billsfan89

Was Ruben Brown ever in the conversation for the best guard in the league at any point in his career? Genuinely asking, because I was just getting into football when Ruben was at his peak. I know guys like Hutchinson and Faneca were routinely among the top guards in the league in the 2000's. Now in the past 10 years Marshal Yanda, Zach Martin, and Quinton Nelson (albeit recently on Nelson) have been the top guards year in and year out. I don't know if Ruben was the dominant guard for as long as others who have been in the HOF were? Would 1-2 more All-Pro Teams made the difference? I don't know it is all arbitrary but I think with a position like guard it is often times hard to tell.

Cook might be an upgrade over what we have he might not. But I am not paying him a sizable deal and giving up a draft pick for him. Moss and Singletary will do just fine. With one coming of a productive rookie year

I think a lot of what makes Tom Brady so impactful is that he avoids sacks and turnovers so well and he rarely wastes a down. The Pats under Brady would rarely find themselves in third and long situations. Part of what makes Brady so efficient is the fact that he is almost always getting production out of a down even if it is just a 2-4 yard dump off. Brady also prefers a safe 8-9 yard throw that would produce a first or a 2nd or 3rd and short to a riskier 25 yard gain. Which results in less turnovers and incomplete passes and still moves the ball forward productively even if it cuts down on the bigger plays. I think Josh and Daboll need to learn how to make each other more efficient. Josh as 2019 went on learned to avoid the turnovers a bit more but he still took a lot of sacks which tend to be drive killers. If Daboll can put Josh in a game script that allows Josh easy plays on first and second down I think Josh can get more comfortable and feel the need to “make something happen.” I think that it is good that Josh can make some plays here and there but if he is asked to do that too often he will make mistakes and develop poor habits. Whereas if he is in a position to make good decisions often he will develop that. I have no problem with a run heavy offense but the short pass should be a big early down component to any offense.

Faneca was an absolute beast, he was an All-Pro First Team player 6 times and a Second team All-Pro twice. He was a key reason why the Steelers had one of the best rushing attacks year in and year out in the early to mid-2000's. He also was a Pro-Bowl player from 2001-2009. Even in his two years with the Jets he was still a dominant player and one of the reasons they had a good rushing attack those seasons. I think Faneca being arguably the second best guard of the decade behind Hutchinson puts him in the HOF for me. Ruben Brown on the other hand I think falls into the category of a guy who isn't HOF worthy (although WOF worthy for sure in my book.) Ruben Brown was never a first team All-Pro his two career accolades are 4 Second Team All-Pro selections (1998-2000 and 2002) and a gaudy 9 Pro-Bowl selections(1996-2003 and in 2006) at a time when the Pro-Bowl still somewhat relevant as a bonafide. So while Brown was always near the best at his position for a long period of time I never considered him to be among the best 2-3 guards in the league at least not for a long period of time. He was a very good player for a long time and at his peak flirted with being great. Even factoring in his good run with the Bears in 2005 and 2006 where he returned to being a very good player I can't say that he cracks the HOF for me.

WR 1-3 The Bills have a complement that is as good or close to any team in the league. While having Mac a decent gadget WR and some interesting depth. TE - The Bills lack here unless they can get a big leap in production from Knox. O-Line - Upper Mid-Level O-line at worst in my opinion with depth to sustain more injuries than most O-lines in the league. RB - A good up and coming RB in Singletary being paired with a high draft pick in Moss. Overall around Josh I say he has a top 10 supporting cast, and if Knox can be an above average TE this season than look out because then the Bills could be looking at having all the pieces in place.

I love the aggressiveness Josh shows on third down. However I think on first and second down he needs to take a check down a bit more. The easiest way to get in third and long situations is to not take the 3-4 yard or even 2 yard dump off on an early down. So yes be aggressive but not stupid on third down but be smart on first and second down so you don't have to be aggressive as much on third down.

Adding Diggs will help Josh a lot, it gives Josh 3 legitimate high quality professional passing outlets while using Knox, Singletary and other receivers as complementary options. But Josh has to have a lot of growth in his game if the Bills want to go from a good playoff team in the 10-11 win range to a 12+ win team that is seriously contending.

18 is a fair ranking, I would say that anywhere from 15-20 is fair for him.

I do feel like Kapernick was an at least decent starting caliber QB from 2012-2014 but I don't know if it was NFL defenses catching up to him or the 49ers steep drop in talent in those years. In 2012-2013 the 49ers were one of the deepest most talented teams in the league and Kapernick was able to get them deep into the playoffs. In 2014 the 49ers talent declined but they were still decent in Harbaugh's last year. In 2014 Kapernick had arguably his best season even as the team's talent declined. But in 2015 and 2016 the team got old, lost a lot of talent, and lost one of the best coaches in the league. It wasn't a coincidence that Kapernick's play fell rapidly when the 49ers became one of the worst teams in the league. I am not saying that had Kapernick not had any of this political drama that he would have gone onto play for another team in 2017 and beyond and revived his career. I think for that to happen Kapernick would have had to have found himself in a perfect situation where he could have been on a good team and backed up an established vet for a year or two before taking over long term or simply been a backup on a great team and taken over for an injured starter. More than likely Kapernick would have found himself on a bad or mid-level team keeping the seat warm for a rookie or up and coming QB, he would have started on and off. I think most likely he would have had a very Ryan Fitzpatrick like career where he has 6-7 good games in a row and then reverts back to bad play. A fringe starter high end backup caliber player. But I do wonder had he been able to redshirt for a year (so to speak) and come back on a good team would he have had some good seasons?

If Kapernick is going to come back he is going to have to find a situation where he can sit for a season unless catastrophic injuries hit. I think Kap has to look for a situation similar to what Michael Vick had after his two year absence stemming from his legal issues. The Eagles had McNabb as the bonafide starter in 2008 and a high draft pick as the backup in Kevin Klob. Vick wasn't going to have to be forced into action that year unless multiple injuries hit. Vick basically redshirted in 2009 before coming back in 2010 and having his best season arguably of his pro-career. I don't know what situation would make sense for Kapernick as I don't know what team has an established QB and a solid backup that would want to take on Kapernick as a project at 32 years old?

I agree that the costs of a new stadium aren't worth the "upgrades" (most upgrades are things they charge you to experience) but MetLife is a better stadium not necessarily worth the extra money but it is better. Mainly because the Giants Stadium concourses were so small and the bathrooms so rundown. Getting out onto the concourse was always a traffic jam while the bathrooms were smelly and always clogging due to the run down plumbing of the stadium. MetLife has wider concourses and better facilities. I do agree that renovations are a better avenue for the Bill's. Cheaper and more sensible.

I go back and forth on things. On one hand literally almost everything in life is political and black people in America have very few large platforms outside of sports and entertainment to get their message across. On the other hand it is nice to have something that is just there for pure entertainment value and is relatively apolitical. I think in the end I am fine with political statements in various areas of entertainment as it doesn't hamper my enjoyment at all. But I get why people just want somethings to say politically neutral.

From talking to a lot of Rugby players they say the reason there is less traumatic injuries is mostly due to the fact the game is less territorial than the NFL. In Rugby you just don’t have many situations where a yard or two is make or break. Rugby also has no forward passing or blocking which creates less exposure to awkward body positioning. In Rugby you are also almost consistently moving which creates a lack of momentum down to down. Whereas in the NFL you are constantly resetting yourself in a manner that is conducive to having more collisions and building momentum. As much as people want to say that Rugby is a similar game to the NFL the differences are massive. I don't think the lack of equipment actually serves as much of a deterrent for big hits and the like as much as the nature of the game in and of its self. At least that is what others who play the game have told me.

From my understanding Rugby has less concussions and serious injuries like torn ACL's and other various muscle/bone breaks due to the different nature of the game. I think what really wears down NFL players are the big time collisions and injuries. How many times do you see a player get a serious injury and they are never the same? Especially if that injury occurs later in their NFL career. So while I don't doubt Wade has some wear and tear on his body I would argue that it is less than that of a typical 29 year old NFL player. I don't think Wade could have a long NFL career but I think he could play into his 30's.

It's a different level of wear and tear. Rugby has less high speed collisions and is just a different type of game. I think at age 30 he could realistically have 2ish years in the NFL before his body gives out. I think 7 years of pro rugby is a lot less wear and tear than 7 years of NFL football.

The Browns talent wise are a good team. But their coaching and Baker's mental ability is what gives me pause. They added a pair of tackles to their O-line which should help alleviate their issues there and Hooper adds another weapon. Defensively they are decent too. On paper with a fixed up O-line and a good TE added they should win 9-10 games. But their skill position group is a lot of personalities for a first year HC and young QB to handle. Couple that with expectations and you once again have a scenario where a little bit of losing can snowball easily. I think Cleveland can compete for a Wildcard spot but there is a lot riding on a first year coach yet again. I usually am in favor of hiring up and coming coordinators to coach a team but for the Browns they might have been better served with a more proven HC option short term. It just seems like a far too combustable situation for a rookie HC to be in.

The tag is expensive. You could win multiple playoff games with an above average but not top 10 QB provided he is on a rookie deal and you built a very good team around them. With a tag you are spending 30+ million a season on one position. So while the tag would alleviate the long term commitment it wouldn't hamper your team any less short term.

That would almost be a bad scenario too. If Josh ends up being above average but not a top 10 QB he will command a huge contract that would hamper a team's ability to win with him. It would put the Bill's in that weird position where they have to consider the value of a decent QB relative to a big contract.

Haush at this point in his career reminds me of Ryan Lindel back in the day (relatively speaking) a good kicker inside 45 yards but gets shaky once you get close to 50 yards or beyond. That's not the worst kicker to have as some teams have kickers who struggle with all ranges but it is a handicap to not be able to have a kicker with range. BUT Haush is at least a decent fall back option in case Bass just doesn't have it. I would take a kicker who is 90% from inside 50 and sub 50% above 50 instead of a kicker who could kick 55 but is wildly inconsistent. Haush isn't ideal but he is a decent fall back option in case the new kicker can't handle it.

I wonder what percentage of the NFL's revenue is tied to ticket sales? I would imagine that the NFL's 4 primary sources of revenue are TV, Live Event money (ticket sales and other in stadium deals), sponsorships, and merchandise. I would imagine that most of the revenue that comes in is the TV deal which shouldn't be impacted too much short term. The sponsorships are also fairly stable due to most being on multi-year contracts and while I think merchandise will take a hit I don't think it will be massive. But what percentage is related to live events?

I think they will have to consider cutting Fromm, Josh's tweets were from his high school days, this is supposedly from a year ago. I think if you are really about "The Process" then you have to be serious about character and this is a part of someones character.

The defense can't be that much better in 2020 (and there is no guarantee that the drafted player will be as good as Bucker who was an All-Pro) so there is only likely to be regression. Secondly we are talking about Kittle's targets going down from 2019 levels (a year when the team had 2 quality WR's, the same QB, an elite defense and rushing attack, not much more could deflate your targets) and for that to happen the defense and rushing attack would have to be at or near the top of the league again, the receiver drafted in round 1 would have to replace or exceed Sanders production and the unproven WR's who are both coming off of IR are going to have production levels that are high. Literally everything that could happen would have to happen in one direction for Kittle's targets to go down significantly. You aren't presenting that as a possible scenario but a likely one. Yes if every possible negative circumstance goes against a player their production might dip, but what is the likelihood of all those things going against him? Even if one factor falls the other way his targets shouldn't be highly impacted.

I think Kittle easily retains 90% of his targets at a minimum if he is healthy as a floor and I would say could increase his targets by as much as 15% if the Niners defense regresses and keep in mind he missed 2 games last year and still eclipsed 1,000 yards so I think even with a 10% drop in targets he will still if healthy get 1000 yards. As NewEra said Trent Taylor and Jalen Hurd aren’t going to be that much more of a target drain than their third and fourth receivers had last season. Could a breakout from either player hurt Kittle’s targets? I guess but you would have to also hope that in addition to one of those players breaking out you would also have to hope that Aiyuk also has a season as good as Sanders last season or better which for a rookie WR is a tall order. You would also have to hope that the Niners defense and rushing attack remains at the top of the league. As I said the defense lost one of its best players and has some older players at critical positions and they did have some struggles towards the last 7 games of the season. So yes if two unproven players coming off of IR have good seasons, a rookie WR has a better season than Emmanuel Sanders did last year, the 49ers rushing attack and defense remains among the best in the league than Kittle’s targets might go down significantly. That’s literally everything having to fall one way.

The 49ers were up against the cap, that’s why they didn’t resign Sanders. Of course they are going to say hey we like what we have and not we are kind of ***** due to the cap. If they were so confident in Taylor and Hurd they wouldn’t have drafted a receiver in round 1 esp in a deep receiver class. I don't buy that two players coming off of IR who weren't productive to begin with are suddenly taking away massive targets from Kittle. That's coach speak you aren't seeing through. As for the defense yes they did rebound in the playoffs but I am projecting regression at least modestly. I still think they will be a top 10 defense just not a top 3 defense. One simply due to the loss of Bucker and two due to other players either aging or not having top seasons again. Their defense had a lot of factors go right for them in 2019 and in 2020 I suspect some players will regress due to age or other factors and the loss of Bucker will hurt. If the defense regresses a little bit they will be passing more overall.

I don't know why you seem to think that Taylor and Hurd two players coming off of serious injuries and players who have 0 receptions in the previous season are such massive candidates to take away receptions from one of the game’s best tight ends? You’re putting a lot on faith for those two players to both recover from injury and have production that they have never even come close to before. I get thinking that the team’s first round pick could have an impact but will that impact be greater than what Sanders brought last season (extrapolated per game?) I am not so sure. I think you are projecting out the most optimistic scenario for all 3 of those receivers even despite the fact that one is a rookie and the other two have never been that productive and are coming off of serious injuries. As for the Niners defense they most definitely did fall off towards the final 5 games of the season. They gave up from week 11 on, 26, 8, 20, 46, 29, 31, and 21 points. With their worst performance being the 29 they gave up to Atlanta resulting in a loss that could have cost them home field advantage had they not beat the Seahawks in week 17 in a close game. Compare that to their other 9 games and you see a sharp decline from what they did in their first nine games. I think with the loss of Buckner and some natural regression in their older players they regress from a top defense in the league to a good defense, which should open up more opportunities for their passing game. In fact Kittle had about the same yards in his first 8 games as he did in the last 6 games. Which meant as the defense regressed his yards and receptions per game went up.