SageAgainstTheMachine

As I've been saying, the success of this trade depends more on EJ Manuel than Sammy Watkins. If Sammy goes for 1,500 yards and 12 TDs and we go 5-11 and we STILL need our franchise QB (and if this sounds implausible, look at the Browns and Gordon) then we'll probably remember the trade as a failure. If, God forbid, Sammy sucks and/or proves injury prone it'll be disastrous. If Sammy is great and EJ takes the reins of this team for the next several years, it'll be remembered as a good move. Here's hoping we open door number 3!

I picked the full season choice, but I guess it really depends on the size of the struggle. If EJ looks bad for a game and throws a couple picks, it's not time to panic. If he looks like a bottom-tier QB for a few weeks in a row, I wouldn't blame the staff for trying to save their jobs.

Off season is over in 5 days. I, for one, can't wait.

There are plenty of guys with greater ceilings, but Orton has to be top 3 in terms of this season alone. Strangely enough, I would've picked Shaun Hill as the top backup, but now he's forced into the starter role. Dude has a 41/23 touchdown to interception rate for his career and an 86 QB rating. Orton's is 79.9. However, Orton has more experience as a starter.

I understand that, I just think that there are better guidelines when it comes down to a single game. If you were talking about an entire season, I'd put more weight on the number of touchdowns and especially the TD/INT comparison. Things normalize over 16 games, and if EJ can't put up, say, 24 TDs this season it'll be telling.

Number of passing TDs over the course of one game isn't very telling. Overall success of the offense is. I mean, if Manuel leads them down to the 2 yard line a couple times and Fred pushes it in for the actual score is that somehow a debit against EJ? If we're going to talk statistical milestones, I'd love to see 65% completion with at least 7.0 yards per attempt.

I think it depends on if he goes up there before or after Josh Reed.

I have no doubt that Moeaki injured himself stretching to catch one of EJ's errant passes in practice. When will the madness end?

Another good strategy is to focus on getting wide receivers from offenses that put up a lot of yards and points. It's often tempting to take a WR from Cleveland, Buffalo, Jacksonville, etc. because they have #1 status, but it's a safer bet to take the #2 or #3 option from Denver, Dallas, etc. Emmanuel Sanders will score more points than Sammy Watkins. Strong chance he's the next Gronk. Some players are steering clear because the Eagles still use Celek on most downs, but Ertz is a serious red zone threat. I think he scores double digit TDs even if he doesn't break 800 yards.

Prioritize the top 3 quarterbacks and the top 10 running backs. If those become quickly unavailable (ie. you draft toward the end of the first round) get yourself a couple elite WRs. If you're picking first overall, probably go with LeSean McCoy. As somebody said, go for a kicker in the last round. Defense too, unless you want to absolutely make sure you get Seattle. Some of my sleepers: Devonta Freeman, Zach Ertz, Travis Kelce, Kelvin Benjamin, Allen Robinson Oh, and if you can stomach taking Patriots, try to get Shane Vereen in the 4th round. He'll have his share of 20 point games this season.

You gotta be joking. He's a play maker and pretty much the only guy that made the second half of last season watchable.

Bunch of whiners on this board. For a couple years you yearned for Mallett to back up Fitzpatrick, and now that it happens you complain!

I've bemoaned our TE situation in the past, too, but Chandler has made improvements to his game each season in my opinion. He's one of the guys this offense can actually hang their hats on, though it'd sure be nice to have a superstar.

I have to say, the whole thing is seeming rather like the Edwards-Fitz situation in 2010. Somebody in the Bills organization had a major conniption over the QB situation (and rightfully so) during the preseason. Only Lewis and Tuel were sent packing, but EJ isn't immune.

Here's why yesterday's game mattered to me - the last three quarters featured guys on both sides of the ball fighting for their careers, fighting to capture the 53rd spot on their team's roster and realize a dream. That's a strong motivation and the Bills reserves looked absolutely flat. Especially the offensive line. Doesn't that speak to some kind of team-wide culture problem? I was impressed by three Bills: Brandon Spikes, Anthony Dixon, and Landon Cohen . Three veterans who have been part of winning cultures.

Moorman is really puzzling me. I understand how age would affect his ability to boom it 65 yards from the end zone, but it's beyond me why a wily old punter would be getting worse at directional kicking and placing the ball at the 5. He's essentially a mascot at this point.

Dubs, you're definitely onto something, which is that teams should punt less frequently. I can't stand seeing a punt from the opponent's 40 yard line with 3 yards left to go. And coaches, for the most part, know that they're playing against the odds by punting. They also know that the typical football fan will want to crucify their ass if the smart tactic fails, so they play conservatively. One caveat I'd add is that game-situation plays a role. If you're ahead by 10 points with 6 minutes left to go, I think that the correct move is pinning the opponent at their own 10 yard line and letting the clock work against them.

Wouldn't you need a good OL to do that?

Guys on both sides of the ball are (theoretically) fighting tooth and nail for their team's 53rd roster spot, and the Bills are getting destroyed. That says something.

Note to all: Pick up Tim Wright in your fantasy league. He's immediately a top-20 tight end if he's filling Aaron Hernandez' past role, and he's potentially top-5 if Gronk goes down again.

This is my line of thinking too. The success or failure of that trade rests both on Watkins and Manuel. If Watkins is a star, but EJ plays us to a 3-13 record, then it would remain that a Top-3 pick is more valuable to a struggling team than a star wideout.

Their uniforms are some of the best in the NFL.

Fixed that.

If you were a real Spitoons fan, you would know that McDermott was cut in '33.

As I was watching the crawler on a couple of sports channels this morning at the gym, one of the top headlines was that Brian Hoyer would be the starter in Cleveland to begin the 2014 season, but that the team would be putting together short packages in order to get Johnny Manziel on the field. I couldn't help but think about the Bills' highly publicized (not necessarily on a national level) usage of the no-huddle offense a couple of years back. My question is, why the hell do NFL teams broadcast their intentions for player usage and offensive/defensive schemes? I know that the media will always be present at training camps, and that the Browns couldn't exactly hide who their starting QB would be. But what advantage does Pettine gain by announcing packages for Manziel? Would advantage did Chan Gailey gain by announcing the no-huddle? (Hint: The answer to that one is 'no advantage') While teams still enter Week 1 with tricks up their sleeve, it baffles me that head coach show ANY of their cards ahead of time in a game of tactical advantages. Why does this happen? Where's the spirit of the element of surprise. I realize that fans want to know EVERYTHING, but I'd gladly sacrifice insight into the team during pre-season if it meant knocking the Week 1 opponent on their butt.