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I agree with Sammy not living up to his status. Seeing the Rams trade a 2nd round pick and EJ Gaines for him AND KC paying him 13 million a year suggests that he is better than "mediocre at best." Sammy's problem is his health.

I asked this a while ago and Alpha you responded well to it, but I think it can be updated after FA and the draft. If Beane wants receivers who have different roles then my only question is if any WR we have blocks as well as Zay. If no one else is as good of a blocker as him, I think it will be hard for them to let him go. I wonder if Zay's improvement in blocking was the final nail in the coffin that made Holmes expendable.

Which would still be a bargain.

If Roberts can replace Mckenzie then Mckenzie is out, otherwise I think Mckenzie has a good shot at it. Beane's comments about different guys who have different roles seems to suggest they'll want at least one guy who can do the jet sweeps. We had some really good runs last year off that.

I think what the difference between Whaley/Rex/Marrone vs Beane/McDermott is the hope that with the later, any mistake will be owned and adjusted sooner rather than stories of a pissing contest between a coach during training camp with the GM daring the GM to fire him because the QB is so bad. I think for your point earlier, you are absolutely correct in that the way Whaley handled EJ and Beane with Allen through the draft are practically one and the same. It could be argued that Whaley did a better job as he managed to trade down and acquire two NFL caliber receivers for EJ. Although, I can't remember if that was the year we signed that G from the Rams who was terrible, where our plan was for him to be less terrible. I think it is this draft that JW is saying distinguishes Beane from Whaley as he is building a core of solid players that ideally won't weigh us down if Allen doesn't work out and not sacrificing draft picks in the future. With Whaley we were lucky that Tyrod, an unknown at the time, happened to be more competent than Cassell and EJ. I don't know about you, but I think our current QB group is better though perhaps by not as much as I'd want it to be. I think with Beane's acquisition of free agents who are solid this year, that we could have a system of gaining comp picks starting next free agency and the blueprint seems better for sustained success. Obviously it all depends on Allen. No one will care what we traded for him (same as Wentz and Goff) if he pans out. Otherwise, we'll lament the trade similar to the Cardinals for Rosen or Redskins for RG3.

It has to be Fitz. Tyrod looked terrible last year (although to be fair, he was playing for Hue) and as a board I think the consensus was that we'd go 4-12 if Barkley was the starter.

I think earlier in the off-season the Bills were placed at 6 wins. So we're still undervalued, but the public perception is that we're improving.

Rosen's is especially troublesome. Average or below everywhere and below average more than the rest of the guys.

LT Dawkins LG Spain C Morse RG Long RT Nsekhe

The only challenge with that criteria is that the odds of being THAT successful are <1%. Pretty much any trade up will leave at least one player who will be more talented.

ESPN puts Oliver as the 3rd best player of this draft, so I like it.

He's a great prospect though it's going to be harder for him to prove it if they keep trading away draft picks.

Even if the Jets get a boatload of picks they would be out of the top 10. I'm kind of conflicted as to which we benefit more from.

I guess I fell for that narrative. That's good to know.

New England trading up, that's bold. I'm so used to them trading down.

Anytime they beat NE, because at this point, anytime NE loses it's cathartic.

Yeah kind of like what happened to Houston, with Watson they looked like a team on the rise and after his injury they ended up giving the Browns the 4th pick in the draft.

Interesting. Safety looks fairly reliable although I'm then reminded of Lil' Donte who was a pro-bowler.

You think the loss of Kyle is going to have that big of an impact on our D? We've retained everyone else.

I expect him to be similar to Shady for us when we first acquired him. Has to be accounted for and can take over games at times, while also not being able to do enough on his own to make the team a serious contender.

Is it, 2nd round players are contracted for 4 years while 3rd round and beyond it's for 3 years? I wouldn't be surprised for Beane to trade back into the 2nd round if there is a player he likes, kind of like what they did for Zay.

To add to this, PFF is really the only service that attempts to grade players in a systematic manner and they are still figuring out a lot of information as well. Like you said, PFF is a great guide, but is learning as it goes. Scheme can affect PFF grades significantly as well. The year after Mario and Bradham left Rex's scheme, both improved by about 30 points on PFF's scale. With any luck our new O-line coach will serve as a significant upgrade.

Well said. If a person criticizes Rodak, it suggests that person is a fan. Telling Rodak to kill himself, suggests that the person who said that needs A LOT of therapy. Does she ever post here anymore? There have been a lot of members who have come and gone.

Thank you for that. So much has happened in the last 2 days I forgot to include Long in this.

I wonder how much Gase and Greg play a factor in players wanting to/or not wanting to play there.