colin

considering we paid dude from carolina who is further past his prime and a lower prime like 10mm, i don't think 14mm is out of the question. im assuming he still has plenty left in the tank. trade for mccaffery, sign watt, draft OLB and OG, as well as TE and DB, and im ecstatic about the team. wow, i thought it was like 10 per, was it really that much? maybe that was the first year payout. shocking

don't think this is likely, but if it's for just our 1st, or possibly like 2nd this year, 2nd next year, and we add the OG i keep talking about (no idea who tho), and some kind of DL/pass rush help, the difference in our team is insane. moss to mcaffery is a huge 1 2 punch. those swing passes to the outside which are basically always there for us with our high flying O go from hoping motor catches it to just savage yardage gains. also, those quick hitter runs vs a passing d have a shot to break one. i even think it makes knox more valuable, because the LBs will have to key on the RB in passing D, knox can find the flat a little easier.

never say never

related to this thread: do you guys remember when the blind side came out? i remember around that time a comedian who is a buffalo guy was on the nfl network, and they had an open question of who are the first 2 players you get if you are building a franchise. obviously it's qb and either pass rush or offensive playmaker (back then maybe shut down corner), and this buffalo guy said book end tackles. now part of that is him being scarred by our horrible ol play, and perhaps not being able to fathom a competent QB, but that really reflected to me how everyone tried to outsmart themselves and go from undervaluing blue chip tackles to over valuing every fat guy w long arms. and then the litany of bust off LTs drafted top 10 just kept coming. remember that guy from baylor went like top 3, got some monster contract (before the new rookie scale) and in his first few years ended up a back up on the jets? crazy stuff

the more sort of breakdown tape i see of our LBs the past 3 seasons, the more i am convinced that in our D, milano's job is mentally much easier than edmunds. milano is really good at getting places on the field, and he's gotten better at taking on blocks, but his tackling technique is not really clean and he gets himself out of position sometimes. i've waffled back and forth, but i think if we can get a solid smart fundamental MLB (earlyish in the draft or even via FA if the money is right, a hyde/poyer type value) then sliding edmunds to OLB will make us all forget milano. from what i can see, they both have very similar roles, but the MLB in our D ends up having to diagnose more than one gap, decide on depth, and then go make the tackle. w our sad sack interior line play this season it left edumunds in the lurch way to often (his mistakes don'e help either). looking back at carolina when mccorch was there, when their pass rush fell off and big guys got hurt the struggled, but they still mashed people up when luke was out for a few games, so the interplay between the line and the lbs is not lost on me. one game that stands out a few years ago, was like 2014 or so carolina at SF. some low scoring slug fest. SF had a super physical gregg roman front, and carlina just straight up banged with them all day. i think if we get a couple monsters in the gut and improve our passrush edmunds and whoever can play disruption and clean up and get us to that level.

well, we need one quality starter (judged by the end of the season/playoffs) at OG or DE/DT or LB in this draft. we also need quality production at 2 or 3 of those positions (assuming we get a starter), as well as CB, RB, and TE. im thinking we can get a solid and nasty guard early, TE and RB between rounds 2 and 5, and fill in the rest as we go. so based on that, i say you trade up if you think you have a shot at another rueben brown or something at OG, or a human missile at OLB (or MLB and we move edmunds, whatever). a real cover corner or pass rusher IMO will just not likely be there at the end of the first, unless he's a bit of a project, so OG i think is the target. now, if there are like 3 who will be there for our 2nd pick that we like, then totally trade down, maybe get a 2nd and a 3rd, and use that plus our 2nd to go OG, OLB, and one of TE,RB,CB, or DL.

Stepping into albacore: the life and times of millionaire pro athlete Mathew Milano

if dalton goes to chi town, i'd say he has a path at redemption (or at least that's how he will sell it)

reich + wentz = chan + fitz colts lookin kinda scary

while he is basically a psycho who is one bad night from going totally off the rails, ritchie was loved by all of his teammates (except the one kid he bullied into retirement) and is a monster guard.

ok, that was funny but also true. i think one single nasty talented G makes our whole OL much better, with the biggest benefit in the run game. im pretty sure a guy like that should be available late in the first in the draft. dawkins, nasty rook, mongo, ford, williams could work out to be a solid physical line. pick up an actual NFL RB to work w moss, and you got yourself a stew goin'

tyrod got us a third a couple years back, and qb value has only gone up since then. rosen, who just sucks, got a 2nd. i know darnold has had more time to look bad than rosen did in zona, but i think if darnold goes for a 2nd the team getting him got him cheap. a late first or a second and a player, (or a second and like a 4th) seems like the floor the jets could get for darnold.

i don't actually think watson is better than allen today. he's a bit more consistent, on account of his more developed skill, but in terms of god given ability allen stops him cold. bigger, faster, stronger, smarter, better arm, better touch (allen routinely makes more difficult throws, it's just that he doesn't quite have the deep long ball skill that watson has, nor does he quite read d's as well, but that can be learned). watson, allen, rogers, mahomes, and rus will are the five guys in the nfl that can take over a game and rise above. we saw with mahomes in the superbowl vs our pitiful game vs his team, that once his system fails him, he falls back to earth pretty quickly. allen's near super human ability and just dog on a bone gameness keeps him in games he shouldn't be, at least some times. allen does need to get better at reading the D, not take the hero ball sacks (altho mahomes has gotten away with that due to his superior O) and get that last little bit of touch on the deep outside stuff, but he's learned more, and more quickly, than anyone else has in that time.

watson is the more skilled qb, but we all knew that. i was a big watson booster coming out of clemson, he's a bit limited w arm strength and size, but is a very skilled qb, and is a dog. allen is one of few qbs who are as much or more of a dog as watson is. allen has shown that as he gains more skill and polish, i don't think there has been a more physically capable guy at the position. he's got a shot to go down as the best to ever do it imo

this is one of those shroedingers pass rushers. he could come here and be a dud, be ok and provide leadership, or pull a lonzo and just ball out with smarts and power (which is the last thing to go) for some reason, i think he'd be a hit here. if we can pull some magic and get him and a real stud DE in FA, get a bargain gem at TE, and draft for OG, RB, MLB/OLB, CB2, we'd be monsters.

given how ineffective we were at rushing the passer when it mattered and how we didn't have a ton of sacks, i think we can consider this pass rush win rate as goofy. also, if 4 of 5 linemen hold their blocks all day, but one guy get's beat immediately off the snap, inside, it's a blow up play and possibly a fumble, but the stats would say 80% win rate. what these stats tell me more than anything is that on OL, our tackles are solid, and our interior line is weak, and we knew that watching the team. on the DL side, our guys have enough skill and moves to cause some trouble for OLs, but clearly not enough to impact the game without blitzing. i think our depth of JAGs pad our stats, our like 6th through 8th lineman all have some pass rush ability, but them beating a block after 2 seconds of hand fighting and not making a play isn't making a difference. which is why you pay such a massive premium for a real pass rusher vs a guy who is pretty good.

lbs can be split between edge players who rush the passer well, and everyone else. for "off ball" LBs, the ones who get paid are much much better over all than both the guys we have. part of it is scheme and lack of guys infront of them, but several teams have better MLBs than we do, and while milano is OLB, the roles for those positions are quite similar in our D. aside from RB and CB, MLBs come into the nfl and show their ability faster than any other position. i know edmunds is young, but i still wanna play madden manager and say move him outside where he can impose rather than get caught out thinking slowly.

TE, OLB/MLB, and DE (like a real pass rusher, i suppose a DT could do, but we need DE) are more available in FA than they will be for years to come. I'd really like bean and co to step up and bring those guys in, restructuring and cutting guys, and we can be a better running, blocking, passing, tackling, covering, and pass rushing team with the right moves and a lot of luck

so, im on record that i don't want nba trash where the players are bigger than the team. i will say, they've gamed the rules so much that QBs and offenses are at such an advantage (last super bowl being an exception, given that both Ts for KC were out and mahomes can't do what josh does) that somewhat small differences in ability at qb make for big impacts in how they impact the game. Rbs went from the workhorse of the O to basically a dime a dozen, and good tackling LBs and bigger safeties have seen their value drop hard because of the qb emphasis. well, QBs becoming the kings of the franchise is something i think the NFL dumbed their way into by tinkering so much with the rules. i'd hope that there is a return to balance somehow, but it doesn't seem to be going that way. i say this as a die hard bills fan, and josh is our whole friggen team, and i think as much or more than any of these other guys he can and will work with less around him and win, and has the fighter attitude that i don't think leads to him demanding a trade and what not, but the nfl has up and made the most important position in team sports even more so, and it's not a good idea.

Wilson on Indy would be disgusting. you just know Riech would blend ball control/balance w Russ's over the top game and it would be gross.

i like them, but i agree w the above, they give lots of comments about how well someone did something, and comments on what the team does, but very little wrt ideas of what could be done better, or where mistakes were made. it's pretty clear our scheme was an open book for KC and we had no answers.

from that link his girlfriend looks like a younger version of his mother.

wow, if we extend and throw in edmunds, the per player numbers look better for us, but wow oh wow are they getting better bang for their buck. our D really lacks playmakers, we got taken to the cleaners on those contracts. yikes.

that team had just the lowest level of talent i've seen in a modern nfl team i remember that our total spend on OL and on WR (who were on the roster, traded or cut guys cost us too) were each below the average salary for one person at those positions.

there are gonna be a lot of guns for hire this offseason. i want pass rush and TE in FA, possibly RB and interior OL/DL, and much less possibly OLB/MLB if we move edmunds. I figure interior OL is draft, pass rush has to be FA, TE shouldn't be too hard in FA, RB and LB can be drafted too.