BuFF/NYJ/Colts- Figuring Out the '18 QB Race for a Top-2 Pick

[Mind Character]

1 hour ago, NudeTayne said:

Can't argue with most of that.  I'll take our TEs going forward, though.  I also would at least call our WRs a wash against theirs.  I also think our OL being better and our team having a forward momentum is going to show up in the win column.  I like Tyrod & Shady though think this is the year the Bills do poorly.  I still pick the Jets to have the #1 pick, though.

I think their spotty oline could sink the ship as well. Luckily Tryod can scramble and avoid pressure.  I give us the nod based on potential as far as TE but Njoku has struggled some in practice and Devalve is unproven so I don't know about that TE prediction. The bills have a problem at Corner and at Safety. Also, they don't have truly elite pass rusher. Either way it should be interesting to see who sucks the most out of the Jets, 49ers, Rams , Browns, Vikings, and history shows you can't ever count out Blake Bortles and the Jags. I feel like for the first time in a while I'd pick us on paper as a fringe top 8-10 worst team in the league, but given our youth and inexperience that can still land you in the top 3 in terms of loss record.

[candyman93]

Bears are worse than the Vikings.

[Mind Character]

42 minutes ago, candyman93 said:

Bears are worse than the Vikings.

Facts...added them in and had the Bears high top 3 but mistakenly  put the Vikings in their place on that last post

 

Should've been Jets, 49ers, Rams , Browns, Bears, Chargers, Blake Bortles' team (in no particular order)

[FGK]

1 hour ago, Mind Character said:

Facts...added them in and had the Bears high top 3 but mistakenly  put the Vikings in their place on that last post

 

Should've been Jets, 49ers, Rams , Browns, Bears, Chargers, Blake Bortles' team (in no particular order)

Strongly, STRONGLY disagree with the Chargers being in that grouping. If anything I think they should be a favorite for a WC spot. Their defense was more balanced than Denver's and is getting Verrett back this year. Their rookie injuries are all that keeps me from saying that they should be the favorite for the division over Oakland (whose defense is utter trash outside of Mack). I agree on the others, but not them. I think the other teams in that discussion would be the Ravens and Bengals honestly. Cinci's defense is meh and their line might just be bad enough to torpedo their meh QB play and very nice skill position players, and Baltimore has a terrible QB as is and if Flacco is injured they downgrade to a horrific QB situation with their WR's being about as bad as ours and their running backs even worse. The defense should be solid, but if their QB play is as bad as it could be, that won't be enough.

[Thomas5737]

10 minutes ago, freakygeniuskid said:

Strongly, STRONGLY disagree with the Chargers being in that grouping. If anything I think they should be a favorite for a WC spot. Their defense was more balanced than Denver's and is getting Verrett back this year. Their rookie injuries are all that keeps me from saying that they should be the favorite for the division over Oakland (whose defense is utter trash outside of Mack). I agree on the others, but not them. I think the other teams in that discussion would be the Ravens and Bengals honestly. Cinci's defense is meh and their line might just be bad enough to torpedo their meh QB play and very nice skill position players, and Baltimore has a terrible QB as is and if Flacco is injured they downgrade to a horrific QB situation with their WR's being about as bad as ours and their running backs even worse. The defense should be solid, but if their QB play is as bad as it could be, that won't be enough.

I liked your post so I liked your post but I don't necessarily agree with your post. The Bengals could bottom out with that offensive line but maybe they gel and are adequate. I still like the Bengals over the Chargers and Ravens, none of which would I project as candidates for a top 5 pick though. Ravens have some injuries to deal with but they always get the 50/50 calls in games unlike the Bengals and Chargers and that is enough to put a couple wins on the board each year. All of the consistently good teams get those calls but the Ravens really aren't in that category anymore yet they still get them for some reason. Bears, Jets, Browns, 49ers, Jags are definitely not getting those calls and I'm really not sure about the Rams but I'd guess they do better than the teams I listed in that regard, partly because of where they are and partly because of their "star" power or what the media sees as star power. Gurley really shouldn't be listed as a star but is, Watkins is borderline and Goff has a lot to prove. Still, a #1 overall pick, an offensive rookie of the year and Sammy Watkins in L.A. probably garner the team a few calls.

[NudeTayne]

23 minutes ago, freakygeniuskid said:

Strongly, STRONGLY disagree with the Chargers being in that grouping. If anything I think they should be a favorite for a WC spot. Their defense was more balanced than Denver's and is getting Verrett back this year. Their rookie injuries are all that keeps me from saying that they should be the favorite for the division over Oakland (whose defense is utter trash outside of Mack). I agree on the others, but not them. I think the other teams in that discussion would be the Ravens and Bengals honestly. Cinci's defense is meh and their line might just be bad enough to torpedo their meh QB play and very nice skill position players, and Baltimore has a terrible QB as is and if Flacco is injured they downgrade to a horrific QB situation with their WR's being about as bad as ours and their running backs even worse. The defense should be solid, but if their QB play is as bad as it could be, that won't be enough.

Agreed on San Diego.  I see them winning seven games minimum, possibly making the playoffs.  As far as the Ravens are concerned, you make some excellent points; it IS time for a mod-edit in the Brock Osweiler thread.  Great idea, Freaky.

[Mind Character]

7 hours ago, freakygeniuskid said:

Strongly, STRONGLY disagree with the Chargers being in that grouping. If anything I think they should be a favorite for a WC spot. Their defense was more balanced than Denver's and is getting Verrett back this year. Their rookie injuries are all that keeps me from saying that they should be the favorite for the division over Oakland (whose defense is utter trash outside of Mack). I agree on the others, but not them. I think the other teams in that discussion would be the Ravens and Bengals honestly. Cinci's defense is meh and their line might just be bad enough to torpedo their meh QB play and very nice skill position players, and Baltimore has a terrible QB as is and if Flacco is injured they downgrade to a horrific QB situation with their WR's being about as bad as ours and their running backs even worse. The defense should be solid, but if their QB play is as bad as it could be, that won't be enough.

You very well may be right, fgk. Strong points on the ravens as well, and I think you're right on those.

I didn't mean to imply that the Chargers are in the running for a top 2 pick but that they're in the group of the Potentially worst teams in the league in that one thing going the wrong way can cause their loss totals to sky rocket.

 I think joe mixon and jeremy hill along with John Ross, Aj Green, Brandon Lafell, Tyler Boyd, and healthy Tyler Eifert make a formidable set of offensive skill players. Oline issues are real but they have skilled olineman but not a lot of experience with Fischer and Ogbuehi

 

Regarding the the Chargers, they did pick 7th in the draft last year. Their only major acquisitions since then have been through the draft (for which the major impact players have serious injuries), one addition in Free Agency CB Casey Heyward, and players returning from injury (Keenan Allen). 

If the injury bug bites again, they will be back in the top 7 in the draft. And in my mind, I think injury may strike their team again b/c a lot of guys are going to be pushing it on not fully healed knees and backs.

.A major portion of my prediction on the Chargers has to do with  my belief that Mike Williams will at some point miss a good portion of time this year. Originally, they said all year. Now after an epidural he's running again. Pain management and potential re-occurring bulging disc issue make it unlikely to me that he will survive the full season. They want to protect their draft asset imo.

Why wasn't this team playoff worthy last year? Offensive line deficiencies, Keenan Allen injury, and lack of playmaker WR1s on the outside.

How exactly did they get better? Forrest Lamp is out for the year. Doug Feeney is a rookie and best suited for guard but they're sliding him in to be a mauling RG guard. At the senior bowl, I did not see that type of a player.

Keenan Allen is a more quick than fast guy. He ran a 4.71-4.75 at his pro day. He's has torn his knee up twice. He's coming back from another acl this year. If he loses his elite quickness and dynamic change of direction ability the chargers could be in trouble

For all the Tyrell Williams WR1 hype, he was on the roster last yearWilliams may be hurt for the year.

Teams have a year of tape on Joey Bosa. I'm one of the biggest fans of Bosa's technique but teams will try to mitigate his disruption....maybe it doesn't work but maybe it does.

 

I say all that to say (you all know how long winded I am; I can't help it)......I think there are good reasons to think the Chargers may end up back in the top 5.

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

I can't wait to read this in 6 months and see how wrong everyone was.

My prediction?  Patriots will be better than us.  

[Thomas5737]

Just now, LETSGOBROWNIES said:

I can't wait to read this in 6 months and see how wrong everyone was.

My prediction?  Patriots will be better than us.  

Yeah happens every year. The most knowledgeable football people in the world are wrong often with predictions, we aren't any different...besides being less knowledgeable. 

[EL Brownso]

I can see us picking that high if we have a catastrophic season.  I expect us to win a few games, the scores maybe very low but I expect to see a good showing.  The defense looks good.  Excited to see Schobert replace Tank in the middle soon, if not only on effort. The front 7 should be pretty good and we all know the best pass defense is a good pass rush. 

I predict a 5 to 8 win season.  I fully expect to win at least 5 games and I expect a gritty showing week in and week out.  Can't wait to see what this season brings. 

[EL Brownso]

Ooops. Trying to increase my post count.

[brownie man]

I think Jets will suck

miami will be bad

San Fran is going to suck

Minnesota with that o line might be pretty bad

Im concerned with the chargers too after their injuries  

New Orlenas with that defense 

 

[FGK]

18 hours ago, Mind Character said:

Regarding the the Chargers, they did pick 7th in the draft last year. Their only major acquisitions since then have been through the draft (for which the major impact players have serious injuries), one addition in Free Agency CB Casey Heyward, and players returning from injury (Keenan Allen). 

If the injury bug bites again, they will be back in the top 7 in the draft. And in my mind, I think injury may strike their team again b/c a lot of guys are going to be pushing it on not fully healed knees and backs.

.A major portion of my prediction on the Chargers has to do with  my belief that Mike Williams will at some point miss a good portion of time this year. Originally, they said all year. Now after an epidural he's running again. Pain management and potential re-occurring bulging disc issue make it unlikely to me that he will survive the full season. They want to protect their draft asset imo.

Why wasn't this team playoff worthy last year? Offensive line deficiencies, Keenan Allen injury, and lack of playmaker WR1s on the outside.

How exactly did they get better? Forrest Lamp is out for the year. Doug Feeney is a rookie and best suited for guard but they're sliding him in to be a mauling RG guard. At the senior bowl, I did not see that type of a player.

Keenan Allen is a more quick than fast guy. He ran a 4.71-4.75 at his pro day. He's has torn his knee up twice. He's coming back from another acl this year. If he loses his elite quickness and dynamic change of direction ability the chargers could be in trouble

For all the Tyrell Williams WR1 hype, he was on the roster last yearWilliams may be hurt for the year.

Teams have a year of tape on Joey Bosa. I'm one of the biggest fans of Bosa's technique but teams will try to mitigate his disruption....maybe it doesn't work but maybe it does.

I say all that to say (you all know how long winded I am; I can't help it)......I think there are good reasons to think the Chargers may end up back in the top 5.

There's always the possibility, but they wildly underperformed their expected production last year, got hurt by having a really hard schedule, and were hammered by injuries. While one or two of those might repeat, I don't think all three do. And getting your best WR and CB, both of whom are top 15ish at their positions, back when you missed them all of the year before is big boost.

Anybody can have a super messed up year. And the moving cities thing might end up being way bigger than we know. But right now I think it's more likely that they make the playoffs than that they get a top five pick.

[Mind Character]

37 minutes ago, freakygeniuskid said:

There's always the possibility, but they wildly underperformed their expected production last year, got hurt by having a really hard schedule, and were hammered by injuries. While one or two of those might repeat, I don't think all three do. And getting your best WR and CB, both of whom are top 15ish at their positions, back when you missed them all of the year before is big boost.

Anybody can have a super messed up year. And the moving cities thing might end up being way bigger than we know. But right now I think it's more likely that they make the playoffs than that they get a top five pick.

You're right about their returning top corner. I completely forgot about Jason Varrett being out last yr. Him returning along with Hey bward will boost their D.

It's hard to say how productive Keenan Allen can be on that knee...after multiple tears I would think he's going to be a lesser version of himself this year.

 The injury bug got them again last night as they just lost their impact starter LB Denzel Perryman for 6-10 weeks with an ankle injury.Today, reports also came out that Mike Williams is going to be held out until mid-October at minimum. So, he'll be gone half the season; however, with back issues it may be in the best interest of the player and the team to hold him out all year on IR to prospect his future impact/career.

I hear you on the underperforming and schedule thing though.

With that shaky oline... Ingram, Bosa, Heyward, and Varrett have to carry the team on defense. Maybe if Hunter Henry takes another step and melvin gordon ascends...

We shall see.

Should be an interesting watch.

I'll be glad to admit if I end up being wrong, but one more major

[Kiwibrown]

the reality is that any team can soil the bed. A part from the patriots. 
If Lucks doesn't come back early, the Colts could be at the bottom of the pile. 

I think the Bears will be better off plaing Trub if they want wins. Glennon looks like a goose playing football , I wouldn't be sur[ised if he honks when he throws the ball. No swag either.