hondo in seattle

More and more pro players are retiring in their 20s. 25,000 fewer high school kids played football last year versus the year before. Are we witnessing the end of the Golden Age of football? Will the better athletes now choose other sports? Will football become the refuge for the guys not good enough for baseball, basketball, soccer, MMA, x-sports, etc? Will our grandchildren be amazed how good the players of the 2000s were compared to the players who came later? Will the players of today be the best players to ever suit up to do battle on the gridiron? http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2726124-report-shows-continuing-drop-in-high-school-football-players?iid=ob_homepage_deskrecommended_pool

I agree. Expecting dramatic change would be folly. But maybe - with Dennison's coaching - we can hope for incremental improvement. Tyrod wasn't a horrible QB last year. And maybe he'll be a little better this season. And then is it too much to hope for that Dennison implements a better passing scheme this year - one tailored to TT's strengths? Neither Roman nor Lynn were particularly strong in the passing game. Those are my two hopes: (1) Tyrod does get a little better, and (2) Dennison's passing scheme is better. Putting the two together, we could have a much more productive passing attack.

It's great some of us old-timers remember. I hated losing Bobby - probably my favorite player at the time. But that wasn't Villapiano's fault and we kept hearing stories about how much Villapiano brought to the locker room and how he effectively mentored the younger players and taught them what it took to win. It seems like AB will have a similar impact.

Boldin's signing reminds me of when the Bills signed Phil Villapiano to play LB back in '80. Phil was a former Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champ. While he was past his prime, he brought a lot to the locker room.

Good research!

Like many of my fellow posters, apparently I suffer from brain damage. My wife would say that explains a lot.

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't say Rex did a good job building a D around the talent he had. And yeah, I agree, Schwartz did a great job. Yes, sir. Schwartz had good players for the D he wanted to run. Schwartz has a mixed record as a defensive coach. He shined in Buffalo because he had the right players for his kind of defense. I hope Corey does well reuniting with him.

I respectfully disagree. "Lack of depth" is a relative term. Some teams clearly have more depth than others. And clearly some positions have more depth than others.

Hopefully she fills the void left by Tyler Dunne (or Larry Felser for the old-timers). I don't read Sully or Gleason except for once in a while by accident. I'll read Vic here and there if my fellow posters tell me he's written an atypically good piece.

I don't think Florio intentionally misled anyone. I just don't think he's very knowledgeable of Pegula and the Bills stadium situation.

It's pretty cool that when the title simply refers to the "Oilers game," all Bills automatically know the OP is referencing a game played 25 years ago.

He got starter experience while in Buffalo. Not all young QBs get that. He should count himself lucky. Most QBs are not given the chance to improve that Carr got. If that's his frame of reference, it's not a good one. But, whatever attitude EJ has about his time in Buffalo, I wish him well. He's a good kid.

I don't think Goodwin is just a speedster. He has other skills. But overall, from what I saw during his time here, his speed was at the Olympic level while his route running, hands, adjustment on the ball, ability to fend off bump-and-run, etc. were mostly at the college level. But I like the guy and hope he avoids injury and does well with the 49ers.

I'd love to get more context because this is just dumb. There are only two weapons in an offensive arsenal: the run and the pass. Imagine you were leading soldiers into combat. You had rifles and machine guns. But you decided not to use the machine guns because you wanted to "go back to the old way" and just use rifles. It's crazy. You enthusiastically employ every weapon at your disposal if you want to win.

OJ rushed for 1500 yards when he was 29. Thurman rushed for 1000. Fred rushed for 900. Shady should be good this year. Most backs seem to hit the wall at age 30 or 31 and Shady's only 29. According to one analysis, RBs aged 30 are still good fantasy point producers. Age 31 is when their production drops. Curious stat: Backs with 300-369 carries will see - on average - a 15% reduction in their production the following year. The drop-off in production gets much worse as carries exceed 300. But Shady had only 234 carries last year. Watching Brady's sustained greatness makes me wonder what diet and conditioning can do to help a RB extend his career. http://www.bleacherreport.com/articles/416942-nfl-history-top-15-running-backs-who-hit-the-30-year-old-wall-video http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1271412-why-and-when-do-nfl-running-backs-start-to-decline https://www.si.com/nfl/photos/2010/02/25nfl-running-backs-hitting-the-wall https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/fantasy-football-narrative-street-when-do-aging-running-backs-hit-the-fantasy-wall

Encouraging news. We need Dareus to be at his best this year.

Thanks for the updates Astro! Much appreciated this year and every year. What differences can you see between how Rex ran practices in the past and how McD runs them now?

So much for the "One Voice" thing. Looks like Beane will talk to the media as much as the typical GM.

I think with a better playbook, better preparation in the passing game, and better play-calling in the passing game, Tyrod will improve. His progress won't make anyone on the banks of the Charles River want to trade their QB for ours. But there will be enough improvement that the Bills won't prioritize searching for a replacement.

On the one hand, we have limited depth. Tyrod, Sammy and Shady are all fragile. If the three of them go down, 4-12 is realistic. On the other hand, I'm not a betting man but if I could place a bet that the Bills will win more than 4 games, I would - eagerly. Probably the best approach. High expectations lead to low moods when unrealized.

There aren't enough roster spots for 4 QBs. Nor are there enough practice snaps. Cardale was the odd man out. If we hadn't traded him to the Chargers for a 7th, we would have released him.

That's pretty cool. Love it when leaders get in the trenches.

The new coaches probably saw enough of Cardale to realize he wasn't going to earn a roster slot. And trading him now makes sense if we're going to lose him anyway. It was unlikely we'd get better than a conditional 7th even if we waited. And later on, better QBs than Cardale might become available as teams trim down their rosters.

The last time I went to a home game in Buffalo, OJ was still in his prime. I've been to a few live Bills games since then - always in a stadium section light on Bills fans. I guess what I miss most is being surrounded by fans who share my hopes and excitement.

So is fragility. Our best guys tend to get hurt. Hopefully that's not a trend that continues this year.