Rocky Landing

The Headhunter has arrived!

I have to say that I am entirely down with everything Shaw66 wrote, and I'm ecstatic with Josh Allen. But, the one thing that sticks in the back of my head that makes me question all of it is the nagging reality of how astonishingly poorly the quarterback position was managed last season. A clumsy "quarterback competition" that resulted in Nate Peterman starting, and JA as the only backup, with the worst receiving corp in the league, and one of the worst O-lines. Peterman's play was so bad, that he had to be benched for a rookie that conventional wisdom, and just about every pundit alive, said was a raw prospect that needed time to sit, and learn. It was probably fortunate that Allen was quickly injured so that he wasn't turned into Trent Edwards-- afraid to hold onto the ball for more than 2.2 seconds. That he came back from his injury and did, indeed, improve remarkably is a testament to his resilience, tenacity, and character. I do think Beane has done an exceptional job this offseason in FA, and the draft. And so, I remain cautiously optimistic. But, serious mistakes have been made.

I'm cautiously optimistic. But, what keeps me from being giddy is the thought that we are, at least on paper, the third ranked team in our division. A lot of our success hinges on how well the Jets adjust to their new coaching staff. I'm optimistically expecting them to have growing pains. (I'm also optimistically hoping Brady* falls down in the shower.) We certainly have a shot at the playoffs this year. But, I can't get my expectations too high. And, man, I'm so tired of putting our playoff hopes on a wildcard. So, I'm going to temper my optimism on the knowledge that we seem to be moving in the right direction from a 6-10 season.

Nice odds.

I’m good with nothing else.

He had a great catch percentage during his time in Oakland.

Well, of course. Lots of things are going to change between now and September. Any discussion on the current state of the depth chart is speculative. My point was that adding to the TE room does not indicate that there is a set of three that they're decided on. And, all that being said, I would assume that they're still going to value veteran experience along with preseason performance.

This makes no sense to me. Along with the fact that they just signed Lee Smith to a three year contract, adding another TE to the mix makes me suspect that they aren't fine rolling with Knox, Sweeney, and Croom. Would McD expect Sweeney to be more than PS candidate? At the very least, I certainly wouldn't put Sweeney above Knox, Croom, or Smith.

Oh, no doubt. I would love it if the Bills got Hard Knocks this year. And, I have do doubt that McD would hate it!

I think a lot of people don’t understand just how enormous, and therefore distracting, a production like Hard Knocks is. OldTimeAFLGuy posted in another thread about how McD would not allow construction crews anywhere near the fields where they were practicing because of the distraction. A show like Hard Knocks will be twenty times the distraction. It would be very surprising if McD wanted anything to do with it.

Well, there are 12 days scheduled at the moment, with the last one being Wednesday, August 15th. Their second preseason game is the next day, 8/16. They also have a practice the day before their first preseason game on 8/8. I would assume that’s intentional?

There are pills for that.

Foot breaks can be lingering. It’s the part of the body with the least blood flow.

Obviously.

Obviously, but there's a lot of apples and oranges on that list.

This looks like plain lazy journalism to me. NY sports pundits trying to stir up controversy. And I would assume that if it happened (it won't), then Shady would be gone. But... how hilarious would it be to have an RB roster of Bell/Gore/McCoy? (I put those in alphabetical order, just 'cuz.) Man, the offseason gets whacky...

It's hard to take that grade sheet seriously when they have rookie UDFA Garrett McGhin getting a higher grade than Dawkins, or Nsekhe.

I'm sorry, but that's a ridiculous argument. I understand MJS' point. The coaches, and the GM, and the players, for that matter, have chosen to do something for a living, which is football. The entertainment industry supplies the money that gets them paid, sure. And, in fact, most, if not all of them started in the sport for free. But, why would the people on the field worry about ratings? To your earlier point-- "The NFL wants you the fan not only to watch the games, but watch their network, watch the draft, watch video from training camp and watch preseason games, which are really just practice,"-- well what they really want is to sell commercial spots. They want as high a viewership as possible to make those commercial time slots as profitable as possible. Do you think the coaches and players care about that? It's not their job. Other people deal with that. Football is their job.

Has Dawson Knox gotten a touchdown yet?

I used to travel to Vegas several times a year for work (live in LA), and I would bet on games every chance I got. My preferred sports book was at the Venetian. I haven't been there in years, so I don't know how it is now, but they had rows of really comfortable stuffed leather chairs facing a bank of about 30 big screen TVs, Plus free drinks. Heaven. But one thing I never did? Bet on Bills games.

My prediction: Nsekhe - Spain - Morse - Feliciano - Ford (That's right, I said it. Dawkins doesn't start.)

Kind of an arbitrary "eight guys" in this article. Mike Love? Uh, ok. Personally, I would have a slightly different list of guys that I would want "to watch." I am looking forward to seeing how D. Williams performs. But, I'm also interested to see who in the RB room might have the ability to break into the triad of McCoy/Gore/Singletary. I'm very interested to see how Kroft fits in, and how the TE depth chart starts to stack up. Looking forward to see if McKenzie can make a case for himself, or is he supplanted by Roberts/Beasley? What will Christian Wade look like? Who do they look at most at RG? So many things to watch for this time around.

Call me crazy, but I’m going to guess that you slightly misinterpreted Chandler81’s warning.

That is absolutely true. But, watch DW utterly lay out this BC Lions CB-- a completely legal hit, in the CFL. It's what he has vowed to bring. https://www.12up.com/posts/6265633-bills-sign-cfl-wide-receiver-who-absolutely-destroyed-defender-in-viral-video

Here’s a bold prediction— Duke Williams could end up being one of the best blocking WRs we’ve ever had.