Alphadawg7
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Posts posted by Alphadawg7
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my understanding of Marcel's suspension was that it was for missing a drug test, not failing one.
same situation for Bell, he got 4 games and it was reduced to 3 on appeal Friday.
I'm hoping that precedent will help Dareus get back on the field for that 4th game in New England, assuming he is out of rehab and ready to play at that time. Has he appealed the suspension yet?
It wasn't reduced because he missed the test, a missed test equals a failed test 100% which equals a 4 game suspension in their respective cases. The case of Bell is that there was questions on how much of it was his fault and how much of it was the testers fault. Evidently, there was enough of something that they didn't feel it was all Bells fault and reduced it on appeal.
Based on everything thats come out of Dareus case, I don't see any reduction coming from him. He's definitely been apologetic and seems to have taken full responsibility on his side for having missed the test. Unless some new information comes out suggesting there were some other factors, it appears to me that Dareus is fully at fault. And to be honest, based on the fact he has checked himself into rehab suggests to me that he missed the test because he didn't want to take the test because he was going to fail the test. You don't check into rehab because you forgot an appointment...you check into rehab because of you have a substance control issue and need help.
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As many of you know I can be one of the teams biggest critics/realists. I realize its only two weeks into the preseason games but what I realized Saturday was we have as much if not more speed/talent on this team as anyone in the NFL.
I think it's clear we have a true # 1 QB for the first time since signing Drew Bledsoe. We have a top 5 running back with great depth behind him. A star # 1 receiver with a bunch of fast, young, hungry guys behind him nearly all of whom have game breaking speed. A top 10 tight end with a solid # 2 (Gragg). A formidable offensive line with some young depth.
Rex seemed to be telling the truth with the problem last year being the players not learning the D fast enough/buying into the philosophy. It is pretty clear just by the camp reports and watching them perform that has changed. I think Ed Reed and possibly Rob Ryan have alot to do with that. Teams are not going to be able to throw the ball on us with this secondary and the depth we have. It appears we will be stout against the run as shown so far. The only ? mark i see on D is will we be able to generate a pass rush without having to blitz too often?
And when teams begin losing players with injuries we will be getting two of our stars back (Dareus, Shaq). In the meantime this will allow their backups and younger players to develop. The same could be said with Watkins not playing much allowing more reps for the other receivers. Injuries could be a blessing in disguise in this case. I think the injuries have caused us to sign some solid veteran depth players we might not have otherwise signed. With all of the injuries the only player that we lost for the year who will be missed is Ragland.
I just can't envision this team getting too far down in many games this year. If we do we have the game breakers on offense to get right back into it, starting with the QB.
i think there is a lot of people sleeping on this team, both fans and the media. A full and healthy roster and this team is a serious threat in the AFC IMO. Unfortunately, injuries, suspensions, etc have thinned us out in some key areas leaving a lot of question marks on how the guys stepping will work out.
I think Rex has this team on track and people are foolish to dismiss the accomplishment of going 8-8 after one of the worst years of injuries I have seen...not to mention, all the other challenges already in play besides the injuries with a first year starting QB, new offensive and defensive systems, playing in a tough division last year, etc.
If we can avoid any more critical injuries, especially long term injuries, then I think this team can and will make the playoffs. Divisional title is going to take 12 wins IMO at least, so not going to go there yet as i think the Pats still put up 12 wins this year or better. Jimmy is gonna go 2-2 probably and that Brady led team wont lose more than 2 games, and could lose 1 or even 0 with a pissed off Brady under center (assuming no major injuries of course).
So winning the division still seems a bit out of our reach because I don't see the Pats losing much after a pissed off Brady comes back with even more weapons than he had last year. Our best hope at winning the division is that Jimmy led Pats go 1-3 or 0-4. I think we can potentially win 11 or 12 games this year if our key guys can stay healthy like Sammy, McCoy, Taylor, Gilmore, etc. And of course, if we are to have any shot at the divisional crown (again barring major injuries to the Pats of course) I feel we MUST win week 4 game against NE. If we lose that game, then its quite possible that means Jimmy led Pats went at least 2-2 or even 3-1 and we wont be able to catch them once Brady comes back IMO.
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Alpha, it gets so old reading posts fearing that every player the Bills release will "come back to haunt them" -- particularly because it has pretty much never happened.
Despite what so many like to think, the Bills aren't complete idiots. Karlos is. As a couple of days have passed more and more info has begun to come out suggesting it wasn't something as simple as "he couldn't lose the weight." And don't forget, many questioned Karlos' social media antics and lack of, umm, smarts, prior to the "pregnancy weight" issue. I know I was mentioning it a long time ago.
Do you think we don't already all know he has potential? That's not the point. Why should the Bills hold onto an out of shape, immature clown "with potential" when they have other players who have been impressive and/or have that SAME potential?
Yes, of course, if Karlos suddenly "gets it together" (unlikely) and avoids further concussions (possible) then he may have a successful NFL career -- but anyone who thinks this is a future HOFer who is going to "make the Bills pay" down the road is just a little misguided -- in my opinion.
My prediction? Karlos is out of the league within two years. You can't un-do dumb.
Except I didn't say any of that eBall. My entire post was in SUPPORT of cutting him. I said it was disappointing it came to this after a promising start to his career. You just chose part of one sentence and twisted it to say something I didn't...thats what I get tired of.
Again, I clearly stated he earned getting cut and we did what we should have done, which is cut him. That doesn't change the fact that the kid flashed a lot of potential last year, and the fact that all 3 divisional rivals have RB needs, even the Jets given Forte isn't much more than a short term player at his age. It doesn't change the fact that if the kid gets his act together, he has a load of potential as a young player to rebuild his career somewhere. It doesn't change the fact that as dumb as you say he is, on the field, that so called "dumb" player produced at a high level. RB is probably the least cerebral position in the NFL.
So its annoying when something I did not say gets twisted by cherry picking a few words to say something else. All I did was point out its disappointing to see a promising young player fall off this team so fast, especially if the kid gets a shot on one of our RB needy rivals and he gets his career back on track. At no point did I proclaim he's going to be so HOF RB on one of our divisional rivals. The kid has potential...its a shame he shot himself in the foot here and wont get a chance to reach that potential here and it would also be a shame if he got his crap together and did start to tap into that potential for a divisional rival, which all have RB question marks of some sort.
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Yeah, sure he will. Belichick loves dumb players.
You conveniently left out the full sentence I wrote...which specifically stated ..."if he gets his crap together." So the completely quote was "Especially because the kid has a load of potential and if he goes to a divisional rival (all 3 could use him) he could very well could go not to haunt us for years if he gets his crap together."
But of course you completely ignored that I said he has potential, not that he's a stud...ignored that I said it would take him getting his crap together...etc. Instead you wrote a sarcastic response and chose to cherry pick one part of the quote to somehow paint the picture that I claimed he will go on to haunt us of years with a divisional rival.
Geezus, its exhausting trying to have a real dialogue on this board lately. Epic fail on your reply...
Karlos didn't count against the 53 while suspended. No one "had to go."
But he would once he was back and then who do you cut? Again, the roster spot was either Karlos or Jonathan IMO. Mike was going no where, and they are excited about putting Bush out there in mismatch type spots and he's more than just a suspension filler in their minds. They chose to invest in JW at this point and I don't think Karlos left them much choice. He wasn't close to being ready in terms of being in shape and the other 4 had out played him and earned their spots ahead of him.
Not to mention, this team really needed to send a message that if you don't bring it, come ready to play, etc then your spot isn't guaranteed. As much as I wanted to see Karlos back in Buffalo, I still see why Buffalo cut him and he forced their hand with his offseason.
Furthermore, RB is not a concern, we have a healthy McCoy, Mike has proven to be a good RB for us last year, we got a promising rookie, and Bush adds a different dimension to the position. We are fine at RB and Karlos was very much competing for his spot like all the RB's not named McCoy and shot himself in the foot 3 times. Three strikes and you're out...he came to camp fat, very fat for his position...he got suspended...he wasn't out playing the other 4 guys or getting in shape fast enough. 3 strikes and your are out...and most guys don't even get a chance to get to 3 strikes, so he has no one to blame but himself.
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I see all these speculative ideas to what happened in this thread...but I don't know why. There is a pretty clear cut case against Karlos and the team has been pretty clear about it.
1. He came into camp incredibly out of shape...not a little, but the kind of out of shape that takes time to fix.
2. He is suspended for the first 4 games. Thats already 2 strikes against him.
3. We signed Bush and drafted Williams. That means there are currently 4 RB's ahead of him on the depth chart in McCoy, Gillisee, Bush, and Williams. Most teams don't keep 5 RB's unless that 5th one is a major contributor on ST.
4. All 4 RBs ahead of him aren't just ahead of him because of the suspension, but also because they are ready to play and have out played Karlos.
Someone had to go. You are not going to cut McCoy. You are not going to cut Gilisee. You signed Bush to be a both a RB during the suspension and also a weapon that can be deployed during the season so unless he came in and struggled (which he hasn't) then you probably don't cut him. And the rookie you just drafted has looked good too, so it mostly comes down to this rookie that we just invested the same round draft pick in who is in shape and ready to play and not suspended or the fat 5th round RB from last year who not only is waaaaaaay out of shape but also suspended.
Personally, I am very disappointed that after a very impressive rookie season that Karlos journey has led here and not on this team. Especially because the kid has a load of potential and if he goes to a divisional rival (all 3 could use him) he could very well could go on to haunt us for years if he gets his crap together. But at the same time, this is the time of year where you have to start making cuts, and like I pointed out above, we were not going to carry 5 RB's into the season opener and he forced their hand. Had he made the roster and ran into some trouble, I think he may have had a shot to stick around, but because his troubles saw him fall behind 4 other guys who all look the part, there wasn't really another choice during cut season IMO.
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Except that rules don't typically get changed mid-season, especially not rules regarding the use of banned substances.
I agree that it's silly; that doesn't mean he should be doing it.
Exactly, which is why I said even though the rule SHOULD change, its not a shame on the NFL situation, its a shame on Marcell because until the rules change, he must abide by them like all the other rules...
That being said, the NFL needs to change this rule around cannabis because its outdated, doesn't give a player a competitive advantage, and is safer for pain management and recreational use than the other legal alternatives like harmful and addictive pain meds and alcohol for recreational uses.
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Where do people get this BS? Nothng regarding pot " proven helpful to athletes that give their bodies and suffer from chronic pain."
I'll,say it again weed is aganst federal law period. It is a schedule 1 drug. So to the point that it's "legal in some states". Doesn't mean squat.
This is coming from somene who understands medicinal values of pot. Not just THC.
If you have links to support your "proven" claims. By all means post them.
Its a sham that its a schedule 1 narcotic which by definition means it has no medicinal value. Yet meth and cocaine are schedule 2 which are incredibly dangerous and addictive and the use of them can cause irreversible harm and death. The Federal government still sends medical marijuana to 3 people every single month for medicinal purposes. The Federal government holds medical patents on the use of cannabis for medical reasons. The Federal government discovered it attacked cancer cells under Gerald Fords administration.
This nonsense that its a CSA 1 controlled substance is as false as it comes. It not only has medicinal applications, been proven in countless studies and research world wide, but also been proven to be acknowledged by the US Federal Govt in a multitude of documents, patents, programs, etc.
The ONLY reason its still a CSA1 scheduled drug is because of special interest groups holding it down as long as they can because of Billions of dollars at risks to those groups.
The NFL should no longer ban the use of it period because athletes both prefer and are safer utilizing cannabis then harmful prescription medications. It should be the choice of the athlete as it is not a performance enhancer on the field. The NFL can still enforce penalties or suspensions to those who get into legal trouble through the use of cannabis all they want, meaning they illegally acquired it or did something stupid while using it like drive and get in a car accident...no different than how they enforce incidents related to alcohol.
All that being said, its still not allowed by the NFL and athletes need to abide by what is required of them and what the current rules are. Even if the rule is absolutely stupid, out dated, and factually wrong...its still the rule. Just like its STUPID they can't celebrate in the end zone without a penalty, its still the rule and they have to abide by such rules until they are changed. So if Marcell did something stupid in regards to cannabis, then shame on him, not the NFL. But the NFL still NEEDS to change their policy and the players want the change.
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I thought the exact same thing! Dude was dumb to bring a girl to his room, but was the sacrificial "teach a lesson / accountability" lamb.
Loved the beginning when he's fishing with his kid, who's the exact same dud!
Yes it would!
Didn't realize so many TBD'ers live in OC - if I'm out there, while there's a game on, we'll have to meet up and have a beer or 5! Love that area, it's trying to temp me to leave Vermont's winters behind, for sure...
I don't live in OC, I live at the beach near LAX just south of Venice and Marina Del Rey. But I would be down to make a meetup somewhere within the region during the season. I also am a straight shot from the new Rams stadium location thats being built...literally if you take the road its on all the way to the beach you would hit my house...so can't wait for them to move into their new home and I can Uber there in 10 minutes.
I was a Ram fan when I was young during the Ellard, Flipper, etc era's. So good to see them back in LA and excited to get behind them as my second team...and since they suck, no one can call me a band wagoner lmao.
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Maybe 1-5. But I don't see this team beating anyone on that schedule right now
When happens then? Another year blamed on injuries or guys missing? Please. There is a certain point as a fan where you stop believing the crap that comes out of this organizations mouth. This year could not have started off any worse, only thing now that would top it all is if we lose a key guy on offense b/c Rex is obsessed with pre season games.
There is no way this is a legit thread...we have won 9 and 8 games the last 2 seasons...and now because 2 rookies are hurt we are going to go winless through 6 games, including losing the literally the worst team in the entire NFL going into the season, the 49ers? All this despite having a more developed Taylor, healthy Watkins, healthy McCoy...Im just gonna stop actually, no reason to keep disputing a fake thread.
You are either 5 years old and have no comprehension of football or are you just putting up another pathetic and trollish post to get reactions. There is no other explanation for the stupidity of this post...and yes, i am flat out calling it stupid because there are no kinder words to be used and the frequency of these appearing on the board is getting overly annoying.
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Is Bellicheat a great coach or is he a lucky coach because his team stumbled upon the best QB ever selected in the 6th round?
Its foolish to say he's lucky and here is why: That argument would be applicable to every coach in every sport in history. Teams don't win Championships with marginal players and just a great coach. Winning in the NFL isn't going to happen without great players...period. So to say he is only "Lucky" because he had Brady is stupid unless you are prepared to say every coach was "lucky" to have so and so (Doesn't always have to be a QB). This Gibbs myth being played out here for instance...those Redskins teams were DEEP with tons of talent and HOF players...to just disregard that because you don't think the QB was one of best ever is comical at best. There are 22 starters on both sides of the ball, the overall talent of the team isn't determined by the ranking of just one player, the QB.
Coaches take those collection of players, some bad, some solid, some great and in some cases there are some that are Elite or historically great...and they put them into position to win against other teams with similar makeups. Once the playoffs begin, you are facing other talented players and teams fighting for the same prize. No matter how good your players are, you still need the right game plan, coaching, preparation, etc to win as OFTEN and CONSISTENTLY as the Patriots do..and its so difficult to do in the NFL where injuries and free agency change the makeup of teams year after year that their era of dominance is rare in terms of success and length of time.
A coach can NOT under ANY circumstance be successful for sustained periods of time without a good team or better. His teams in Cleveland were terrible and bottom third of the league. NO COACH would have succeeded with that roster, so to act like his coaching resume is poor because of that is just trying to find a reason to discredit him.
Patriots turn their roster nearly as much, if not more than, any team in the NFL...including key players. They change their entire game plan every single year, even week to week, to match the state of the roster and its opponents. And they do it with a HIGH level of success. They make what seem like marginal players or finished players before they come to NE into highly productive players, even Pro Bowlers on a regular basis.
Funniest thing about some of these posters in this thread arguing he is lucky to have Brady and he's not a good coach...many are the same posters who say Brady isn't as good as he's hyped because he is just a systems guy and BB is his coach. So which is it? You can't say BB isn't good, just lucky because he has Brady...while also arguing that Brady isn't one of the greatest ever because he benefits from BB and his system.
The truth is, BB is a phenomenal coach and its not even debatable...literally one of the absolutely indisputable statements one can make. At the same time, Coaches have to be fortunate to have players they can build a team around...but don't forget the Coach has a big role in identifying those players too. So to discredit BB and say he is lucky he got Brady completely ignores the fact they are the ones who drafted him when no one else did. So you could say they were SMART to draft Brady when no one else would because they saw something in him they liked that others didn't see enough of to even spend a later round pick on the kid.
Not to mention, players develop through coaching, the system they play in, and the players they play with...again saying BB only wins because of Brady completely disregards all the coaching and development that went into Brady and the game planning they do week to week to put Brady in the best possible scenario for success week to week.
Case Closed...BB is an Elite coach and certainly legitimately in the conversation for best ever.
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Anyone else watching episode 1? A few thoughts:
- Seems crazy the Rams are in L.A.
- Goff looks skinny and seems confused; Greeegg calls him out (Goff got better by the end, Greeeegg did not)
- Not a big fan Fisher, or his staff
- Kendrick and Schoolboy at practice, yes! Likely something not seen at SJF
- Gurley looks fast!
- Rams players should not mess with The Wedge, that wave is dangerous
- Can't believe they're actually going to play NFL football in the coliseum, that place is old as hell...
I could kinda care less about the Rams, but HK is such a fun show to get an inside look at the NFL...
Maybe we'll get our shot next year
Loved the first episode, even cooler its in my backyard! In fact that beach house shot is down the way from me.
After watching All In on Amazon Prime about the full Cardinals season, Fisher seems a bit lame compared to Arians who is a powerhouse. I loved All In, especially since it was a fresh take since its the whole season, not just the preseason, so you get a different take. But I still love Hard Knocks and wish the Bills would do it soon.
The Coliseum is old, but its also pretty cool place to watch games and events. Lots of history there. I went to Forum last weekend to see George Lopez, DL Hugely, Cedrick the Entertainer, Charlie Murphy, etc in a comedy event...and while that place is old as dirt, its still cool to see concerts or events there. Although the seats SUCK if you are tall because the back of the seats are so close to you that you have to do the splits damn near to sit in them. My girl had 3 legs in front of her...her two to the left and mine on her right side lmao.
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Not only that, going into the draft you have one decent WR that's A, injury prone, and B, currently nursing a serious foot injury. Absolutely nowhere did I read in our list of draft needs a WR.
Who in their right mind looked at the rest of the WR roster and decided that WR wasn't even a secondary much less a primary need? Who did that? It should have been at the top of the list.
The reason why it wasn't is because we have Roman, a second-rate OC that's stuck in the '90s with his offenses. He hasn't produced a top-10 offense yet as an OC.
On top of that, you know that the D isn't going to carry the team, largely because Ryan took a top-5 D and had it play below average, to start. You know that the performance of the team this season is going to come down to offense and largely dependent upon Taylor's development.
So you do everything you can to assist Taylor in achieving that, right? Right?
WRONG! Not our team. Not Whaley & Ryan. No, they decide that an injury-prone WR that can't be relied upon to stay healthy and then a cast that makes the Browns' WRs look like Jefferson, Joiner, & Winslow in Air Coryell in their heyday is adequate.
Naturally Clay's "going to have a bigger role." Yawn! Wake me when that happens.
People that are astute see clearly what's going on here. There is absolutely no vision or no master plan, every offseason it's shoot from the hip and react, not be proactive.
Manuel, Watkins, and now Shaq, the three players taken with Whaley's 1st-rounders are a bust, unreliable, and a complete unknown on top of possibly being unreliable. That alone should be enough to condemn Whaley. Especially this year's smarter-by-half approach to drafting Shaq. We knew better except we didn't. That should have a price. In Pegula world it won't.
You should just stop posting on this matter...seriously. Your assesment of our WR group is comical at best. Our offense, even with this so called terrible group of WR's you describe, did pretty good last year even with all the injuries. Our defense let us down more than our offense, so to say WR was our most pressing need is just absurd. Sammy is already a top 10 WR in this league. Do we have the greatest core of WRs in the NFL...no, but we are no where near the bottom or the grim picture you paint.
How many games has Sammy missed in his career in Buffalo? THREE...thats it, and they were all last year. So how is he injury prone? How is he so bad that we needed to draft a new #1 WR? We could get a first round and more if we traded Sammy today without question. Your assessment is ridiculous that I don't even think you would be a good GM in Madden.
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Say what?
Our top 5 WRs were Watkins, Woods, Hogan, Harvin, and Easeley. Harvin was signed exactly for the reasons that fridge cites, a lack of planning and vision on Whaley's part. It's been a perpetual theme since he's been in charge.
They couldn't sign a low-priced WR like Hogan, so now we have no depth. Right, got it.
Watkins always has injury issues and this season is no exception. But any fool knows that you don't go and trade away next year's 1st-rounder for a WR of all positions. That doesn't even address the 4th thrown in too. Woods started 9 games and played in 14, we were 6-8 in those games, meaning we won the two he didn't play in. Maybe he's just not that good. Harvin also had an extensive injury history. That was known. Then you dig to Easeley, the kind of WR that can be found on waivers any day of the week.
Taylor played in 14 games. You make it sound as if he went out in week 4 and stayed out.
McCoy was available for 12 games and we were 3-1 in the games he missed.
Starting TE was Clay and he wasn't anything of consequence such that it was like losing Gronk. We were 2-1 w/o Clay.
Those are pertinent facts.
You may want to reformulate your argument.
Also, every team loses players to injury, it's an expected part of the game. Whaley apologists talk as if we're the only team affected by injuries.
If anything, without our top playmakers we performed better? ... or at least won more games? How can that possibly be? Figure that out, then apply that line of thinking to the argument in generaly.
How about strength-of-schedule, or in our case weakness-of-schedule. Does that factor in anywhere in your analysis?
If not, it should, and you'll see this season why it should.
All of our top 5 WR's were hurt last year, some for parts of the season and some for the whole season. What is confusing to you in regards to that?
The most hilarious part of your whole rant back here is that you literally PROVE my very points in your rant. You say McCoy only missed 4 games and then state we went 3-1 in those games...EXACTLY EXACTLY EXACTLY. Trying to refute the job Whaley did, you down play the loss of McCoy and completely ignore that during those 4 games we had guys like Karlos and Guilisee come in and do pretty good jobs making up for the missing McCoy not to mention McCoy played hurt in other games and they did a good job taking some load off of him...Whaley drafted Karlos...Whaley went and found Gillisee off the street when we didn't have any healthy RBs during the season. You are literally making my EXACT point...Whaley found ways to plug wholes so we could still WIN football games when our Starters went down.
Baltimore didn't do that. Dallas didn't do that. Buffalo did. We won 8 games despite almost NEVER having our starters on the field at the same time on either side of the ball most the season. Taylor MISSED 2 games, but he also played hurt a large part of the season too.
So keep posting...you are only helping prove the exact point that Whaley did a pretty good job filling this team out with depth and then finding more help when injuries ate away at that depth. I mean you keep pointing to how we KEPT winning when our best players were hurt...that doesn't happen if your don't have any depth of find second tier guys who can contribute. Again, CREDIT TO WHALEY. Its like you don't even have a clue to what a GM does and have just decided you don't like him.
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Shaq Lawson is not and will never be Bruce Smith. Stop with this comparison. They play the same position. That's all they have in common.
So out of all I wrote, the only thing you got out of that is something I didn't say? I didn't compare them as players or even imply Shaq is the next Bruce Smith. If you could draft Bruce Smith under the same scenario, no one in their right mind pass Bruce over missing his first 6 weeks as a rookie. In other words, if you as a team believe the prospect on the board is the best guy available and the guy you covet and believe to be a great prospect, you don't pass on him over the possibility of a NON career threatening injury that MAY or MAY not make him miss a few games.
I don't know why it surprises me that people would read that and twist it to mean that I somehow just compared a kid who's never played a down to being as good as Bruce Smith. This is literally why I post here so little anymore because its almost impossible to have real dialogue without people twisting things to the absurd.
The Bills were 10th (171) last season in man games lost last season. The season before that they were 28th (138) in man games lost. Two seasons ago they were 19th (154). So the theory that the Bills are somehow experiencing a greater number of injuries looks to be more perception than reality.
Except those numbers have little relevance to the significance of the players lost. If the Cowboys only lost 2 players...their injury number looks pretty good...but when those 2 players are Romo and Dez, guess what, they pick in the top 3.
So its not about sheer numbers, its who gets hurt which is why its so annoying when people use the dumb blanket statement of "all teams have injuries".
So let me make this very easy to understand statement VERY clear: NOT all teams injuries are EQUAL. if a team loses a bunch of 2nd and third tier players...thats easier to over come than a team losing a few quality starters or great players. If two teams lose 10 players each...but one of those teams is Balt and they lose Flacco, Forsett, Smith, and their #1 draft pick among those 10, while the other team lost a few backups, ST guys and a KR...who do you think is going to struggle more?
The ONLY...and literally THE ONLY way to weigh a teams injury situations is not in group stats of how many, but on a team by team and case by case basis based on the players lost. This is indisputable.
How anyone can brush off the fact we lost our starting QB, all of our RBs on our roster, all 5 of our top 5 WR's, our ace ST player (also a WR), our starting TE, and key OL players is beyond me and thats not even discussing our D side of the ball.
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I said this the day he was drafted, and throughout his time here: He's not a track star trying to play football...hes a football player who also excels in track. This kid can flat out play, he runs good routes and has good hands with the ability to torch anyone at any moment.
However: While early in his career I said its too soon to label him injury prone, he has gone on to really be just that...injury prone and struggled to stay on the field. Doesnt matter if you are the most talented player in the league, it means nothing if you don't stay on the field.
So for me, his impressive camp doesn't surprise me one bit, he always impressed in camp when he wasn't hurt. The kid can play. But everyones jokes and comments referencing his lack of durability are not only valid, but a real concern.
All that being said, its not unheard of for him to beat this injury bug, its been done numerous times in the past. I remember when Fred Taylor was the poster child of injuries early in his career, however, around this point in his career he got past all that and went on to stay relatively healthy the bulk of what was a great career. So lets all just hope he can put those injury concerns behind him and be a real weapon for this team.
What excites me most and remembering what a difference our offense looked like with a healthy Harvin last year. Goodwin can be every bit as good, if not better than a healthy Harvin IMO as long as he doesn't do the other Harvin impression which is get hurt.
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I posted this in the Ragland thread, but I suppose it belongs here...
The rookie injuries are bad luck, but Whaley has been really short-sighted with a lot of moves and these types of injuries shouldn't be so crippling. We never seem to have a back-up plan and have been put in bad situations by a lack of depth. Jeff Tuel started a game at QB. When Kyle Williams and Aaron Williams went down with injury, it was the theme of the season. No one stepped up and dominated in those roles because we had no depth to fill those spots. Our current WR depth is questionable, and I don't know who Whaley could possibly blame for that.
I'm still on the fence with Whaley, but I feel like he needs to be better prepared. Even though he is a great player, the decision to move up to get Watkins looks more like a Detroit Lions move every year. I don't know how a team with no depth can afford to be throwing 1st round picks out the window, and that is a prime example of the nearsightedness I'm referring to.
While I get your post, here is why its wrong IMO.
Offense: Last year we lost our starting QB, starting OL, all of our top 5 WRs, all of our top 4 RBs, and our starting TE to injury for parts or all of the season. Thats every single playmaker, all of the playmakers backups, and key members of the OL. And when many of those guys were on the field, they were playing hurt as some of the injuries either A) Lingered like McCoys Hammy or B) Wouldn't heal because they had to keep playing through due to other guys being out.
Defense: We lost key players like AW and KW for the season, saw other miss time or play hurt as well.
So here is my question: What was our Record last year despite a ridiculous amount of injuries to all of our best players and key starters?
That answer was 8-8. You don't get to 8-8 with those amount of injuries without having depth and finding key values off the street and value in the draft. We had guys like Karlos and Darby come in out of last years draft and be critical in our ability to deal with injuries to the guys who were ahead of them on the depth chart. We had guys no one had ever heard of come in on off the street at key positions like RB (we are a run first team) and fill in because all 3 of our main RBs were out in the same game.
Whaley found those guys...Whaley drafted those guys. But now all of a sudden we have 2 bad luck situations with our top rookies and people suddenly think he's done a bad job? Not to mention, look at the guys filling in for Rags and Shaq, they are having GREAT camps and frequently are highlighted as having the best day overall throughout the roster. He found what looks like good value again in those guys and the guys we signed like Spikes to fill in.
If there is one thing Whaley has PROVEN over and over again, is his ability to find value in the places its usually the hardest too...mid to late draft picks, undrafted rookies, underrated FA's, and guys who havent signed with other teams yet.
You want to look at what happens when teams lose key players at a LESSER extent than we did, then go look at Dallas and Baltimore. Baltimore was bad BEFORE Flacco went down because it lost weapons at WR, RB and then eventually Flacco himself. Dallas is terrible when Dez is out...its terrible when Romo is out...its atrocious when they are both out. How many games did Dallas win last year? How many games did Baltimore win last year? Both supposed to be in the playoffs, both had LESS injuries than we did, yet we had more wins them both of them combined last year.
Whaley has done a great job...they knew the risk with Shaq, and honestly, if the player is that good, you don't pass on him because he might miss half a season. If Bruce Smith had the same situation and was available in the same spot, you DONT pass on him because he might have to miss 6 games with a NON career threatening injury. Now if its one that might shorten or damage his career, then thats a different scenario, but that was NEVER the case with Shaq's questionable shoulder situation in the draft.
Good job Whaley, and I am thrilled you were extended and IMO are one the top 10 GM's in football right now.
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With all the angst about Lawson being out and the Chargers too cheap to sign him, should we trade For Joey Bosa and what should we give them? I would start with next yrs first.
I see a lot of people mocking this notion, however, things like this have happened before, including with us getting Bennett as some have already mentioned. I don't think this becomes a real possible option until we are well into the regular season if he hasn't signed yet as they have until week 10. And even then, they would still control his rights past week 10 and could look to trade him then to a team who would have no shot at him in the 2017 draft if he was forced to enter that again.
However...I firmly believe that no trade will happen because there is still so much time for them to work something out and the Chargers don't want to set a precedent that encourages more issues like this with future rookies.
Odds are there will be a compromise on both sides, in fact, Bosa's side has already said they would take either the guaranteed money upfront or the offset language. So really, I just can't see SD doing something like this with so much time left to get a deal done given how good Bosa looked in OTA's, the fact they took him 3 overall they thought so much of him, their desperate need on the defensive side of the ball, and the risk they face with dealing with future rookies and agents.
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Wow you really come across as an amateur who doesn't know much about football with that statement.
You would never, ever, hear a professional involved in the game, like say, a General Manager, make such a statement about football.
Geez.
You mean like this GM: http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/15700080/buffalo-bills-gm-doug-whaley-calls-football-violent-game-personally-think-humans-supposed-play
I assume you're being sarcastic and referencing this story, but you never know with this board as it could just be another fact-less rant.
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This could be a Patriot mistake, all summer long they have been hinting that Edelman may miss a game or two. Then yesterday he is running drills full tilt anddddd today he is on the back of a cart.
Hopefully we are playing it safe with Sammy, no need for him to be doing much besides conditioning for now.
THIS times a MILLION!
PLEASE PLAY IT SAFE WITH SAMMY, TAYLOR, AND MCCOY. All of them dealt with nagging and lingering injuries last year. We have so many guys going down right now, I really hope they become extra cautious with these guys as we need them at full strength come week 1, especially with some of the other injuries we have on D which could put more pressure on our Offense early in the season.
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I dunno, Sammy has been singing the praises of the training staff for getting him healthy and ready for the season following his surgery.
Of course he is...its also all he knows in Buffalo, so if he feels ready he will sing them praises. And any training staff for any team in the NFL is going to be competent enough to get guys ready once they are hurt...but there is also the impact that the training staff has on a players ability to avoid injuries in the first place. And lets not forget, Sammy had an OFF season to get ready for this year. I would argue they mishandled Sammy's injury during the season last year to the point it lingered for far longer than it should have. Not to mention Taylors and McCoys where they kept letting them play with injuries that need time to heal and they just continued to linger to the point they STILL missed time. So not only did they STILL miss the same amount of time they would have had they just held them out to heal, they also played in several games below par with lingering injuries that directly impact their ability to be consistent and effective.
Look, I am not flat out blaming the staff for every injury...but at some point when there is the same problem year after year at the rate we experience them, you have to start looking for factors that could be contributing to the problem beyond just "bad luck". Thats all I am saying. And I get that players and coaches have a say in those decisions, however it starts with the training and medical staff. And strength and condition staff also is responsible for putting the players in the best position to avoid injuries as well.
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@Alphadawg7 -- if one could point to injuries that are similar in nature or tied to specific training or practice techniques, then one could make some presumption about the training/medical staff. I don't think that is the case here. Sometimes luck, or fate, is just what it is.
I totally get that...however, this has been a regular theme with this team for a while. There is a reason teams change strength and conditioning coaches, training staff, and medical staff. Not everyone is as good at their job as the next guy...
So given that this has been an ongoing problem under those people for some time now, when do we start looking internally at those departments as part of the problem? If this was just last year and then we had some bad luck this year, then I get that...but injury issues have been a consistent problem with this team for a long time and it can't just always be bad luck. When there is a pattern, especially a well established pattern, there is more often than not contributing factors to that problem.
Not to mention, there have been quite a few questionable decisions over the years by the Bills medical staff in letting guys come back to early and stuff that continue to create set backs. Coaches want the players on the field...Players want to be on the field...but ultimately our training staff and medical staff makes the determination of the risks of the player playing before they are recovered. They need to do a better job of getting our guys ready to play so they don't keep aggravating the same injuries to the point where they linger all year and are in and out of the lineup. Holding a guy out a week or two is better than having him play hurt for the bulk of the season or make the injury worse and miss time or the remainder of the season.
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The sheer number of dumb comments in this thread is impressive.
Especially given there is NO mystery here...first diagnosis is Partially torn ACL. They are having a second opinion confirm the diagnosis, but that can not be done until they get the swelling down. So where is the mystery other than the mystery of why people on here seem to think their demand and need to know supersedes medical science and procedure?
The real and bigger question is this: is there something contributing to the over whelming amount of injuries this team faces to key players year after year?
Last year we literally had one of the worst, if not worst, overall injury situation in the NFL. We lost all key playmakers on offense for parts of the season, their backups, and some for the season. Even when playing our players were often playing hurt like Taylor, Sammy, McCoy, Clay, and key members of the OL...not to mention the key people we lost on defense. We are already off to a dismal start in the injury department and we havent even played our first preseason game. Its so bad, I almost rater see guys like Sammy, McCoy, Taylor, Clay, AW, KW, Dareus, Gilmore, and Darby never play a single snap in preseason.
So why is this? I don't recall seeing any changes to our strength and conditioning staff, so maybe we start there. What about the condition of the fields we practice on and in the stadium? Either we are just that unlucky or there is something else that seems to repeat this pattern year after year. And I don't want to hear the naive response that all teams have injuries...no kidding...but we continuously get hit among the hardest every year IMO and at some point "bad lucky" or "cursed" can't remain the most common answer and this team needs to look to solve this problem.
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The HOF should be for people who made a significant difference in the game at any position. Steve Tasker was a game changer, Curtis Martin was not. I believe Terrell Davis definitely deserves recognition, same for Terrell Owens, Kurt Warner had a short but successful career. I would also include Boselli, Asomugha, Cunningham, and Law. If I could vote someone out it would be Martin who had a long but insignificant career.
In fairness, while I get what you said, that just can't really be the metric used. A position is only going to be changed so many times. Roger Craig changed the game being the first player ever to 1000 yards rushing and 1000 yards receiving. How does another RB change the position after that? People say Marshall Faulk changed the position...no he didn't, he just did his best Roger Craig impression. A lot of people who get credited for changing the position never really "changed" the position as much as they get credit for. After Roger Craig, people went out to find RB's like him. Cunningham wasn't the first QB to run, but he did it in a way that changed the perception of a dual threat QB and the demand for them and also those who wanted to play like him.
The HOF is for players who was one of the best to play the position in their Era, not just guys who make you think differently about what you want from the position. Martin wasn't the flashiest, but he was definitely one of the best and most consistent of his era and his resume is HOF worthy IMO.
Furthermore,
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Its like this team is cursed in regards to injuries.
Never seen a team so regularly plagued by injuries to so many starters and top players on a roster year end and year out.
Maybe its time to evaluate our strength and conditioning team and the fields the Bills play and practice on...well its been time for a long time, just maybe execs at the top will start to realize the problems can't all be bad luck...
Bills cut Karlos Williams
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
How many chances do you give a player though? He had 3 strikes; 1) Super fat coming into camp 2) Got suspended 3) Outplayed during camp
And at what point does letting him stay start to send the wrong message? Look at Dareus...he screwed up, but he owned that is doing what it takes to make it right. But at the same time, he's a leader on this team, shows up and dominates, shows up ready to play. Karlos screwed up, then screwed up again, then came out and got out played by the 4 other RB's we have. Thats three strikes, and thats 2 more than most people get especially as a young 5th round RB competing for a spot on a team deep at the position.