Alphadawg7

With Stevenson hurt and Now Austin cut, that means no KR only specialist being kept at WR is likely happening. That is the best case scenario for Hodgins in his quest to make the final 53 that an extra roster spot at WR not going to a returner. Still not a lock, but that definitely improves his chances.

Touche you’re right on that 😂

I was talking about as a runner that’s why, because I’ve seen people suggest trading our other RBs to keep him on the active 53…and not just Moss (who is someone that could get traded), but trades of Devin and even Cook. Im in no way against him, and like his potential too, and if he doesn’t make the roster I’m certain he will be on the PS.

IMHO both Hodgins and Blackshear hype is out of control. Hodgins is averaging a whopping 9 yards per catch through 2 games...while leading the team in targets, catches and playing against backups and scrubs who wont be on rosters come week 1. If one of our top 3 WR's was doing that, everyone would be freaking out saying we need to go find a WR to replace him. Blackshear had a 6 carry for 11 yards first game and has really only had one good or standout play, a 25 yard run in the 2nd game against guys who wont be on NFL rosters week 1. But now he is getting the Antonio Williams hype, but at least AW did something in a regular season game. I am all for young guys, and I will root for these guys to make the team, I have nothing against them. But man, the over exaggeration on them is so thick that I have seen suggestions to trade away better players to make sure we keep them. They are being talked up like they are future all pros and need to be kept at all costs. Yet neither has really lit the league on fire despite weak competition.

Best part about this trade is not having to hear about him on this board anymore...so its a good day

Actually, that's exactly what you would do. If anyone is going to offer Beane anything worth him considering they will want to see that Moss can run with the starters. Beane won't care about getting a 6th or 7th for Moss, he would likely keep him during a SB run for that cheap. But a 5th I think gets him at least thinking about it, but a 4th would probably do the trick. But to get anyone to offer a 4th, or even a 5th, they need to see something good from him after last year. Also, Devin with his low center of gravity, better vision, better explosion into the hole has been the better short yardage back than Moss so far. People forget how much power Devin runs with; he frequently carries the pile forward. And don't forget about Josh in those situations too. Getting back to Moss, I am not saying he is for sure trying to get offers on Moss, but I mentioned this after the first preseason game as a possibility. It's what they did do with Sammy too and some others before. But make no mistake about it, Devin is the feature runner this year. So, if they feel Cook can also spell Devin in the run game and not just be a pass catching specialist, then that will open the door for a Moss trade if they get an offer they like. Also, the only significant buzz of boost of confidence in Moss of relevance I saw was also Beane talking him up. Again, something a GM would do to get people to make inquiries. Everyone in the league knows we have Devin and drafted Cook. If an injury happens or they are looking for some help at RB, Bills are a team likely to get a call with 3 guys that can play a significant role in an offense. I definitely don't think Beane is interested in cutting him or giving him away cheap...so it would take a reasonable offer, probably a fourth if I had to guess before Beane got serious about trading him.

This is what I have been saying all off season! I have kept saying to the “we didn’t do enough” to address the OL crowd all off season that they keep grossly over looking and under valuing the massive upgrade from that loser Bobby Johnson to one of the best OL coaches in the league in Kromer. And you can already see the difference on the field. Our OL is going to be much improved this year, especially in the run game where the run blocking already looks night and day difference.

There is the other popular misunderstanding of ST contributions. Only one guy will make the tackle...its NOT about how many tackles you get, its about how well you play your role to force the returner into a tackle and contain the return. Literally closing off the lanes is substantially more important than who gets the credit for the tackle. A tackle can happen anywhere on the field...on a 5 yard return or a 50 yard return. What matters most is not allowing the runner the space to make the return and force him into the coverage for as short of a gain as possible.

Yet, they did NOT use the backup in McKenzie despite all that. Again, neither Hodgins or Kumerow will sniff the field this year as a WR. To put it a better way, if either of them has to play a significant role we are in trouble and hunting for WR help on the FA market and trade market.

Im not Kumerow campaign guy by any means, I just want us to field the best team possible. So, who ever gets that WR spot Hodgins is fighting for just needs to be reliable on ST because that is their role on the team they are being kept for. Thats all I am saying, I hope its Hodgins too.

Disagree...the guys who deserve to stay are the guys who make your team better. If his primary role is to make the team via ST and he isn't good enough at ST, then he doesn't deserve to make the team over someone who has ALSO put in all the work to be the best he can at his job. People act like only Hodgins has worked hard. Again, rooting for him, but he isn't entitled to anything just because he worked hard when all these guys are working hard and fighting for jobs too.

Yeah and look, not hating on Hodgins, I am rooting for Hodgins too, its a great story as well. Just saying, if he can't cut it on ST he wont make the team, because that will be the primary role of what ever WR makes the team at that point of the depth chart.

Except neither him or TD Jesus will contribute on the field as a WR this year regardless how makes it. Thats the point.

Hodgins wont amass even 10 receptions this year if he makes the team. McKenzie only had 20 last year despite being higher on the depth chart than Hodgins will be this year and seeing the guy ahead of him (Beasley) play drop and miss some time. Guys who get it done on O? Hodgins is averaging 9 yards per catch over 2 preseason games against scrubs who many wont make an NFL roster. If we had a starter doing that people would be calling for him to be cut.

I like Hodgins, and will root for him. But the over excitement on him seems a bit much. Through 2 preseason games hes averaging 9 yards per catch against scrubs. Shakir for example has been substantially more impressive. And like I pointed out before, the last 2 years while fielding a pass happy #1 offense in the AFC, our 5th WR (McKenzie) averaged just 25 rec for 240 yards and no one else behind him even had a hundred yards on the season. Hodgins will not play any relevant minutes at WR and will be a total non factor if we keep him at WR. He is a feel good story, sure. He is very likable, sure. But...if he cant be effective on ST's, he doesn't have a role on the team because he isn't going to see many snaps at WR unless we see a plethora of injuries at WR, in which we almost assuredly make a move to bring WR help in via trade or FA if that was the case.

And yet there are people here who want to weaken the ST unit to keep guys deep on the bench who aren't as good as guys they want to cut at ST and who wont play on the field at their respective positions.

Why do people keep saying "First team D"...Wasn't close to the first team D, missing literally all of its best players. No Hyde, Poyer, Tre, or Miller.

The year Mahomes won MVP as a first year starter there were threads on this very board laughing at him and mocking him over reports he was throwing a lot of interceptions in camp. Even mocking choosing him over Alex Smith. Point is: Nothing is impossible. If Pats, who pushed us late for the division crown last year, were to come out and play tough again and make the playoffs, it’s not out of the question that Mac Jones might get some dark horse MVP buzz considering how little talent he has to throw to. Now…do I think that will happen? Of course not, that team seems to be lacking too much offensively and they lost some of their core of the defense. And with their lack of a true OC I think it’s going to cause them even more struggles. But, at the same time, I think Mac Jones is a good fit in NE for how they want to play and the assumption of his future demise is premature around here. Does he compare to Allen, of course not, but neither do other QB's around the NFL, even many of the good ones. Too often the message around here seems to be if you are not on Josh Allens level you don't have a shot at anything, which just isn't true in the NFL. All that being said, I whole heartedly believe Allen will be the MVP this year and we will be in, and win, the Super Bowl.

Yeah, I don't disagree that if he was on Watsons level, he would have eventually gotten back into the NFL. But the reality is that even if Kap was as good as Watson, he still would have been treated more harshly and taken longer to get back into the NFL than Watson is facing. And that is what is wrong with how the NFL handled each situation because what Watson did is incomparably worse than anything Kap ever did.

While there is obviously some truth to teams more willing to go after a controversial player like this based on how good the player is, it's not at all why Kap was black balled, and Watson isn't. Kap was good enough to be in the NFL, but he was a threat to the NFL's money, because half this country was in an uproar over Kap and threating to boycott or stop watching the NFL over him. There is no national outrage over Watson despite doing something infinitely worse such as sexually assaulting over 24 women without remorse or accepting responsibility for his actions. And the reason is simple. Both sides of the political aisle and national media politicized Kap because each side got a pop from their base over it. There is no political value in Watson because he did something that universally is seen as undeniably wrong. Which is why he isn't being debated nightly in the mainstream media taking opposing sides and rallying each of their bases up. Without half the country threatening to boycott the NFL, Watson is not the same threat to the NFL's revenue that Kap was, and that is the real difference in how the two situations have been handled by the NFL. Watson is more just another short-term PR issue that will just fade away without much consequence to the league, if any. They just need to make a statement they feel his actions are wrong, and a fine and suspension do just that. Even if people aren't satisfied with the severity of the punishment, it's not enough to make a lot of the NFL's following walk. And that is the sad truth. Threat to the NFL's money, treated more severely. Just look at how severe Ridley was punished for something that was so minor compared to what Watson did. It's because Ridley's actions could lead to things that would jeopardize the leagues integrity which poses a much bigger financial risk for the NFL.

He didnt quote Haslem, the poster I responded to made his own statement.

LMAO, so the 4 year non stop outrage and media attacks of Kap were all about him not being a better QB? What did you live in a cave or something? And its pretty disturbing that you basically just implied in your first sentence that because Watson is a better at football that its not really an issue he sexually preys on women and shows no remorse for doing so either. Got it champ, nice take 🙄

Deshaun Watsons $230 Million guaranteed contract is now down to $225M and he is gonna be down 11 games. Thank goodness he only sexually assaulted 24 women, could you imagine if he had done something really terrible like take a knee to protest unlawful police violence against minorities?

Most rookies are not ready to start week 1, even the ones that do. Usually when a rookie starts week 1 its most often because they don't have a better option ready. We are in a situation where our all pro may not be ready week 1, so its likely in that case a rookie is forced to start week 1 they may not have started otherwise. And when you draft a guy that has some technique things you need to correct, especially being handsy as a DB in the flag happy NFL, then its not exactly a crisis though if he isn't showing he is magically ready for that week 1. I mean he has had very limited reps going full speed with pads on in this highly reduced era of camp and preseason contact. Its not shocking he needs more reps first, especially since he has been battling some amazing WR's in camp. So I get there is something to discuss here, but to me, the story here isn't that Elam is still working on the very things we already knew he had to work on, its that a 6th round pick is proving to be better than people thought given he was a 6th round pick. And thats a good thing, not a bad thing. Now if this was 2023 and we are still talking about Elam not being ready I will start getting concerned about him.

I will never understand this obsession fans and media place on draft position. I assure you the coaches dont care where a player was taken, they will start and play the guy they feel is the most ready to help them win that game. And that can change as the season goes on too. Elam not being ready week 1 does not in any way indicate he will be a bust either. He was drafted knowing there are things he must correct before he will be ready to contribute, the main one being how handsy he is. There is nothing coaches hate more than free yards and free first downs from penalties. So if they feel like Elam isn't there yet and Benford is, they will start Benford. There is also the possibility neither of them starts week 1 if Tre is ready and they go with Dane and Tre as the starters to begin the season. And at the end of the day, both started a preseason game and had a solid day against a first team offense despite not even having the first team defense around them. So its a good problem to have when you have a 6th rounder out producing his draft position and pushing for playing time. Elam may need more time before they trust him out there, its not a big deal.