Hapless Bills Fan

Same. I suspect factors not apparent to the casual fan may have been in play. I guess we'll have another year of not getting the point where teams say "we gotta stop their TE from going off" Both things were true. Singletary looked pudgy and poorly conditioned last season vs. the previous season to me, and I felt he ran as though he weren't really motivated. Sometimes he had a hole to hit and he didn't hit it hard.

Speedy to IR:

Maybe, but when did they see that? The guy didn't play at all last season and only 1 game this pre-season. Hollister did show he can block with the Seasnakes. He's not Lee Smith but he ID'd the right guy and slowed him up. They also went heavy on WR. Oh well Done is Done

Welp then. So much for the notion of bringing back Hollister, who I thought had a good camp and flashed some.

There's the concessions phenomenon too. I don't know what % of the revenue from football games is from during-game concessions, but I have it from a reliable source that various nonprofits have found an interesting effect of limiting attendence on profits. Specifically, admission the St Louis Zoo is free, so they make all their money on extras - parking, concessions and "special activities" like train, carousel, touch a ray, sea lion show, etc. They had to limit the number of admissions this past year. To their surprise, and they are busy trying to model this, they are making more money at partial admission than they did at full admission! The hypothesis is maybe when lines were "too long", some people would just bail but when lines are shorter, they queue up and buy. Now obviously the landscape is different for football, but there's probably a similar impact where at some point, less fans to queue up for beer and hotdogs means more fans will buy.

Some truth

I don't know how much market he'll have, but if he has a market, I would think he'd want to balance the depth of the WR room against the strength of the passing game. But Brown probably still knows guys on the Ravens who can tell him whether that's developing.

Then you can guess at his answer which would be "we're always embracing a growth mindset and looking for ways to improve at every position on the roster"

Minor correction, there are two tiers of PS salaries. Rookies and players with less than 2 accrued seasons get $9,200/week. Which is actually pretty good money if they "stick" on the squad for 18 weeks, $165,600/yr. Veterans with more than 2 accrued seasons get $14,000/yr which is $252,000/yr if they "stick" on the squad for 18 weeks. If a rookie is elevated to the roster, they get $36,667 per game. Veterans get more according to their years of service.

Can I vote "Both"?

Pretty good guess, I'd say. Depending upon progress of McKenzie's shoulder we might see him inactive and Stevenson up. I think one reason they felt comfortable trading Bam Johnson was they feel Kumerow can provide that big dude flying down the field on ST

I will be surprised. If Brown wasn't happy being penciled in behind Waller, Edwards, Renfrow, and Ruggs not to mention Zay Jones, why would you think he'd be happy to be penciled in behind Kelce, Hill, Hardman, and Robinson? Brown will have a market after September 12. He mentioned before wanting to play for Pittsburgh. I think the level of competition there might be lower.

Now don't hold back. Tell us what you really think! He should and he was. But to use your own logic, he had a great year in 2018...one and two years later he struggled to make an NFL team 😜 This is selling John Brown short. He could also make a contested catch https://www.buffalobills.com/video/chopping-wood-touchdown-john-brown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRT3fE4nlo0 (Gilmore = Toast) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M96905O7H_8 (for example, 5:07 in - just after Renegade!) It's a fair evaluation that he could be taken away by "sticky" or physical coverage, and in 2019 he also was not meticulous in how he ran every route or with the "toe drag swag". But give the man his "propers". He's not Stefon Diggs, but he's a good, smooth route runner, he has all the routes, and he did make contested catches at times. This is just not true. It was widely recognized that in acquiring Brown, Beasley, Morse and re-making the the OL, the Bills had significantly upgraded their offensive personnel. They weren't top 5 in the league for personnel, and it's true they didn't have deep enough talent at WR They weren't anywhere close to bottom 5 in the league either. Because a player was good one year, does not mean he will be a good player 2 years later as talents decline with injury and age. We all know that. "Past performance does not predict future results". But a player is not as good now, 2 years later, is just as foolish an argument for downrating his performance of 2 years ago. Take a damper. Having a "take" you disagree with does not make someone "ignorant" "false narrative creating" or "lying". Even more so a blanket statement about "the media". There are a number of objective metrics where Josh in 2019 was not as good as he needed to be to become a "top" QB. He had improved, and except for a few pundits on podcasts and click-bait sports shows like Nick Wright, most of the media fully acknowledged this. The "false narrative creating" thing is also highly ironic coming from a guy who claims that 1) Brown, Bease etc were a bottom 5 in the league group in 2019. They weren't and to argue they were, requires more than your assertion. 2) that because Brown just got cut in 2021, he couldn't really have been good 2 years earlier

As others have said, the choice (in the Bills viewpoint) was not likely to be Addison vs Johnson. The Bills like their veterans in each room, especially with a lot of young 'uns to mentor up. The choice the Bills were looking at was probably Obada vs. Johnson. Obada is 29, so the "older" part is right on in age - he only has 1 more year on an NFL roster, he's "young in football" Obada is 6'6" 265 so the "smaller" part doesn't hold up, and from what I've seen Obada seems plenty athletic. As far as Teller: your narrative always leaves out the part that in 2019, the Bills were (rightly) determined to upgrade at C from Russell Bodine. Morse had a preseason concussion; Feliciano believed he could play C but his only starts were at LG. Spencer Long had 33 starts in 3 seasons of capable NFL center play. Yes, Teller was a younger player with far more upside at guard, but at the time (not in hindsight) the Bills made a choice between team composition/positional ability and a superior physical talent with higher long term potential. It wouldn't surprise me if Johnson develops, but in this instance I think all signs point to the Bills looking at a group of 5 talented young athletic players (Epenesa, Obada, Rousseau, Basham, Johnson) and saying "we can keep 4 of them, which 4?"

At this point, I don't think they keep Matakevich strictly for ST. He has laid down some good tape at LB late last season and this preseason.

If they IR him, he can't practice with the team. The man needs reps if he's gonna develop as an NFL WR

So there are two situations: 1) Hollister is released because the Bills have concluded he isn't enough of an upgrade, and they're either working on a trade for a TE or scouring the cutout bins for someone plausibly better (if they don't find someone AND Hollister is still out there they could re-sign him) 2) Hollister was released as a roster move with a veteran not subject to waivers, in order to bring an injured player onto the 53 so he can return from IR later in the season. The Bills have a "handshake agreement" to re-sign him with a little "extra" for his trouble after this. Either is plausible But if we promised 2) we shouldn't be doing 1)

Thanks for the detailed answer. Appreciate it. I thought the Lions had one of the worst OLs in the league last year? So what makes Crosby low risk? I mean, Bobby Hart had 66 games starting experience..... I think you're right that Doyle needs seasoning, the concern is that Doyle may have showed enough to be poached if he's cut and goes through waivers.

What is it about him that makes you feel "nice pickup"?

Joe B. and Matt Fairburn have their take on the 53 man up in the Athletic. Pulled this part on Jake Hollister: Pretty much what various of us have been saying, so nothing earth-shaking, just interesting that two credentialed media see it the same way

It's a mystery. Maybe Knox has naughty pictures of McDermott doing strange things with a kettleball and Beane "stepping out" with a pack of shelter strays? All I can say is no point in getting fussed for the next 2-3 days until we see if Hollister is indeed brought back or someone else is brought in from another team

Yikes.

Tom Pelissaro reporting the cut said the Bills want both Tanner Gentry and Jack Anderson for the practice squad. Dunno how good his info.

That was my thought, but Sal Capaccio says they have received indications that Reid Ferguson will be cut and brought back, but none such with Hollister. FWIW. I myself don't see what Sweeney has done, he's been hurt for 3 weeks

Yep, You did Well. In fact I believe you beat out Joe B. Here's his: The Initial 53-Man Roster Projection Quarterback (2): Josh Allen, Mitchell Trubisky Running Back (3): Zack Moss, Devin Singletary, Matt Breida Wide Receiver (8): Stefon Diggs, Emmanuel Sanders, Cole Beasley, Gabriel Davis, Isaiah McKenzie, Jake Kumerow, Marquez Stevenson, Isaiah Hodgins Tight End/Fullback (2): Dawson Knox, Reggie Gilliam Offensive Tackles (4): Dion Dawkins, Daryl Williams, Spencer Brown, Tommy Doyle Interior Offensive Line (5): Mitch Morse, Jon Feliciano, Cody Ford, Ike Boettger, Ryan Bates Defensive Ends (7): Jerry Hughes, Greg Rousseau, Mario Addison, A.J. Epenesa, Boogie Basham, Efe Obada, Darryl Johnson Defensive Tackles (5): Ed Oliver, Star Lotulelei, Justin Zimmer, Harrison Phillips, Vernon Butler Linebackers (5): Tremaine Edmunds, Matt Milano, A.J. Klein, Andre Smith, Tyler Matakevich Cornerbacks (5): Tre’Davious White, Levi Wallace, Taron Johnson, Dane Jackson, Siran Neal Safeties (4): Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, Jaquan Johnson, Damar Hamlin Specialists (3): K Tyler Bass, P Matt Haack, LS Reid Ferguson His misses: RB/ST Taiwan Jones (made roster) WR Isaiah Hodgins (cut) TE Tommy Sweeney (made roster) DE: Darryl Johnson (traded) LB: Tyrel Dodson (made roster) Specialists: LS Reid Ferguson (cut) You did well! Take a bow!