Cash

If Ralph dies before January, his family gets the team tax-free.

Great point. Wood seems like a solid starter, Lynch would be a solid starter on many teams, Whitner's at least an average starting SS, Evans is probably a better than average starting WR, and that's all fine. But you'd think a team would be able to find an impact player in the first round over the last 10 years or so. Especially since we haven't made the playoffs in that stretch, and thus have been generally picking pretty high.

Most of the major publications are going to be comically off with their Chargers picks this year. Norv Turner is still the coach, their best WR is holding out, their LT is holding out, their best pass rusher is holding out (and may not even be effective if he comes back, since he's off the juice), and they just gave a whopping contract to Antonio Gates, which makes the holdouts more likely to dig in their heels. There's a decent chance that 2010 Ryan Mathews will be an upgrade over 2009 LT/Sproles combo, but even if that's the case, I don't see it being enough for the Chargers. We'll see who's right, but I feel a lot of times these teams get picked by major publications because it's wishful thinking on the part of the reporters -- they're really hoping San Diego/Miami/Arizona, etc. will be good, so that they'll be sent there on assignment.

I tend to agree that accuracy is the most important trait for a successful QB. However, I haven't seen much from Trent. He completes a high percentage of his passes primarily because he throws so many short routes where accuracy isn't an issue. On medium and longer routes, where QB accuracy is often the difference between a completion and an incompletion, Trent rarely puts the ball on the money. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a case where Trent hit a guy in stride on anything other than a fly pattern.

If both practice Saturday (which seems likely), then whoever actually signs last is just academic.

Agreed. I actually liked the fact that they didn't go after a #2 WR. Johnson & Hardy have both shown serious potential, but they need PT. You have to play the young guys to find out whether they'll be good or not. But when it comes to promising but unproven young players, the cupboard is pretty bare at both QB and OT. In hindsight, I kind of give them a pass on the QB issue. They went after McNabb, and they didn't like any QB as a franchise guy except for Bradford. It's unfortunate, because that just pushes our rebuilding back at least 1 more year, but if they really don't like a guy, they shouldn't draft him. Your QB is the face of your franchise, after all, so you should be prepared to give him your full support. LT is a different story, though. I just can't understand how they could look at the film from last year and decide that Bell, Meredith, & Chambers put them in good enough shape to 1) sign no LT free agents, 2) trade for no LTs, 3) prioritize LT in the draft so low that they didn't take one before the 5th round.

Isn't that kinda like when a movie studio won't let film critics see a movie before it comes out?

Week 1 Buffalo vs. Miami LOSS 0-1 Week 2 Buffalo vs. Green Bay LOSS 0-2 Week 3 Buffalo vs. New England Patriots* LOSS 0-3 Week 4 Buffalo vs. NY Jets LOSS 0-4 Week 5 Buffalo vs. Jacksonville Jaguars WIN 1-4 Week 6 BYE DRAW Week 7 Buffalo vs. Baltimore Ravens LOSS 1-5 Week 8 Buffalo vs. Kansas City Chiefs WIN 2-5 Week 9 Buffalo vs. Chicago Bears WIN 3-5 Week 10 Buffalo vs. Detroit Lions WIN 4-5 Week 11 Buffalo vs. Cincinnati Bengals LOSS 4-6 Week 12 Buffalo vs. Pittsburgh Steelers LOSS 4-7 Week 13 Buffalo vs. Minnesota Vikings LOSS 4-8 Week 14 Buffalo vs. Cleveland Browns WIN 5-8 Week 15 Buffalo vs. Miami Dolphins LOSS 5-9 Week 16 Buffalo vs. New England Patriots* LOSS 5-10 Week 17 Buffalo vs. NY Jets WIN 6-10

Wow, what an excellent post. Thanks!

Evans, Parrish, and Spiller are all gonna be lined up in the slot? I'm not really into these 5-wide formations, unless you've got a QB who's a threat to run.

Defense is switching schemes & formations - every defensive front 7 holdover has to learn a new defense and a new position. New DC's resume is less impressive than Fewell's, so a possible downgrade on that front. Bell is coming off an ACL tear, and thus likely to be even less effective than last year. With Cornell Green's penchant for penalties, there's a decent chance that he's actually a downgrade from the turd sandwich we had at RT last year. This year's schedule may wind up being tougher than last year's. You want to give us credit for close losses, but then you need to also take away credit for close wins. The Jets threw 6 INTs and we still only barely beat them in OT. Jauron's no-balls style was very bad at winning games, but it did have one merit: it made it very tough to lose games. By not taking chances, playing as conservatively as possible, playing bend but don't break on D, etc., Jauron put the team in a position where it was usually a close game at some point in the 4th quarter, even though we were usually getting outplayed. When the other team screwed up, Jauron-ball often led to wins. A more aggressive (which would be better, don't get me wrong) style, where the team played to win instead of just playing not to lose, is also riskier, in that you're more likely to get beat badly, even if the opponent makes some mistakes. A steady diet of checkdowns and runs up the gut won't lead to a lot of points on either end. Actually trying to move the chains and score touchdowns can lead to a lot more turnovers.

+1. Nothing beats having a couple of crazy homers to beat up on. Back in maybe 2002-03 or so, a Steelers homer in my league drafted Korbel Stewart in the first round. Spiller in the first round wouldn't be quite as bad, but still pretty bad. When the coach who just drafted the guy says he wants to give him about 15 touches a game, that's a #2 back at best, regardless of the other circumstances.

Keep in mind also that the drafting of Rivers at #4 overall served as a wake-up call for Brees, driving him to work harder and raise his game to new levels. Brees has specifically brought that up in interviews. I don't see the drafting of Levi Brown at #209 overall as having the same effect.

Remember, we've heard ad nauseum for the past few years that "it takes TWO years to fully come back" from an ACL tear. This is why players who tear their ACLs always stink the following year. Or sometimes they're just never the same. In Bell's case, considering how bad he was before the injury, penciling him in as the starter is crazy and disturbing.

If I was a DC, I'd definitely put 8-10 guys in the box on most downs.

Rivers was definitely not considered a reach at the time. There was quite a bit of speculation that SD would draft him at #1 overall, since Eli famously did not want to play there. Instead, they drafted Eli, prompting the Giants to draft Rivers in order to facilitate a trade.

Yeah, people need to realize that Mel Kiper basically does the work of a regular scout or maybe head of scouting, but with an extra digit on his salary. The only reason for someone like that to try to get a job with an NFL team would be to try to work his way up to being an assistant GM in a few years, then being a GM a few years after that.

Not possible, unless someone has some bootleg practice footage where Brohm looked really good. If we stick to his NFL career, the facts are that he's played pretty badly in both of his preseasons, gotten beaten out by a lower-drafted rookie in year 1, got beaten out again in year 2, was cut & cleared waivers, and looked really bad in his only start. But I agree with you that I'd rather see him in the mix for the starting job. We really have to give him a pass on the Atlanta game because he was so new to the team.

Remember how Gailey said his offense doesn't have a name? Well now it does.

Meh. Campbell is a mediocre NFL QB, not a good one. Yes, he'd be an upgrade over the bad NFL QBs on our roster, but I don't see him taking this team to the playoffs. I'd rather hold out for a GOOD quarterback.

In fairness, most college QBs get better every year. It's rare to get a case like Snead's, where he just fell apart in his last year as a starter.

QFT

Not particularly. So few colleges play a 3-4 that it's rare you'll be able to draft a true 3-4 OLB. And most 4-3 OLBs project to ILB in a 3-4, so that means if you want to draft a 3-4 OLB, you need to look at 4-3 DEs. Not every 4-3 DE can make the position switch, but since this is a rebuilding year anyway, it's a good time to find out which ones can and can't.

Another small-school DE that will convert to LB. Unlike Moats, I really see Batten staying on the outside. I'm still obsessed with short shuttle times and vertical leaps: http://www.footballoutsiders.com/nfl-draft...ducing-sackseer And Batten's are good. 32.5" vertical is nothing impressive, but it's not really horrible, and his short shuttle is an insane 4.05s! That's elite for sure. I guess Batten has short arms, which is kind of a hindrance for outside contain, but has anyone been able to track down an actual measurement? I haven't. How short are we talking here? Does he need an extender to wipe his butt? I always talk myself into way overrating all our late-round picks, and this year is no exception. (The exception was last year, when we went with a gonzo late run on DBs.) I really like both of these LBs in the 6th. LB is a position where good players frequently come out of the late rounds (along with C, OG, & S), so I don't think I'm totally crazy in thinking that at least one of these guys might wind up being a steal. And yes, I am getting excited about two 6th-rounders just a couple hours after posting about how you can't get either angry or excited about anyone drafted this late. Big whoop, wanna fight about it?

Makes a lot of sense. Physically, he's built better for ILB than OLB. Usually you like your OLBs taller than 6'0.5": http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/...-for-model-olbs But I've always liked the shorter ILBs. London Fletcher, Zach Thomas, Sam Mills - none of them particularly over 6', all of them great players. Going past the height thing, we can look at his vertical and short shuttle times, which are the two measurements that best predict pass-rush success: http://www.footballoutsiders.com/nfl-draft...ducing-sackseer 36.5" vertical and a 4.37 s short shuttle seems pretty solid, but unspectacular (the short shuttle looks below average, the vertical looks probably above average). I won't be disappointed if he's moved inside. I love the fact that Moats was the I-AA DPOY. I feel like the best defensive player in I-AA in any given year is going to be able to make it in the NFL. Of course, sometimes the best player doesn't win the award, and it's not like I saw any I-AA games in any case, but still. I'd usually rather have the small school or I-AA cream of the crop than a BCS conference player who has ideal size, but stunk his whole career. In the late rounds, anyway. Moats was clearly a notch or two above his competition athletically, which is a good sign. Definite special-teamer right now. Might be a legit player down the road. Or he might never make an NFL roster. That's the problem with these late picks.