ColdFront_USAF

Tre just shows McD knows his defensive backs. He was one of the best value picks in recent memory. The fact that we traded back, used the extra first we got for the trade to get our franchise quarterback, and still ended up getting a premier player is nothing short of remarkable. He's a special player both on and off the field. We're lucky to have him and I'm sure I'm not alone in hoping he will be a career Bill.

Absolutely. Cover 1 has a great article on how those two changed not only our offense, but the way defenses approached us. Good things tend to happen when opposing defenses are forced to respect the weapons you have and can't just send the kitchen sink at the QB/rbs knowing the outside receivers couldn't get separation from a traffic cone.

I don't think we'll be worse than last year, but our defense was only top 5 last year if you cherry picked the right stats. As crazy as it sounds, the defense statistically benefitted from having a bad offense and an awful special teams. It makes sense when you really think about it. Our offense was one of the best at going 3 and out, at least until Josh came back from injury, and our special teams frequently failed to flip the field position no matter where the offense stalled. This all means opposing offenses didn't have to go very far to score, hence the low yards allowed. The way I see it, you can't have a top 5 defense that's ranked 30th in red zone D, as games are won on points scored, not yards gained. All that being said, I do think we will be much improved this year. Our D line is better with Ed, Milano coming back from injury, cb2 spot is better with either Johnson or Gaines, and the depth is better across the board. I'm optimistic about this year's team.

It's 9D chess from Hoodie. He never wanted Roberts. He made the trade, then rescinded it to make it look like something went wrong, knowing he would be cut. Now another AFCE team is going to pick him up on wavers since the pats wanted him and he's going to be terrible. Also this is sarcasm in case anyone needed it spelled out for them.

I'm hoping he can climb up the depth chart in camp, you know McD will give him the opportunity to compete. He just brings something we don't have anywhere else in the receiving corps. Brown and Foster are both great speed guys, Beasley is one of the shiftiest slots out there, and Zay can be a solid possession receiver and a good move the sticks guy when he catches the ball. Nobody in there is as big or aggressive as Duke, and that attitude can go a long way in this league.

I like Duke Williams. I know most people are on the Sills V hype train, and I'd be perfectly happy to see the kid make the team, but don't forget how dominant Williams was in the CFL. If he can keep focused on ball and stay out of trouble, he has the ability to be elite.

I'll be living in Utah by the time the season starts, trying to meet my dad in Dallas for the thanksgiving game. Hopefully

I was in the camp that wanted Rosen. You Wyoming guys are a big part of what convinced me to relax and keep an open mind about Allen, and after year one I couldn't be happier. You just have to love the guy, I'm really hoping he can put it all together on the field for us in the next few years. Thanks for talking us off the ledge on draft day last year.

I'm always cautiously optimistic about our "up and comers". One thing I really like about Beane is that he appears to learn from his own mistakes, and mistakes made by prior regimes. Whaley's greatest trait was also his biggest weakness. He was good at identifying talent, but failed to properly build a team. It also made him over aggressive with his pursuit of talent, like giving a ludicrous contract to an average TE in Clay. His mentality of "win now" and "we're one player away" is what led to his downfall. Beane has shown he can find talent everywhere. He also has shown he understands the concept of team building and managing the cap over a several year period. I look at it like chess. A good player will usually know the best move to make in a certain situation, while a great player will be planning 5-10 moves ahead and making sure he puts himself in a good position to succeed down the road. I could go on for days why I think he is a world better than Whaley, but ultimately it will come down to the Win Loss record. Time will tell.

I think I get the point he was trying to make. I saw an interview years ago with some scouts and GMs, and they said most draft classes only have 15-20 guys with first round grades. Obviously 32 guys will go in the first, it's just the grading system. Doesn't mean a whole lot.

This is where I'm at too. We brought so many players in already that 10 rookies don't stand a chance of making the team. I'd rather see them make a well reasoned up, obviously if the trade value is good, and get the top guy on their board, than see them go back and stockpile picks that won't see the field. Quinnen is probably the best player in this draft class, and would fill a need for us.

I wouldn't say that. Try a wonderlic practice test some time online. It's all about speed. That's why teams use it to help identify processing speed. Sure, it doesn't mean high scores = great qb, but it means they have the ability to process information quickly.

For what it's worth, Josh Allen threw for 10 more touchdowns than Mahomes did during his rookie season ?

Do we know for certain yet if the Texans are willing to trade him? Last is saw the rumors were from some low profile twitter account. If so, I would love to have him on our team. Draft a DT (Oliver?) and no quarterback will be excited to have us on he schedule.

I agree completely, but at the very least the learned from it and rectified it mid season. He doesn't shy away from it in his press conferences either. You can't expect front offices to be perfect, but you can expect them not to repeat their mistakes.

So if Ed Oliver is on the board at 9, along with Metcalf and Hockinson, would you still pick one of the offensive guys? I only ask because I can't see any way Oliver isn't the BPA at that pick. It wasn't long ago he was projected to go 1 or 2 overall, and I actually was excited to have a shot to grab him early this season when we were getting blown out weekly. I think Metcalf and Hock are both good players, I think I just have a draft crush on Oliver and would be ecstatic if we landed him.

Damn Shaw, you missed me by about a week. I was just there with a friend from work. We went to Pattaya so I imagine it was a pretty different trip, but the country is awesome. Hope you're enjoying it.

You know what I like most about this? A big name free agent, who could have cashed in almost anywhere he wanted to, decided to come here because of our quarterback. Probably a big reason we got Beasley and Brown too. Sure, money plays a part, but can anyone here remember the last time a free agent came here saying they were excited to play with our stud qb? I sure don't.

Adaptability is one of Dabolls strongest traits. If you read some of his interviews on the Athletic, he talks at length about it. He said he hasn't even really began to think about next years offense at the point of the interview because he had no idea who his personnel would be. He will figure out what his guys do best and call plays he thinks they can execute properly. Much better than trying to jam square pegs into round holes like some of our former OCs.

For sure. I'm a big fan of Oliver, but when comparing him to Donald, you have to keep in mind that Donald is probably the freakiest athlete to ever play his position. Oliver may be close, but even his biggest supporters in the scouting circles won't say outright that he's the next Aaron Donald. That being said, a lot of his college highlights actually came in the run game, as in his insane amounts of TFL. I think Oliver would be an absolute steal at 9.

Man this would be a dream come true. Get a stud tackle, Noah Fant and Isabella in the second and our offense all of a sudden is looking pretty dangerous.

I'd be happy with most of these. I think if Oliver is there, you take him and don't look back. He's up there with Bosa as one of the top 2 or 3 players in this class and him falling to us was unfathomable a few months ago. Short of that, I would like to see Metcalf, Taylor, Dillard or Williams at 9. At this point I'm leaning Metcalf, because we're more likely to get good starters on the o line in free agency then we are to find a potential #1 reciever. Guy has it all, speed, RAC ability, ball skills, fights for contested catches. If we do go o line, it's a choice between pass and run. Dillard is a stud in pass pro and can move Dawkins to RT, Taylor is a run game mauler that has the tools to be good in pass pro but needs refinement, and Jonah Williams seems to be the technician that doesn't have the elite tools physically that Taylor has, but is the most mentally and technically sound. Depends on the identity they want to build. Hockinsen is the one I want to stay away from. Don't get me wrong, I think he'll be a great player. I just think you will get more yards/catches/tds out of a top flight reciever. He would be a solid addition to the offense and a good safety net for Allen, but I want more than that with a top 10 overall pick.

I'm from Buffalo, my parents still live about 10 minutes from the Ralph. I've been in Japan for the last two years and Texas the year before that, so I'm excited to be going home. I love the outdoors, I think Utah will fit me really well for however long I end up there.

I'm hoping so, but not likely in 2019. I leave my current base in May and I'll be taking a month of leave to see my family that I haven't seen in 2 years now, so I probably won't have enough left to go home during the season. There's always a chance though.

Awesome! Grew up skiing in Buffalo but haven't been able to in years. I'm excited to get back into it! Thanks both of you!