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Everything posted by PalmTreeMafia
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So should we expect the return from Lehner and Kane trades to be better or worse as we get closer to the trade deadline? I'm getting anxious about not having these two guys gone already. It would be so Buffalo for them to get injured before the end of February.
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I don't agree with this at all. 22 of the 27 franchise QB's in the league were drafted within the top 36 picks. The 5 exceptions are: Tom Brady (199th in 2000), Russell Wilson (75th in 2012), Kirk Cousins (102nd in 2012), Jimmy Garoppolo (62nd in 2014), and Dak Prescott (135th in 2016). The 5 teams without a franchise QB at the moment are: Bills, Jets, Browns, Broncos, and Cardinals. By "franchise QB" I mean a player whom the team views as a long-term NFL starter, or I suppose in the case of the over-35 QB crowd, a guy who has been viewed as the long-term QB solution during his career. So basically, NFL scouts must be doing something right in their evaluations if they rarely find a starting-caliber QB outside the early 2nd round. That's not the case for any of the other football positions. Part of that is because QB is by far the most scrutinized position. QB's get evaluated on the following: arm strength, throwing accuracy, release mechanics (particularly release time), mobility, intelligence (ability to process information quickly on field, understand complex playbooks, read defensive formations, etc.), character (maturity, leadership, work ethics), and school (quality of competition, quality of talent around him, experience in a pro-level offense system). First-round busts occur - just like the occasional late-round gem - because the evaluation process can never be an exact science whenever you are dealing with young adult humans. I believe the Bills have been sucking at the franchise QB drafting game since the mid-90's because they have been consistently overestimating the importance of arm strength at the expense of other attributes like throwing accuracy, release time, and intelligence. At this point, going into free agency and the draft, there shouldn't be any disagreement as to how the current Buffalo QB's are perceived. Tyrod Taylor is nothing more than an excellent back-up NFL QB, though maybe he can still play out the final year of his contract here in a caretaker role for a franchise QB since cutting Taylor would create a $7.5 million cap hit despite $10 million in cap savings. Looking at Nathan Peterman as anything more than a third-string project QB would be setting up the 2018 season for disaster. Joe Webb is strictly a change-of-pace back-up QB. I'll talk about our QB options in free agency and the draft at another time. It's too early right now to say what the Bills should do with any conviction. We still need to see what the Redskins want to do with Cousins, the Vikings with Bradford/Bridgewater/Keenum, the Chiefs with Smith, what veteran QB's are going to retire, and which college QB's fully declare for the draft before even attempting to suggest a path to take. But one thing is now crystal clear: the Buffalo Bills need a franchise QB because they don't currently have one who can take them to the Super Bowl without the help of a 1985 Bears or 2000 Ravens defense.
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Wouldn't be surprised to see 4 QB's taken with the first 6 picks of the draft - Browns, Giants, Jets, Broncos. Then you have the Cards at #15. Then you have a bunch of teams with aging franchise QB's who might be thinking about the future. Darnold, Rosen, Allen, Mayfield, and Jackson will be taken in the first round. Who else? Drew Lock? Mason Rudolph? I'm quickly moving toward the opinion of using our picks in the first 2 rounds on OL and DL instead. Don't force a franchise QB if one's not there. Remember the lessons from The Drought! Donahoe reached for Losman in 2004. Whaley reached for Manuel in 2013. I've been a vocal critic of Tyrod Taylor, but the fact of the matter is that he's still the best QB we've had since Jim Kelly. It wouldn't be an awful decision at this point to keep Tyrod for 2018 and resume the franchise QB search in 2019. At least that guy will be coming to a team that will have almost all of the roster pieces in place by September 2019.
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No idea. For me personally, the 2017-18 Buffalo Sabres are the most unlikeable sports team I have ever followed. I now only show up to this message board 5 or so times a week for the Buffalo Bills thread and to see the latest NHL trade rumors. Can't wait until this roster is blown up in February!
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Is the Sabres franchise in a playoff "drought"?
PalmTreeMafia replied to PASabreFan's topic in The Aud Club
Longest ever by an NHL franchise is 10. We are currently at 6. Will be officially 7 in a few months. Previous record for our franchise was 3. Carolina has current longest streak at 8, but they could easily break it this season, which would make us the joke of the NHL once again. Thank you, Terry. -
If you want to play that game....I could say that Jacksonville was gifted 4-5 games through a ridiculously soft schedule made even softer with the Luck and Watson injuries. But I'm not going to play that game. I think the Jags have a legitimately elite defense that is superior to Buffalo's defense because of the front 7 comparisons. The secondary is another matter, however. I think both teams have elite secondaries. McDermott and Frazier are among the absolute best in the league at playing zone defense and at disguising coverages. Those interceptions weren't luck. They were a result of lots of good old-fashioned film study and mostly our safeties being in the right position to make plays while White/Gaines/Johnson/Milano did their jobs well in coverage. The only reason why I think the Bills have a chance on Sunday is because of the battle between our secondary and Bortles. Marrone knows this and is going to do whatever it takes to get those 4 yards each carry. That's why we should just expect to play 8 men in the box all game. Play Poyer like another linebacker. And throw in some occasional 3-4 looks with Alexander and Hughes as OLB's. On the other side of the ball, this new guy named Marcus Murphy better be able to get his own 4 yards per carry because I have zero faith in Tyrod Taylor doing anything right on his own other than not turning the ball over. Put a LB spy on Taylor, double cover Clay, and then sit back and watch Taylor get sacked 6+ times with 3-and-outs on every drive except against the 4th quarter prevent defense. We've all seen this over and over again this year, but it will be more pronounced against the Jags.
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Lehner: Mediocre or the Goalie of the Future?
PalmTreeMafia replied to WildCard's topic in The Aud Club
Good. Hopefully Lehner's recent play during regulation will be enough to steal a late first rounder from a desperate playoff team in late February. Lehner is a headcase and a choke artist, and I hope I never have to see him in a Sabres uniform again beyond February 26. -
Don't forget Gaines, who almost had 2 picks this game. The defense is definitely much better with him in the lineup. White, Hyde, Poyer, and Gaines could soon become our version of the Legion of Boom. A few interesting facts: 1. This game's final score was 22-16, which was a mirror version of the final score of our last playoff game. 2. This was the only season in franchise history where the team finished with a winning record (9-7) and also had a negative total point differential (-57). 3. Both coaches during The Drought who quit on the Bills after two seasons are now in the playoffs (Marrone and Mularkey). 4. McCoy's Pro Bowl 2017 season gives the Bills 30 1,000+ yard rushing performances in franchise history. Only the Rams (32 instances) and Bears (31 instances) have had more. I don't know what to make of the Jags. Four of their wins came against the Watson-less Texans, the Luck-less Colts, and the Browns. The Steelers game was their only impressive win. But Fournette is the real deal, as is their defense. Our garbage run defense needs to step up. And can the Bills develop their own running game without McCoy? Taylor needs to play above his usual 3-and-out self and actually sustain drives and put up some points in the second half. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to post this: http://www.wgr550.com/articles/news/watch-bills-arrive-wild-scene-buffalo-airport
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Aahahashdsghsdfhjsdfljadlb aflbvaofghalhvpsBGFLAFGJHFGLAGLSJDAHFLJAFGLAJRLJ1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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GDT Sabres at Islanders 12/27/17 7PM MSG, GR
PalmTreeMafia replied to Brawndo's topic in The Aud Club
Playoffs in 3 years?! The all-time worst NHL franchise playoff drought is 10 years. We're currently at 6, with this season being 7. I suppose this is what happens when your top draft picks during your drought include Girgensons, Grigorenko, Zadorov, Ristolainen, Reinhart, and Nylander. -
I actually like these lines. I don't necessarily look at it as rewarding poor play. I look at it as a final warning to Reinhart and Girgensons to start producing. If Reinhart can't do anything with Eichel and Kane, then he's done here beyond January. Same situation for Girgensons with O'Reilly and Okposo.
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Gionta, Gorges, Moulson, and Legwand were supposed to provide that leadership. Oops. O'Reilly I think pisses me off the most. He should have seized the "C" in the locker room before this season even began. What an overpaid, underperforming, platitude-spewing headcase this clown turned out to be.
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I guess I'm still ok with the trade. He definitely has talent. Third rounders rarely make any impact whatsoever in the NHL anyway. Maybe Beaulieu will finally figure it out in the next 1.5 seasons. Most likely he won't. Even so, I don't want to shame JB for making deals like this one.
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For $35-40 million? Absolutely not. But for $20-25 million on the UFA market? Sure, I'm interested. I believe a lot of people have developed cognitive biases against Kirk Cousins based on his 102nd overall draft status alone. He would be a good match for the type of offense that McDermott, Dennison, and Beane have talked about wanting to run. McCown, Alex Smith, and Keenum would all be better short-term options than Tyrod Taylor. But there is a $7.5 million dead cap hit for cutting Taylor on the final year of his contract, so that certainly has to be factored into the equation. Sure, I have no problem keeping Taylor for an additional year if the Bills make the playoffs. But I have become increasingly convinced that the Bills need to beat the Patriots in order to make the playoffs. And the idea that Taylor will engineer the 25+ needed points against New England is laughable, given the 3 he mustered last game. He has become one of the easiest QB's in the league to game plan against. Rosen, Darnold, Mayfield, and Jackson are the only 4 rookie QB's I see as capable of starting next season. All should be gone by the time the Bills pick. There are some QB's I like in later rounds, like Luke Falk of Washington State. But at this point, I prefer to build the OL and the front 7 this offseason, draft a QB project in April, settle on a 1-year stop-gap UFA QB in March, and focus on the franchise QB issue in 2019. I prefer the Wentz/Goff/Watson model of having a viable roster before plugging in the franchise QB, rather than the Luck model.
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Sabres prospects in the World Juniors this year
PalmTreeMafia replied to GASabresIUFAN's topic in The Aud Club
Yes I do plenty of research, but thanks for calling me out. Reinhart was widely considered to have had an excellent performance at the World Juniors, regardless of being named a tournament MVP or not. In Reinhart's particular case, it didn't happen to translate over to the NHL. That was my only point. Go watch Mittelstadt in the World Juniors. Enjoy. -
Fine, but remember that nothing in pro football is permanent. The Patriots were largely a joke for the first 40 years of their existence. Same for the Steelers. Storied franchises like the Cowboys, Redskins, and Dolphins haven't done much of anything since the early to mid-90's. The Packers were garbage between 1967-1993. The Bears haven't done sh!t in the entire Super Bowl Era outside of the Buddy Ryan years. The Giants sucked for most of the 60's and 70's. The 49ers were nothing as a franchise until the 1980's began. The Broncos didn't even make the playoffs for the first 17 years of their existence. The Raiders have been awful since 2002. One upon a time, even the Cleveland Browns were considered a legendary franchise about as dominant as the 21st century Patriots have been. Also keep in mind that only a couple dozen players on this current Bills team were here last season for Wrecks Ryan's buffoonery. And only 6 players remain from the 2014 Marrone squad that choked in Oakland week 16. And only Kyle Williams and Eric Wood were a part of the 2011 collapse from 5-2. And only Kyle Williams was there for the 2008 collapse from 5-1. No one exists from the 2004 Bills team that had the week 17 Steelers home game meltdown. So while Bills fans may feel like the team is consumed in a deeply entrenched culture of failure, I doubt the players and coaches do. They are probably looking at Sunday's game against the Patriots like this year's Rams were looking at last Sunday's game against the Seahawks. Sure, the Bills will probably lose Sunday. But it's not because they are being typically "Billsy." It's because this is year 1 of a massive rebuild, and the talent differential is simply too great at the time between the two teams. Oh yeah, and I suspect the Pats are still cheating but just in new and innovative ways. At this point, the offense is a competent QB and a new RG away from being an above average unit. The front seven on defense needs a near-total overhaul, but 5 picks in the top 100 of the 2018 draft and a lot of cap space could lead to a quick turnaround. Look what happened to the secondary in one off-season: Hyde, Poyer, White, Gaines, and Milano (he's essentially an extension of the secondary). TRUST THE PROCESS! And repeatedly clap your hands and pray to Jeebus while trusting it!
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Your hard-on for mediocre QB's is amusing. And your actively rooting against the Bills in 2001 was disgraceful. Tyrod Taylor will be gone by March because of repeated performances like those seen in games 2, 5, 9, 10, 13, and - very likely - this Sunday. Production like that is simply not worth $18 million next season. It's not a binary choice of either accepting Nathan Peterman's 10 interceptions-per-game pace or else having to settle for Tyrod Taylor. There will be a multitude of better options in the draft and in free agency than this glorified RB at the most important position in football. Fourteen games into the season, and this offense has only 99 completions off of only 203 targets to WR's?! GTFO with this . Time to join the modern pro game.
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Sabres prospects in the World Juniors this year
PalmTreeMafia replied to GASabresIUFAN's topic in The Aud Club
Same for that , Sam Reinhart, back in 2015. -
"Signed Reino, Eichs, Bogo" — Evander profile in THN
PalmTreeMafia replied to PASabreFan's topic in The Aud Club
Why are these guys even friends with someone like Zach Bogosian? -
Game discussion thread GDT: Bruins @ Sabres 12/19/2017, 7:30pm NBCS
PalmTreeMafia replied to jsb's topic in The Aud Club
Think of the amount of money this loser piece of sh!t just pissed away. Most of the jerk-offs who are burdening this franchise - Moulson, Gorges, Bogosian, O'Reilly to name a few - at least have had the sense to mail it in knowing their financial future was secured. -
This is one of the best free agent QB classes ever, so the Bills could definitely go in that direction if they choose not to trade an entire draft on the potential of a single rookie QB. Assuming they cut Tyrod Taylor, the Bills will have enough cap room to sign a good QB plus two more big-name free agents. Then if they hold on to their top 4-5 draft picks, that's 7-8 new starters we're talking about. The Bills can get this thing turned around quickly if they don't throw everything away trying to chase the next Wentz/Goff. There are simply too many other teams needing a QB, enough question marks surrounding the QB's in this draft, too many historical QB draft busts, and too many roster holes to make trading way up in the first worth it....just my opinion.
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He may be the best defensive player in the draft and probably won't last long enough for either of our 1st round picks. Definitely not worth trading up for a LB, but FWIW he's pretty much the ideal 4-3 MLB for Coach McJesus. But there should be a lot of good LB value beyond Smith in this draft. The front seven of this defense is so awful that I wouldn't be too surprised if all four of our picks in rounds 1-2 are used on the positions of DT, DE, and LB.
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Game Discussion Thread Buffalo at Philadelphia 7pm EST MSG, GR
PalmTreeMafia replied to Brawndo's topic in The Aud Club
He's an RFA, so he's not going to walk away without compensation. I strongly suggest we not give up on Reinhart. He's playing poorly and has regressed from the previous two years. But so has this entire team to varying degrees. He's only 22 years old and can't really maximize his potential on this current team because there are not enough good wingers on the roster for which Reinhart can center a line. He may not be particularly fast or big for NHL standards, but I also wouldn't characterize him as slow or small either. -
Oh for 's sake....I'm not exactly a fan of Coach McDermott, but attacking him for an awkward war analogy is pretty weak. You all knew what he meant. Lots of people make war analogies with the understanding that the analogies don't hold up to the gravity of actual war...even if this clarification wasn't explicitly stated. You military vets and hardcore Breitbart conservatives are starting to sound like bigger, whinier puSSies than any of the nose-ringed, purple haired, tattooed, soy milk-drinking social justice warrior fairies on the left. Get over the indignities of all the NFL kneelers and start examining how the current administration has used empty rhetoric and manipulated racial divisions in order to accelerate crony capitalism, the raping of Mother Earth, and the expansion of the military-industrial complex for the benefit of the few and at the expense of the many..... Yeah okay, I'll get off my political soapbox now, but it pisses me off that a very interesting football event occurred last night and yet THIS is what people here are talking about. By the way, yes I think Coach Ginger Jesus Handclapping Process-Trusting McWrestler is a simple man. He would probably say the same about himself if you asked him. The thing is that you don't need a genius IQ to be a successful NFL head coach. The most important ingredients for being a successful head coach include motivational skills, work ethic, organizational skills, common sense, and experience. Complex X's and O's strategies and analytics are definitely important to the modern pro game - and guys like Belichick recognize this - but these aspects can easily be delegated to other coaches and staff members working under the head coach. Do a Google search of "Ernie Adams". So far, I'll admit that Coach McDermott has looked very Dick Jauron-esque at times. So far he has been coaching like a typical defensive-minded coach with limited roster talent. But I'm willing to give him a mulligan this year and see what he can do next year with more of the players he needs to run his style of 4-3 and - oh yeah -maybe an actual franchise QB who can actually run a pro offense and throw to the WR's on the roster. Mother of , I was going to say something meaningful about the upcoming Dolphins game. Ah it. I'm out. Oh yeah, one last thing: check the Orchard Park weather report for Sunday. Maybe a bit too early, but more snow!
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exploring the idea of John Tavares as a Buffalo Sabre
PalmTreeMafia replied to PalmTreeMafia's topic in The Aud Club
Actually, I crunched some numbers and found that the Sabres would have the room to sign Tavares AND keep O'Reilly along with Eichel, Okposo, Reinhart, Ristolainen, and Scandella. I used an estimated $80 million cap for my back-of-the-envelope estimate. I even assumed we were holding on to dead weight like Bogosian, Moulson, Pominville, and Beaulieu. It's all very possible to imagine if you factor in the likelihood that Kane and Lehner are gone next season and that several of our inexpensive prospects make the NHL squad full time (Nylander, Mittelstadt, Bailey, Guhle, and Ullmark). The caveat, however, is that there would be no financial room to upgrade the defense without moving some of that aforementioned dead weight. But where there's a will, there's a way! Kane and Lehner trades, for example, could include salary dumps and defensemen help.