WhitewalkerInPhilly

OK, is Robert Woods looking like a rock star to everybody else?

As much as I am to wax poetic, Duke Williams has been there to clean up on many plays and has provided decent coverage. He is really looking like a quintessential Strong Safety

Yeah, I'm liking Duke Williams as SS

Impressions thus far: First string defense looks amazing. EJ has a lot to work on, but Mi. Williams should have had a touchdown catch. Run game looks solid, and I see Bryce Brown climbing the depth chart. Run game...when Spikes isn't out there, meh.

Annnnnd Thad is going to be third string

I am really liking Bryce Brown

*Smacks forehead* OK, I really should have thought of that. Thanks Jay, you've set me on a good trail. And stadium sections that you would recommend?

I have heard this a great deal. The man has enormous physical talent. From what I can tell, the only reason he fell so far were off the field issues. So far, he seems to be "getting it" like Da'Rick never did. Time will tell of course, but I would love to see him in the right side when they get to 2nd and 3rd teamers. As I've been thinking about it, I would love to see him supplant Pears while Kujo gets brought along. Kujo is the prototypical "road grader", Glenn is an above average LT, and if Henderson can be a good swing to spell those two out...

I saw Guardians of the Galaxy on Thursday and laughed my ass off through most of it, despite the fact that...well, apparently 3D doesn't work on me. The writing is solid for a comedy, and the action is fun. If you aren't looking for anything serious or heavy, it's a good time. I *WILL* be seeing the new Sin City, and am interested in the November Man and Expendables 3.

A little while ago, I moved to South NJ for work. Sadly, moving around has put me out of Bills territory for the past couple of years, and while I've found a few places that help with my fix (Go Downtown Philadelphia Buffalo Bills Backers!) I haven't been to a live Bills game in over a decade. At this point, sadly, my best option for seeing a live Bills game is looking like trucking up to the Meadowlands, which really isn't too bad of a hike, and I'm seeing cheap seats for about $50, so this is looking like a legit option. That said, I am entirely open to hearing about the best ways to get there, tailgate safely to avoid the compounding Major League Sports and New York overpricing, and not get myself thrown off a balcony by Jets fans. Since there's still time, I'm hoping to get a decent plan in place before I shoot myself in the foot.

Well, we'll get a glimpse in preseason tonight!

I hear you guys, but seeing as I needed my football fix, and we're still at T-minus 34 hours until preseason starts, I kind of went looking for it. Hmm, that is a fair point. Hairston, when healthy and fresh, made for a very nice swing tackle, and I'm a fan of that as depth. Teams are lucky to have complete seasons from both of their tackles, so I could see that. Damn...that would be nasty. I would love to see it, especially since most of them are young guys!

I'll admit it: when Seantrel Henderson was taken in the draft my first response was "who?" and once I know that, it was "this guy is going to be the next Da'Rick". That said...by most accounts I hear, while he struggled early (a 7th round rookie struggling against one of the best pass rushers in the game? *fake astonished gasp*) apparently he has started to come into form while playing LT in Glenn's absence. As far as we know, Glenn will be back by Week 1, so I'm curious about what will happen to Henderson both in the immediate future, and longer term. Obviously, I would prefer to have Glenn back and ready to roll by Week 1, but there is a chance that he comes back rusty. There is also, I think, a legitimate question as to whether we might want to move him to RT. In terms of measurables, he's actually heaver, stronger, and quick about as quick as his fellow draftee, Kouandjio, who has been struggling to take over for Erik Pears. This was a fight that people thought Kouandjio would win easily, so I'm wondering if they give Henderson a turn there. Of course, the Bill don't really have a strong alternative to put in his place until Glenn comes back. And of course...I know some people will hate this suggestion, but Marrone seems to have not quite yet found himself with a satisfactory guard situation. While Chris Williams was back from an injury yesterday, the 5th round pick Richardson was still in. Urbik, while still in charge, has has constant rotation to have people try to take over so Marrone seems to be looking for an answer. If you truly want your best guys out there...maybe it deserves a look. Thoughts?

Great stuff Astro. It's good to hear the EJ has been making continual progress and looks much better since last week. While I try to take camp reports with a grain of salt, his ability to look at the defense and go through progressions sounds about where he finished last year at the very least, and he still has another month of practices to bring it together. I really do think that you're right about Sammy being an outside guy and outside guy only. I personally fall into the camp where I want my slot guys to be speedy, route running machines. Sammy's biggest knock is his route running skills, since his natural talent made precise routes unnecessary. Personally, I see Sammy and Woods on the outside in standard formations, with Mike Williams or Goodwin rotated to the outside in 3 WR set (depending on the situation) while Woods moves to the slot. In 4 WR, I see Sammy and Williams on the outside, with Woods and Goodwin in the slot.

from what i'm hearing, there are two things i like. first, richardson is finally starting to look as advertised, even if he is occaisionally losing to one of the best dt's in the game. second...i know some people are going to jump on me, but it sounds like ej has turned a corner.

i love the optimism, but i don't see it. ne is still too good to take it all. that said, i think this is the first time in years that we could actually compete for it. while we play a lot of tough teams, i can't ask for a better schedule to play them in. if ej can be a game manager, i think the defense and run game is good enough to ride.

Actually, that's a decent comparison. Both are average to below average starters who occasionally get hot streaks that make it worth keeping them when you have literally no better option or your intended franchise player does not work out.

Normally, I would be screaming like crazy about how wrong he was. But when I look down, comparing each group against each other, it does look like a hard fight. Cutler is already the game manager that the Bills are already hoping EJ will be. I can't say that their RB is inferior to ours as well, considering that Matt Forte is nothing to sneeze at. Alshon Jeffery and Brandon marshall claim to be the best WR pair in the NFL, even if I think that they don't have the depth of talent the Bills do. Two years ago, Chicago had the #2 Defense in the league, and their slide was helped by losing 5 starters to injury.(Though you can argue Lovie Smith helped with that). Those guys will be back. And we're playing them at home, on the home opener, in Soldier's field, where we can expect a lot of crowd noise. I'm not saying that the Bills can't win. The D-line is looking very special and as I watch Sammy and Mike Williams get into synch with EJ, it looks like he has two targets who can make him look good on errant throws, while Woods looks like he is still in perfect route running mode on catches which move the chains. But I think that anyone who looks at the game as not being an uphill battle is overly optimistic, and that's coming from a Kool-Aid drinker.

It's cool hearing the answers from the guys who did that fan reporting for us. I'm sure things are going to be tougher for Hughes when contact starts,and he isn't facing the 2nd and 3rd stringers. But when I hear talk on the D-line, I always hear about Dareus and Mario, and occasionally Kyle. Seeing him be an unholy terror now makes me think that we are going to have a scary D-line. And, two days in, Sammy sounds like...exactly what we traded up for. If this keeps up, I might have to say that I was w-wr...wro...what word what I thinking of again?

Hmm, actually, EJ doesn't sound too bad so far. In fact, he sounds leaps and bounds better than last year, even if he admittedly has a lot of work to do, And, as critical I was of the Sammy pick, he really played some great football today.

I still think he has a shot of being a starter to open the season. Sammy looks promising, but he's still a rookie. It might be nice to have a veteran start while he works on his route running. Either way, I fully expect to see a LOT of 3 WR sets. I also agree on Bryce Brown.

...maybe. But I've got the football shakes, and I think I missed that topic.

Who is the most underrated Bills player going into the start of training camp? I know it's a pretty simple question, but I'm curious as to what people will say. Of course we're going to be talking about Spiller and Freddy in the backfield, about Dareus and Mario on the D-line, and about Sammy Watkins. But who do you think is being passed over? For my money, it's Mike Williams. A lot has been made about his off the field problems, and Rodak seemed ready to jump the cut and claimed that the man is on the bubble to make the team. However, despite his off the field problems, the man has had massive on the field success. He's definitely not a solo star like his old teammate Vincent Jackson, but from what I've seen on his videos, he's a great route runner, something necessary in Marrone's West Coast influenced system.He's got size and speed really close to Sammy, an even better vertical, a knack for winning jump balls and we already know that he's been able to adjust to the speed on the game on the Pro Level.

The funny thing was,my first thought was to break it up more to get more chances to bump the thread. And typically, I do write as a minimalist, it's just that there's been so much that had changed in many of the offense position groups, and you have to tread carefully when EJ debating is concerned so I wanted hard numbers for that. So...he's a bit heavier and slower than Gragg, and is lighter and faster than Chandler... In all seriousness though, I do think that he splits the difference. Gragg in pretty much entirely an unknown to most fans, without knowing the inner workings of what's happened in the locker room last year. Moeaki is a mystery, but less so. We know that he has but up decent numbers, but not those reflecting where he was drafted. From the highlights I've seen, he seems to be more acrobatic and more dynamic than Chandler. Chandler has a knack for getting open, and his size can win a lot of fights in the end zone. But YAC... If the idea is to give EJ a security blanket, a guy who he can make the check down and then take the ball upfield for the yards to get a first down, Chandler isn't the guy. Moeaki might be.

I believe I did. But I do agree that the less the team relies on EJ the better.Right now, for this year, if EJ is a game manager I would be ok with that.