Buffalo Junction

If he’d had the same production in the SEC or was utilized more in the passing game I’d agree. He’s a prospect. We’ll see how it works out. I hope the kid can be a workhorse at a higher level of competition and spins the league around like Barry Sanders. Again. I don’t hate the pick. I’m just trying to sort what the long term plan is at the position.

Absolutely. That’s why it’s something I’m not particularly concerned about. I think so as well. I also think some of us (myself included) still aren’t used to that approach. I’m pretty excited to see a GM actually follow his board and build from the ball out. QB and trenches is where consistent winners are built.

Yes, we do. I've never seen him in pads against actual competition. I can't even take a guess at how he'll fit in. Heck, they might end up trying him at H-back.

It's the overall grouping of talent. I don't see what the plan is. Considering that Gore and Shady will likely move on after this season Yeldon and Singletary aren't exactly complementary backs. That's not to say that things can't change.... But.... We don't exactly have a hammer. Yeldon is big but plays soft. It kind of feels like finding two guys to do what Shady does instead of getting a player that can be a reliable 3 down workhorse, or going with the "thunder and lightning" approach. I don't hate the pick. I just don't see what their plan is moving forward.

I'm pretty happy with this draft. Grabbing a HB in the 3rd was a bit of a head scratcher when you consider the Yeldon signing, but I love the other picks. I'll just have to have faith on that pick... I just don't see a real plan at HB.

29. Buffalo Bills: Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, N.Y. The only field using the A-Turf Titan infill artificial system hasn’t gotten a good rap around the league. It is tough to tell if the cold weather in Buffalo has put a difficult spin on the Ralph Wilson Stadium turf or if this style of artificial turf just doesn’t have the same comfort level as the rest of the league. Link: https://www.si.com/nfl/2015/10/01/nfl-stadium-turf-grass-rankings

Well, LINK TO THE STUDY?

Okay. But what are the injury rates for Metlife and Paul Brown Stadium? How do they compare to Buffalo's A-Turf by the numbers? I'm also keeping in mind that the only teams with truly comparable conditions use natural grass. Is Dallas a massive outlier, or is Buffalo?

Oli Udoh. Not only does he hit all of the physical points, but he went to Elon (a small christian school in North Carolina). He's raw. However his ceiling might make him worth a 4th round pick.

My concern is if there's room for growth if he's already studying tape in an NFL manner. If he's maxed out both mentally and physically it's possible that his floor is extremely high, but he'll just be an above average starter from day 1 till retirement.

Who else is using turf in an outdoor stadium with a northern climate? Comparing injury rates from a controlled environment and an uncontrolled environment is a bit misleading. How do the numbers change if they just used September games at New Era? Additionally, are these injuries lower body injuries, or does this include all injuries that occurred during a game on the surface like helmet to helmet concussions?

Tough grading: three pro bowlers and a starting OT with the first four picks and they still get a C+. ?. Granted, the franchise is gonna stink when you only have two good drafts like that in a decade while missing the boat on QBs and coaching staffs.

Perhaps.... and I hope not. I lost a TV that day when they announced Watkins instead of Mack.

I think a swap of 9 and 40 for 12 and 30 with some value picks balancing the trade out is equally likely. We have a young team and I’m sure Beane would love to get two players with a fifth year option.

This WR class reminds me of the 2008 WR class... Gotta make sure we take this years DeSean Jackson or Jordy Nelson and not Devin Thomas or James Hardy... I’m not even going to predict who the best WR in this class is going to be. It’s going to be fun watching when the run on WRs happens though.

Integration with virtual assistants will probably eliminate a fair amount of the clutter as we move forward. We’re still not there yet, but that seems to be where things are trending. Some of these streaming services will probably disappear or consolidate over time as well. Gonna be an interesting decade as all of this tech evolves. As for myself... I’m pretty content with Netflix (standard), Amazon, Hulu (limited ads), and Spectrum Choice with HBO. I used most of my 10 choice channels for sports programming. That said, spectrum choice isn’t something the company advertises. You have to request it, and they kind of spam you in an effort to get you to upgrade.

I'd actually like to see the franchise tag be a fully guaranteed contract that allows for a players option of 1 or 2 years. That way the player could basically lock in two years of the top5 average pay if they're worried about injury and security. The teams would have to gamble a bit which would probably make it more of a pain for position players, but keep the same value the franchise tag holds now for QBs.

I'd take him on the condition that he can't drive a vehicle with more horsepower than a Fiat 500.

An interesting trade to ponder would be with GB... we give up 9 & 40, and receive 12, 30, & 76. I believe that’s a little under the 20% premium. We’d only move back a few spots, get a second player with a 5th year option, and the extra 3rd would afford us some flexibility. They’d obviously get a targeted player, but still have 3 picks in the first 3 rounds. Its going to be an interesting draft.

Please quote my post and highlight where I wrote Shannon. I’m pretty sure I just wrote Sharpe without a first name since, you know, Favre never played on the Broncos or Ravens. If you wanna beat this like a dead horse feel free.

I mistook 95’ for 96’. Fun with charts and phones... My mistake.

One reason we rarely see guys coming into the league and improving with a poor short game is that they usually don’t see the light of day for at least a year. Rivers sat. Aaron Brooks sat. Jeff Blake sat. Favre sat. Go watch the Falcons 1991 game against the Redskins. Favre literally pulled a Peterman; 4 pass attempts, 2 incompletions (one high another in the dirt), and 2 interceptions. The first two games he played for the Packers weren’t much better. His first pass as a packer was intercepted. The second game he was booed off the field after fumbling 4 times.... He was horribly inconsistent. Crappy footwork and body position lead to tons of inaccurate passes. He benefited greatly from having Sterling Sharpe. Fun fact... Favre’s completion percentage dropped by 5% to the high 50’s after Sharpe retired. A few of these guys can improve. It’s not usually for guys to improve like Favre. The reason to have faith is that Allen seems to have a similar will to succeed as Favre along with enough intelligence to learn from his mistakes. Time will tell whether we have a Favre or a Kyle Boller.

While he wasn’t underrated in his playing days, he’s certainly been forgotten about since then... Rickey Watters. Another forgotten guy... Ahman Green. He put up six 1000 yard seasons with a 4.5 ypc career average.

Interesting thing about Tiki Barber... He got to run behind his college fullback (Charles Way) with the Giants. Way was certainly underrated in his own right. Definitely a top 5 blocking FB, and a beast in short yardage... until his knees deteriorated.

Interestingly, Rivers had some similar issues his first few years. He consistently forced/pushed the ball down the field instead of taking the easy yardage. It was really chunk yardage or bail to the back at the last second. His short game numbers are actually inflated because of those swing passes and screens, which is expected when your backs are Tomlinson and Sproles. This is not a direct comparison, but rather an example of improvement. Rivers was light years ahead or Allen his first year as a starting QB. However, he was also more pro-ready coming out and sat behind Brees. The thing to take away is that these guys can learn to utilize the short game, but for gunslingers it generally occurs after some time and experience. In contrast, it’s damn near impossible to get a timid QB to improve the intermediate/deep game.