JohnC

Nick Saban is not a coddler. At least that is how it appears with this scowling coach who menacingly paces the sidelines.

I'm not insulting anyone. Badol is a self-anointed guru who needs to constantly administer a large dose of sun block because he is exposed to his own intense brilliance. Badol gives and he takes. He can handle the brush backs. There is nothing personal to the duels. He is like everyone else here who posts. Sometimes he makes sense and sometimes he doesn't.

The attached link is a segment from WGR with Dane Brugler from NFL Draftscout. He was on the Howard Simon show talking about the qb prospects in this draft. It is an 11 min. segment. http://www.wgr550.com/media/audio-channel/10-04-dane-brugler-nfldraftscout-howard-and-jeremy-college-qbsmp3

Another rambling set of non-sequiturs used as your incoherent response. It's a fact that McDermott decisively made the decision or was involved with the decision not to sign Watkins's option. What were the reasons? I'm sure they were a variety of factors related to salary, durability and belief in the player's commitment to his program. Your response regarding Pegula's commitment to Rex is nonsensical. I'll give you some slack if your response was given when you weren't sufficiently sober. With respect to your belief before the season that this was an 11 win team in a win now mode is also off the mark. McDermott was handed the keys to the franchise with unlimited authority for the expressed purpose of rebuilding it. The front office and roster is dramatically changed if you haven't noticed! You may have believed that this was a contending team at the start (and never stated it) but no one else did. In fact your turn around position is a bogus position because you didn't express that same glorious optimism when he took over. As it stands there is a lot of giddy optimism because of the good start but don't be surprised if this speeding bus slows down as the season advances. I still don't consider this a playoff team. You have this tendency to praise yourself for after the fact results. Your view on Watkins isn't as brilliant and illuminating as you tout them to be because most fair-minded people acknowledged the fact that Watkins was a supreme talent. Your constant self-congratulations on things that are obvious are getting tiresome. I'm happy for Watkins. I'm hoping that he succeeds in LA or wherever he decides to play. But that doesn't change the fact that McDermott without any equivocation didn't want him here. He wasn't in the plans so the franchise got what they could for him. You disagree with that decision while I understand it. I'm waiting for your next rambling non-sequitur response on this topic that has nothing to do what has been said.

One of the first things that the wrestling coach did was not sign Watkins's option. They (McDermott and Beane) didn't want him as a player and for whatever reason/s see him as fitting in their long-term plans. It wasn't an issue that they fretted over; it was an issue that they quickly made a determination on. This regime almost immediately concluded that they were not going to give him big money that committed the organization to him. Whether you disagree with that decision that doesn't alter the fact that the decision-makers were going to go in a different direction. So they dealt him and got a second round pick and a starting CB, a core member of the revamped defensive backfield. You might not like the return but I do especially considering that the departed player was not in the organization's plans. I have always acknowledged Watkins talents. But in our crimped passing system designed for Taylor the cost/benefit calculation did not have a good ratio, at least to the staff that took over. Lament all you want---the deal is done. You may still not understand why the deal was done but I do. It's not as perplexing as you make it out to be.

There are no guarantees of success, especially for qbs. But the progression from Goff's first year is very evident. He has a good arm, is accurate and he is mobile. Having a HC like McVay who is known for his ability to work with qbs is an asset that increases the qb's chances for success. As with Buffalo coaching matters. note: I was remiss in not crediting HokieDokie for the terrific work in putting together that table.

Both the Eagles and Rams gave up a lot of draft picks to acquire their respective franchise qb. It makes little sense to me to give up so much and not do everything you can to place their large investment in a position to succeed. David Carr, a high draft pick with Houston, joined a team where he was brutalized because his OL was unable to protect him. He never recovered from that trauma and his career to be kind was lackluster.

The most interesting qb in your ranking is Jared Goff. He went from a rookie qb who was overwhelmed to someone who is now ranked sixth. (I'm aware this is an early ranking.) He had a taste of playing last year and had an offseason to prepare. He got a good coach who wisely worked to put him in a good position to succeed. What also helped the qb is that the GM did a good job in improving the OL and giving the qb some weapons to work with. What the HC has smartly done is keep things simple and build from the basics for this young qb who was prematurely written off by a lot of people.

He's deeply religious.

Watch him play. He uses the whole field and he goes through progressions. He's got the vision that you can't teach. You either have it or not.

Why are you responding to a thread that you believe shouldn't have existed? Do you go to restaurants you hate so you can complain about them? I'm getting tired of the petulant and childish responses to people one disagrees with. It's getting tiresome and degrading the board.

Read Willyville Guy's post #934. If you don't consider him a top tier prospect that is your choice. Is he a finished product? Absolutely not. He has room to grow as a player. I consider him one of the top qb prospects in this draft, as do most of the analysts. I agree with you from a development standpoint staying another year under the tutelage of Petrino his preparation for the pro game would be more advanced. You can even say the same thing for Darnold at USC who really hasn't had all that much playing time. But I'm not knocking any player who chooses to go for the money instead of staying in school. It's a personal decision that each player has to make for himself.

Please maintain your composure and don't go off like a raving lunatic. The coaches are calling plays to suit his game which is not close to being a full repertoire offense. That's a fact! If you disagree that's fine. But responding in a red faced spit dripping burst of anger is not productive. I do agree with you that his receiving corps is below average.

Have you done any evaluating of Mason Rudolph? I watched him for part of his game with Texas Tech. He impressed me. The analyst compared him to Ben Roethlisberger because of his size and ability to play from the pocket. I'm also touting Lamar Jackson who is transitioning from being a scintillating athlete to becoming more of a qb. My ideal situation is to have a grouping of five or so that the Bills will be in a position to get one from the group. That is assuming that this organization seizes the opportunity?

His problem is that he is thinking too much. He needs some short quick throws that he can catch that hopefully will give him a boost of confidence and loosen him up. His nerves are overwhelming psyche. Tyrod Taylor is not a high volume passer. When receivers drop passes they have more of a crushing effect.

I'm not a Taylor hater. Far from it. What I have said in the past I will with confidence say it in the present: He is a bridge qb, and nothing more. If this team has an opportunity to draft a franchise qb who can play the position in a more well rounded manner and it let's that opportunity pass (again) it will be a horrible mistake. The coaches are doing a good job in working around his limitations. And Taylor is doing a good job of staying within that crimped style of play. If you have higher aspirations than being a fringe playoff team then it's simply not good enough.

Nearly half the teams are going to be interested in getting a qb in the next draft. Some legacy teams such as the Steeler, the Giants and Cardinals will also be in the mix for selecting a qb. If a team is seriously interested in a top tier prospect the best approach would be to select a qb one round earlier than later rather than taking a risk of losing a qb the franchise is interested in. The Texans traded up in the first round in the last draft to select Watson. Does anyone think that they regret taking that move? When considering drafting a qb dithering is a losing proposition.

Her belly button is jeweled. I got an eye for detail.

If you watch the OC, DC and HC on the sidelines you don't see any histrionics. Whether the play works out or not you see composure and not a loss of it. There is engagement with the players but the main focus is on the respective calls for both sides of the ball. The wrestling coach can be animated but he never loses his focus on the game and the next play coming up. Last year the coaching conduct in general exhibited immaturity; this year the coaching conduct in general exhibited maturity. The HC sets the tone for the team. And the contrast between last year and this year are starkly different.

Darnold is playing with a weak OL. When all is said and done he is probably going to be the first qb taken off the board. What makes him special is not his athleticism or tools so much as he knows how to play the position. His intrinsic traits are his best traits. You can't teach what he possesses.

In general I would say this is an outdated evaluation. Players grow and develop. He certainly has taken a quantum leap. When the draft comes around he is going to be in the top group. (My opinion.) Anyone saying that he is a day 3 guy at this point should be mocked and laughed off the stage. Qbs that get better and grow as players over time are players that I'm interested. I have said the same think about Lamar Jackson from Louisville, another player who has demonstrably advanced his game. The one area that I agree with the scouting report that you submitted is that he does have outstanding receivers.

I watched part of this game and like you was impressed with Rudolf. He has the size, arm, accuracy and feel for the game. The announcer compared him to Roethlisberger. I'm not wedded to any one prospect. There is a pool of good prospects from which to draw from. What I'm adamantly against is going for a second tier prospect when we should be in a good position to select a top tier prospect. That would be a terrible mistake.

That may be a fatal flaw for the pro game. Although I'm open minded about him and other prospects.

For those who have followed him does he have a good arm? I watched some highlights and it seems that his arm is average and his accuracy is good.

I disagree that Mahomes was a second round talent. In my mind he was a first round talent with the realization that it was going to take some time to adapt his game to the pro ranks. Buffalo would have been a good situation for him, as is KC, because there isn't the urgency to start him right away because an acceptable starter is already in place. Especially with the qb position the primary focus shouldn't be on whether the prospect has a second or third or whatever grade. The focal point should be whether the player has the ability to be a franchise qb. Another mistake that teams make, most noticeably the Bills, is that they have a tendency to wait until the qb falls to the round he is ranked. That's a mistake as evident by the Russell Wilson or Dak Prescott bypassing. My approach would be that it is better for teams that don't already have a franchise qb to draft a qb prospect earlier rather than later. The Bills have not had a long term franchise qb since the retirement of Jim Kelly, a quarter century ago. Moral of the story is dithering is not a solution; it is a problem.