Rocky Landing

My BOLD predictions: #1-- Bills keep six DEs: Hughes Epenesa Rousseau Basham Obada Johnson Addison gets cut in favor of Obada, who is going to be a beast in the rotation. They keep Johnson because he is a special teams standout. #2-- Big shake-up at running back! Christian Wade competes, and earns K/P returner. Moss is a lock for his pass pro acumen. Breida shines as a scatback with breakout acceleration. Williams proves to be valuable as a downhill power back for short yardage situations. Singletary becomes redundant, odd man out, and is cut, or traded. #3-- Backup WR competition: Bills keep six WRs. If Beasley doesn't tweet his way out of a job: Diggs, Sanders, Beasley, Davis, McKensie, and.... Marquis Stevenson ftw. If Beasley does reach a tweet too far: Diggs, Sanders, Davis, McKensie, Stevenson, and.... Tanner Gentry. That's right. Tanner Gentry. He's played special teams, and Josh Allen loves him. Recent Josh quote: "He has the strongest hands of anyone I know." He is all over Josh's Wyoming highlight reel. The chemistry is already there.

Why would you leave Breida off this poll?

Ooh, you've stepped in it now...

I believe that girl was a Pats* fan, and he was looking for the asterisk. *

*

I think Hollister is every bit the "all around" TE that Kroft was for the Bills-- and Allen has deep chemistry with Hollister going back to Wyoming. I don't think we'll miss Kroft one bit. Lee Smith, on the other hand... few QBs had as much time to throw the ball as Allen last season. Along with the O-line, Smith, Moss, and even Lil' Dirty did their part in pass pro. And for a player that many color commentators referred to as "blocking tight end Lee Smith," Allen snuck him several passes, and two touchdowns last season. I'll miss him. I'm a Lee Smith fan.

He had a sunny disposition, and a delightful sense of humor.

I feel like a lot of fans have a sort of "carry over" excitement about Hodgins from the scant information we heard about him in last season's abbreviated training camp. But, I'm not sure Beane, or McD have any more invested in that sixth round pick, than they do in this season's sixth round pick, Stevenson. I think that after Diggs, Sanders, Beasley (assuming he doesn't tweet his way out of a job), Davis, and McKenzie, there's a handful of WRs competing for a hopeful sixth spot. In fact, it's certainly not out of the question that the Bills only carry five-- like if Christian Wade became the K/P returner (hey, it could happen...!). Maybe there would be two spots if Beasley doesn't knock it off, but I'm not sure I would put Hodgins on top of that list: Stevenson: Fast, possible K/P return candidate. Sixth rounder in an historically deep class. Gentry: Don't sleep on this guy-- Josh Allen loves him, "strongest hands of anyone I know..." He's all over Josh's Wyoming highlight reel. Hodgins: Was talked up quite a bit in '20 TC (what there was of it), but missed all of 2020 on IR. Shoulder surgery in December. Kumerow: One of two remaining WRs to earn meaningful snaps in a Bills uniform. Aaron Rodgers talked him up when he was a Packer. D. Williams: The other remaining WR to play in meaningful games. This board has all but written him off, but... he is still on the team.

What game was that?

Other. Cole Beasley.

I still have a Marshawn Lynch #23 Jersey.

Well, in that case, they should just sign T.J. Yeldon off the street. Would be just the same as Akers, right?

This is all code, right...?

Yes, I misread the post. Apologies.

50 years? Except for that pesky stretch from '71 to '95 where they won the division twice.

No offense, WEO, but I'm not going to get drawn into one of your endless back-and-forths. Go play with Doc.

Just for the sake of the experiment, I put Duke, or Kumerow as the #3WR only because they were the only ones other than the presumptive starters, Davis, and McK who have had meaningful snaps in a Bills uniform. I actually doubt either will make the team come Sept. And your post is a misrepresentation of what I have suggested.

And apparently, even though Tua threw for fewer yards, and fewer TDs, on a better team in '20 than Trubisky, Tua is average.

Allen followed by Tua? In what universe? Again, how would Tua be considered a better QB than Trubisky? By what metric? By what "eye test?" Tua was straight-up terrible last season. And, it's not like there wasn't another known-commodity QB to compare him to. Ryan Fitzpatrick, as flawed a QB as he is, was head, shoulders, and chest better than Tua in every aspect of the game, statistically, objectively, subjectively and by any "eye test" you might want to consider, with the exact same personnel. To be clear, I would consider Fitz to be a better QB than Trubisky, But, not nearly as much better as he was vs. Tua. It's not even close. Maybe Tua pulls it together in '21. But, right now, to consider Tua better than Trubisky is lunacy, even for a Dolphins fan. And, as far as Trubisky being a "loser," I will, once again, remind you that as a professional QB, he has a winning record, including in his last three (out of four) seasons, in the NFL.

Yes, I am comparing Trubisky to a QB who's shoulder is shot, and a rookie who had a lousy season, because that is who the other quarterbacks in the division are. And, you're going to accuse me of cherry picking data, and then throw out the only stat you could find to support an argument that you basically concede in the very next sentence? I'm sorry, but that a bizarre response. And, yeah, I will reiterate my "cherry picked stats," or as I would rather refer to them: "all of the AFCE QB's stats from the 2020 season." Trubisky threw for 2055 yards, 16/8 : TD/Int in 10 games. Cam threw for 2657 yards, 8/10 TD/Int in 15 games. Tua threw for 1814 yards, 11/5 : TD/Int in 10 games. You do the math. Even you know Trubisky is better than Cam, and you have admitted as much. But, you're going to use your "eye test" to argue that Tua is better at... reading defenses??? Did you watch Tua play last season? Please name an aspect of the game in which Tua Tagovailoa is a better quarterback.

Don't forget everyone's favorite "dark horse" candidate! Do I even need to state his name???

Yeah, people love to say that. BUT... just on 2020 stats alone: Tua: 64.1 comp%, 11 TDs, 5 Ints, 87.1 QBR Cam: 65.8 comp%, 8 TDs, 10 Ints, 82.9 QBR Mitch: 67.0 comp.%, 16 TDs, 8 Ints, 93.5 QBR (And a winning record for the season, btw.) If you can come up with a coherent argument for how Trubisky is not the second best QB in the division, let's hear it.

I couldn't find the stats for 2020, but in the '18, and '19 seasons, he had the third lowest checkdown rate in the league, after Mahome (2nd), and Allen (1st).

Gabriel Davis just had a 599 yard rookie season, as a #3-#4 wide receiver, with all of the obstacles that every other rookie had last season-- no OTAs, limited TC, no preseason. I would take him over any WR the Patriots* currently have. And, for that matter, Mitch Trubisky is currently the second best QB in the AFCE, and that is a hard point to argue.

I think there are quite a few positions where "starter" is more or less a technicality. Singletary, or Breida could be named the starting RB, but Moss will likely get more snaps. Jackson, and Wallace will both get plenty of playing time. Knox, and Hollister should be complimentary. The D-line, especially, will likely have a rotation that will make opposing DC's heads spin. P/KR will be a pretty good competition to watch, and may ultimately affect who makes depth at WR. I voted "other" for the D-line competitions, DT, and DE. There's so much potential there, but a lot of question marks, as well. Can't wait to see some of these guys in action. But is Christian Wade comes out and starts competing for P/KR, or looks like he has a real shot at RB, I'll change my vote.