hondo in seattle

Exactly. While trading up for Josh worked well, the draft is a crapshoot. You're more likely to hit it big with more picks. And we need some hits. We need impact players who are on rookie contracts to counterbalance the big contract players (Allen, Miller, Diggs).

Whaley thought Beane was going to trade Diggs because that's what he would have done. And you can see the logic: Diggs is expensive, and draftees are cheap. But here's another bit of wisdom: "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." Diggs is a proven wideout who has a great connection with his QB. When you have that, why would you want to ditch it to play roulette in the draft?

The Von performs like the top three on the last, I'll be ecstatic. If he does a Haley... Yikes!

Great news. I'm just hoping, with Allen, Diggs and Miller taking up so much cap space, Beane scores some hits in the draft. We need contributions from guys on rook contracts.

You never know what the draft will give you. Gilmore is the best free agent CB available and we need a CB. If Beane can create the cap space, its a no brainer.

I like McDermott a lot and am not very critical of him. But I don't think I'd put him in the Top 5. Not yet at least.

I only have the dimmest memory of him. So I looked him up: 4 total sacks with the Bills in 5 seasons. No wonder he's mostly forgotten.

Great to see how much he believes in the Bills.

He wasn't happy on the Whaley-Rex Bills. This is an entirely different organization.

I'm not sure. He liked the Rams, the city, etc. He might have stayed there if we hadn't offered what we did.

Yeah, I'm with you. I don't watch collegiate ball so I listen to the talking heads. Initially, I was in on Rosen. But when I started paying attention to which talking head was saying what, I started gravitating more to Allen. The more knowledgeable draft gurus - the ex-personnel guys and even Kiper as I recall - were big on Allen's upside.

Even though I forgot it was April Fool's Day, I didn't buy the headline. But I did think, "I don't believe it - but I hope it's true." Knox, OJ, Gronk... suddenly TE would be a true strength. My little stirring of hope was quickly extinguished.

Trading up gets us a good rookie on a rookie contract. And it sheds the cap cost of whatever vet we trade away. Theoretically sounds good. But entirely depends on the vet(s) we lose and the rookie we gain. Until those answers are available, I have no opinion.

I'm a 'white dude' and I tend to agree. The more you read about this stuff, and hear about it from the vantage of people of color, the more you realize how unjust/unfair society remains. I'm not saying we haven't made progress, but we still have a ways to go. There are no easy or perfect answers. But I'm glad the NFL is trying to do something more.

I have a lot of faith in the FO but that doesn't mean every move they make is a good one. The best GMs make mistakes. And right now Beane has me worried about the CB position. But the offseason is far from over.

Like everyone, Beasley had his good and bad characteristics. I loved his talent. I thought his vaccine take was selfish. I'll remember him as a warrior.

Agreed - big difference between the two KCs. Overland Park is a nice place - as far as KC Metro goes.

I became a Bills fan when I was 10 and the Bills drafted OJ. Weirdly, despite growing up in the Buffalo burbs, I was as much a Browns fan as a Bills fan back then. Maybe even more a Browns fan. But when I left home for college in the late 70s, being a Bills fan was a way of connecting with home. My love for the Bills began surpassing my love for the Brownies. And when the Browns moved to Baltimore in 1996, I became entirely Bills- monogamous. While the 90s teams were fun - and I certainly appreciated them - their glory really didn't impact my fandom much.

I, unfortunately, live in the KC area right now. Most of the fans I've talked to don't care very much. There is some lingering affection for Arrowhead. But the biggest concern about a change in location is about commute times, not state address per se. For most fans I think, if the new location would be closer to their home, they'd like it. Kansas City, MO, has a population of roughly 500,000 compared to KCK's population of 150,000. So the Missouri version of Kansas City is much bigger and includes most of the tall buildings, the financial district, the museums, and so on. But the KC metro area is more evenly divided between the two states. For example, Johnson County in Kansas is part of metro KC and has a population of 600,000. About 40% of the people in metro KC live in KS while 60% live in MO.

Good topic... Something I've wondered about myself. There aren't not enough Joshes and Patricks for all 32 teams. So in the absence of a franchise QB, what do you do? How do you win? On the one hand, if you want to build a running offense you need a running back. It's not the glory days of the rushing attack anymore. Most of the best athletes nowadays become WRs and CBs. College football doesn't produce Jim Browns, OJs, Walter Paytons, and Barry Sanders like it used to. On the other hand... In 1975, the OJ-led Bills scored 30 points a game against defenses better equipped to stop the run that today's Ds. RB-centric offenses can score points. As Sun Tzu said, “So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.” Today's defenses are built to stop the pass. Good RBs, particularly power backs, can thrive in this environment by attacking the weakness of contemporary defenses. Imagine getting a QB on the cheap who isn't all-around great but does throw a nice deep ball. So you complement your running game with some speedy receivers to stretch the field and discourage the opposing defense from loading the box. If I was a GM, I don't think I'd bet my career on a run-first offense. But it would be interesting to watch a GM/HC combo who did.

If I was in McD's position, I wouldn't be particularly open either. One of the goals of a HC is to develop relationships with the team (players, coaches) that brings out the best in people. Publicly dissing people damages those relationships. You have to be circumspect.

Which player can kick a miniature football 47 feet through miniature goalposts to change history and win a miniature Lombardi?

Good idea. Include some Pinto Ron type stuff - like the ketchup and mustard squirting from a height! Yeah - this is so Buffalo. Maybe how many wings a player can eat in five minutes. Then maybe how many super hot wings a player can eat - not for the faint-of-heart!

I love the Bills and really like blues guitar. Cool - and surprising - to see them intersect like this. Thanks for sharing.

Since I don't follow college ball, I have nothing useful to add to this topic. I just want to say that I'm both amused and embarrassed that a 'gooner' from London knows more about American college ball than I do. Thanks for doing this, GB.