hondo in seattle

I second. No contest.

And had he played behind a better line for a team that's actually on national television more than once a year. Back to the main topic of the thread, I think the league is more interesting with Lynch in it. And it'll be good to see him play for his hometown team.

The NFL Rumor Mill operates at full capacity this time every year. It's kind of fun if you don't take the stuff it generates too seriously.

While I agree that Tyrod isn't a Jim Kelly type franchise QB, I do still respect what he brings. He has a nice long ball, good leadership skills, a solid work ethic, and is an elusive runner. Put that all together, and he's a serviceable starter. While franchise QBs are kind of like unicorns, even serviceable starters are rare enough. I think we keep TT as the starter until we find someone better.

I'm not sure I believe any of this crap. No good evidence/sources sited. Mostly just speculation.

Apparently John Lynch - GM of the 49ers - examines mock drafts to help give him an idea what other draft boards might look. He mentioned that Mike Mayock shows up to a lot of pro days and talks to a lot of people - implying his mock draft is pretty good. http://bleacherreport.com/nfl

True enough. But the collective wisdom of all the Wall of Fame players (of the 7 in that room) does amount to something. Sometimes it's good to get a knowledgeable outside opinion.

That does sound very strange, despite the good point NoSaint makes.

While I wish we had kept MG, this isn't a fair comparison if you're saying Belichick is smarter than Whaley for paying MG. The two teams have very different needs. They also have different salary cap situations. The Bills - without MG - already have a lot of money invested in the RB position. And we have a star as a starter. MG is worth more to the Pats than he is to us. In regards to Whaley, this has been a roughly .500 team on his watch despite having a .400 or .300 coach at the helm the past couple years. There must be some talent on board.

Great research. Good info in both initial posts.

It may be a passing league but the Bills are not a passing team. As you probably know, we were #1 in rushing yards, #1 in ypc (by a good margin), and #2 in rushing attempts last year. The Bills don't have a lot of good things going for them. But the rushing attack is one. So why mess with it? MG was highly productive as Shady's backup. Here are some interesting observations from PFF Gillislee earned an overall PFF grade of 76.4, which ranked 14th among qualified RBs in the 2016 season. He averaged 3.34 yards after contact, the third-best mark among RBs last season. His 43.3 breakaway percentage (percentage of yards which came from runs of 15-plus yards) ranked third among qualified RBs in 2016. He had 10 runs of 15 or more yards. He ranked eighth among RBs with an elusive rating (how hard the runner is to bring down independent of blocking, taking into account forced missed tackles and yards after contact) of 57.6 last season. https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro-bills-need-to-match-new-england-offer-on-mike-gillislee/

I've always thought yards-per-drive was an underrated stat. And I think the Bills offense was underrated last year. Yep, Tyrod was wildly off target at times and didn't even notice wide open receivers at other times. Yet, for all that, the Bills scored.

As bad as we have been in the draft, I'd rather have the proven player than the pick. Disappointed TD Mike is gone but I can see why the Bills declined to match and why many fans agree.

"We might not win often. But when we do win, it'll be in Buffalo."

Personally, I'm all in favor of long-range planning. But if our scouts don't believe the top QBs in this draft will be long-range answers either, why pick them? Follow the board.

I'm not a huge TT guy. But stating your opinion that not one team would take TT over Garopollo doesn't support your other opinion that TT isn't very good. Supporting opinions with more opinions is weak logic.

I'd like to see a defense that looks like it's well-coached, aggressive, and that fields players who know their assignments. And I'd like to see Tyrod make quicker decisions with the ball and throw it more accurately with better anticipation while still maintaining ball security. Finally, I'd also like to see Rico give us an offense that can run the ball as effectively as we did last year. I've gotta admit, this surprises me. Good research.

The Comeback. A few weeks prior, I had gotten into the habit of tossing my baby daughter into the air every the Bills scored. Not only did she get tossed a lot that day, I kept tossing her higher and higher in my excitement until she almost hit her head against our vaulted ceiling. Watching OJ get 2,000 yards was special, too, though it wasn't an exciting game otherwise. The Bills-49ers no-punt game also provided me with a lasting memory. That's awesome. And you deserved that moment. I remember Bob Smith. My mom helped write a cookbook for some good cause (the American Cancer Society?) and Bob Smith came to our house to take pictures for an article. He told some good Bills stories while taking photos - though sadly I don't remember any of them. That was, after all, nearly 50 years ago.

OBD has made a series of bad decisions over the years but this particular case isn't really one of them. 2017 was looking like a very soft market for running backs. So OBD rolled the dice and lost. Getting a draft pick for a backup isn't the end of the world.

Good observations.

I have to ask... When I watched Kevon play last year, he played like what he was: a backup. Maybe he'll take a step forward this year. I don't know. I do know he didn't play like a high level starter last season. So what am I missing? Why do so many people here have a high opinion of his potential? (I just noticed the Bandit posted something similar just minutes ago).

They didn't see a hot RB market. They gambled and lost. It happens. OBD has screwed up a lot of things over the years. But I don't think the mishandling of TD Mike ranks as a major mistake.

Yep. You can't invent a new offense or defense every year. You have to have some scheme or system in mind. Football - at the NFL level - is an intricate, sophisticated game. Coordinators often evolve and refine their systems for decades. Though some will prove themselves to be more "adaptive" (perfect word) than others.

I hope it was just alcohol and not a more serious chemical or mental issue.

Agree. This is a sad story all the way around.