NFL - Random Opinions

Yes and no. The last paragraph being the reason. When Tyrod is playing well the WRs aren't doing anything. They either have no talent at WR or they are injured or green behind the ears. When he is on the rest of the team isn't. But he still has those issues you addressed. Tyrod isn't great but the Bills could still be a bit better with him.

 

Hunt has been great but I feel things may have been the same with Ware and Hill wouldn't be the same without Hill. That being said, in week 1 vs the Pats, Smith was the best player and Hill and Hunt were just great compliments that had killer games.

 

Tim, I pretty much agree with the Giants. More or less what I said last night.

 

In order to get some consistency from the hands he's throwing at, Tyrod is going to have to get consistent himself.

It won't fix itself in one weekend, but if Taylor can start putting the ball in catchable spots more often than not, every game, I believe his receivers will become more reliable.

I don't believe he can, so I don't believe the Bills receivers will while he's the starter, which is why I think the progress of the offense is capped by Taylor's deficiencies with anticipation accuracy.

 

He isn't consistent but I've seen him anticipate pretty well in some games where the WRs miss the proper break or turn the wrong way. He can make the tougher throws in those tough windows, not great but adequately. His WRs can't quite keep up yet. That isn't to say Tyrod does it all the time either. But the ceiling can get higher. It may not be by much but it's enough to be a playoff caliber team and that's the first step, even if they squander it this year. They still of course need to find a new QB to groom. And they are looking at least.

 

I believe you're both right, and it has it's roots in Andy Reid's history.

Compare when Donovan McNabb played well and what the ground game was during that time to how things are functioning for this offense now.

Then look at Alex Smith prior to the drafting of Patrick Mahomes to his play now.

The similarities in how Reid operates are obvious, as well as the differences in Alex Smith.

It's almost like a switch flipped inside of Smith's head and he said "Fuck it. If I'm going to lose my job getting knocked out by some young kid again I'm gonna go out swinging.".

Right now the confidence level that the Chiefs have, and Alex Smith in particular, is the type of confidence that blasts through barriers that previously kept them from advancing deep into the playoffs.

 

well the 4-1 Eagles come to Pantherville this Thursday. Lets see how Cam does against them?

 

I hope the Eagles crush them.

 

as an Eagles fan, i hope so too. it will be a great test for them. win and get a win break till you play on MNF on the 23rd and 3 straight home games. even if they lose, they still get those things, but a win makes it all better and puts pressure on dallas and washington to keep winning as well.

 

Anyone that follows the draft information we put out typically only sees the last couple weeks of work, rankings and opinions. I thought it might be interesting to give everyone a peek into how it develops over the course of the year so they can get a glimpse into how those rankings and opinions are formed.

Here is the initial rankings for the 2018 quarterback class - https://live4sportnetwork.com/forum/threads/2018-quarterback-class.10753/#post-509385

Now, I'm not going to share everything that I do to score players. The foundation of it is based off of the same metrics that most scouts and scouting sites use to put together their evaluations, but there is a great deal of it that I have cultivated on my own and, to put it bluntly, I ain't sharing.

If anyone has questions I will answer them to the best of my ability.

 

In Taylors defense Im not sure Brady could make the WRs for the Bills look good.

 

Taylor has a career 62.6 completion percentage as the starter for the Bills. Robert Woods and Sammy Watkins (along with Clay) have been his primary weapons during that span. This season he has new receivers and his completion percentage is still dead on his average. He averages 1.5 touchdowns a game over that span, he's at just under that right now at 1.2. His interception averages are 0.4 per game career starter, 0.4 per game this season.

The personnel has changed but the player has not.

 

I dont think woods is scaring anybody and while Watkins may scare them he missed 11 games over the past two years. Watkins has changed teams and still doesn't look any better than he did in Buffalo. He has also had three different offensive coordinators in his three years as a starter. He started with Greg Roman who was fired in his second year with Anthony Lynn taking over only to have him leave to HC the chargers and now he is working with Rick Dennison.

 

His catch percentage has gone up, 58.2 with Taylor compared to 70.0 with Jared Goff, but having watched him play both in Buffalo and in Los Angeles there really is no stat needed to make me disagree with your assessment. Prior to the concussion against San Francisco it was obvious that Watkins and Goff had already put together some chemistry.

We can discuss the differences in coaching staffs and they would all be valid points, but Tyrod Taylor is Tyrod Taylor. There's a reason why head coach Sean McDermott has to answer the questions of whether or not he has confidence in Tyrod to lead his team.

 

Initial rankings for running backs are up -

https://live4sportnetwork.com/forum/threads/2018-running-back-class.10787/

 

The NFL needs to stop playing with balls that are the same colour as the majority of their players.

 

I was looking at the Sunday Night games and how Flex Scheduling could be applied and honestly I wonder if it will ever be applied before week 17. Remember there needs to be 2 weeks notice. On some of the weaker games on paper the other matchups are worse.If the Steelers are running away with the division after Week 12 then Week 14 Ravens at Steelers may be flexed. Options include:
Lions @ Bucs
Chiefs vs Raiders Part 2
Vikings @ Panthers
Eagles @ Rams

Eagles play the Seahawks on MNF the week before so that's probably a no. If the Raiders don't fall apart I would think that is flexed.

The other game is the last SNF date on Week 15. Week 16 has no SNF as the NFL doesn't schedule SNF Christmas Eve games but instead doubles up with 2 on Christmas Day.
Cowboys @ Raiders may stick around but I would guess it gets moved since the Patriots @ Steelers game is that day. Packers @ Panthers could also be interesting if they think Rodgers will be back. But they'd have to be really sure 12 days in advance of the game.

 

Joe, one thing you don't know about the games you listed is which ones are untouchable. The Patriots @ Steelers is never flexible because CBS and Fox have the right to protect one game every week during flex weeks. So every week one game is locked by CBS & one by Fox. That is why some flex weeks you look at the schedule and wonder why they didn't flex it? Also teams are only supposed to play in 5 prime time games and for the most part they keep that rule except if the Cowboys are the team that they are flexing.

 

So they need to lock it 2 weeks on advance to tell NBC what they can't touch right? There are always a few flexes a season. Those 2 weeks are still the only ones I can see changing even if it isnt for a game like the Pats Vs Steelers.

 

I actually believe that they have to lock the games before the season starts, so CBS & Fox have to blindly pick the games they will lock long before hand.