thurst44

Any information about what the injury is? I'm watching in NYC with the Browns announcers (oh, man, are they awful!) and they'll never mention it. Tim Couch clearly had no idea who Kyle Williams even is.

Wow, it's amazing how quickly we can turn on players sometimes. I've been particularly watching him today and most plays I've noticed he's taken good angles. Hyde's 64 yards is disturbing, but I wouldn't pin that all on Edmunds. Also, it's pre-season.

I've seen him in on most plays...are people gunning for him or something?

It makes sense to be concerned, but I'm a bit assuaged by the fact that the blocking seemed consistent whoever was in there (in the first half at least). I was particularly impressed by Teller, though, who opened some gaping holes when in there.

Maybe I missed something, but what in the world did Shaq do wrong. He was disruptive on three of the first five plays and looked good whenever I saw him the rest of the game. Yeah, it did sort of look similar to the way they used Watkins in pre-season debut last year. However, unless he can get a 3rd or higher, or package him to get Mack, I don't get it. Murphy is coming off an injury and thrived as part of a three-DE rotation.

All our receivers have something to prove!!

I don't see the two things as related. None of these players should seriously threaten his spot on the roster. Trent Murphy may take his starting role, but he also thrived off the bench in a three-DE rotation two years ago. Fede is a journeyman, Owe O. is a flyer on a guy people once thought had upside, Ryan Russell has half the tackles and sacks of Shaq in one more year. Is Shaq's Bills career on shaky ground? Well, based on McD's comments and history, it clearly is, but these pick-ups and visits simply show a commitment to turning over stones to stop the run and get a better pass rush. Here's an outside-the-box, but plausible thought: our defense was very good last year, but was beleaguered by having to be on the field so much (statswise, they were also skewed by a three-game total team breakdown of a near historic level, but that's neither here nor there). At this point, it doesn't look much like it will change (but who knows if AJ or Allen step up and line is not nearly as bad as expected). Perhaps they plan to keep extra defensive players to have depth to weather the low-scoring games. Back to the Shaq: I hope they give him every possible look. As much as some people here want to re-write history and pretend his pick at 19 was a stretch (i've even seen people who suggested he would have been a day 3 pick if not for rex's clemson connecion), he was a top 15 talent by most expert estimation. Some have also suggested he was a one-year wonder who lucked out, when he was a four-star, top 100 recruit going into college. And with injuries, he hasn't really got that much of a chance (and hasn't been terrible when playing, just nowhere near first-round-pick level). His value is at its low. If he truly isn't giving the effort, fine; I'll trust McD/Beane's judgment. However, it's worth seeing how he comports himself in the rest of training camp and how he plays in pre-season before giving up on a third-year first rounder.

Buffalo will be Top 5 in sacks, with someone surprising hitting double digits. I'm gonna go with Eddie Yarbrough.

I've had the same thought about getting a Thurman jersey. One of the Bills all-time best, yet still seems to get slightly below the national credit he deserves. How he was not a first ballot HoFer still eludes me. Also, at that Reed HoF ceremony, was looking at phone, trying to set up meeting with friend, looked up and saw Thurman (walking with Kelly and their wives) with his face about a foot away. So, of course I said "oh, hi, Thurman Thomas" in a very weird way. He turned around amicably, while his wife gave me a very amused smile, so it would commemorate that ... moment(?).

I've never really been a jersey guy, but in 2013 I went to the Andre Reed HoF induction and in my excitement decided to get my first one there. They only had two choices, Manuel and Watkins, so obviously (h/t then coach Dougie) I went with the latter. Knowing I can be a bit of a jinx, my friends razzed me, but figured Sammy was a sure thing at that point. Oh well. One of the friends from that trip has a picture of his two kids wearing jerseys of JP Losman and Fitz, with him wearing CJ Spiller. He calls it the "Timeline of Bills Misery." Another friend has a host of these, but he's a comic and has a tendency to send away for jerseys of pre-season stars like Arthur Moats and Jordan Mudge. He bought one of Eddie Yarbrough last year, but it turned out to be a t-shirt. Although two of the three I named here actually exceeded expectations, so...

Agreed. Was just watching the replay of the playoff game and that D stepped up and was simply dominant (as i think we often forget it mostly was during the season), and love the tactical way they approached upgrading it ... add a space eater, stock up on pass rushers with high upsides, bring in a rookie middle linebacker who many experts think could be an all-pro for over a decade. However, I also agree with the OP that I have few expectations either way (due to sooo many questions/wild cards), other than I doubt this team will go full disaster as, well, after pulling out of the latest 5-2 and finally making the playoffs in a season when we seemingly had no business doing so, I have to feel like McDermott is something special. A lot of the last place predictions seem to be predicated on the idea that Allen will start and the brass won't care what happens. I'd bet if Allen is starting it's because they see his progress as quicker than anyone could anticipate. If I were pressed, the best I could narrow down would be between 6-10 and 11-5 with Shady's case, Zay's rebound, the unfamiliar names on the O-line holding up, and whether Star is who they hope he is in the defense being the determinant factors.

If anyone wants me, I'll be in my room

Or...just hear me out: Lawson was a highly rated prospect who was a four-star recruit who played lights out in the season he made it as a full-time player in college. Facts to back up this "hot take": every mock draft I could find online had him going between 8-19, Bears fans outside the Chicago draft were chanting his name for their #11 pick, the NFL.com scouting report had him with a Round 1 grade. Personally, If he's clearly not giving his all, I could understand McD giving up on him as depressing as it would be to sell low. If he plays hard and isn't a total mess, I'd love the idea of a Hughes/Murphy/Lawson (on his initial contract)/Yarbrough rotation with Star taking up the middle and seeing if they can now dominate. Sorry, I'm just tired of the revisionist history. He's turned out a bad pick if he doesn't turn it around; however, he was not a stretch who was only drafted b/c of the Rex/Clemson connection.

The Triple Tre Defense. (and, yes, our Williams reserves, once proud, are depleting)

Ha, as a kid, I used to wait with bated breath to read its gold standard baseball preview, and would occasionally check the football one too in college, but then I am in my 40s so, yes, I too haven't thought of or bought in over 20 years. But 2nd sounds realistic (particularly given the likely distance between the Pats and Dolphins/Jets).

Wrapping these things together, the hiring recruiter at the job where I was working when EJ was drafted was an FSU grad and about the biggest Seminole supporter you could ever meet (to an absurd degree), also a huge Dolphins fan who was never a jerk about my Bills fandom. His reaction was that "you'll love EJ as a person and really want to root for him" but that he's a long shot to ever be a great QB.

So, you basically just don't like anyone. That does not seem very Irv-like .

I'll go 3 positive as negative is just not my style--I tried to come up with 3 negative to go along with it, and just didn't have the heart. 1. Tremaine Edmunds will be a candidate (and a Kiko-Tre' level obvious candidate) for DROY. 2. Bills will make a pronounced jump in sack total to become top 5 in sacks, with at least one player (Hughes, Murphy, Lorax, Shaq in order of likelihood) in the top 3 for sacks. 3. Zay Jones will show marked improvement, and be near if not over 1000 yards.

I totally ripped Ducasse going into the season, but then when I watched him closely during the season on all-22, thought he was perfectly fine, and while neither my own acumen nor PFF are perfect judges (particularly the former), it''s the best I have to go by. Most people digging in to him now have provided much less proof (just seems like preconceived notions): Here's PFF: https://www.profootballfocus.com/nfl/players/vladimir-ducasse/5586

Well, in fairness, you ARE an imaginary Japanese man created in frustration during the 1974 NHL draft, so that may make it hard to see the future...

Ah, ok. For some reason, I was certain we were still on the hook for his salary plus the signing bonus until we settled this. So, we saved that money when we put him on the "Retired/Reserve" list?

Wouldn't we still have to pay his complete salary if he stayed on the reserve list or officially retired before June 1? Or did that take care of it?

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure he was still being listed with a cap hit until today (along with the dead money). In any case, if Sportrac is right, it looks as if they will have a little over 13m in cap space when they sign Allen and Phillips, but not sure if that's more than it was before the release.

Looks like it does. Sportrac now only lists him as a little more than a 1.1m dead cap hit and it was much more than that last time I checked (i wanna say roughly 5m after restructuring?)

Watson was the only QB I wanted last year, and Allen was the one of the Big 4 I didn't want. That being said, I would not be able to answer this one, and would probably prefer to have a potential top QB and a potential top CB than just the potential top QB (even if that QB has shown something in the NFL already--but even with his spectacular start, it's still only six starts, and a .500 record over those with a team with a ton of talent on paper). However, hindsight is 20/20 and we won't have that for a few years.