Rocky Landing

I worked with him once on an ESPN gig, and he was totally cool. I was wearing a Bills hat, and he messed with me a lot. Really funny, and approachable guy. I'm a fan.

I think they were waiting for the folks to tire themselves out a bit.

If Basham can be protected on the PS, that seems like the best option. Otherwise, he'll likely be inactive game days anyway. If Johnson makes the 53, he'll be active on game days.

#4: https://athlonsports.com/college-football/inspirational-football-quotes

Oh, give him time...

We saw almost nothing of Hodgins, and even less of Kumerow. Personally, going into this game, I would certainly put Stevenson ahead of Hodgins (if only for his speed), but what happened last night that put Stevenson in the lead? It's pretty hard to read too much into preseason plays made in the fourth quarter.

That's a great question. And I would say that if he didn't, he would just be a fraud. And I don't think he is. The thing of it is: I don't know that Webb sees himself as a starter in the league. If he does, he knows it won't be as a Bill. But the role he has carved out for himself is really quite remarkable. I can't think of another backup, let alone a QB, competing for a #3 position, that has contributed as much value to a team as Webb. I think he dreams of a moment where he gets to step into Josh's shoes, and continue the same sort of momentum that Josh carries. And I think that, along with his established leadership traits, makes him an ideal backup for Josh-- Assuming he has the ability to manage the Bills offense. I think his performance yesterday went a long way in establishing that.

He kinda reminded me of Lee Smith, and that's not an insult. He's not fast-- a bit lumbering. He's not going to juke any CBs. But, color commentators aren't going to refer to him as "blocking tight end Tommy Sweeney," the way they did with Lee Smith.

To my mind game balls go to Motor, and Webb. Motor: In the first series, I had to wonder if Motor wasn't playing for his job. I think it was eight carries in a row to start the game? But, he looked as good as he's ever looked to me. He was more explosive, his timing was right there, and he was slipping tackles like he did in his rookie season. And wile it's hard to measure his performance against Breida (Motor looks much better), when they were playing behind, and against different level players, McD did put Motor out there for a series later in the game with the same players Breida was in with, and Motor still looked really good. Webb: Webb, in my opinion, is going to be on this team for a long time. I mentioned a few weeks ago that you can't overstate Webb's value, even as a third string QB. During last season in TC, and the offseason, he carved out a niche for himself in practice and outside of practice to the point where more than a few people have suggested that if he couldn't be a competent backup, he should be hired on as a coaching assistant. Yesterday, he showed that he can run this offense. Yes, it was late in a preseason game against scrubs (and behind such noteworthy O-linesmen like Devey, and Hart...), but he showed proclivities that followed Josh Allen's play. He escaped right, he ran draws, and RPOs, and he threw on the run. And he clearly knows this offense, and playbook. I certainly don't think he's going to supplant Trubisky this season-- and to be fair, we learned exactly nothing about MT yesterday. But to my eyes, whether on the 53, or as is more likely, the PS, Webb looked like our #3QB, who is poised to become a solid #2 when Trubisky inevitably leaves.

And McKensie struggled in KR. So did Stevenson, but it doesn't look like he's "lost the job" as some have assumed. Well, Ford is back, anyway... We learned that Webb can run this offense. In fairness to MT, though, we learned absolutely nothing about him, other than that he can hand off to Motor just fine.

Does Breida even make this team? He looked rather pedestrian out there. And, now that I think of it, every time I saw footage of Daboll working with the RBs in TC, it was just Motor and Moss.

Can't fault Duke for that.

Davis looking Josh-esque with that run.

Since this is a running back tryout, I'm looking forward to Antonio Williams next.

Spencer Brown is throwing down some blocks.

And he slipped tackles the way he did his rookie season.

We are going to miss Roberts...

Just a running back tryout on offense, so far.

I have a couple Pats* fan friends, and I've been loosely following their fan forum. Apparently, "the jury's still out on Josh Allen..." They've also been predicting (hoping?) that Allen, being a "running quarterback" and all, will get injured, and boy are we gonna regret all that guaranteed money. Ya know, even in the worst years of the drought, I've always been glad I wasn't a Patriots* fan.

A perfect blend between Rex Ryan, and Dick Jauron? That's like saying a perfect blend between rotting fish, and gravel thrown in your face.

I really don't have any problem with the Cowboys as an organization. But, Jerry Jones is an old weirdo.

It must just be straight-up depressing to be on that team.

What, just 'cuz he's a moderator, he can't act like a belligerent dik, once in a while, like the rest of us? Not even being hyperbolic here: McKenzie is one of the guys who define this team. Pretty amazing for a guy who is, for all intents and purposes, a depth player.

During the drought, I learned to take a very zen, game-by-game attitude. I learned to not focus on what position a W, or an L might put us, but rather to think of each game as its own entity. Like the games before and after had no relevance. Which still made it pretty painful because we lost so many goddamned games, but hey... every Sunday was a new day...

I have a hard time believing that a running back who did well behind a man-blocking O-line, and then struggled when they switched to zone can't ultimately make the necessary adjustment. A solid running back is a solid running back. And, honestly, the degree to which Moss was a better back in zone blocking was fairly minor-- his real strength was in pass pro, and that alone makes him a lock, IMO. That being said, even if Singletary shows a significant improvement in running behind a zone blocking O-line, he still could very well be the odd man out, if they feel that Williams is the power back they lacked last season. In other words (and I think this goes along with the point you were making), Moss/Breida/Williams may be a more complete running back committee, even if Singletary is a better all-around running back than any one of them, because each one of them may have certain better situational elements than Singletary. But all of that being said, I will still be quite surprised if Singletary doesn't make this team.