ny33

His thesis was fairly groundbreaking with some new formulas for calculating the optimal decision in a certain situation, though it was for basketball. I agree that such positions need a combination of mathematics skills and a willingness to innovate.

I have a friend- a 2013 college graduate- who will be spending his summer working in analytics with an AFC franchise before he starts his full-time position. He's told me that the analytics staff- which consists mostly of interns- is underwhelming for a professional football team, and that he's surprised how the team operates in that regard. I don't think Buffalo is unique in their lack of a legitimate "analytics department," though it would be interesting to see how the teams, if any, that take analytics seriously structure their personnel.

I'm excited. The team will be fun to watch. I have low expectations, though.

That's just not true. Jack Del Rio was the coach of the 2005 and 2007 Jaguars, the two squads that have made the playoffs during the Bills' drought.

uhh

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9287069/bruce-irvin-seattle-seahawks-suspended-four-games I'm guessing Seattle knew this might happen when they signed Bennett and Avril.

In our case, it seems, the President/CEO has a significant say in the hiring process. We'll see if it's for better or worse.

The team tanked, in my opinion, in 2011. RG3 put up insane numbers compared to Luck, from a purely statistical standpoint, and took an injury-riddled team to the playoffs. Indianapolis also had an excellent draft on offense besides Luck, picking up two good TEs, two solid WRs, and a decent RB in Ballard. The draft post-Polian fixed the roster. Luck will be a good QB, but I think RG3 was far more valuable.

Additionally, the Bills promoted C.J. Leak from BLESTO scout, a job he’s held the past two years, to a college area scout. Pete Harris, who worked as a scouting assistant the past two seasons, was promoted to BLESTO scout. http://www.buffalone.../130519255/1003 The Bills added C.J. Leak as a team-exclusive scout. Some of you may remember C.J. and his brother, Chris, who was once a national-championship winning QB at Florida.

Peyton was far better than Brady last year. Also, Luck is wildly overrated in that ranking. He's the last of the "young guns," in my opinion.

I was responding to the statement that "there is no reason not to include them." There certainly is a reason to be concerned about what Fred can produce next year, given his age and production last year. I'm not saying it's a major problem, but I think having CJ and Fred on the field at the same time isn't logical.

There's the fact that Fred was a fumble-prone shade of his past self last season.

What is "LAMP"?

hahah

Given the amount of wear and tear, as well as injuries sustained by players, guaranteed contracts are impractical, unfortunately. Adopting the NBA's rule would place a cap on the maximum salary teams could offer to players, and there is no chance that agents, or top players, would want it in place. The NFL doesn't have individual max salaries like the NBA does.

Yeah, that statistic is completely misleading.

Peko and Atkins should have been listed at #1. Williams and Dareus are very good, but I think they're third or fourth as a tandem.

So Brandon and Whaley took a course at Stanford together? That's interesting. Thanks.

What's a "freudelent slip"?

Thanks for the transcript, but can you please elaborate on the bolded text? What does Stanford have to do with Brandon or Whaley?

I agree wholeheartedly.

What? Marcell hasn't been elite, but he's been a very good DT since entering the league. He can- and needs to- improve, but he certainly makes plays.

Please tell me one of his buddies attending is Grey McElroy.

Technically, Ralph is outside of the organization now. Perhaps we should have hired him as G.M.?

Ozzie Newsome worked for the Browns from 1991-1995. During those years, the Browns went 36-44. From 1996-1999, he worked for the Ravens, going 24-39. In 2000, of course, the Ravens won their Super Bowl; a few years later, Newsome was named GM by an owner who recognized Newsome's immense contributions to that squad. I agree that Joe W's assessment method is absurd. Take a look at Polian's failures in the 2000s. He was a great GM, but he is out of the league for good reason.