Official Free Agency Signings

[tomdalton22]

Stafford was good. He just had more to deal with against him. Run game, protection, 3rd WR issues, drops, rookie TE, new system. Stafford still good. 11-5. He was our offense when it did well.

Bell is a good back. Gets good YPC, can be a receiver and block. He has talent clearly.

Ebron showed some flashes. Has some speed. Got us some first downs. He'll grow in year 2. Maybe the next Slay type growth. We will see.

There are several years Oline stayed very healthy. 2011, 2012, 2013 was just right tackle injuries (Fox/Hilliard/Waddle). 3 years out of 4 we haven't had multiple positions affected. Warford, Reiff seem durable. We'll see on the new guard and Swason. Waddle is injury prone but Lucas year 2 could help or Hilliard back or a new backup RT.

Bell good YPC? 3.9 is bad! In 2014 he was ranked #30 in the NFL for yards per carry.

Stafford was not good. 25th in comp % & 19th in YPA, 21st in QBR. He just is not accurate enough to be classified as a good QB. Way too inconsistent.

 

[LKP]

Bell good YPC? 3.9 is bad! In 2014 he was ranked #30 in the NFL for yards per carry.

Stafford was not good. 25th in comp % & 19th in YPA, 21st in QBR. He just is not accurate enough to be classified as a good QB. Way too inconsistent.

Bell makes people miss, can break tackles and sees the holes. There was just no holes. Especially the first half of the season. Second half he had 4.4 YPC in the last 8 games (more than Murray by the way in his last 8). Improvement. Bell can receive too. Overall he is good just needs the Oline health so he can have the blocking.

Stafford was good. He just had alot of other things around him go wrong. YPC, protection, 3rd WR, new system, FG kicking, drops. His numbers looked bad but Stafford was good. The game tape showed Stafford was good.

 

[tomdalton22]

Bell makes people miss, can break tackles and sees the holes. There was just no holes. Especially the first half of the season. Second half he had 4.4 YPC in the last 8 games (more than Murray by the way in his last 8). Improvement. Bell can receive too. Overall he is good just needs the Oline health so he can have the blocking.

Stafford was good. He just had alot of other things around him go wrong. YPC, protection, 3rd WR, new system, FG kicking, drops. His numbers looked bad but Stafford was good. The game tape showed Stafford was good.

These guys have Bell ranked 42nd out of 43 in 2014

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/rb

They have Stafford ranked 15th

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/qb

 

[LKP]

These guys have Bell ranked 42nd out of 43 in 2014

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/rb

They have Stafford ranked 15th

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/qb

They need to watch more game tape. Holes weren't there for Bell. He can make people miss, run people over, block and catch. He's a good player.

Again, watch the game tape. Stafford had a ton of other stuff to deal with. Stafford is a huge reason we won 11 games.

 

[kdp1980]

The defense is a big reason we won 11 games. LIMITING Stafford helped us win 11 games. Next year when the d is average to below average will be a very telling year for Stafford.

 

[boogerlovejoy]

The defense is a big reason we won 11 games. LIMITING Stafford helped us win 11 games. Next year when the d is average to below average will be a very telling year for Stafford.

I'm curious as to what you mean by limiting? How was he limited last year?

 

[sggatecl]

I'm curious as to what you mean by limiting? How was he limited last year?

I assumed he meant that Stafford wasn't expected to score as often, therefore limiting the number of mistakes he made by keeping everything conservative.

 

[Mitchrapp]

I'm curious as to what you mean by limiting? How was he limited last year?

I assume he means "threw less" and "didn't go deep."

 

[LKP]

Stafford went deep plenty. It was only about 1 time less a game compared to last year over 11 yards. 600 attempts. The throw less than 620+ was due to the Oline giving up 45 sacks.

 

[brewer229]

How many more "telling" years do we need for Stafford? How come it's always, next year is when we find out the truth about Stafford. He's played 6 years.

It's always what can everyone else do to help Stafford. Never what can Stafford do to help the others.

Start by being accurate down field, if the defense has any sort of fear you can beat them deep suddenly running lanes open and blitz becomes less. Look at his down field pass completions. Guessing if you watch 3 at random, at least two would involve either CJ out jumping two guys or the WR adjusting and or waiting for the ball. Maybe the 3rd one would actually be hitting someone in stride.

 

[LKP]

How many more "telling" years do we need for Stafford? How come it's always, next year is when we find out the truth about Stafford. He's played 6 years.

It's always what can everyone else do to help Stafford. Never what can Stafford do to help the others.

Start by being accurate down field, if the defense has any sort of fear you can beat them deep suddenly running lanes open and blitz becomes less. Look at his down field pass completions. Guessing if you watch 3 at random, at least two would involve either CJ out jumping two guys or the WR adjusting and or waiting for the ball. Maybe the 3rd one would actually be hitting someone in stride.

Deep balls are low percentage for every QB. Calvin is typically covered deep too. Teams just take that away. It's never Calvin one on one out running someone. Stafford knows Calvin can win a jump ball matchup. It's a weapon for us and it's how it has be thrown against double covererage deep. His number 3 and TEs need to get open more but sometimes we are going to just take the deep shot. It's not Stafford, it's how Calvin that is defended since 2012.

 

[tomdalton22]

Stafford went deep plenty. It was only about 1 time less a game compared to last year over 11 yards. 600 attempts. The throw less than 620+ was due to the Oline giving up 45 sacks.

Out of the top 10 QBs in total yards this season Stafford ranked (attempts 11+ yards)

7th in total attempts
10th in yards per attempt
7th in TDs
10th in completion %

 

[dubbsco]

So in other words, if he didn't have Calvin to throw deep to, we can't rely on Stafford to hit other guys with the long ball. Got it.

 

[LKP]

Out of the top 10 QBs in total yards this season Stafford ranked (attempts 11+ yards)

7th in total attempts
10th in yards per attempt
7th in TDs
10th in completion %

He was effective going deep and did so a good amount.

2 more completions a game (on 600 attempts) is what it takes to get to mid 60% completion. It could come from Stafford making two better throws/decision a game, less drops two times a game, more time (easier throws, guys time to get open), better down and distance (easier throws 3rd and mid range or short) or better weapon separation two more times (specifically TE or 3rd WR).

Lots of ways for Stafford to improve (or look better stat wise) and most of them are on other players making life easier for him.

 

[LKP]

So in other words, if he didn't have Calvin to throw deep to, we can't rely on Stafford to hit other guys with the long ball. Got it.

No you didn't get it. You didn't get it at all.

The other guys don't get good separation deep. He can hit guys deep. Tate and Fuller are good but could use some work deep. Don't really care if Tate does because he does other stuff incredibly well. Especially Fuller getting jammed at the line.

 

[everyoneneedsasmil]

So everything that goes wrong is always someone else's fault. Got it. Stafford is the greatest QB in the world constantly being held back by an impossible to overcome supporting cast.

 

[LKP]

So everything that goes wrong is always someone else's fault. Got it. Stafford is the greatest QB in the world constantly being held back by an impossible to overcome supporting cast.

Stafford isn't the greatest. He is good and does his job well. He is severely underrated.

Lions had protection, run game, drop problems (not as much as 2013) and WR 3/TE issues. It's pretty obvious.

 

[michiganalex]

http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/12425466/vince-wilfork-option-declined-new-england-patriots

 

[dubbsco]

They didn't have drop problems.
http://www.sportingcharts.com/nfl/stats/team-receiver-drops-percentage/2014/

Directly smack dab in the middle of the NFL. So that one is meaningless.

And WR 3/TE issues? Come on, you are really reaching to the bottom for that. WR 3 issues?

 

[LKP]

They didn't have drop problems.
http://www.sportingcharts.com/nfl/stats/team-receiver-drops-percentage/2014/

Directly smack dab in the middle of the NFL. So that one is meaningless.

And WR 3/TE issues? Come on, you are really reaching to the bottom for that. WR 3 issues?

They did have drop problems.3rd most in the league for any QB. 6.2% of attempts per PFF which was 5th highest in the league.One of many issues. Protection, run game, WR 3/TE performance more so than drops.

And compare to Tony Romo. 2.3%. A 4% jump in comp % if he had Romo type drop %. Stafford would have been at 64.5% and then you all would shut your mouths.