Buffalo Junction

I like the idea of KA as a backup to Allen. He’s most likely an upgrade from Barkley when on the field, and won’t break the bank. As I pointed out, he’s uniquely qualified to point out any technical breakdowns JA may have in game due to their friendship and off-season work. My question is whether or not KA has the experience in the league to diagnose and relay information to JA which provides an advantage. We know that Fitz and Dalton have started enough games to recognize schemes and exotic defensive packages. Truth is that after JA gets another year or two of experience that need will be downgraded. We’ll see what Beane does, but I think there’s better value than Barkley on the market this year.

Kyle Allen wasn’t even a thought to me. I’m not sure if he has the experience to really help Allen diagnose what’s going on in game, but he may be uniquely qualified to point out any technical or mechanical issues that Allen has in a game or practice due to working with Josh and Palmer in the off-season.

IDK. It’s not like he’s replaced elite QBs, but there’s a bit of merit to the cycle when you actually look at the entirety of his career. Fitzpatrick definitely gets a starting opportunity on every team. A large part of that is due to him being a low end starting talent. From an article in 2016.... “Stop No. 1 – St. Louis Rams Drafted as a late-round backup QB onto the St. Louis Rams in 2005. Replaced injured starter Jamie Martin. Played well, earned starting spot. Played poorly and traded to the Bengals. Stop No. 2 – Cincinnati Bengals Began as the backup quarterback. Replaced Carson Palmer due to injury in 2008. Played well, earned starting spot. Eventually played poorly and released. Stop No. 3 – Buffalo Bills Signed as the backup quarterback in 2009. Replaced injured starter Trent Edwards. Played very well. Earned big contract. Eventually played poorly and was released. Stop No. 4 – Tennessee Titans Signed with Tennessee Titans to be the backup quarterback. Replaced Jake Locker due to injury. Played well. Then played poorly and was released. Stop No. 5 – Houston Texans Signed with Houston Texans as the backup quarterback to Ryan Mallett. Replaced Mallett due to injury. Played well. Then played poorly and got hurt and was traded to the Jets for a late-round draft pick. Stop No. 6 – New York Jets Traded to the New York Jets to backup quarterback Geno Smith. Replaced Geno Smith due to injury. Had a career season. Signs a $12 million contract. Plays poorly” https://www.google.com/amp/s/jetswire.usatoday.com/2016/10/06/explaining-the-ryan-fitzpatrick-cycle/amp/

Fitzpatrick is the best of the bunch. Fitz is a Library of knowledge and Allen could learn a lot from him, but..... let’s just stay away from the Fitzpatrick Cycle..... I’d rather not have Allen suffer a season ending injury. Realistically, this is going to come down to value. Backup QB is an area this team can improve, and the O line is good enough at pass blocking to allow for a bit of a statue if they have a big arm.

I’d be worried about his vision. A lot of his college highlights - I haven’t watched full games yet - look like they’d end up as TFLs in the NFL with bigger, stronger, and faster defenders at every position, especially because he doesn’t run with the patience to let combination blocks develop or really press gaps. So the question is.... Does he provide anything that McKenzie doesn’t? To be blunt, this teams run blocking isn’t good enough for Hawkins to just nail gaps reliably inside or outside without breaking tackles or running with creativity.

Similar situation in rural VA. I installed a commercial 4g repeater, got Verizon’s 4g home service, and dropped satellite service. There are work arounds. On the plus side, my total service price is lower. The downside is the upfront cost of buying and installing a repeater/booster. I wrote it off as a business expense though.

Having watched this I’m skeptical about every front 7 defender from that Miami defense as a full time starting prospect. If we’re looking into Phillips as just a pass rushing specialist that’s another thing, but.....

He was outplayed and basically lost his starting spot while injured as well. Barnes and Martin played well enough to make him a cap casualty. The Wagner release is a bit stranger to me. He played well at RT all season, and OT is a lot harder and more expensive to replace.

I think Williams will improve as a pro if he gets on the right team. He’s a patient runner who didn’t play RB until his senior year of HS. However, I think his running style will lead to a shorter career. He’s a guy that will maximize the run blocking of a good line, but isn’t creative enough athletically to overcome atrocious line play. IMO he’s the best back in the draft at pressing the line and testing holes. It’s a joy watching the guy freeze pursuit before he get to the LOS. Carter’s going to produce, but I’m not sure if he’s better. Faster, more agile, more fluid athlete than Williams for sure... but he doesn’t have the mass and patience that JW has, and he doesn’t press the LOS as effectively. I love both these guys, and I’d love Beane to get either one. Although, I’m not sure I’d be jumping and clapping if that 1st round pick was spent on Williams due to positional value. Carter seems much more likely to me, and that’d be great as he’s about the closest RB in this draft to Aaron Jones.

Not really in the modern NFL. I think the kid will be fine with the way NFL rules work. However, I’m not so sure that he’ll be able to reliably beat press coverage on the outside without bulking up.

He’s the type of player that’s hurt by the combine changes. Showing up around 335-340 and showing some burst would be good for his draft stock.

I assume he’s talking about Deonte Brown since he’s a massive man who might be the heaviest guy in the draft.

By the time the new league year officially sets in I think there will be a lot more vets like Short available. Many of these guys like Short, Sheldon Rankins, etc will probably take some cheap “prove it” or ring chasing deals. The Bills getting to the AFCCG with a developing QB makes many of these guys relatively affordable options. As such.... I’m in wait and see mode because I think Beane will find a good match once all cap casualties hit the market.

I honestly think that if GB has a spare $12MM they’ll resign Linsley. Letting an all pro center walk isn’t good for championships, not is it good when you have an aging QB and young hier to the QB spot.

They were 2-14, but they still had 6-7 pro bowlers on that roster. Adding Alex Smith in trade and a future probowl LT with the 1st pick in the draft were huge for that offense. Reid really didn’t tear down that roster. He added a couple big chips (QB & LT) and dramatically improved the coaching for a quick turnaround. Bieniemy aside, there were three other future head coaches and a former HC (Childress) on the offensive staff Reid brought in. That 2-14 team drastically underperformed when you consider their talent level under Crennel’s extended interim audition. It’s a great example for what coaching and improvement at the most valuable positions can do for success.

Plus, IIRC Bruce Smith, Andre Reed, and Frank Reich were in the same draft class

Just freaky man.

Had to look it up.... Just nuts 😯 ”Zimmer's amazing results included a 4.85 40-Yard Dash, a 33.5-inch Vertical Jump, a 7.01 3-Cone Drill and a 9-foot-9 Broad Jump. To top it all off, he also recorded a beastly 44 reps on the Bench Press. It's difficult to quantify exactly how impressive these numbers are” https://www.stack.com/a/small-school-star-justin-zimmer-might-be-the-most-athletic-300-pound-prospect-in-nfl-history

IMO he’d be an excellent addition in a cheap “finish out his career” contract. What’s particularly intriguing to me is that he has a very similar body size and skill set to Oliver and played at such a high level. I’d imagine that EO could benefit from picking Atkins brain for a year or so.

Kind of makes sense. They’re all gonna be cheaper than A A Rodgers or Mahomes, plus if you look at the teams they covered north and south on both coasts.

See that all the time in my industry (entertainment) as well. When guys get off tour they have no clue what to do and after a few weeks they’re usually itching to get back out on tour. It’s a completely separate lifestyle from what most folks know, and it’s difficult to adapt to “normality”. That goes for the artists as well as all the techs.... Spending 6 plus months a year on the road living what amounts to an alternative lifestyle changes you, especially after you’ve done it for a decade or more. I’ve seen more than a few (myself included) fall into depression while adapting.

I’m not a big fan of Wilson. He’s regressed. Plus he was manhandled this past week by an underweight center with short arms. The point though was to get some explanation and possibly analysis with a compare and contrast.

How is he better than Marvin Wilson (health aside)?

This is one area where Rodgers has excelled. If you go back and look at his career you’ll find that when Rodgers has excellent guards he almost always escapes through the C or D gaps after the DE’s have committed to running the arc. Running backwards is a patch to extend plays with poor interior line play. It would be nice to have some dominant guard play so Allen can rely on escaping horizontally as that presses shallow zones and frees up receivers. Id like to see him get more comfortable under center and get his handoffs & PA fakes to look the same. That will help our running game and freeze LBers and safeties longer on PA passes. Gotta admit, it’s pretty awesome that we’re all talking about smaller aspects of his game. Before the season started I didn’t think Allen would be this damn good this fast.

You’re kidding.... and here I was thinking that they drafted Epenesa because he was the lowest ranked player on their draft board. 🙄