jeffismagic

We don't have a GM in Buffalo. We have a group decision that can involve ownership, scouting, the coaching staff, marketing, and business guys. This is what Terry and Kim want. And who could argue with the results?

Patriots playing chess. Bills not even good at checkers.

I think that was Buddy Nix's decision. But we are all still guessing.

If you setup the board who would you make QB #1 for 2013?

I doubt there is going to be a real GM in Buffalo anytime soon. If Whaley is fired they will just bring in one of Sean's boys.

We all know Whaley set the board. The question is who made the final call on drafting EJ? I still suspect Nix was the most responsible.

Yes. It is insane.

Mahomes Trubisky Dobbs

Great point. Trubisky with Shanahan vs Trubisky in Cleveland.

One person I know had this QB board last year: 1. Carson Wentz 2. Dak Prescott 3. Jacoby Brissett

As I said, I like Waldman not because I want his ratings, but I do like the way he presents what he is doing. It's a more transparent process and makes any of his draft prospect breakdowns worthwhile.

If you actually want a guy that is honest and shows his work, Matt Waldman. He actually describes in exact detail what he is judging. He spends time learning what the QB is supposed to do on a play so he can evaluate what he is seeing. For example, I have seen other writers do things like post a clip of a college QB throwing an INT with no context. No mention that the QB is down more than 2 scores in the 4th quarter and has less than 30 seconds on the clock. Common sense and context matter. I like people who use those things and not guys talking about CFL scrubs like Vernon Adams "lingering" on reads or ballet dancing and Kizer. The best part about Waldman is there is nuance. You can go through his notes or watch a one hour video of plays he is showing and feel like you are in control. It's the difference between reading a record review and listening to the thing yourself with notes from someone else.

He's the worst writer on QB's. I can't think of a close second. He got known for analytics or numbers analysis. Now he is a wannabe Greg Cossell (who also is pretty bad at scouting college QB's). Who did Fahey think was the only QB worthy of a 1st round pick last year? Vernon Adams. The most obvious difference between the two is their respective abilities throwing the ball deep downfield. Mariota struggles to throw with precision past 25 yards downfield. Adams has no such issues. His passes sustain velocity long past 25 yards and he can place the ball comfortably whether throwing from a standing position in the pocket or while moving outside of the pocket. In the above play, Adams lingers on his first read ( ) before pressure arrives in his face. He reacts just in time, turning away from the immediate defender but running into another. This is where Adams’ awareness and athleticism stands out. Despite turning into the defender in a tight space, Adams is able to jump cut away from the defender and escape into the flat. One of the traits that Wilson and Taylor share is their eye-level. When they break the pocket, they don’t immediately look to run. They keep their eyes downfield to give their receivers every chance to make a play. Adams shows off similar poise here, keeping his eyes downfield and delivering the ball just a linebacker arrives. Adams drops an accurate pass over the trailing defensive back down the right sideline. http://presnapreads.com/2016/03/23/vernon-adams-deserves-to-be-a-first-round-pick-in-the-2016-nfl-draft/

I agree with you that his floor is probably higher than people realize. The person who got me into Mahomes coaches college football. He talks to some of the coaches that have gone against him. He said floor is early Jay Cutler without the attitude problems. Ceiling? The guy who takes your team to a Superbowl, Special. Yes, Waldman's explanation was great. Trubisky is safer for the corporate types. And I like Mitch, I understand it. But if you are less concerned with pleasing people.... Waldman did say Big Ben as the Mahomes type. I remember reading the draft reports of people who passed on Roethlisberger. Cleveland loved Ben's talent but had just signed Jeff Garcia so they drafted a tight end. Please let's not pull a Cleveland with Tyrod as our Jeff Garcia.

They asked Gruden which QB he would take first if he got to pick. He said Mahomes.

If your standard is finding a franchise QB. You can't say Jimmy G is a failure yet though. Most teams don't consider a QB pick a bust if he is a solid starter. Are we going to use that standard for linebackers and corners as well? If a corner is not a top 5 guy in 2 years is he a failure?

The 2014 draft was considered weak. Let's take a look: Blake Bortles, Marginal Starter Johnny Manziel, Total Bust Teddy Bridgewater, Looked like he could be decent starter before injury Derek Carr, Franchise QB Jimmy Garrapolo, Played well in limited time, looks like would be decent starter with more possible Those are the top 5. Your 80% fail rate looks off if 2017 is similar.

Good point. I think people neglect to mention that college defenses are nothing like NFL defenses. So you can be a spread QB or a pro-style QB, either way, NFL is a huge step up.

Deshone Kizer. Big, looks the part.

Love Waldman. He really nails the Mahomes thing as well. Top talent that is naturally creative.

I think the traditional Air Raid can be a very simple college offense. With respect to Mahomes and Texas Tech I think people are not looking into what he actually did there. You can run Air Raid with NFL concepts. In fact, Mahomes' coach played with Brady and learned under Belichick. Texas Tech were running many NFL plays just as teams like the Patriots, Chiefs, and Broncos (Dennison) were running Air Raid plays last year on Sunday. One AFC scout said he would scout Air Raid the same way he would any other spread offense college QB. So some people get it but I do think some teams will hold it against him.

Yes, you are correct. Air Raid is a form of spread offense where the QB is in shotgun.

Parcells rules were good for his time but look pretty dated today. The top prospects don't stay around these days. If you followed his rules you wouldn't do very well. Parcells last used these to acquire Chad Henne.

Air Raid in its purest form is an offense designed to get the ball out very fast. When it started it didn't require QB's with great physical tools. I think the issue is that you can run a WCO pro-style offense that is very simple and you can run a run first smash mouth offense that is very complex. For each prospect, you need to research how their college offense operated and what the issue would be moving on to the NFL. Air Raid will scare people because more than 15 years ago a few Texas Tech guys with bad physical tools got drafted and failed. That provides a discount for teams that want Mahomes.

I remember Leroi calling the Spiller pick under Nix. Maybe he still has connections but not ones to the new guy (Mcdermott).