Mickey

This year's Anquan Boldin? Pass.

I am not at all enamored of taking a right tackle that high, especially when we need WR's just as badly. I'd be much happier with Metcalf in the first. We haven't had a WR like that since Eric Moulds. Every team in the league seems to be able to find competent RT's without spending a top ten pick. I rather bet on finding a decent RT in the 2nd or 3rd rounds than finding a game breaking WR that late in the draft. Sure it happens but the odds I think favor prioritizing WR over RT.

Sure he needs to work on his accuracy but I have a feeling that if you fix the line, get the run game going again and find some real WR's that his accuracy across the board will magically improve.

Gee, just when things were going so well for him...*sigh*

I don't think the NFL needs saving but if it did, moving towards an analysis of each and every play for any and all penalties that should or shouldn't have been called is not going to save it. As for 'luck", it seems like the best teams consistently have all the luck. If the uncertainties inherent in the game are too much for you, you might consider becoming a chess fan.

I must say you are quite the expert on racism and the acceptable way black people should raise their concerns about unfair treatment. I encourage you to seek out as many persons of color as you can and give them the benefit of your expertise, I am sure they will thank you for it.

I am usually a pretty hard case on these things but at the same time, I do believe in redemption. And I don't think playing in the NFL is a privilege, it is a job, one that you can only get by working your tail off and having a boat load of talent. NFL jobs are not given away like lottery tickets. The glory and the money is well earned, every penny. Apart from this incident, this crime, this player has done the work and demonstrated the talent that typically results in a shot at an NFL roster. The question is whether he should be barred from work because of his crime. I wouldn't blame any NFL team for passing on him as not worth the risk but if there is a team willing to give him a shot at redemption, that is between the player and the team.

I'd love to know what he saw in Josh's game that he so strongly feels needs to be changed. More touch? Use the TE's more? Launch it earlier? Run less? Never pay retail?

The Rock Pile, of course!

I've had a good laugh in court with defendants who thought those clauses would save them from the consequences of their own negligence. NY law specifically prohibits this defense. https://codes.findlaw.com/ny/general-obligations-law/gob-sect-5-326.html: "Every covenant, agreement or understanding in or in connection with, or collateral to, any contract, membership application, ticket of admission or similar writing, entered into between the owner or operator of any pool, gymnasium, place of amusement or recreation, or similar establishment and the user of such facilities, pursuant to which such owner or operator receives a fee or other compensation for the use of such facilities, which exempts the said owner or operator from liability for damages caused by or resulting from the negligence of the owner, operator or person in charge of such establishment, or their agents, servants or employees, shall be deemed to be void as against public policy and wholly unenforceable." Hold harmless clauses are used, not to win cases, but to dupe people into thinking they can't sue. Trust me, if you get on a roller coaster and it flies off the track because the owner hasn't inspected the ride for 5 years, you won't lose your case because on the back of the ticket there is an assumption of risk or hold harmless clause printed on it. Even if there were no statute directly on point (there are ways around it), this is the same kind of loser defense the cigarette industry used, the asbestos industry, etc. It doesn't work. The best argument you have is assumption of risk as an athlete can be said to have assumed the risk inherent in a given sport. However, someone else's negligence is never a risk "inherent" in any sport. And even if it were, you can't pin assumption of risk on to a 12 year old. Can the NFL afford to self insure? Maybe. Maybe not. With a reported $1 billion settlement, I am not so sure. That is why I referred to "most organizations", not just the NFL. School districts, pop warner and colleges don't have NFL money, is it viable for them to self insure? I don't think the NFL is going to be able to contract their way out of this problem. Even more fundamental changes than they already have made to the game may be necessary.

The NFL itself has admitted and accepted the link even if you have not. Though you may have no reservations, the sharp decline in the number of kids playing football, even in the south, shows that an increasing number of parents have reservations about their kids playing football. I love the game as is but at the same time, I have zero interest in people permanently injuring themselves and each other for my entertainment. That is what makes all of this so hard. We all love the game and none of us want to see people permanently injured. Can we have one without the other? I don't know.

The cost of the suit the NFL settled is around a billion dollars. The article found 29 such suits now pending in 18 different sports. I don't see the high schools in my local district being capable of self insuring losses that large. There are 18 school districts in Onondaga County, most have at least one varsity and one JV football team though a couple don't have football teams at all. That is nearly as many teams in the NFL and those players are certainly vulnerable to concussions and CTE. No way they can handle being self insured.

Hmmm...and yet, when I had kidney cancer back in the late '90's, my insurance company footed the bill for the meds, the surgery, the hospital and so on. Saved my life and prevented my family from going bankrupt. And then there was the time that a hunk of ice the size of a small boat fell off the roof and obliterated my mini-van and my insurance company paid for a rental while I shopped for a new car which they also paid for. And boy was I glad I had insurance when my house was robbed by thieves who took everything, including my guitar "collection" (my primary security system, a very large dog, had passed away earlier that week). People get insurance because it is monumentally stupid not to and because, things happen. And yes, insurance companies are crooks but there are laws and regulations (issued by the big bad government hiding under your bed) which limit their crookery and force them to pay valid claims. So when they tried to cheat my wife us when the bill came due for my wife's maternal care when our first daughter was born, I filed a complaint with the State and within 10 days the insurer sent me a check and an apology. And when my neighbor's son lost his arm in a hunting accident and the insurance company wouldn't pay for a prosthetic that would help him keep his job, we filed an outside appeal, as provided by the "worthless government" of the state of NY and he got his prosthetic.

In general, you can't contract away freedom from the consequences of your own negligence and self insurance is not a financially viable option for most organizations.

This happens every year in the play offs. Pass interference is such a devastating, game deciding penalty that refs are reluctant as hell to call it in high profile games. A ref who blows that call goes down in history as the worst ref ever. The best example I can recall is the Bills' first super bowl. Reed was mugged all day and no flags.

I am not sure I would include Zay, Dawkins and Phillips on that list. Dawkins had a disappointing year by his won estimate and I hardly recall any plays made by Phillips. I may be judging them too harshly but I think the jury is still out on those guys. Zay Jones has hardly covered himself in glory and the majority of his most memorable plays are drops. He had some good games once the QB position settled but if we draft a WR in the first or second, I wouldn't be surprised if Zay was relegated to the No. 3 WR after, say DJ Metcalf and Foster. Don't forget, Ju-Ju Smith-Schuster was on the board when we took Jones. There are lots of reasons to be optimistic about all three of those guys but for now, I think their value is uncertain. In the end, Beane will be judged not by Foster, Edmunds or Teller. His rep now rests pretty much entirely on the Josh Allen pick and, thank the gods, I believe he got that one right.

I'm not at all a fan of Taylor. The guy was a right tackle in college, doesn't that mean he wasn't the best OT on the team? I don't like the idea of taking a RT in the first round. I've only watched his tape on two games and he just doesn't seem to have very good feet and the last thing I want is yet another offensive lineman who can't get out in front of a screen or block in space. I am open to being convinced otherwise but I think Taylor anywhere in the top half of the first is a reach.

I don't care what his completion percentage is if he is winning games. I am open to the possibility that more than one kind of QB can succeed in the NFL and that Josh Allen may be such a unique talent that you have to throw out the cookie-cutter stats in determining his value.

This is blasphemy. Repent OP! Repent! ---- Rev, Peter J. Blinders, Church of the Sacred Completion Percentage Today's Sermon: Does a good QB have a high completion percentage or does a high completion percentage make a QB good?

oh boy! game on!

They probably shouldn't draft me, though I would be a hilarious presence in the locker room and would have minimal impact on the cap. Still, the utter lack of anything resembling a skill of any kind is likely fatal to my chances at a roster spot. Maybe next year.

You and your common sense, we want none of that here buster.

Respectfully, I don't think the separation measurement says what the OP thinks it does. That is a measure of separation at the time he throws the ball as opposed to when he is supposed to, ideally, throw the ball. He has to hold on to the ball longer because they don't get timely separation. His buying time in the pocket with his feet and his guts, allows them to eventually get some separation. I don't buy that this particular stat refutes the widely held belief that our receivers do not get open. Dropping catchable balls are another issue entirely.

I'm gonna keep my opinion on who is the MVP a secret for now but, hint, hint: his name rhymes with "Gosh Gallen".

Thank the gods we finally have a franchise long snapper!