dave mcbride

I'll make a modest bet (given that I don't have a farm). What'll it be? Whoops - A Bills hat is perfect. We're on.

If Taylor has a good season, he will stay. If he doesn't he will go. That's really all you need to know. The type of QB he is and who the others are is window dressing.

Absolutely. Time will tell.

Um ... I have no dog in this fight, but a high number of tackles isn't necessarily a good indicator of a CB's quality. In fact, there's often an inverse relationship.

If Taylor has a good season this year, he will remain on the team. Assuming Watkins is healthy, the Bills receiving corps is probably better than last season's even despite the losses. Jones is a potential upgrade over Woods, and a healthy Sammy in a contract year is a huge upgrade over an unhealthy Sammy.

I don't think Yates is going to be cut! So many teams keep old vets around who know the system. Coaches hate not being able to run their full offenses, and neither Jones nor Peterman will be able to run Dennison's offense this year. There is a reason they brought him on. It's why guys like Chase Daniel, Derek Anderson, and Matt Cassel hang around forever. Cassel actually started a game for TN this season, and the Titans beat Houston, 24-17 despite Cassel's own modest numbers (16-26 for 150 yards passing). He can run an offense, and that's why has lasted 12 seasons. Bank on it -- Yates will be on the team. If I had a farm, I'd bet on it!

As I say above in my addition to my earlier post, Yates knows the system and will be able to run the offense competently. That's what they are looking for from a number 2. To reiterate, I think he's a lock to make the roster.

Teams tend to like having career backups around who can get you to .500 over a four-game span. Yates has done that (his teams went 4-3 when he started), and I'd bet pretty heavily that this staff prefers his presence on the team to that of Jones. I suspect the latter will either be assigned to the practice squad or cut. Again, NFL coaches like vets who are mature, smart, stable, and able to get you to .500 over a four-game span. Yates is entering his seventh season and knows the Kubiak/Dennison system. I honestly think he's a LOCK to make the roster.

Lol!!

Good piece by Breer, which is no surprise. Good writer.

My own view is that what you say above is inaccurate. I believe that Whaley wanted no part of Taylor and wanted him gone. That's what all the signs pointed to, at least as I see it. I'm happy to be proven wrong, but I suspect that I won't. Also, while I agree with you on a more meta level about him pushing Manuel on coaches, it is 100 percent the case that he pushed him on Lynn. Taylor, coming off of his best game as a pro, wanted to play, and Lynn wanted to play him. Whaley did push Manuel on the coach in that instance.

Simon: I'm speaking for myself here, but Whaley lost me on Tyrod, who I like as both a player and competitor. What do you think of Taylor, and what do you think of Whaley's own views on the qb position? I think it's pretty clear beyond all doubt now that he was the biggest backer of Manuel in the NFL. That last game against the Jets must have horrible for Whaley, and I seriously felt bad for him because Manuel is not unlikable. In any event, I thought his jacking around of Taylor near the end of last season was mystifyingly wrongheaded. Edit: I take your point about the backstabbing/lying.

It has been clear for some time that Whaley felt this way despite being completely wrong. His qb vision killed him. Drafting a stiff like Cardale (this is a prediction, yes) doesn't reflect well on his qb eye either.

Absolutely - I agree.

Taylor has been better than mediocre the last two seasons. Having a 26th and 24th ranked defense in DVOA is what killed them.

Really interesting. I thought whaley was gone all along so his firing is no surprise to me; I also thought the battle over QB was at the root of the dispute. That appears to be the case. I'm a Taylor supporter, so I'm glad McDermott won. But obviously this is a huge season for TT. With Sammy in effectively a contract year, things are lined up for him pretty well.

ST is important. Carolina arguably lost the SB because of a badly blown tackle on ST.

26th in DVOA. End of freaking story.

To quote Jim Rome from 25 years ago: have a take, and don't suck.

As i have said elsewhere, no one effing knows whether Mahomes will be good or not, and if they claim that they do, they are completely full of it. We were also playing frodo of the nine fingers in that game. One of Brissett's fingers on his throwing hand was hurt to the point of uselessness.

Seems like a great pick. A better talent than Woods, who i still like as a player.

I do; i think 1B4IDie is basically right. But I discount future picks. Not everyone does. To each his own.

These guys have no idea what they're talking about w/regard to Mahomes. No idea. None of us do, honestly.

I think KC is better than you say because of the coaching, but it is the case that their pythagorean record last year was 10.1-5.9, and they were helped with ridiculously close and arguably lucky wins against Atlanta, SD, Carolina, and Denver. Almost all were basically decided on the last play and involved flukes. They also went 2-0 in OT. The Atlanta game was the most ridiculous one; ATL had just gone up by one point late in the game and went for two to take a 3-point lead, and Berry returned an INT for a pick-2. They lost one tough one to TN on the last play, but by my count they went 4-1 in nail biters. They lost 19-17 to TB, but it was 19-10 when the Chiefs scored very late (garbage time, basically). TB dominated them statistically. Furthermore, their 6th overall DVOA ranking was bolstered by being #2 in ST; they were 13th on offense and 14th on defense. ST performance fluctuates wildly from year to year.

Dareus was really misused. I expect a huge season from him provided he stays healthy.