Alphadawg7

There is ONLY ONE player on the Panthers worth a first round pick and more and that guy isn’t going anywhere. McCaffrey. DJ Moore is a good young player, but come on, trade that much in a draft class loaded at WR? Um no

I am not dumping on Lamar, I liked him coming out and enjoy him in the NFL. But...I have seen this story many times where a running QB takes the league by storm early but then the league catches up with them. RG3, Vick, Cunningham, V Young, Kap, etc all had a lot of success early. Some were looked at as the future of the NFL. Ive also seen new style offenses have early success because the NFL didn’t have it figured out yet, and that includes the Rams I just mentioned but also Tim Tebow Broncos who even won a playoff game despite Tebow being about the worst QB in the league. It briefly worked because it was unique and and confusing to defend until the league figured it out. Doesn’t mean Lamar can’t keep getting better. But what I am saying is that he is not a good passer yet, and his success is currently tied to the unique system they run. So I have yet to see a QB in the NFL have sustained success this way because the NFL will always figure out how to defend their system (and I think they already have because of our game against them) at some point. Lamar is going to have to become a good passer in order to sustain success in my opinion because the new unique system based success is always short lived. I have nothing against Lamar though, I just am skeptical this style of offense can be maintained to the same level of success he had this year.

1. They did not intentionally not give him a big receiver. They don’t grow in trees. 2. They didn’t give him smurf receivers strategically to increase accuracy. 3. They didn’t call plays to teach lessons. They ran their offense and expect him to execute it. Now I do agree I feel Josh has a higher ceiling still than Lamar. The problem with Lamar is he is not a complete QB either, and he had a tremendous amount of success in a unique gimmick offense. Historically, the NFL catches up with that and it can some times take part of a full season, a whole season, even more than that. But once they do, then that QB is going to struggle to find the consistency anymore. And if you look at this year, Buffalo put a pretty good blue print down and Balt wasn’t the same unstoppable force after that. I actually think Balt is going to regress some next year just like McShay and the Rams did once teams figured them out because Goff isn’t as great of a QB as his 2 year run suggested. Bears and Pats put blue print down how to limit the offense and now they are a ballooned salary cap and no where near the juggernaught they were. So once teams figure out how to limit Lamar as a runner (like teams did with Vick), is he good enough as a true QB to adjust and keep being as effective? I don’t think he is personally, at least not right now. Josh has all the tools, intelligence, leadership, work ethic, etc you want in a QB. But he also needs to put it all together consistently on the field. The main reason I think Josh ends up with the longer and better career still is because he has made tremendous strides in 2 years behind the only high level coaching he’s ever had. He played at JUCO and Wyoming, the level of coaching he has had was no where near what he is getting now and he’s responded with significant growth. That tells me he can and should keep growing into his potential. I mean he was second only to Lamar from week 5 until the end of the season with 21 TDs and only 3 turnovers. He is a thrower first, not a runner. He has legs as a massive secondary weapon, not a primary. Lamar and the Ravens are focusing on both running and passing, and that could further affect Lamars growth as a passer too.

It’s honestly without question Rugby. Rugby has all the violence of football, none of the pads or protection, and the constant pace of soccer. And then there is the after game drinking haha. Wanna test your liver, go drinking with some Rugby players after a game haha.

Nice, was gonna start that soon

I think the overwhelming favorite is going to be retirement. Think about it...he wasn't even valuable enough to KC in the post season to be active, despite the fact he has all that history with Reid and was supposed to be a dual threat RB which KC covets that type of RB. He isn't going to have much interest anywhere and I think he will not be in the NFL next year.

Some must watch, unusual, but must watch docs: 1 - Dont F**K with Cats - 3 episode mini series...crazy and good all at the same time. Shocking 2 - Chicken People - Hilarious documentary following people who have "Show Chickens", like in dog show type chickens 3 - Behind the Curve - Cant miss documentary that is hilarious as it follows those "Flat Earth" nuts, so good. I know 1 and 3 above are for sure on Netflix, and I think Chicken People is too. If not, you can find it I think on one of the other streamers if its not on Netflix anymore.

Podcast is better than the TV series...much better actually. Speaking of podcasts, the greatest one I have ever listened to and sucked me in like no other was "To live and die in LA". I know this is a TV thread, but holy **** that one is a mind bender and crazy good. Everyone I have ever referred it to was instantly hooked. Ive seen the Morning Show and Truth Be Told...verdict, The Morning Show is excellent, really well done show. Truth be Told was hard to get through, the acting is so bad. We didn't like it even though we finished it.

That Rugby player is a heck of a lot tougher than an NFL player. RB isn't a complex position to learn. I mean see hole, hit hole...then try not to get tackled. Its verbatim what Rugby is. The major challenge is learning the language and playbook along with pass protection assignments. Thats where NFL is substantially more complicated and takes time to learn. But going into next camp, he will have had quite a bit of time to work on that stuff and learn it. Its going to come down to how fast he picked up those nuances because he has the physical skills, toughness, and abilities to play. Rugby gets little love here, but I can assure its a tougher and more physical game to play. Its the worlds second largest sport behind only soccer, and while its a major college sport in the US, its never had a pro league until MLR started in 2018 and just begun their 3rd season. Its the fastest growing sport in the world for both men and women, and by a large margin too. Having the pleasure to know so many great Rugby players, the one thing I wouldn't do is count one out like Wade. Its an uphill battle, trying to digest all the complexities he will need to learn from language, schemes, and protections...especially in an offense as complicated as Daboll's. But from what I have heard from Rugby players I personally know that actually know Wade, is that he is a bright guy with an extreme work ethic. Will be fun to see if he can make some noise or not in camp.

I think his value goes beyond just his own performance. I would love Knox being around Olsen instead of Kroft for a season

Wouldn’t be the worst pick, he’s a talented player. . But it won’t happen. Too much talent on the board at Edge and WR and Singletary is too good to invest this much in another RB. We will certainly draft a RB if we don’t sign one in FA to compliment Singletary, but not in the first and probably not until at least the third.

Well let’s be fair here... A - That was his last year B - He did not drop the pass, the defender made a play and knocked it out of his hands. Myth around here out of bitterness that NE advanced and it was an ex-Bill involved is that it was a drop. But it wasn’t a drop, it was knocked out of his hands in the motion of the catch thanks to an excellent play by the defender.

For clarity...my girl meant girlfriend, not daughter. It’s the only show she loves that I will watch with her. I don’t do garbage like the bachelor or sister wives, she watches that stuff on her own when I’m doing something else.

Hahahaha My girl loves it. I don’t really mind it, but it’s also not something I would really watch on my own though if she wasn’t so into it. He said the group of 6 On the first episode had 9 super bowl appearances. I’m guessing Gronk is 5 and then the other people account for 4 performing appearances and not players

My girl loves the Masked Singer, so we watched the episode tonight that aired after the SB, which was first ep of 3rd season. They said at top of show that of the 6 people performing that night they had 9 Super Bowl appearances combined. Then a giant white tiger performed Ice Ice Baby lmao. Im certain the tiger is Gronk. No rhythm, No ability to sing, goofy, huge, and clue package referenced clams, giants and 7 years ago (which at time of taping, Pats vs Giants SB was 7 years prior). Anyone else catch this? Among the other 4 has to be a 4 SB appearances too. Could be halftime performances too as he said “9 combined super bowl appearances”.

Lee Evans would have been a perennial pro bowler outside Buffalo. People both forget and under estimate how good he was. He was saddled with one of the worst of luck QB situations for a career. I mean they all sucked. That being said, I am not that familiar with the player in question. But I will add, we already have a Lee Evans type player in Brown (although Evans was better with better hands). This team needs a WR who is strong with great hands and some size. If we added someone comparable to Evans, great means we did add more talent. BUT to best compliment this offense right now where we have a monster sized QB and the smallest starting 3 WRs in decades, give me someone with size, strong hands, strong route runner, and preferably some speed to go with that please. But no more small WRs. We have a Goliath of a QB, he needs bigger targets too, not just Smurf’s.

I stand corrected, hell I will sign too

Why, Hooper isn't coming here, he already said Buffalo is his least favorite place to play.

Mark me down as surprised. Not that he would visit us and Washington, that’s obvious if he intends to play, but that he is seriously thinking about playing still. I really felt he would retire and I honestly thought the Kobe tragedy was going to pretty much make it official given his statements he made about Kobe and how it all hit home for him. Here is a link that shows some of what he said: https://www.wcnc.com/article/sports/charlotte-athletes-community-reacts-to-kobe-bryants-death/275-8cedc8d9-f887-42ed-95a6-f02a0bb79411 He just struck me as someone who was already close to wanting to start that next chapter and that this was something that just furthered that. If he wants to play, I am all for signing him. He’s still got value as a player and he would be an excellent mentor to our young guys. And we should be a LOT more interesting to him than Washington if he wants a chance to compete before his days are up, plus we have the best training facilities in the league.

Sammy has not broken 700 yards in 3 seasons on the most explosive offenses in the NFL in each of those 3 seasons, including being a number 1 in a healthy season for the Rams playing 15 games and not even eclipsing 600 yards. Yet Brandon Cooks in his first season for Rams came in and took over Sammys exact role and more than doubled his production. I remember defending Sammy in LA. But sorry, if you can’t get to 700 yards playing for Rams and Chiefs the last 3 years, then you are not an Alpha player and don’t have the drive to be great. He has way too much talent to have so little production on pass happy elite offenses. He makes $16m a year in KC...he should be a key contributor, not a role player. Both Rams and Chiefs invested heavily in him, not to be a decoy, to be a major weapon. He has not been, period. He seems content being a role player. Some guys have the drive, others don’t. If there was anyone I’ve ever seen that could use some “mamba mentality” it’s Sammy. Career under achiever. Even with Hill out for some games this year, he had just one meaningful game, week 1 then disappeared for the rest of regular season. Good for him for having a strong post season...add him to the other list of guys that had that one good playoff run that exceeded what their norm was in like Foles, Desmond Howard, Larry Brown, Joe Flacco, etc.

They have plenty of money to keep Shaq. If they don’t, it will be because they don’t feel his value aligns with the contract he will get on the open market. And Shaq has no real trade value prior to this year. He worked hard and was a good teammate and built his value up. We got a SECOND round pick for Sammy and EJ Gaines, not a 6th.

Yeah, but why do you think that is the case? Why would they pick up the option on an oft injured player with a bad attitude on a team they are trying to change the culture on? I mean they didn't pick up the option on Shaq either, but he responded and worked harder.

Ok, lets go over that. The ONLY reason he traded for KB was ONLY because we were SURPRISINGLY to everyone, including our own FO, in the hunt to snap the playoff drought. And as much as we all hate KB now, had Beane not made that trade we would have not likely have made the playoffs as I am pretty sure there is no way we win the Snow game without KB. And this board OVERWHELMINGLY loved the KB trade when it happened. And we gave up only a third to get him while we got back a 2nd and a good player for Sammy. You are correct, Beane did not have to deal Sammy because of the cap of THAT season. He dealt Sammy because he was going to lose him for nothing at the END of that season or have to pay him a contract he was NOT willing to pay him, even under a tag. The focus of the regime, as its proven it should have been, was to clear out bad contracts, bad cap hits, and bad attitudes. Sammy had a bad attitude, admitted it himself, and was going to have a bad contract to remain here. And, Sammy has said many times he was not happy here and did NOT want to stay in Buffalo. More importantly, had Sammy had another lackluster year in 2017, there was no way they would have fetched a 2nd round pick and a pretty solid DB back for him. That was a major haul by Beane for an injury prone WR who had attitude issues and did not want to be here. Way better and proven players have fetched far less in trades. Sorry...I agree with you on a lot of other things, but this one was by far the only choice and the right choice to build our future team. Once a guy is designated as the wrong fit, get rid of him. And not only did they do that, they got quite a bit of compensation back. AND...its working out pretty good for us. We are a team on the rise with lots of cap space and extra draft assets. Beane has done a great job getting us into this position.

Personally...the more and more I look at all the options, the more I think we may actually draft an EDGE player in the first and take someone like Pittman in the 2nd, maybe even make a small move to get him (or the one they covet) like they did with Ford last year. There should be one or two really good edge guys when we pick, and this draft is sooooo deep with WR talent. I mean Pittman would likely be a sure fire first rounder in many other drafts (and still could be this year too of course, although I think he will go in the 2nd). And if not Pittman, there are still a lot of premium WR prospects that will go in the 2nd.

No, Whaley created our cap situation, Beane and McD did not. And they were not willing to pay him what the money was going to be if they tagged him, Beane has said this. The entire reason they did not keep him was $$$, they did not want to spend so much money on him moving forward, so they got a pretty good return for him while they could. Sammy was no lock to have a good year in 2017, he had been struggling when on the field the year before, and struggled through injuries. Had he had another mediocre season, no way they get a 2nd round pick for him. Better WR's have been traded for less, better players at all positions have been traded for less. To get a 2nd round pick for Sammy then was PURELY on potential, not production. We had a questionable QB and a WR who had been injury prone, and self admits had a big attitude problem while here in Buffalo. Moving him was absolutely correct if they already knew they were NOT willing to pay him, and Beane said they were not. And this guy has done nothing since leaving Buffalo...literally nothing. WR's making fractions what he makes outproduce him every single year both on his own teams and across the NFL. Good for him for having a strong showing in the SB, but so did guys like Larry Brown, Nick Foles, Joe Flacco etc that had big playoff performances one year and then got GROSSLY over paid fro the rest of their career. And I am a guy who used to defend Sammy. But its CRYSTAL clear to me now, this guy does not have the motor, drive, commitment, etc to maximize his potential. He has been a starting WR on the most explosive offenses in the NFL now for 3 years...he has never put up more than 700 yards in a single season. And for the LA Rams, he played 15 games as the #1 WR. In KC, he even got several games this year with no T. Hill for a bit...still had less than 700 yards in 14 games playing on the best offense in the league. He isnt worth half what he is paid. He has the talent to be a top 10 WR without question, but he has the mental and attitude of a guy who has NO INTEREST at all in being "the guy" as he just doesn't seem interested in putting the work in. So, sorry...Beane made 100% the right call not paying a guy who wasn't worth what he wanted and did NOT have the attitude they wanted on this team to build and change the culture. Not to mention, Sammy has said MANY times he did NOT want to be here either. We got BETTER trading him and he got paid for potential he has not remotely come close to reaching. Bottom line: Sammy is soft. He got paid and saw a chance to take a back seat and not have to be "they guy". He wont get that contract again though, which is probably why he wants to "chill" a year. His comments before the SB cost him a lot of money. Going to be hard to see a GM want invest in a guy who thinks he may prefer to just Netflix and Chill for a year. Not to mention the delusional attempt to claim he is "special" and has immense value because he shows up to practice. LMAO, that doesnt make you special Sammy, that makes you employed.