K-9

Per the bold text, if a fan disagrees with the strategy to tear it down, they are essentially saying we could have continued to progress deeper into playoff runs with Tyrod Taylor as our QB. I submit that is absolutely ridiculous. I might be persuaded to to change my opinion on the tear down if someone could show me how we were going to obtain draft assets to use as capital to be in a position to trade up and snag a top QB prospect in one of the QB richest drafts in a long time without trading some decent players like Sammy and Cordy. We snagged our QB, obtained other good talent in the process, and went from cap hell to cap advantaged. All in a couple years. Now, people will certainly point out that if they don’t show progress then it was all for not. Well, news flash! That’s always the case, anyway, whether you’re standing pat or blowing it up.

My comments refer to the #7 overall pick only. Picks after the first round are gonna need more time, anyway, as a general rule. Agree entirely about the impact of USNTDP players on this year’s draft. I’ll be surprised if we don’t snag one. Other than Byram, who will be gone anyway, I don’t see another CHL player as being clear cut better than anyone in the USNTDP stable this year.

Good stuff, BF4. I won’t be surprised if Krueger gets 50 out of Skinner next year. He’s never had a centerman like Eichel and they’re still figuring each other out. Yes, he slumped down the stretch but he was also playing on hurt ankle (which he was lucky didn’t just snap on the play he hurt it on) and he never complained, never backed off, and never failed to give it 100%. That’s all I ask of any player. Someone should tell Sully that plus/minus is really a team stat more than anything else. He comes across like he doesn’t have a firm grasp of the game.

I get the point about profootballtalk as a lousy source, but it was nice reading about Allen’s and Daboll’s evolving relationship, regardless.

I’m sure they had say with Pekar and UPL, too. But the fact remains, if an 18 year old CHL prospect doesn’t make the team or plays less than 10 games, he has to go back to the CHL. From a development standpoint, if a CHL prospect has already done everything he can at the CHL level, it’s understandable that a GM may prefer to get him in the A instead, but GMs don’t have that option currently. It’s CHL or sitting in the press box.

I thought he just hurt his elbow on that play. People were panicking that he might need Tommy John surgery after that game. I don’t recall anything about a shoulder injury though. Agree entirely that getting hurt and having some time to observe and learn while tied to the hip of Daboll was a blessing in disguise.

Good old Jerry. Always on time with his cloud for the silver lining. https://www.niagara-gazette.com/sports/sullivan-sabres-should-think-twice-about-re-signing-skinner/article_75d05ae6-8576-11e9-aab6-c71603b0f40f.html

Shoulder injury last season? Anyway, I’m not surprised at this at all. It’s the natural evolution of an OC and his QB. We could see last year that, upon his return from injury, Allen was given a bit more of the reigns on the field. Hearing this on the heels of Allen working with Zay on how he wants certain routes run, etc., bodes very well. Allen is making this team his own and that’s job one on a football team.

Perhaps JBotts could have suspected that, given Berglund’s agent’s huge screwup with the no trade clause list of teams, that he, Berglund, might have some initial reluctance. JBotts has every right to assume a 10 year pro veteran in the league would have the character to give his best effort, regardless. I can’t blame JBotts for not having the ability to look inside a player to see his true character. That’s on Berglund. 100%.

When it came to approval for trades? Who to “lobby” not to trade premium draft picks? Detroit. Period. Who Detroit felt the most affection and affinity for? Kay. Hands down. I think this fills in your latest rabbit hole. Stick to football takes. You know the game and you’re generally good with those. Off the field stuff? Not so much.

Outstanding. Applies to everything in life, too. Reminds me of several Native American prayers that, to paraphrase, thank the great spirits for their struggles.

Aw, the poor little multi millionaire professional athlete didn’t want to leave St. Louis. Cry me a F***ing river. Instead of sucking it up and embracing a new opportunity, he chose to act like a child and not a professional. I’ll save my sympathy for people truly suffering from depression and other mental illnesses. He is a disgrace and not worth a minute more of my concern.

You made it a point to say that newly hired coaches led previous “bottom feeders” to dramatic turnarounds in a short period of time and then listed 10 teams to illustrate that point. I pointed out that half of those teams couldn’t be considered bottom feeders. Now you make it a point to say McDermott didn’t inherit a bottom feeder, either, so I don’t know what your point is. Is it that he came into a good situation and since he hasn’t done anything except make the playoffs in half his seasons at the helm that he is somehow lacking compared to others on your list? Anyway, my main point is that the four teams you listed that could truly be considered dregs found their franchise QB, while the other teams you listed already had him in place. With the exception of Fox in Carolina. Unless you have that guy, your team isn’t gonna do squat. No matter who the coach is. Let’s hope we found ours.

Hey BF4, will listening to this make me change my stance on Berglund? If so, I’ll give it a listen. If not, he can just go F himself until his dick falls off.

I have a ton of respect for Polian’s acumen as did everyone else in that building at the time, so I’d never dismiss him as a road scout although it was an aspect of the job he enjoyed a lot. He’d spend hours with scouts pouring over film and breaking down various players, pro or college. So, to echo your beef, don’t suggest I said something I didn’t. He did have an enormous ego, was often downright rude to people, and had to be told to calm down from time to time, but all in all a great guy to have a beer with. However, he was NOT the person Kay would have had to convince not to trade away premium picks, and he WOULDN’T have done that anyway. Like I said, if I misunderstood your original post, fine, thanks for the clarification. But I still don’t think my original assumption was so unreasonable that it would cause you to continue to belabor the point. I have no desire to continue down another rabbit hole of yours. In the future just I’ll look for and respond to your actual football takes. They are usually interesting.

https://sports.yahoo.com/patrik-berglund-says-hell-play-hockey-next-year-after-leaving-nhl-in-december-213239995.html Whatever sympathy I had for his mental state at the time he quit in his teammates, coaches, and fans is gone. Berglund can go F himself until his ***** falls off. He’s a disgrace.

There is a lot of truth to this statement. Stevie, being the unconventional route runner that he was (or as Gailey put it, "just do whatever that thing is you do"), had a unique chemistry with Fitz. Much of the time it worked, much of the time it didn't. Stevie's penchant for stutter stepping off the LOS would just ruin timing routes, but it also made it difficult for CBs to time him as well. And Fitz, with that HUGE windup, wasn't a slave to timing patterns, either. But it worked for them. Except when Fitz tried triple hitching a long out and then it was a disaster. But that's a different subject.

Half the teams on your list cold hardly be considered "dregs" the year before those respective coaches took over. Anyway, it's always gonna be an apples to oranges comparison given the nature of the game. This Bills regime is going into their third year. If they are like the Saints, Seahawks, Eagles, and Rams and have found their franchise QB, there is no reason to believe they aren't firmly on the same track.

I'll take Jankowski at his word. But I'm with you; seeing is believing. There are several very good CHL prospects rated highly in this draft and one is sure to be there when we pick. Me, I want Caufield. I'm sold.

Boxing is still a thing? Who knew?

Lotta mighty good goodness.

Screw pumping the brakes. If you can't drive like Dareus on a synthetic chronic high before training camp, when can you?

I wouldn't mind taking a flyer on him, either. But JBotts strikes me as someone who wants control over player development which is one reason I think he doesn't like drafting CHL prospects.

Thanks. I had Berchtold pegged but had no idea that was Wolford. With Berchtold there, how long before every intimate detail of that conversation is leaked?