The Frankish Reich

I think you're right about that ... EJ didn't expressly mention race, but it was taken as such by other commenters. By the way, my final example of guys who have a job -- my Example F -- is none other than Matt Barkley. If there's one guy who clearly has a poorer body of work than EJ, it's Barkley, and Barkley is the one with a contract.

I think you're missing my point. My example B is Chad Henne, who looks like he may stick with the Chiefs. He's 33. He's gotten 53 starts in his career, in which he's 18-35. I think EJ is legitimately puzzled. "Someone in the league saw something they liked" in Chad Henne, after 10 full years of sub-mediocrity?

No, I don't agree with EJ's (deleted) comment about not getting chances based on race. But he does have a larger point: some guys get chances. And chances. And more chances. Some don't. And I dare you to find any objective explanation for why this happens. Which one is EJ? (And who are the others?). Note: these guys are ages 33, 30, 29, 29, 29, 28 (not in order); 4 are still on NFL rosters (and at least 3 are very good shots to make a final roster), 1 is unsigned as of today, and of course 1 is retired. No, composite stats like this aren't everything, but if you disagree, choose any other objective measure of success and tell me why one (or more) of these guys is better/worse than the others. EJ, you kinda sucked, but ... A. Career 77.1 QB rating, 4.95 ANY/A (adjusted net yards/attempt) B. Career 75.5 rating, 4.91 C. Career 79.9 rating, 5.34 D. Career 78.0 rating, 4.99 E. Career 74.9 rating, 4.27 F. Career 68.3 rating, 4.84

😏 And yes, Dawson Knox sounds like the name of an esteemed Professor of Classics Emeritus. All it needs is one of those ever popular Roman numerals after it. Add a middle initial and we're in Gilligan's Island territory.

This PFF article -- before the signing of Spain and obviously before the draft -- sets it out pretty well: https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-five-most-improved-nfl-offensive-lines-after-free-agency It has the likely L to R starters as Dawkins-Teller-Morse-Long-Nsekhe. Sub in Spain for Teller (maybe with Long moving sides? not sure if either Long/Spain is better on one side rather than the other) and that's your starters. Dawkins disappointed us last year, but obviously the guys next to him were really bad, and PFF still had him rated above average; graded on a Bills 2018 curve, that's like an A+. And of course Ford can sit and learn for a bit if everyone is reasonably healthy. Feliciano strikes me as a solid backup, and Long wasn't good at center but probably better than Groy/Bodine. It's a total makeover, and it's vaulted our line from one of the worst in the NFL (really, only the Cards were worse) to probably "better than average" right now with some serious upside too. EDIT: and I forgot that it looks like we now have a TE who can block a little bit too.

It is kind of out of step with the other moves/picks Beane has been making. The other picks are obviously "play from Game 1" guys. Even understanding that this is the 3rd round and that those guys are now few and far between, it's weird to (1) keep Shady; (2) sign Gore; (3) draft a RB 3rd. So maybe Shady is going bye-bye. Otherwise, a weird choice.

"too" at the end of a sentence generally expresses some similarity between different persons or events.

Umm, Josh Allen pretty much sucked too ....

I think this is right. I'm gonna go out on a limb and predict that we'll have 3 teams with good-to-excellent QBs in the AFC East in a couple years, and one team desperately searching for a franchise QB ... that team will be the Pats.

Dammit, I wanted Andy Isabella. Air Raid in Phoenix!

Allen, Darnold, Rosen now all in the AFC East. This will be fun to watch. (And Mayfield and Jackson in the AFC too.) I'm looking forward to these matchups twice a year for at least the next couple years; who knows, maybe a decade?

The dog's blood part is one my Polish grandma refused to speak, even when we kids asked her to tell us all the Polish bad words.

4 years of high school French and I still thought this was an obscure misspelled Game of Thrones reference. Thanks -- this is going straight into my lexicon (I just need to work on that accent a bit)

Yep. Mock drafts are the dumbest thing out there. Here's a summary of which mock draft was most accurate for 2018: https://www.fantasypros.com/2018/05/who-had-the-most-accurate-nfl-mock-draft-in-2018/ Bottom line: the winner matched the player to the team for a whopping 10 of the first rounders. That means he missed on 22. And most others were considerably worse. Are people really this bored in the NFL offseason? There'll be plenty to jaw about in a few days. Stop the madness.

No fool like an old fool. One way or another, the tape will get released. And I'm gonna love it.