strato

There is a point there. I think it is also fair to recognize that Belichick failed to develop a successor. With ample time over all those seasons. It reinforces the school of thought that a lot of the success is due to who your QB is. No matter how good a defensive mind you are.

I am saying it isn’t that as much as the lack of practice time in pads.

I got interested here because of Ricky Williams. Does Ricky Williams even have a case for the HOF? I had never considered him as a candidate. I looked it up. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WillRi00.htm He had one killer season. 1800+ rushing yards. Did break 1000 yards rushing I think 5 times. 4 times in his first 5 years, only once in the 6 years afterwards. Pretty pedestrian numbers for season totals a few of those later years. I say no he wouldn’t get in herb or no herb, but I learned something. I did not realize he played for 11 years (with one full year suspension sandwiched in there). I had him in my mind as like a 7 or eight year player.

Look at the quality of play in the first few weeks. It is clear. Nowadays the season is the training. They only get better from real in game experience. It does not get drilled in, in the offseason nor in training camp.

BTW some context on why I get my back up over these comparisons. Rodgers is still playing but is likely HOF. Only Eli, off of that list, is not. I think. Choosing HOF players for comparison is the same tactic used in his rookie year when it was Manning had a horrible rookie year, Aikman had a horrible rookie year, etc. It excludes all the shitty QBs that had bad rookie years, and bad second seasons, and never rose above mediocrity and had short or unremarkable careers. There are many more of them than there are HOF QBs. Cherry picked comparisons, placing Bryce in the company of these highly accomplished QBs.

I feel like he has earned a substantial raise and think he will get one. Two year deal, enough to set him for life. Not his descendants, but there is a time for that.

If you want to apply that to XL or any other player that is one thing. It does not work with 11 guys working as 1. Just doesn’t. The quality of play in the NFL has declined, even while the quality of the athletes has progressed. Increased. And the limits on practices and drilling as a unit are the primary reason why. Secondary cause would probably be the rule changes that hurt the defense and take real hitting and intimidation out of the game. Debatable third reason might be the colleges not even trying to run pro style offenses, and the league going with the path of least resistance and switching to backyard football. Which hurts the running backs I think, and probably has led to their devaluation. That’s another issue for another day.

I am familiar with all those players. Whether they took years to develop into their mature versions, they showed what they had early on. The kid is still a bottom third QB after three seasons. There are many of us who did see that coming and are not surprised. The cold truth is he elevates no one. He is more dependent on having things built up around him than should be expected from a legit 1.1 player. And we are still in a hole because of that 2023 decision.

I won’t disagree on the practice time, of the coaching having access to the players. The NFLPA has fuged our game up with their negotiated restrictions. Put these SOBs on back two a days and get the coaches where they can be hands on, watch the quality of football be restored to what I (we?) grew up watching. But this is not some defensive HC with a run first offensive staff. The two senior offensive coaches have WR coaching g background. I am in no position to know what they have done but the evidence appears to say they should have been more pro active. I am not letting them off the hook because of the NFLPA and their crap.

He needs a Dustin Hoffman special (step stool).

It is simply a team that is unable to beat the teams they should beat. If they do that, no convoluted tiebreaker needed, and a justifiable winning record. Team was 8-10 on the year and showed progress. But let’s not get carried away and throw a parade because of some fluke tiebreaker result. We finished 1-3 coming out of a bye and 3 of those were ‘must win’ games. Only Seattle was not a must win. So we finished 1-2 in must win games and backed into the playoffs due to a fluke. Generally speaking most teams drop a couple they shouldn’t and win a couple they shouldn’t. And that is what happened with our 2 wins over playoff teams. We stole a couple. it was good that we did that, but a true good team does not get swept by the Saints, with a QB making only his second start in that first game. That is what losing teams do. I have seen enough losing teams to know that. Aside from that, I understand the thought that we have arrived and now we should expect to win every week. But I don’t really agree that we are there yet. I understand the FO and coaching staff need to take that posture around the players, but I am worried if they really believe that and start making moves based off of thinking our window is open NOW. . I think one more season of acting as if we are building and the window is yet to open, would serve us better. You know, afraid we are gonna start doing ‘win now’ moves and undermine the build. We are really set up to take a step back now, with this harder schedule, with the unexpected Icky injury, and still with a lot of holes.

With Canales and a Idzik both having WR coaching background, and on top of that he has a WR coach, seems like someone is dropping the ball on him. We should be a place that is able to develop WRs with assets like that. If they put the attention into him they put into Bryce, maybe they would get some results. It seems like he is just allowed to be clueless.

I am with you. I thought he was close under Wilks. And not the problem. That year they fuged it all up. There was no need to bring Mayfield in and muddy stuff up like that. It served neither player. Just counter productive, Neither got the work they needed.

Good lord. You don’t take a guy at 1:1 that takes 3 or 4 years to show you something.

It was Lawrence Taylor the decade before. Not that BB doesn’t know his stuff. Gotta have payers.

There are about two centers hitting FA that would be good, and the guy with the Ravens is by far the better of the two. Linderbaum and McGovern for the Bills. I wonder if their generosity with the guards and Moton is gonna hold us back on filling up the OL.

It was bad enough that the NFL destroyed the evidence. Just like our elected officials like to do when it shows they aren’t being honest. That is major. He might well have been banned for life, if that evidence was made public.

I wouldn’t go that far. He will be in. Shedeur won’t be. Not being a Bill B homer, I think he can wait a year. He really fell off without Brady. He has some black marks with me on the filming other teams, I could see someone thinking fug him make him wait a year. I would have voted for him fwiw.

Sounds like Polian really stepped in it. Said he voted for. Belichick, and now people don’t really believe him because he switched his statement to the old, I don’t remember if I did or didn’t. IOW he was probably lying about it and is trying to cover himself with the old don’t remember. I don’t really care about Belichick or Polian, waiting hopefully for good news on Luke.

I never thought he had a shot to start with.

Rooney. They were never going to hire a DC there with that number one pick. We gotta figure a way to get him a HC job somewhere.

I’d be saying no brainer in a different sense. Like, they have no brain. 2022-2025 we went 2nd, 2nd, 1st, 1st. We may end up with one on the team this year. After giving away all that stuff for Bryce and throwing away 2 2nds and likely a late 1st, do something constructive with a pick for a change. If he is there and BPA, trade out of the pick. Get something extra, drop back a few slots. Take BPA at the new slot.

The Belichick missing out in the first ballot, leaked. Now I see it has leaked that Eli is outside looking in. Luke? If he didn’t make it I’ll be making a list.

I would have to be 1000% over the moon about a WR to want take one at 19. If Tyson is arguably BPA someone would offer us something for pick number 19. If he isn’t BPA maybe our guy is sitting there. Win win.

Had we lost the 3 way tiebreaker of the 8-9 NFCS titans, we’d have been picking 13th. The year before Bryce (2022), we earned the 9th pick. In three years, after all those resources poured into it, we picked up 1 game record wise and (easily could have) picked 4 slots away from our 2022 results. People that wanted this… wtf?