mannc

You apparently haven’t been following college football, or at least Clemson and Alabama. These guys are grown-ass men. Alabama’s offensive and defensive lines are as big (or bigger than) the Bills’ lines. Guys coming to the nfl out of these 2 programs are not magically putting on 25 pounds when they join the league. 25 year olds are not generally bigger and stronger than 21 and 22 year olds. At least 14 guys from last year’s Alabama team (mostly day one and day two picks) played in the NFL this year, including guys who didn’t even start. And this year the numbers will probably be similar. This year’s Alabama team probably fielded 7-9 guys who will be first round picks this year or next. No NFL team has that many first round picks on its roster. And while most of those guys will improve somewhat after being drafted, they are all going to be starters or rotational guys right away, not four or five years from now. That is a massive amount of elite athletic talent. Hell, there is not even a massive talent gap between guys in the NFL and a lot of guys who aren’t. Every week we see guys who are street free agents come in and make difference in actual NFL games.

I hope this is correct. No one in their right mind would sign off on a four-year plan to make the Bills contenders after going .500 under Wrex, and I’m damn sure McDermott never told the Pegulas any such thing.

The sad thing is, we’ll probably never have the joy of seeing the Pats dynasty vanquished and stomped. Brady will probably just retire after another 12-4, Super Bowl season, and that will be that.

Garbage time...

How many offensive TDS have the Bills scored against NE in the last 4 games?

Because McDermott has been SO impressive against Belichick...

I agree that football analytics are more complicated than in other sports, where it’s easier to isolate performance and the factors affecting it. I thought you were throwing the baby out with the bath water...

So all the NFL teams that have invested millions of dollars on analytics and are making multi-million dollar decisions based on analytics (which is almost all of them) are just throwing away their time and money? Ok...

That’s a common misperception. From a statistical standpoint, the four-down mindset makes sense all game long, almost everywhere in the field, although there are of course plenty of situations where punting is the right call, depending on down and distance, field position and of course the score.

Great point. I’ve always felt that a coach with a 4-down mindset has a built-in advantage. Many more options are available to you on 3rd and 4, etc, especially if the defense is operating from a 3-down mindset.

There isn’t a single scap of evidence to support any of these three assertions.

I have news for you: This year the Bills (and other lousy teams) fielded lots of players who don’t belong in the NFL. If, as you admit, you don’t watch much college football, what are you doing in this thread?

Again, the bolded is simply wrong. Pretty much every starter on offense and defense for both those teams will either be drafted or get a legitimate shot at the NFL as an UDFA, like Levi Wallace and Robert Foster did. Alabama (and now Clemson, apparently) really doesn't have major holes. Saban doesn't have a limited number of draft picks or a salary cap, like NFL teams do. He pretty much has his pick of the best players in the country every year at every position. Not one of their starting players would be embarrassed or even out of place in the NFL, and if you think there is huge physical difference between 21-year old scholarship football players who are living, eating and training in the Alabama program and guys a couple years older in the NFL, then you haven't been watching much college football lately.

Those programs have way more than “a handful” of guys who will enter the NFL. Alabama’s entire starting defense from 2016 plays in the NFL, and as of next fall, their entire starting defense from 2017 will, too. The premise of your post is simply false.

Great job, but where’s the RB? Gotta have at least one, maybe 2.

A bit off topic, but I'm starting to think Tua may be a mirage. It can be dangerous to project a QB prospect from a college team as talented as Alabama. So many of their opponents are just completely overmatched...

Most talented, but not most valuable.

It would be silly to deny it. Of course they would.

We’ll, it’s certainly not as awesome as it would be if the Phins hired Rex, but it ain’t bad. The Jests are truly a stupid organization.

This is good news for Bills fans. No question about it.

You mean seasoned NFL professionals like Robert Foster, the Bills’ WR1, who was a backup for Alabama last year?

Oh, you mean the game where he beat the Bengals on the road?? Or do you want to talk about his second NFL start, when he put up 33 points and over 300 yards against Belichick at Foxborough? Again, this is not something you can prove simply by stating it over and over. Clemson, like Alabama, is packed with future NFL players, including probably 10-12 future first round draft picks, more than any NFL team has on its roster. There is every reason to believe they could compete against a team like Oakland or the Cardinals on a neutral field.

You have zero evidence for this statement. DeShaun Watson, who similarly excelled vs. Alabama in the national championship game, did exactly the same thing in the NFL 8 months later. There really isn't much doubt that Lawrence would be the first player picked this year if he was draft-eligible. It's not arguable that every player from Alabama's 2016 defense (and, soon, its 2017 defense) is in the NFL. Both Alabama and Clemson have far more future number 1 picks in their lineups than any NFL team--probably as many as 10 each. Each NFL team only gets one number one pick per year. There is practically no limit to the number of such players Sweeney and Saban can sign. Last night proved two things: (1) Right now, Clemson is at least as loaded with talent as Alabama is and (2) Clemson has a much better QB.

Why is it that a lot of Alabama guys in the NFL swear the Tide could beat an NFL team? Don’t you think they are better qualified than anyone to make that judgment? Obviously a poor showing for Alabama, but I think what we really saw is Tua getting exposed. He played poorly vs Georgia, too, and it appears he just might not be very good. Biggest difference in the game last night was the two QBs.

No, thanks.