MasterStrategist

It's the integrity of the sport/NFL shield that they are protecting. The rules are cut and dry. Simple case that DV doesn't put the NFL, or the billions of gambling revenue that you referenced, at risk. Not difficult to understand, right or wrong

Clueless post.... And when the NFL allows players to gamble/influence games, how you going to feel as a fan that the integrity is lost?

Agree. @Warriorspikes51 thinks we are building a fantasy football WR room. not directed at you, but in general: 1. We should be looking for complimentary skillets, to improve the Wr room....quick separation/Rac. 2. Having 2 #1 Wrs is a luxury we can't afford, unless we find one in the draft. 3. Not sure why Dhop is still the discussion/desire. Anyone who watched the Cincy game, and season last year in general, should realize our OL play has to improve. RT should be a high priority, but also not overspending on WRs. We can use that future cap on improving the OL

Downfield receiver. It's not just about a 40 time, and doubt Hyatt is converting many more of the deep passes (yes, yes the Jets game). Point is our offense isn't lacking a deep threat WR. Harty, albeit smaller size, offers more speed as well. Unlike you, I see Hyatt as a boom/bust prospect. Very good deep route guy, limited otherwise.

Gabe Davis is already our Hyatt. Hyatt might have a higher ceiling, but he's not stepping into a vacant role/overtaking Gabe. We better get OL to give Josh time. Maybe Gabe, and Diggs, would actually look much better without having to keep Knox and/or Cook into chip on almost every play. Schematically,we are going to face: 1. Jets type of cover 3/4 & strong 4 man rush: we've countered by keeping Knox and/or RB to block or chip. We need to get better at G/T to avoid this 2. Dolphins/Chiefs aggressive 5 or 6 man rushes. It's OK/needed to keep in extra blockers, but we're missing the slot/quick WR who can get fast separation Hyatt doesn't improve us against either option. Maybe next year, if Gabe is gone. Gabe struggles on #2, this is why we need a Zay Flowers/JSN type.

But that's the thing...he's not a 1 yr rental OR cheap. Likely would take restructuring/amortizing the future $s, just to git him under this year's cap limit. Then we'd be having major dead cap in some future season. Not good future cap planning and goes against everything Beane has stood for

You live in a dream world if you think that's even in a realm of possibilities. More realistically: 1. Draft a WR and OT early 2. Then best value at: MLB, TE, DT, DE, CB Cap is a reality and we shouldn't be chasing another high priced WR. This offense needs another RAC guy, RT (better OL play), and balanced attack with running/playaction.

Great post! Agree about slot WR being a need, opening up the passing game. Hope I'm wrong about Skakir, but I see a backup. Counting on him to take over, is a big risk. Harty is the ideal #4, per Beane himself...and don't think he's durable enough for a full time role. Zay Flowers is an ideal fit in our offense. Explosive, RAC ability but likely won't be there at 27 (hope I'm wrong). Jayden Reed is another 2nd-3rd round option at slot WR. Not as explosive as Flowers, but brings an edge and likely better blocking ability.

Zay Flowers has been my guy for a while. He can be moved all around, but immediately contribute in the slot. Doubt he makes it to 27 now, he's been moving up draft boards...reminds me of Dotson (Penn St WR LY), and likely goes in the high teens/early 20s.

You can disagree all you want about Hodgins, but that's exactly the position that he played with us and Gmen. Mostly in the slot. He's too slow/lacks downfield explosion, to be a consistent outside guy. Harty is our perfect #4, per Beane himself. I'd expect he plays slot and outside, but doubt he's our starter. Same with Sherfield, ability to play inside/outside. I'm not saying Gabe is a great #2, but our slot WR is a critical piece of our offense. This entire discussion started with me saying we shouldn't draft Hyatt, he has a higher ceiling than Gabe Davis but likely not an upgrade this season. Flowers, Downs, even Reed, would be upgrades over Shakir and squad at the slot immediately.

That's exactly what everyone said LY too....Mckenzie/Crowder/Shakir/Hodgins....which eventually led to us bringing Beas out of retirement. John Brown played meaningless snaps outside, his signing was diff than Beas. The hope is Harty is an upgrade, and Shakir develops. But Davis is more of a sure thing than either of those guys.

Congrats to Uconn, and their fans. Hurley did a remarkable job this season. He's a polarizing coach to non-Husky fans, but his team had a dominant tournament and no question were the best team.

Why on either? Please share your thoughts on why these guys are good fits. 1. Anderson: NO. Too expensive/not a team player/we already signed 2 Fa Wrs/draft is still around the corner...want any more reasons? 2. Jack: go ask Steeler fans their thoughts. Living in Pittsburgh, he didn't look good at all LY for them. He's lost his athletic burst and is just a name at this point. Again, the draft is a better option.

Not sure why people want Hyatt. We have our version with Gabe... we need someone for the slot who Josh can rely on

Deep draft at def end this yr.... Shaq will be signed back if we don't land a mid to late guy. Phillips brings a nice rush in the middle. He should be used in pass rush situations only, at this point of his career. Hoping we land another big 1 technique in the draft, that can be primarily used on early downs.

Who is Drew Andrews?

Drew Sanders Jayden Reed

This is a deep draft at DE. I think we should see what we land in the draft, then re-sign Shaq as last resort. *Not advocating an early DE draft pick, but mid rounds. Glad to have Jordan back. Also be good to see if a DT can be drafted in the mid rounds, preferably a 1-T

Agree, I'm a HUGE fan of Flowers. I think he's got Diggs potential, and would be our day 1 starter in the slot. Zay isn't a slot only player. But he will be a beast there and open up more options for us. People forget Beas was basically our #2 from the slot, and allows less double teams of Stefon. Darnell Wright would also be a great pick. I'm probably overly optimistic about Spencer, but also realistic. Preferably there'd be a 2nd or 3rd round OT to draft, then let the best man win the spot.

It's a great discussion because it's an unknown how McDermott plans to adjust the defensive scheme this offseason. We are highly likely moving away from Fraziers Tampa 2 scheme, that required a MLB with Edmunds traits. So it makes for interesting discussion/creative options to fill that MLB void

This is being lazy, call out McDermott for something he hasn't been then put on others to prove you wrong. So here goes: 1. McDermott has always been more multiple with his defense. Primarily cover 3, 4, 6 looks (with some cover 2). He has also used Double A gap pressure looks to disguise pass rush and coverage. He's also used alot more 4-3 base looks, along with over/under fronts. Something we saw in 2017, when he 1st started with us. 2. Frazier is Mr Tampa 2. Which is what alot of posters said for long time. Here is just 1 article: https://billswire.usatoday.com/2017/02/06/growing-pains-breaking-down-the-bills-transition-to-sean-mcdermotts-4-3-defense/ You can go find others, or spend the time looking up defensive formation/coverage stats.

Mcdermott didn't run a soft ass Tampa 2, historically. You are either generalizing OR haven't seen what he did in past roles.

Your analogy is well taken, but not directly comparable. It'd be more like your team is pressing the keys still, but you are going into the meeting and describing what they did. In this case, nobody knows how much this detracts from his day-to-day VS just on gameday itself. McDermott likely wants the control, for various reasons, on gameday. But he could be having his staff handling more of the preparation/key pressing as you say. Without knowing the exact ins and outs of how this will work, its WAY too early to say either way. All we know is Coach had been one heck of a DC before. As many mentioned, different HCs have balanced coordinating roles too and been successful (doesn't matter if it's OC or DC).

Great discussion/post. There's a handful of these "undersized" LBs coming out this year, who are athletic but are they fits at MLB in our scheme? To me, we just drafted a similar player (maybe not as talented) in Bernard LY. Big unknown what McDermott is looking to do at this position. Personally, I'd be surprised if we draft this style of player.

Great analysis! Agree on all of this. Re: dime defense...yes, I would keep Milano on the field and roll with an extra safety/CB (perhaps Benford or draft pick). It's a deep and talented class at corner, could be worth consideration. But my $ isn't on them switching to Dime, outside of team specific matchups (ie: occasionally against KC). I do like Bernard on passing downs, basically a big safety/big dime defense. He's versatile to blitz/instinctive, but lacks the size and strentght to be a 3 down player (IMO)