GunnerBill
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Posts posted by GunnerBill
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this will be a facinating year. in my eyes it is two season. Taylor really has 10 games to get it done. If this team is 4-6 or worse then they should go to Peterman or Jones for the final 6
I broadly agree with that. If the team looks done with 6 to play I'd like to see some Peterman (doubt Jones makes the roster).
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I'm glad you've come around!
Me too. There were so many died in the wool Rex defenders on here a year ago.... about time some of them gave a mea culpa.
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6-10 is what I expect. I hope we might hit .500.
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Clay is not milking his knee. He has a chronic knee injury that will never be "fixed". That is a reason for being smart with his practice reps. It is also a reason for not giving him the largest % guaranteed money contract to a non Quarterback in the whole league......
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Going to any championship trophy games?
Nah. I am a Test match snob. Ain't been to an international 1 day game in about 7 or 8 years.
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Yeah it is having an impact I think. Doesn't Sky broadcast NFL games everyweek with their own panel of analysts similar to what networks here do with Premier League?
Yea but they were doing that way before the International Series games, though viewing figures are up considerably in the last 5 or 6 years.
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Indeed. And my guess is JWill does not win the #2 job. I think one of the less heralded guys beats him out. O'Neal or Banyard.we just have to trust that they know what they're doing, i guess.
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Of course it sums it up. All he said is that for the Bills to be good, the defense has to be good, the run game has to be good and the pass game has be good.
Powerful insight.
I think what I said was a bit more nuanced than that. It was a specific element of each that I identified as needing to be good.
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, did you really want to pay our back up running back 4mm? we'll be fine.
Where did I say that?
I just don't think JWill is the answer and think they should have tendered MG higher.
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I guess the games in London aren't bringing the international fanfare Goodell thought it would? Or maybe teams like the Patriots and Steelers need to start playing games over there?
They are having a big effect in the UK.... in London and the south east. Whenever I move jobs in London there are NFL fans in the new office. When I go "home" in northern England it is still seen as very niche. London and the South East of England is very different to the rest of the UK. Viewing figures for NFL in the UK are up but I suspect it is massively skewed geographically. Blokes lives nearer where I am from and he was saying there is 1 bar in Manchester he knows show games. I know half a dozen that show the Sunday games within 5 miles of me in London.
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Alright GB, enjoy the matches. Question, what can you see during the game from the stands? It looks like you are very far away from the action, the best seats are further away than decent baseball seating, do you watch on large screens to show the details of a bowl?
When the quicks are on you wanna be either behind the bowler or behind the batsman. If you are watching from the side it can be a bit of a blur. You see when the slower bowlers are on. But it is just a great day. We always get seats at the commentary box end at Lords opposite the pavilion. I was there in Durham 2013 as well when we sealed the Ashes by taking 7 or 8 Aussie wickets in the final session just as the light faded. That was one of the best sporting atmospheres I have ever been in.
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Seriously. Clayton sounds like he's BSing his way through an oral exam during his WGR segments, not that Schopp cares.
He makes Schopp and Bulldog (who I don't actually mind they are pretty funny you just can't take them seriously) look informed.
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I guess the list only about active players otherwise Tendulkar would be high on the list. He would come in top 5 you think?
Well I suppose it depends if you allowed non-active players from other sports and then how you judge fame. But Sachin is the finest batsman I have ever seen. Such incredible soft hands.
Great summer of a South Africa tour, then the Ashes.
I have tickets for 3 days of the South Africa test at Lords. And I am going to the Windies test there later in the summer too. Be a hard job down under this winter though. I think one or two of our older boys are beginning to creek. Jimmy particularly.
Yeah right. Preston Brown can't walk down the streets in Paris or Liverpool without a mob of fans wanting his autograph or picture.
To be fair getting mobbed in Liverpool can happen to anyone......
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Oh yes for sure, I still have Botham posters in my sports cave and listen to every word when he broadcasts for test and ODI and T20s, usually do a lot of fast fowarding if he's off the mic...
Botham the player was just before my time. He had retired just as I got into cricket. He is a fantastic commentator. The last 10-15 have been for the most part good for English cricket. When I was a kid in the 90s we were terrible!
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Dhoni less so the last calendar year, winding it down...
He is still a legend over there though.. captained them in all 3 formats, they became the no 1 test team for the first time under him. He is a huge superstar. Kohli is clearly in the prime of his career which helps but Dhoni is an Indian cricket legend right up there with Gavaskar and Sachin.
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My three questions for the Bills season are:
- Defense - front end and back end working together. I worry about the inexperience in the secondary but if they are only having to cover fora couple of seconds it will make their jobs easier. Can the front 4 get the requisite pressure to force the ball out quick and protect the back end?
- Run game - how does our o-line execute the stretch zone? Roman's run scheme had a bit of everything in it and the line generally executed to a high standard in the run game. Apparently Dennison and OL coach / run game coordinator Juan Castillo have discussed keeping some of the good stuff from Roman's playbook in so it might be more multiple than a classic Shanahan / Kubiak / Dennison zone stretch scheme but if it is primarily a zone stretch scheme that is going to ask different things of our big guys. I hope they can adjust.
- Passing game - Can Tyrod step up in the clutch? I think McDermott is going to keep a lot of games tight and so there will be moments when we need Tyrod to make those 3 or 4 big throws in a 4th Quarter and on vital 3rd downs. He needs to be more efficient in those scenarios and it comes with better, quicker, reading of the field and diagnosing what he sees.
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Not a Clayton fan at all
I think he is useless on WGR. Of all the national guys they could get on weekly they could at least try and find someone who makes some effort to understand what is going on in the market he is about to discuss.
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Hi-light of the month, work colleague comes in with the list and asks me for someone ranking high that "nobody has ever heard of."
Virat Kohli is my reply in a microsecond. He thinks I'm even more of a rainman freak now.
Nah, just a cricket fan, being the top player of a country like India would be worth face recognition by the billions.
Yea I knew Kohli and Dhoni would be on this list. India is a huge country and cricket mad.
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If you took out the endorsements variable, I would have to believe that Messi would be #1. Simply put he is the most dominating pro that we've seen in any sport since Michael Jordan.
Best player ever in the world's biggest sport.... but the list is about fame. I'm not surprised to see Ronaldo ahead of him in that regard. Messi lives a quieter, more unassuming, (and a little more tax dodging) existence....
I've had the privilege to see them both live a handful of times. Messi is incredible.
No surprise here. As far as the world is concerned the NFL is a regional nuanced sport. Outside of the US they have heard of Brady (maybe) but revere Messi, Christiano, Pogba, Neymar......
Pogba? Pogba? Seriously.... he isn't in the same league as those other three. Speaking from a general UK perspective the two NFL players that none fans mention when they find out I love the NFL are Brady (obviously) and OBJ (I think the Beckham name helps).
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Who cares? I want a coach that's successful and cultivates a winning atmosphere. There are coaches that have been successful who are quiet and mellow (Sean Payton, Walsh). Then there's been successful coaches that yell, bark and are hot heads (Ditka and Harbaugh). There's no right or wrong personality to succeed in this league.
I wouldn't call Sean Payton mellow. Mike McCarthy I would consider mellow, Belichick stoic.... it is true that lots of different styles can win. What the winners all have in common is their detailed preparation.
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i dunno... i think with our frontline and the way they have blocked for the last few years that JWill will do just fine as the second back. we had Karlos before Gillislee and we didn't miss a beat with either. sure, i could be wrong ... we'll see soon enough.
I just think those 2 are better than JWill. Maybe he is a lot more healthy and it all turns round for him but based on last year he has a lot of convincing to do for me.
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In his limited carries last year he looked slow, hesitant to hit the hole, and went down pretty easily. He also fumbled a couple times. I wouldnt count on him to be anything more than replaceable
Agree. I hope we have a gem there.... and we should treat it as a nice surprise if he is. I just don't think the Bills can bank on it. He is likely to be suspended the first two weeks of the season too, so his place on the 53 is not certain for me. An O'Neal or a Banyard is likely to get a first crack at that #2 job whilst JWill sits on the side, if they shine there is no guarantee he is brought back once the suspension is over.
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Hmmm....the way I see it, Henderson didn't "lose his job" halfway through his 2nd year, he had serious medical issues and now looks like he's drugging his way out of the league.
I'm not sure "starter" is the fair evaluation of later round draftees, especially in the 1st 3 years of their careers.
Strong contributor would do, lot of value there. And even with starter, you missed a few
What I think is a "fair cop" is that the Bills under Whaley def. went with some "high ceiling, high risk" guys - guys with red flags in college who would have all the potential in the world if they got their life in order or their medical probs. resolved. Henderson and Karlos Williams would def. fall into the "high ceiling, red flag" category.
Draftees from later rounds who have played well:
Kevon Seymour (2016, 6th) - played 15 games as a rookie. 22 tackles, 3 pass defense - not a star, but good value for 6th round
Adolphus Washington (2016, 3rd - played 15 games as a rookie. 12 tackles, 9 assists. May fall a victim to scheme change, but showed some promise.
John Miller (2015, 3rd) - You missed this guy. He was starting. Poor rookie year, much improved last year.
Karlos Williams (2015, 5th) - Million dollar talent, 10 cent head. He looked like "all that and a bag of chips" until he drugged and ate his way out of the league.
Preston Brown (2014, 3rd) - starter/not starter kind of tenuous distinction on Ryan's D with its zillions of substitutions, but I think you'd have to tag him as a "Starter", and the "Brown Bros" did pretty well
Russ Cockrell (2014, 4th) - he's starting all right, including in playoff games - just not for us, for a BETTER team (Steelers). Scheme change casualty of Ryan.
Seantrell Henderson (2014, 7th) - another example of a high ceiling, red flag guy. As you noted, Starting until his intestines went caflooie
Marquise Goodwin (2013, 3rd) - I guess you call your #3 WR a starter, even if it took him 4 years to get there? whether he should have been a #3 is another issue. I kind of have to give you a pass for overlooking Flash.
Duke Williams (2013, 4th) - started games (tenous distinction for DB). 39 tackles and 14 assists in 2014 good D. Whether he could have been more serviceable staying in another scheme than Ryans, can't say.
Nigel Bradham (2012, 4th) - another one who is starting elsewhere, for a team that looks upward bound (Eagles). Started 14 games for us in 2014, 66 tackles, 38 assists. Another scheme change casualty.
Kelvin Sheppard (2011,3rd) - started in 2012. I didn't think well of him, but he's still in the league - has started for Dolphins and Giants (last year, 11-5)
D'Norris Searcy (2011,4th) - started games beginning as a rookie - tenuous distinction DB starter or not - Played well in 2014 in good Bills D, Scheme change casualty. Started 2 years for Tenn.
Players who have/had potential, but have been IR'd so far:
Kolby Listenbee (2016, 6th) - still on IR and not participating in OTAs?
Tony Steward (2015, 6th) - on IR with the Bills, now on IR with the Saints
The points I'm trying to make would be:
-Late rounds not quite as bereft of starting talent as your post would have them be. An average of 2 players a year who contribute strongly from 3rd to 7th round is actually pretty good for late rounds (40%, good would be >30%)
-Scheme change has had a HUGE impact on talent retention for defense
I didn't miss Miller (who I am on of the bigger fans on this board of) or Preston Brown or Kelvin Sheppard or the useless Flash for that matter. We have probably batted slightly below average on 3rd rounders but I was specifically talking about 4th round or later.
Duke wasn't a starter.... he was a backup who started when a starter went down. Seymour was a pick I liked but as yet he hasn't established himself as a starter. Karlos was not a starter either he was a #2 back. Cockrell I agree was a victim of scheme change - and I actually accepted that principle a few pages back. If there is one I "forgot" it would be Nickell Robey-Coleman who was an UDFA in 2013 and became a 'starter' as the nickel.
But in 6 drafts to only find 4 guys from round 4 on capable of starting..... that guarantees you having to play the low end free agent market well - which in fairness was something of a Whaley strength. They need to improve in that facet for me. Scheme consistency will help, but look at the top teams in the league they almost all have star players who were drafted late. Whether it is Julian Edelman (7th Rd), Chris Harris (UDFA), Richard Sherman (5th Rd), David Bakhtiari (5th Rd), Davonta Freeman (4th Rd), Antonio Brown (6th Rd)..... the best the Bills can muster is two 4th rounders who walked after rookie deals and a less than average right tackle who played a season and a half.
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At first glance I agree. But what has me nervous is, what happens if he gets hurt during the season? Then you're scrambling to fill multiple roster spots simultaneously.
They will keep a punter and a kicker. I'd be shocked if Hauschka isn't on this team as the FG kicker but Rehkow has a chance to be the punter and kick off guy.
Football Outsiders: Bills will be 'measurably worse' in 2017
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
Holmes is an upgrade on Goodwin. There is no question about that. His best career year is way better than Goodwin's. My concern is more that I see all 3 of our best WRs - Sammy, Holmes and Zay as outside guys. I know Blokes saw Zay more as a slot receiver so maybe he ends up in there.... maybe they move Sammy around.... but it does concern me a little bit. If Sammy stays healthy I think Jones and Holmes bring enough support for him (with a good dose of Clay and Shady as a receiver). It is if Sammy goes down and Zay and Holmes become your 1-2 that I really worry.