JohnC

I was tired of his self-promoting huckster act before he was hired. If you want to be impressed with a Buffalo coach at the podium or during an interview you should watch or listen to the Sabres' HC, Byslma. He gives thoughtful and direct answers, especially post game. He can be discreetly critical of his team and yet do it in a polite and dignified manner. He is classy and substantive. Rex Ryan at the podium is comparable to a second rate kareoke mid-week lounge act at a New Jersey Holiday Inn. With the loqacious Rex your team is going to get a level of attention that is on higher scale than the level of wins.

There are no guarantees whether he is going to be a franchise qb or not. All you can go on is what you see now and then project from his performances. I'm very pro TT. But I can not make at this point (no one really can ) an absolute declaration that he is the long term answer. No one knows for sure. That is the point. There are aspects to his game that I see very encouraging. And then there are aspects to his game that makes one pause. Let the season play out and then by its conclusion we all will be in a better position to judge. I'm leaning forward!

I'm not going to argue with your scathing evaluation of Cousins. I'll just re-state that I strongly believe that the Skins will sign Cousins to a new contract after this season. Whether it is the right decision or not is another issue. Most often the right approach to take is to make the best of the situation you are in and when you see an opportunity in the future to upgrade your situation you seize on the opportunity. That's what I believe they are going to do.

Thanks for the clarification. I appreciate it. But the point is the same in that even with less than a stellar qb you can still win if the qb plays at a competent level.

It was the owner that put this franchise in bind because of the RGIII deal. Mike Shanahan told the owner prior to the draft that if he took that route he was gambling on a qb prospect who he believed was going to take years of development before he was ready for the NFL game. After RGIII's rookie year it seemed that the owner was right with his risky qb selection. In the long run it turned out that Mike Shanahan was right. You make a very interesting comparison with both Gannon and Johnson. Gannon belatedly turned out to be a very good qb. If I recall correctly the Skins won a SB or were in the SB ??? (not sure) with Brad Johnson. If Cousins can play at a lesser level of Gannon and the roster can be bolstered then they would be a competitive team. That's the direction they seem to be going to. The Skins are a rebuilding team that is going to take another two to three years. They have to have at the minimum stable qbing so they can move on with the rebuilding process. They believe Cousins at this time fits their needs. That's why I believe he will be signed to an extension this offseason.

I agree with your view. TT is our starter now and will be next year. As you noted you pay starting qbs starting money. From the Bills perspective they want to see TT in a position to make starter money because it will be due to the fact that he will have played up to the contract. The Bills and the qb have options to fit heir individual needs. The Bills can bump up his salary for next year to a mid-level starter money and then re-negotiate with him for a longer deal. If TT plays well next year it will cost them more money for the delay. My feeling is that if the front office truly believes that he is going to be their long-term starter, based on his performance for the rest of the year, they will want to get a deal done sooner rather than later. My sense is that TT would prefer to get a deal done sooner to lock in the money. I don't see him preferring taking the Bradford route where he declined a longer term contract at less value in the hope of getting a richer deal after a good year. The end result is that he has struggled and then got hurt. His value thus took a big hit. Bradford bet on himself and he lost.

I didn't say anything is in place. I did say that very preliminary talks have taken place. How he performs for the rest of the season will determine how grand the contract will be. The better he plays the more leverage he has in the contract discussions; the worse he performs the less leverage he will have in the contract discussions. I'm very confident that he will be signed this offseason. The GM is taking the approach that his priority is to rebuild the roster on both sides of the ball, starting with the lines. Their high first round pick this year was an OT/OG. His first offseason free agent acquisitions were mid-level tier selections, mostly on the defensive side of the ball. As I said in the prior post I am confident that that the organization is going to sign Cousins. The HC likes him and is invested in him. My sense is this organization has little desire to use a high draft pick on a qb prospect and start the qb installation process all over.

Rex Ryan predictably wins the contest at the podium. Bill Belichick predictably wins the contest on the field. If you want to garner attention Ryan is the man for the job. If you want to garner wins BB is the man for the job. From a coaching standpoint Ryan is a pygmy compared to BB.

He will get a new contract with the Redskins. How much? I can't say. But he will be their starting qb for the foreseeable future. If their coaching staff and front office believe that he can be a capable qb, and they do, he will be signing the contract documents this offseason. The Skins set their program back by years with the monstrous draft deal to acquire RGIII. It was a disaster that set the franchise back by years. Odds are even if the Skins were in position to draft a good qb prospect they would be reluctant to do so. It has been reported by the local media that preliminary discussions have taken place with a deal to be completed before the start of the next season.

You and others made the same point and I go along with it that it was a good article. It was well written and it conveyed a sense of what Troup was currently feeling and it pulled back the curtain of the brutality of the business. I have had two back operations so this article and the health issues faced by Troup in his post career resonated with me. I was fortunate that after the first episode of back problems resulting in surgery I was able to keep my job, although my surgeon recommended against it. The description of Torrell not being able sit on a plane ride brought back memories of when I went to see my doctor and he told me to sit down. I couldn't. It just seems to me that this crash sport is incompatible with a post career healthy lifestyle, especially for someone who has had a history of back problems. Again, the reporter did a good job in describing what Troup was going through during his impaired career and his post career impaired life. He did it in a fair-minded and mature way that exposed the ugly underbelly of a business that so many of us are enthused with.

Ralph Wilson hired Marv Levy to be his GM. No other team would have considered such an odd move. The results were predictable. Ralph Wilson subsequently hired Nix to be his GM. No other team would have considered him as a serious GM candidate . The drafting of Troup to be an NFL NT was foolish from a number of standpoints. He was undersized and he had a history of back problems. So it was not surprising when the back issues became a problem and he didn't become an anchor NT. Under the Levy regime this franchise was set back. Nix didn't set this franchise back but he didn't advance it to the extent that he could have. Nix knew what he needed to do with the roster he inherited. He realized that he needed to make the roster bigger and stronger in order to get away from the Jauron/Levy philosophy of lighter and quicker. The Levy/Brandon/Nix time span was an adequate enough time for a competent organization to do a major rebuilding job.It collectively squandered its time The past is the past. Without a doubt Whaley is a major upgrade in the front office. He has modernized the front office structure and operation. Not all his personnel decisions are going to work out. It doesn't for any GM. But with him as a GM at least there isn't a quirkiness and foolishness to what is being done. Why are you surprised? They are the same type of people who question Watkins about his injuries and how he conducts his family life. Fools are so prevalent and can't be avoided.

I agree with you that the Bills won't take a qb in the first round because they believe that TT is an adequate starter. Is he the long term answer? He will answer that question by how he plays the rest of the season. So far the signs are good (in my estimation). If you look at how this team is currently assembled it is built to win now with an acknowledgment that the qb position is a question mark, although less of a question mark because of the play of TT. I just don't see this team at its draft position finding an elite qb prospect and then immediately entrusting the qb as a starter. Doug Whaley has openly stated that he wants to get into the playoffs now. He has more than once said on WGR that he is determined to break the non-playoff barrier and then move on from there. That doesn't sound like a business plan to draft a qb in the first round and then go through the expected near term struggles of a rookie qb. Putting things in perspective what was considered as a non-consequential backup qb addition to the roster has to a great extent turned out to be a consequential addition that could dramatically affect how this franchise moves forward. Whether by luck or calculation if good fortune drops in your lap accept the benefit. It's not about how it gets done it's about that it gets done.

Drew Brees is 6'0" and weighs 209 lbs. Tyrod Taylor is 6'1" and weighs 215 lbs. Drew Brees throws most of his passes from the pocket. He is magnificent in quickly making his reads and going through his progressions from the pocket and accurately throwing the ball. There is no doubt that because of his short stature he has to be very adept at finding a passing lane when he throws. That is an adjustment short qbs have to make more than taller qbs. My point isn't that TT could ever play at the level of DB or work withing the pocket like the future HOF qb does. That's not only unrealistic but it is foolish to even consider it. My point is that because of his short stature TT will have to adjust his game in order to be successful. Likewise, very tall qbs and less athletic qbs have to make adjustments tailored to their attributes in order to be successful.

I agree with your comments. The point I was making is that he is at a certain stage of his development where although he is not making complete reads he still is making plays for us. I think we both agree that with more playing time he will become more comfortable in the pocket and more adept at reading defenses. Will those traits be at an elite level? Probably not. But that doesn't mean he can't develop those traits to an adequate level. It's obvious he is not a finished product. It's not even guaranteed that he will develop into a long term starting qb. But from what I have seen I believe that he is coming along and in time will be an established starting qb for us. Am I making a wishful projection? Yes.

Just because you can't see and acknowledge the obvious doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

It didn't take much effort in assessing TT to conclude that he wasn't completing passes after going through his progressions. At this point he is completing passes with his first read and after extending plays. That's very evident at this point. The challenge for our athletic qb is to become more adept at reading defenses and maturing his game. Will it get dramatically better this season? Probably not. But if he can steadily get better with that aspect of the game with more playing time then that is a good sign. There are no guarantees for success. Qbs such as Kaepernick and RGIII have not gone beyond relying on their athleticism. And because of that they have regressed as qbs. The issue for TT is the same. Will he work at his craft to advance at the mental side of the game? I believe he will knowing that just because you can't be at a superior level at reading defenses and going through your progressions doesn't mean that you can't upgrade that aspect of the game to the point where you can still be a good qb. By the end of the season we should have a good sense as to whether he is capable of doing it or not.

Excellent article. A lot of thinking and adjusting going on. Gilbride is excellent at coming up with a countering strategy to a defense but nothing materializes unless the plays are executed. When Gilbride was our OC he received a lot of criticism for over thinking and making things too complicated. The reality was that the talent didn't match the strategy. I thought Gilbride's observations on Taylor were very interesting. He seemed to be saying that TT is still at the rudimentary stage. He also seemed to be saying that Taylor's passing stats are inflated because they are not due to a qb going through his progressions so much as they are inflated because the qb is extending a play. So what is the difference? A completion is a completion. Isn't what you accomplish more important than how you accomplish it? Again, thanks for the article. It had a lot of interesting thoughts by Gilbride to consider.

You make an excellent point. What makes Gilmore a unique corner is his size. However, what prevents him from being an even more impacting player is his lack of ability to catch the ball. He has good ball skills but doesn't finish plays with interceptions. If he did his value would definitely go higher. As you noted Darby has good cover skills but what sets him apart is that he goes after the ball and retrieves it. He attacks the ball as well as CB I have seen in a long time. That is a trait that Gilmore doesn't have.

You know better than most that I have from the beginning been an advocate for Gilmore. I contend that he is now a top tier talent. Is he worth the amount of money you have described? No. The question one has to ask is whether the percentage of cap space he consumes is related to how he impacts the defense. Don't misinterpret what I am saying. He is a terrific corner but if a were going to give that amount of money I would rather give it to a player at a position that impacts/elevates the rest of the unit. An example of my point is Mario Williams playing at an elite level that impacts the rest of his line mates and the defense. (I'm aware that Mario is on the downside of the mountain and wouldn't warrant such a grandiose figure.)

If Cousins plays well enough in his remaining games this season that will interest other teams to offer him a good contract then where does it leave the Skins at the qb position? RGIII is going to be dispatched after this season. McCoy is the backup and he is less than mediocre as a backup. Would the Skins prefer taking a qb prospect and count on him to move the rebuilding team forward? I really don't think so. As I stated in the prior post the current HC likes Cousins and wants to work with him. The GM who was involved with the 49ers and Seahawks believes in building the roster in order to enhance the prospects for its starting qb. If Cousins steadily improves as the season advances he will be an intriguing target for other qb starved teams. He certainly will not be an elite qb in this league but I believe that he can be a credible starter. That in itself is a major leap forward for a team that has lacked direction and has not moved forward for a very long time. The GM and staff of the Skins have to make a decision at where they are at and not on where they wish they were at. I contend that they are going to move forward with Cousins. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Your last sentence is how I see it. Drew Brees is about the same height as TT. But Brees is phenomenal in making the snap shot read in the pocket and then accurately throwing the ball. TT will never have that talent and comfort level in the pocket. Few qbs have that incredible vision and processing action. My primary concern with TT is his durability. Without a doubt for a qb he is a terrific runner. But the more he exposes himself with his runs the more he increases his chances of getting hurt. My preference is for him to move to extend the play and then get rid of the ball. NYC Bill constantly encourages him to run. Over this issue I constantly get annoyed with his encouragement for him to take off.

You make a keen observation regarding how the Bills currently operate in contrast to their historically staid image. Whaley is a believer that there are few opportunities to acquire "big" talents. When an "impact" player is available he is going to seriously consider making a move. He was willing to pay a hefty price for Watkins and he was willing to deal for McCoy in a deal for a younger player in Kiko. As you suggested with Whaley at the helm he is not a ditherer, he is action oriented. I agree with you that if the organization believes that TT is a legitimate franchise qb, with the recognition that he is somewhat of an unorthodox qb, they will lock him up before next season. For them as you noted it would be a smarter business move to act sooner rather than later. Are there risks associated with acting too quickly? Of course. That's the nature of a business that is very much about taking risks. What's worse than making a mistake is in an attempt to avoid making a mistake you lose out on a great opportunity!

Gruden got fed up with RGIII who simply can't read defenses and work out of the pocket. Cousins was a qb he could work with. The Dalton and Cousins comparison is a good comparison.

I'm very confident that they will sign him for a little more than $17 M per year. When the front office makes a determination on him it will not be overly influenced by one game as it will be whether he is progressing or not as a qb. From what I have read they are leaning toward getting him in the fold The market is rising. There are teams desperate to get adequate qbing. There won't be a big market demand for him but if a couple of teams indicate an interest his contract position is strengthened. Your projected contract guess is as good as anyone else's but I believe that he is going to get $17-18 M per year contract. Gruden like Cousins and is an advocate for him. He believe he has a qb he can work with and is willing to invest in.

Your response is well thought out and stated. However, I respectfully and strenuously disagree with your TT comparison to Flutie. TT has a much stronger arm and a better feel for the passing game than Flutie. Flutie was more of an improviser than TT. TT has a much wider passing range than Flutie. In my opinion TT is still learning to make the reads in the pocket. Is he going to be exceptional at that task? No. Right now what TT does very well, if not exceptionally well, is that he keeps his eyes down the field and finds the open receiver while he is extending the play. I'm not suggesting that TT is going to be a prolific passer or even an elite qb. I am comfortable in saying that he is capable of being a good starter in this league who has limitations (adroitness in the pocket) but can be effective because he can compensate with his mobility and pass on the move.