NoSaint Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 You guys are harsh. My impression was that he seemed less like some mover and shaker that golfs with Russ on the weekend and more like some kid who loves the Bills and is trying to pump his website and establish himself in the Twitter sphere. In other words, I think if we start linking that dude's twitter feed as a reliable source then we can start linking to any Bills mafia schmo and that's probably not the best precedent. yea i was unaware on buddy nixon but saw a few saying hes seemed connected before. youve certainly reminded me why i normally search on my own. weighing it, i get the impression he might know someone in the building still but..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Jackson Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 (edited) You guys are harsh. My impression was that he seemed less like some mover and shaker that golfs with Russ on the weekend and more like some kid who loves the Bills and is trying to pump his website and establish himself in the Twitter sphere. In other words, I think if we start linking that dude's twitter feed as a reliable source then we can start linking to any Bills mafia schmo and that's probably not the best precedent. You may be right. It seems like he knows someone that knows Littman from what I gather. I am willing to take a little bit of a wait and see if any of his "inside" info comes to fruition. I am not holding my breath though. Edited February 27, 2014 by Kirby Jackson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucci Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 (edited) You may be right. It seems like he knows someone that knows Littman from what I gather. I am willing to take a little bit of a wait and see if any of his "inside" info comes to fruition. I am not holding my breath though. Not something you should do anyways. Edited February 27, 2014 by nucci Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdand12 Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Not something you should do anyways. Now we're back on track !Lol Nucci. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maury Ballstein Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 The guy outkicked the coverage. He must know something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mcbride Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 (edited) Not disagreeing with you there, but I have heard quoted a few times, on the John Murphy show most recently, that safety is, on average, the lowest paying position on an NFL squad, aftter punter and place-kicker. I don't know if that speaks as much to the lack of quality safetys in the game, or a lack of value placed on the position. To me, perhaps after watching so many years of sub-par Bills defense, there are few things that stand out as much as a weak secondary... The thing with Byrd though, in relation to the guys mentioned (Reed, Troy P, Sanders, Thomas, etc) is that those guys are all pretty physical players, almost like lighter, quicker linebackers...I don't think of Byrd like that. He is definitely a crafty guy, who knows how to cover, and ball hawk...but I don't think of him as a hard hitting, sure tackler. What Byrd offers is elite single-high safety play - perhaps the best in the game. He's not a cover-2 safety, which is a dying breed anyway. The shift to the single-high safety approach is one of the most prevalent trends in NFL defense now. Because the safety plays so deep and on his own, the scheme rewards instinctual athletes who are good at pattern recognition. The Bears, to take one team, play single-high over 2/3 of the time now. There is a huge demand for players who can handle the position, but the problem is that they're hard to find. Byrd knows this, and also knows that he stands to get paid. A lot. Whaley, to his credit, recognizes his value and seems to want to pay him his value. There are a couple of likely problems, however: the lifers controlling the purse strings, and the possible unwillingness of Byrd to continue playing on a bad team that will have its 4th DC in 4 years. If I were him, I'd do what I could to get out of town. Byrd's game isn't isn't hitting hard; it's playing great pass defense. He's a far better pass defender than Polamalu currently is and Sanders ever was. Edited February 27, 2014 by dave mcbride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fixxxer Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Who is this Jairus Byrd that everyone is talking about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill from NYC Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 What Byrd offers is elite single-high safety play - perhaps the best in the game. He's not a cover-2 safety, which is a dying breed anyway. The shift to the single-high safety approach is one of the most prevalent trends in NFL defense now. Because the safety plays so deep and on his own, the scheme rewards instinctual athletes who are good at pattern recognition. Dave, does this type of safety require great speed? I ask because the speed factor is my only concern with Byrd as a football player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple haze Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Byrd's game isn't isn't hitting hard; it's playing great pass defense. He's a far better pass defender than Polamalu currently is and Sanders ever was. Agree on the pass defense skills in comparison to Polamalu and Sanders. And no, his game isn’t hitting hard, but he has laid the wood on people over the years at times. Dave, does this type of safety require great speed? I ask because the speed factor is my only concern with Byrd as a football player. I don’t think Byrd’s speed is an issue. It hasn’t been up to now has it? He seems to make more plays than he doesn’t. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mcbride Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Dave, does this type of safety require great speed? I ask because the speed factor is my only concern with Byrd as a football player. Bill -- You don't want your safety to be slow, obviously, but it's much more important to recognize plays immediately and put yourself in position. If you can't do that -- and most can't -- a 4.2 40 time ain't gonna save you. Byrd isn't fast, but he's fast enough. By way of comparison, Payton Manning's arm isn't great, but it's certainly good enough. He's elite at everything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed83HOF Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Tim Graham @ByTimGraham 3m Two sources tell me Bills/Jairus Byrd contract talks have been pleasant so far, a departure from last year at this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Tim Graham @ByTimGraham 3m Two sources tell me Bills/Jairus Byrd contract talks have been pleasant so far, a departure from last year at this time. Well.. there is a credible source! (not being sarcastic, just mean something from a real reporter and not a Blogger) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Well.. there is a credible source! (not being sarcastic, just mean something from a real reporter and not a Blogger) Tim Graham was driving the car that Kevin Massare was in when he snapped the selfie that Jauronimo posted earlier. GO BILLS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed83HOF Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Well.. there is a credible source! (not being sarcastic, just mean something from a real reporter and not a Blogger) I almost added a disclaimer..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Now he wrote about it (not the selfie): http://bills.buffalonews.com/2014/02/27/guarantees-cold-war-may-thawed-jairus-byrd-contract-talks/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mannc Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Dave, does this type of safety require great speed? I ask because the speed factor is my only concern with Byrd as a football player. I don't know what Byrd's combine numbers were but he returned punts at Oregon, on a team loaded with explosive, fast players. He is definitely not slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOKBILLS Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 (edited) I don't know what Byrd's combine numbers were but he returned punts at Oregon, on a team loaded with explosive, fast players. He is definitely not slow. He ran slow at Oregon's Pro day...I think it was a 4.68...But he had a groin strain and it was bad enough that it kept him from running at the Combine...He's never been a fast straight line guy...But he's always been fast enough, and real quick to react... Edited March 2, 2014 by KOKBILLS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple haze Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 (edited) He ran slow at the Combine...I think it was a 4.68...But he had a groin strain and it was bad enough that it kept him from running at Oregon's Pro day...He's never been a fast straight line guy...But he's always been fast enough, and real quick to react... “Fast” or “Slow” is all relative though. Byrd isn’t slow and playing DB in the NFL. He’s not a burner, but he can move. He knows where to be, takes good angles most times and that also makes him play “faster.” Jerry Rice ran a 4.6 during his pre-draft process. Edited February 28, 2014 by purple haze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Dave, does this type of safety require great speed? I ask because the speed factor is my only concern with Byrd as a football player. Take it fwiw, but some of the advanced metric guys (don't recall which but one of the big sites) had him ranked as the best in the league in that role last offseason. He might not be the fastest in the league, but he's been on time getting where he needs to be regularly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Take it fwiw, but some of the advanced metric guys (don't recall which but one of the big sites) had him ranked as the best in the league in that role last offseason. He might not be the fastest in the league, but he's been on time getting where he needs to be regularly. At safety, reaction time, angles to the ball/receiver as you track it, and world class instincts, all cut tenths of a second off 40 times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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