thebandit27

Fair take; I agree with all of that. The one thing that I'll say regarding the preseason is this: there's a difference between a guy making plays in the preseason who's never shown anything when the real bullets start flying (a la Peterman or EJ) vs a guy that managed to make plays routinely with a horrendous supporting cast that clearly takes it up a notch the following year. Looks to me like Allen is the latter, but you're right that nobody should be convinced at this point.

I keep saying it: he's still a good QB...he's just not Tom Brady anymore. And the Pats know it. That's why they keep beefing up the run game and adding contested catch specialists like N. Harry and D. Thomas.

The most encouraging thing from Allen last season was the marked improvement as a passer from pre-injury to post-injury. Pre-injury Josh was 75/139 (53.9%), 832 yds (5.98 YPA), 2 TDs, 5 INTs, 61.8 passer rating, sacked 21 times for 167 yds Post-injury Josh was 94/181 (51.9%), 1242yds (6.86 YPA), 8 TDs, 7 INTs, 72.57 passer rating, sacked 7 times for 46 yds I'm sorry, but if that's what you saw in the 6 games after his injury, I'm not sure you watched him at Wyoming. Furthermore, if that's still what you see in his play this preseason, we are watching two different players.

I maintain that many folks that knocked Allen during the draft process did so without watching every throw from the kid. It was brutally obvious watching him that he wasn't the can't-hit-the-broadside-of-a-barn inaccurate QB that some narratives portray him as being. The other thing that many analysts (and fans) don't understand is that the positional value of a QB is soooooooo stinkin' high that any QB that has even a marginal shot to become a franchise QB should be automatically considered a 1st round pick (and an early one at that). That's why folks can feel free to knock the Daniel Jones or Josh Allen type picks all they want, but the bottom line is this: if you see a guy that you believe has the potential to be your franchise QB for the next decade, you're nuts if you don't do what's necessary to get him.

if he's healthy, then yeah, that makes sense...it's my understanding that he's not close to returning. Another thought on the TE discussion: Lee Smith is probably the team's backup long snapper. I know that sounds like a trivial matter, but McDermott is a stickler for being prepared to account for injuries.

I think the possibility of Bates playing OT would be for the remainder of a game in the case of an injury so as not to upset the OL apple cart. In the case that Dawkins or Nsekhe misses a start, I'd fully expect Ford to kick out to OT the following week with Feliciano coming in at RG. Bates probably does make the 53 because he's so valuable as a game day backup. Even though it's rare, you have to think about what happens if you lose 2 OLmen to injury in the same game. Lose an OT and an interior guy: Bates comes in at OT and Feliciano at interior Lose 2 interior guys: Bates and Feliciano can play the interior Lose 2 OTs: Bates comes in at LT, Ford goes to RT, and Feliciano goes in at RG They don't have another OLman that can offer them that type of versatility.

Update: Apparently it's actually the 2nd-highest gtd figure: https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/08/20/inside-the-jaylon-smith-deal/ "The new-money average of $12.75 million puts Smith at No. 5 among all inside linebackers, but the total guarantee of $35.4 million puts him at No. 2, only behind Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley." Actually, this deal doesn't affect Zeke anywhere near as much as it does Byron Jones. Zeke has his option year picked up, so he's on the payroll for 2020 at $9.1M. Jones, on the other hand, is a UFA at the start of the 2020 league year. That said, they should have enough cap room to sign Jones, Zeke, Dak, and Cooper, plus their 2020 draft class. They won't be able to do much in FA, but they may not have to if they can get all of the above done.

3rd-most guaranteed money amongst inside LBs: https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/08/20/jaylon-smiths-five-year-extension-is-worth-64-million-35-5-million-guaranteed/

I think there's a zero percent chance that Feliciano isn't the backup center and active every game day. I think Bates has a very good shot at the 53 because of his positional flexibility, and if Ford ends up starting at RG with Nsekhe at RT (which I expect), then McDermott will almost certainly want an active game day reserve that can play OT without having to shuffle his line around.

Legit good sleuthing there.

Thanks and congrats to you as well! We were lucky in that my parents lived ~5 minutes away and were both retired, so when we'd just had enough and couldn't deal, they'd come over and keep the babies quiet so that we could get some sleep. Good news though: we barely remember it, and now that my twins are 6, they sleep like logs.

I have twins, and we pretty much didn't sleep for 4 months. He's going to need to hire a night doula, and it will be the best money he's ever spent.

Kroft is on the PUP list, so unless they activate him in the next 2 weeks, he doesn't count against the 53 until after week 6. In the meantime, I expect the team to keep 4 TEs just as they did last year: Knox, Croom, Sweeney, and Smith. What will be the most interesting is what they do when Kroft is healthy enough to come off the PUP list.

Just a friendly head's up: you probably won't last long around here with this type of delivery. Most of us don't care, but the mods, well, they don't put up with it for long.

Better a year early than a year late. - Bill Belichick

Brown returns to practice: https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/08/19/antonio-brown-returns-to-the-raiders/

Stinks for him. Good kid, hard worker; I still think he's limited in what he can do, but there's no doubt he has a ton of potential. I'm sure he'll work himself back to full health as quickly as possible.

Great work. Saved me a ton of time from having to bust it up myself. Much appreciated

I think they keep 4 DEs: Hughes, Murphy, Shaq, and Johnson They'll probably try to sneak Love onto the PS, as he's made fewer plays that pop on film compared to Johnson, so he'll probably be in lower demand on the claims circuit. Even though Shaq isn't a big EDGE threat, LorAx and Edmunds can give them enough snaps out there that they won't be limited in their ability to rotate EDGE rushers.

I don't believe that's the case: https://www.buffalobills.com/news/nfl-international-player-christian-wade-allocated-to-the-bills

Nope. He's roster exempt. He belongs to Buffalo for as long as they want him.

He's roster exempt, so he's automatically on the PS

Wade... #breaktheinternet

Wyatt Teller looks good tonight too

Kyle Peko is brutal