oldmanfan

GMs all make mistakes. HCs all make mistakes. Rookie QBs make mistakes. But many fans think they should never make one, and that growth into a position is unacceptable. That's not the way the world works. You make mistakes and those with integrity admit them, try to learn from them and work hard to not make another one. Bill Polian I think once said a GM is really successful if 50% of his draft picks wind up making the roster.

He didn't say that was a mistake. I believe he said not bringing another veteran in like Anderson was a mistake. Trading McCarron was understandable; Peterman beat him out in camp. Plus McCarron fractured his leg, didn't he. And yes, it is refreshing to see the GM admit a mistake publicly and no, it doesn't excuse it. Playing Peterman as often as they did was wrong. And I don't think anyone would disagree.

O'Beien seems to be a decent HC. But it also seems like he can't work with a GM.

Grow up? Try again junior. If you look at what McD and Beane want to do in constructing a team it was unquestionably correct. Again, your highest paid guy can't be your biggest problem child. And McD tried to get through to him as pointed out above. He would not get with the program so they traded him. And he has about ten more combined tackles and 1 more sack than Star last year. We did not lose much; both guys are looked at more as guys who take on multiple blocks and tie things up for other guys to make plays. You are stuck in a time warp where Dareus was the guy that had an AllPro year before his big contract. He wasn't that guy under McD, he isn't that guy now in Jville.

Yes it was. Unquestionably.

I recall a picture, after Dareus missed the bus I think, of McD one on one with Dareus on the practice field. I think McD was trying to get the kid engaged, but he just wouldn't buy in. So they traded him. As I said above you cannot have your highest paid player be the one with the worst attitude. You'd have to be a Lawrence Taylor like talent to even consider that.

Right. I want to confirm he was referring to those and not his first 5 with the Pats.

Does that include his time with the Browns?

The Peterman vs. McCarron thing was simple: Peterman outplayed him in preseason; it wasn't even close. One of the mysteries of the last couple years is why Peterman looked so good in practice but so completely threw up in the regular season. And Beane acknowledged the mistake in not bringing in a vet backup earlier. Not ever decision they make is going to work out , that being a prime example. When rehashing theMahomes/Watson several things need to be kept in mind in addition to McD relying (or not) on Whaley. There were doubts about both guys. Mahomes was criticized for poor footwork, for how well he'd adapt out of a single read offense, and such. Watson had people question his arm. I wanted Watson myself, and obviously Mahomes is showing great things. But it's not like they were considered Peyton like slam dunks. Plus they had Taylor who ultimately got them to the playoffs. And they knew a QB rich draft was coming up. So they got a great DB in White which is not a terrible move. McD has made some coaching decisions that didn't work. It would have been better to get Dorsey in last year for Allen. His O line coach was bad; that may have had more to do with the poor O line play than personnel. But they have addressed both personnel and the coach this season. The same with special teams; new coach and they brought in an All Pro return guy. So we'll see. One thing I'd say is the HC and GM recognize mistakes, own up to them, and try to fix them.

Hey O'Brien. I knew Belichick. Belichick was a good friend of mine. O'Brien, you're no Belichick.

If you know he's not the guy earlier. But here's the thing: we don't know. So why assume it will be that way? Allen has as much potential as any of the guys drafted last year. The team has invested heavily in the O line to help him. They have brought in WRs including a solid possession guy to help him. Brought in TEs through FA and the draft. Brought in a new QB coach. Palmer and others rave about his work ethic. And sorry, but if you go back and really analyze his throws last year he's more accurate than people say. Yes, none of that is a guarantee of success. I have said many times he needs to get more experience on reading defenses. But why assume the negative? I don't get that.

Look at his first paragraph. It's clear he think Allen isn't the guy. He us is a second year QB with things to work on. As does Darnold. As does Mayfield. It used to be folks recognized QB development takes time.

Dump her right now. And find a real Bills fan. Speaking of which, I have a single daughter that is a rabid fan, as well as a couple eligible nieces that are equally obsessed. If you're independently wealthy I'd consider setting you up.

You want Allen to flame out horrifically. That's just great.

Seems like a plausible guess. Might see a few changes based on camp performance The only shocker would be Shady. If the young kid shows up big maybe Shady gets moved.

Several folks around here have evaluated him pass by pass. Data are somewhat different, and some of that is confirmation bias. I did the last two games and his accuracy was fine. The precision, or what some would call ball placement, can be improved. You can be very accurate, put the ball well within the receiver's catch radius. But if you have it six inches behind him vs. six inches ahead it can make a difference as to whether the DB brings him diwn for no gain vs. having significant YAC. Allen can stand to improve precision especially on short throws. On completion percentage, if 60% is the standard, and we assume he throws 25 balls a game as an average, it's around 2 completions a game to get him from 52% to 60%. Getting rid of Benjamin and Clay takes care of that all by itself.

When we drafted Spiller Lynch and his agent told Buddy he would leave in Greer agency. So they got what they could for him. His bad acts only helped making that decision.

As regards Dareus your highest paid player can't be your worst attitude player. So they got rid of him.

I agree. We should look towards the future.

You make an interesting point about my looking back, and a valid one. But the way you do so and I do so are completely different. I do so to show that ultimately it matters not what happened 40 years ago; that one can still remain optimistic about the current set of circumstances. You use it to somehow suggest that things will be the same, despite the fact that we have a completely new set of owners, front office personnel, coaches, players, and so on. Your thought process in forming that opinion is illogical in assuming any of the previous years , save the last two, have any bearing on the current status of the team. Also, your thought about you deserving more because of paying taxes in terms of team success seems misplaced. You have gotten entertainment. You have gotten to watch NFL football. That is what your ticket price gets you. No more, no less. I will try to refrain from personal insults. I have been hard on you, and I'll try to refrain from anything personal and address your opinions specifically. I hope you can do the same.

Bingo

They only lucked into it is the primary one, ignoring that they put themselves into position to get in with a Ravens loss.

Maybe not a bad thing but there are certainly folks here that are negative about it

Like all young QBs Allen needs experience so the game slows down, so that he can make good pre and post snap reads. Having a year in the offense and having Dorsey with him should help. Having a better O line especially Morse to make line calls should help. Comparisons to Wyoming aren't worth much because you don't know what he was or wasn't asked to do in that offense. Allen has work to do. Clearly. He needs to improve on reads, needs better ball placement or precision in his throws (not accuracy per se as I've already gone over numerous times) especially on short throws. Knowing his reads better would help there. He brings positives too including his arm strength and running ability. It will be fun to watch him over the next several years. He reminds me of a young Big Ben. Big Ben his rookie year wasn't asked to do much and gradually ramped up with experience. Hopefully Allen shows the same kind of growth.

Another guy that could sneak up is Siron Neal.