Rocky Landing

As has been stated throughout these boards, the Bills not only lack a true #1, they lack a one-two punch at wide receiver. But they do have one of the best one-two punches at TE in the league. Not only fans, but Beane, and McDermott, themselves, have talked about the expectations of 12 personnel this season…. And you think they want to move on from that???

Depends on the quality of the kibble. Maybe this is why Beans was looking for draft picks with “that dog” in them?

True. The NFL has been keen on making late season games count in recent years, and considering how close these teams were last season, I can well imagine they'd like a repeat of that relevancy.

I actually like this. It will be hot, and muggy, but both sides of the field will be the same (as opposed to the ±20˚ difference in the '22 loss), and it's early enough in the season that the shallowness of our secondary will not be exposed. That's an important factor vs. the Fish, IMO.

Typical TBW for an idea about starting a "question of the day" to spinout into "justification to adopt the draconian measure of limiting discussion..."

They're called "moderators," actually.

Because people would enjoy it. Don't know why this would be an issue for anybody.

Sentimentalism.

Seriously, what kind of perspective is this? There's nothing complex about it. There's no problem being searched for. It's simply a moderator who runs the site trying to initiate something that he thinks would be enjoyable for other Bills fans. Why would you be "searching" for a reason to be against it?

This isn't anything groundbreaking, it's just an experiment to see if the mods can get the board moving in a better direction. Participation isn't required. You're not going to have to fill out a TPS form, or anything...

yuk...

It strikes me that a couple years after McDermott, and Beane arrived in Buffalo, the process by which they rebuilt the team became a blueprint that other teams tried to emulate, and intrinsic to that blueprint was the relationship between head coach, and general manager. Indeed, during the long drought years, the Bills floundered through pairings of coaches, and GMs who were clearly not on the same page.

This was a quality writeup, @Logic. Rational, and concise. This could have been featured in The Athletic, and I would have read it with equal interest. Here are some thoughts/responses of my own. 1. Keon Coleman - This draft was heralded for its depth at WR, but after the top three of Harrison/Nabers/Odunze (whom we did not have a chance of getting), I think you had a variety of talent that would perhaps go in the first round of a more typical draft class. On TBD, everyone seemed to have their favorite, be it Thomas, Mitchell, McConkey, Leggette, etc. And from the reports, it would seem they chose Josh Allen's favorite. I'm good with that. 2. Cole Bishop - 3. Dewayne Carter - Whenever I hear a pundit say things like, "a day-one starter," or "one of the most NFL ready..." I cringe. But a nice thing that happened in this draft, I think, is that between an enormous run on QBs from QB-needy teams, and the huge class of WRs, a lot of other skill positions got pushed down the board, especially on defense, where the Bills were most needy. In that regard, I think the Bills lucked out with these two picks. 4. Ray Davis - It's hard to ever get too excited about drafting a running back (Cook notwithstanding), but the more I look at this pick, the more I like it. He looks to be durable, and a culture fit. At 215lbs, and only 5'8", he'll play the role of short-yardage power-back, but still has reliable hands as a check-down option. It'll be nice to have such a player that isn't in his mid-30s for a change... 5. Sedrick Van Pran - Of all the offseason turnover, the one that makes me shake my head the most is the loss of Mitch Morse. For what the Jags paid him in cap money, we totally could have afforded him. Morse was good, and with his departure, I'm left hoping they have a good plan for the line. Van Pran certainly adds to that hope. 5. Edufuan Ulofoshio - With this pick, and also the recent addition of Deion Jones, I'm really left wondering what they know, or suspect about Milano's prognosis? 5. Javon Soloman - We've had other defensive players who were initially deemed "undersized," who have excelled in our defense-- Milano, and Bernard, being obvious examples. With his character, personality, and athleticism, this seems like the absolute, quintessential Beane/McDermott pick (in the best way). 6. Tylan Grable - When a lot of GMs gets to the sixth round of the draft, they're looking more at overall player value than actual positions of need. That's how we ended up with Jake Fromm. This was a wasted pick, IMO. 6. Daequan Hardy - This looks like one of those late round picks that Beane somehow seems to nail. He does seem to be better at assessing late-round talent than early-round talent. We do play a base nickel defense, and this guy could excel at NCB. With the departure of Siran Neal (who was too old for the position anyway), we were left with Cam Lewis as Taron Johnson's backup. That makes me queasy. 7. Travis Clayton - I attended the Bills at Chargers game in week 16, last season, and I lost track of the number of times I heard over the PA, "...number 76 reporting as an eligible receiver..." and then watched whomever Josh handed the ball to get stuffed at the LOS. It was infuriating, but the Bills seem addicted to that Jumbo package on short yardage situations. Clayton will almost certainly be put on the PS, but it is my great hope that he ends up on the 53 as that sixth Jumbo package OL. And who cares it that 6'7", 300+lb, fast, athletic-freak-rugby-monster can actually play OT??? I want to see him catch a pass from Allen, and flatten the first defender that dares tackle him. Travis Clayton could be to football what Happy Gilmore was to golf.

I predict that I will, once again, overpay to see the Bills @ Rams at SoFi.

You’ve listed Hardy twice, with very different assessments.

That’s a long list, I’m afraid. But I suppose you could start with me…

I did notice that they've brought in Matt Haack, who was not as good a punter for us as Martin has been, I believe. IIRC, there was some discussion after Bass's terrible miss at the end of the KC divisional round game, that part of the issue was Martin's hold, but it wasn't discussed much after that. And, of course, this FO is never going to point fingers publicly. I wonder if they feel that the issue lies, at least partially, with Martin's hold?

Nah. Former GM Bill Belichick* is long gone.

Sounds like Keon dodged a bullet!

I wish @DC Tom would start posting again. We could use his...umm... perspective around here, lately...

Considering how Bass finished the season, it's not an irrelevant question to be asking.

I nominate you for one of the QOD posters. See my post above.

I think it's a great idea. As far as who gets selected, and who gets denied, I would hope that some of our more contentious posters would get a day, or two, and I would also hope that different sides of the spectrum would be represented-- optimist vs. pessimist, if you will. Like maybe Wednesdays could be one of our "knowledgable jackasses" (we all know who they are), and then Thursdays could be the "hopelessly optimistic homers." (We know who they are, too...) Be that as it may, great idea, and I'm really looking forward to it. It may take a week, or three to catch on, and certainly some questions, and some posters will have varying degrees of popularity, but I suspect that with some tweaking, it's going to become very popular.

Regarding TE, it's not just Kincaid. The one-two punch of Kincaid, and Knox is one of the best (if not the best) TE duos in the league, and while Knox may not have the hands, or route ability of Kincaid, his YAC is damned good-- downright violent. He put the work in to clean up his drop issues, and he's a clutch player, who doesn't choke in the big moments.

Not that I'm a fan of Claypool, or this signing, but that is not an apples to apples comparison. Davis was #2 on the depth chart. But if Claypool had been in this offense last season, and given the same number of targets (and I am certainly ignoring Josh's comfort, and familiarity with Davis), he's probably going to deliver the same amount of production. To keep Davis here would have been expensive, and worked against the cap. Bringing in Claypool is low risk-- and who knows? Maybe this is the season he lives up to his reported "potential?" Probably not, but if he did, he wouldn't be the first WR to have career years with Allen throwing them the ball-- Diggs, Brown, Beasley, were all seasoned veterans, and all had their best seasons when they arrived in Buffalo. Taking a "flyer" on a vet who never lived up to their potential means something different when Josh Allen is your quarterback.