BillsVet

A Field Grade officer no less?

There are indeed multiple reasons for the ratings going down. Changing viewer behavior and, among other things, dilution of the product are definitely contributing causes for declining ratings. I always found it hilarious back in 2016 when the league blamed the Presidential Election for lower ratings.

You're at Ft. Hood? LOL Conflating the idea of ratings being down does not remove the fact the NFL has taken a hit in viewership, particularly since 2016. And I suspect that this coincides with the protests, although other things have happened.

It's amazing what happens when the cameras are removed. I applaud the NFL's solution because it still allows players who won't stand to protest outside of camera range where it's made into a spectacle. The NFL, whether they want to admit it or not, is taking a hit financially and has acted. TV ratings are down, largely because fans don't want to watch social justice causes front and center at game time. People just want to watch football and not be inundated with politics. And, given that TV ratings are down, advertisers aren't going to pay for commercial time, which means the networks aren't going to pay more for the TV contracts at the next contract negotiations. Which means the NFL may take a loss in revenue...which cannot happen in business. The players don't care about that...until it's CBA time again. What happens when the league talks about lowered TV revenue influencing the next CBA? I'm sure De Smith would argue, but it could be reality if the social justice stuff continues. The NFL is walking a fine line here trying to appease as many groups as possible. Unfortunately, they're losing more of their base fans than they'd like and now have to backtrack. PS. I'm a combat veteran. And if they want to kneel then so be it. Most of them are making millions playing a sport in the most free country in the world protesting against an issue that statistically isn't.

Trading up is something both Whaley and then McD/Beane have done multiple times. In 2 drafts, Beane and/or Coach McD have moved up 4 times, 3 to draft a non-QB. I've criticized Whaley for the reach up to get Watkins as a bad use of draft resources. Yet, BB/McD have moved up those three times to draft Edmunds for a third to move from 22 to 16, and last year with JOnes (another 3rd) to move from 44 to 37) and then to take Dawkins at 63 (75th and 2 5th round picks). We're going to see how it turns out, but early returns for Jones aren't good. And I'm not talking about what was clearly a mental health issue earlier this off-season.

I don't see Buffalo walking away from Jones because they traded up to 37 (from 44) to draft him last year. That move cost them a 3rd (91st). Still, he had a bad shoulder last season and now has had another surgery. Gotta wonder about his durability at this point.

What prompted this to come out now, 8 years later? One thing I do know is Doug Whaley is not employed with a team 1 month after the draft concluded.

Others have covered the front office leadership debacles from 2001 to present. Those hirings (Levy, Brandon, Nix, Whaley) are the worst because they set in motion bad personnel decisions. During the playoff drought, it was insisting on one guy as the answer at QB and then adamantly refusing to draft another QB high. Levy/Jauron going with Losman in '06. They spent a 3rd on Edwards in '07, then didn't bring in any competition (Fitz was advertised as a backup) to Trentative.. Next, Nix/Gailey ignoring the QB position and thinking Fitz would be the man. They drafted no one in 2011-12, leaving them a huge problem in 2013 when the QB class was putrid. Then, Whaley insisting EJM was the guy, failing to draft anyone in '14 when the talk at OBD was EJM couldn't play. They went with TT in '15 and Whaley made sure Cassel was traded to get his boy EJM onto the field. They drafted no one of note (Cardale was a project) in '16 and only now with a competent (it seems) GM in Beane have they used a high pick on a QB. Either way, there wasn't much competition at QB for too many years while other teams relentlessly tried to improve the position until they got their guy. Cliff notes version: Not getting competition at QB for years, and when they made a move toward that way, it wasn't genuine or with a high resource.

If Josh Allen doesn't throw for 4,000 yards and 35 TDs by the end of mini-camp I'm so done with this team.

What makes you think he's physically capable of repeating his 2013 season? It's kinda like talking about Dez Bryant in that people know the numbers and think the guy just needs a chance or has had time to get to 100%. Both are players whose injuries have reduced them to nothing remotely close to their peak years. People cite the 40 times as if it's still applicable. But, they had a season a few years ago and that somehow means the guy is ready to tear it up again. It's a wish and a prayer.

It can take years to find the right combination of medications to treat bipolar and, as Manziel said, it was a reaction to lithium. That's not unheard of. He obviously has to own what's he's done, but it's threads like this which prove the vast majority of people have no idea what major mental illness can do to a person, especially if it's not diagnosed and left untreated. I hope that kid finds the right dosage(s) of medication and finds his way back to the NFL. But if he doesn't QB another team, that he lives as normal a life as possible.

I've always wondered why TPegs didn't hire a consultant to advise him on the 1.4B purchase he made 3+ years ago. That said, he essentially hired a consultant, McDermott, as a HC. McD came in and was given the authority to change what he didn't like and hire/advocate for people he wanted, i.e. Beane. Prior to McD, the old guard OBD types frowned on any real changes (see the reports Marrone demanded a new training staff in February 2014 and was made to toe the line by Brandon). There's a plan in place now, which is a lot more than can be said for previous GMs, HCs, and a certain team president that were all about the quick hits.

And then, a few years later, he was the one announcing that the Toronto deal would not be extended. I always got the sense he wanted to be the guy who could say it was over when in fact it was his thing to begin with.

Who is Napoli's going to sell suits to now?

Modrak was fired in 2011 and Nix left in 2013...hardly a decade ago. OBD has not been in front of league trends for years now and I read this article to mean that McDermott was putting in the time and Whaley was, well, not so much: https://www.si.com/mmqb/2017/04/30/buffalo-bills-dysfunction-doug-whaley-fired-after-draft-sean-mcdemott-terry-kim-pegula "On the flip side, coaches felt Whaley and his staff weren’t doing enough to find players to fit the schemes they wanted to run, and that they brought in too many guys who were damaged goods (like 2016 first-round pick Shaq Lawson)."

I don't think McBeane are going to be out-worked in draft prep by any other team. This stands in stark contrast to the previous GMs and personnel types like Whaley, Nix, and Modrak.

Says the guy with a Peterman avatar. I'm still amazed how so many people believe using first round picks on positions of less impact somehow translates to wins when you don't have a QB. You're not rebuilding by avoiding finding the QB and no combination of DT, OG, WR, et. al is going to fix that.

As others have said, this team doesn't need another WR who can't separate. He's not the guy Dallas re-signed a few years ago. But he is a "name" player without the production to match.

Rod Streater has 28 receptions in his last 4 NFL seasons, playing all of 20 games. No GM or HC with half a brain counts on that production.

Walk on down to OBD tonight and be sure to tell Beane and McDermott. Tell them for all of us because you're on TBD and know better.

Your schtick is getting tired.

You're not in the business of hiring people, are you? Either way, keep on conflating everything to fit your opinion.

It's psychological at this point. The "trauma" of having a first round pick not work out has made people have some sort of syndrome over trusting anything until it works out again. That's especially the case when some fans look around and see other teams find their QB or experience real success. The idea it's an apt comparison of 2002, 2006, or 2013 draft is laughable. No one has to love it now, but expecting Allen not to pan out is a purely defensive thought process.

"Note to Self: Zero Oxygen for Trolls!"

Some personnel people are clearly better than others. And there's no way OBD is handling personnel the same way they've done for years.