BarleyNY

Williams would be a great addition, but I don't think Washington trades him.

As I said in my previous post, I think he ran himself out of options. He had a bunch of suitors when he disrespected the Bills. I’m not sure why he chose the Raiders (as I also said previously), but I am sure that the contract played a major part. But I’d bet that the Bills would’ve paid him that too if the trade compensation was in the realm of what the Raiders gave up.

No. I said as much in the post you quoted. I think AB is an idiot. He was an absolute tool to the Bills and if he had been either a decent or smart person, then he’d have handled the situation discretely. I also think he ran himself out of options. As for the Bills, what were they supposed to do at that point? Not really much to be done except what they did do - publicly say they weren’t interested anymore and tell everyone it was because of AB’s contract demands. That way they couldn’t be used as leverage. It’s not like they did anything wrong (except pursue AB in the first place).

Sorry, I still don’t buy that at all. The Bills side of the story came out well after Brown’s side, which was: Rosenhaus tells Brown on the audio of the phone call: “Like when the Bills called me today, and they said if we make the trade what are you guys looking for? And I wouldn’t even give them a number because I know you’d rather not go there.” “Yeah, don’t even waste time,” Brown replied. “I really want you to have a good quarterback and to be in a ... winning environment, man,” Rosenhaus tells his client. https://buffalonews.com/2019/03/26/antonio-brown-buffalo-bills-trade-nfl-pittsburgh-steelers-boomin-experience-podcast/ That the contract on top of the picks was too much in total was a reasonable, face-saving story by the Bills, but that’s all it was because it doesn’t make any sense. $11.2M over 3 years is the difference we are talking about here, right? $3.7M/season is not that much money. Also it makes no sense that the draft compensation would not have been negotiated down to closer to what the Raiders paid if the Bills had balked at the combination. Hell, why wasn’t that even discussed? Why did we just walk away? Why wouldn’t we have made some sort of counter to the Steelers? Sorry, Brown’s story makes sense and came out before he even made a decision about where to play. The Bills story just doesn’t make sense. The funny thing is that Brown has to play with Carr on a poor team. But maybe he just wanted to move to Las Vegas and get paid or play for a perennial winner and get paid. I don’t know. But he sure didn’t want to play here with Allen - even if that choice was a big mistake. Lastly, let me just reiterate that I’m glad he’s not here. The Bills dodged a bullet IMO, but they did disappoint me by even trying to trade for him.

Emphatically yes. On all counts. The only "issues" in Cleveland thus far are that OBJ only showed for one of the voluntary OTA practices and that the third string RB wants traded. Incidentally he was the only other player not at OTAs. As for FAs that came to a team because of the QB there it's worth noting that OBJ came to Cleveland in large part because of Mayfield while Allen certainly wasn't enough to make Antonio Brown want to come to Buffalo. There's a lot to like about what is happening here in Buffalo - and I get the optimism - but there is real potential in places other than here. Also let's be real, the Browns and Bills both added a lot of talent this off-season. So have other teams. None of them know how well they will mesh. It's a bit much to see some people assume the best here and the worst elsewhere, especially when they obviously haven't even bothered to do their homework on the other teams and have a selective memory with the Bills.

I’m sure the Bills support Kelly’s charities and treat him well when he comes around. In turn, I’ll bet he makes himself available to the Bills for rubbing elbows with the right people and some PR stuff. That’s a fair deal for both sides and it keeps their businesses separate, which is best for everyone.

I meant in the draft. I remember that Leroi has posted the day before the draft that the Bills had a deal with the Browns worked out to get Watkins. I was hoping he was wrong and it was in place, but for Watkins. He would’ve been the biggest (current) star in Buffalo. You’ve got a right to be pissed.

Yes. Deandre Hopkins is probably the correct choice. I wouldn’t say no to Khalil Mack though. I’m still pissed about missing out on him. Myles Garrett would be a great addition and is still on his rookie deal. And I’d love to have Gilmore back to pair with Tre White.

Yup. Kelvin “Don’t mind me, I’m just here to pick up my check” Benjamin. And, of course, the head coach version of that, Rex “Last one in, first one out” Ryan. Dishonorable Mention to his bro too. Rex even managed to find a way to steal more money from the Bills by bringing Rob in. That showed more effort and innovation than anything he did for the team.

I agree. Oliver was the best prospect that I thought could possibly fall to the Bills at 9. I think we got lucky. In addition to Oliver, I also think I’m going to love watching Ford play. Guess I’m being super obvious with these two, but that’s where I am.

Sorry. Misunderstood the situation. I just don’t pay much attention to OTA stuff and thought this was about some people getting on Poyer for not being there.

He’s fine. It’s not like he’s OBJ who is doing basically the same thing.

I don’t think you can say that about Beane and McDermott after they tried to trade for Antonio Brown. Say what you want about OBJ, but he never bailed on his team like Brown did.

Funny how the coaches on the top of that list seem to have the best, most proven QBs. Lotta hard work there. (eye roll)

The PED issue is at least as big as the injury issue . Some players have their production fall off after stopping their use and I worry that we will see this with Murphy. He has one failed test and 4 game suspension under his belt. The next one would be a year, by the way. Since his failed test in the offseason of 2017 he has torn his ACL (preseason 2017), then signed a big contract with Buffalo in 2018. He had a pedestrian season in 2018 with three games missed due to a knee strain. He’s not come close to earning the deal he got and It’s obvious that he will need to show well this season if he expects to see the $7.2M in new money he’s owed in 2020.

Also any perceived slight by the media.

Fans overreact to players with eye popping measurables even when those players haven’t been successful. They also blow perceptions about being a hard worker, smart or a good leader way out of proportion. Often the very existence of those qualities is straight up manufactured.

Thoughts and prayers are being sent Foles’s way by his coach and others in the Jax organization. Might want to pump the brakes on the outrage and give the man the benefit of doubt about the situation.

I’m sure that many players who have been derided by people in the media, etc. take great satisfaction in rubbing their noses in it after they succeed. No doubt about that. Who wouldn't? It’s just that I don’t think it ever really impacts their drive. Too many other factors matter so much more. That proving naysayers wrong drives players to succeed is just a narrative that some fans take satisfaction in. In reality it doesn’t matter at all, it’s just a fun extra.

You are missing that analytics is a very useful tool for players trying to improve. It can help by not only showing them the areas where they are strong or weak, but also point them toward working on the facets of their games that would be the most advantageous. I always think that at this stage the “driven by naysayers” angle is way, way, way overblown - especially for QBs. These guys are looking at a situation where tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars is on the line. Plus then there's the fame, including adoration from truly top shelf women (or whomever they’re interested in) and general fan worship galore. Not to mention the internal drive most of the players have. Proving wrong a few idiots who say they’ll fail can’t even register for most of these guys. Seriously, if succeeding as an NFL QB means that I’m at the top of my profession and that I’m looking at a 5 year $150M contract and Scarlett Johansson as my squeeze, then you can believe me when I say that anything Colin Cowherd has to say about me wouldn’t mean a damn thing.

It should be extraordinarily concerning that a second year, starting NFL QB is still working on holding the ball correctly. That in no way has anything to do with intelligence. Not talking about a player with a good grip tweaking it or trying to change to a better grip. We are talking about a 2nd year, starting QB who isn’t consistently gripping a ball correctly. Very different things. Mechanical flaws tend to rear their ugly heads when a QB is pressured or otherwise stressed. It is genuinely difficult to make lasting changes to mechanics because those flaws are so ingrained into the player by the time they get to the NFL. Jackson has 2 years of QB in HS, 3 in college and this is his 2nd in the NFL. Not to say he can’t do it, just that he is fighting some bad odds. Of course, if the problems are due to the coaches trying to change his mechanics then maybe he’d be fine (or at least better off) if they just let him revert back to his old ones. Which is likely anyway. Still, basic mechanical issues at this point in his career should be a big red flag.

Agree that Jackson is the same kind of QB as TT. Baltimore will play a similar style offense with probably more RPOs than we did with TT, but the focus on run game and deep throws will be similar. He’ll be able to do what TT did - beat the bad teams, be competitive with the mediocre teams and struggle with the good ones. Baltimore likely will have a very good defense so they could conceivably make the playoffs with him at QB.

Who exactly is giving Darnold praise? Other than maybe the media who suck up to large markets? Honestly?

I disagree. Allen certainly didn’t fall in his face last season, but he also has a long way to go. His running and ability to buy time when the pocket breaks down are definite pluses that few expected. But there are still questions about whether or not those are sustainable - especially at last season’s rate. More importantly, Allen had issues with getting the ball out in rhythm and with consistent accuracy. I watched a highlight video and he did a lot of important things on it, including accurate passes, but he didn’t get the ball out at the end of his drops even once on that video. The argument here is, of course, that his supporting cast was poor. It sure was and I didn’t see all 22 film to see if he was missing open receivers. I don’t know, but last season is done. He’s got a much better line and much better WRs this year so let’s see what he does with them. I’m not going to ding Allen when it might not have been his fault, but I’m also not going to blame people who wants to see Allen be effective with those aspects of his game before acknowledging that he can do those things well.

For some background on Aaron Schatz’s predraft QB analysis, here is a thread about that from that time. It uses QBASE Here is an older article that explains QBASE. TL/DR: It’s a metric that tries to rate QBs and incorporates adjustments for drops, level of competition, etc. So let us get right to your argument: That the eye test can show things that metrics can’t. And that Allen is an example of a player who is actually better than the metrics would show. First, is metrics the whole picture and is it infallible? Nope and nope. When stupidly applied, use of metrics can be truly awful. It’s a very useful tool, however. When used correctly metrics can certainly help make better decisions and judgements. The best users know those gaps and account for them. The worst blindly follow the numbers. So so what about Allen? Well, the metrics have never been remotely good for him. They don’t point to him having any real success in the NFL. That’s the rub here. Fans get ticked off because these people - numbers really - are saying Allen will likely bust. But something gets missed in that umbrage. These are predictive percentages based on past performances, measurements, experience, etc. Schatz makes that clear. Now about that eye test. It certainly is useful, but it’s a lot better when it’s unbiased. A big plus of analytics is that it is designed to eliminate emotion and bias. Allen has certainly flashed this past season and while that is encouraging, it’s typical for a fan to remember the good plays and forget about the bad ones. I’d also point to the linked thread above and see what people here were saying about Allen and the other QBs before the draft. Another thing that can happen is that some of the issues players have can be corrected. Some analytic sites don’t even consider D2 and D3 players because the level of competition skews things so much. Furthermore the coaching is often inferior to D1 programs so there can be more progress for players IF they are developed properly. One good thing about Allen is that some of the things that a QB can’t change aren’t his problem - size, arm strength, athleticism. He came from a D2 school (albeit a good one), but there’s a real chance that he can develop more than a typical prospect. At least that’s possible. If you can understand why people like Schatz don’t like Allen’s chances in the NFL it’ll actually give you a good idea of where to look for improvement. Or even look to places their model doesn’t cover. I really think Allen might be more unique than people think. His ability to buy time in the pocket to throw (like Roethlisberger) and run for yardage (like few QBs can) might help him overcome some of the issues that get brought up. Maybe he’s never going to be as accurate as we’d like, but maybe he won’t have to hit tight windows as much if he can consistently buy extra time in the pocket. Maybe his running ability gets him a lot less man coverage and he doesn’t have to worry about that as much. There’s a lot of ways things can still work out for him, but he will still need to improve or work around some of the past deficiencies his critics have pointed out. Let’s hope we get to see him evolve and succeed here. Nothing is written in stone- and Schatz would tell you that.