dave mcbride

Just got a new kitten!

I generally agree that you can't wait forever, but you have to trust me here: next year's QB crop is almost universally regarded as a LOT better than this one. If they had drafted Mahomes, they would not draft another one high up next season. You are of course aware of this goes. It's not like they didn't draft anyone this year - Peterman is not a horrible prospect by any means.

I don't know enough about Mahomes, although I'm distrustful of the conference and system he played in. I'm not a believer in Watson, although I could end up being wrong. Regardless, if they're REALLY being strategic about drafting a qb, then what they just did - accumulating a first for next season that they can parlay with their own to move up - is the way to do it. The 2018 draft is without a doubt a better qb draft than this one, at least from the perspective of today. There are three big-time prospects (Darnold, Rosen, and Allen) who would have probably all been drafted in the first round if they had come out this season.

Good comparison. Interesting fact: although Plummer's stats were just OK with Denver, they went 39-15 in the games he started for them (2003-06).

I agree. Mahomes is just a guy who is not TT, and TT is the real issue. Like a say above, TT ended the season with three straight games of over a 100 qb rating. I can see McDermott and Dennison looking at that and saying, "explain to me again why you're trying to run this guy out of town?" When views on the qb are that divergent, the situation is unsustainable. Another thing about Taylor: regardless of the flaws in his game, he is a gamer willing to play through pain and a serious, no-BS grinder. That is absolutely the sort of player SM has said he wants.

Conversely, if Taylor plays like he did in the final 3 games of last season (qb ratings of 100.1, 105.2, and 118.4), people won't care about Mahomes. As I've said elsewhere, the offense is set up for Taylor to succeed this season: he'll be throwing to a healthy Watkins in a contract year, a better, bigger #2 WR in Jones; and a TE who he clicked with really well late (15 catches on 17 targets in the final 2 games). There is also a potential ly big upgrade at RT and an elite RB to feed the ball to. Plus Dennison is a pretty solid coordinator.

My view: he fired Whaley because he trusts McDermott to make the right move more than he does Whaley. McDermott came on board in January and couldn't create a board on his own, so he had to use what he had (plus maybe some bits and pieces from the Panthers' board, but I digress). Whaley did the board for him because that's his job. Whaley isn't an idiot, and he and scouting group's reports were probably regarded by SM as essentially reliable for most players. They're going to disagree on some things, though, and as I've said elsewhere, the wildly differing views on Taylor are at the root of everything. If Whaley wanted a qb, it just shows again that he wasn't invested in Taylor. McDermott is, and Pegula, regardless of his view on Mahomes, deferred to McDermott and let him make the decision. Not hard to understand. To reiterate: I think differing views on Tyrod Taylor are pretty much at the root of everything. I'm not passing judgment on the player one way or the other; I'm just saying that the dispute surrounding TT is ultimately what laid Whaley low. It is been dividing this team for a while now, and we hit critical mass late this past season. Time will tell whether Whaley was right or not.

The 2016 one is pretty interesting, especially re: Dak Prescott: http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2016/qbase-2016 .

He did let the football do the work. It says he liked Mahomes but didn't interfere.

I'll make a modest bet (given that I don't have a farm). What'll it be? Whoops - A Bills hat is perfect. We're on.

If Taylor has a good season, he will stay. If he doesn't he will go. That's really all you need to know. The type of QB he is and who the others are is window dressing.

Absolutely. Time will tell.

Um ... I have no dog in this fight, but a high number of tackles isn't necessarily a good indicator of a CB's quality. In fact, there's often an inverse relationship.

If Taylor has a good season this year, he will remain on the team. Assuming Watkins is healthy, the Bills receiving corps is probably better than last season's even despite the losses. Jones is a potential upgrade over Woods, and a healthy Sammy in a contract year is a huge upgrade over an unhealthy Sammy.

I don't think Yates is going to be cut! So many teams keep old vets around who know the system. Coaches hate not being able to run their full offenses, and neither Jones nor Peterman will be able to run Dennison's offense this year. There is a reason they brought him on. It's why guys like Chase Daniel, Derek Anderson, and Matt Cassel hang around forever. Cassel actually started a game for TN this season, and the Titans beat Houston, 24-17 despite Cassel's own modest numbers (16-26 for 150 yards passing). He can run an offense, and that's why has lasted 12 seasons. Bank on it -- Yates will be on the team. If I had a farm, I'd bet on it!

As I say above in my addition to my earlier post, Yates knows the system and will be able to run the offense competently. That's what they are looking for from a number 2. To reiterate, I think he's a lock to make the roster.

Teams tend to like having career backups around who can get you to .500 over a four-game span. Yates has done that (his teams went 4-3 when he started), and I'd bet pretty heavily that this staff prefers his presence on the team to that of Jones. I suspect the latter will either be assigned to the practice squad or cut. Again, NFL coaches like vets who are mature, smart, stable, and able to get you to .500 over a four-game span. Yates is entering his seventh season and knows the Kubiak/Dennison system. I honestly think he's a LOCK to make the roster.

Lol!!

Good piece by Breer, which is no surprise. Good writer.

My own view is that what you say above is inaccurate. I believe that Whaley wanted no part of Taylor and wanted him gone. That's what all the signs pointed to, at least as I see it. I'm happy to be proven wrong, but I suspect that I won't. Also, while I agree with you on a more meta level about him pushing Manuel on coaches, it is 100 percent the case that he pushed him on Lynn. Taylor, coming off of his best game as a pro, wanted to play, and Lynn wanted to play him. Whaley did push Manuel on the coach in that instance.

Simon: I'm speaking for myself here, but Whaley lost me on Tyrod, who I like as both a player and competitor. What do you think of Taylor, and what do you think of Whaley's own views on the qb position? I think it's pretty clear beyond all doubt now that he was the biggest backer of Manuel in the NFL. That last game against the Jets must have horrible for Whaley, and I seriously felt bad for him because Manuel is not unlikable. In any event, I thought his jacking around of Taylor near the end of last season was mystifyingly wrongheaded. Edit: I take your point about the backstabbing/lying.

It has been clear for some time that Whaley felt this way despite being completely wrong. His qb vision killed him. Drafting a stiff like Cardale (this is a prediction, yes) doesn't reflect well on his qb eye either.

Absolutely - I agree.

Taylor has been better than mediocre the last two seasons. Having a 26th and 24th ranked defense in DVOA is what killed them.

Really interesting. I thought whaley was gone all along so his firing is no surprise to me; I also thought the battle over QB was at the root of the dispute. That appears to be the case. I'm a Taylor supporter, so I'm glad McDermott won. But obviously this is a huge season for TT. With Sammy in effectively a contract year, things are lined up for him pretty well.