MasterStrategist

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I'd go with Bernard --- he's going to thrive in this system. Jimmy will be utilizing more ILB blitzes and moving TB all over. He's gonna have a huge season (if he can stay healthy).

At some point, someone will create an equivalent cost of 1st. 2nd. 3rd rounf picks, etc - to cap a value. For context, Id say we have heavily invested in our defense - albeit through the draft vs FA resources. Bishop, Carter, Max, Sanders, Landon, Walker, Solomon, Hancock, IGB, Kilgore, etc. All guys expected to have a role on this team, under rookie deals, 6 drafted within top 3 rounds between 2024-2026. 4th lowest in spending doesnt tell the whole story, is my point.

Palmer is going to count $11m+ towards the cap this year. He should be a WR3 type contributor- at least 600 yards 14+ YPC is what hes capable of, even if he misses a few games. Beane always knows how to build depth. So I agree its not a necessity Palmer performs at that level. But its a gut punch to waste cap space for a team up against it.

I agree, you need to be elite somewhere. Luckily, Josh covers up for his lack of playmakers (most often in playoffs). But we are clearly building around an elite run-game, and very good receiving room (if Moore pans out and Kincaid stays healthy) on offense. We've had elite guys in Diggs, at WR in the past and we still didn't get to the big game. Defense continues to be the main issue. Can't expect to win your last game of the season, by giving up close to or above 30 points. That's the single biggest reason for hope this upcoming year, is if our young defensive players and a new scheme/style, can contribute in key moments. Even without DJ Moore, a hobbled Kincaid, Palmer on the shelf and a WR room that rotated more than a lazy susan. We were 1 crucial catch from having a legit chance of reaching the SB. We need to find a defense that doesn't fold like a cheap lawn chair in the playoffs.

specifics on the injury behind the paywall? "Ankle" is all that I recall being mentioned. From the timeline/still recovering, wondering if he had to have a "tightrope" procedure --- similar to Zack Moss in 2021.

3rd year for Maye is huge. There would be no question on his progression, but that was a historically awful postseason by a QB. The fact they made the SB. was 100% attributed to their defense. I still think Maye is a very good QB. I just dont think hes anything close to a MVP level QB - I put Josh, Mahomes, Burrow, Lamar in a tier way above Maye. Drake is a better version of Bo Nix IMO, will always need a strong defense to back him up.

4-5 regular season, plus playoffs. In recent years, this basically creates a zero-sum game for my group (revenue from sold tix+parking = cost of full season) --- essentially get to attend games for free (less the travel/tailgate expense).

Pats are a very good team, nobody should be writing them off. But they also have question marks like anyone else. Last year was last year. On the opposite side of discussion, I think many think Maye is going to take another huge leap forward --- will that happen? NEs defense played lights out, and basically won them the AFC title -- can they stay healthy again and repeat that success? The way I look at it --- I think our defense gained ground on theirs, just from the acquisitions and defensive scheme change coming this season. Then on offense, we now have a WR that can actually win 1-1 matchups in DJ, we had nobody like that last year (Diggs could still do that for NE last season and Boutte was a downfield threat). A lot of teams can achieve huge success in a single season, primarily due to things falling into place perfectly. Can they sustain it? I think that's the looming question for New England, but it certainly doesn't take anything away from their 2025 and talented team.

Bills offensive passing game is more short, based on horizontal stretching of field as opposed to a vertical pass game. And agree Maye has a better deep ball than Josh. Again, what you said is exactly what I mean. We will never know, because your brought in both Doubs and Aj. But in isolation, I think Dj is the missing piece we need to get over the top - if Kincaid and Shakir stay healthy.

I have a completely different view of Brown. He is an elite downfield and intermediate, huge upgrade over Hollins. Moore OTOH, is a better all around player. Bills passing game is more horizontal than Pats, Moore is gonna thrive in our scheme- just like Brown probably will in yours. But I still think Moore raises our offense, more than Brown does to yours. I also think Maye is going to have a tougher time going against our defense next yr. We shall see how much more of a jump Maye makes in Year 3.

With their QB looking like a complete Rex Grossman, in the playoffs. Funny you say this, when Buffalo was probably 1 controversial catch away from reaching the SB themselves. And we just added a better WR for our system in Moore. Moore is going have a bigger impact than Aj, in terms of how they improve their respective offense. Patriots had a much better WR room LY, compared to ours. Aj elevates it, but we go from ground 0 to a capable group with Dj. With their QB looking like a complete Rex Grossman, in the playoffs. Funny you say this, when Buffalo was probably 1 controversial catch away from reaching the SB themselves. And we just added a better WR for our system in Moore. Moore is going have a bigger impact than Aj, in terms of how they improve their respective offense. Patriots had a much better WR room LY, compared to ours. Aj elevates it, but we go from ground 0 to a capable group with Dj.

Id say we are relying on one of them to be a consistent, maybe not significant contributor. All 3 of them, will likely be behind the likes of Shakir and Kimcaid with targets.

Achilles heel, is that you wrote a book, when you could've said: 1. Bass is wildly inconsistent 2. Our punter, punt coverage and punt return units combine to be close to last in the NFL Definitely has cost us games.

I love your "calling it now", often they tend to come true. Im with ya on KEO, but also think we will get the best version of Dorian in this system. Im excited for the camp battle.