The Frankish Reich
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Posts posted by The Frankish Reich
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Chandler81, fun read -- thanks for sharing it.
I didn't realize what a great athlete he was -- pole vaulting 13 feet as a high school decathlon champ, etc. This is a guy who was born too early in the run-dominant NFL of the 70s and 80s. He'd be a 100 catch slot receiver today. Seemed like a great guy with some good memories of being a So Cal kid roughing it as a rookie in Buffalo.
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18 hours ago, gregor7777 said:
Fitz doesn't regress. He just is. Forever. Infinite.
5-7 wins this year.
Correct. He is actually better at 36-37 than he was in his Bills years (27-30), but not enough better that it matters. I feel kinda sorry for him because I love the guy. He is always an upgrade over the Trent Edwards/Josh Rosen/Geno Smith/Jake Locker/Jameis Winston young QBs he beats out, but his high risk-high reward style of play never allows him the chance to get one of those "good teams just a better QB away from being a contender" jobs that even a declining Philip Rivers got this year. So he's stuck in Fitzy purgatory, which is exactly where the Dolphins will be unless Tua gets ready in a hurry.
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Amazingly, the leading sports/news sites fail to mention the Auburn coach's most memorable decision -- Sugar Bowl 1988, trailing unbeaten Syracuse 16-13, one second on the clock, on the Syracuse 13 yard line, and ... Pat Dye sends in the field goal unit.
https://www.al.com/auburnfootball/2017/01/how_auburn_got_the_last_laugh.html
The kid made the kick. Pat Dye jumped up in celebration. I was watching on TV saying, "oh no, you're not really gonna do that, it must be a fake, but how is a fake gonna work when everyone knows you don't play for a tie in a bowl game" only to see that yes, he really was gonna do that.
And there'was nothing on the line for Auburn -- no chance of a piece of the theoretical national championship since they already had a loss and (you guessed it) a tie on their record. Syracuse, meanwhile, could have cemented a perfect season with a win. So it was wussy, it was petty, it seemed aimed at screwing over the Syracuse kids more than at making the Auburn kids proud.
And the key line to the official obits: Pat Dye managed to hold arch rival Alabama to a (you guessed it) career head-to-head record of 6-6 during his tenure. A tie.
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1 minute ago, billsfan89 said:
The Jets problem is their defense is mediocre to average and Darnold has no one to throw to. But they did have a nice draft further solidifying their O-line and getting a young receiver in there. But overall they are in my opinion a year away from seriously competing I think they win 8-9 games this season competitive for the last wildcard spot but not a serious threat in the division just yet. Now if they can continue that prudent approach into 2021 then I think they become a much more serious threat. But I wouldn't sleep on the Jets that's 2 games that won't be easy.
The Dolphins I am not sold on being much more than a 7-8 win team. I don't think they play Tua and I think their big free agency splurge is bound to not give them the results they hoped. Long term their hopes rest on Tua and how he develops.
I agree. The Jets are a good year (two?) behind the Bills in the rebuild. The Dolphins are weirdly almost there, but the "almost" -- QB -- is kind of a big one. They probably are a 7-8 win team, particularly in this division (and playing the AFC West like us), but that's kind of amazing given where they were in late September, when it looked like they legitimately could've gone 0-16 last year (they started out being outscored 102-10 in the first TWO games, and THEN traded one of their best players) and maybe 4-12 this year. Again: the new NFL, where mistakes no longer haunt you for a decade.
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4 hours ago, eball said:
Wilcotts. And please, no, I can't stand to listen to him speak about the Buffalo BEEEOWWWs.
He gave us Deranged Rhino. Then he and the Deranged Rhino went away.
11 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:I’ve always like Fouts. I think people go way overboard in their critiques of all these guys.
Fouts was kinda o.k., but his lack of preparation showed. At least he wasn't aggressively annoying
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10 minutes ago, C.Biscuit97 said:
this is a legit question. As someone who believes he’s in pretty good shape (?), working out at home sucks. I have an exercise ball, medicine ball, and cardio yoga dvd. For young guys who don’t have free weights in their house, It’s going to be tougher to stay in their best shape. Plus, less marijuana conditions, video games, binge watching shows , binge snacking, ordering takeout because you can’t cook, etc.
As my kid would say: this sounds like a you problem. ?
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On 3/27/2020 at 11:30 AM, billsfan89 said:
They also signed Connor McGovern from Denver who is a very underrated center and Josh Andrews from the Colts who is decent depth. Not saying they completely fixed their O-line but Van Rotten and McGovern should start for them and their depth improved at the interior and if they can add another starter via the draft their O-line will at least be a respectable unit unlike last year where it was a complete mess.
The Jets also sport a decent defense (love the Poole signing for them) and I think that Darnold with a decent O-line and some weapons could put together a upper mid-level NFL offense. I don't think of the Jets as world beaters but with an improved O-line and less injuries they could easily be a tough out that gets to .500 or better.
Late responding to this, but true: they kind of patched together a decent (not good, but nothing like last year's mess) O line in a Beane-type way. I think the Jets and Dolphins will be very competitive this year. It's the new NFL: you can do just about everything wrong (Miami: trade for QB of the future; give up on him immediately; tear team apart to Tank for Tua; wind up getting better; get Tua anyway; etc., etc.) and kind of be right there in the race the next season. Ditto Arizona.
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Shula's generation is gone. When I was young, I didn't like these stodgy, dull, figures. Shula. Wooden. Landry. Noll. Dean Smith. I preferred the free-wheeling new types who were emerging in the 70s. No, not Jimmy Johnson or Bobby Knight, but maybe John Madden, Tommy Heinsohn, Bum Phillips. Characters, with character.
Now I miss them. I even find myself quoting John Wooden in classic dad-style: "don't confuse activity with achievement." They brought a kind of constancy, consistency, in their lives and approaches and their teams reflected that. The closest things we have to that now are Belichick's Pats -- my dislike for them is kind of like my dislike for Tom Landry back in the day, but it's different. That was a blend of dislike with respect. They demanded respect just by their presence. The Shulas, Landrys, and Nolls were never grumpy jackasses like Belichick, and if they got an edge, it was an edge they'd earned it the old fashioned way. Maybe Coach K is the closest thing. Whatever, it's a dying breed.
Goodbye Don Shula; I'll miss you.
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3 hours ago, freddyjj said:
Classic. Post of the year nominee!
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I refuse to believe the Pats are going into the season with Stidham and Hoyer as their QBs. Options?
- Trade for Dalton. Sometimes the obvious choice is the right choice. But the cap hit is $18 million so they'd have to shed big money somewhere else.
- Sign Cam. Hard to think that Belichick-Newton would work.
- Sign Flacco. He was told he'd be released by the Broncos with a failed physical designation. I think he still wants to play. I know I'm in the minority here, but ... he wasn't terrible in 2019. Just not good enough to win. Kind of a checkdown artist at this stage of his career. Squint hard enough and you could have imagined him putting in a Brady 2019 type season (yeah, that's not good, but good enough to win 12 games) in NE. Brady QB rating in 2019: 88.0. Flacco: 85.1. See what I mean?
Or maybe we'll still see some kind of much bigger trade than everyone's expecting ....
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Day 39 of New York's Coronavirus Stay-at-Home Order, in which ESPN officially hits the end of the line, having already shown any and every old game of any interest whatsoever and having somehow resisted the temptation (for now) to simply rebrand itself as MJN (The Michael Jordan Network).
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On 4/26/2020 at 5:51 AM, MJS said:
I'd drop the Browns one slot and potentially the Dolphins one slot.
What do people see in the Broncos? I would put them at 10. They went 7-9 last year and why should we expect them to be better? Do people have a lot of confidence in Drew Lock?
Yes, people have a lot of confidence in Drew Lock! He was really impressive in that 5 game stretch as a starter, and not just against bad teams playing out the string. Here's his second ever start:
14 12/08 
@ HOU
W 38-24 1 1 22 27 81.5 309 11.4 3 1 1 8 136.0 3 15 5.0 0 -- -- And that's with a WR corps of Courtland Sutton and .... a bunch of guys who won't be on the team in 2020.
They lost a lot -- a lot! -- of close games too, which usually bodes well for a turnaround.
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5 hours ago, SoTier said:
This is a valid point, especially since there have been several first round QBs -- Bortles, Winston, and Mariota -- from recent drafts who haven't proven out. There's also the example of Trubisky regressing in his third season. The Bills also definitely need a backup QB who can come in and "hold down the fort" if Allen gets hurt as the Chiefs and Saints demonstrated -- and Barkley isn't that guy.
And sometimes the guy who can hold down the fort -- basically keep the team playing .500 while the starter is out -- is not the same guy you would want to groom as a potential starter a year or two down the road. See Kyle Allen, Chase Daniel, even Brandon Allen (Broncs). If your starter is out more than half a dozen games, unless you're a really good team with a really good backup (Saints/Bridgewater) your season is over anyway. Fromm fits the "hold down the fort" profile.
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Overall, I'm very happy with this draft (and I will take into account trading for Diggs too).
Minor criticisms: (1) I'm still concerned about the O line. No improvement there, and standing pat with last year's line is definitely a risk. I guess Beane didn't see any clear upgrade at the spots we were picking at. (2) Given that it is a deep roster, I was a bit surprised Beane didn't move to consolidate some of those lower round picks -- maybe package the 5 and the 6 to move up to a 4 next year or something like that. I like the WR competition, but unless there's trades to be had out there (and I don't see any value) you're gonna wind up waiving half of these guys anyway (Foster, McKenzie, Roberts, Duke, the 6th rounder we took, etc.). (3) We have numbers at TE, but really no proven commodity. I thought Kroft was good as gone, now I assume they are confident enough in his health (and his play in a limited role) to keep him.
Again, minor criticisms. I try to look at the offseason as a whole -- with the Diggs trade, bringing in Epenesa to take that Shaq role, finding a 2nd RB so we can let Frank Gore move on, maybe even saving Haushka money since presumably the kicker we took was the highest rated one out there. I won't pretend I watch hours of film on any of these guys, but Beane has earned the benefit of the doubt.
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Don't you guys know the NFL Draft is part of a larger reality show called "Overcoming Adversity?" How about that kid who had to walk over dead bodies on his way to school?
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2 hours ago, Shooter McGavin said:
He’s turning 29 in a few weeks. I hope he makes the most of training camp because another year on PS and then boom 30 where injuries seem to pop up more frequently especially while playing running back
If Wade makes the team it's likely as a kick/punt return guy. Andre Roberts may be squeezed out with all the new WR talent. He's 32, his dead cap hit is just $500,000. There's more room on the roster for a guy who may be able to play a little RB instead of a little WR. I hope Wade makes it!
1 hour ago, philholbroo said:I really would like Wade to be looked at as the kick returner and move on from Roberts, opening up another WR spot. I think he would be a good returner at the least.
You beat me to it.
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Q. Of all our post-2010 Round 6-7 picks, who's had the best NFL career?
A. Dustin Hopkins, K, 2013 6th round pick. Didn't stick with the Bills, but he's been a rare bright spot for the Redskins the last half dozen years or so. 85% career on FGs.
Go back to 2010 and it's Arthur Moats. Lasted 8 years in the NFL. Other than those two, good luck finding anything more than "just a guy" or "training camp/practice squad body" in the 6th/7th rounds. These are the Ray-Rays and Austin Proehls (remember when we were excited about getting both? Well, at least some of us) and Dezmin Lewises. I haven't done the research but my guess is there's more UDFAs who make an impression, just because there's more UDFAs in general (there being only 64 6th/7th rounders every year).
Go up to the 5th round and you start seeing a marked improvement: Karlos Williams (it wasn't lack of talent), Siran Neal, Wyatt Teller, Matt Milano.
So taking a kicker in the 6th makes perfect sense, particularly when you already have a deep roster, which we do for the first time in a long, long time.
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Really, at this point there's no guarantee that any pick makes this roster, so this strikes me as a perfectly sensible pick. There's only 2 QBs on the roster. I kind of like Barkley, but let's be honest: he was signed off the street, and if they let him go, there's another Matt Barkley out there waiting for the chance.
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Just now, The Jokeman said:
Robert Foster should be on notice.
Yep. More a Foster upgrade than Duke/McKenzie.
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3 minutes ago, JR in Pittsburgh said:
Maybe like another famous former 4th rounder.... Marcus Easley!?
You mean a monster on special teams? We know McD loves that ...
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1 minute ago, JinxedBill said:
Yeah my bad dang auto correct. Haha. Im going to go ask my lady for a handy golden....
Golden, Handy. That roster could have been a thing of beauty.
Too bad.
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5 minutes ago, ROCBillsBeliever said:
Handy Golden? Is that The Bobby Kraft Special ?
I had to look that one up. Antonio Gandy-Golden.
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1 minute ago, x-BillzeBubba said:
back with drew lock...makes sense
Wow. Broncs are all in on offense after ignoring it for years. Weird dynamic there now: for years they banked on defense carrying a spotty offense. Now there's holes on defense and some kind of track meet on offense. Should be fun to watch. Lock will be the breakout player in the NFL if we play in 2020.
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Just now, BuffaloHokie13 said:
The Vineyards are great!
Agreed. Highly underrated. Good healthy pours at tastings too.
Chris Simms thinks Stidham is more talented than Tua
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted · Edited by The Frankish Reich
Roll the clock back to a similar situation in 2004. Chris Simms was drafted in the 3rd round by Tampa. In 2004 we had that classic QB class: Eli, Rivers, Ben. Some Chris Simms type could have said -- quite correctly! -- that Chris Simms was "more talented" than, say Philip Rivers. He had a stronger arm, was more mobile, etc. You could argue that he was "more talented" than Eli and Ben too. (And definitely more talented than JP Losman, but let's not go there.)
Players like players who remind them of themselves. Coming out of HS, Simms had the pedigree and should have been one of the top QBs in all of college football by his junior or senior year. I suppose the same was true of Stidham. Was their failure to launch caused by circumstances outside their control, or by the fact that despite all their objective "talent" they lacked what counted most: the ability to read defenses under pressure and to throw with great accuracy.
Chris Simms in 2003 on how he coulda been a contender if only:
https://www.espn.com/ncf/columns/wojnarowski_adrian/1492027.html
And 16 years later, he's not giving up on the "I was a victim of circumstance" thing (this one is a fun listen):
http://www.danpatrick.com/2019/01/28/chris-simms-reads-negative-draft-profile/
Simms is to Stidham as Brees is to Tua? Time will tell.