thebandit27

You would be incorrect about that. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/A/AustTa00/fantasy/2017 https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CoopPh00/fantasy/2017 https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/ReynJo00/fantasy/2017 Generally pretty flat for everyone besides Reynolds, who got more opportunities late in the season No offense intended here, but I believe that you're seeing what you want to see. All I said from the beginning is that I don't see how Buffalo "won" the trade to this point, and I haven't really seen anything that convinces me otherwise.

I mentioned snap percentage to highlight the fact that the played WR1 snaps for LA. When I talk about the rotation that McVay uses, here's the discussion point: he loaded his team up with speed players and dressed 6-7 WRs each week (the Rams were the only team in the NFL with 6 WRs that played in 20% of their snaps--and they did it without any of their WRs suffering a major injury). He would play his No. 3-6 WRs more than any other coach by my count, which kept them fresher than the DBs that were playing 70+ snaps per game, and gave them a decided advantage. When your No. 3 target has an advantage over the guy covering him, it's far more likely you're going to go that way with the ball.

Sorry, but that argument doesn't hold water when you look at the routes he ran and the catches he made last year. Just a sample:

Yes, exactly, what that pick turns into is an unknown, and it's entirely germane to the point, vis-a-vis known quantity versus unknown quantity.

The point isn't so much that Sammy is off the field more than those other WR1s, but rather that the way McVay sets up his offense is vastly different. He's going to rotate his WR2/3/4 guys much more to keep them fresh and take advantage of team's corners. One thing that I find very interesting is looking at the NextGenStats. Teams clearly try to take away Watkins and take their chances with the others; Watkins was given an average of 4.8 yards of cushion per snap, which is 7th-lowest in the NFL. The WRs that receive less cushion than Watkins? Antonio Brown, DeAndre Hopkins, Amari Cooper, and Marvin Jones. By contrast Cooper Kupp was given more cushion (in terms of average yards per snap) than any other WR in the league at 7.4 yards. Woods was also near the bottom with an average of 6.5 yards of cushion. It's clear that teams are picking their poison regarding the Rams. Definitely doesn't play hard...at all... http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000000849067/Sammy-Watkins-extends-across-goal-line-for-second-touchdown

A 2nd round pick is an unknown--even good teams can miss on 2nd round picks. If that's the tipping point, well, I'm afraid that I don't place value on the pick as much as I do on known commodities. As for Gaines' missed time, the bold comment above is not entirely accurate He was injured against Atlanta in week 4 and missed 26 snaps He missed the following week's game against Cincinnati entirely He came back to face TB in the team's next game, got injured again, and missed 31 snaps He missed the following 3 games with the knee injury you mentioned He returned to play 100% of the team's defensive snaps in the next 3 games, before getting injured against Miami and missing 35 snaps His availability for this team was poor.

Would you care to expand, or is this the extent of your contribution? 8-3 when Gaines starts, 1-4 when he didn't. Of course, we were also 3-0 in games where he started and then left with an injury and didn't return.

For reference, here's a list of guys on the team with as many or more penalties as Hughes: A. Washington - 7 J. Mills - 8 L. Johnson - 6 D. Thompson - 6 R. Incognito - 6

In 2017, Hughes was flagged a total of 6 times. 2 were pre-snap penalties (offside etc.), and 4 were unsportsmanlike/RTP (2 each). http://www.nflpenalties.com/all-players.php?year=2017&view=total

Right--his efficiency stats are off-the-charts good. I really don't know why he hasn't gotten the targets consistently, especially after the other-worldly performance he put up in the 2nd half of 2015 when he actually got WR1 targets. My opinion on it is that he hasn't played with a QB that is willing to feed him the ball the way that guys like Ben, Ryan, and Eli feed their WR1. Of course, in LA, that's unlikely to change for 2 reasons: Goff doesn't exactly throw a great deep ball, and McVay rotates his WRs to keep them fresher than the opposing team's DBs (which is a really smart innovation in the passing game that I'm stuck on )

I think the FA target might be Albert Wilson from KC. He's got the speed they lack, and he lead the NFL in yards of separation per snap. Probably comes in at less than $6M AAV too.

Nice Enjoy your vacation, and I look forward to our exchange in the future. Make the trip to Hash House a Go Go while you're out there--best hangover food ever.

BBD doesn't actually think that way--he's just trolling around

http://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/chicago-bears/report-alshon-jeffery-agrees-one-year-deal-eagles Not almost as valuable; more valuable. Played WR1 snaps for them, and lead the team in yards per catch, yards per target, and TDs. Contrast that with Gaines, whose team made the playoffs despite him not playing over 40% of the time. Also, one guy's team is trying to re-sign him, while the other guy's team actively went and found his replacement the first time they had a chance. One guy's team finished with the worst position group in the NFL after trading him, while the other guy's position group for his former team hummed along just fine without him. I'd like for someone like yourself--who I believe is measured and intelligent with your comments--to give me some kind of fact-based argument as to why Gaines + 2nd is more valuable. I'm willing to listen.

Yeah, it's not like Buffalo has ever signed the top pass rusher on the market to a huge contract. FAs don't sign in Buffalo...ever. We get it. Indeed.

Not sure I agree--if we're going to say that both teams benefited from the trade, then fine. The post I quoted reads as though Buffalo won the trade and LA lost, which I believe is incorrect. If we're attributing a playoff performance to one player, in this case Gaines, then the flip side needs to be considered as well: that LA made the playoffs with Watkins after not making it the prior year. How did Buffalo win the trade? They had the worst WR corps in the NFL last year, and made the playoffs despite the CB that they traded for missing 41% of the team's snaps. EJ played well when he played, but let's not confuse that with him contributing more to the team's success than Watkins did to LA's success. Well, I've been saying he'll get a Jeffery type deal for months, and Jeffery's deal was 1-year for $14M

Did we? We got a 2nd round pick and a cornerback that played 59% of the team's defensive snaps, and looks unlikely to be retained. The Rams got a WR1 that played 75% of the team's offensive snaps and lead them in yards/catch, yards/target, and receiving TDs...he also appears to be likely to be retained. We may not have lost the trade, but I don't see how we won it. Now, maybe if the 2nd round pick we got from LA will turn into a great player, and then we can say that we won the trade, but until then, the jury's out.

Final list of combine participants that tested in the red: Saquon Barkley - RB/Penn State Nick Chubb - RB/Georgia Mike Gesicki - TE/Penn State Quenton Nelson - OG/Notre Dame Braden Smith - OG/Auburn Bradley Chubb - EDGE/NC State Obo Okoronkwo - EDGE/Oklahoma Kylie Fitts - EDGE/Utah Taven Bryan - DL/Florida James Looney - DL/California Harrison Phillips - DT/Stanford Foley Fatukasi - DT/UConn Malik Jefferson - LB/Texas Genard Avery - LB/Memphis Leon Jacobs - LB/Wisconsin Derwin James - S/Florida State Dane Cruikshank - S/Arizona Natrell Jamerson - S/Wisconsin

Back to actual combine stuff... Jaire Alexander looking really good.

I know how to read the mockdraftable charts; they aren't exactly new data. I think what you meant to say earlier is that his explosion numbers don't compare favorably to most NFL receivers. His 3-cone, 40, and bench, however do. Calling him an extremely poor athlete was an inaccurate characterization; saying he's less explosive is, IMO, more realistic.

Derwin James with a great set of numbers: 21 reps, 40" vertical, 11' broad

No, he rated in the 7th percentile in a weighted score that is used to express one rating system's assessment of a player's NFL potential. It's also worth asking if SPARQ actually has any correlation to becoming a quality NFL receiver? From my cursory looks over the years, it doesn't. Also, go back to 2014, and you'll find that Ridley's SPARQ rating is nearly identical to Allen Hurns'. Also, just for fun: 2nd-worst SPARQ score in the 2014 class? Jarvis Landry. So what's the point? The point isn't that I think Ridley is going to be a WR1 in the NFL. The point is that he isn't an extremely poor athlete because one rating system places more emphasis on the vertical jump and broad jump and less on the 40 and 3-cone. The only reason that SPARQ ratings and the like are even part of the discussion is because the raw numbers for workout drills have almost no correlation to on-field production.

He's not an extremely poor athlete, which was the point that I was addressing. I don't think anyone would call Antonio Brown an extremely poor athlete, and Ridley's athletic numbers are quite close to (and in more than half the drills, better than) Brown's. Now I'm not saying that your opinion of him not being worth a high 1st round pick is unjustified; I'm saying that calling him an extremely poor athlete is not accurate.

Understand that I haven't read that, so I'm taking your word for it. That said, if an "unnamed team" told a reporter that a guy didn't acquit himself well on the white board, it could be true, or it could be nonsense. This is a time for misinformation. I have Jackson as my QB4, but one of the things that I liked about his improved passing from So to Jr season is that he showed the ability to read the whole field and manipulate DBs with his progression. It would surprise me if he were substantially behind the other guys--especially Darnold, who made mostly half-field, RPO, hi-lo style reads.

According to who?