thebandit27

that's up to you man; all I'm asking is that we not obstruct the discussion with what on the surface appears to be a relatively petty feud between two otherwise decent people.

Typically, one of them shows enough emotional maturity to make a conscious decision to get along with his twin brother, and re-joins him...or neither of them does, and they go to bed without playing together again that day. Perhaps that will translate.

The last 3 pages of this thread have been you two bitching at each other. I look at this the same way as I do when I catch my pre-schoolers fighting: I don't care who started it; it's time to drop it and ignore each other. Go to separate rooms until you can get along.

He gets a lot of targets because he plays in the slot, where he has more room to operate. Consider NFL.com's NextGenStats: https://nextgenstats.nfl.com/stats/receiving#average-separation There are WRs that get more average yards of separation per route run than Landry that also play the slot: Albert Wilson, Randall Cobb, Ted Ginn, Tyreek Hill, Travis Benjamin, Adam Humphries, Robby Anderson, and Jamison Crowder. Half of those guys have better reception % than Landry, and yet each of them garnered far fewer targets, so it's not exactly like he's the only guy with the ability to create separation and catch a high percentage of passes. Of course, if you look at who's throwing him the ball, Tannehill in 2016 and Cutler in 2016 had an average intended air yardage of 8.5 on their passes, which is pretty low in comparison to other players. Since Landry is different from the others listed above (save for Humphries) in that he really only operates in the short zones, that's probably got a lot to do with why he gets so many targets.

8 WRs caught 90+ passes in 2017; 2 were 1st round picks (Fitz and Hopkins), 3 were 2nd round picks (Landry, Michael Thomas, and Golden Tate), 1 was a 3rd (K. Allen), 1 was a 6th (A. Brown), and 1 was an UDFA (A. Thielen) Go back to 2016 and the distribution gets skewed even further toward late-round picks. Perhaps the success rate of 1st round WRs hasn't been great since 2015, but there have been plenty of rookie WRs that have been solid. 2015 - Amari Cooper, Devin Funchess, even Jamison Crowder has been productive 2016 - Michael Thomas, Sterling Shepard 2017 - Cooper Kupp, JuJu Smith Sure, only one of them has 90+ catches, but remember that receptions and yards are almost exclusively a function of targets. Just look at NE: Julian Edelman goes down for the season, and there's Danny Amendola making the jump from 28 receptions to 65. Just watch what happens in Miami this year; I'll bet a candy bar that Albert Wilson and Amendola combine in their share of the slot work to equal the 90 catches that Landry leaves behind, and for a combined $1M less per season.

I have ESB as being right on the fringe of days 2/3...I think he probably finds himself in round 3 because he's a size/speed guy; not dissimilar as an on-field prospect to Martavis Bryant. I like Chark as well--I think he's very likely to be a top-60 pick.

Ya think? You don't pay possession receivers WR1 money; they can be found pretty easily.

I don't know...he had the off-field issue last year and never really emerged from it. Maybe if it were super cheap I'd consider it, but if it's super cheap I would think that NO would match.

Can the two of you take it outside please?

Not just catches, look at targets when assessing Landry. He gets 10 targets per game, and ranked tied for 3rd in the NFL in targets in 2017. There are 33 receivers that had at least 100 targets last year, and among them Landry ranks: 17th in yards 6th in TDs 30th in yards/catch (the 3 guys that ranked behind him were Jack Doyle--a TE--and RBs L. Bell and C. McCaffrey) 31st in targeted air yards average 7th in 1st downs 7th in YAC 5th in catch %age So what you're paying high-end WR1 money for is a guy that catches a high percentage of his passes, does so almost exclusively near the LOS, and is able to move the sticks with YAC and be effective in the red zone. Is that worth WR1 money? If so, then Adam Thielen is going to get paid when he's up for a contract, because his numbers are quite similar, except that his targeted air yards average is nearly twice that of Landry. Correct...but they're better players than Landry. They do more with fewer targets; Jeffery had the same number of TDs and 16 fewer first down conversions on 40 fewer targets, and his yards/reception figure was over 50% greater than Landry's. Landry puts up numbers because they force feed him the ball.

FWIW, here's Hue Jackson on the record about Josh Allen: "He has a cannon,'' Jackson said at the NFL meetings. "He threw a ball that hit a guy in the sternum and you could hear it go 'boom.' I mean, he can really throw a football. And when he does it all right from a biomechanics standpoint and his body being in line, everything, he throws it as pretty as I've seen.'' And when he's off-kilter? "People say it takes 7,000 reps to change those type of things, but you can,'' said Jackson. "He has a lot of work to do. One thing about the young man, he's a hard worker. He'll work at it.'

This is why Miami was right to trade him. You're paying $15M for a possession receiver; he's now making more money than AJ Green, Julio Jones, Dez Bryant, and Alshon Jeffery, all of whom are better players. You can have him Cleveland.

I'd be okay with Allen; he just happens to be my QB4, and I think Buffalo has enough ammo to get one of the top 3 if that's what they want.

Indeed...from the moment they traded for Tyrod I've been thoroughly convinced that Allen was squarely in the conversation for them at 1. Nothing has changed for me.

Not that anyone should base things on me, but I have exactly 22 first-round grades this year. I have 38 2nd round grades and 73 day 2 grades overall.

Whether he declared him the starter or not, you're absolutely right that it makes no sense to trade the 65th pick in the draft and pay the guy $16M to sit the bench

Agreed. Agreed again

Perhaps, but if there are only 18-20 first-round grades, then all it takes is one or two teams doing something relatively unexpected (which almost always happens in the top 20) to push one of those guys to 22. I think they have the ammo to pull it off

I don't really worry so much about LB; the last 2 seasons, the team's best LBs have been a street FA (Zach Brown) and a 5th round rookie. I actually think a starting 3 of LorAx-Milano-Humber wouldn't be awful; certainly not good enough, but perhaps passable. This draft is very deep in off-ball 'backers that fit McDermott's scheme, so I think adding one of those guys and a street FA could do the trick. I mean, Derrick Johnson for a year would be a solid option, as would a guy like Emmanuel Lamur. I agree that DT is a concern with only Star and Kyle being capable of playing 30+ snaps per game. I do think that there's enough depth to get another 30-snap guy on day 3, and if that's the case, then you're probably adequate if Adolphus is your DT4. That's just my opinion though

1. Sam Darnold - Bills 2. Josh Rosen - Jets 3. Josh Allen - Cardinals 4. Baker Mayfield - Browns 5. Lamar Jackson - Saints Bonus: Bills Pick - Sam Darnold - QB/USC

Well there goes that idea How about Navorro Bowman instead? Of course, I think he'd take a LOT of money

It's not about ego; it's about whether or not you see a guy that is going to be the "good" Josh Allen often enough to succeed in the NFL, because when he was right, he was far and away the best QB in this draft.

Are you worried that this team has too many holes? Are you afraid that in making an effort to grab their next franchise QB, the team will mortgage the future? Is a step back in record inevitable in your mind? Well, have no fear, the always opinionated (and often pugnacious--thanks @JohnC) Bandit has crafted an updated offseason plan that will quell your worries and have you thinking playoffs in 2018. What's it entail? Well, read on... in Free Agency - Sign Brian Schwenke and Austin Howard to fill holes and create competition across the OL. Both guys should come cheap and can play multiple positions (Schwenke at G/C, Howard at T/G) - Sign Korey Toomer at LB The above would create a worst-case scenario where your starting OL is comprised of Dawkins-Schwenke-Groy-Miller-Howard. Maybe you see Bodine or Ducasse take one of the interior spots or Newhouse/McDermott/Mills take one of the tackle spots, but either way, you have depth and quality for what will be a paltry sum. In a similar vain, Toomer's signing puts the team in a position to rotate a top-4 LB group of Toomer-Milano-LorAx-Humber. It's certainly no worse than the 2017 group, and has the potential to be better. And, for the record, the team currently has over $18M in cap space (before they handle Eric Wood's situation and recoup any space from Richie's retirement), so even if they require $8M to sign their draft picks, they should easily be able to accomplish the above signings. In the draft - Identify your QB and make your move: trade picks 12, 22, and whatever else it takes (up to and including 53, 65, and a 2019 1st or 2nd round pick) to move up and take Darnold/Rosen/Mayfield - Use your day 2 picks to grab the best players available at any of CB, WR, and LB (I'm assuming the team will have only pick 56 and 96 remaining). I would prioritize CB and WR here, as I'm prepared to rely on the depth of the off-ball LB and DT classes to fill spots on day 3 - Use your 4th and 5th round picks to grab the best LB and DT available. You can choose from any of guys like Dorian O'Daniel, Jerome Baker, Josey Jewell, Oren Burks, Genard Avery, or Jermaine Carter at LB (assuming guys like Darius Leonard, Fred Warner, U. Nwosu, and Malik Jefferson are gone) and from a host of potential DT fits like Nathan Shepard, BJ Hill, Justin Jones, PJ Hall, and Poona Ford. These guys don't need to be starters; they need to be players that can give you 15-25 snaps per game when needed and play to your scheme. - Trade your 6th round pick to LAC for Travis Benjamin. He's got a $7M cap hit (of which Buffalo would have to take on $5.75M in 2018 and $5.25M in 2019)--no dead money hit for release in either season), and will be marooned in a timeshare with Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Tyrell Williams, and would also be behind Hunter Henry in competing for targets...no question that they'd welcome the ability to move him to a team that is desperate for downfield speed from a guy that's been productive in the past. I believe that all of the above is both realistic and sensible for the team to accomplish in the next few weeks, and would definitely shore up the obvious weak points and put them in position to contend for another playoff berth. Thoughts?

He's not going anywhere. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000925977/article/raiders-gm-team-communicating-with-khalil-mack-over-contract

Chad Thomas is a McDermott DE if I've ever seen one. He's got the prototype body structure with the nice long arms, can rush from the EDGE or provide inside pressure, is a very intelligent kid, and plays hard every snap. I have no idea if he'll be able to maximize his physical talent, but he's definitely a day 2 pick for me.