Dr. Who

Sure, it's just a pond, but we're the monarchs of that pond. Life is short. Take the win.

I think it's unlikely at this point. I'm not convinced Beane values the position in the manner you and I would prefer. I'll be happy if you are right, and I'm still holding out a glimmer of hope.

I still think it's an irresponsible bet on Beane's part, even if Josh Allen and Brady end up pulling it off. Some folks are tired of those of us who are not convinced by the plan. They are free to mock, but a concern doesn't go away just because time passes. And what else is one to do if threads proliferate about a subject where the quality of receiver or the nature of the receiver room or whether modern WRs are a dime a dozen or not is the topic? Just shut up and get with the program? It's a funny age. The squares from the sixties are today's rebels. I used to be called a homer here, and now I'm a whiner.

If KC cuts him, we should pick him up.

Having been bereft of a team to truly root for, I am left to the poor leavings of schadenfreude, gleefully contemplating the demise of the Leafs and Bruins. I will take that treat, even if bad for you as a steady diet. I cannot like the Rags, and there are ex-Sabres playing for the Panthers. I sort of like Vancouver, though when I think they are the team that came into the league with us, I have an impish and malign impulse to deny them ultimate victory, because somehow that sheds more light on the prolonged ineptitude of the team I love.

Yes, he read the room perfectly. He wasn't talking to a pluralist or progressive room. He wasn't talking to this board. The reason students go to a college like that is because their beliefs and ethical sensibility are counter-cultural to the dominant ideology. The polemical edge in the speech was more in the nature of affirming the convictions of the students as they prepare to deal with a society largely indifferent or hostile to their beliefs. And the reaction here is proof of the correctness of that assessment.

I think the OP is speculative. I like Shaw. He writes a good prose, and is a very decent fella. Maybe he's correct. The college game is producing WRs, just as it is not producing finished product offensive linemen for the most part. All that said, I don't think it is inevitable that the WR position will see a glut of supply over demand where the smart buy is good, rather than great. It's an economic argument, I suppose, but as Ron Jaworski often proclaimed, "QB is a dependent position." It doesn't matter how great your franchise QB is, he can't go around catching his own passes. Folks here are invested in Josh Allen elevating mediocre talent, because that is largely the MO of this front office. Anyway, I still think there are elite talents that matter. It will always matter at QB and Edge. In a different era, the RB was king. If the QB is king today, that means the WR is guaranteed an importance unlikely to succumb to the kind of economic calculation Shaw surmises. The RB was reduced to replaceable mercenary because the game changed significantly. I don't really see a similar shift happening now, even if tactical strategies for some teams emphasize other positions. It is usually because of deficiencies in the WR room, or the particular proclivities of a QB like Lamar.

Motherhood, and raising children, especially in this era, but always really, is an extremely demanding vocation. Socrates understood, as did the Athenians who condemned him, that those who teach children and instill particular values and ways of acting and modes of perception are the rudder that ultimately determines where the ship of state goes. The domestic space shapes the political, unless the political can somehow displace it. And much of the culture war is because of that tension. So, behind the obvious polemical intent of Butker's speech, there's a serious contest of values involved beyond what many here righteously proclaim a ridiculously atavistic prejudice. Benedictine College is a traditional Catholic school. Folks want to call that medieval, go right ahead. Medievals gave us the universities. What we're doing with that legacy is something else.

My pal @NewEra thinks folks are forgetting or discounting the crippling injuries on D. I'm not. We came close to beating KC with a decimated defense, but it wouldn't really have been close without a very fortuitous goal line fumble, which was preceded by a desperate and bonehead gamble on a fake punt. Once you hit the division round, with the exception of games against the Ravens, our D folds. Maybe McD evolves. I like him, actually, but there's no denying he is super tight, even in the off-season. Admirable character, dogged, a wrestler, not a genius strategic coach. Maybe he's good, but so far, out-classed in the post-season. I don't see how that is arguable. What we have never really tried is seeing what would happen if you gave your extraordinary franchise qb truly excellent weapons. Folks want to argue about that, that's their prerogative. It appears Brady has a plan to spread the targets around so that no one can focus on WR1, because there isn't one. I think that is mind games to rationalize a step back from what was a mediocre WR room to begin with. Makes it harder for the offense to overperform. Have to hope Kincaid makes a leap from a good rookie year, that the run game becomes a consistent weapon, and that Coleman has a strong initial impact despite being a raw talent. And then better pray there aren't any significant injuries at the top of the bottom third in the league WR room (it's worse than that, probably). I think that's playing for an inside straight. Folks talk about a reset and the salary cap. Trading Diggs and not replacing him, taking on a massive cap hit, letting Davis walk (good), a lot of that was chosen by Beane, and what wasn't is a product of the way he handled the WR room in previous years. He's a hero if it works, but I don't buy extenuating circumstances if it doesn't.

Maybe Beane ends up looking like a genius, but I just hate the way they've handled the WR position.

I know. I was hoping they would entice him to come back with a promise of taking over in a year or two, but that's not the way they roll.

This meme is just always so useful. Maybe, but probably not, hiring one of their own changes the zebra attitude. Perhaps Mr. Parry lets us in on the secret handshake, where to drop the payoff, etc., and we end up having to challenge less, because not so often in the NFL lower right quadrant.

I wanted Peca to be the coach ready to take over.

I understand. Maybe that is so, or perhaps Beane is a sly dog, and has another plan he isn't saying. It might be boring literalism. I'm still hoping he's playing poker, because I don't like the WR room, even though I am high on Kincaid, and was one of the few on this board who championed him well before the draft. There were like 3 of us, we lit metaphorical cigars afterwards to celebrate our success. I tried the same thing this year hoping to get McConkey drafted, but I guess it was a one-time magic. I saw your latest response to Badol. Fantastic if you are correct. Seems overly optimistic to me.

The plan is intriguing, but it only works if all the parts are reasonably dangerous. I'd feel better if they added an established WR of the caliber of DK Metcalf. @BADOLBILZ suggested as much, and it seems an excellent idea to me. I think, but I may be misremembering, that you are one of those who cautions that there isn't money for that. I think after 6/1, they could find a way to manage it.

I can't seem to get rid of a prejudice for WR1. I still think it's better to have one, but I acknowledge the hydra approach does have its selling points. If you genuinely have weapons all across the field, I'm not sure how you gameplan to stop that.

It might work. The theory sounds good, if Brady is good at OC. I'd still like to add a plus talent receiver post 6/1. I'm sorry that WR room just doesn't look sound to me, though I'm open to being pleasantly surprised. Try calculating low bar for those with multiple seasons. I bet it doesn't look so rosy.

Pretty sure the NFL comp pic formula follows the same "you're the home team against the Jags waiting for you in London" formula and the folks who determine penalties.

Does he have an apple in his mouth?

I don't see how this group gets the benefit of the doubt on managing the WR room. Coleman, a bunch of scrubs, and hope that decent role players can elevate above their pay grade is not compelling. Lots of folks buying it, though. Whole lot riding on Brady being a really good OC. I hope it works, because I want my team to win, but Josh Allen is more magnanimous than I if he is truly happy about it.

I don't think "many are not seeing Shakir as a player who will get more volume." Rather the opposite. Whether they made a decision before trading Diggs or more reactively afterwards, he will be the Z and get a lot of targets. What no one can know ahead of time is how effective he will be when asked to perform as a more significant element in the offense. I don't see an obvious fall back option if it doesn't work out. I definitely don't think Samuel is that player. It seems a risky projection to me without a better plan B.

Yes, I did not intend right people as moral approbation, but indicative of the folks who speak that way. I don't necessarily think, however, that folks who live in a rural backwater are bound to be backwards. Further, I live in a rural backwater, though I suspect you may find my own proclivities insufficiently advanced. Have no fear, however, I will not "bless your heart," no matter what.

No, you are the one who is presumptuous for not accepting an optimistic projection as fact. I tell you what, let's find a fella who was thrown to 5 times on the year and caught them all. That would be 100% catch rate. All you have to do is throw it to that fella ninety times instead of five, and your problems are solved. What, maybe his skill set was such that a low number of targets was appropriate, and you can't simply assume expansion will carry similar results? Nonsense, man, you are just willfully pessimistic.

I do think he prefers shotgun for the reasons you indicate. However, I seem to recall some metric that showed the offense was quite successful when employing play action, though I could not possibly trace the source of that information (or what season or seasons that would pertain), nor state with certitude that it isn't something I imagined. Nonetheless, I generally have a pretty good memory, so I suppose it more likely there is something out there that gives that data.

The top 3 have relatively high floors, I think, but the price would have been exorbitant. My concern about the draft is partly driven by the fact that Coleman was not a fella I was high on. I'm concerned about the lack of separation. He does have some good traits, obviously, including, it turns out, an entirely engaging personality and apparent good character. So, I hope Beane made a solid decision. We are in good shape for 2025.