2020 Our Year For Sure

No, not really. Having trouble seeing why it can't work. Re-write part of the script, shoot a few new scenes, and then end it however best leads into Day 7. Whats the problem again?

It'd be nice to have a look at some of those backup O-Linemen. As for the rest, I can't see them contributing very much for us.

Thanks for your kind words. You're one of my favorite posters here, and thats been the case since just about the day I signed up. An internet message board poster basing his opinions on facts and hard evidence? Now that is an example other posters can learn from.

Dean does tend to take these long breaks, from what I remember. I think he did the same for a part of last offseason. Not to worry.

Can't find much to disagree with here. Nice post. I understand your viewpoint, and I'm fairly certain you understand mine. Thanks for the back-and-forth.

Sorry! I promise I'll read the handbook before my next post, Doc.

But neither case has worked out badly. We went into the draft without a starting middle linebacker, and we ended up okay. We into the draft without a starting running back, and we ended up okay. This year, we went into the draft without a starting WR, and we ended up okay. But to target a nickel back as early as the 4th round a full two seasons before it will become necessary, when our current nickel back is a young player who can be re-signed, is a different story. The fact is that James was 4th and Youboty was 5th on the depth chart heading into that pick, and by comparison, we have NO decent backup offensive linemen. Under normal circumstances I'd have no issue with a BPA pick anytime after the 3rd round, but again, these seem to be extenuating circumstances...when one position is in dire straights, and another already has a few options. A BACKUP offensive lineman. Not a starter. I'm confident the scouting department could have found us a reliable backup offensive lineman, if they weren't busy satisfying the cornerback obsession. Duke Preston and Jason Whittle have almost zero upside. They are what they are, and it isn't much. This is plain to see. They could possibly be high on a UDFA or a practice squadder...but can you really rely on those kind of players? Should we put all our eggs in the basket of someone who couldn't beat out Duke Preston last year? Even if you're high on someone like that, you should still bring in talent to stabilize the position. That means the only guy that can fit this case...that is, the front office seeing much more in them than we can...is Kirk Chambers. So maybe they think they already have a competent backup tackle. Great. There's still three other starters at risk of injury on every play. Where is their backup plan? I have quite a bit of trust in the current regime...they've found a way to turn this ship around from the disaster they inherited. This overloading of the cornerback position is one of the few issues I've had with them. I don't know that every issue comes down merely to "trust or distrust." I believe people who are good at their jobs can still make mistakes, and can still have flaws. This could just be one of their few mistakes...doesn't mean we shouldn't trust them in the future. The fact that they're capable of making mistakes only means we should try to avoid blind faith, even if we do still trust their vision for the team, and most of their decisions.

This argument just isn't going to get us anywhere. I feel that Greer and James could start for close to half the teams in this league. You feel differently.

I'm completely on board with you, and I'll add that Kelsay also doesn't fit into a system that calls for speed and ahtleticism from its ends, relying on them to be the sole source of outside pressure. But just to be fair...I've recently been re-watching last year's games, and was surprised that one of the biggest things that jumped out at me was how well Kelsay plays the run. He's probably the best against the run of any lineman who was on our roster last year. He seriously showed a knack for getting his hands on the runner behind the line. Thats where the motor comes into play, I think. Doesn't mean he's a legit starting end. Just sayin'.

I'm of the opinion we've gotten way, way past that point with Greer. He held his own as a starter last year, and thats one of the reasons the result of the 1st round bothers me a bit. To say he might end up being good enough for the nickel is short-changing (pun intended) what he accomplished last season. On a Cover 2 team with a good pass rush, Greer fits right in with Indy's corners. He's shown he's (at the very least!) a nickel back in this league. That said, he isn't a 'name' player, so I see no reason why we couldn't lock him up for a realistic price, especially if CB depth is of the importance most here say it is. Besides that, let me get this straight: we don't draft a replacement for Fletcher until after he's gone. We don't draft a replacement for McGahee until after he's gone. We don't draft a replacement for Crowell at the foothills of his walk year. But we have to draft a nickel back before Greer's walk year, and a full two seasons before Will James' contract expires? Absolutely. Nickel Back > Middle Linebacker. Nickel back isn't necessarily something you have to plan two seasons in advance for. I do believe you've misinterpreted my post. I'd never dream of finding an immediate starter for this team in the 4th round...I'd like to think our personnel overall is alot better than that. All things being even, thats already debatable. Things weren't even close to being even, though. After the McKelvin pick and before the Corner pick, cornerback was already one of the deepest positions on the team. Three cornerbacks with significant starting experience, PLUS (according to most) a rookie with a top-10 grade. Speaking strictly in terms of depth, offensive line on the other hand is probably the weakest unit on the team. Of course if Jason Peters goes down the season is all but over...he's a Pro Bowl left tackle. A player that makes that kind of impact can't be replaced. Can't blame the front office for that. The problem is that if any starting lineman goes down for the count, this offense will likely be moving with a serious handicap. The bench is simply an empty cupboard. I'd rather see Preston replaced by a UDFA I know nothing about. Whittle will be run over by big interior lineman. Chambers would need extensive help in pass protection. There just isn't anyone at any position you can feel comfortable with. I'm confident that the scouting department could have found a competent backup in the 4th round...hell, they've been known to find starters from time to time. But, alas, it was more important to replace Greer before we know if he's leaving and Will James 2 years before we need to worry about it. I understand drafting for value. I didn't question the Edwards or D. Wright picks last year, as most did...because the personnel overall was quite lacking, and getting a good player in the middle-late rounds at any position was a good thing. But at a certain point you have to say, "The depth chart is full here. Its time to cross this position off the list, and look elsewhere." I could've sworn we'd reached that point after the McKelvin pick. Offensive line isn't the only place they could've gone, it just would have been a good 'elsewhere' to start with. Good points regarding Youboty. In my defense, I do strongly remember (and I think others will concur) hearing that some teams DID have a 1st round grade on him. Thats what I was referring to, I just worded it too strongly. Right. Duke Preston to the rescue.

I'm sorry...but this makes extremely little sense. You can't say that a random 4th round pick is anywhere near the value of a random 1st round pick. Talking about the select cases where a specific 4th rounder outperforms a specific 1st rounder does not change that. On average, 1st round picks outperform 4th round picks, and I'm confident it isn't close. Thats pretty much irrefutable. Hitting your inside straight one hand and missing your open-ended the next doesn't mean you should play inside straights more often. Open-ended straights don't even approach 100%, but they're still far more likely to hit. Your 1st round picks are your open-ended straight draws. Because the likelihood of success is far greater, using a 1st round pick on a given position is very different than using a 4th round pick, because you're burning a far greater resource. I believe thats what AKC's getting at, in the line you bolded.

Well I literally laughed out loud, so I figured I'd give the guy his props. Sorry Beer, I'll try to use better judgment next time.

I'm sure they drafted Youboty believing he could become a starter at (what was at the time) a position of need. Corner is a different story, IMO. He'd have to be some kind of player to ascend to a starting role before his contract runs out.

You'll have to explain just who out of McGee, Greer, McKelvin and the oft-overlooked Will James you expect Corner to surpass in the next few seasons. If Buffalo had taken a lineman in the 4th round, he might've been penciled in as the number one lineman off the bench by day one of training camp. Even if Corner is a pretty good player, I'm finding it hard to understand what he'd do for this team. Normally it doesn't make much sense to get picky with positions once you get past that 3rd round, but these are extenuating circumstances: I can't think of a position where we were more stacked heading into that pick. A 3rd round pick with a first round grade who we'd selected just two years ago was already our #5 cornerback before the pick was made. I'm assuming they've lost interest in Youboty, but still...was it really so necessary to address that 5th CB spot?

Because having one competent backup lineman is more important than your 5th cornerback?

Yeah, cause thats worked out swell lately.

...and Will James, the seemingly forgotten man.

We already had three starting corners. I'll still be disappointed with the result of the first round if McKelvin is just a solid starter. He needs to be something special to make me look back on this kindly.

I'd tend to agree, and I think that one of Wendling/Will James/Youboty/Corner/B. Scott goes, and that Youboty will come to camp in a pretty deep hole. Corner was such a strange pick...

We would've won if the official didn't overreact to Reed trying to stand up...

They were talking about Cowart, I believe.

When did I say Hardy would catch anywhere near 60 passes? I merely suggested there's plenty reason to expect him to be 1) a HUGE asset in the red zone, and 2) enough of a threat down the field that between he and Roscoe, teams can't say to themselves, "If we take away #83, we take away their passing game." If he's not a bust, I feel confident he can provide both of those things this season. He's much faster than Jarrett, so he should have an easier time getting seperation downfield. The point is he doesn't need to have a huge statistical season to take the pressure off Evans. He can catch 35-40 passes, but if those come in a way that scares teams, they're going to pay attention to him. And thats all it takes to give Evans the space he needs.

"Hey James, we're gonna need you to outleap cornerbacks in the endzone all season long, which is a major strength of your game and something you're naturally suited for, and we're also going to need you to catch a deep ball about once every 2-3 games, just enough for teams to respect you as a downfield threat." Is that really putting SO MUCH pressure on the kid? Why is that "hardly a scenario an offensive coordinator wants?"

I think the problem is that some of you insist that the offensive line be addressed through the draft, regardless of whats happening with the rest of the team. Some of us are happy with the decent line they've built, not worrying about where it came from. Why is the draft so much better than free agency? Why is Brandon Albert, a completely unknown commodity, so much better than Derrick Dockery?