Christian Benford, dealing from a position of strength in contract negotiations.

[Simon]

7 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

greatest typo ever!

 

I may have aided the runner a little bit 

[FireChans]

5 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

Gunner got me there.  Fire Chan and Era getting some special ed! 

 

Maybe BB "coached them up" the second time? 

 

Crickets?  Nah, I was working last night...me and the anesthesiologist.  Take your W and mount it on your naked wall lol...

 

 

You joke but the point was that one of BB’s claims to fame was having some joker on defense play well under him, let him get paid in FA, predictably fail, return to NE and play better again. 
 

I always attributed that to the difference in coaching. It’s not that the players just sucked elsewhere and it was a coincidence. It was that BB and his system got more out of flawed players than a random DC and their system.

 

Now, no one is calling McD and co BB. Certainly not me. But imo, it’s not a coincidence that Levi, Dane, and even Douglas played some of their best ball in Buffalo.
 

That doesn’t make them stars of course but it isn’t nothing. Just like Pat Chung was no star but wasn’t nothing in NE.

 

I think at this point McD gets the benefit of the doubt when it comes to CB’s/DB’s until he doesn’t. He targeted Hyde and Poyer and got them to All-Pros. Taron ended up an All-Pro. Levi and Dane became part time starters in the NFL when they probably should have been camp cuts. Benford speaks for himself. Even midseason addition Rasul Douglas went from 109 passer rating in Green Bay to 38.6 in Buffalo in 2023 (he fell back off a cliff after but hey). 

Now of course, Elam is a complete bust and a failure and you can put that on McD as well I suppose, especially if he is successful against all odds in Dallas. 
 

But my money is on that Elam just completely sucks and will probably be out of the league in a year. 
 

So my definition of “coaching up” is routinely taking lower tier draft picks or prospects with high likelihood of failure at the NFL and wringing every drop of production out of them. And when some of them leave in FA, they fail to replicate that production.

[Mr. WEO]

3 hours ago, FireChans said:

You joke but the point was that one of BB’s claims to fame was having some joker on defense play well under him, let him get paid in FA, predictably fail, return to NE and play better again. 
 

I always attributed that to the difference in coaching. It’s not that the players just sucked elsewhere and it was a coincidence. It was that BB and his system got more out of flawed players than a random DC and their system.

 

Now, no one is calling McD and co BB. Certainly not me. But imo, it’s not a coincidence that Levi, Dane, and even Douglas played some of their best ball in Buffalo.
 

That doesn’t make them stars of course but it isn’t nothing. Just like Pat Chung was no star but wasn’t nothing in NE.

 

I think at this point McD gets the benefit of the doubt when it comes to CB’s/DB’s until he doesn’t. He targeted Hyde and Poyer and got them to All-Pros. Taron ended up an All-Pro. Levi and Dane became part time starters in the NFL when they probably should have been camp cuts. Benford speaks for himself. Even midseason addition Rasul Douglas went from 109 passer rating in Green Bay to 38.6 in Buffalo in 2023 (he fell back off a cliff after but hey). 

Now of course, Elam is a complete bust and a failure and you can put that on McD as well I suppose, especially if he is successful against all odds in Dallas. 
 

But my money is on that Elam just completely sucks and will probably be out of the league in a year. 
 

So my definition of “coaching up” is routinely taking lower tier draft picks or prospects with high likelihood of failure at the NFL and wringing every drop of production out of them. And when some of them leave in FA, they fail to replicate that production.

 

Fair points.  Beane needs to find better talent at the DB spots.  Coaching up marginal players and then letting them go to start over again puts a burden on the D.  Benford is the only true starter they have--Benford and his agent know this and will squeeze Beane.

[GunnerBill]

3 hours ago, FireChans said:

You joke but the point was that one of BB’s claims to fame was having some joker on defense play well under him, let him get paid in FA, predictably fail, return to NE and play better again. 
 

I always attributed that to the difference in coaching. It’s not that the players just sucked elsewhere and it was a coincidence. It was that BB and his system got more out of flawed players than a random DC and their system.

 

Now, no one is calling McD and co BB. Certainly not me. But imo, it’s not a coincidence that Levi, Dane, and even Douglas played some of their best ball in Buffalo.
 

That doesn’t make them stars of course but it isn’t nothing. Just like Pat Chung was no star but wasn’t nothing in NE.

 

I think at this point McD gets the benefit of the doubt when it comes to CB’s/DB’s until he doesn’t. He targeted Hyde and Poyer and got them to All-Pros. Taron ended up an All-Pro. Levi and Dane became part time starters in the NFL when they probably should have been camp cuts. Benford speaks for himself. Even midseason addition Rasul Douglas went from 109 passer rating in Green Bay to 38.6 in Buffalo in 2023 (he fell back off a cliff after but hey). 

Now of course, Elam is a complete bust and a failure and you can put that on McD as well I suppose, especially if he is successful against all odds in Dallas. 
 

But my money is on that Elam just completely sucks and will probably be out of the league in a year. 
 

So my definition of “coaching up” is routinely taking lower tier draft picks or prospects with high likelihood of failure at the NFL and wringing every drop of production out of them. And when some of them leave in FA, they fail to replicate that production.

 

Excellent post. Agree with every word.