Fadingpain

UH OH. From the team perspective, as well as AW's health perspective. The systemic defensive communication problem Corey Graham spoke of after the NE loss, if indeed at least partially attributable to AW's absence, better get fixed...and fixed soon!

I agree there are "at risk" players and then there are "really at risk" players. The key is knowing which is which and then taking a chance on the right one. The "good kid" who knows he made a mistake and seems contrite is probably not nearly the risk as the career thug.

Look at how many of those guys on the list have "arrested in college" after their name. You raise a good point. Exactly how many draftees each year have had some sort of run-in with the law? A lot of NFL players come from at-risk environments for that sort of thing.

Interesting topic of discussion. I would say there is some evidence to suggest you are onto something here, no doubt. One thing working against this theory, though, is Whaley not getting it when it comes to the draft and throwing picks away to move up. He should be doing that the other way around because, as you say, it's more valuable to get more kicks at the can. It's also worth noting the Patriots seem to pursue a similar scheme, because they have to shoot for undervalued guys b/c they are always drafting so low. But they have a different spin on the idea. They are looking for overlooked value not in the form of bad character or injured players, but in the form of what they perceive to be good or serviceable players not on everyone's talent radar. They also place an emphasis on intelligence/character over raw athleticism, which seems to work well. They want guys who can take orders, follow a plan, slot into a system, and not screw it up with meathead play.

I have no idea. I'm not an NFL GM on a first name basis with every GM in the league, with access to a full scouting department, and with all relevant figures surrounding the game of pro football on my speed dial list. How about you? Don't you expect more from the actual GM than the hacks at this forum, myself included? Re-signing Harvin is the sort of thing some idiot at this forum would suggest...and then we'd have 18 pages of garbage more or less shooting the idea down. But because the Bills, not the TBD idiot, actually did it, it's OK amongst the Kool Aid Krowd. Some stuff never changes!

What is being overlooked here is that Percy is not going to help very much, yet this will remain Whaley's way of addressing the WR problem, and it doesn't really address the problem at all. Therein lies the rub. So "What do we have to lose" as Sal the genius asks in the video in post # 208? The chance to get an effective WR who could actually help.

Uh, because it won't help the team?

This is definitely true. He does this to a fault.

Pretty Billsy move! What is the over/under in terms of games for when Percy is injured either through his own doing or one of Tyrod's WR killing high passes? I say 2.

Now it's really, really, double fixed for real.

Really!? You don't see TT turning that corner? It leads into a dead-end alley, mind you, but that corner is coming! And I like Tyrod too, for the record, but he's not good enough.

Having a "AAA" minor league NFL is a no-brainer in that it brings the NFL to places that don't have it, it could bring in yet more revenue for the league, and it would give more jobs to more players while allowing the NFL teams to develop young talent. Not just QB talent either, but it would be especially helpful at that position. I think interest in it would be more than some might think, too, as I think "watching a young kid develop" or "seeing how our prospect is doing" can be a compelling plot device, even if overall speed/quality of play is below NFL levels.

I think it was just a general reference to classic Bills suck.

Rationalization is a process of not perceiving reality, but of attempting to make reality fit one’s emotions. -Ayn Rand

I think it's a perfect storm of all of these variables. Bill B. is probably the best coach of all time. Brady is the best QB of all time, or tied with a few others like Joe Montana as the best ever. They clearly have a smart, very well run organization that makes shrewd moves at the right time with great scouting for what they need. They have a culture of winning and disciplined structure which newcomers seemingly want to partake in. They tend to ignore dumb/hot shot players in exchange for smart, lower key players. On top of this they have a demonstrated culture of cheating and clearly look to push the rule book to--and beyond--the edge everywhere they can. You add it all up and they are just very, very good, year in and year out.

Sounds like lots of organizations go by what they don't know about a player. If they knew more, none of those guys you list would have gone where they did. A better question: what team watches film of EJ Manuel play the position at FSU and thinks he'd make a great NFL pocket passer? Bingo and MORE BINGO!

Panzer vor!

That precious moment when you realize Ed Eagan is back on the team...

You must be relatively new around here. Having 6 or 7 competing threads going on the same subject is par for the course.

Cardale is not ready to play at the NFL level and I would suggest he will never be very good at this level. But he does represent fresh blood and we already know EJ sucks and that Tyrod's ceiling is low. So get Cardale out there once things start to slip away, or if Tyrod goes down to injury. Playing EJ in that situation would be absurd.

See the thread I started regarding the systemic breakdown in D communication yesterday, as reported by Corey Graham in his post-game interview. He suggested every big play NE had was the result of communication breakdown, with one side of our D playing one defense and the other side of the field playing another, etc. All the product of an excellent coaching staff which is clearly on top of things, much as Bill B. and the Patriots usually are.