thebandit27

Of course not. If good teams traded players that missed the amount of time that Sammy has, then Atlanta wouldn't have Julio Jones and Pittsburgh wouldn't have Antonio Brown That's pure conjecture given that Julio, Dez, Edelman, etc have all returned from the same injury. Just so you know, by this thought process, you'd have traded Julio Jones and Antonio Brown as well. Do you think that's good management?

For me personally, your opinion doesn't bother me. I would, however, like to understand why folks (including yourself) seem to want to imply that he can't stay healthy or has a chronic availability issue?

He started 29 of 32 games prior to this season. I simply do not understand why certain fans want to mischaracterize the guy as though he's never on the field and/or unproductive when he is...he's on pace to start more games through 3 years than Julio Jones. Let that sink in for a minute.

That would be, IMO, a colossal mistake. He's got one year left on his deal, and it's dirt cheap. Brady, by contrast, will be 40 at the start of next season. A smart team would hold onto them both, look for any sign of decline in Brady through the 2017 season, and then make a decision. It's easy enough to tag Jimmy after 2017 if they want to keep him, and move on from Brady. More than likely, some team will be willing to give them a draft pick for him even if he's in decline. At the same time, they could just as easily trade Garoppolo after tagging him. Any QB-desperate team will probably give up a better pick than the compensatory selection that they'd get by allowing him to leave in FA.

I agree with all of that. Not necessarily. See below:

Not sure. I would give Dr. Anderson the benefit of the doubt that he is correct. That said--and this is only my understanding--the 2nd surgery in these cases is often done to alleviate referred pain, so it's possible that he's correct that it's not needed, but it could still be beneficial. I'm not sure why those are the only conclusions. The team made a concentrated effort to get him the ball once he came back from his ankle problem(s) last year, and it worked. He's been injured this year, so it's kind of early to make any conclusion about Lynn's plan for him. I'll also say that having a QB who is limited in what he can execute--vis-a-vis bailing the pocket too early, not seeing the whole field consistently, not throwing the ball with anticipation, etc.--will limit a guy's opportunities to make plays. IMO, there really isn't much to figure out. The guy is a terrific football player who's had some injury issues and hasn't had the benefit of even above-average QB play or a pass-focused offense. EDIT: now, if the question is who to blame for that last point, then it's a mixed bag. Blame the personnel group for not finding a Carr/Prescott type, blame the coach for not pursuing a more pass-oriented offense, or blame the QB for not trusting what he sees.

I can guarantee you that he consulted with a team doc before he decided to wait and see if it would heal on its own. I also know--for a fact--that he's had multiple docs on this case.

The long-term effects of disc herniation are largely dependent upon location and rehabilitation efforts. At least that's what I've noticed from the power-lifters I know that have had them.

Compare stats between the two...it's fine if you have an issue with Sammy's availability, but the claim that he doesn't produce is categorically wrong in every possible interpretation, and it makes you appear as though you're starting to approach crusade territory. And that's unfortunate, because you're quite a fine poster the majority of the time.

1. We throw the ball less than every other NFL team 2. We have a QB that is limited in what plays he can execute in the passing game

Which tells you that targets are the number one predictor of production for a WR. Ginn had 96 targets compared to Sammy's 95, yet sammy had 16 more catches, over 300 more yards, and 1 fewer TD. He also had a higher YPC. My point is that WR stats need to be considered in the context of opportunities. Sammy didn't start getting "#1 WR" targets until nearly halfway through the 2015 season, and the explosion in productivity is easily explained by that. EDIT: and in case anyone is wondering, in 3 games this season, Sammy is once again averaging over 10 yards per target (143 receiving yards on 14 targets), something that only 2 WRs (he and Doug Baldwin) accomplished in 2015. 2nd EDIT: a quick glance tells me that only Julio Jones and Jimmy Graham join Sammy as players with more than 10 yards per target in 2016

It's become apparent that the #1 predictor of WR production is targets Sammy didn't start getting a similar number of targets as his peers until after the bye week last year, which quite clearly coincided with his tear over NFL DBs in the last 9 games. http://www.4for4.com/fantasy-football/2016/preseason/what-are-most-predictable-stats-wide-receivers

That's not accurate at all--he lead the NFL in yards/target last year, and produces on a per-target basis as good as the best WRs in the game. Here: http://www.footballperspective.com/guest-post-adam-harstad-on-sammy-watkins/ http://nysportsbiz.com/2016/01/04/sammy-watkins-arguably-nfls-top-wr-2nd-half-season/ http://overthecap.com/yards-per-target-as-a-metric/

Stinks for Gronk. Sure, he's a Patriot; sure, he's a lunkhead...but I watched him and his brothers grow up, so I feel for him and wish him a full, speedy recovery.

He's comparing Julio's 1st 2 NFL seasons to Sammy's first 2 NFL seasons

I knew I liked this kid

You most likely already know this, but just in case you didn't: he can't pick the game because he's calling it. My conditional apologies, since I feel pretty confident you knew that.

His "bitchassness"? He played through injuries for 2 seasons that included broken ribs, a strained groin, a hip labral tear, a Jones' fracture, and two ankle sprains. Despite that all, he missed only 3 games in his first 32. Now, he was placed on IR, but he's come back to have a serious impact on the game despite only playing 25 snaps. That is not "bitchassness" in any sense of the word.

What? Whaley's first draft as GM was the 2014 draft. He took an OT with his 2nd and 7th round picks. His 2nd draft as GM was the 2015 draft, and he took a guard with his 3rd round pick (his 2nd pick of the draft). Last year was the first draft where he didn't spend one of his top 2 picks on the OL.

Me? No I endeavor to accurately assess the team's performance That is all

Here are the ones that I earmark as important: YPP allowed - 5.4 (11th) YPA allowed - 7.6 (25th) YPC allowed - 4.3 (12th) 1st downs per game allowed - 21.3 (27th) Takeaways - 14 (23rd) 3rd down pct allowed - 42% (24th) Defensive PPG allowed - 21.273 (17th) In case anyone is wondering, offensively: YPP - 5.5 (16th) YPA - 6.7 (24th) YPC - 5.3 (1st)** it's 5.1 if you remove Tyrod's rushes, which would still rank 1st 1st downs per game - 19.7 (19th) Giveaways - 5 (1st) 3rd down pct - 39% (20th) Offensive PPG - 23.64 (9th)

Yep...Bills are one of 9 teams that have not allowed an opponent to score a defensive or ST touchdown. The Bills have only allowed 2 defensive/ST points to opposing teams all year (the safety against Arizona)

Indeed--I don't put a lot of stock into that metric though. It leaves too much emphasis on garbage-time yards, inconsequential yards (i.e. a 19-yard gain on 3rd and 22), etc. I keep my own numbers for offensive points per game generated and defensive points per game allowed because I think it's a better indicator of what we can expect performance-wise. They haven't. They were actually 21st in defensive points per game allowed prior to the Cincinnati game. The last 2 weeks they've jumped a bit, up to 17th. That's still not good, and it's well below what my expectations were in year 2 of this defensive system. My main problem is that a system should not be so heavily reliant upon one position (safety) to be successful. The team was playing solid defense (the Jets game notwithstanding) before Aaron Williams left. It's a major indictment (IMO) of the system that the loss of one guy should cripple the entire unit's performance so badly.

IMO, the choices for the Bills are limited to: - Pick up Taylor's option - Trade for Romo or Garappolo - Sign a vet like Hoyer So I guess I'm saying that I agree with you. For me, it's a tough pill to swallow, because the team around Tyrod needs to be really good if we're to win in the playoffs.

Just for context, I always like to look at defensive points/game allowed (which removes all defensive TDs and special teams TDs scored by opponents). In this metric, the Bills rank 17th.