RochesterRob

Until we learn otherwise the leak most likely came from Cleveland so as to drive the price up on the number 1 pick. It is pointless at present for Beane to tip his hand as to the Bills intentions. Again, Beane calling the Browns is due diligence at this point and nothing more.

Which is why you should put some people around him via the draft this spring.

That is what I feel as well. As a businessman I pick up the phone if I see an opportunity and let the details tell me if any potentials are there.

Probably not but that is not the same thing as saying we will mortgage the farm to go up to 2. Waiting for a guy to fall to us at 12 or 22 or even wait until the second round is just as likely. In a lot of ways taking White in the second makes the best use of risk/reward/ potential lost not selecting another player.

At this point the most certain thing is McC's completion percentage is fairly stable and is reasonably healthy which says something about his ability to process information as a play unfolds and then make a decision. At a minimum it is something that can be built upon.

Using the word "potentially" does not instill the highest level of confidence in me that this will happen. At this point with McC already aboard I would rather see what he has learned from the bench plus seeing that at least his completion percentage is stable.

Are you saying that Rosen or Darnold will raise the game of our WR's? That the potential of those QB's will not be held back by our WR's? If we gamble away our picks in a move up then they won't be there to grab any help.

I disagree. Benjamin when healthy will contribute. Jones hopefully had his growing pains early. If we don't mortgage the farm we can can get someone such as Chark or Kirk early to help. Maybe Clay will be healthy for most of the season. The fact is McC is here and under contract. That is not changing. What can change is how we use our picks. The draft has a fair amount of potential in the first two rounds which means at present we have a decent chance of finding four quality players and we sure could use them versus one big IF at QB.

And I think that he will be pulled if through the first several games the light does not come on for him. There will be a rookie QB but I don't think he will be taken until the second round. The talent at other positions is far superior to ignore in the first and early second round. This article needs its own thread so it can be discussed at length.

At first the expectations are modest. We could go through scenarios of what if the Bills draft Chark and so forth but will not do that because those points can lead in more than one direction. Anyways, for the first half of the season I am thinking around 230-250 yards per game with at least one and on occasion two TD's per game. Maintain a completion rate similar to his four game block in Cincy. Then maybe grow into the second half of the season where he is at least 250 yards if not more per game and 2 TD's per game. Not that he could not handle more but I think on average he will get 35-40 pass attempts per game towards the end of the season.

The Bengals giving up 390 yards to the Broncos is a competitive game? Picks and on occasion pick 6's are going to happen. Pittsburgh was 10-6 and without digging through a ton of information I would say that it would fair to expect the Bengals D to help out there, also. I am not saying you expect McC to be Brady but I think putting at least one of the Bengals losses on their D is fair. If that was changed going 3-1 in a four game stretch would be respectable for most QB's. Even Kelly had sub 300 yard games and untimely turnovers. Speaking of the Bengals Kelly had a rather ugly 1st quarter on Monday night against them. I don't expect McC to put many games on his shoulders and with a stout D and potent running game he should not have to.

Just to add to the story regarding McC's 4 game "career." Against Denver he passed for 200 yards while the Bronco's average passing yards allowed per game was 199.6. Against Pittsburgh he passed for 280 yards while the Steelers average passing yards allowed per game was 271.9 . Not Brady-esque but nothing to hold his head in shame over as the average allowed yards were compiled against AFC starters such as Rivers, Brady, Flacco, Smith, etc. Further in loss to Denver McCarron's Bengals defensive team mates allowed 390 total yards which many would think was a bigger factor in a loss than McC. Likewise, the Bengals allowing 354 yards to the Steelers would hardly be considered stingy. Cincy had 2 wins in their other two games against SF and Balt.. A better outing by the Bengals D might have meant the Bengals going 4-0 in that stretch. Just thought you might want to know.

Readily conceding that they "might turn out to be busts" is hardly encouraging and a poor opener for a sales pitch to someone you want to trade the farm for.

Merriam-Webster defines pedestrian as commonplace which could be considered a synonym to average.

One of my most favorite Star Trek quotes ever. Just like Spock's response to Bailey about his adrenaline gland.

Both were against league leading defenses in Denver and Pittsburgh. He most likely did not get a lot prep time leading up to the game as evidenced by his short spot duty versus playing a 3-4 game block where he is getting a lot of snaps in practice and time with the coaches.

His most important piece is his MLB just like it was in Carolina.

W/O seeing all of his Cincy games the best stat in mind is his completion percentage which is pretty darn respectable. In the games where he had at least 20 completions he posted over 250 yards 1 out of 2 times. The other was against Denver which had tough defenses in that time frame. I would assume other opposing QB's had their stats dinged when they played Denver.

Welp, I am not pinning my hopes on an incomplete defense lacking perhaps its most important piece, not getting a WR that can stretch the defense, not getting a RB to spell McCoy and take over if Shady goes down, and not getting an OL that can lead that group. All of which might be sitting there for the taking in the draft.

Which takes us back to if he can have 250 yard games which is fairly pedestrian then would he not more than suffice if we complement McCoy with RB's (which we have already started to do) to maybe have a top 7 running game. If we give McDermott his MLB so he can produce at least a top 10 defense in terms of yards allowed. It's wonderful to want everything all at once but the above objectives if met would give us a team that would for sure contend into the divisional round then tweak it to go the rest of the way.

Is not taking low probability long shots and hoping to beat the odds another way to describe giving up a large part of your draft to move up to get a QB prospect all of whom have warts of various types?

I'm in for giving McCarron a legit chance to start and grabbing White in Round 2. Hopefully, after we have grabbed Price assuming the prognosis is he is available early in the fall.

For the guys who say move up at any cost they seldom are willing to show their cards on that because they don't want to be called out if it all turns to crud. It's easier to criticize others than take a stand and deal with it when it does not work out.

Yep, people need to be open to Beane taking one of those QB's in the second round.

You always need late round guys for depth and special teams who might break through to starting someday.