Rob's House

You should ask for your tuition back.

The strain of city life tends to have that affect.

I doubt the fans would do it, but if Jon Von Blowme bought the team with the intention of moving it to Toronto, I'd say stay home and let him host games in an empty stadium until 2020.

Heath Shuler was a legendary bust, but you can make a strong argument that David Carr was a good pick who was ruined playing behind one of, if not the, worst offensive lines in the modern era. That guy barely had time to take the snap before getting clobbered. Trent Edwards & JP Losman probably felt sorry for him. That kind of introduction to the NFL can throw off a QB's internal clock and leave him a shell of what he could have been.

I didn't watch much of Peyton Manning's rookie year, but I remember in the leadup to his second season virtually everyone was speaking of him in glowing terms and talking about how bright his future was. With Eli I would somewhat agree. I refused to call him anything but Peyton Manning's brother because I didn't think he'd earned it and his lineage was the only reason I saw for his draft placement, but by his second season I was calling him Eli. Rothlisberger was solid from the first time he set foot on the field. His team went 15-1. And I know it was a solid team, but that team wasn't performing like that before he stepped up. Flacco had an excellent rookie season. Rivers sat for his first 2 seasons, but the first year he started he posted a 92 QB Rating. And RG3 had "it" before his idiot coach left him out there gimping around with a 2 TD lead only to let his leg get ripped half off. I agree with your broader point, that sometimes QBs take time to develop and we really don't know what we have in EJ, and I also agree he may have benefitted from a year on the bench learning the offense and practicing before being thrust into the limelight. But it's not like most of the guys you listed were left for dead before resurrecting their careers - that's pretty much just Brees and Smith. Patience is warranted, but it's not like we're going in blind. There's potential there, but I don't see too many (outside of hard core Bills fans) who are all that optimistic, which to me is telling - and cause for concern.

You laugh, but can you imagine how much worse it would have been if their teams had a contingency plan in place?

Last year Lewan was talked about as a potential top pick before he announced he was going back to college, at which point Joeckle became the consensus guy.

When I think of Manziel I'm reminded of the scene in Tombstone when Doc Holliday is playing the piano, except instead of discussing the music they're discussing the draft. The outlaw is talking about QBs, and Doc tells him he likes Manziel. He says "Manziel?" To which Doc Replies, "You know, Johnny !@#$ing Football."

I honestly doubt he'd be too concerned as long as they offer him LT money.

Dogmatic thinking is the enemy of innovation.

The best part of another Bush presidency is we could all reuse the old joke: Why did the gays vote for <insert Democrat candidate>?

I'd take Matthews all day and most of tomorrow. Nothing against Ebron, I suspect he'll have a nice career, but if we're going TE I'd much rather snag an OT in the first and if ASJ is available in the second we've killed 3 birds with 2 stones. ASJ isn't as athletic as Ebron, but he's still got the athletecism to stretch the seam, but he blocks like a tackle. Seeing as how we're going with a run first philosophy, adding 2 major upgrades to the run blocking on the right side of the line AND adding a passing threat in the first two picks would be a win, win, win in my eyes.

I wonder if the Browns are glad they opted for the #1 TE over the #3 QB in 2004.

From The Ref. Love that quote.

Speaking of BBQ, you should check out Alamo BBQ in Church Hill.

Same could have been said about 3rd rounders before Russell Wilson and Nick Foles were drafted in the 3rd round of the 2012 draft. This being a deep draft with a lot of talent at QB means guys drafted in the 2nd round in previous drafts may last to the 4th or 5th round of this draft. But the odds would probably be even better if we were to take one in the 2nd or 3rd this year. And the importance of the position should not be understated. Landing one Wilson or Foles is worth 3 RBs or LBs.

If you use his ranking last year against guys who went back to school and are coming out this year (like Murray and Boyd) that's about where he fits. If you forget that the Bills took him in the first and look at him through the lens of pre-2013 draft you'd probably put him in that same category. The only poster I remember calling for Manuel around this time last year was #1Billsfan.

I think he's more Fitz than Manuel. I'd give him another shot as the starter going into the season, but if it were up to me his potential replacement would most likely be plucked in the first three rounds of this draft. It's not his stats that bug me, it's primarily his awkward pocket presence and his short game. The more I've watched the more I've realized the lack of a screen game is due to EJ's inability to throw a screen pass. The main reason I'd be willing to go into the season with him as the presumptive starter is because of his physical attributes, his personality, and his reputation for being a hard worker (and b/c he's from VA - Represent?). There's a lot to be said for that. But his feel for the game worries me, and the more I watch him the more it worries me. It also worries me that a 4 year starter for a major D1 college program is considered a project.

Why the new s/n?

We can at least narrow it down to one of two options. He's either a gang member or he's a !@#$ing poser.

I find that preferable to a world where he can't. Also, if TG were able to whip EJ's ass would it somehow make his questioning more appropriate?

I've never met you in person so I could be completely off base here, but I'm willing to bet you probably can't take SJ or Chandler in a fight, and therefore I declare that you should retract this statement.

I'm not commenting on TG one way or the other. I'm just trying to wrap my mind around the philosophy whose tenets hold that a reporter's performance of his duties should be dictated by his fighting ability relative to that of the subject of his article (and apparently also by the subject's ability to write engaging columns?)

I'm not advocating taking Carr at 9, but for argument's sake, there's no guarantee whichever of the guys you mentioned will work out, and all things being equal, if Carr was the pick and did work out it his value would be substantially greater than any of the names you mentioned.

I was big on Mettenberger early, but his performance down the stretch dropped him in my eyes. Even still, he's got the prototypical size, a major league arm, and played with and against the best college football has to offer. Plucking him in the 3rd or 4th would be worth the risk IMO.