thebandit27

I don't agree with the bold.

The reason that they're re-building is because they didn't like who the team had invested their money in. Otherwise, why jettison a player like Dareus just to pay $10M/year to Star in free agency? Why decline the option on Sammy Watkins just to trade a pick for a lesser player in Kelvin Benjamin? The cap doesn't become restrictive until teams decide that they're in position to win a Super Bowl for a very short period of time and go hog wild on spending, like Jacksonville and Minnesota. Beane and McDermott made a conscious decision to change the culture of the team by gutting the roster of the "old guard" of talent and start from scratch with their own guys. That they were willing to spend $17M per year on a combo like Star and Murphy tells me that they have no compunction with paying prime dollars in FA. The bigger issue will be whether or not those dollars go to worthy acquisitions.

I think they'll try very hard to add 2 starters on the OL in FA. I also wouldn't be surprised at all to see them make a run at trading for an OLmen...a team like Oakland, who is paying huge money to all 3 interior guys, wants to stockpile picks, and hates their own players, might be willing to part with any of Osemele/Hudson/Jackson for a song. The pivotal approach will be WR. If they can pull off a heist and land a Julio or AB for a 1st round pick, it'd be amazing, but more likely their going to have to go with the quantity-of-speed approach a la McVay/Nagy year 1 free agency.

If that's not the plan, then I'm not sure I want Beane in charge.

I don't entirely disagree, but I think I may not have made my point clear in my initial question. It seemed like you were saying "no LB or DT for any reason whatsoever", which is a thought process I can't agree with. IMO, if that LB or DT had a grade that was elite-level, then you definitely take him, because that's what the top 10 is for. It also happens to be that the DL appears to be the most well-stocked area when it comes to top-10 talent for the 2019 draft, so it's entirely possible that the team's highest graded player will be a DT or DE. And in that case, I'm totally fine with taking that guy.

Thanks to both of you...I was beginning to wonder if I was viewing the play from a parallel dimension where reality was skewed.

I'm trying to figure out if you're just messing with me or if you really can't understand what you're reading. I'll just post this again with even greater emphasis and hope you get it this time: But forget all of that and answer this one question: does the ball hit him in the hands? Yeah, that's what I thought. 100% of NFL pass catchers should catch that ball with the game on the line. Good through (outstanding actually); bad drop.

Yeah but that dude got laughed off of WGR!!!!!

If that's your belief, then you didn't watch the play. Clay is standing still in the back of the end zone when the ball is released. If that is someone's definition of "working back to the QB", then that person is simply acluistic. You wanted the QB to throw the ball more than the 60 yards in the air that he managed to heave it across his body on the run after running 50+ yards? Again, such an opinion defies any brand of logic. It was a tremendous throw...and I couldn't care less if some dude got laughed off of WGR. In fact, him being laughed off of WGR would strongly bolster my opinion of whatever he said, since that duo has been furiously anti-Allen since well before the draft. And so I'll say it again, and then I'll leave you to your own thoughts: ask any pass catcher in the NFL if he would've caught that ball with the game on the line, and 100% of them would say yes without a scintilla of hesitation. In contrast, ask any QB in the NFL if they could have made that throw in those conditions, and there might be 5 guys that could honestly say yes. Mahomes could do it, maybe Cam too. On his best day, Aaron Rodgers could make that throw. Maybe Carson Wentz if he's fully healthy.

Maybe because it's not us; it's you. And I know I said it wasn't a great throw...so let me make this clear: It's not a bad throw...it's actually a sensational throw. Not good, not very good, not great; utterly sensational. I said it before: ask any pass catcher in the NFL if he would've caught that ball with the game on the line, and 100% of them would say yes without a scintilla of hesitation. In contrast, ask any QB in the NFL if they could have made that throw in those conditions, and there might be 5 guys that could honestly say yes. Mahomes could do it, maybe Cam too. On his best day, Aaron Rodgers could make that throw. Maybe Carson Wentz if he's fully healthy. That's your list. If the throw is good enough to be caught with the game on the line, then it's not a bad throw. When the throw is good enough to be caught, in fully uncontested fashion, under those conditions, then it's a sensational throw. Was it perfect? No, and if you want to say that it's a bad throw because it wasn't the greatest throw of all time (which it would be in contention for if it made it to Clay where he was standing still and not working back to the QB), well, I suppose that's your prerogative...but I think you're grading on a totally unrealistic scale.

Seals it for me: Clay not only dropped it, he waited waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long to break on the ball. Allen took responsibility; and yes, it wasn't a great throw...but it was most certainly good enough.

What if the DT turned out to be an Aaron Donald type?

I'm sure you'll get flamed, but it'll be very shortsighted of the flame-throwers. A stud CB is worth as much as any non-QB position in the game. He can cut the field in half and change the way offenses gameplan.

Agreed regarding the 2019 top-10; very defense-heavy. And I'm totally fine with that; elite pass rushers and corners can change games. Along with elite pass catchers; those 2 positions make up the 2nd-tier of criticality behind QB.

What he's saying here is absolutely the correct way to approach team-building. Fill needs in FA and let the draft come to you...use your high picks to stock the roster with the best talent at key positions. Don't force picks for need (unless you don't have a franchise QB hopeful in the queue).

If nothing else, this thread has been a boon for TSW lexicon.

Thanks for ruining the game!

Let's have some fun here...here are the passing stats for all 3: QB1 - 9 games, 159/289 (55%), 1,934 yards (6.7 YPA), 11 TDs, 14 INTs, 68.3 passer rating QB2 - 8 games, 101/191 (52.3%), 1,223 yards (6.4 YPA), 5 TDs, 7 INTs, 66.3 passer rating QB3 - 8 games, 148/273 (54.2%), 1,670 yards (6.1 YPA), 10 TDs, 11 INTs, 68.2 passer rating Without looking, can you determine who is who? Ball's in your court to try to twist the quote that I bolded into some kind of convincing argument.

Let's compare them play-by-play instead. If you want to hang your hat on this idea that Rosen has been a superior passer, well, I'll be waiting. I like Rosen; he was my QB1a for 2018 (Baker was my QB1b)...and I was absolutely terrified for him on that 33-yard run. Like, please dude, get down...my reputation for QB evaluations is on the line here

Oh don't get me wrong, it wasn't a great throw, but if you look at when he released the ball versus when Howard breaks on it, I think there's a reasonable expectation that Benjamin would actually break on it as well. Instead he just jogs out the string in typical I-don't-give-a-crap fashion. It surely could've been a pick anyway, but maybe if the guy would break on the ball and make some kind of effort to use his 6'5", 240 (plus?) frame to gain position on the ball he'd have--in the very least--made it a contested play.

Gotta love Rosen's 11/26, 149 yards and 0 TD performance yesterday...now that's what I call operating at high efficiency!

The only WTF thing about that play was throwing in the direction of Kelvin Benjamin, who flat-out refuses to finish a route. If that's the most WTF thing you can say about the kid, then he's well on his way. Personally, I think that's a massive reach. A WTF play is the interception he threw into the endzone in GB in week 4--one that gave away points. Expecting your "No. 1 WR" to finish a route without letting the corner undercut you is called playing football in the NFL.

Welcome to debating with TaskersGhost, where even the inane is commonplace.

Name one WTF play that he made yesterday. My guess is that you didn't watch the game.

For sure...one thing that I like about Beane is that he's got a reputation for being active in the trade market, even if his acquisitions haven't been great. So often in the NFL it's the GM that's willing to make an offer for the player that nobody else thinks is available that's rewarded. I'd love to see a true swing-for-the-fences offseason from these guys; not just one where they spend big money on multiple Dockery-esque questionable talents and pass it off as a swing-for-the-fences effort.