dave mcbride

He's a D+ because you really should expect a lot more from a top 20 pick. The grade is correct. If you're a drafting a guy in the first round who plays like an earlier fourth rounder, you deserve a bad grade.

D+ in american grading is basically 68 percent. B is an 85, and A is 95.

John: thanks for responding. In my experience reading Florio over the years, he has spent far more space discussing a move by Jax than Buffalo (which makes sense because a Jax move to London is actually quite plausible, if not necessarily probable). I just don’t think he has it in for Buffalo. As for whether the union can dictate terms, I’ve never viewed big-time pro sports players associations as unions; they operate far more like guilds. That’s neither good nor bad, but they do certainly have more power relative to management than than the intrinsically replaceable workers who work in most fields. The NFL players have less than NBA and MLB players, I know, but that’s because they’re more replaceable.

Yet somehow the Packers are 100-57-1 when he starts.

Yep. Look at the respective AVs for Buckner and Shaq: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/L/LawsSh00.htm https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BuckDe00.htm @GunnerBill- Lawson had 8 qb hits in his first two seasons and Buckner had 40. That's a huge disparity.

You asked ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_H._Christ

This is false. In the 9 games he played with Flacco, he had 34 receptions for 601 yards (prorated over 16 games - 60 receptions for 1,068 yards, 17.8 ypr, and 7.5 TDs, which is obviously very good). In Flacco's final start, Brown was targeted 6 times (3 catches for 15 yds) but he also was the beneficiary of a DPI call on Pittsburgh on a bomb that moved the Ravens 33 yards down the field. ALL of his decline last year can be attributed to Jackson. Jackson threw 31 passes his way, and only 8 resulted in completions. As for the ups and downs of his receiving numbers while Flacco was in there, ALL receivers have spiky game-by-game stats. Also, his "big injury history" has caused him to miss 7 games in 5 seasons (and none last season). He's basically pretty durable. Just about every player who plays for half a decade has a stint or two on the injury list.

His most productive season was the one where Watt missed the whole season! He had 21 tackles for loss and led the league in tackles for loss/no gain to go with 9.5 sacks (2017). I just don't get some of the rhetoric here. People look at sack lines and nothing else.

They were #2 in defensive DVOA, which is richer and far more holistic measure that factors in competition etc. https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamdef They were also third in the league with regard to passer rating, and team passer rating differential is the best predictor of all stats with regard to winning and losing. Unfortunately, the Bills' offensive passer rating at the team level was abysmal. https://www.si.com/more-sports/2011/06/23/most-importantstatpasserratingdifferential

Speaking of Gilmore's recs ... NE has over $16 million in cap space at the moment, and he'd be a good addition there ...

Allen put it exactly where it was supposed to be -- not leading him out in front of him because that's the throw that will get him killed (or possibly get picked off). Jones was already looking back, and didn't have to slow down at all. And he didn't even have to reach - the throw was at eye level (perfect) and right in his hands. Anyone who doesn't think that was basically a perfect throw needs to watch a lot more football. By the way, as anyone can tell you here, I've been critical of Allen's accuracy. I got roasted last season here for not blaming Charles Clay on that final throw vs. Miami. The point is that I'm hardly a homer with regard to Allen. But that was a damn good throw.

Um ... the Allen pass was right on target. Exactly where it should have been. The pass was right on the money, so why are we even debating this, at least with regard to this pass??

Boone really has grown on me, so I'd give him a chance. Re Joe G, the fact that he hasn't gotten back into managing speaks volumes. He's a flat-out better manager than many of the hirees over the past two seasons, and I think it's obvious to most teams seeking out new managers . There's a reason he hasn't gotten back into it, and I don't think it's lack of opportunity. I think burnout is the most likely candidate. He needed time away. I do agree that the Yankees' starting pitching is likely to kill them in the postseason. But I wouldn't blame the manager for that. They're just not good enough to get through a 7-game series with a W unless the bats go wild. I will say that the one big difference this year as opposed to previous years is that the Yankees have fewer guys who strike out prolifically, which is going to help them in the postseason.

I didn't think Baldy was that high on him at all, and I watched it. He basically said he didn't do much against Nelson and was mostly controlled, but still flashed athletic talent, which excited him. The main takeaway was that this was his first preseason game so focus on the athletic promise rather than the production, which was mostly negligible. He did almost get one sack, but it was of the vulture variety on a hustle play in which the QB didn't get rid of the ball quickly. Regardless, it's all fine. He'll get better because he does have a lot of physical talent. He'll be going up against a lot of bad guards over the course of the year.

I am a huge Yankees fan and a big Girardi fan. But he was burnt out and done. I criticized his departure when it happened, but I was flat out wrong. The players were tired of him, and at the end of the day it's a players game. You're not giving enough credit to Boone either. Over half of baseball managing is managing personalities, and Boone is better at it than Joe G. That trait is what made Torre an all-time great manager. He dealt with a bunch of huge egos and got them all on the same page.

Watch Clowney play and don’t focus on raw sack numbers. Look at tackles for loss, for instance. It’s where he excels. He is a truly elite player and doesn’t underproduce. By PFF, he has been elite-level the past two seasons. This is indicative: https://texanswire.usatoday.com/2017/10/30/jadeveon-clowney-deandre-hopkins-post-blistering-pff-scores-vs-seattle/

I dunno. The guy can clearly play. He was arguably the best offensive player on the team over the course of the second half of last season. I think it's a really bad idea to cut him loose even if he's not having a great camp, and the focus on his alleged foibles seems a little silly to me. He costs nothing and has real upside in the form of speed and size. What's not to like?

It's amazing to me how much people make out of the occasional drop. There's not a receiver in the league who doesn't have drops. Robert Foster had a catch percentage last season of 61.4 percent, which is ridiculously high for a guy averaging 20 yards per reception. Come on.

Absolutely right. I strongly recall listening to many a Bills game on the radio in the 1970s where Van Miller's most memorable line (to me at least!) was "Ferguson ... back to pass ... throws to Gant ... and it is ... dropped." McKeller was actually genuinely talented and by far and away the best TE in team history, but simply couldn't stay on the field. He's the only mid-to-late round flyer they've had success with. Metzelaars, who was just OK (slow as molasses) but a pretty good blocker, was a 3rd round pick by Seattle.

Um ... sometimes before they retire!! https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jul/24/adrian-peterson-nfl-debt-washington

I gather you're not into the whole brevity thing.

On of my favorites over the years. Very sad.

Not great this year, but “spiritual retread” is a GREAT line. I like McDermott, more or less, but there is definitely a little truth to it ....

You have no wiggle room with rookie contracts anymore - they’re slated. He has vastly outperformed the contract.

Consider this, though: https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1993-09-17-1993260192-story.html That happened right after the Cowboys lost to the Bills in Dallas.