GunnerBill

Sauce had his worst year in the NFL last year (was still very good) and Benford had his best year. Last year they were close, for sure. I can take an argument as I say that if you isolate 2024 alone your perspective isn't unreasonable. But Sauce has two absolute elite of the elite seasons under his belt. If you look at his PFF grades for 2022 and 2023 they agree with that. And when you look at catches and touchdowns given up and passes defensed Sauce still has a significant advantage. But the Sauce disrespect has gone way over the top. I know he is a Jet and we hate the Jets but he is an absolute stud.

If you want to argue that Benford played slightly better in 2024, I could take that as a reasonable argument. But Sauce's first two seasons were absolute elite of elite and he was still very good in 2024. He has also given up fewer touchdowns in coverage in his 3 year NFL career than Benford gave up in 2024. There is a gap after that top four for me. They have clearly separated.

He isn't. And I am the biggest Benford guy going. But Sauce is still an absolute stud.

The top four corners in football are Surtain, Sauce, Stingley and McDuffie (and it is Surtain #1 and the other three are close together). You can have an argument about who is #5 and the order thereafter. But anyone who doesn't think those four are the four best guys is simply wrong. And Benford is definitely in that 5-10 range as well. But low profile, 6th round pick, will take time for him to get all the recognition he is due.

I think McLaurin is an excellent player. But he turns 30 before week 2. I don't know that I see a team willing to give up both the draft capital Washington would want and the contract that McLaurin would want to a speed receiver entering his 4th decade. If he was a year or two younger, sure.

I don't really have any hobbies beyond watching sports. Im interested in sport and politics and not much else

Not yet.

It depends what you mean by "go either way." I don't think there is any chance barring major injuries that they are worsr than 4-13 in 2024. They are gonna be better than that. Now are they good enough to make the playoffs? Or even to be assured 2nd place in the division? Less sure. That remains to be seen IMO. I do think they are getting a bit overbet.

Yea that was my point. Don't think McDaniels is the first fired. Think Daboll, Steichen and Jonathan Gannon are very much on the 6 week hot seat. The Dolphins would have to be a tire fire to make a change that quickly I think.

My only slight pushback on this is Sauce is still very good. He wasn't as stand out in 2024 as he was in 2023 and 2022 but he is still a good player. I think the overreaction is at risk of going too far the other way on him now...... But I agree with every word on Benford. He is a top 10 NFL corner he is not just a 6th round overachiever who fits a specific type of zone scheme. He is one of the best cover corners in football. He deserves his props. I think if he puts up another year like 2024 he will get it. We saw with the likes of Poyer and Milano here that they had to be great for 2/3 seasons before they got the national recognition. And its the same here, not flashy, just does his job, wasn't a day 1 or 2 draft pick.... takes time sometimes for those guys to get recognised.

I like these. Think all of them have a good shot. McDaniels being the first one probably means he is gone during the season, which I'm not sure on, but him being fired and Miami missing the playoffs I definitely think likely.

I think he was on the PS last year? Seem to remember him from pre-season.

Hamlin does have instincts and he isn't "lost out there". What he lacks is the physical skillset to be an NFL starter. If he is half a step out of position it is over because he isn't enough of an athlete to compensate. He has to be perfect every time and even the greats are not that. I also hope Hamlin is not starting for us because he is not that level of talent. I think Rapp, at best, is a passable starter so Bishop developing is pretty important to this team. He was horrible last season. He definitiely DID look lost in coverage every time he stepped on the field. But his run fits did improve slowly as the year went on so hopefully with a full camp and pre-season he can show what he is about.

He was described as "the best player on the entire field" on Monday the day Max went down. At least 3 days so far Tre has had excellent practices. Does that translate? We will find out. But he couldn't do much more than he has been doing so far.

Atlanta leading it is very bold. They have not been top 20 since 2017 and have been bottom 2 in three of the last four seasons. But I just think they finally addressed some talent off the edge and schematically with Ulbrich arriving as DC there should be opportunities. Agree on paper the Giants are one of the favourites for that title.

Total JAG

Not going up for Jordan Addison was still a major error for me. Lots of chat here about whether the Bills trust themselves evaluating receivers.... well I know for a fact they loved Addison. He checked every box. They were all on board if he got to them he was their guy. And yet they sat on their hands and waited. Not going up for BTJ the next year was an error too but I don't know that they had the same conviction on him. They might have I just don't know that they did. But the scouts, Beane, the coaches, the background research, the analytics.... they were all in on Addison. And then just sat hoping he'd fall to them.

Agree and I was on that same train as you but we were not the majority after the KC game. The Gabe Davis hype train fully left the station. I am not saying the regime shouldn't be better than the fan majority by the way, they definitely should. But I can understand those who look back to that summer and say "ah its just hindsight" because the consensus was overwhelming.

Are you talking generally or for the Bills? There are examples of both. I don't think is is totally flawed as a theory I just think there is an over allocation of resource in the pursuit of it. The teams who have made that a staple of their success historically do it finding some gems. It isnt with 7 or 8 premium resource (either in picks or cap dollars) guys.

On pure production, sure. But on talent he was and I was saying that at the time too.

Nah, he wasn't. His production might have been but he was a top 5 receiver and the best route runner in football. I know you disagree on that, fine.

I don't think Spencer or Groot would fetch a first round pick. Think Barnwell major over estimates a lot of these. The list of guys that would fetch a first round pick in trade excluding QBs is pretty small IMO (excluding rookies): The top 7 or 8 young WRs (JJ, Chase, AJB, Lamb, Nabers etc...) maybe three or four OTs (Sewell, Slater, Wirfs etc), then a handful of the elite pass rushers (Garrett, Hutch etc..) and some of the top corners (Surtain, Stingley, Sauce etc) But I think the list is probably no more than 25.

Nobody is disputing that, to be clear.

It can be triggered by it. As can the "I meant it playfully" excuse. Again, I am not defending or condoning - behaving in that way without consent is still sexual assault, but trust me from experience struggling with your sexuality while in hyper masculine sporting environments ain't no picnic and I can totally understand why someone might find they lose all sense of respecting boundaries.

I strongly suspect there is something else going on here. I think he is a troubled guy dealing with some confusion about his sexuality. Not defending the behaviour or condoning it. But suspect there is something underlying.