starrymessenger

I can certainly agree, since it was abundantly evident from his play last year, that Tua was raw. No doubt a lot of that had to do not only with the competitive advantage he had playing for Alabama in college, but also because he was being asked, especially by Chan Gailey, to do things he probably had never done before and which scheme wise did not necessarily play to his strengths. The things you mention specifically as challenges, performing off-script, throwing into tight windows, making that back shoulder throw away from the DB and the like are exactly the things he experienced problems with. Tua’s arm looks to me to be strong and accurate enuf to execute a short to medium range timing offence where he stays in the pocket, which he seems to work well with good footwork and elusiveness. His long ball looks to be generally accurate too and now he’s got Fuller to stretch the field and Waddle to hit on crossing patterns underneath. He also can show good touch at times. He knows how to use his eyes to hold DBs as plays develop for his primary target. He’s not a running QB of course, but he can help himself out with his legs when plays breakdown. There are reasons why he was picked #5. What I think he will never be able to do, as you put it, is perform off-script, to improvise on the fly outside the pocket. He is quite simply not big enuf, strong enuf, fast enuf or athletic enuf to do that. Some of Allen/Diggs best moments were totally unscripted. I don’t think you will ever see that from Tua, which is another reason for thinking that he is likely to be somewhat limited to executing a strictly disciplined, structured timing offence exclusively. Now its up to your OC to design the right system and play calls and for the staff to coach up all the talent that has been drafted to help him out. Its just a guess but I would not be surprised if Tua developed into a legit starting calibre QB, though of course he still has to prove it. I don’t see him as an elite prospect for playing the all important position.

I think the cap/dead money implications are the same for Philly whether they trade or release Ertz. So it looks to me like they want a player or more likely a (maybe mid round) pick in return. They are hoping that someone (probably the Bills) will want Ertz badly enuf to both take on his contract and give up a player who can help them or a pick. If Beane wants Ertz and the Eagles release him Buffalo would likely have to compete with maybe 3-5 other teams in negotiating a new contract and with a player who had already asked the Eagles for changes to his existing agreement. Sort of looks like Beane is not for now interested in (possibly) overpaying for Ertz, since the prevalent opinion is that any contract he signed with a new team would be for less than $8.5 million. Maybe Beane waits it out thinking he can outbid the competition, pay less than 8.5 and not give a pick. A new Bills contract might also be for more than a year. Roseman is hoping that Beane thinks Ertz is a major upgrade to the Bills TE position sufficient to appreciably improve the Bills chances for a championship. I don’t think this is an unreasonable position, even if nothing comes of it. Ertz is really a very good and reliable TE who probably has years left in the tank. He won’t get the targets here he had in Philly in 2019, but I would not be surprised if he returned to that year’s form as a player, which has got to be good for Allen and for the Bills, plus he’s a decorated vet who could help bring Knox along. I’m hoping Beane gets it done.

I like what little I’ve seen of Rousseau’s gametape. I think he will gain a lot of leverage from using his length. He’s not Bruce Smith but I think he will find ways to make himself an unwelcome guest in the opponents backfield and disruptive in defending both the running and passing games. Basham I have no opinion on but clearly Bills had him high on their board. I don’t expect either of these guys to be more than bit players this year. Basham may be able to contribute more because he is big enuf to play now. Rousseau really needs to bulk up. I get that he’s 6/6 but I saw him recently standing next to Calais Campbell. He looked like a guy with one stripe on his pajama.

I look forward to seeing what Breida can bring to this offence as a speed back and how Daboll/Allen will be able to use him. He is obviously far from an every down back but he doesn’t need to be that here either, maybe more a change of pace. He’s a hard working player who has pretty much done his best to improve his game. He was not a receiving target in college but he has developed into a very good option in the passing game, which is what the Bills O is all about. He’s also worked hard in pass pro and is adequate at least so that DC’s can’t necessarily assume a limited number of possible play-calls when he is in the backfield. Thing is his productivity as a NFL back is pretty much correlated with the strength of his O-line. He played behind one of the best lines in SF. Contrary to what you might expect from a smallish speed back, he was mostly run up the middle of the field. His game was not end runs/sweeps and looking to turn a corner. The SF line opened holes whether inside or off tackle and he wasted no time hitting them. He was also stuffed at the line quite a bit. Looks to me that his troubles in Miami probably had more to do with the fact that despite attempts to improve what was probably the worst line in the NFL in 2019, the Finns weren’t able to get it done in 2020 (maybe not surprising starting three rooks). The Bills have decent talent on the O-line. Whether or not the player combos work and are logical or not from a run game schematic perspective is another matter but I expect Breida to bounce back somewhat this year running the ball and I would hope that he can help open up the playbook a little. How he works out may also provide a good comparison of how Shanahan and Daboll stack up. KS was clearly able to play to Breida’s strengths.

Agree. Boogie’s gonna Bash’em.

Yeah but Allen makes Beasley the best slot receiver in the league and 100% a badass. It would be a big big loss.

Cosell is an analyst and football historian not given to hyperbole so when he says that Allen is the most physically gifted QB ever it actually means a lot. Confirms what many of us with less knowledge and perspective have thought. And just wait till he masters that bubble screen. As for the AFC East, Finns are the real competition. If Tua can develop as a competent game manager, which at this point looks to be his ceiling, they are talented enuf to be very tough. I really don’t know if he’s ready to take that step.

Numbers may or may not be as good. We don’t even know if he will have Bease as a target, but Allen will be a better QB by year’s end than on day one. Getting better is what he does. He’s the real deal and a DC’s nightmare. Its not all rocket science. Like PM you pretty much know what he’s going to do the problem is stopping him. I don’t think having now seen him for a couple of years is going to give opposing teams much additional insight.

JMO but to me Jack is a giant on the American scene, like Ali, while Nassib is just a gay football player, no biggie. But maybe I’ve got this all wrong.

Hmmm…well, if true, I’ve got to wonder how high the toll would have to be before they agreed.

600,000+dead Americans makes it right IMO.

The issue is of course bigger than Beas and therefore threatens to adversely impact the 2021 season IMO. Rumour has it that less than 50% of the WFT has been vaccinated. We don’t know what Josh Allen’s, and other stars’s, vaccination status is. Heaven forbid that any players should get really sick like Calais Campbell did. Even in the absence of symptoms, a period of compulsory quarantining can take a chunk out of a player’s availability. The protocols are really just an accommodation of the player’s right to not get vaccinated. Without them they would in all likelihood just be suspended. Although football is a religion to many, no First Amendment freedom of religion argument and override of the conditions of employment is available here. So unless he changes his tune, and he won’t IMO, Beas is toast. Thats a shame. He’s one of the guys whose play I most admired.

Yeah, this laughing stock business is total nonsense. Every professional talent evaluator and serious analyst at the time was in awe of Allen’s physical ability. Only question was whether he would develop, which is pretty much a question you have to ask about almost any prospect entering the pros, but most especially at the quarterback position. As I said after we drafted him, he was absolutely worthy of a high first round pick. If we didn’t take him he would be in Arizona, who picked right after us. As matters have developed Allen looks to be almost unique as a difference maker. True Beane has surrounded him with talent but even with Diggs, who arrived in Allen’s third year, it is still less than what for example Aikman was given to work with right away after the H. Walker trade. From the get go Allen has personally done more to raise his offence’s level of play than any QB I can think of, including even in his first year (with Luck and Vick being possible exceptions). Lousy teams can ruin a great QB prospect (Jeff George) or cause a very good one to quit or never have the success he should (Luck, Stafford). Allen is in good hands but the lion’s share of the credit goes to him.

If Beane was seriously trying to move up it was for J Phillips imo. Pass rush was a greater need than RB, even a very good one who could figure in the passing game. The Bucs RBs are not what beat Mahomes and the Chiefs, it was their D line. Beane wanted pass rushers so bad he drafted two with his first picks. I tend to think that was his focus all along.

Actually I am more concerned with NE than Jets or even the Finns. I expect them to be competitive on O and very tough on D. I think Cam has some football left in him and not just as a running QB. Unlike last year he will have reliable options to go to in the passing game. So not just ground n’ pound imo. I also think that we are better, thanks largely to Allen, but of course we will have to back it up on the field where it counts.

Agree. He may have been disappointed with the round he went in but actually he could not have landed in a better spot. The Bills are not only a good team but the whole organization is one of the better ones top to bottom, and notably in the coaching and training and conditioning departments. As you say he is walking into a receiver room full of high quality veteran players who can help bring him along. I would only add that maybe Davis can give him a few pointers on how a rook can work his way onto the field and make a contribution from the get go. What Stevenson does well he does extremely well and they are things that you furthermore cannot teach or learn, either you’ve got em or you dont. He has them. Now he just has to go to work and figure out the other stuff. If he can do that he stands to be successful.

Really excited to see what he can bring. He is facing a learning curve no question. To max out his potential as a NFL receiver he needs to refine/develop his route tree, learn to use his hands (body catcher) and up his physicality (blocking downfield, beating press coverage) a notch - and of course avoid injury down time. If he is able to do these things he will turn out to be a major steal of the draft.

Yeah, I believe it. He looked a lot faster than 4:45 to me. He’s a burner and that posted time is not that. Great if you are 6’3”. Not if you are 5’10’.

15 sacks is an eye popping number but I don’t disagree that they need to be taken in context. Thing is tho there is also the 19 tackles for loss. The two stats complement one another to paint a picture of a guy who lives in the opposition’s backfield. Not all of that can be rationalized as the result of inferior opponents, especially considering that he had never before played the position and seems to have had his share of double teams.

I’m with Daniel Jeremiah and Calais Campbell. He’s a lot better than many seem to give him credit for. He’s a versatile defender who can bring pressure up the middle or off the edge. He can also set the edge and play the run. Maybe because he is so tall he appears to have great vision of whats going on in the backfield. I think thats actually why Beane and others say he has a nose for the QB. He’s got decent power and exceptional lateral agility, not to mention incredible length. He looks like a guy who plays with passion and has an excellent motor. He will benefit from the Bills strength and conditioning programme. Whats not to like? This was a good pick. The kid has the makings of a really good player.

Nice to hear. When in his draft year I started looking at Allen’s Wyoming tape I couldn’t believe what was jumping out at me in the way of athleticism. I had never seen anything quite like it. There are different athletic strengths and some are best suited to different sports. To me Allen’s physical talents were particularly well suited to the requirements of playing QB in the NFL. Someone recently posted that Lamar was a better athlete than Allen but that Josh was the. better QB. Josh is the better QB but he is also the better athlete for playing the position. The reason is what he gives up in the comparison as a runner he more than makes up for in arm strength. Much more given that its mostly a passing league. His other worldly athleticism was also the reason that I was always pretty sure he could develop. Anybody that gifted should be able to refine his passing game it seemed to me. Having said that his progress to date far exceeds what I expected to see. Dude is flat out ridiculous.

I’m thinking a long tall Miami Hurricane DE and I’d be good with either one. Would like JP. Without medical history he goes right after the QBs top of the draft imo. With medical history he’s in Bills range.

Vosean is a free agent.

No not necessarily. Or maybe you are just speaking for yourself.

Thats why its a good smokescreen.