Kirby Jackson

He wasn’t my guy coming out. Admittedly I’m higher on him than most at this point. At the same time I don’t take issue with anyone that believes that he still has a lot to prove. I don’t even take issue with anyone that thinks he’s never going to be better than now (although I don’t agree). I take issue with the thought that the Bills have the 26th best QB situation over the next 3 years. Again he has 21 TDs and 2 INTs over his last 10 starts. He’s a top 20ish QB now. I can’t wrap my head around the thought that he will suddenly fall off a cliff. Here’s the thing with Josh that the national people don’t know because they don’t watch enough. He was a low floor and high ceiling guy coming out. His ceiling is still sky high but his floor moved from low to mid-tier starting QB. If he doesn’t get ANY better he is an okay starting QB right now.

Take it a step further, the expectation is regression. They have the Bills QB situation is 26th. The anticipation is that over the next 3 years he goes backwards.

I can at least get behind Philly and Dallas somewhat in that they have good young QBs. Tampa, Indy, Pittsburgh, etc have QBs that have already looked old. Why are we so enamored with their situation moving forward? That’s insane to me. 3 years ago no one was optimistic about the Raven or Chiefs QB situations over the next 3 years. They drafted raw prospects who developed and they are in great shape. Are we honestly supposed to believe over the next 3 years that Ben and/or Rivers will be more impactful than Allen?!? I don’t only reject that thought but I think it’s insane. He may be ahead of those 2 right now.

Not going to get my panties in a bunch but this article is wrong in their view of the Bills. They have an open Super Bowl window over the next 3 years. They aren’t a middle of the league team moving forward. They are WAY too low on Allen. They are projecting the QB situation to worsen over the next 3 years? That feels like a MASSIVE reach considering the direction he’s trending. He has 21 TDs and 2 INTs in his last 10 starts. We are supposed to believe that this raw prospect, with massive talent, on a big upward trajectory, will suddenly fall of a cliff? That’s the expectation? That’s just bad

Except the players already shot down the bubble idea. It would take MONTHS to put that together too. That just isn’t happening.

I agree to a certain level but not completely. I’m a middle-market P&C producer for the largest insurance agency in the world. In 2019 my production doubled the second highest producer in our office of over 20 producers. I could be replaced tomorrow. It would hurt some but it is nowhere near the same as the athlete/musician. Without me they take a hit but the business isn’t in jeopardy. Without the players or without the musicians there is no game or concert. It doesn’t exist. If it is a scale as to how replaceable the labor is to the actual business it probably looks something like this: unskilled labor < middle management < skilled labor < sales < executives < entertainers

They are both the product and the labor. That’s what makes sports and entertainment different. At 7-11 you can find someone else to sell the slurpees. The slurpee is the product and the guy behind the counter is the labor. Tom Brady is the product and the labor. Without the guy at 7-11 they still have the slurpee. Without the players there is nothing to sell in the NFL.

Well great, if some guys don’t want to play maybe they’ll call you up. About .09% of HS football players make it to the NFL. These guys aren’t just replaceable with the next guy. The players ARE the league. That’s true in all sports. The labor force doubles as your assets. The players know this. If Russell Wilson is worried about his family the league isn’t saying, “no problem we’ll roll with Joe in Hampton Roads.” The league’s revenue is dependent on the players. As a side plea to EVERYONE can we stop comparing our jobs to theirs? These are HIGHLY skilled professionals that can’t just be replaced. Their job is different than our jobs as mailmen, insurance sales people, waiters, etc... We are easily replaced. Our companies to not lose millions of dollars if we don’t work. Their business does. It’s apples and oranges.

That’s the entire point though. They are just over a week from reporting and some pretty major items are still not ironed out. The players are asking what’s the plan and “don’t worry about it we will have something” seems to be the response. If there was a clear plan in place, that comes from the medical people, the players will be okay with it. I don’t disagree that it is being worked on. They are just running out of time.

If you read the articles it even changed since yesterday. That’s kind of the point.

You can make it LESS risky though. That’s what they are asking for. There will always be risk. There will be guys that test positive. At the same time it’s reasonable to have a plan in place for how often they’ll be tested, what happens following a positive test, how to distance during meetings, how the facilities will be sanitized, etc... No one is asking for perfect, just better. Transparency and a plan is a pretty low bar to meet and it isn’t being met.

In what way?

What about baseball? How are they able to do it? They have a lot more traveling going on albeit with a smaller group. There should be universal protocols in place. They should be standardized across the league. Your argument, to this point, is “if no bubble, nothing will work.” That may or may not be true but there should be alternative options in place. Throwing your hands up and saying “it is what it is” isn’t going to fly with the players. They’ve made that clear.

To be fair the training and offseason prep difference between 1980 and 2020 is the difference between a Kia and a Ferrari. The game may not be pretty coming off this break but it’s an entirely different world now.

The baseball argument isn’t a fair one. The baseball players and owners were fighting over revenue sharing. Would it be a straight prorated salary or would they have to take a discount on that? That alienated the public. NFL players are arguing for better working conditions. The 2 situations are apples and oranges.

Bledsoe belongs at $2 and everyone else should be bumped up a notch. He was absolutely atrocious. Outside of that 8 game stretch he was as bad as any QB over the last 20+ years. I refuse to even participate in a game that values him as the $5 option.

WAY better!! After his 1st 8 games Bledsoe was horrendous for the Bills. He had like a 1:1 TD to INT and was sacked a zillion times. His Bills career is more overrated than any player in franchise history. He was not just a decent QB after the first 8 games. His play and numbers are in EJ/Losman/Edwards territory.

Just give me Bledsoe 3 times

That’s what it has to be. He’s played at a very high level since entering the league. He’s a top 10 guy right now. The weird part is that even though he’s only 26 he may never be a top 5 guy. At the same time his best season was his most recent one so it’s probably not fair to assume that he’s done progressing.

I do like Poyer more at this point. I get that others prefer Hyde. Poyer just makes more plays. I guess the flip side is that Hyde prevents a lot of big plays. I’m really happy to have both but if I could only have one it would be Poyer for me. I know stats aren’t everything for a safety but he does have a lot of tackles for the position. He has 302 tackles over the last 3 years. I can’t post the graphic here but there are a lot of plays being made on his end.

Since the start of the Super Bowl era 2 QBs have 15,000 yards passing and 40 wins in their first 4 seasons - Dan Marino and Dak Prescott.

The thing you’re discounting though is Allen has taken GIANT steps. There are a lot of ultra talented guys that never make it. There are others that do. Allen should be looked at more on the trajectory of the successful ones based on last year. The Bills are 15-9 in games that Allen starts and finishes. They are 1-7 in games where he doesn’t. In his last 10 starts he has 21 TDs and 2 INTs. He isn’t where he needs to be or ultimately will end up. At this point though it isn’t fair to look at him as some raw prospect with a low floor. At worst, he’s a decent NFL starting QB right now. At best he’s a star. The floor has moved and that’s where you don’t give him enough credit.

Not sure that you want to go down this ride. A whole bunch of FACTS may enter the equation that don’t look so good for some of those guys.

We do have someone complaining that he’s not allowed to harass women anymore...

It’s not threatening but still wish he had a little more awareness. It’s 2020. He’s 69-years-old which is right on that verge of when it’s okay. Yeah, it’s different in the South. They call you babe, dear, honey, dawlin’, etc... It sounds like a bit of a double standard but when it’s the women to men it feels less threatening/creepy. That holds especially true in a more regional situation like this. If a waitress called me babe in Buffalo it’s a lot different than when someone here says “what can I get for ya babe.”