dave mcbride

I'm fine with all three. They're equally important/valuable.

I agree, but I have an iron rule about this: you simply cannot worry about sunk costs. If you don't think your RBs (or whatever position it might be) are good enough, the the fact that you expended draft capital on the position in previous seasons is immaterial when it comes to making the team better.

I have no problem at all with taking a very good corner if he's there at #30. We need another one.

Who is the better route runner and better at getting open so that there's a clear window for the QB? That's who I want. Davonta looks more like Diggs than Waddle does, and he seems plenty fast enough. Of course, he'll be long gone by the time the Bills pick. This is helpful on Smith: https://www.nfl.com/news/scouting-devonta-smith-alabama-wr-reminiscent-of-marvin-harrison

It has been said consistently that Darrell Green recorded a time of 4.09 at the Washington Redskins’ training camp in 1986. Bo Jackson claimed to have run a 40-yard dash with a time of 4.13 s,[5][6] and there were also reports of Jackson running a 4.12 at the 1986 combine.[7][8] Texas Tech's Jakeem Grant was hand-timed by a New Orleans Saints scout as running a 4.10 in 2016, potentially beating Jackson's record.[9] In the early 1980s, Baylor's Gerald McNeil ran a 4.19-second 40-yard dash before being signed to the United States Football League (USFL).[10] Deion Sanders ran a 4.27-second 40-yard dash in 1989.[11] In 2013, Carlin Isles recorded a time of 4.22 at a Detroit Lions facility during a workout.[12] In 2017, Olympic sprinter Christian Coleman ran a time of 4.12 seconds on turf in response to claims that NFL players are as fast as Usain Bolt.[13] A year and a half after he retired from active competition, Usain Bolt ran a 4.22 in running shoes and a tracksuit at a promotional event for the Superbowl in Atlanta, Georgia on February 2, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/40-yard_dash

You know far more than I do about Bama, but in the bits I've seen of Harris, he looks a little ... slow. Am I wrong about that?

Did you see that Sammy came in late? Pringle and Hardiman were clearly running crappy routes early on. Watkins replaced them and is a much better route runner. I mean, he shouldn't say anything, but he's not wrong.

This ^^^. Wilson's sack rate has ALWAYS been high. It was 9.8 percent in 2013, the year they won the SB, and they had a good line that season. It's a product of the way he plays. If you're going to complete those bombs on plays that have broken down, you've got to wait a bit before throwing. Sometimes you get it off and get a 50 yard TD; sometimes you get sacked. He gets sacked a lot because of this, but it's worth the price because he's so damn good. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WilsRu00.htm.

It could have been a magnum! (I kid.)

Apparently, Vegas odds give the Raiders the best chance of landing him! It would be an ultimate irony, right? The league made the decision to make the NFL all about the QB (they have succeeded), and this is what they get!

For the people harping on the precedent Watson would set by forcing his way out, Russell Wilson appears to be doing the very same right now in Seattle. And I suspect he'll succeed. With regard to a small number of superstar QBs, this is the direction the NFL is headed, like it or not. I know most in this thread hate the thought of this, but in this case, a tired cliche applies: it is what it is.

For the first week, I thought KC would blow TB out. But after the covid barber episode, the growing realization that their backup tackles were bad, and the ultimate distrsction of Reid’s son, I assumed TB would win. Those big pre-SB distractions seem to never fail to undermine the team that suffers from them. Fair enough; I’ll take your word for it. Bear in mind that it was said in defense of you (I thought Jeffismagic turned out to be a very prescient poster!). But as you’ll recall, there was a lot of discussion about this at the time. Regardless, you offer insight, and you should continue to post here.

I don't think market size has much to do with it. The 2000 TN-STL bowl and the 1998 Den-GB bowl did notably better relative to the years that surrounded them. My pet theory is that teams from Southern California and and Florida drive down ratings because the fan bases aren't committed. The LA area rating for the 2019 LA-NE was really low, relatively speaking.

Aha.

I don't think Jauron was all that religious ... nothing in his background suggests he is (Swampscott, MA high school and Yale history degree), and the internet ain't showing anything either. I don't recall it ever coming up as a subject when he was here either. He never mentions anything in the interviews I just checked out. What are you referring to?

I have NO love for Brady, but he had a 125.8 rating that should have been higher given the dropped TD pass by the lineman in the EZ. He should have had 4 TD throws.

It's also the most crapshooty draft ever given the reduced number of games, the lack of practice, the pro day problems, and everything else. Think about it this way: anyone who thinks Michigan is really a .333 winning percentage team in normal times is crazy. They had the fifth ranked recruting class in 2017, the 22nd ranked class in 2018, and the 8th ranked class in 2019.

yep!

They did one other thing: they went and signed elite-level talents on D-line (JPP and Suh) who had a history of being extremely disruptive, not "solid" guys like Addison and Butler. The one proven elite NFL talent that the Bills have acquired in this regime is Diggs. Some of the other signings have been good - Beasley, Brown, Hyde, Poyer, Williams -- but none of those guys match Suh and JPP.

My understanding is that it doesn't have to be on purpose. If he's running side by side, they probably don't call it because the DB is playing good defense. But this was a case where the receiver had a clear step on the DB. Intentionally or not, the DB who has been beaten and is about to potentially give up a TD clearly causes him to trip--costing TB a real chance at 7. I thought that ball was catchable. 50/50, but catchable for a guy like Evans. I have zero problem with that call.

Hey, he played for Dabo Sweeney, who is as big a Jesus freak as can be. Easterby appears to be a different level: a mix of religious zealot, snake oil salesman, cult leader, and Svengali. Regardless, it'll be interesting to see what happens. I truly don't care, and I'm going to treat this as a test of whether this can actually happen in today's NFL. It's not as novel as people think: we have the example of Carson Palmer, who was willing to sit out for a season. He pulled it off. Check it out (from Wikipedia): "On July 26, 2011 a video posted on NFL.com showed a press conference held by Mike Brown, the president of the Bengals, stating that he did not expect Palmer to return to the Bengals for the 2011 season, the organization wished him well, and that there were no plans to trade him. When asked why he would not trade Carson, Mike Brown answered: 'Carson signed a contract. He made a commitment. He gave his word. We relied on his word. We relied on his commitment. We expected him to perform here. He's going to walk away from his commitment. We aren't going to reward him for doing it.'" They traded him two and half months later for a first round pick.

More evidence that Pats fans still love Tommy. https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/02/08/super-bowl-lv-drew-a-higher-tv-rating-in-boston-than-in-tampa/

TB's defense is great. They were second in defensive DVOA last season and 5th this year.

I thought that was the one penalty against the KC secondary they got right. The KC defender (Breeland) had been beaten badly, and that was probably a TD (Evans would likely have caught up with it). Regardless of intent, Breeland clearly tripped him and then collapsed on his feet. taking Evans down with him. You gotta call that.