Alphadawg7

Must have misread it then, my bad

FYI: My friends husband died in June from COVID. In his 30’s, in good shape, no prior medical conditions and had no high risk factors. So yeah, you’re wrong about pretty much everything you just said. So there’s that.

Dont disagree with any of this, and if this were a normal season I would be in full agreement. But the wildcard is no preseason and limited reps in camp. Daboll runs one of the most complicated offenses in the league, so guys unfamiliar with it are going to have that working against them as an obstacle. So that’s the main reason I think Yeldon has an edge, but my personal preference is Jones.

Taiwan Jones is not the lock some are making him out to be. Does he have a legit shot at the roster, absolutely. But some of you are over exaggerating the certainty he will be on the week 1 roster. He's had injury issues and they still really like Yeldon too and have kept him around despite fans always writing him off. And with no preseason and limited camp, Jones will have less time to learn the complicated offense Daboll runs too, which gives Yeldon and edge there. For me, this is a close battle and I think the experience and knowledge of Daboll's complicated offense will tend to give those guys a slight edge this year in camp battles. That being said, Wade is a real long shot to make the roster, and its probably not realistic this year without a full camp and preseason for him to really show he's ready to be on an active NFL roster. He has a world of potential, but we have a 2nd year RB and a rookie RB as our top 2 guys this year. For them to keep a raw 3rd RB on top of that is just not likely. They will want some veteran presence in that room, not 3 guys with 1 year of NFL regular season experience among them. For me, with Wade, the real question is are they going to see enough to put him on the regular PS instead of using the exemption. If they use the exemption PS spot for him, he can not be activated at any point this year again as its a bonus spot. But, if they feel he could be someone they could tap in the event of an injury, then they may choose to put him on the normal PS instead so he could be potentially activated if an injury or COVID situation hits the active RB's. My suspicion is that Wade will be on the regular PS as someone they could move to the active roster. With COVID being such a wildcard, I think having him potentially available will be something they will value as long as he's shown he's picked the game up enough this camp.

What about the OP suggested it was anything other than speculation. Wasn't even called a rumor...just said Bills mentioned and asked people what they thought about the authors suggested trade idea.

I dont disagree with this...but at 31, if we had him for just this season or even a 2 year extension, I think he would still have a high level of production to go with our other 2 young LB's. Again, I was never proposing we make the trade, nor do I even think it would ever happen anyway. And the reasons I mentioned it wouldn't happen were age and money. Ingram is an outside LB though, so we would field Edmunds, Milano and Ingram potentially if this trade happened (which I do not think it ever will like I said in my original post). I most likely would too, although adding him to Edmunds and Milano for this season would certainly make the defense on paper look like the best in the NFL. But for me, the offense is the most important side of the ball, and I like Ty a lot and his versatility. So I think ultimately I would probably pass too unless we could bring in Ingram for just the 5th round pick.

Saw this article and did a search on the board and nothing came up. So thought I would share it. Ingram situation is interesting given a lot of teams cant afford to trade for him if LAC were to decide to move him. This articles lists Bills second behind the Pats as a possible trade partner. Curious what you guys would think of this trade they are proposing... Melvin Ingram III and a 7th round pick for Ty Nsheke and a 5th round pick. Damn, our D would be nasty...I do like Ty though and his versatility. Its interesting though because Ingram is in the last year of his deal. He wants a new deal, so I personally do not think Beane is going to be interested in this given his age of 31, wanting a new deal, and having our own players we still need to resign over the next couple of years. But, that being said, I think we could afford to trade Ty if it brought back an impact player like this and our already sick defense would get even better. I think its not a realistic scenario personally for the reasons I already stated, but certainly would be an exciting one if Beane did manage to pull a trade off for him. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2905243-potential-trade-packages-landing-spots-for-chargers-holdout-melvin-ingram-iii

I don't disagree with that really, I mean Duke could easily be the one who hits the PS again. My only thing about it was the uniqueness of this season IMO will make it harder for deeper drafted rookies and UDFA rookies to beat out someone with more experience in the system in a close battle. But ultimately, I have no issue if they did keep Hodgins over Duke. At the end of the day, if Hodgins shines he will earn his spot. Just a lot harder to shine with no preseason games, minimal contact, etc. Lots of guys look good in drills, so I don't think making a handful of nice plays in drills will be enough. Hodgins will have to shine when we get into full on practices and shine quickly as there wont be many of those before roster cuts.

I still think Duke has a legit shot to make the week 1 roster. Locks are obvious...Diggs, Brown, Beasley. Near locks are also obvious...Davis and Roberts. But I think they keep 6, and even though Hodgins has flashed too, I just do not think in a season with no preseason and a very limited camp they will keep two rookies on the active roster each week, especially with COVID being a threat to knock anyone out ahead of them and forcing them into more playing time. IMO, I think its more likely Hodgins will go to PS and a 6th WR will be kept out of Duke, McKenzie, and Foster...and Foster is missing time again, McKenzie is more a gadget specialist that we have other guys who can already run those plays. Duke at least represents a larger catch radius for Redzone and third down possessions. So, if one of those 3 are kept, I think Duke may be creating some momentum for his case right now. Its nothing against Hodgins, I am quite intrigued by him and I love what I am hearing about him so far, but just think its going to be a long road for him to make the roster under this years circumstances and the depth of talent we have in the room now. Think this camp favors the player who knows the offense already and system when there is a close battle. And McD and his staff tend to like to bring rookies along slower and I can see more of a Foster like path for Hodgins where he starts on the PS and will get his shot potentially later in the year if one of the other guys get hurt or are not getting the job done. I don't really care either way, I just want them to make the best moves for the team, and Beane and McD earned my full trust in them, so whatever they decide is fine with me too.

Remember all the reports of Mahomes INT's in his first training camp as the starter just before he won MVP. LOL. Never understood the over reaction, good and bad, to just some drills and camp work. There has never been a QB who started a full season thats thrown 0 interceptions. But with Josh, every time he throws one in practice or a game its made into this huge deal by certain people on this board or the media as if its happening at a league leading rate, which its no where close to that.

Agreed. Can’t believe we are still talking about Clowney for two full off seasons because some unsubstantiated twitter rumors 18 months ago. If he was coming to Buffalo, he would already be here and we wouldn’t have signed two good DE’s and drafted a stud prospect. People need to move on. Clowney ain’t coming to Buffalo this year and Tupac ain’t making a resurrection.

He probably could have as a bell cow RB getting a lot of carries. But 1000 yards isn't that special anymore and he would have likely barely broken 1000 yards and our run game would have been less effective. I have no issue with Gore saying this, I mean 1000 yards is only 62.5 yards per game. As long as Gore did not get hurt, he definitely could have put up 63 yards a game as a feature runner. HOWEVER...63 yards a game would have been a pretty weak run game, which is why they switched to Devin to get more pop, more chunk yards, fresh legs, etc. And Gore was very respectful about it, he was not complaining, just talking about what he believes his own abilities were last year. Gore was a class act here IMO and was just him stating he felt he was still capable of 1000 yard season last year despite his age. And he's not wrong about that IMO, although, his 1000 yard season would have meant a lesser overall run offense for us because Devin was the fresher and better option the 2nd half of last year for the team.

Yup, and that’s why you can’t rely only on stat sheets. And I agree and even said in another post in this thread that I think they bring Harry along slowly because we have great depth and he won’t have the benefit of a full camp (in terms of true football work due to COVID restrictions) or a preseason to really test his recovery and work his way back. I will also say, I’ve never trusted a coaching staff and front office staff as much as I trust this one. So totally agree there too

They dont have to rush Harry back because we have a lot of versatile players that can contribute to the rotation as well. So I expect they will bring Harry along slowly to assure no set backs because he wont have the benefit of a full camp and preseason to really test it or gain his confidence that he's fully past the injury. My guess, is Harry starts the year off in the 2nd unit rotation and then by mid season the main starters will be Harry and Ed moving forward. The one good thing like I said and we all already know, is we have a deep DL overall and several versatile players. So the "starting" designation won't be that important as McD loves versatility and having fresh guys that he can rotate around down there in the trenches.

Jordan Phillips didn't emerge to make a real impact until AFTER Harry was hurt. This shows just how uninformed you are and that you really have no idea what you are ever talking about. Jordan philips has 2 tackles TOTAL, no sacks, no QB pressures, no passes defended, and was a rotational guy BEHIND Harry while Harry was playing. So I say AGAIN...Harry when he got hurt was playing very well and was playing as our best DT at the time of his injury. So try again sport...because you've missed on every bullet you've tried to fire.

Oh yes, the old I don't really know football so I just quote stat sheets reply. Got it. Try watching him play instead of reading stat sheets. Football is analyzed on game tape, not stat sheets...especially with a DT whose impact is not always felt on the stat sheet. He also had 2 pass defended too that you left out by the way.

What are you talking about? He was playing very well and was arguably our best DT last year before getting hurt. I’m convinced you don’t watch the games or are just always trying to stir the pot on every topic for your own amusement.

If this was a normal year, I would say its 50-50 given House Money not being so "money" the last 2 years in consistency and also some diminished power it would appear. Given the lack of preseason, I think it heavily favors the veteran over the rookie. Going into a year with such big expectations, its going to be hard to put something so important into the hands of a rookie without having the forum for him to earn his stripes. No preseason, and not much contact even in practice before the season begins is going to make it really hard for any rookie that wasn't drafted in the first 3 or 4 rounds, to crack NFL rosters of good teams. The one thing that Bass has going for him though is that Haushka likely wont have a ton of interest on the open market and quite possibly wont get signed. So if the rookie struggles early, they could potentially bring back Haushka during the season, or a comparable veteran kicker. Still, while I personally think I would like to see the rookie win the job, I still think it will be a lot harder this year under these circumstances. Haushka last year wasn't terrible, but he also wasn't good enough to be safe either.

I respectfully disagree on it making sense. I get your points, and good reply, but here are my counter points to this. To be clear, I would not at all be upset if we signed Clowney, I am saying it just does not make sense anymore after our off season. They are NOT going to sign Clowney for more than a year, thats what you are missing. The priority is to save cap space to retain other players. So no, it does not make sense to sign Clowney, because those "age" concerns are not relevant this year. Clowney didn't even out produce Murphy last year, let alone out play Addison or Hughes. So for this year, we are stacked at DE and have a stud rookie to mix in and develop as well. Johnson isnt an unknown, and he narrowly out produced Clowney on the same Seahawk team last year. He may not be as established as the guys ahead of him, but he is definitely not an unknown and more than capable to be a key part of the rotation with the upside to be even more. This is why outside of fan desire, it does not make football sense for the Buffalo Bills to sign him right now in terms of need. The only exception would be to sign him to a longer deal, but that has 0% chance of happening. One, Beane will never give him what he wants in order to sign a long term deal because his focus is on retaining White, Milano, then Edmunds, and Allen in the next couple of years. Two, the only way Beane would do that is if Clowney took a MASSIVE cut in what he is looking for, and 0% Clowney does that. He is looking for the best one year deal so he can prove his lofty price tag he is seeking. So again, there is just no way Clowney will be a Bill at any point this year barring injuries IMO. Beane could prove me wrong, but I just don't see it. Nor do I see Buffalo being at all attractive to Clowney...not because its the Bills, but because there is a lot of talent at DE already and he would be in a rotation here, not featured. He wants to go somewhere he can put up big stats and be on the field a lot in order to get a big payday. Another 3 or 4 sack season and his search for a big contract will be all but lost. He needs to hit at least 9, and preferably double digits for the first time in his career in order to get anywhere close to what he wants. And yes I know he makes a bigger impact than just "sacks", but when you want his kind of money he is seeking, you need the stats to get the check.

Man, I just love our Front Office.

It’s definitely not Clowney. One, that likely leaks. Two, if it was, they wouldn’t bring him in with several other guys. Three, we have a log jam of talent at DE already, just makes no sense to bring in Clowney. If it’s big guys for DL, it’s likely depth at DT given Star opted out and Horrible Harry hasn’t stepped into any action yet coming off a big injury last year so may want some depth insurance for camp until they see how he is recovering and looks along with the other new pieces they already signed. My guess it’s nothing more than maybe some camp body depth, especially if they want to ease Horrible Harry along slowly given the lack of reps this year before week 1.

hahaha don’t know why but this made me laugh and love this meme

yes also a great point

This. Well said. Its going to devalue the first round and substantially increase the value of the other rounds. It’s going to creat an opportunity for talented front offices identify talent that didn’t get a chance to rise to the top because they didn’t play this year but were likely headed for a breakout. I love our front office and firmly believe we will have a significant advantage going into the draft over a majority of the teams in the league at finding this talent. And when I say majority, I’m not implying there are some teams better than us at it, saying there are some other well run front offices too where neither us or them has an “advantage” over each other. But that small elite group of front offices as a whole will have an edge over the less talented front offices at scouting talent and finding gems throughout the draft.

All good responses and an original good right up. 1. I hear ya on the comparison there, and you're not wrong about the description of both guys. But I think Yeldon has the edge because he knows the offense. Jones has the edge on rushing ability, and Yeldon has the slight edge on pass catching ability. And given Devin and Moss will be carrying the rock as runners predominantly, I think Yeldon's gadget value as a receiver and his edge of knowing the offense gives him that slight lead over Jones. But of course, it will all come down to what they show in camp. With this unique year, in close positional battles, I tend to give the edge to player with the most experience in our system. Had this season been normal, I would 100% agree with you on Jones having the upper hand. 2. I totally get where you are coming from on Smith, and it all makes sense and I know the coaches like his leadership. But at some point, his value as a player on the field compared to the upside of a younger player with promise has to come into play. And I think Sweeney showed enough last year and has a lot of upside still to have a leg up on a one dimensional player on the field in Smith. Plus, while a blocking specialist, he has probably been our worst offender, or at least one of them, in terms of dumb penalties. 3. We are obviously pretty close on Harrison, but like I said, Star opting out pretty much locks Horrible Harry in regardless if he still is working his way to his old self again. Too much talent to let go of, especially with a roster spot on the DL opening up with Star opting out, even if he has some slight ill effects from his injury. Especially given it may take a little more time for any player this year to get back to 100% with such a limited camp, they know that, and will give him the time. So while we are mostly on the same page with him, he's in my mind a 100% unless he has some kind of significant setback that will cost him significant time.