off topic Buffalo Bills 2015

[IKnowPhysics]

We should have offered more for Bo Callahan.

[WildCard]

The more I'm reading, the more I want Taylor to win the job. Why? They're all bad, so may as well take the guy who will occasionally fall backwards into a really exciting play. 

I still hear he's fond of scrambling at a sign of trouble, but other than that he's been better than the others from most reports. I wish I could see some highlights on him; the only things I can find are short vines from Bill's Camp or that one preseason drive he had with the Ravens 3 years back

Couple questions for you Hoss on Taylor, based on tonight at least:

 

How's his arm? Does he step into his throws? Is he captain Check-Down 2.0? Or is he Losman a.k.a. "The 10 seconds of eye contact with my receiver won't ever tip off the DB covering him"? And, does he panic into scramble mode or use it as more of a last resort?

[I am Defecting]

Thanks Hoss.

 

I hope they give Taylor a chance to develop, like they did with Doug Whaley and Russ Brandon.

[Hoss]

I still hear he's fond of scrambling at a sign of trouble, but other than that he's been better than the others from most reports. I wish I could see some highlights on him; the only things I can find are short vines from Bill's Camp or that one preseason drive he had with the Ravens 3 years back

 

Couple questions for you Hoss on Taylor, based on tonight at least:

 

How's his arm? Does he step into his throws? Is he captain Check-Down 2.0? Or is he Losman a.k.a. "The 10 seconds of eye contact with my receiver won't ever tip off the DB covering him"? And, does he panic into scramble mode or use it as more of a last resort?

Taylor has a nice arm. I don't think he can throw as far as EJ, but I think he is more accurate than EJ down the field. EJ just throws it as high and far as he can without aiming it seems.

I don't know how he is in games but he wasn't looking to check down today. Staring down receivers was a hard thing to judge in todayMs practice. I don't think any of the group were particularly bad with the staring.

Scrambling is a talent of his. I think it's fine if he gets out of the pocket. In college he used it as a way to make plays and limit mistakes. That's a good thing for this team.

[thewookie1]

I went to camp tonight.

 

A few obervations:

 

On the QBs: meh x100000000. Each one was responsible for a few atrocious throws. Tyrod started practice very poorly but picked it up with time. His legs make him more dangerous than the other two. They did a fade route drill when they had tall buckets set up in the corner of the end zone. Tyrod nailed his first two right into the bucket. EJ was a mile off (hit the bottom of the bucket once and was a ways off the rest of the time. Cassel was hitting the bucket but not that close to landing any in. Tyrod got huge cheers when they blew the whistle and he was jogging away and still landed it in the bucket while moving away from farther out.

During team drills all three had at least one deep beauty. Tyrod had two miscommunications. Seems better than the other two at leading the receiver (which can mean more YAC or more dead wide receivers). Cassel always has the veteran game mindset going. Dumped the ball off when pressure was coming moreso than the other two (they seemed to ignore the fact that they would've been sacked and held it looking for a bigger play). Cassel is the better guy in the short game, but he has no arm strength so getting the ball into tight windows or down the field will be tough with him. Tyrod does everything better than EJ, really. I could see somebody saying EJ had a better day, but I saw more from Tyrod that makes me hopeful. Tyrod had the best play of the day where he avoided the rush and dumped it over the top to Sammy for a TD.

 

Non-QB stuff:

If today is any indication then the people saying Gilmore is the league's next big corner are absolutely right. Double moves are no issue for him. He runs with guys without interfering or making contact. When Sammy faced him he got shut down but when Sammy faced others he burnt them all (Sammy looks like a superstar).

The rookie Darby looks very good. He was nearly as good as Gilmore in shutting guys down. Reminds me a bit of Cortland Finnegan in that he was giving the short stuff and in a position to make the tackle but he wasn't getting better deep or across the middle.

Bradham looks like he's ready for another great year. In on most plays.

The defensive line will need to be benched for some practices if they really want to run the offense (they disrupt every play).

McCoy did absolutely nothing today. Couldn't find him on the field most of the time.

Erin Kelly is as good looking as her dad was at playing football.

Robert Woods needs to stop trying to make every play a one-handed catch. He's a good all-around receiver but it's time to just use your hands like you're supposed to. Will be very good if he can do that.

Jerry Hughes was a humongous big steal. I will repeat that until I die.

Bryce Brown will fumble away his roster spot. Don't waste your time getting to know him - he's going to be cut.

Some really good plays from Clay out there. He's a weapon.

 

 

Oh: Matt Simms is booty. Dude couldn't hit me in the face with a football if my face was a football.

 

Tyrod Taylor is certainly my favorite since he seems potentially able to become something great, and more realistically able to get there as well. And what I'm hearing about the D-line makes me excited to see them again, love seeing sacks and picks!

 

Erin and I are the same age and were teammates on a soccer team when we were 10.

[inkman]

I went to camp tonight.

 

A few obervations:

 

On the QBs: meh x100000000. Each one was responsible for a few atrocious throws. Tyrod started practice very poorly but picked it up with time. His legs make him more dangerous than the other two. They did a fade route drill when they had tall buckets set up in the corner of the end zone. Tyrod nailed his first two right into the bucket. EJ was a mile off (hit the bottom of the bucket once and was a ways off the rest of the time. Cassel was hitting the bucket but not that close to landing any in. Tyrod got huge cheers when they blew the whistle and he was jogging away and still landed it in the bucket while moving away from farther out.

During team drills all three had at least one deep beauty. Tyrod had two miscommunications. Seems better than the other two at leading the receiver (which can mean more YAC or more dead wide receivers). Cassel always has the veteran game mindset going. Dumped the ball off when pressure was coming moreso than the other two (they seemed to ignore the fact that they would've been sacked and held it looking for a bigger play). Cassel is the better guy in the short game, but he has no arm strength so getting the ball into tight windows or down the field will be tough with him. Tyrod does everything better than EJ, really. I could see somebody saying EJ had a better day, but I saw more from Tyrod that makes me hopeful. Tyrod had the best play of the day where he avoided the rush and dumped it over the top to Sammy for a TD.

 

Non-QB stuff:

If today is any indication then the people saying Gilmore is the league's next big corner are absolutely right. Double moves are no issue for him. He runs with guys without interfering or making contact. When Sammy faced him he got shut down but when Sammy faced others he burnt them all (Sammy looks like a superstar).

The rookie Darby looks very good. He was nearly as good as Gilmore in shutting guys down. Reminds me a bit of Cortland Finnegan in that he was giving the short stuff and in a position to make the tackle but he wasn't getting better deep or across the middle.

Bradham looks like he's ready for another great year. In on most plays.

The defensive line will need to be benched for some practices if they really want to run the offense (they disrupt every play).

McCoy did absolutely nothing today. Couldn't find him on the field most of the time.

Erin Kelly is as good looking as her dad was at playing football.

Robert Woods needs to stop trying to make every play a one-handed catch. He's a good all-around receiver but it's time to just use your hands like you're supposed to. Will be very good if he can do that.

Jerry Hughes was a humongous big steal. I will repeat that until I die.

Bryce Brown will fumble away his roster spot. Don't waste your time getting to know him - he's going to be cut.

Some really good plays from Clay out there. He's a weapon.

 

 

Oh: Matt Simms is booty. Dude couldn't hit me in the face with a football if my face was a football.

McCoy didn't participate and by everyone else's account EJ was the best QB. it seems as if you are placing more emphasis on how they did in drills vs how they looked during simulated game action.

[Hoss]

McCoy didn't participate and by everyone else's account EJ was the best QB. it seems as if you are placing more emphasis on how they did in drills vs how they looked during simulated game action.

The "simulated game action" didn't happen. 11-on-11s wasn't simulated game action, it was just plays run. And EJ also spent a fair amount of time with the 2s and 3s on the opposite end of the field while Cassel and Taylor worked with the 1s. While that was happening EJ had some nice throws when there was no pressure and worse defense.

 

They spent more time throwing in WR 1-on-1s than they did in actual 11-on-11s. Rex and Roman haven't even begun running game scenarios. He said yesterday that they will begin doing that on Wednesday.

 

The crowds are definitely all pro-EJ. He made a terrible throw that was caught well out of bounds to Hogan and the crowd roared. He underthrew Goodwin on what should've been an interception but Goodwin jumped up and made the play while people around me were saying "what a throw by EJ." His best plays were made by his wide receivers.

 

Yesterday Tyrod looked "mediocre," EJ looked "meh" and Cassel looked "bad."

 

Looking through Twitter feeds - Trepasso is the only person I've seen saying Manuel was the best QB yesterday. Others are saying he made a few good throws.

 

Rodak (ugh) pointed out something I forgot about: EJ's WR ran a hitch route well and he completely missed inside for an easy pick six by Rambo. Rambo dropped it, but an NFL corner/safety probably takes it to the house in-game. It was Mark Sanchez-esque.

 

Maybe I'm expecting too much from EJ while not expecting much from Tyrod. But I did point out that Tyrod was pretty terrible for the first half of practice. Turned it on big time in the second half when they started doing 1-on-1s,11-on-11s and 7-on-7s.

Edited August 4, 2015 by Hoss

[inkman]

The "simulated game action" didn't happen. 11-on-11s wasn't simulated game action, it was just plays run.

I was looking for the proper verbiage for what took place yesterday. When I typed what I did, I knew it wasn't exactly right. So thanks for pointing it out, especially in the first sentence, with your normal amount of politeness.

[That Aud Smell]

I was looking for the proper verbiage for what took place yesterday. When I typed what I did, I knew it wasn't exactly right. So thanks for pointing it out, especially in the first sentence, with your normal amount of politeness.

 

Ever helpful.

[Hoss]

I was looking for the proper verbiage for what took place yesterday. When I typed what I did, I knew it wasn't exactly right. So thanks for pointing it out, especially in the first sentence, with your normal amount of politeness.

What? Are you really miffed over that? There wasn't any simulated game action. Wasn't trying to show you up or anything.

 

It seems like you're getting upset when people disagree with you lately, Ink. Cmon now. That sentence wasn't even mild. All I did was point out that what you said I didn't put enough emphasis on didn't happen (hence explaining why I didn't put an emphasis on it). You can't be angry because I didn't know that you phrased what you were trying to say incorrectly.

Ever helpful.

Always chiming in trying to pile on. Too predictable, smell. Edited August 4, 2015 by Hoss

[WildCard]

Sam Bradford and the Eagles are in contract extension talks. There goes another option 

[That Aud Smell]

Always chiming in trying to pile on. Too predictable, smell.

 

Am I really? Well. It may seem that way. To you. At times, I suspect.

 

Ink may be a little more sensitive than usual - perhaps owing to the somnia interrupta - but I was with him on that one (before I read his retort). Intended or not, the distinction between 11-on-11 play drills and 11-on-11 simulated game action came off as a picayune point of correction.

 

You're sharp, and you have a lot of information. I happen to think you'd do well to work on your tone (an admittedly tricky thing to convey on message boards, in emails, in texts).

[Hoss]

Am I really? Well. It may seem that way. To you. At times, I suspect.

 

Ink may be a little more sensitive than usual - perhaps owing to the somnia interrupta - but I was with him on that one (before I read his retort). Intended or not, the distinction between 11-on-11 play drills and 11-on-11 simulated game action came off as a picayune point of correction.

 

You're sharp, and you have a lot of information. I happen to think you'd do well to work on your tone (an admittedly tricky thing to convey on message boards, in emails, in texts).

I don't believe the distinction between game simulation and 11-on-11 play running is at all a pointless distinction. He said I was putting too much emphasis on drills but 11-on-11 is a drill. They haven't installed much yet so it's just all ab advanced game of catch (which is why I think we're also far away from any real leads in the starter race).

Apologies if it seemed like I was trying to show somebody up or my point seemed pointless but I don't believe either were the case.

[TrueBlueGED]

Sam Bradford and the Eagles are in contract extension talks. There goes another option 

 

Good, he's bad.

[WildCard]

Good, he's bad.

He's hurt, not bad. And he's much better than what we have

[Johnny DangerFace]

Good, he's bad.

And mostly dead!

[TrueBlueGED]

If you prefer, I could highlight his absolute turd bombs against bad defenses next time :nana:

 

Tannehill doesn't get dumped on because we're far worse off at the position, he gets dumped on because every time he plays us he...takes a dump, and that's the extent most fans see of him.

 

 

And let's not pretend Alex Smith is anything special anyway. Two years ago when KC has a great season (and lost in the playoffs) he was 19th in the league in QBR. Last year when KC was disappointing...he was 19th in QBR. Would I take him over what we have? Of course. But I'd also be looking for something better each and every offseason he was here. He's basically the Roy/Connolly of QBs, and we all know how they got run out of town for not being good enough.

 

Fun stat: the year KC went 11-5 with Smith, he was only 4 spots above Manuel (who was a rookie) in QBR. May as well have just kept Fitzpatrick.

 

 

QBs you could consider average who have changed teams since Whaley took over: Smith, Foles, Fitzpatrick (there's some irony). The end.

 

And before you or anyone else brings up Bradford, I give you his QBR ranks since entering the league: 25th, 30th, 17th, injured, injured. 

 

 

He's hurt, not bad. And he's much better than what we have

 

He has one single non-bad year, and that was gloriously mediocre. Until proven otherwise, he's a bad NFL QB.

[WildCard]

He has one single non-bad year, and that was gloriously mediocre. Until proven otherwise, he's a bad NFL QB.

Well, .  :lol:

[TrueBlueGED]

Well, ######.  :lol:

 

Also, here's this article: http://grantland.com/features/sam-bradford-st-louis-rams/

 

Sam Bradford = Trent Edwards + 1st overall pick hype

[WildCard]

Also, here's this article: http://grantland.com/features/sam-bradford-st-louis-rams/

 

Sam Bradford = Trent Edwards + 1st overall pick hype

So he's a God then? Because Trent Edwards has proven to have the fastest reaction time of any man alive...

[qwksndmonster]

Am I really? Well. It may seem that way. To you. At times, I suspect.

 

Ink may be a little more sensitive than usual - perhaps owing to the somnia interrupta - but I was with him on that one (before I read his retort). Intended or not, the distinction between 11-on-11 play drills and 11-on-11 simulated game action came off as a picayune point of correction.

 

You're sharp, and you have a lot of information. I happen to think you'd do well to work on your tone (an admittedly tricky thing to convey on message boards, in emails, in texts).

This is classic Smell  :lol:

 

Take note, Hoss.  Smell is one of the best communicators on this board.  He's humble, honest, and hilarious.  (The three H's?)

[That Aud Smell]

classic [rock radio That] Smell 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDB-yswOrzc

[SwampD]

All I smell is a bunch of folk that need to take some Midol and take a nap.

[That Aud Smell]

All I smell is a bunch of folk that need to take some Midol and take a nap.

 

Midol for me, and a nap for Ink, I take it.

 

I am, however, a little troubled by the idea that you can smell us.

[The Dominator]

Here are my impressions from last night. Hopefully there are a few observations that weren't covered by the media so you aren't reading the same thing over and over again...

 

QBs: Before giving my impressions on this group, I'll start by telling you what I like to see from QBs this year, given the situation. I weigh my impressions favorably to someone who shows the most consistency, with bonus points towards someone who can provide a splash play (or wow play, whatever) while avoiding disaster plays. I also don't take 1 on 1 drills into consideration as those throws don't involve any decision making on the quarterback's part. I only judge quarterbacks in 7v7 and team portions of practice. Basically, consistency is key and splash plays earn brownie points but they aren't the be-all end-all.

With that said, my rankings based on last night ALONE are Tyrod, EJ, and then Cassel. Cassel didn't really stand out in the positive category at all, with the vast majority of his completions coming less than 5 yards past the line of scrimmage. When there were opportunities to get more chunk plays 10+ yards downfield, the throw was off the mark. 

With EJ, his splash plays were just as impressive as Tyrod's last night, but he also had a stint of plays where he underthrew Goodwin by 6 yards on a deep flag route with solid coverage. He shouldn't have attempted the throw in the first place and was lucky it was so underthrown or the corner would have had an easy play on the ball. A few plays later in team portion, he telegraphed a throw on a slant route right into the hands of Graham (could be wrong, but I think it was Corey) who dropped it. With that said, he probably had the best red zone work of the three quarterbacks. 

Finally, Tyrod provided as many splash plays as EJ but avoided the pitfalls of EJ's practice. My favorite pass of Tyrod's day wasn't covered much by media from what I've read. In team, he had a play where he scanned the left side of the field, couldn't find an open receiver, and looked backside where he completed a 15 yard in route. Media focused on a deep touchdown pass he made (which was a nice play) but I'm more impressed when I see a quarterback go through his progressions and finding his third receiver for a big chunk of yardage. Those plays extend drives. Another thing of note: all of these quarterbacks are getting "sacked" multiple times in practice. The defense is not letting off the gas at all. Cassel probably isn't being sacked as much as he tends to check down faster than the other two. 

RBs: There were only 2 things of note from this group yesterday which were covered by the media; McCoy was given a rest day in team and Freddy looked like he had fresh legs. It's amazing to think if I didn't know the Bills roster, I would go to a practice and think Freddy is probably 28 years old. On a read option (Tyrod was the QB) Freddy had a great run of about 20+ yards with a small cutback on the left side of the line. Bryce Brown had a huge lane up the middle on an inside carry where he went untouched (credit to the interior o-line on that play).

WRs: Everyone has covered Sammy extensively. Robert Woods looks like a vet out there running routes. Justin Brown is not a good route runner. Isn't able to sink his hips or be sudden when running his routes. He simply has size. Tobais Palmer has very good footwork, but can be jammed at the line very easily. Now that I look it up, it makes sense as he only weighs 178 pounds on the website. Easley lacks acceleration and quickness but as long as he continues to be the best gunner on STs it isn't an issue. 

OL: The o-line struggles protecting the edges in pass blocking. Whether it's from overload blitzes or the quality of the edge defenders rushing, it's hard to tell (I was focusing more on QBs anyways so I can't say exactly what it is). With that said, inside running plays with Freddy carrying the ball seemed to be effective.

DL: Again, with focus on the QBs I wasn't able to catch much in the trenches. I specifically remember Mario sacking Tyrod after beating his man on an outside bull rush and Dareus completely blew up an inside run from shotgun which he celebrated with his fellow linemen.

DB: Stephon is by far the most physical corner we have while also avoiding contact too far downfield. His aggressiveness seems to be very calculated. Someone else mentioned it somewhere on these boards, but Darby is very good at shutting down everything except underneath and comeback routes. He will give you the 5 yard catches and close in quickly for the tackle and avoid giving up a big play downfield or over the middle. It's a sound way to play while still getting your feet wet at the NFL level.