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Cash

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Everything posted by Cash

  1. Great post! I think most of us in the "no OL at #9" camp could live with an O-line pick at #9 depending on who else was available, especially since Whaley has slammed the door on taking a QB. For me, if both Watkins and Evans are off the board, and one of the top 3 OTs is still there, then by all means take the OT. It would fill a need, provide some injury insurance for Glenn, and help EJ's development. But I'd much rather have a WR with a wide catch radius who can turn some of EJ's inaccurate throws into big completions. And some of these OL-or-bust posts are crazy. People are seriously pointing to Seattle as the model of how to win a Super Bowl on the back of your O-line? That only works if you ignore every objective rating of Seattle's O-line and assume that because they won the Super Bowl, they must have a good O-line. PFF rated them 26th in the league last year! Football Outsiders rated them 9th in adjusted line yards (pretty good!), but dead last in both power success (3rd or 4th and short) and pass blocking. If you're looking for an elite O-Line for us to aspire to, keep looking.
  2. Everything? What about the debate in the 16th century about whether the Earth revolved around the Sun?
  3. Good thread! I'm not nearly a big enough draftnik to qualify, but I'll at least go on record with the guys I really like: Mike Evans, Troy Niklas, and Austin Sefarian-Jenkins. ASJ I think will either boom or bust, Evans I just think will boom, and Niklas I think will be an above-average but unspectacular starter for a long time. Right now, it's looking like Evans is a definite Round 1 guy (hopefully at #9!), but there's at least a chance that 1 or both of the TEs goes in Round 3 or later.
  4. Maybe, maybe not. I do agree in the abstract that a team's capologist/contract negotiator (which is the public face of Overdorf's job) *should* be reporting to the GM or at least defer to the GM on football-related matters. But Overdorf is a long-standing member of Ralph's inner circle, and his position with the Bills is probably comparable with Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at a Biotech company (or whomever's in charge of the research/pipeline - titles vary by company). And I don't think a hypothetical Biotech CEO could or at least would fire her CSO without the board's approval, especially one who's been with the company for a very long run of sustained profit. And Overdorf has certainly been around for a very long run of sustained profit. I don't think Brandon's really in a position to fire Overdorf, but my hope is that he does have real authority over the dorf. And my second hope is that he's willing and able to use that authority to reign Overdorf in. It's equally plausible to me that he's on board with Overdorf's cost-saving measures.
  5. I fully believe the stories about Littman/Overdorf interfering with football operations. This is hardly the first time these kinds of rumors have come out, and it just makes too much sense. I don't think they interfere 100% of the time, but I do think that 1 or both of them sometimes act as a shadow GM, and both of them definitely rank higher in the organization than Whaley or Marrone. What I don't know is exactly where Russ Brandon stands in all this. There are a wide variety of opinions in this thread, ranging from "Brandon is 100% with Whaley/Marrone" to "Brandon is 100% a lifer, even though he's not as old as the others." Even among the former contingent, there's a wide variety -- a few seem convinced that he's going to make major changes soon, more think that he has no power to change this situation, and probably the most don't claim to know. I.e., "this is a test of Russ Brandon's power." For me, I don't claim to know either Brandon's allegiance or his power within the organization. (If we *did* see major changes, that would pretty much prove that he's against the lifers and has full control of the team, but if we don't, it doesn't tell us anything.) What I tend to think, but am not confident of, is that Brandon is probably somewhere in the middle. He was pretty directly responsible for Whaley getting his current job, and though he claimed that he wasn't the one who hired Marrone, those two have a Syracuse connection that was pointed out at the time of Marrone's hiring. He has shown some tendencies towards newer-type thinking and strategies, and it's hard for me to believe he's 100% in lockstep with the lifers. Having said that, he worked his way up right through the system, paid his dues to Ralph, and has never been one to bite the hand that feeds him or really challenge the old ways of doing things. He's more of a "gradual change through our establish systems" than a "tear down and rebuild" kind of guy. But what's he going to do about this? Or can he do anything about this? I wouldn't put it past the Bills and Brandon to claim that he has 100% control of team operations, and that Littman & Overdorf report to him, when in fact all 3 report to Ralph (or no one), and Brandon's control is limited to things the public can see. Even if the Bills' company line is accurate, there's still limits on Brandon's power. My company's CEO couldn't just up and fire our CFO without the board's approval. In this case, Ralph is the board, and I think it's pretty safe to assume that 1.) Brandon probably won't ask Ralph for approval to fire Littman or Overdorf, and 2.) Ralph wouldn't give that approval even if asked. But if Brandon *does* think that the lifers are overreaching, there are other ways to handle things than by firing them. If they truly do report to him, he should be able to rein them in somewhat -- keep their titles the same, but make it clear to them that certain duties are strictly confined to the GM's office. If that happened, we'd never hear about it (obviously), but we could see subtle effects -- small changes in the type of quotes we see from coach/GM, for example.
  6. http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/tj-graham?id=2532850 TJ Graham's combine numbers (with his 2012 rank in parentheses): 40-yard dash: 4.41 seconds (T-7th) Bench press: 8 reps (not in top 15) Vertical jump: 33.5" (not in top 15) Broad jump: 10'0" (not in top 15) 3-cone drill: 6.77 seconds (3rd) 20-yd shuttle: 4.18 seconds (15th) For comparison, here's the 10th-best value for each of those from this year's WRs at the combine: 40-yard dash: 4.44 seconds (Graham would've placed 5th) Bench press: 16 reps Vertical jump: 38.0" Broad jump: 10'4" 3-cone drill: 6.76 seconds (Graham would've tied for 10th) 20-yd shuttle: 4.01 seconds (Graham would've tied for 15th) Compared to me or any normal human being, TJ Graham is absolutely an elite athlete. Compared only to the pool of NFL WRs, however, he might not be much better than average. Particularly when you factor in his size (5'11", 188 lbs.). If he was putting up those numbers at Kelvin Benjamin's size, it would be much more impressive. (For the record, he did beat Benjamin in everything but bench press, which is pretty meaningless anyway.) Graham's speed is probably elite (although Goodwin looks significantly faster on the same field), but it's really unfair to call him an elite athlete overall. He's far too earthbound. Sorry for the off-topic post; I'll shut up now. Just bothers me when people overstate the case for TJ Graham. There's a reason most draftniks projected him as a 5th-7th round pick.
  7. Me personally, I would prefer Evans at 9 and a TE (ideally Niklas) in the 2nd. Niklas won't be the game-breaker we'd love to have at TE, but I don't know if any of these guys will. Ebron's hands scare me, and beyond that, I think that Marrone favors a TE who can spend more time on the line than Ebron or Amaro is used to. Niklas spent the vast majority of his time lining up as a true TE in-line (see link below), and looks to me like an upgrade over Chandler. Kind of a Heath Miller/Brandon Pettigrew type who can block, catch a few first downs, and be used as a solid red zone threat, but who won't terrify opposing defenses. That's what Evans is for. He just strikes me as the perfect weapon for EJ, especially as EJ works on developing his accuracy. http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/cfb/46006/349/peshek-top-4-wr-metrics http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/cfb/46280/349/peshek-te-metrics
  8. In fairness to Mayock & Kiper (both of whom I respect), their TV job is most comparable to being a national scout, not a GM. By all accounts, Buddy Nix was a fantastic scout, but by my account, not a great GM. I could easily see Mayock or Kiper going the same way. If I ran an NFL team, I'd be happy to hire either as a high-level scout, but I don't think that job would pay nearly as well as their TV gigs. The only defense of Lombardi's recent tenure is that he may have had essentially no power whatsoever. Tough to say, but he certainly wasn't allowed to talk to the media very much. Having said that, I'm not a big Lombardi fan. I was initially very impressed by his appearances on the BS Report, but after hearing him enough times, I came to the conclusion that he has a variety of very impressive ways of telling you things you already know. He can talk about blue-chippers all day and it sounds great, but all he's saying is that you want to get elite players. Duh. What GM is out there trying to build around role players? (Don't say Doug Whaley.) One of his big things in Cleveland was focusing on getting half-time leads. Yeah, no shot, Sherlock. Who is out there with a gameplan of being down 10 at the half? "We're gonna lull them into a false sense of confidence!" 100% agreed.
  9. Hope springs eternal in the offseason!
  10. First off, this is awesome - thanks for posting! Second, between this and their first WR breakdown, I've decided I want Mike Evans in the first and Troy Niklas (or ASJ) in the 2nd. Re-sign Byrd, fix the O-line in free agency, and you can go defense in rounds 3-7 if you want.
  11. +1. The specifics of the Ben-Gals (terrible name, btw) weight requirements seem a little harsh, but having some sort of weight requirement isn't fundamentally a problem in this case. Physical fitness and attractiveness are bone fide job qualifications for NFL cheerleaders. Thank you both. I get that a lot of women are willing to deal with terrible pay/working conditions for the "glamour" of being an NFL cheerleader, but that doesn't make it right. Whether in-person or through images, cheerleaders are used to promote the hell out of their team, and they should be paid accordingly. Would anyone be okay with the Bengals' marketing department making below minimum wage?
  12. I think he would be best served by getting as much money as possible. This is likely his only chance for a big payday, unless he's better than both of us think. His market value definitely won't get higher by staying in Denver or remaining a #2/3 option somewhere else. All the same doubts would still be there, and he'd be older to boot.
  13. The Legend continues... Despite being only 3'2" and 129 lbs., Kiko Alonso managed to place 4th in the league in tackles. Plus he can't get high enough to hit a ballcarrier in the head, so he avoids personal fouls too!
  14. Decker is a solid player, Manning or no Manning, but I don't see him as a difference-maker or someone the opposing D has to scheme for. (As opposed to Demaryius Thomas, who is a beast.) At #3 WR money, I'd want him on my team, but I anticipate him getting more than that. You never really know -- a lot of players found the market wanting last year and signed bargain 1-year deals. If Decker found himself in that boat this year, I'd be all for signing him, but I can't see it happening. If he winds up stuck with a cheapo 1-year contract, he'd be best served trying to sign with the best possible QB to help his numbers for next year. The only way I could see him signing with a team like the Bills (or Jets, Jaguars, etc.) is if they pony up a long-term deal with significant guaranteed money. And count me OUT on wanting to give him that kind of deal. I think you can overpay for guys like Demaryius Thomas, but not guys like Eric Decker. I guarantee you that some free agent WR who signs a cheap deal this year will put up at least 80% of what Decker does next year. I'd rather try to find that guy, and spend the money on re-signing our own guys or trying to upgrade the O-line. (Or a big-time TE, but I don't think there'll be any available.)
  15. Really fun! Thanks to OP for posting!
  16. This sucks. No hard feelings toward Pettine, but why can't we have nice things? This does not make me hopeful for the future. And FU, Browns. You guys are the laughingstock of the NFL. Why not hire a DC from, I dunno, a GOOD team? Maybe like Seattle or San Francisco? Ugh. So what should I be hoping for now? Internal promotion (probably the LB coach that Pettine wants as his DC), or external? Could Wade Phillips be in the mix, or is Ralph still upset about having to pay him after firing him for insubordination?
  17. I agree, but then we'd still need a new SS to replace Aaron Williams. And I'd argue that there would be a dropoff at FS from Byrd to Williams. Maybe not a massive one as Williams gets more comfortable at safety, but a dropoff nonetheless. There is definitely a price point/contract demand at which it makes sense to let Byrd walk or try a tag & trade, but in my estimation, that price point is somewhere around Troy Polamalu's contract. I really have no idea what Byrd's asking for, but if it's on par with Eric Berry's deal, I think the Bills should pay up.
  18. 1. No. If we only look at 2012 Fitz, it's close, because Fitz dropped off a lot in 2012. But even then, 2013 Manuel was worse than 2012 Fitz. Lewis was arguably as good or a little better. 2. Given that Stevie missed a bunch of games this year, and wasn't healthier than last year when he *did* play, this is closer than you might think. Goodwin also missed a bunch of time. But overall, I'll give a slight edge to 2013 over 2012. 3. No, I don't. Our defense was maddeningly inconsistent all year, whether it be giving up 3rd down conversions, ill-timed penalties, or backbreaking late scores. Our offense last year was straight-up bad, but capable of occasionally putting up a decent score. Our 2011 offense was half-decent though, and that's mostly because Fitz played a lot better that year.
  19. I'm pretty sure our qualifying losses are Kyle Moore, Chad Rinehart, and Andy Levitre. As to our qualifying gains, I know Lawson and Branch count. If they're the only ones that count, then we get a comp pick. The salary match goes from low to high, so Moore would cancel out Branch and Rinehart would cancel out Lawson, which would leave us with a 3rd or 4th for Levitre. However, in addition to Lawson & Branch, we also signed Frank Summers and Doug Legursky as veteran UFAs. Summers was out of football in 2012, so he definitely doesn't count, but I'm not sure about Legursky. I've heard talk that there's a limited signing window for UFAs to count towards comp picks, and it closes around the draft, but I can't find any official confirmation of that. If it's true, Legursky wouldn't count, because he wasn't signed till June. I guess we'll see.
  20. Re: bolded -- I love that a guy who constantly says that everyone is unfair to TJ Graham can also uncork a statement as ridiculous as that.
  21. You need a Stevie-related one as well. If he's still on the team, he'll cost us games with either his "attitude" or a specific drop or penalty. If he's gone, it'll be that we don't have a reliable possession receiver and Woods needs another year.
  22. So your plan is to emulate a 7-7 team as much as possible?
  23. It doesn't bother me when fans are upset -- I'm upset too, because losing stinks, and it should upset you as a fan. But it does bother me when upset fans think that the way to get better is to get rid of good players because they aren't "good enough". How about getting rid of the bad players? The Bills love to employ the strategy of letting a guy go via cut, trade, or free agency, then spending a high pick on his replacement. THIS DOES NOT LEAD TO IMPROVEMENT. We cut Lawyer Milloy and drafted Donte Whitner. We traded Willis McGahee and drafted Marshawn Lynch. We drafted Spiller so we could trade Lynch, and drafted McKelvin so we could let Jabari Greer walk. Meanwhile, the scrubs around them have changed names, but keep being replacement-level players.
  24. That's probably a good idea overall, but I personally hate the idea of watching games in a dome. I love the fact that football is played in the elements.
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