Mango

He is making some really great throws. Pretty impressed with him.

My assumption the NDAs in a purchase this large are airtight, and everything else is just more or less educated guesses.

I think we are misconstruing the issue here. The fights are fine, I like them. The management and reaction to them is poor. To be a good coach you have to be able to manipulate your players enough to not butt heads with the

I didn't see it until now. As a professional coach, I'd like to chime in that you can be an aggressive harass without trying to fit square pegs into round holes. Seems like Doug doesn't understand the difference between creating a tough competitive environment and creating an unhappy environment for people to grow as men and athletes. That's truly the mark of a great coach. Managing rosters and athletes is equally as important as X's and O's, physiology, and technical issues. A good coach will lose lower teir athletes, but will have a growing central group that almost always attracts the most prolific athletes to its center.

Nate Hackett would be in line for the next HC vacancy

I don't think there would or should be one, just saying 250k is a lofty price tag for a second rounder so to save some cash add a game. Now it came out 11k fine. That bothers me a little Bud Adams for the same thing got 250k, 11k seems unreasonable give the precedent

Slightly off topic. Bud Adams got 250k for his similar "outburst". So assuming Roger Goodell plays by the rules, we should see the same correct? Either that or a lesser fine plus a game or two. Not saying it's deserved per say but the same crime was committed just a few years ago. This should match.

Fwiw, according to Ross Tucker on Sirius, he claims that RG is tougher than LG. Not sure why, but he's the OLman. Urbik seems to have been more than adequate in his time here, yet we always seem to want to replace him. Not sure why.

Ugh another one of these. It seems like it is going to be a long year here at TBD.

My thoughts on the pick are that Henderson is panning out better than we could have foreseen, even if he were a 2nd round pick, and CK, worse, almost like a 7th rounder. To me it is a wash. Really not a big deal. Bummer yes we found what looks to be a top notch starting OT, and one who may get cut in a year or two from a 7th and a 2nd round pick. Doesn't matter to me where each was picked.

2 things here: 1. In a billion plus dollar acquisition, nobody needs the amount that Jim has liquid. 2. If Jim's reported demands are true, I hope that every investor stays far away. I am hesitant to give anybody a lifetime position in making football decisions, let alone the Kelly family. And no just because he played doesn't make him qualified. Hell Marv made basically a career out of evaluating talent as a coach and failed miserably as a GM. It was stated early that Clancy was declined by the league partially because of the fact he not brought 5 mil to the investment group. NFL owners don't like groups, especially ones that don't bring any value. To put it bluntly, Jim is applying to be a mascot with part ownership, not being anything meaningful to the table. These comments aren't to hate on Jim, just the reality. Disclaimer, I posted somewhere else about JK lying about having a group ready and him taking responsibility in keeping the Bills in Buffalo. This is different.

Ummmm EJ was meant to sit behind Kolb for a bit. The Kolb basically died, EJ then became entrenched as the starter. It is tough to take your rookie starter, make him a back up, then starter again. Not really the greatest progression for such am investment. I don't think this was the plan for EJ at all, and him being ready day one was never sold to is until Kolb was put on IR.

Right now the only person I would he sad to see go is Whaley. Yes Brandon has done some great work marketing and making us viable in Buffalo, but at this point I am concerned with winning games. At some point we have to be. Since Whaley was given 100% control I think he has made some very solid personnel moves. I would like to see him continue to build a roster and eventually go through a coaching search on his own too. I'd be curious to see the direction he goes, and what he does.

I totally agree with this. Last year was rough for anybody to handle. I am not necessarily basing this off of Hackett alone, or last years offensive results. The point is, first year OC is not an excuse for poor performance, we didn't draft him, we hired him. I think you are narrowing the scope of what I am trying to say. There were a million things working against Hackett last year, I totally agree, all I am saying is that being a rookie OC is not and should not be one of those things at this level of play. His management of 3 QBs was more than applaudable. It doesn't mean that are deficiencies shouldn't be considered without the fact that he is a first time OC. His ability to use the offensive stregths is his biggest weakness. He can't get Spiller in space, he constantly runs behind the worst positions on the OL, he does a poor job of taking pressure of the OL. On the all 22 on multiple occasions on 3rd and short we run 4 go routes with no outlet or check down. A lot of the receiving routes on pass plays lack any change in depth or direction. Christ, I cannot count the times we just run 3 out/dig routes in the same directions at the same yard line, with a rb ready for a check down. There are more ways to use our speed than go routes, and we seem to never utilize them. It isn't the play calling it is the play design. These when brought up are sometimes met with the argument, he is a first time OC Many if not most That I have a problem with. Some of these problems may or may not be on EJ, none of us really know, but when the all 22 comes up or you rewatch the game and rewind, play design is terrible. Your points Kelly are spot on, and I agree with you

Obviously you are being sarcastic, but there are posters here who ask Hackett to be cut slack as a rookie OC. I hate that. I preach patience with draft picks, and 20 year olds, give them time. But coordinators and HC's. Nope. If you aren't ready to do and manage your job properly early on, you are unqualified to do it. Coaches have a different standard than players, they have spend more time on sidelines, older, more mature. They aren't paid to learn on the job or trial by fire with a professional sports team, they are paid to produce, and minimize the trial by fire of the rest of the franchises investments. If they need to grow into the job, how can we expect our personnel to progress at a professional rate. Not you, but I hear this a lot and needed to get that off my chest. I feel better now. I have a fear that he has pegged Woods as an outside guy and will purely, or mostly rotate out with Sammy and Williams. I believe Marrone eluded to something of that effect in a PS presser. Not Woods in particular, but that they were separating the receivers into outside guys and slot/inside guys. Simply put anyways.

All the if he wins he is safe comments, I think should be implied in the firing. Basically if Marrone proves to be good at his job, he stays with a chance to prove himself. He doesnt/win or isn't god at his job, new ownership will not hesitate to pull the trigger

obviously. if he produces the first winning season in a decade he stays, but is still on the hot seat again the next year

I really don't like this at all. Take arguably the best QB of all time, while he is still a gun slinger, and put him on any roster...at all...anywhere in the league, and they become exponentially better. Name a starting WR, RB, and rookie like Sammy who has played with Peyton and not made the probowl or won an award at least once. When Peyton is behind center, the rest of the skill positions don't matter. He makes everybody special, regardless of ability. Better thread, if average an average or slightly above average established QB in the NFL were behind center, what would the result be? So Cutler, Bradford, Dalton, Stafford, Schaub, Rivers (I am actually really high on Rivers and think he well surpasses average). Insert Peyton and it is formulaic. WR 1 makes probowl, first round rookie WR is rookie of the year, RB 1 is top 10 in rushing, and top 5 in all purpose yards. We aren't special in your scenario. Hell Atlanta is a good team with struggles and a lot of questions after last year. Insert Peyton and no more questions

Marrone will get fired based on the progression of the offense. He has been given more pieces than maybe any coach the last decade or so. If the O is averaging 15 points per game it will be him or Hackett. EJ remains the started for another year to be given another chance, plus a mid to high round QB to develop. Depending on what happens in the rest of the league, watch Schwartz move up, and bring an aggressive vibe/swagger to both sides of the ball. I have said it before, I think we are getting looks from highly touted DCs because they think they can step in as HC later on. Blood in the water if you will. I have noticed so far in TC and in PS this year, and all of last year that the defense plays with a totally different attitude than the offensive side of the ball. Whether that is because of the guy taking the snaps, other personel, or the coach I don't know, but one plays significantly more aggressive than the other. My guess is that Pettine and Schwartz both have a similar swagger. Marrone and Hackett seem to carry themselves differently Atlanta is in a tough spot, so if all this happens watch out for Mike Smith to be a serious considerationSeems like a higher level hire than most our coaches recently. Not my perfect scenario, just my guess.

Also something to note is, mention earlier, Tom Clancy. He was denied based on more or less insufficient funds, he may have been bailed on to avoid any such problems with the purchase. Something I did not realize until after I posted. I can't disagree with that line of thought. He has no business as part owner of an NFL team if he isn't even worth what Collin Kaepernick is going to make this season alone. Any other business would decline such an offer. Jim's only option is to be brought on as an employee/ambassador once the sale is finalized. His investment may be a sticking point with the owners if it were to be accepted.

mentioned this in another thread, but deserves a post here. Anybody remember the super group Kelly had assembled nearly a decade ago that was ready to pounce when the time came to make sure the team didn't leave Buffalo. Now he is selling (I say almost groveling) his way to be part of any investment group. Not to hijack the thread, but I do think the lack of this group that we had been promised is a pretty big deal, and not sure why nobody is talking about it. Now we are just happy as a peach to hear that Jim spoke to anybody. PS his net worth is only 19 mil. He has no business as an investor of any sorts in a billion dollar purchase. His reported demands given his value is also absurd. I will overlook that part since he is quite sick. I also feel kind schitty mentioning this given his illness. I do think it deserves conversation since it is a topic HE brought up well before disaster struck his health. http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-athletes/nfl/jim-kelly-net-worth/ This is the first site on a google search, all other sites report the same.

Agreed. We can say power run game all we want, but it is just a bunch of buzz words. We do not have the OL to do it, so we are forcing a system not built for the roster. Spread the effing field a little more. Our version of a spread formation is 2 WR and a TE in a bunch at the line, with one WR out wide past the hash. Also if we want to run a power run offense, with traditional formations get used to old school numbers from your QB, something akin to the mid 90's, because that is the style we will be playing. Committing to the run is a lot different than running behind our weakest position, OG all the time. Strong at both tackles, really good size and speed from most of our WR. One RB runs outside the tackles well, the other is great at catching out of the backfield. What do we do? Plow our scat back behind the worst player on the field. It isn't necessarily the system itself that is bothersome, it is a failure to magnify our strengths and minimize our weaknesses that is the issue. We can build a roster for the direction we want to go, and evolve the system with it, it isn't one or the other, which seems to be the case.

I think the new way of officiating illegal contact ruins his playing style and he is having difficulty acclimating, if he does at all. He is a physical corner, and he isn't allowed to really be that anymore.

There was minimal to no contact to the ribs whatsoever. With experience with high level physios, those involved in football, even at high levels, are generally not the greatest, nor have a full level of understanding of the body. They are generally tape it up, ice it up, take some meds, and get back out there. My guess is the more accurate diagnosis is an intercostal strain or a stress fracture in the rib, which generally does not show up on an xray. Stress fractures are non-contact injuries, just overuse. He can play through it, but make no bones about it, if this is the case it will nag all season, and effect performance. The only way to get better from stress fractures/intercostals is to stop activity and basic core work. It won't heal with exercise only become more manageable. I would shut him down until the season starts, that is about 4 weeks, which is pretty close to healing time, some can take 12.