RealityCheck

I love this part of the draft. Now we get introduced to a variety of good players that few have heard of.

This Bradham guy has some speed.

Considering we will be in the nickel 60% of the time I am not too worried about the OLB position.

Is that a knock on his height?

Mayock's analysis makes for good TV. However, when was the last time any of the 32 teams had him on their payroll for his expertise? The TV gig pays well and his draft misses or miscalculations cost $0.00 to the rest of the NFL and most assuredly his own bank account. As a TV guy, he is great.

When I look at the defense as a 4-3 it looks OK. When I look at a the defense as a base Nickel I like it a lot better. Given the trend to run the nickel half the time or more perhaps that is the current template for the Bills D. If this defense can finally stuff the run and pressure the QB out of the Nickel then I would say that the FO really accomplished something.

It will take the injuries of a few DEs for Batten to make the team.

Is that why everyone loves Levitre?

The Jets O-line will only be together for so long. Getting Richardson in there would be a monumental move for them. With the money invested in their O-line this move would maximize that investment. Obviously, I hope this does not happen.

Those guys are pretty good.

"Come on!?! It's Curtis baby!!!!!!" "Yeah...I know Curtis..."

I get paid to solve problems.

For all of you bellyachers out there, there is only one reason why the team stinks. Look at the team's roster in every non-playoff season the past decade as of the last game in the regular season. If year after year that is the quality you put on the field to end the season then what else could their possibly be to say about it? If you truly believe that the NFL is fixed or that there are definite forces behind the scenes actively thwarting the Bills playoff chances then every penny you spend in support of the team by definition makes you a complete fool. Why would you voluntarily donate your money to fraud? For those of you that think there is a grand conspiracy at play and still spend your money on tickets and jerseys it is likely that you don't really believe there is a conspiracy in the first place.

If you were to READ about it, you would easily understand it. Are you just being lazy, or are you afraid of learning new things? Whatever I type you will just respond as if I made it all up, but if you look it up yourself (God forbid) you would have the entire mathematical and scientific communities to be at odds with. Your mentality is right in line with why superstitions come into being.

No wonder you are so smart, I mention the idea of reading about something that is actually quite fascinating and I'm the a******. If you don't want to look it up then just say so. The notion that you would prefer my explanation to doing some of your own fact finding says it all.

Of course. Why actually READ about what "mathematical coincidence" actually is and examples of such when empirical evidence would conceivably get in the way of your preconceived notions. The only thing that is not a coincidence when it comes to the Bills and Pats is that the Bills are 1 and for the past 7 years against them.

Calling foul on the Pats recent bye week history is silly. Study a little bit about "mathematical coincidence" and you will understand that recent history in and of itself is actually an unsuspicious string of events. Don't confuse numerical expressions of possible outcomes with the natural occurrence of seemingly impossible outcomes in real life every moment of every day.

As I have clearly stated before, how the laws are currently enforced within the inner city communities in the south when people of limited resources use public defenders is night and day to those who have resources and can afford a proper legal defense. I also stated that no criminal charges are likely due to this distinction. If you are unaware of how these laws are applied in the poorer communities of our nation then it is what it is. To assume that the interpretation of the law in one case in 1997 which was defended by a high powered defense team in an organized crime case ignores a clear history of expansion in scope of the laws, their interpretation, and to exactly whom they are currently applied. Your race, profile, zip code, social status and associations have everything to do with how zealous and over reaching an investigation may or not be. If OJ never played football, was not wealthy,was never on TV nor had his trial aired and used a public defender you can rest assured that he would have been convicted the first time and would still be in jail. Based on how conspiracy and RICO charges are applied to the poor, yes, I do believe that the Saints are in big trouble as their intent was established over the course of years and multiple states, not to mention the obvious impact on all the various types of gambling associated with a single football game. The NFL has money, lawyers and a lot to lose, thus they will likely avoid any criminal charges. How is it that since the market correction of 2008 there have been so few successful investigations of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud? How is it that banks are allowed to grossly misrepresent their earnings through "creative accounting"? If you the working class individual did any of those things the IRS would treat you like Al Capone.

Just like Whaley leaving for a GM gig.

I agree to an extent. We are not fully privy to who had knowledge of the bounty system within the upper ranks of that organization. What many people do not realize is that charges are often brought against individuals when evidence shows that they had knowledge of the intent, even if they are not active participants. Anybody with direct knowledge of this said intent in the eyes of the law is a conspirator. If the GM is proven to have had knowledge of this established intent to harm outside the established rules of the NFL and it"s CBA then he is a coconspirator and the organization would be on the hook. RICO laws were immensely effective in fighting organized crime because law enforcement could effectively pursue low level participants who were merely third party entities and threaten them with significant jail time, thus creating tremendous leverage to get people to turn state's evidence. In criminal conspiracy charges all you have to do is be proven to have had knowledge of the intended crime and you are going to jail. As these laws are clearly worded you are an equally culpable co-conspirator. Thousands of people see jail time coast to coast every year in cases where these individuals are found guilty for RICO violations without ever directly taking part in an actual crime. The crime is knowledge of someone else's intent and is controversial BUT prevalent in the US court system. For example, if you have a friend that is a driver for drug shipments and he confides in you in anyway shape or form that is recorded by an instrument (such as a wire tapped phone) that is in fact a RICO violation and you will most certainly face jail time (which in some cases is equal to you being the one who did the crime in the first place), or at least be threatened with charges unless you cooperate with the authorities. Needless to say this is how law enforcement currently plays dominoes. FWIW, you are a pretty informed dude. Keep it up brother.

In light of the strength of the cases brought against low income individuals in urban environments the answer is yes. Charges of criminal conspiracy are as obvious in this case as I have ever seen. Will it go to court? Highly unlikely. Why? The defendants in this case have ample resources and would easily be able to launch a stout, high profile legal defense team with the juice to launder cash in the necessary direction to avoid significant jail time. The lure of TV face time would help immensely in the defense attorney recruitment department. Secondly, there would have to be significant political will to approve such a high profile case against well heeled clients. Political will has to do with approval of an obviously large budget for the investigation and subsequent court battle that is very expensive when you go up against those who are not simply public defenders. In the political will department, how would the potential outcomes affect the prosecutors career moving forward? What about the local politicians that have elections to concern themselves with? Local politicians regardless of which city the case is filed in are typically members of the bar association themselves. To what extent would the case involve the NFLPA or the owners. It would be very expensive, politically damaging to many, a PR problem to justify a huge budget for one case when low level drug, gambling, and extortion cases can be easily won against inner city youth without media coverage and serve to pad law enforcements highly dubious statistics. Statistics that are quite effectively applied to the argument for increasing law enforcement budgets coast to coast.

The plot thickens!

Doc. You are of course entitled to your opinion, but your grasp of RICO laws, how they are applied, the history of how they are actually applied and to whom is locked in some serious fantasy. RICO laws, particularly in the southern states, have greatly expanded in scope to prosecutors. They have grown into a pandoras box of "legal" civil rights violations and the successful prosecution of low-income/ low-level "conspirators". If you chose to cling to a Hollywood vision of a conspiracy then your assumptions are of course valid. When you watch TV shows you are obviously paying attention. Unfortunately I have a hard time understanding why you persist in debating Mr. WEO from that point of view. Fortunately for you however you clearly have no street level experience with this particular reality. What makes it to court has everything to do with politics, publicity, and what is financially lucrative to the bar association as an entity in a given jurisdiction. In practice all 3 are indivisible. Remember, ignorance of the law is never an acceptable excuse.