maryland-bills-fan

It looks like the OP wanted a discussion about some weird looking behavior by the Ravens and Lamar. They went from 8-5 with the first AFC seed to out of the playoffs. Their QB has injured on a play where it looked like he was just tripped up by a diving tackler slapping his heels- yet he has not played since. He didn't play at all the last 5 games but was not put on IR. He was in competition with out guy Allen for top QB rankings, seemed to be beat out by Allen, but still seems to be the darling of the voters and press. there are other interest here. Clevenand and Cinnci have been the low dogs in the Central Division forever, but now the Ravens and Steelers seem to be headed down, with their QB's in trouble. There are a lot of interesting things going on, I don't thing there was a carefully scripted agenda.

They won more than 2 of their games by luck and gambling. The odds just caught up to them.

Seems like there are a lot of opinions, but people seem to be short on any detail about the Ravens. #1. The Ravens came into the season with the loss of several free agents and did not backfill them with high quality FA or draft picks. Their bench started out a weaker than most and they got devestated by IR. They lost their top 3 running backs, their top #1 cornerback and two offensive tackles. They play a man defense and they really need Humphrey to shut down the other teams #1 WR. He is out. Their WR were weak and the TE (a lot of dump offs) was the top receiver. Not good. Ravens IR Tuesday, January 11, 2022 PlayerPositionUpdatedInjuryInjury Status Justice HillRBTue, Jan 11 AchillesIR. Injured Reserve Ar'Darius WashingtonSAFTue, Jan 11 FootIR. Injured Reserve Marcus PetersCBTue, Jan 11 Knee - ACLIR. Injured Reserve L.J. FortLBTue, Jan 11 Knee - ACLIR. Injured Reserve Ronnie StanleyOTTue, Jan 11 AnkleIR. Injured Reserve Gus EdwardsRBTue, Jan 11 Knee - ACLIR. Injured Reserve Marlon HumphreyCBTue, Jan 11 PectoralIR. Injured Reserve J.K. DobbinsRBTue, Jan 11 Knee - ACLIR. Injured Reserve DeShon ElliottFSTue, Jan 11 PectoralIR. Injured Reserve Xavier KellyDTTue, Jan 11 AchillesIR. Injured Reserve Ja'Wuan JamesOTTue, Jan 11 AchillesNFI-R for the start of training camp Patrick RicardFBWed, Jan 12 UndisclosedIR. Injured Reserve #2 the Ravens were not really a good as their early season 8-5 record might suggest. They beat the lions and denver. Squeaked by the Colts, got KILLED by the Bengals, squeaked by the Vikings, Bears, and Browns. The they lost to the DOLPHINS, Browns and Steelers. They had lady luck on their side for about 4 of their wins. I live in the Baltimore area and watch some of their football and read some of their press. They had lady luck on their side. #3 Lamar is a fast and shifty runner AND takes off quickly when pressured. If his mobility is down, he will get creamed big time. He got dinged and was going to be a sitting duck out there. He is NOT an accurate passer, even from the pocket he throws a lot of balls behind and in front of receivers. He came into the league with poor foot/body technique in his passing, there was a big bullaballo about him cleaning that up- but that only lasted for a little time. He was back to doing weird body arrangement during his throwing and the local press just shut up about it. His recievers are NOT like Diggs and Beasley, who can find holes in zones and seemly think the same as Allen in getting aligned for a pass. Jackson also shifts and jumps around a lot in the pocket, but that jitterbugging makes it hard to have a moving passer hit a moving WR. His WR just run their routes and are pass catchers- the press is always complaining about the poor YAC. #4 Lamar is up for a new contract. He doesn't want to get further hurt as this season is in the tank. The Ravens don't want him to get further hurt and probably don't mind if his fragile condition lowers the amount of his next contract. The Ravens are getting 3-5 players back next year but have several other holes to fill and have to figure out how to compete with the much improved Bengels and Browns. Remember that they finished 1-1 against the teams in their division Bengals, Browns and Steelers. YES there is more going on here than just Lamar's courage.

Sob. We could have drafted Dobbins, who was the next pick. Although he has been out this year, DAMN, he would look good for the Bills

Our mid-round picks have not provided us a game changer. the 2nd round is the place to get a <<Dobbins round 2 pick 55 >>> <<<Taylor round 2 pick 41....>>>. <<<<Henry (2016 2nd round pick 45>>>> type. Or cycle through FA and PS guys until you find a keeper.

Well it is always a blend of BPA and need. We do NOT have a gaping hole anywhere, but several positions have a bigger fall-off as we go to the 1st replacement player. So we are balancing what position needs some buttressing or has a player who might retire VERSUS the value of the draft pick and what might be available on the FA market. I'm definately thinking the weight of the ceiling/need balance is a little towards need in the first 3 rounds. There are a number of 2022 players who will be drafted in the top 20, that I would take in a heartbeat- but they will not be there at the 30-32 pick. QB we are fine and there are a number of veteran stop-gap QB's available. WR there is plenty of depth and savy veterans. RB we are okay with Motor and can probably find a retread as an adequate backup. The only way for a "draft pick" is if some complicated thing works out with N.Harris and the QB-less Steelers. CB SS/FS we are okay and have our stud CB coming back next year. We can take a flyer on a 4th or 4th+ development guy. DE we are okay with young guys and remaining veterans. DT Star should be let go and we have good starters with Oliver and Philips. Zimmer and Ankou are depth but a veteran FA or 4/4+ draft pick might be taken #1 Offensive center. We have backups but they are starters at other positions. Morse is a good player but could disappear with another concussion and might decide to retire. We should draft a center, if Linderbaum falls to us in the first round. We should shoot for high ceiling rather than high floor. Another way to skin this cat is to take a superior OT in the first round (not JAG starter) and shuffle people around if Morse retires/(is missing from injury), or let the new guy work his way into the o-line. We could make this a real strength for sure rather than a questionable part of the team. #2 Linebacker. OK, I like Edmunds in the middle although many Bills posters complain that he doesn't make splash plays and is not Dick Butkus. He is big and fast and has great length and hinders other teams with the passing game over the middle (like a good safety) and is big enough to hold up against the running game. Having said all that, we keep him at LB along with Milano.<<both these guys are speedy and good pass defenders. We do NOT have a good replacement in house>>> From there the next guy is Klein, who is a downhill player but not as good against the pass and in space.. We lose a lot of things if he has to start in a 2 linebacker formation. So we really do NEED another quality linebacker with good coverage skills and speed to handle superior TE & RB. There are also several guys in the draft. Demone Clark, D.Llyod and N. Dean would be my top 3 picks here. There is some posability to trade back from our high 1st round pick (30-32) and get a mid 2nd round pick and a mid third round pick and still ***** one of those 3. We have the top rated defense right now AND have Tre'Davious White coming back from injury next year. We should be fine there. A high ceiling guy in the 4th to 9th round is the thing to do. We are thin at pass defending LB and offensive line. That is where the first two picks should go.

I liked the plays where they used 3 pulling linemen with Josh or Motor running off tackle. All those big bodies moving at speed reminded me of a herd of buffalos running down and trampling everything in their path. Thundering Herd.

https://www.buffalobills.com/video/tommy-doyle-just-a-really-exciting-time

Thanks for the analysis. I would not take a pure guard in the first round, nor a tackle, who would have a chance of downgrading to guard. I want a LOF with such a pick. We can get a good shot at that player in the second round.

I think the philosphy is to go for the superior player with the highest ceiling, rather than a good JAG with a high floor to fill a hole. We will this in all the rounds after round 1. For round 1: Davis will not be there, and we will not trade up for him. IF one of the top 3-4 OT is there, we take him and reshuffle the o-line. Neal, Ekonwu, Pennning, Kinard If the world's best center is there we take him. Remember that our center has had a lot of concussions and there may be some knowledge that he is going to call it a career. (Linderbaum if Morse is going) If the first LB is there we take him and upgrade our run defense by getting us a killer 4-3 formation option against the running game. Damone Clark .................. .Llyod or B.Smith in the 2nd

Notice that they are in the playoffs

Right. The "proof" of his value might be in things that are not in any box score. If the opponent restricts their play book that involves short passes over the middle because of Edmund's range and long arms, who would know that there were only 3 such plays instead of 6 such plays? The other team is not going to publish how they did their play calling. If they were picking on Edmunds, he might have more opportenties for splash plays.

I don't like to see him run that often. Look at what has happened to the Ravens once their QB got dinged up. We have a lot of eggs and $$$ in one basket.

I understand. The comparison should be that we would have $7mill LESS cap space if we kept him. Maybe his leaving might help with comp picks?

It is easy to understand that a long pass that is defended, might be blown around by the wind and just as likely go to the DB as the WR. It is also easy to understand that screen passes have to be thrown softer with touch, travel slower and can be blown away from the receiver. I have heard and experienced, (I'm a soccer player- played with the Sauers of the Buffalo Soccer Club back in the day), and know that the player with the ball (or receiver) has some advantage when there is icy footing, because he knows when and where he is going to change direction and keeps a surer footing. To those of you more experienced, what are they type of passes and passing attack that would be most successful in the very cold and very windy days? What sort of plays, routes, and combination routes work best?