Murdox

Meh, those same pundits had him going no worse than the top half of the first round.

We had competition at 7. I thought that was rather obvious. That's why we overpaid. Likely the Cards and maybe even another team were trying to snag that pick because the Bucs were clearly trying to trade down. We knew who we wanted and were worried someone else would get him.

We got a shoe store! B We had Rosen or Allen and given Rosen's injury history against Allen's upside it's a tough call. Only time will tell. Maybe we could have just sat at 12 and gotten one of them, but I think they would have both been gone by then so the move was necessary.

Allen kicked Rosen's ass in the Wonderlic. ;-) Also, Allen hasn't suffered 2 concussions already like Rosen.

Hard to say how all the NFL teams had him rated. Maybe the Bills had him #1 from the start. I didn't see any mock draft where Allen fell further than 14, and when he did fall usually another QB fell even further. Allen has a stronger arm than Gabbert. Don't forget - Rosen has suffered 2 concussions already. Allen is much more durable and that is likely a factor as well. Let's hope the high ceiling applies in this case, and we found ourselves a guy in the mold of Big Ben. Man I hated when we just missed out on Big Ben all those years ago (notwithstanding the off-field issues).

Hard to say, but we also need to remember Rosen suffered two concussions already. That may be a problem for him going forward in the NFL. I think Allen is more durable, so you might throw him behind our crappy line earlier and give him this season if he beats out AJ.

Many people had Allen as the best QB this year, and up until early today I read that the Browns were still considering either Allen or Mayfield at 1. CBS gave us an A+ for the pick. Let's see how it goes.

What did we get...a bunch of shoes in the first round?

There was a cute video where Incognito punked some people in the Bills store, and one of the young kids said, unknowing that Incognito was standing disguised in front of him, that Incognito was one of his favorite players when he saw Incognito's shirt hanging in the store. Incognito has to remember that kid and handle his Twitter feed better.

Thomas had 456 catches to Simpson's 203? Different eras, of course, but that shows his versatility. One forgets how much more a player needs to learn to be such a part of the passing offense on passing downs. Blitz pickups, formation changes, etc. There's a reason why so few RBs are great 3-down backs. Adrian Peterson, for example, is only a 2-down back.

I think I agree with much of what you are saying, but I think it overemphasizes a "treading water" aspect to the Wilson mentality. Wilson was an old man. I've worked with many old men in my life, and I can tell you one thing - I am CERTAIN Wilson felt that he could adopt the business plan you describe while STILL being competitive. In many ways, the modern game - and CBA issues - passed him by, and certainly age influenced that. I think Wilson began relying too much on his front office. I'm sure he asked Brandon can we competitive spending X and Brandon said sure and laid out a plan that Wilson was ill-equipped to really second guess. Following the team's failures each year, Wilson, at his age, likely was far too willing to accept the excuses from the front office, and was talked into assigning the majority of the blame to a variety of things like the QB issue and coaching. He didn't have the energy to really do the work to revamp the front office completely. This gradually even got worse as he got older. Certainly, they were trying to make certain moves over the years - they drafted at least 3 QB busts and made a move for Bledsoe at the end of his career. They hired advisers, and generally spent the cap money. They just didn't have the right front office in place to be what the team needed in Wilson's later years.

I'll add that Watson also has the guy I think may be the best receiver in the league - Hopkins. He is certainly right there with Brown and Beckham. That guy is incredible.

Let me put it this way - you watch the tape and generally one doesn't come away with a feeling that Watkins is an elite receiver. He's in that "good" range, but too inconsistent. He also tends to disappear on the field at times, and has durability questions. Nagging injuries tend to take away his game more than others. Some people are simply able to play "hurt" better than others (e.g., they play through stiffness, muscle soreness, etc., better), and I don't see him as one of them. That said, he is still young and fast (when healthy) so he could certainly turn around his career in the right situation. Receivers often take several years to get going in the NFL. But, in my humble opinion, the Chiefs are paying too much for the speculative side of this deal. Kudos to Watkins and his agent for getting it done.

Absolutely hate to hear this news after what Jim has been through. May he overcome this quickly.

We can agree to disagree. My opinion is when you go to shoot up a school in at least the back of your mind you know you will be caught or kill yourself. Or you are simply crazy. Whatever the scenario, I don't think in this case the fear of armed gunman at the campus would have changed his mindset, given how troubled he was and given how he was fantasizing about getting into shootouts with folks.

That's just because he "chickened" out. When you start a rampage like that, the general assumption is your life is over. You don't start shooting up a school with the expectation you will survive.

I don't think it's so black and white. Speaking from a psychological point of view, a guy with a suicide vendetta like this punk Cruz would only welcome the chance to go out shooting and take on an armed school. In simple terms, it would lessen the feeling of guilt of shooting the innocents - which is still there, even though his impulsive actions would make it seem like there is no feeling - and make it feel more like an impersonal Call of Duty scenario. This is just my opinion, but whether the greater armament of the school would end his ambush sooner would seem to depend on the circumstances and the skill of those armed at the school. Will all teachers be equivalent in their application of firearms training? Doubtful. Should proven firearms expertise now be a requirement of all or most of our teachers? Will these vengeful students turn to sniping playgrounds from a distance instead, and render such "defenses" ineffective? I assume that you will sometimes end up with prolonged shootouts, more bullets being fired and exchanged, and more innocents caught in said crossfire. I do question why we are at a point where we are having so much trouble in the US with shootings at schools, starting primarily in the '90s, and that should be a focus of any reform. Unless we address the mental illness growing in this country we will continue to have more shootings and there will continue to be growing cry for guns to be focus of any change.

Frankly, the Patriots had so few penalties called on them it's not a big deal. I saw several holds by Patriots players over the course of the game that weren't called on both sides of the ball. There were also a few times that interference could have be called on the Patriots defenders but they escaped without a call. It's clear the refs were going with a "let the boys play" philosophy last night and they were generally only calling obvious penalties. As for whether the Ertz final TD was a completion or not, they ended up calling him a runner - he had clearly already taken at least two strides before leaping into the endzone. Therefore, correctly, he was ruled a runner. In the Pittsburgh game, the receiver just leaned back after catching the ball and they ruled that he failed to have completed the catch because he did not make a "football move": Article 3 Completed or Intercepted Pass. A player who makes a catch may advance the ball. A forward pass is complete (by the offense) or intercepted (by the defense) if a player, who is inbounds: (a) secures control of the ball in his hands or arms prior to the ball touching the ground; and (b) touches the ground inbounds with both feet or with any part of his body other than his hands; and (c) maintains control of the ball long enough, after (a) and (b) have been fulfilled, to enable him to perform any act common to the game (i.e., maintaining control long enough to pitch it, pass it, advance with it, or avoid or ward off an opponent, etc.).

Ok, then tell me what parameters we are allowed to consider in trying to make this hypothetical comparison between two great QBs? How many other offenses have had that kind of success plugging in a journeyman QB like Cassel? And we know that Cassel has NOT been able to flourish in any other offense. Did I say that makes Brady bad? That said, what "pisses me off" is anyone disputing the genius of the BB offensive scheme. It is the most successful scheme in history at this point. No other offense in history has had this kind of sustained success. Brady is an enormous part of it, but I think we have seen enough evidence to know that a QB like Brees could also run it. He has the accuracy and the quick decision-making to succeed in that offense. Would he run the offense as well as Brady? Maybe not, but he could probably tally the same number of rings.

The Patriots offensive game plan is more important than the QBs in my opinion. The Patriots have plugged guys like Cassel into that offense and they were successful. So, I have no doubt that Brees could have been successful in it as well. What makes that offense so unique is that it requires a certain type of receiver to be successful. The Patriots organization excels at recognizing otherwise average talent that will be successful in that offense.

Bear in mind that the individual AMT was reinserted into the final bill (the Senate and House disagreed initially on whether the individual AMT would survive). If you are subject to the AMT, as most high-income earners are, you will not be able to take SALT deductions anyway unless you could perhaps claim it as a business expense (see more about that below). So, it won't be functionally much different than before, although the AMT rates have gone up slightly. The inability to deduct SALT is much more of a hit to those in the middle class who didn't meet the AMT threshold. Moreover, the highest income earners don't really care because they are getting big tax breaks via (1) 2.6% off of the highest marginal rate - 39.6% down to 37%; (2) higher threshold for inheritance tax; (3) benefits to offshore tax shelters and repatriation rates; and (4) deduction for pass-through income such as brand revenue, rental income, etc. They are also usually still able to deduct quite a bit of SALT off of their rental properties and other business income, as they may qualify as "operating expenses" as far as that's concerned. Thus, overall, I highly doubt that the high-income earning NFL players will lose much playing in NY, although it would still make sense for them to establish residency in a state with no inheritance tax at some point like Trump in Florida. The NY state inheritance taxes are terrible!

Yes, I have not been too impressed with Dennison so far at finding ways to maximize our limited talent, but there is no doubt that we are lacking in talent at WR and on the OL. Our pass blocking has been very poor and inconsistent this year. Pass blocking linemen are at a premium in this pass-happy league. It's more glaring than ever - teams winning games protect their QB.

Guys, there is a lot of focus on TT, but what about Dennison? Exactly what has he proven ? At least we've seen that TT can perform better in a different offense. I haven't seen anything from Dennison, and his gameplans have brought TT down to new lows. And Peterman hasn't exactly shown much. I'm not suggesting TT is the answer, but I do think we need to consider how much our offensive "mastermind" is to blame for this mess. It's not all TT.

We know TT has his limitations, but we also know he isn't as bad as this year would show. A large part of the blame has to go Dennison's way. I don't think he knows how to maximize what TT can give you, and that's a problem when TT is your starting QB. Also, we have limited weapons and a substandard OL - both of which need some rebuilding.