BarleyNY

Couple thoughts: - Depends on your metrics. I was going by yardage and points allowed. More advanced metrics rates them better. - It is incredibly difficult to rank a defense with any kind of metric when the offense is so poor. When teams don't have to score as much to win and run the ball a greater percentage of the time to run the clock and minimize turnovers the metrics get skewed. - There is definitely some talent on that defense so there's hope for it. Maybe with a competent Rams offense they'll be in a position to perform better. We will just have to wait and see on that, but there's no way that's a top 10 defense the last two years.

Lynch is liked much more by NFL teams than he is by the media at present. He's going much higher than most think. The Bills would need a substantial trade up to get him. He won't be ready for a year or two. He's raw and certainly a bust risk, but his ceiling is sky high. He will never be a read option QB, but his ability as a vertical offense QB is actually a very good fit for the Bills.

Same here. I predicted the same and that they'd get the last WC spot, but lose the first playoff game. My floor was 10-6, but missing the playoffs on a tiebreaker. My ceiling was 1 playoff win. They weren't a Super Bowl contender, but I thought they could make the playoffs. I don't see it this season.

Yup. Growth of existing players, familiarity of offensive and defensive systems and better utilization of talent are the main areas for hope of improvement. In theory at least. I just don't see it happening though. The level of talent on the roster will almost certainly be a bit less than last season, even with a good draft. It's up to Rex and Co. to prove me wrong and they'll get that chance. I hope they do.

That's not a kind schedule. No way do I see 10-6. 7-9 is what my head tells me, give or take a win. My heart says a little better than that, but it's usually an idiot.

The Rams roster isn't as bad as its offensive (last) and defensive (lower middle) rankings, but it isn't as good as you're making it out to be either. They've got some good, young talent - which would be nice to have on the Browns someday. The Rams have a good start on their defense, but their offense is a long way off.

She's absolutely right. I don't care about stuff like this or 99% of the personal interest stories about players, but I still get into the draft, building rosters and cap management. There's some drama there. But nowhere near the drama that pretty much every sports magazine sells almost exclusively. There's so little actual sport related material in an SI or ESPN the Magazine it's pitiful. It's all stuff that could be from a soap.

Seriously. I'm shocked he made it through waivers. He's got to have real issues.

Yeah, quitting and retiring do look a lot alike. I notice that he waited to retire until it was clear that no team was going to pay him anything to play. He made his money. No vet minimum deal is getting him back on the field even long enough to quit again.

It's only talk until Tyrod holds out. Hopefully the Bills can acquire some other QB to hedge against that. But even if they don't, I have a tough time thinking Taylor has any leverage or that a hold out is a real possibility. A hold out would really poison things in Buffalo and make it tough for him to prove himself. He's got questions that he needs to answer and he's got to be at practice and on the field for that. His best bet is to worry about nothing other than being the best QB he can be in 2016. If he steps up, then the money and everything else will work itself out. If not, then he'll still have another shot to compete on another team next season. There's worse jobs than backup QB in the NFL and that gig pays pretty well too.

Never mind my thought about the Rams playing the two QBs off of each other. It can't happen. They have the same agent. Ouch

That's just it. They'll want to get favorable offset language, which is still a big deal for that high of a pick. Just getting offsets for the last season of the contract is a big deal. Plus then they'll know he'll be in on time.

Could be. There's not any point in the Browns doing anything until the Rams' choice is known. They really can't do anything. I suspect that the Rams will announce only after they get a contract worked out so they can play them both off of each other. Probably a day or so before the draft. Edited: Nevermind about the Rams playing the QBs off of each other. They can't do that as the QBs have the same agent.

You'd have to think so. Unless they're really not sold on whichever of Goff/Wentz doesn't go #1. But then they'll try to trade the pick to a team that is sold on that player. Then they could move back and target Lynch or a bigger project at QB later in the draft.

50% of the time he's right every time.

Well, that sucks. The other big winner here is going to be Lynch. Wentz and Goff almost certainly will be gone by the second pick so some team will reach for him.

I get what you're saying too. They gave up a lot, but if (and that is a Washington DC sized IF) they get a franchise QB it will be worth it in the long run. The Rams had the worst offense in the NFL. Their defense was below average. I'm not even sure how Fisher still has a job there. They are on the long road to respectability either way. In two years things could really be looking up for them. If their QB has developed they'll be a very attractive spot for FAs and they'll have all of their picks moving forward. Then he shouldn't have to put the team on his back. If they didn't make this move, they could be set to fill a number of holes, but I'd bet all of those players wouldn't work out either. They'd still be a long way off and they wouldn't have a good QB.

Yup. I'm very happy if I'm the Oiltans. Nice trade for them. And it'll be a nice trade for the Rams if they hit on their QB. I totally disagree with this having anything to do with winning now. Drafts rarely do - except in the eyes of most fans. Exactly how was a team like the Rams going to "win now" with any possible draft picks or moves? It's a poor line of thinking for them. If the Rams hit on their franchise QB, then they'll be able to finish building their team as their FQB develops and they can have a nice, long run. That's what this is about.

That's no surprise anyway. The Oiltans were probably going to pick Tunsil if they couldn't trade out and Cleveland was going to take a QB (and probably still are or will trade to a team that will). At what point was Ramsey not going to make it to 3?

And that's what a realistic trade to #1 overall looks like. There have been some pretty ridiculous trade scenarios floating around. I'll be interested to see which QB they go with. Wentz looks like a prototypical Fisher QB, but snagging über popular Cali boy Goff for the LA market has huge fan appeal (and he's the better fair weather QB prospect anyway).

Wow. You mean you'd be on board with totally boning Cleveland on a horribly lopsided trade? Super.

Yup. Relying on cheating and Brady.

He'd only cost $1.1M this season and $1.4M next season if claimed off waivers. 2016 is guaranteed. 2017 is not and part of it is a roster bonus. That's cheap and easy to get out of. Some team will claim him for that. http://overthecap.com/player/dominique-easley/2968/

This is probably the most sensible thing in this whole thread. Yeah, I should probably stop doing that. It's just so boring this time of year though.

If the Bills loved a QB that was available at 2, then it's a great deal for them. Everyone is always so focused on "this year", but good teams build for the long haul. Cleveland probably comes out okay if they get a good player from Denver, but I don't think they are putting a lot of eggs into the RG3 basket. We're on the same page with Denver. This would be a ridiculously bad trade for them. They give up their first two picks and a player for Taylor, a QB who is not fully proven and is in the last year of his deal. And, no, a new contract couldn't be worked out in advance because this would have to be a trade when Cleveland was on the clock.