempted character assassination by saying that they would open up an investigation into KP staffers’ claims, nevermind that those staffers already rescinded the claims. Post-Oprah interview, BP tried to get this catastrophe off their plate. They hired a law firm to conduct the review, and Meghan’s lawyer has been in touch with BP, “demanding to see any documents, emails or text messages relating to the bullying complaint against her.” What was originally supposed to be a three-month review has been going on for nine months, and sources have said we won’t hear anything until 2022. Now Becky English at the Daily Mail has some interesting news: “aides” are worried that the review is being half-assed and slow-walked?

A Buckingham Palace inquiry into allegations the Duchess of Sussex bullied staff has so far only interviewed ‘a tiny handful’ of people who worked for her. The revelation has prompted fears that the investigation, set up nine months ago, is being ‘kicked into the long grass’.

Palace aides announced in March that they were launching an internal inquiry into claims Meghan’s behaviour drove two personal assistants out of the household and ‘undermined the confidence’ of a third. Staff were said to have been left in tears and feeling ‘traumatised’.

The royal household subsequently employed a third-party law firm to probe the claims, paid for by the family privately, in a move that some predicted could increase tensions between Harry and Meghan and ‘the institution’. The allegations are strongly denied by the duchess, whose lawyers described them at the time as a ‘calculated smear campaign’.

But the Daily Mail has now established that only a small number of royal employees – both past and present – have actually been spoken to. These are likely to include the two PAs, another staff member and possibly Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, who was then working as Prince William’s private secretary.

The Sussexes would, on average, have had around 15 employees working for them at any one time – with up to 25 over the course of Meghan’s brief time in the Royal Family between 2017 and 2020. But there is such a wall of silence around the entire probe, on the orders of the Queen’s ultra-cautious private secretary Sir Edward Young, that no one within the household has been told whether it is even still ongoing.

Part of the problem is that the Palace has never before had to deal with an official bullying complaint against a member of the royal family – effectively an employer – and so has no precedent on which to act. And with such a narrow scope of inquiry, sources ask what the investigation will actually achieve.

One told the Mail: ‘I think they [the Palace] are slightly caught between a rock and a hard place on this…There are obviously serious questions to be asked as to how the original complaints about bullying made against the duchess were handled internally. From what anyone hears, interviews have only taken place with a handful of people. It’s been far from comprehensive.’

[From The Daily Mail]

First of all, it’s not on Buckingham Palace’s plate anymore, so I have no idea what these quotes are even about. Do the Kensington Palace clowns understand that the law firm is acting as a third-party so as to NOT get BP mixed up in the clownery? As for “only” interviewing a handful of people… Jason Knauf contacted Simon Case about three people who felt bullied by Meghan. I assume the law firm has spoken to those three people, even though those people rescinded their accusations before Knauf even leaked the story to the Times in March.

Anyway, the endgame: Buckingham Palace is trying to think of a way out of this which: A) doesn’t involve Meghan publicly calling out their lies and racism and B) doesn’t make William, Kate and Jason Knauf look like vindictive little morons. The fact that, in all of these years we’ve been hearing all of the hysteria about how Meghan treated staffers, we’ve never gotten any specifics is all you need to know about the crux of the review problem. If they had a good story of Meghan telling someone off or yelling at someone for incompetence, we truly would have heard that story by now.

[funnythingshere0-blog]

Fantasy Football: The Case Against Evan Engram

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Fantasy Football: The Case Against Evan Engram

This article is part of The Fantasy Court series, be sure to check out The Case For Evan Engram by Matthew Betz (@TheFantasyPT). Check out where Andy, Mike, and Jason have Evan Engram projected in the Ultimate Draft Kit.

Opening Statement

Today, we tackle the difficult case of Evan Engram’s questionable — nay, downright criminal — acquisition of a top-five ranking in fantasy football. The defendant’s spokesman, the esteemed Matthew Betz, will likely cite Engram’s incredible rookie season as evidence of his innocence. And I admit, the evidence appears strong: the man had 64 receptions for 722 yards and 6 touchdowns, truly revelatory stats for a first-year talent at the position.

Yet, 2017 in MetLife Stadium was much like London and Paris at the beginning of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. Namely, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the spring of hope for Engram and his young, blossoming career, but it was also the winter of despair (read: “injury”) for everyone else in New York.

As such, if it pleases the court, I will attempt to show why Evan Engram’s suspect possession of 115 targets in 2017 was the direct result of his inflated fantasy production and why said production will dip considerably in 2018, robbing drafters of their championship dreams.

The Return of the King (and a Prince or Two)

As I’m sure you all remember, Odell Beckham Jr. — arguably the most talented young receiver in the game and certainly the best pass-catcher on the Giants — missed the final 11 games of 2017 with a fractured ankle. What you may not remember is that the next two names on New York’s opening depth chart also missed hefty chunks of the season. Sterling Shepard was officially inactive for five total games and less than 100% in several others, as he dealt with ankle, hamstring, and migraine issues throughout the year. Additionally, then-newly-acquired Brandon Marshall missed every game after Week 5, leaving Roger Lewis and Tavarres King (who only played eight games himself) as the WR target leaders behind Shepard.

If you just said, “Who?!” to the monikers of Lewis and King, you’re starting to get the picture. The Giants’ dearth of wideouts in 2017 reached truly epic proportions and was — I would contend — directly responsible for the astronomical 115 targets accrued by Evan Engram. For reference, that was the second-most in the league, behind only Pro Bowl shoo-in Travis Kelce.

Now, OBJ will return to a field he unquestionably dominates. The super-elite wideout had totaled no fewer than 130 targets in a season before last year — and the 130 was in his 12-game rookie season. He’s a lock for 150-160 targets, or around double the target count of any WRs playing alongside Engram last season.

We haven’t yet mentioned the touchdowns. Beckham’s yearly 16-game pace has been about 13 receiving touchdowns … and he tied for the most among Giants’ wideouts last year with 3 TDs in four games. There will be a lot more competition in the red zone with OBJ on the field, which could easily knock a couple scores off Engram’s total.

Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Throw in a healthy Shepard entering his third season in the NFL, and you may have another guy capable of 110-plus targets and several scores. We’re already running out of room for Engram to repeat his 2017 target-hoggery and corresponding fantasy brilliance.

While the WR3 position is still less than impressive (New York only added Cody Latimer and Russell Shepard in the offseason), there is another pass-catcher entering the fold that could have a big impact on Engram’s prospects.

A New Hope

Unless you just came back to fantasy football today, you’ve probably heard of Saquon Barkley. Barkley was the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft this spring and enters the league with more hype and expectation than any rookie running back since Ezekiel Elliott — and possibly more. I won’t go into the justifications for the hype here, but check out Corey Evans’ Rookie Profile and my own mini-breakdown of Barkley’s landing spot. Suffice it to say, the young man can play football.

So how does this affect Evan Engram, a tight end? Funny you should ask! In fact, it’s in more ways than one.

First, if it isn’t obvious, Barkley is the heralded pass-catcher I referenced above. With 102 receptions in three college seasons, the Penn State product is potentially a Le’Veon-Bell-level receiving talent. Where the shell of Shane Vereen managed to lead NYG backs in targets (53) and receptions (44) last year, Barkley figures to step in and explode. If you have access to the Ultimate Draft Kit, you can find Andy, Mike, and Jason’s projections for Barkley (and all other relevant fantasy players) — all three have the rookie down for between 60 to 69 receptions. (If you don’t have the UDK, go get it, I’ll wait). Personally, I think he could top 85 targets and 70 receptions, but whatever the exact number, he will snag a hefty share of Eli Manning‘s pass attempts in 2018.

Not only that, a chunk of those targets are likely to be just the sort of safety-valve opportunities that Engram thrived on in 2017. Engram’s aDOT (average depth of target) last year was a middling 8.8 yards, lower than Gronk and Kelce, veterans Greg Olsen and Delanie Walker, and fellow rookies O.J. Howard and David Njoku. If Manning needs a reliable target when the line breaks down, Engram could now be the fourth read behind OBJ, Barkley, and even Shepard, instead of the first.

The second big reason for concern is red zone usage. The one place Engram could have potentially improved on his 2017 numbers, to make up for the expected drop in targets, would be touchdowns. He had a respectable six scores as a rookie, but all of them came on red zone targets and five of them came on plays inside the 10-yard line. Expect the Giants to look to Barkley often in these critical situations (not to mention veteran thumper Jonathan Stewart), further limiting Engram’s upside in fantasy.

Back to the Future (of Game Scripts)

Okay, I’m stretching the awesome-movie-series-headings bit to the breaking point, but hear me out here. The New York Giants have not had a running back break 225 carries since Ahmad Bradshaw did it in 2010. They haven’t topped 405 rushing attempts as a team since 2014 — league average is around 425. Last year, in Engram’s voluminous rookie season, they led the NFL in pass attempts with 608.

It certainly didn’t help that their defense ranked 31st in yards allowed and 27th in points allowed in 2017. They were truly atrocious, with down years from edge defender Olivier Vernon and cornerback Janoris Jenkins, and inconsistency from a former top-10 pick, cornerback Eli Apple. Still, they have some highly talented players and an overall rush defense and secondary that Pro Football Focus ranks in the top half of the league (14th and 15th respectively). It won’t take much to improve on last year’s debacle.

Combine a potential defensive improvement with a bolstered offensive line (including LT Nate Solder and rookie LG Will Hernandez) and the addition of Saquon Barkley, and you’re looking at a team in far fewer negative game scripts than they saw in 2017 (when they went 3-13). Heck, Jason Moore himself considers them a dark-horse Super Bowl contender! Theoretically, all of that means fewer pass attempts, which means that Engram’s already-reduced target share will translate to even less raw production. Especially with Eli Manning on the waning side of his long and semi-illustrious career, it would not be surprising to see the team’s pass attempts to drop by close to 100 in 2018.

Conclusion

Let me be clear, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. I do not intend to besmirch Evan Engram’s talent or personal character, lest I open myself to a countersuit for defamation and/or libel. The young man is an extremely gifted football player with a bright future. However, I refuse to allow Engram’s 2017 impersonation of an elite, target-hogging tight end to adversely affect his draft price in 2018. Over the past five years, top-five tight ends in fantasy have averaged a cool 120 targets per season. To truly reach a stratosphere worthy of the TE5 ranking and 6th-round ADP to which Engram currently holds the claim, he would likely need to improve on his 2017 production.

Simply put, it’s not happening this season. Engram’s target count will drop well into the double-digits, and even if he improves on very poor 2017 efficiencies, that won’t be enough to break the top five. Engram will be a TE1, but I would take seven tight ends ahead of him in drafts (including Jimmy Graham, Delanie Walker, and Trey Burton), and wouldn’t even sniff him until the 8th round. Sadly, you will never get him at that price, and will instead be forced to roster Engram over upside RBs like Rex Burkhead and Marshawn Lynch or strong WR2 candidates like Sammy Watkins and Julian Edelman. Steer clear Foot Clan, or end up sniffling your way through the loser’s bracket when fantasy playoffs roll around.

Source: https://www.thefantasyfootballers.com/articles/fantasy-football-the-case-against-evan-engram/