JonnyBaltimore

Yeah me too! Hate the Pats. I like how Houston beat the crap out of Brady! I think with Dupree and Shazier, the way they are playing, they are going to lay the lumber on Brady! Pittsburgh has a pretty good shot in New England. I think they will pull it off.

I agree. I think Andy Reid is 1-5 in his last 6 playoff games.

-So the GM put out that story to save face at the expense of the owner? That's a pretty bad PR strategy for his longevity. -Again, in the flux of uncertainty, you want flexibility. They have not made any decision yet. They just sat him to retain that flexibility. If I am Buffalo and my goal is to beat New England for the division title, I don't think Tyrod is that guy. He has his limitations.

I would not infer too much from that decision as we are talking about a 2nd rate organization. Here is an organization that fired the HC without the GM knowing about it. They did this 1 game prior to the end of the season. With this much uncertainty in leadership, coupled with wholesale changes at coaching, it is more about flexibility than anything.

Hey I like Flacco, but will he just show up and play up to his potential in the regular season? I hope he proves me wrong.

If you are trying to attract an OC like the Bills currently are, you want to keep your options open, so that the personnel you have can actually run the system the new OC wants to run. Tyrod obviously has limitations, so whether the Bills decide to exercise their option is mainly a matter of financial concern. (i.e. guaranteed money if injured). The Bills are a terribly run organization so I wouldn't try to make sense of their talent evaluation. When you have coaching changes, the philosophy changes. The personnel you have the ''option'' of changing should be granted somewhat to the influence of the new coaching staff. If they played Tyrod and he got injured severely, the Bills would be stuck and have no flexibility as his contract becomes guaranteed. That's why they benched him. It was not whether he played well or not.

I don't think these past 2 regular seasons is that much different than his career averages in the regular season. His QBR is low 80s on average. People have selective memory, they just remember the Super Bowl run and the big games (and rightfully so) but in the regular season, Flacco has been mostly pedestrian. He's kind of like Peyton Manning except the opposite. He stinks it up in the regular season, but lights it up in the playoffs. I rest my case. Flacco is part of the solution, but management would be wise to draft a star on the offence that can actually carry the load in the regular season. History says we just cannot rely on January Joe to show up that early in the season.

I wouldn't go that far. Joe is part of the solution. We are stuck with Joe because of the contract but if we can draft a guy like Dalvin Cook and run the offence around him, it would be fine. If we expect January Joe to show up in the regular season, I think that is a bit wanting.

It has nothing to do whether the QB is ''good'' or not. It is a matter whether the QB ''fits'' the philosophy of the organization going forward. As an organization, I think what they are doing is giving themselves flexibility. If they are changing coaching philosophies then they would want to keep their options open. Tyrod is obviously a different type of QB than your traditional pocket passer, but this does not negate the fact that he has performed well over the past 2 years. If you believe Flacco has outplayed Tyrod in the regular season in the last 2 years, convince me. Whether an organization chooses to exercise an option on a quarterback has no bearing on whether the QB is good or not. It is a matter of fit and value in most cases.

At least he made the playoffs.

Hey Joe, what have you done for me lately? Not much... And he might never have another one of those if he continues to play like he does in the regular season. If you are happy with his regular season play, then that's on you. Jay Cutler has a better QBR than Flacco in the regular season. That says it all.

It's actually not that far fetched. Taylor has also 1100 yards rushing and another 10 TDs. He threw more TDs and less INTs. I'm not saying I'd rather have Taylor over Flacco to build a franchise but the numbers do not lie. In the regular season, Flacco is more like Jay Cutler than he is like anything that resembles "elite". Flacco's best attributes is that he plays well in the clutch--a rare attribute. Unfortunately if he doesn't play in any big games, he is rather pedestrian and the numbers support that. In fact, Jay Cutler's career QBR rating is higher than Flacco's. That I find comical. Facts: -Taylor has more WINs the last 2 years -Taylor has more Pro Bowl nods -Taylor has thrown more TDs (despite less passing attempts) -Taylor has thrown less INTs -Taylor has rushed for over 1100 yards -Taylor has rushed for 10 TDs -Taylor has a higher QBR rating over the last 2 years (he is top 10 in QBR rating) The reason the Bills benched Taylor is because of financial reasons and the guaranteed money in his contract, plus the fact that they have new coaching next year. Again your argument or lack thereof of one is not a very convincing one.

I agree with this. What I like about Jones is if you throw the deep ball on him, there is a good chance he will pick it off because he plays the ball so well. This is something we have been missing in our secondary and puts fear into QBs. We already have Jimmy who is similar to Q. Wilson. My issue with Jimmy is he is not the type of corner who will intercept that deep ball, as he's more likely to bat it down. I think Jones is the better tackler. Speed wise, I think they are both similar as I googled it earlier and they run like 4.45-4.50ish. Jones is that lanky, cover corner with good technique and plays the ball well in the air. I think Wilson has more upside but I think Jones is a more solid, sure pick.

http://www.nfl.com/player/tyrodtaylor/2495240/careerstats http://www.nfl.com/player/joeflacco/382/careerstats AVG for last 2 years: QBR rating Taylor 95.0 QBR rating Flacco 83.0 TDs / Ints Taylor 37TD/12Ints Flacco 34TD/27Ints Taylor also had 1100 yards rushing for another 10 TDs and 1 Pro Bowl selection. Hey I will take Taylor in the regular season and Flacco in the playoffs.

The funny thing is Tyrod has more Pro Bowls than Flacco. Regular season Joe is hardly better than Regular Season Tyrod. In fact in the regular season, Tyrod has performed better in the last 2 years.

You have to be careful using the word "carry" around here. Sensitive Flacco die hards take it to mean passing and catching and scoring TDs by himself... and playing defence too. This I know, if we are expecting Flacco to be the main reason we are in the playoffs like he was the main reason why we won the Super Bowl, we can expect to be 8-8 next year as well. I guess I hope a record like 9-7, 8-8, or 7-9 gets us in the playoffs. We need a star on the offence that can carry the load in the regular season.

2013 for the whole NFL was a bad draft class. Thats why a miss with Elam in the first and Brown in the second is a bit misguided because there were very few good players in that draft. 2013 for the Baltimore Ravens was a good draft in totality given the poor players available.

Elam is the only one as a first rounder. Therefore, there are higher expectations. 2nd rounders have less expectations and 3rd rounders less. The only ''busts'' I see in your list are Elam (2013 1st rounder), Brown (2013 2nd rounder), Cody (2010 2nd rounder), Kindle (2010 2nd rounder) Brooks (2015 3rd rounder). The rest it is too early. 2013 was a bad draft class, go look at it. You obviously have not.

Well you have to compare with other franchises because you have to benchmark your performance. That is how you measure performance no matter how you look at it. That's what Steve means when you grade on a "curve" (i.e. a bell curve). You can't just expect them to draft studs in the top 3 rounds every year, 100% of the time. It is unrealistic. You also have to look at the draft class because if the whole draft class produces 32-64 decent players, it's a bit unrealistic to expect us to nail 4 picks. Just go look at the whole 2013 draft class. People who criticize Ozzie for drafting haven't looked deep enough (1) into the draft class or (2) into the comparison on how other teams draft. It is like they expect every player to be stars in the league. Ozzie has nailed his Top 20 draft picks (Ronnie Stanley (6), CJ Mosley (17), Joe Flacco (19), Haloti Ngata (12)... Suggs, Reed etc)

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/rav/draft.htm You can't just selectively put names on the board as busts without comparing which team you are comparing our draft history to. Which teams do you think drafted better than us? Go look at New Englands draft history--especially early rounds. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe/draft.htm The only real miss I see on the list is Matt Elam as he was a 1st round pick--albeit he was pretty much a second round pick (32nd). Ozzie has pretty much nailed our first round picks if you go back. Upshaw was no stud, but he was a serviceable 2nd rounder. Same as Dickson. Davis, Williams, KC, Perriman--way too early to determine.

Matt Ryan makes pre-snap reads and knows exactly where he is going. When you know where you are going because you've made the necessary adjustments based on the defence you see, you are likely to be more accurate than the QB who doesn't make these adjustments. If there is one area I would really like to see Flacco improve on, this would be it. I'm not expecting him to be Manning or Brady pre-snap, but he has not shown the progress needed to get to the next level.

Hey, we are still waiting for Joe to show up. Where is that guy? I'm surprised somebody hasn't filed a missing persons report. 6'6 looks like a franchise QB, but nowhere to be seen from Sept - Nov. Seeing Flacco perform like a franchise quarterback is like a UFO sighting. Maybe he only performs well when it is ''frozen'' outside.

My point is people say that Flacco is not surrounded by any weapons; it is just not true. You can infer anything you would like, but the stats do not lie. Boldin for whatever reason had down years during his time in Baltimore. It could be the QB or it could be not. I find Flacco die hards humorous. When he lights it up in the big games, it is "Flacco rises to the occasion". When he stinks it up in the regular season, it is "He has no talent around him". I mean with a moniker like that, it is pretty clear where your position lies.

Agree. If we look at the 2013 draft, Wagner and Williams probably go in round 1 or 2. It was a pretty bad draft class. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2013/draft.htm Elam was a bust but he was pretty much a 2nd round draft pick. The jury is still out for 2015.

Is it me or if the 2017 Class in general is weak in the Offensive line, then these pass rushers are slightly overrated in this draft? Just a thought.