JESSEFEFFER

I think this is tied most closely to the elimination of the blackout rule. More fans watching their teams on television means less demand for seats = more empty seats and/or more filled by fans of the visiting team. This all means a less hostile venue for the road team.

Weather, weather, weather. The worst weather he plays in are home games. Usually at least two every year. I am speaking mostly of wind which kills many portions of a passing game. Yes, he can still function better than the opposition QB, but his passing stats take a dive.

Josh is our very own, NFL comp to Roy Hobbs in the making, the Americanized version of the Greek Hero Myth. Except he's real and we get to watch him become the Best There Ever Was but that almost never was because he almost never got the chance.

Why would the Pegulas let their lame duck GM take the next shot at a franchise QB? That was clearly going to be the next GM's primary mission. That's the way I saw it anyways. The Bills almost screwed that up by making the playoffs meaning Beane needed two trades to get to #7 and draft Josh.

I would not want to write the NFL story on any of these three. AJE is very quick off the ball and good with his hands. Groot has many great traits and is very inexperienced. He has lots of room to grow yet still made an impact in his rookie year. I'm not as sure about Basham's game, I just haven't seen much of it yet. Calling any of them a bust at this point is much like spiking the ball at the 25. The fact that the Bills let Addison, Obada and Hughes go tells me they think Epenesa, Groot and Boogie are ready to deliver more. It will be a big year in the careers of all 3.

Always thought the Jags sideline baited the SJ into the call. It's stuck as my go to example of how that can happen. j

I would say that this is somewhat true. He is a punter with one year of experience at the collegiate level and he lacks all the nuances to punting at the professional level. But let's not pretend that it needs to be that big of a challenge. He isn't as skilled as he needs to be but I would not think it will be that difficult to make big improvements before and during his rookie season. He is going to get the coaching and time to do it like never before. It's almost the same "pro ready" vs. "high ceiling" discussion we went through with Josh over the last 4 years.

First -of- all, much like the rule for life on a family farm, do not give nicknames to players before they make the roster. Second, my suggestion is Matt "The Risin' "Araiza. His walkout song could be two bars from the chorus of Springsteen's song. kicking-it-san-diego-style-araiza-novak-team-up If you go to Nick Novak's Twitter feed there are several posted training videos. One handed catches of long snaps, 50+ yard punts with 5.5 second hang time. I think Haack working next to him is likely to experience punter envy just from the sound made when Araiza's foot strikes the ball. He could make punting into funting.

Everyone in the NFL world knew the Bills primary need was CB. The Bills saw only one CB worthy of #25 remaining on their board. If any other CB needy team saw it the same way, they could trade to GET #24 from the Cowboys and snipe the Bills most favored player. The 4th rounder was merely a proactive measure to insure that they got the player they most wanted and expected to play the most snaps in 2022. It would have been a mini disaster to sit back and let that happen.

I think it is this. No one keeps a developmental kicker on their roster. Some have been on practice squads since they were expanded but are, of course, subject to claims. So, the kickers that are drafted have to be good enough in their rookie training camp to win the job. Many bounce around year to year while maturing physically and professionally before they claim a job. NFL teams have little patience for rookie kickers costing them wins while waiting for them to refine NFL level skills. Thus, training camp competitions between incumbents and FAs with some NFL experience are often the preferred method. This is probably more true for PK than for punters. Gary Anderson and Dustin Hopkins are classic Bills examples of this.

A more athletic version of Matt Milano. I got there.

I could not see any record of the Bills having shown any interest in him, which is weird to me. Elite traits (RAS 9.9+), good hands, effective blocker, engineering degree in 3 1/2 years, was only a 3 star recruit with mostly MAC offers that worked his way up depth chart at Cincinnati. 6'3". 210 lbs. with a 40" vertical is a crazy tough matchup for a DB. I saw him dinged for not having much YAC but when I watched the number of catches he made where he had to slow down and adjust his route, turn into the defender and go up and get the ball, often for a TD, that's all the explanation I needed as to why. There were nearly a dozen or so catches like that. Not many smoke or bubble screens in his highlights. He was more likely a blocker for those plays.

I generally appreciate extremely talented athletes who who embrace their opportunities and show passion for their their sport, family, teammates and the communities that support them. When they are inclined to go out of their way to lift others up they enter a new category of humanity for me. Huge negatives are reserved for those who demonstrate a sense of entitlement or who publicly point fingers at those around them in an attempt to deflect criticism from themselves. So, by all these measures Josh would score very well. But, when the national media starts going overboard in praise of an individual there is a natural, knee jerk reaction on my part to reject the hype.

Probably make them give up their rights to Baker Mayfield and declare him a free agent. That will teach them.

Those were weird close game outcomes. It's also weird that Tyler Bass was not directly involved in the outcomes. Someone did a preseason list of the 10 most important Bills players to the success of the 2021 season. I thought Bass should definitely be on the list. Good to great team, playing close, important games against strong opponents = FG kicker deciding the outcome. Blowout wins and strange close game losses without Bass being a deciding factor. He always looked ready to go make one but never got the chance to have the ball on his foot with the game on the line. Weird is the word.

You even picked out way out of date salary cap figures. It's 208 million this year and likely close to 250 million in two years which is why Beane is spending like he is. Game weekend economic activity for hotels, bars, restaurants, team merchandise etc. is not nothing either. This Chautauqua County resident has very little reason to spend money in Erie County other than on the Bills and occasional BNI airport usage. How much is paid in local and county property taxes by Bills employees? Much of that goes away if the team does. As for the stadium itself, how much economic return will stay local in terms of construction wages and building materials? I hope NYS contractors make money on the steel and cement, plumbing and electrical work. It's not like it's a billion dollars directly paid into the Pegula's pockets. It's not a money making deal for the state or county but I bet it's closer to a zero net exchange as you suggest.

The use of the future tense indicates to me that it's a change in policy. "...will NOT be loaded on the season ticket card, and the card will not be valid for entry." I do hope you are right.

They are scanned if they are cards or mobile tickets.

I prefer the cards. I do not trust the performance of my phone in all weather conditions and life events. Drop them on the asphalt and they do not bounce. Apparently, the cards can not be used for entry to any potential home playoff games, which is both weird and disappointing.

Maybe lingering effects of the injury/surgery/rehab suffered in the playoff game vs. the Colts? It was reported to be a relatively minor procedure. I remember McDermott alluding to a better week of practice for the week 2 game vs. the Dolphins. It was not a good 2021 for Moss. Slow start, struggling OL situation for most of the year, concussion, limited use when the OL got better. He really needs to show some signs of a better 2022, maybe starting with the OTAs.

I like Moss but wonder if he is physically up to his running style. This goes back to his time at Utah. He started 2020 with turf toe but was strong at the end and seemed to be getting the bulk of the important carries up until his ankle injury vs. the Colts. I do not recall the nature of it but it required surgery and rehab. He had a good game vs. KC and he has always been an effective pass blocker with decent hands. I think he got a concussion vs. the Jets and that began his diminished role and Singletary's ascension. For his own prospects as a Buffalo Bill, he needs to have a very good training camp, imo.

Come on now. Greg is only pointing out how arm strength mattered for this one comparison, The 3.1 vs, 2.5 seconds was a big deal in these two throws. But, the biggest deficiency in Josh Allen's 2019 season was his inability to hit deep ball go routes. Most were overthrown and too flat. He was near the bottom of the league on those throws. I thought his arm strength was more of a problem on these because he has a high variance of launch angle and velocity to put the ball 50 yards down field while the average NFL QB has a much narrower range of options which is easier to master. Add in a number of windier home games which added an extra variable to the calculation and Josh pretty much missed on all of them until later in the season when he hit some to Knox and Brown. In general, the Mac Jones type of throw has a greater chance to be completed, imo. Here's a better example. The number of other QBs able to make this throw is near to zero, Go ahead Kurt Warner, complain about his footwork. Allen to Brown should have been TD

OK. Closing the loop hereon Alec Pierce. TDN has him @ 95, Draftek @ 123, PFF @ 75 and B/R @ 38. Here is his RAS which shows some lack of agility which is more the norm for tall guys. He does seem to be a traits kind of guy. I really wonder if he can track balls over his shoulder and adjust well to them. Something I think Don Beebe and Cole Beasley had trouble with (and McKelvin too, fwiw.) He seems to prefer to turn and face the ball to track it with both eyes and ***** it which seems to work well for him but limits the YAC potential. His RAS is 9.8.

Here is Erik Turner of Cover1 with a nice breakdown of his route running skills. Cover1 Alec Pierce. There is lots to like there. He'd be great at 57 if he was still available.