WGR

‘Most of Buffalo’s games, save for Thanksgiving Day and Week 16 against the New England Patriots, will have a 1:00 pm kickoff.’

‘If Sean McDermott’s team isn’t at least .500 after those first six games, it might be time for fans to brace for a tough season, because it doesn’t get any easier the rest of the way.’

‘Buffalo Bills (via Tampa Bay Buccaneers) – DT – Quinnen Williams (Alabama).’

‘Allen would be expected at the podium. He’s now the unquestioned starting quarterback and leader of the offense, but often times it’s a veteran who is chosen to speak on behalf of the defense. Last year, it was a trio of defensive leaders who stood up there. Kyle Williams, Lorenzo Alexander, and Micah Hyde all answered questions after the first day of workouts. Williams retired, but Alexander and Hyde are still here and still leaders of the team. So it says a lot about how the Bills feel about Edmunds to place him in that spot.’

‘Yeldon spent the last four seasons in Jacksonville after being selected by the Jaguars in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft. The 25-year old University of Alabama product finished with just 414 rushing yards and one touchdown in 14 games last season. Yeldon is a bit more of a third-down, pass-catching running back. He averaged 3.4 receptions per game in his four seasons with the Jaguars and tallied 30 or more catches in each season. He set a new career-high with 55 receptions in 2018.’

‘[Phase One consists of only strength and conditioning exercises and rehab work. Only strength and conditioning coaches are even allowed to be on the field with players.’

‘“We got Josh, but there was no scenario where we got Josh and Tremaine,” he said. “I told you, I screwed that up last year. Sometimes I do dictate the mock and I do say, ‘You can’t take this player’ or ‘these three players have to be gone before we pick,’ just to mix it up so we don’t end up with the same thing going. Last year, I screwed that up and we did all sorts of trade-ups and trade-backs with the first one, but I never did it with pick number 22. We always made a pick at 22 or, in scenarios, used that pick to move up, so we didn’t have it.”’

‘Although many believe teams use some of their pre-draft visits to throw other teams off the track and make them think they’re interested in drafting a player they aren’t, Beane says that’s not the case with the Bills. He told me that although there are players who visit he knows they might not draft in the end, he doesn’t use the visits as flat-out smokescreens. Each team only gets 30 of them and there’s a purpose behind each one. He said that if a player come in, it means there are questions the team needs answered about them, whether that’s character, medical, off-the-field issues, or of course on-the-field related.’

‘“There’s one word [to describe Oliver’s game], motor,” Duarte said. “It’s one that doesn’t have an off switch. He came in as a five-star recruit and Houston doesn’t get those types of players. He made an impact from day one. His first game in college was against Baker Mayfield and Oklahoma, and he made life miserable for Baker. He’s a high-energy guy, doesn’t take plays off, goes sideline-to-sideline, and is just powerful. When you look at his strength, it was like a man playing against boys.”’

‘While McDermott’s squad will be on the field for the first time, the Bills’ head coach isn’t allowed to be out there with them just yet. Neither is offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, or any of their position coaches during what’s referred to as “Phase One.”’

‘Heading into the NFL Draft in less than two weeks, here are what I consider the Bills’ five biggest needs and why…’.

‘”Hockenson is one of the best blocking tight ends coming into the Draft that I’ve seen. He also looks like a wide receiver when he has the ball. I think [the Oakland Raiders] could take him, so I wouldn’t say that Bills selecting him would be a reach.”‘

‘Harold has played outside in a 3-4 system or the strong side in a 4-3. The Bills listed him as a defensive end in their press release about the signing, which may indicate they plan on using him in a pass-rushing role, something Harold excelled in at Virginia, where he totaled 15.5 sacks over his final two years.’

‘The two best tight ends in this year’s draft class are both from Iowa. T.J. Hockenson and Noah Fant. Both are considered elite-level prospects who many have being selected near the top ten of the draft. The Bills hold the No. 9 overall selection. There’s a lot of debate on which one of the two is better and why, and you can talk yourself in circles trying to figure that out, but the question for the Bills is, “is ninth overall too high to draft a tight end?”’

‘The draft could impact whether Yarbrough makes the team in 2019. With Jerry Hughes, Trent Murphy, and Shaq Lawson under contract, a selection of a young pass rusher would make for some competition at defensive end when training camp rolls around.’