Utah John

My dad was an amateur photographer, and he did up some Christmas cards for Al Bemiller with Bemiller's family. Bemiller came to our house in the mid-60s. My father always claimed Bemiller stiffed him, not paying him or even getting him a football in exchange. Things were REALLY different back then. Players made less money in the regular season than it took to earn a living, and most of them had off-season jobs.

Ron McDole Haven Moses Marlin Briscoe Pete Gogolak Gary Anderson Paul Posluszny Frank Reich (as coach)

Fitz is good for one or two really fine games each year. Unfortunately for the Bills, he seems to have one of those when playing against the Bills. The rest of the time, he ranges from adequate to subpar. He's a caretaker, and somehow he's been able to parlay that status into a long and profitable, and fun, career. I hope he moves back to Hamburg when he finally hangs them up.

The only team that will really be affected is the Chargers, which are used to playing in empty stadiums at home. I guess you haven't lived in California. The climate conditions in the Bay Area and Southern California are really different.

I'm a big Moss fan and a big Utah fan from my years living in Salt Lake City. I am convinced Bills fans will LOVE this guy. He plays with the same heart and determination that Freddie Jackson had, but has more skill and power than Freddie ever did.

The Jets are a couple of years behind the Bills. Unfortunately for the NJJ, their window to win while their QB is on his rookie contract, and there's a lot of money for everyone else, will probably close before they catch up. It's Miami that I'm more worried about. Miami has a solid coach and a lot of new players and high draft picks. A lot like Cleveland except Miami's coach is much better, so the fish aren't falling apart if they don't win right away. Also Miami has its QB on his rookie contract and can afford to keep all those new talented players around for a few years. The Bills will peak this year and next year, and then it's going to be tough to keep Miami from taking over the division. The Jets just can't get things right.

I apologize if anyone has asked this already (too busy to read five pages of comments) -- would KW be entitled to a veteran's minimum salary? If he could be signed for relatively cheap I don't see this as a problem. I love Zach Moss but Moss has been hurt from time to time, and KW could provide the thunder (along with Singletary's lightning) if Moss is unavailable.

I like the Bills hosting the Dolphins in January. Some of those guys won't want to get off the bus. The schedule is harder with all the west coast trips, and at Tennessee but this time not against Mariotta. It will be tough for any AFCE team to get a wild card slot. The Bills need to win the division -- even if it's 9-7 I would take it -- and hope for the best in the playoffs.

Nope. I've lived in 9 states, but never Arizona. In Alaska now. I kept my online name. I was John in CA, then John in VA, then Utah John. Grew up in West Seneca and WNY is still home.

I got to be a Utah fan while living in Salt Lake City. I love this guy. He plays with the heart of Freddie Jackson. You will love him too.

Who cares?

Sometimes an average talent gets into a situation where other players make him look better than he is. Sometimes a good talent gets into a situation where the scheme or the coaches or the other players are a bad fit. (Ref: Rosen, Josh, over and over) Fortunately for these guys, they have a lot of money in the bank. McMahon was very good, but not elite. The 85 Bears defense was the best in history.

Dareus was a great physical talent but completely lacked self-discipline. He was a very young person, not chronological age but wrt maturity, when he arrived. He got to a Bills team with losing culture, and figured, OK then, that's how it is. He didn't push himself and no one really pushed him. No one, no matter how talented, makes it without hard work. It's all just a shame. A waste of a potentially great career, and a waste of a great draft opportunity.

The Bills pulled out some very close, tough wins last year, against teams that didn't win a lot of games. Yes, they won those games, which is a lot better than what they used to do. But they got killed by Philly and lost to Cleveland when the defense couldn't hold a late lead. There's a fine line between success and failure. The Bills still don't look as loaded as Cleveland did last year, and the Browns fell apart. That seems unimaginable under McBeane but imagine how last year would go if the Jets MLB didn't get hurt before halftime, and the Jets held on to win the first game of the year. The next week the pitiful Giants were ahead of the Bills. Last year could have gone a lot differently. This year is NOT a guaranteed walk to the division. Keep an eye on Miami, which seems ready to challenge the Bills for the AFCE championship, and the only playoff slot to any team in the division, due to the terrible travel schedule all four teams will have.

If I'm not mistaken, Epenesa is heavier and taller than Oliver. Usually D tackles are the biggest players on defense. Epenesa's size might help with run defense if there's a strong push against Oliver.

I think the reason Brady left was that the team is clearly Tanking for Trevor this year. Brady wanted no part of that.

I've been worried about Miami since the last month of last season, when they really pulled it together. They started last year as the worst team in the league, and finished it beating NE in NE, in a game NE needed to win. Their coach, Brian Flores, is doing what McD is doing in Buffalo -- creating a professional, tough, team-first attitude. The Fish loaded up on draft picks and have addressed their deficiencies in the draft. I think Miami's timing is going to be good. 2020 will be a tough year for the AFCE which has to play the AFCW and NFCW, with all that travel. Probably, only the division champ makes the playoffs, and will not get a first round bye. Miami will do well this year but probably won't win the division. In 2021, though, all the new pieces come back, and Miami is going to be very strong, possibly better than Buffalo. I think the AFCE will be a two-team race, Buffalo and Miami, for at least five years to come. They have a lot of rookies and probably want veteran leadership.

Two thoughts. We didn't call him Glass Goodwin while he was a Bill, for nothing. He can't stay healthy. Second, who knows when the Summer Olympics will be held again. Goodwin is doing the rights thing financially, focusing on football for the time being.

Is this like asking if it means the same thing to win the AFCE after Tom Brady has left? The answer is, either way, we won and that's that.

I became a Utah fan when I lived in Salt Lake City, and I saw Moss play a lot. The guy Moss reminds me of is Freddie Jackson, not from a skills standpoint (Moss measures out better), but from a heart standpoint. He consistently refused to go down and would fight hard for every inch, just like Freddie did. Moss and two of his Utah teammates came from the same high school in Florida, and they all decided to stick around for their senior year at Utah to try to win the Pac 12 and go to the Rose Bowl. It just didn't work out, but you can't blame Moss. Bills fans will LOVE this guy if we draft him.

I think the reduction from the old drafts when there were many rounds of picks (I remember 17) to 7 was done at the request of the players through the CBA. Letting players negotiate with the teams that really want them is good for them.

Williams was excellent in his rookie year, and it was a major disappointment when he showed up the next year unable to compete. Not having him available as expected hurt the team. If he's really making a comeback, I'll be shocked. RBs don't sit out a couple of years and make it back.

Money is a consideration for players, of course, but their organization also is. The Bills go out of their way to show respect to their players, and that contributes to the good morale and close-knit bonding that the Bills have. Who knows, White might leave some day, I hope not, but someone could offer him a ridiculous amount of money, and how could Tre turn that down? But I think it's likely that he'll be happy staying in Buffalo and getting paid hugely for doing so.

Khalil Mack made the list, of course, but how is Von Miller unanimous while Mack isn't?

This is just schoolyard stuff. If Hopkins joined the Bills, he and White would find ways to work together. Probably, going against each other in practice every day would make each of them even better than they are already, which is at the top of the league.