Jaybirds

Sorry guys.     I saw that Veiled Psychosis had made his pick.  I just forgot who chose after him.  I'll stay online so we can make the turn around the corner faster. 

With the 336th pick, the Squad of Pop selects....





WR Jermaine Kearse.   Unless he's already taken.  Then it'll be someone else. 

Upvoting the Dorsett pick.  I thought he was gone already. 

Just now, BmoreBird22 said:

Joyner doesn't do a good job of simply defining what a disruption is. Does that mean the defense didn't get into the backfield? Does that mean the play didn't get forced to the opposite direction? Does it mean the defense didn't get stuffs? 

It's such a subjective term that can go so many different directions. With PFF, I think they're just looking at whether or not that line got a push or not, which they apparently rarely did.

It's tough to critique his methods if we can't find the articles that describe it.  I just can't find that original article, and his own site wasn't working for me today if it still exists. 

But obviously something is different.  The entire top 5 looks to be different. 

2 minutes ago, BmoreBird22 said:

https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro-ranking-all-32-offensive-lines-this-season/

They have a lot of free articles.

Oh, okay.  Yes I did see that.  I just didn't think of it as the same thing. 

I'm wondering if there's something in the criteria that Joyner loves and PFF disregards, or vice versa.  Cuz yeah, that's a big difference. 

Just now, BmoreBird22 said:

Again, PFF had them as the WORST in the NFL and GBR blocking efficiency is kinda a really subjective and difficult one to define and actually chart.

For what year?  I didn't get to see their 2015 data for this. 

1 minute ago, BmoreBird22 said:

From where?

Have to be an insider.  Short version is the Bills are first, Dolphins 2nd, then New England, Denver, and SF. 

http://espn.go.com/fantasy/football/insider/story/_/id/9398418/fantasy-football-best-worst-run-blocking-teams-nfl

3 minutes ago, BmoreBird22 said:

We'll see this year since he's in an offense that prioritizes the run game and will work him.

Not to mention Miami had one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL, period, with possibly the worst guard play in the NFL, no deep passing game, and no real vertical threats at receiver.

Now in Houston, he'll have all of that.

Uhhh... actually, the same metric had them ranked 2nd as a run blocking unit in 2015. 

Just now, ravensdan said:

Pff had a rating like that before they scrubbed all the useful information. 

I don't think I've ever seen a website try so hard to get.... worse. 

I'm having trouble finding it, but a couple of years ago KC Joyner wrote an article for ESPN about Good Blocking Yards Per Attempt.  Basically, he tried to isolate the running attempts where the line helped out and where they didn't.  It shed some light on who was doing the work, the running back or the line. 

When he wrote it, Lamar's yards per attempt were almost exactly the same as his good blocking yards per attempt.  Maybe that's changed as Miller has aged.  Maybe it doesn't really matter if he's always behind a good running line.  But it's why I don't put him amongst the best at the position. 

1 minute ago, ravensdan said:

So juice is a guy I was looking at but not for several more rounds. He's a good player for sure but I still see a lot of better values out there. 

He shores up a lot of my weaknesses though, so I imagine I do have him higher than others.   Jeremy Hill isn't the greatest receiver, so he gets some help.  Bobby Massie's pass blocking could still be a work in progress, so there's some insurance.   Cam and Hill will both want a run blocker, Juice can do that too.  He may even have to carry the ball on a few plays. 

So basically I couldn't find a slot receiver who could power block, and I wasn't sure about the TEs left to carry the ball. 

3 minutes ago, BmoreBird22 said:

I was pretty upset when the Ravens passed on both Michael Thomas and Mackensie Alexander for KC. I felt Thomas would have been a long term option when the offense may lose Wallace, Aiken, and SSS next year (plus, Perriman will be an unknown until he goes, although, I do have faith), and a receiver that could really grow with Flacco.

I'm not convinced Thomas would have passed the interview process with us.  We probably had him lower on our boards than other teams. 

I couldn't get a very good feel for Amaro.  PFF didn't have a grade for him; Madden hates his hands.  I like him, but I got the feeling I was wrong. 

I honestly wanted to go two tight ends.  But when I made a list of everything I needed, Juice was a better fit than a second TE.

With the 579th pick, the Squad of Pop select....



Kyle Juszczyk    fullback who is going to get overworked on this team. 

With the 574th pick, the Squad of Pop select....



Brandon Fusco, the guy who has to make Bobby Massie's Sundays worth living.   (RG)

2 minutes ago, harfordravenfan said:

Just don't see SSS letting that happen, I see him going full throttle from game 1 but I do agree with the ball being spread around a lot. Just don't see Aiken getting open more often than SSS 

I guess I'm being cynical.  But it seems like a 37 year old WR that goes full-throttle game 1 probably isn't going to start 16 games.  I have to agree with the everyone under 1,000 theory.  Partly the offense, partly the depth, and partly the injury histories. 

34 minutes ago, rmw10 said:

Abdul-Quddus was a rare bright spot on the Lions defense last season.  He had largely been a STer before last year, so a risk still remains of course.  However, he played very well once taking over the starting job last season and now it remains to be seen if he keeps it up.  I really like pairing him with Mike Mitchell because both of them can play in the box or deep.  They aren't superstars, but coming in as late as I did, I'm more than happy with my combination on the back end.

I was looking at him waaay back when I took Darian Stewart.  I think he's great value this late in the draft.  I think he and Mitchell make a great bang-for-the-buck combo. 

I feel like we're confusing speed and acceleration here.  The offense has had the most upgrades (well, at least updates) recently because they were so far behind.  That doesn't necessarily mean our approach has changed, just that they needed more help. 

Besides, I think we'd all be a lot more worried if our primary focus, defense, needed that much of an overall. 

3 hours ago, Mt. Crushmore said:

All 4 of us have playoff QBs, are strong in the trenches, have a RB and have 2 CBs right now and haven't invested that much in pass catchers.

I think in general we went defense first as well. 

Personally, I decided to start with guys you couldn't play around.  I inherited Cam, but then sticking with the trenches and guys between the hashes seemed the best way to apply pressure on every down.   WRs are a lower priority that way.

12 minutes ago, Dubs said:

agreed. I struggled thinking about Ebron. I think he is likely unfairly criticized at this point in his career just because he went top 10 in the draft--kinda like the Alex Smith treatment. Not saying he is as good as Smith has become but he is now producing. This year is kinda make it or brake it for him in terms of flipping that narrative. I really have no clue how he will do though, numbers wise I expect him over 600 yards, which is solid but I think everyone is expecting some 800+ with his athleticism and loss of Calvin

I was kinda taking the reverse approach with both Ebron and Fleener.  I saw what Cam did with Olsen the past few years.  Would either of those guys hold up in the same role?  And I think they would.  I know they HAVEN'T yet.  But if you dropped either into Carolina's offense right now, I think we could expect Diet Olsen/Olsen light:  most of the production with about half the draft investment. 

3 minutes ago, Dubs said:

I probably should of gone TE at my last pick with the run that occurred. I had wanted Rudolph , just because I am a fan, but in the end might be better with Fleener as he seems to be on the field much more. Plus I expect he will have one of his best seasons in NO

I coin-flipped between Ebron and Fleener.  So I like this pick here.  I think both of them should have gone during that TE run, if not sooner. 

14 minutes ago, ludy51 said:

I've heard he doesn't put his pants on one leg at a time

I've heard he simply walked into Mordor. 

All the scouts who saw it said his pads were too high. 

2 minutes ago, rmw10 said:

I like Stills, but I have a hard time seeing him do too much in Miami with Tannehill's arm.  This type of pick brings up the question of how to evaluate guys - what they are capable of doing, or what they actually will do.

You're right.  But considering the guys with abilities AND stats are pretty well gone by now, I'm okay with drafting based on capabilities.  He's not going to get huge numbers with Tannenhill, I agree.  But if he can stay around 14 to 16 yards per carry, then I think it makes my point.  So far he's done that. 

And we've already started taking WRs with zero NFL snaps.  So his numbers are bigger than some. 

I'm surprised Kenny Stills lasted this long, considering less proven speedsters left the board a while ago.  He's not going to get the volume to put up huge numbers in Miami.  But he's a serious deep threat. 

With the 515th pick, the Squad of Pop selects



Kenny "16.3 avg" Stills, WR