Kirby Jackson

“I promise we really liked Brady in that draft too. We were set on picking him but the Pats snatched him up right before us.” This is so ridiculous. Wilson and Dak went in the 3rd and 4th rounds. The Bills saying that they liked them after passing on them multiple times is annoying. Just own it and admit you missed.

I love how they pick good QBs and then say “we planned to draft them.” Ha ha, I’m waiting for the article that says “Bills had their heart set on Christian Ponder” (which was also rumored). They selectively pick good QBs and are like “yeah, that was my guy.”

Thought this was a worthwhile contribution when talking about his rushing TDs. He really is an ELITE runner in the red zone.

Apparently if you’re rich, and live in NY, you rolled with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. That’s like a prerequisite to being a NY socialite. It’s as “wealthy NY” as the Met Gala.

I fully expected to open this thread and see a connection to Epstein.

That’s fair on Zay. I guess I thought his elite skill was hands (that’s ironic in hindsight). He caught an NCAA record 399 balls in his career which is still a record (by a lot). There’s only one other guy to ever catch 350. My feeling is that he was an elite possession guy that COULD make big plays occasionally. It was just all wrong.

Zay is a maybe. He’s currently projected as a 2nd stringer. Peterman is a maybe as well as he went from the only 4th stringer in the league last year to the 3rd string. If they kept 4 last year it wouldn’t surprise to see them keep 3 this year. I voted no on both guys because they are bad football players that don’t warrant a roster spot. I think it will end up as a yes though, because Gruden. I’ll own this. I LOVED Zay coming out. He was so productive throughout his career and dominated the senior bowl. I really thought he was going to be a rich man’s Robert Woods. Whoops

Can we add Peterman to this?

This is me

He wasn’t my guy coming out. Admittedly I’m higher on him than most at this point. At the same time I don’t take issue with anyone that believes that he still has a lot to prove. I don’t even take issue with anyone that thinks he’s never going to be better than now (although I don’t agree). I take issue with the thought that the Bills have the 26th best QB situation over the next 3 years. Again he has 21 TDs and 2 INTs over his last 10 starts. He’s a top 20ish QB now. I can’t wrap my head around the thought that he will suddenly fall off a cliff. Here’s the thing with Josh that the national people don’t know because they don’t watch enough. He was a low floor and high ceiling guy coming out. His ceiling is still sky high but his floor moved from low to mid-tier starting QB. If he doesn’t get ANY better he is an okay starting QB right now.

Take it a step further, the expectation is regression. They have the Bills QB situation is 26th. The anticipation is that over the next 3 years he goes backwards.

I can at least get behind Philly and Dallas somewhat in that they have good young QBs. Tampa, Indy, Pittsburgh, etc have QBs that have already looked old. Why are we so enamored with their situation moving forward? That’s insane to me. 3 years ago no one was optimistic about the Raven or Chiefs QB situations over the next 3 years. They drafted raw prospects who developed and they are in great shape. Are we honestly supposed to believe over the next 3 years that Ben and/or Rivers will be more impactful than Allen?!? I don’t only reject that thought but I think it’s insane. He may be ahead of those 2 right now.

Not going to get my panties in a bunch but this article is wrong in their view of the Bills. They have an open Super Bowl window over the next 3 years. They aren’t a middle of the league team moving forward. They are WAY too low on Allen. They are projecting the QB situation to worsen over the next 3 years? That feels like a MASSIVE reach considering the direction he’s trending. He has 21 TDs and 2 INTs in his last 10 starts. We are supposed to believe that this raw prospect, with massive talent, on a big upward trajectory, will suddenly fall of a cliff? That’s the expectation? That’s just bad

Except the players already shot down the bubble idea. It would take MONTHS to put that together too. That just isn’t happening.

I agree to a certain level but not completely. I’m a middle-market P&C producer for the largest insurance agency in the world. In 2019 my production doubled the second highest producer in our office of over 20 producers. I could be replaced tomorrow. It would hurt some but it is nowhere near the same as the athlete/musician. Without me they take a hit but the business isn’t in jeopardy. Without the players or without the musicians there is no game or concert. It doesn’t exist. If it is a scale as to how replaceable the labor is to the actual business it probably looks something like this: unskilled labor < middle management < skilled labor < sales < executives < entertainers

They are both the product and the labor. That’s what makes sports and entertainment different. At 7-11 you can find someone else to sell the slurpees. The slurpee is the product and the guy behind the counter is the labor. Tom Brady is the product and the labor. Without the guy at 7-11 they still have the slurpee. Without the players there is nothing to sell in the NFL.

Well great, if some guys don’t want to play maybe they’ll call you up. About .09% of HS football players make it to the NFL. These guys aren’t just replaceable with the next guy. The players ARE the league. That’s true in all sports. The labor force doubles as your assets. The players know this. If Russell Wilson is worried about his family the league isn’t saying, “no problem we’ll roll with Joe in Hampton Roads.” The league’s revenue is dependent on the players. As a side plea to EVERYONE can we stop comparing our jobs to theirs? These are HIGHLY skilled professionals that can’t just be replaced. Their job is different than our jobs as mailmen, insurance sales people, waiters, etc... We are easily replaced. Our companies to not lose millions of dollars if we don’t work. Their business does. It’s apples and oranges.

That’s the entire point though. They are just over a week from reporting and some pretty major items are still not ironed out. The players are asking what’s the plan and “don’t worry about it we will have something” seems to be the response. If there was a clear plan in place, that comes from the medical people, the players will be okay with it. I don’t disagree that it is being worked on. They are just running out of time.

If you read the articles it even changed since yesterday. That’s kind of the point.

You can make it LESS risky though. That’s what they are asking for. There will always be risk. There will be guys that test positive. At the same time it’s reasonable to have a plan in place for how often they’ll be tested, what happens following a positive test, how to distance during meetings, how the facilities will be sanitized, etc... No one is asking for perfect, just better. Transparency and a plan is a pretty low bar to meet and it isn’t being met.

In what way?

What about baseball? How are they able to do it? They have a lot more traveling going on albeit with a smaller group. There should be universal protocols in place. They should be standardized across the league. Your argument, to this point, is “if no bubble, nothing will work.” That may or may not be true but there should be alternative options in place. Throwing your hands up and saying “it is what it is” isn’t going to fly with the players. They’ve made that clear.

To be fair the training and offseason prep difference between 1980 and 2020 is the difference between a Kia and a Ferrari. The game may not be pretty coming off this break but it’s an entirely different world now.

The baseball argument isn’t a fair one. The baseball players and owners were fighting over revenue sharing. Would it be a straight prorated salary or would they have to take a discount on that? That alienated the public. NFL players are arguing for better working conditions. The 2 situations are apples and oranges.

Bledsoe belongs at $2 and everyone else should be bumped up a notch. He was absolutely atrocious. Outside of that 8 game stretch he was as bad as any QB over the last 20+ years. I refuse to even participate in a game that values him as the $5 option.