Brand J

Josh is freakishly athletic for a 6’5” NFL QB, but he’d be a marginal athlete on the hardwood, next to other 6’6” NBA guards. I grew up playing the sport as well so anything I offer is from that perspective. I spent hours and hours and hours on the court, but alas, was never special/didn’t have the mind that makes the game easier. Rivers is definitely wrong about his 30 player projection, there’s no chance for the majority of those lanky athletes to transition, but there are Zion Williams, Russell Westbrooks, Derrick Roses, and a few others with the build and explosion that transfers. I will agree to disagree with your assessment that there are multiple NFL players who could’ve been NBA players had they chosen that path. Taking Peppers as an example, basketball was his favorite sport growing up. He wanted to be the next Michael Jordan out of NC and never cared for football much. When it became clear he had a much brighter future in the NFL than as an NBA prospect, he quit basketball and put all his efforts into football. You were right to include “at that time” because the game has certainly changed. Perhaps he could’ve served a role as a bench player, but I don’t see it. His statistical averages at UNC and his style of play didn’t suggest his game would transfer well on a professional level. Who in the current NFL has a chance to run a team as a point, or has a shot good enough to play the 2? I only reference those two positions, because I don’t see any of the taller athletes transitioning to the 3 or 4. Ochocinco said Xavien Howard was “super nice” at basketball, but his definition of super nice against an NBA professional is quite different. Anyone you name, from TO to Puka Nacua, at their height, could you realistically see any of those guys having the skill to compete in the NBA? They chose football for a reason, there’s far more opportunity. Less headache pursuing their first love. Less headache trying to stick on a bench somewhere.

If Claypool had signed with the Chiefs, we would’ve collectively shrugged that off and not expected anything from him. But sign with the Bills? We’re all hoping against hope he becomes a main contributor. Perspective. Funny how that works.

And apparently that’s one of the plays they use to show referees what doesn’t constitute a crack back block. Just unreal to get the personal foul call and later Cody’s fine upheld only for the league to completely reverse track well after the fact.

Yeah, many professional athletes grew up playing multiple sports, BUT basketball requires much more ball skill compared to football. Dribbling, passing, shooting, rebounding, defending, it’s much more specialized where all 5 players on the court have to have the ability to do it all. Not necessarily well, but well enough not to be a complete liability in any one area. There are much better overall athletes in football, but none of those guys are 6’5”+ moving silky smooth and coordinated like basketball players. Peppers wouldn’t have had a chance in the league, not even the G league. Maybe overseas, but he’d be undersized for his skillset there too. Ditto for Moss. I think some of you guys don’t understand or truly appreciate the skill level of NBA players. Like Brian Scalabrine likes to tell street ball players (and even collegiate ones), “yeah I might suck in the NBA, but I’m much closer to Lebron James than you are to me.” The best basketball player in the NFL likely wouldn’t beat the 12th man on an NBA bench. There aren’t numerous guys that could’ve played either sport, they all went where their projection was best, same thing Keon Coleman did.

NBA players are a product of their environment. Flopping has ruled the sport since Sabonis brought it in and Divac took it to another level. Prior to those two, flopping was only seen in soccer. You’re delusional if you think professional athletes from another sport - grown men not China dolls - would fold at first contact in today’s NFL, much less make it through a quarter. The amount of former collegiate basketball players who went on to play in the NFL and have long, successful careers renders your argument silly. But I guess NBA players are softer than collegiate players… right?

I keep hearing the same argument, but how many big hits happen in the NFL nowadays? There are no more crack back blocks, you have to give receivers space to land (defenseless), there are no helmet to helmet shots - all the “ooooh” hits of the 80s and 90s. Most “jacked up!” moments now are offensive players delivering hits to defensive players (cue Brandt’s “angry runs”). It’s adaptation. Lebron James, all 6’8” 260lbs of him, acts like the biggest crybaby on the basketball court because he knows the flailings gets him foul calls. Do I think he’s physical or strong enough for today’s NFL if he didn’t have those dramatic antics to lean on? Absolutely.

And as Josh qualifies as a freak athlete on the football field, imagine giving someone like an Anthony Edwards (who’s around Josh’s height) a howizter for an arm? He’d be a Mike Vick type player in a 6’4” body 🤯 Whether he’s any good is another argument. Still has to read defenses, throw with anticipation, accuracy, etc. NBA players are freak athletes when it comes to explosion and height. NFL players are freak athletes in terms of explosion and speed, but they’re far shorter.

NBA players aren’t playing QB though, unless they excelled at it in college (Charlie Ward for example). If an NBA player makes the transition to NFL, it’s to play WR or TE. I don’t see their ball skills, body control, and speed (or lack thereof), transitioning to too many other positions but those two. Keon’s collegiate coach Tom Izzo told him he’d have more of a future pursuing football than basketball because at his size he’d have to run a team as PG and didn’t have those skills. His shot wasn’t good enough to be a 2 guard.

Josh would be close to average in NBA height, he’s 6’5” while the average is 6’6”, but those guys are much quicker and explosive than him. He’d have to play the 2 or 3 and I don’t see how he’d realistically guard either position, or get a shot off while being guarded by those positions. He’d need much more stamina to run and chase guys at the 2 and probably more height and athleticism to contend with the 3. Point being, I don’t think Josh is good enough to give 6-7 mins as a bench player in the league. He miiiight be good enough for D1 college basketball at a mid American conference, but that’s about it. He should do the Brian Scalabrine challenge.

Add the legendary du rag wearing David Sills to that esteemed group.

I watched Burks highlight tape. I thought it was pretty similar to Coleman’s (contested catches) but Burks looked faster. Going off that tape I would’ve expected him to at least be a WR2 or WR3. Don’t know what hasn’t translated to the league for him, whether it’s his heart or work ethic. You really just never know with these draft picks.

This is pretty extreme. I love Josh, but I’m much more a fan of the jersey than I am any one player, so for me it doesn’t matter if Josh retires, is traded, benched, cut, whatever, I’ll always root for and watch the Bills until my time is up on this spinning rock. Can’t see it any other way.

I’d take the approach with Tua that Dallas is taking with Dak. These are good to very good QBs, but not so great that they elevate the entire team. Both crumble the more the game matters. They don’t deserve to approach highest paid at the position.

Yeah, you guys are right. If he bulks up to 290 and doesn’t lose much, 6’1” 290 is basically Ed Oliver/Aaron Donald size. He’d be most effective with his wrestling background inside at DT. How effective in a sport he’s never played? That’s anyone’s guess.

No chance for him on the offensive line.

Which position are they considering for him? LB? Doesn’t look big enough to play DL. EDIT: 6’1” 265lbs, I guess he could try DE. We know he can scrap in the trenches, we don’t know if he’s fast enough and has the bend to get around the corner. He’d certainly be undersized on the edge and would lack the pass rushing skills of another undersized rookie Javon Solomon.

Too bad she didnt make an appearance. No doubt she would’ve wanted to get paid though.

When Beane selected Groot and Boogie back to back, he later told the media “we need to affect the quarterback.” Those two weren’t drafted to set the edge in the run game, they were drafted to disrupt the opponent’s passing offense. From that standpoint, Groot has been a miss up until this point, he doesn’t rush the QB very well or rack up sack numbers. He’s a good player, but not a difference maker and shouldn’t be signed to a contract that values him as such. Off the top of my head, I know that Aaron Donald and Maxx Crosby played in over 80% of the snaps for their careers.

It’ll be a highly competitive receiver room full of JAGs trying to beat each other out. May the best man win.

Not sure anyone is “obsessing.” It’s not our money, just a bad deal handed out by our favorite team. And yes, it’s in the past, but that doesn’t preclude anyone from talking about it.

If Knox catches that easy first down against the Steelers, Bernard likely doesn’t get hurt and we have him for the game against the Chiefs. I’m not singling out that one play as a referendum on Dawson, but he lets too many routine plays get away from him. He’s 2nd string for a reason.

That guy was dropping passes all year, even had a reporter asking him “whats wrong?” In the playoffs he made some tough catches. The WR needy Chiefs moved on, I don’t think we should pursue him.

Can’t remember where it was that I heard it, but Beane sounded like he was in favor of some sort of QB salary cap rules. He said something along the lines of “yeah, these QB contracts are getting a bit out there…” EDIT: I do remember it came while discussing the approach to deciding who to pay when you’ve got a QB making as much as Josh (and Allen might not even be in the top 10 anymore!). It’s a quandary, you can’t win without a top QB, but their contracts make building a team challenging.

The reworked one is fine, the one he signed a couple years ago was not.

They already get more than that. It was hovering around 24% a year ago, whereas in 2010 it was closer to 16%. Contracts go up, but that’s entirely based on position. RB for example hasn’t increased and takes up a lower percentage of the cap than in the past.