stitches

You keep not understanding @Superman 's and my worries about asset allocation. Roster construction is a zero sum game. When you put resources in one area this means that those resources cannot be put in another area. When you keep hammering the run defense .... investing and overinvesting and trippling down on it and paying 40M+ for your DTs and 7M for backup run stuffing nose tackle and 10+M for what is essentially run stuffing linebacker, this means that money now cannot be spent on things that are much bigger concerns for this team and coincidentally those are things that actually correlate with winning much more than run defense in the modern NFL. I like Partridge's hire too... but his job is not player evaluation and roster management. His job is to coach the players he's given. That's why I find it so weird that you keep deferring to Partridge's opinion, when we don't even know what his opinion is. It can range from "meh... i'm ok with this guy, probably can work with it but don't sweat it if you can't get him" to "OMG, please, please, please find a way to bring him to me. He's amazing and the missing piece". What we know is that this is Ballard's job to decide whether to pursue him and what limits to set on an offer to him. Well now it's done and whatever visions they have of him, his actual play will depend on Davis's talent, skill and Partridge's ability to get the best of him. Again... don't want to answer for Superman, but this is because of apparent focus in Ballard's roster building philosophy. We complain that they bring nothing to the pass-rush, because it's the pass rush that needs one of the biggest improvements. not the run-stuffing. And by investing in them and not someone else who is more pass-rush proficient, we are again steering this team into a direction that is not conducive to what wins in today's league. A coach can help extract the best out of a player and can help develop their skills. A coach cannot magically turn Grover Stewart into Justin Madubuike or Zaire Franklin into Frankie Luvu or Raekwon Davis into ... I don't know Dorance Armstrong or Za'Darius Smith. Lets be clear here - we haven't really done much in first week of free agency. Well, we've kept our own... that's something Ballard has done in the past. The only two outside moves we have now are Raekwon Davis and Joe Flacco. Last year we signed Minshew on March 17, this year we signed Flacco on March 13... Last year we signed Matt Gay on March 13 and Samson Ebukam on March 14. There really isn't something out of the ordinary that Ballard is doing this year. All those were in the first week of FA last year too... I kind of agree... people are starting to catchup to the fact that no matter the lip service he's done to changing the approach now that we have a cheap QB... Ballard really hasn't changed much of anything about his philosophy. He's doing the exact same things he always does, he focuses on the exact same thing he has always focused on and there is no sign whatsoever that he will be changing anything in his roster construction beliefs. And when the draft comes he will again do what he always does(and BTW this is where I actually am almost all the way there with him) - he will likely trade back for more picks, he will pick high level athletes, he will pick lenght at corner/lb/DL... My hope is that Steichen will manage to somehow convince him to spend big on another weapon.... At the end of the day, the more time passes and the more I see of Ballard the more convinced I get that he is not the guy to get us there. He's too entrenched in his philosophy(one that has not proven to be successful so far). He's not aggressive enough when opportunity and circumstances align and we actually have the chance to strengthen the team around our young QB, who needs all the help he can get. Which is a shame, because in a lot of ways I like Ballard(love his overall demeanor and presence, love his draft strategy for the most part, love that he runs a tight organization and we don't leak like most teams out there, etc.)... but ultimately the results are what he should be and eventually will be judged on. He's the type of GM who will run a solid operation, the team will never be in salary cap hell, the team will never be depleted of draft picks, but he also will never take the big chances to focus extended collection of resources into a window for contention. We will very likely continue to be what we've been with him so far... a middling team that some years miss the playoffs and some years make it only to be hammered by a team that actually has invested into their window for contention. The only real hope I have is that AR turns into somewhat of a monster(top 5 QB in the league) and is enough to keep us in contention on his own(well, with Steichen's help of course)... Those are my current feelings on Ballard's prospects as our GM going forward... I hope I'm wrong.

I don't think it's a huge red flag but definitely eyebrow raising... There is still time before the draft and he can reschedule the workout if he needs to/wants to...

Yeah, I don't mind it. He's a solid backup at this stage of his career and he has had a very good career in the league. I hope he's open to mentoring and helping AR in his growth and not just here for the check...

It's probably based on games played, kind of like Minshew's incentives last year.

Flacco is known for having horrible internal clock. He was 40th of 46 QBs last year in time to throw at 3.01 seconds. With that said, he's still one of the better backups we could have gotten. As long as he's OK mentoring and helping AR, I'm good with that signing.

You mean to tell me you don't trust ... "the feeling" Cam Marino has had?

He's pondering if paying 5M for third nose tackle will be enough to make this defense top 10 in the league.

Another team trying to support their young QB and give him weapons and protection. Good thing AR already has everything he needs so we can focus on what really matters...

You said it...

Wasn't it Tannehill that said he isn't there to mentor Levis last year?

Mason Rudolph to the Titans. One more backup QB off the market...

The Texans are doing what any team with a young talented QB should be doing, stacking the roster and using the cheap QB window to try to create a contention window. Good for them...

We don't blitz a lot... but when we blitz we need that blitz to be super effective. We didn't blitz a ton in Shaq Leonard's better days either... but when he blitzed it was impactful. Luvu has similar playmaking ability. And again... it's not just Luvu. If I said another player(Patrick Queen, Azeez Al-Shaair, Drue Tranquill), people would still find reasons why we shouldn't have singed them. Yes... there is no absolute perfect fit that will hit every single requirement and be super good and super cheap and super available. If we want to find reasons to not sign players we will find them. My point is... Ballard is making the focus of this off-season the same thing that he's been focusing on since forever and he continues to ignore the areas of the team that need most help.

It's 5M for year one with 2.5M dead money if we cut him for year 2... so yeah... it's pretty much 7.5M for 1 year. If you cut him after year one you only save 6.5M, not 9.

Yes. I said already - if it turns out to be a vet min or thereabout, I might change my tune. But AJ Dillon IMO doesn't have that profile of a player who gets vet min. And again - if I turn out to be wrong - I would gladly take back my objection. We've already established that we view that signing very differently, so yeah... lets move on...

Again... it's not a complete fluke... but it has larger luck component and is less predictive about what we should expect going forward than the pressures number.

It's not just what he didn't do. It's what he is actively doing. He continues to emphasize the trenches... and in the most run-focused way possible. Extended Franklin who is strictly a run-defender, instead of going for someone like... Frankie Luvu for example, who got a similar contract and is much better player than Franklin and better in all the ways that would have helped our pass defense - incredible coverage linebacker, one of the best in the league, great blitzer(pass-disruption again). Instead of goinf for some of the DLinemen who are more pass-rush oriented, he re-signed Grover(run stuffer) and signed a 7M backup for him(another run stuffer). We still haven't made any addition to the secondary and it seems like we are losing Blackmon(still not officially confirmed, but people are saying he's scrubbed everything Colts related from his social media) who was one of the better coverage players for us last year. So yeah... I really don't see how he could have done anything worse for our pass-defense... maybe if we let Kenny go too. But then it would have been unmitigated disaster.

The point is that over the long haul when the QB is pressured he's less efficient, even when he's not sacked. This is universally true throughout the league. A single play here or there doesn't change that... well... those are just part of the larger sample. When you draw the line - more pressures = better pass defense, less points for the opponent, more wins for you.

Overhaul the whole thing? Probably not... at least make some significant steps in an attempt to do it? I harbored some minor hopes for that.

I wasn't expecting that. It was a snarkier than needed retort to @Goatface Killah;s post trying to convince me to wait for the draft before I make big conclusions and for that I apologize to @Goatface Killah. But yeah... my overall point was - I have no expectations that Ballard will deviate from his modus operandi in the draft any more than he has in the past.

And what if Dillon is out with a training camp injury? There is no significant difference in what you can expect between backup RBs, whether they are signed in March or off the street in September. Hell, some people might even say there is no significant difference in what you can expect between starters and backup RBs... I won't go as far, but yeah... I don't think paying non-vet minimum for backup RB is optimal use of resources.

Oh don't tell me that! It is @Goatface Killah who's trying to convince me I should wait for the draft(no. 8 draft for Ballard) to see how Ballard is going to fix one of the worst pass defenses and one of the worst pass-catching groups in the league. I have long accepted that Ballard has a specific philosophy and he's running with it. I don't expect him to change at this point.

No it doesn't. It shows what it says it shows. Pressure rate(in general) and blitz rate. It can help you see whether teams that blitz more, create more pressures in general. But it also shows you those two specific things as well...

This is all pass plays...

I never said they are just luck. But they have a much larger luck component than pressures.