Beck Water

OK, so in the example at 2:14 in the Pats highlights thing, if it were really a handoff to Hines, would it have been Cook's job to at least get in the end's way if not block him? Ugh Ugh Ugh I hate watching how Josh gets hit on that run but I digress....it seems to me we may have some trouble with these, as I think we do with screens, in part because of how teams have come to fear Josh's escapability and the threat he poses to break long runs himself. I'm pretty sure Belicheck and his assistants were banging it into their defenders heads all week that they better contain Josh no matter what. Is that a concern? If so, is there any way we can "sell it" better? And thanks for the link, BTW, very helpful.

What knee did this guy injure? Man, he got out of that car and took his first few steps like me when I slide my old carcasse out of the SUV after a long drive. And I ain't about to play flag football WR.

Kind of like that strip sack by Uche, where he ran right by Quessenberry, stripped Josh, then picked him up and slammed him down (which should have, IMHO, been a roughing foul since he'd already stripped the ball, but I digress) But you got to admit, some of the runs Josh does like the one here at 2:14 he's taking way more punishment than he needs to and putting himself at unnecessary risk. It was 2nd and 8. Yeah he wanted the first down, but 3rd and 1 isn't worth risking a trip to the Blue Tent of Doom where the "Independent Neurological Consultant" tells players "Yer OUT of the game".

If it was the Bills leading that Superbowl Parade last February, would you think so?

Um....the WR #3 usually is the guy who plays from the slot, ie, the "slot receiver". The slot receiver usually plays off the LOS and gets a free release. If you mean McKenzie would be better lined up on the LOS and having to fight for a clean release...No. No, he wouldn't. He's worked hard to improve there, but I think he'd tell you himself: "I line up across from someone a lot bigger, and I think OK, I can run by him..unless he gets his hands on me, then I'm in trouble". He can be jammed on the LOS and taken out of the play. It's why the Bills don't play him outside, even though one would think his speed would lend itself to that. You are, of course, completely correct that there isn't some organizational "let's bring the rookies along slowly" policy on the Bills. Gabe Davis would be another example of a rookie who saw extensive playing time from Day One - because of how he practiced and played in pre-season and then because of what he did with the snaps he got. In fact, Daboll said the Bills played more 4 and 5 WR sets in 2020 than he'd planned, simply because of how well Davis played.

Considering he's already had 10 touches against the Browns and 23 against NE, I think you may be seeing him more and sooner.

Ugh Thank You Sir Can I Have Another, I NEVER wanted to see a highlight of that particular Allen run play again. Delighted he got up and threw a TD but we could easily have lost him to the INC and the Blue Tent of Doom on that Play No, sincerely, thank you. But why is the end unblocked in that play? There must be a reason, since it's apparently part of the design. You know, I asked @HoofHearted for some explanation without going on the offensive, and he offered one. I asked for some clarification on a point, and it wouldn't surprise me if I got some either. And this isn't the first, or the second, or the third, time I've done that and received what I asked for. That's not a troll. Someone who isn't as polite as you'd like or doesn't respond as you'd like, doesn't make a troll.

Thought this deserved its own thread, didn't find one https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/rams-breaking-matthew-stafford-moves-to-ir-injury-season-ending/ar-AA14RPQW This is highly confusing to me. He's on injury report with a concussion and a neck strain. He's cleared concussion protocol and medically cleared from the neck strain. But, McVay is putting him on IR because he has his best interest in mind What the Holy Hell did I just read?

TBH, having delved into it a bit, I think that Dorsey all along intended to redistribute the way the slot was used, partly onto a pass catching RB and partly onto a TE. I don't think he's gotten as far as he wanted because apparently Cook 2.0 struggled a bit to adapt to the NFL and he's needed to keep backs/TE in to chip on pass plays. Not that he didn't intend to use McKenzie and Crowder as slot receivers, but that he intended to re-design the scope of the role. But with Cook now apparently starting to "get it", and with Dorsey starting to run 2 back sets, we may yet see (what I think was ) Dorsey's plan come to fruition. Shakir is getting a steady 16-ish snaps per game to show what he can do with them. If he starts getting open and making plays, he'll get more.

I have no opinion one way or the other on the veracity of this report. Someone posted the first of a series of tweets and I thought the rest of the series was of interest. As far as "not posting anything but pro-Giants stuff", read the guy's actual tweet. Tre White had surgery Dec 16th. He started practicing with the team in mid-October, just about 10 months later. He was placed on the roster Nov 1, and saw snaps in his first game on Thanksgiving, a year after his original injury. Odell Beckham injured his ACL on 2-13-2022. It's always been a question, would he really be ready to play in December, only 10 months after the injury? The average time to return to play for an NFL wide receiver in one study was 13 months. Even if he's "good to go" on the ACL, He might need a month to ramp up into "playing shape". Tom Brady says it takes him a month to build timing and get in sync with a new receiver. It's reasonable to ask how much OBJ would contribute this season. All that being the case, what this "Giants reporter" says meshes in with facts about injury and new player timelines and seems to raise questions worth asking. So frankly, I think what this guy says makes sense from a logical POV

Players who are deemed recovered enough from injury that they don't need treatment and aren't limited in practice, may not be 100% yet. It has also happened before that the Bills have made a player a "healthy scratch" during the season, then after the season have said that he needed more time to "get right" after an injury - maybe not treating the injury per se, but rehabbing around it. Harrison Phillips the year after his ACL would be one example. He was made a "healthy scratch" for 4 games in the middle of the season. After the season, Beane said he needed more time to rehab enough to play up to their standard, even though he was healthy enough to play. So it wouldn't be unheard of that the Bills said "OK, Elam's performance is not up to our standard, and not up to his play earlier in the season, and let's look at why" and decide that the injury might have something to do with it and he was gonna sit a week or two and heal. Or, it could have been a matchup decision, that the Bills decided to play 100% nickel against a strong running back, and they felt Rhodes would be the better defender against the run and/or more able to handle disguised coverage from zone, on the road (though the stadium soon became quiet enough IMO)

I hear you about unreasonable expectations, but perhaps the fact that he's currently 47th for targets, but 72nd for receptions might have some bearing here? It's great to have a guy who can break big plays every few games, but you also need guys who can get you first downs reliably.

Poyer hugging and kissing the ball in warmups, LOL

Fran Tarkenton (1961) and Bobby Douglass say "hi". It's far from a new thing. These might interest you if you'd like to talk in terms of the history of the game: https://www.thesportster.com/nfl-best-running-quarterbacks/ https://www.si.com/nfl/talkoffame/nfl/who-is-the-best-running-qb-in-nfl-history https://www.milehighreport.com/2022/10/21/23416200/how-the-running-quarterback-has-changed-the-nfl There's some interesting commentary by Dick Vermeil here: https://www.the33rdteam.com/category/qb-hub/the-evolution-of-running-quarterbacks/ According to Vermeil, it wasn't so much fear of losing the QB that influenced front office and coach thinking. They knew that QBs who stayed in the pocket would get hit more and take a beating. But they believed that QB who could run, wouldn't stand in and take a beating, thus overall there would be less passing plays.

You make a number of great points that I agree with fully - about the tiresome TBD theme of trashing players and making them whipping boys for all the team's ills (especially when there are probably multiple factors) In different order: 3) Josh's elbow (or some other performance issue) was IMHO affecting Josh from the 2nd half of the Packers game on. A lot of his throws were off - not hugely off, but enough off to take them from "you gotta catch that" into "a bit behind, a bit above, he could have caught it but it would have been a bit of a Circus Catch". Still off on a few throws but they're getting fewer and further between. Some of them were way off. I don't believe Josh was trying to throw that red-zone ball away by dirting it. 1) I think the ankle may be a lingering issue from the injury prior to Game 2. But he's not been on injury report since Steelers Week. It was said Davis had an ankle that reportedly was a lingering issue (not on injury report, but per Sal Capaccio had visibly affected him) last season. If a guy is going to have repeated performance issues linked back to the same lingering injury, that's kind of a problem. 2) Overall play design/play calling has been an issue. It's easier to have an effective pass game when you have an effective run game, for one. Then, I think both Dorsey's play design, AND Josh's execution of it, has been affecting offensive production. I think Dorsey's preferred answer for some of the defenses we're seeing is to have deep options soaking up the DBs, and then shallow options for quick hitters that allow good YAC. The idea is to keep thatJosh took a bunch of those quick hitters vs. NE, so if this continues, I think we'll see happier days on offense. Overall, though: the Bills gambled that Gabe Davis in his 3rd year was ready to take on the #2 WR spot, just as they gambled they'd get adequate slot production from some combination of a McKenzie/Crowder platoon, increased production from Knox, and a pass-catching RB. Davis in terms of YPG has come up in production to a #2 WR, currently at #27 with 60.5 YPG, but #86 for receptions per game with just over 3. So he's had some marvelous big plays, but not that consistency we'd like in terms of game-in, game out contributions. I think he can level-up, but he needs to take a deep breath and do it. Josh Allen said it: "If anybody says they're playing injury-free in this league, they’re probably lying to you. Everybody’s battling injuries, battling bumps and bruises. If I’m going to be the guy that I think I am, I say I am and my teammates think I am, (then) I've got to go be that guy, so that's all there is to it."

There’s some ambiguity in wording there. If it’s a 3 year deal,”hope it ends up” being $20M/ yr could mean $20M AAV, or $20M cap hit the 3rd year with escalators and incentives 🤷‍♂️

Question: is there such a thing as an unrealistic expectation based in reality? Or a realistic expectation based not in reality? Yes

I believe both Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis have this guy cook for them. Apparently he has a gift for preparing super-tasty food that meets the nutritional and caloric needs of the WRs. IMMA guess a normal WR dinner during the season does not include two kinds of cake tho

Rest of what Raanan said:

Oh, My! Let's look at that one in full: Odell Beckham WR, Unsigned Free Agent FOX Sports' Ralph Vacchiano reports there is "considerable doubt" free agent Odell Beckham (knee) can return to play this year. Beckham, who tore his ACL twice in a 16-month span, expects to be fully cleared later this month. Returning this late in the season, there are questions over how healthy Beckham is and whether he can contribute down the stretch. Beckham informed teams he's seeking a multi-year contract that he "hopes ends up being worth $20 million per year." That would put Beckham out of the Giants' price range. Beckham is expected to visit with Buffalo this weekend but the Cowboys remain the favorites for Beckham if the 30-year-old returns this season. If Beckham, having re-injured the same ACL 2x in 2 years, wants a multi-year $20M contract, he can want it somewhere else. Don't Do It, Beane. We have GOT to get more help out of our draft picks and lower price FA Edit: my browser didn't update the link correctly, this is the link I pulled that from:

So Gabe was injured Sat. in practice before our Mon. night Week 2 game, correct? He missed that game, Week 2. He was then questionable for Week 3 and 4 with limited or no participation, but played, and was plainly gimping through it and hampered. He had FP, no game status, and a great game vs. Pittsburgh Has not appeared on the injury report since Pittsburgh Has had strong games against KC, Minn, and Cle, the lowest of which (Cle) would project out to 1000 yd, 100 catch season. So....is his ankle hobbling him selectively in a way which does not limit practice or place him on injury report, or, what's your theory? It's possible that his ankle still isn't right and he's not performing at his athletic peak, but to that one has to say: we were told that last year after he was injured in 1 and "questionable" for Game 2, that even though he wasn't on injury report and had no game status the rest of the season, he was actually hampered through ~week 8. So if this is a repeating pattern of injuring an ankle early in the season and not being able to contribute up to his potential - maybe he's not the guy we need to pay as a #2. I will say this: I haven't watched the details of how he's running every route. Maybe there are nuances he could improve. But from what I've seen, we have an "Allen throwing to Gabe Davis when he's pretty heavily covered and it's a high degree of difficulty catch" problem, not a "Gabe Davis Can't Run" problem

Beane may make minor, relatively low-impact personnel decisions to "make Allen happy". For example, faced with two TE who aren't very good in OJ Howard and Tommy Sweeney, either likely to be inactive on game day, Beane may keep the one who knows our playbook better and who is "good friends" with Allen over the one who, in theory, has a higher ceiling once he learns the playbook. Faced with keeping one of two WR on the practice squad, Beane may keep Allen's boy Gentry who, as a vet may be better at "looks" on scout team, over a younger guy with possibly more long-term potential (in theory). (Note that in both these cases there may be a sound football reason for the choice, but "making Allen happy" could weigh into it.) But if you think Beane is going to hand out a 4 year, $52M contract to "make Allen happy" and not because he thinks that's genuinely fair market value for the guy - Think Again.

To your point: Top is 2022 Bottom is 2021 Difference: 5 TD And the winning comment: And this. He's been living a lot in the "very short pass/check down" area of the field where Josh Allen has a tendency not to see a guy. He has missed some catches he could have had, which had me PERCEIVING him as struggling in the passing game - but I was surprised when I looked - he's actually rocking a career best catch % at 76.7% and his drop % is a career low to this point (he has had some catches we look at and say "he could and should have had that", but they weren't scored as drops) It is true that his receptions per game and targets per game are down, but it's only fractionally - basically, 1 target per game. I think the problem is, we expected his trajectory to continue to climb as far as targets, receptions, and yards, especially when he got the big contract. So he's doing pretty much what he was doing when he got paid, we all just expected .....more. BUT the above is still true. Knox is being under-utilized and could easily have, maybe not the 7 reception 70 yd game he had vs. the Browns, but a 5 target, 4 reception game for 40 yds or more, every game - many on plays where Allen is targeting a higher risk, better covered deeper option.

It depends. On some of the designed QB runs he's been ridiculously open. Designed QB runs up the middle, yeah, I'm with you.

This. Show me an NFL player whose agent isn't always focused on getting them a long-term deal, and I'll show you an NFL player who needs a new agent. And that could be true from OBJ's thinking. But the other side of the coin is, with a 2nd ACL in the same knee, he has a renewed need to show he's back. The thing is, OBJ only needs one team to agree with him, and I'd bet on Jerry for that.