Kirby Jackson

He says pick-ahn

I have a damn pick-ahn tree!! Why don’t you ever trust me?!?

Brees is actually the favorite now (and a pretty big one): https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ibtimes.com/2018-nfl-mvp-odds-drew-brees-favored-over-patrick-mahomes-2735000%3famp=1

It is pick-ahn and not up for debate. Trust the guy in Louisiana

They cater to the market. The show meets the demand. Hockey is a regional sport. I know a lot of big, big sports fans in the south and they couldn’t name 5 NHL players. I’m talking guys that have season tickets. ESPN will ALWAYS be football and the NBA. That’s the demand. They actually have the NHL again. They air games on ESPN+.

I don’t think that it would have transformed the offense but it would have been better. The ability to keep guys away from the LOS helps the running game too. The Bills offensive talent is poor. They need to hit some big plays to contend. We all knew that. This wasn’t going to be an offense that sustains 20 play drives. They had to turn it over on defense, take care of it on offense and make some big plays. The Jets game was an example of what had to happen. Benjamin and Funchess is a nightmare scenario. The league is going the other way. It is guys that can play in space. For me it’s not hindsight because I was screaming for this well before it didn’t work out. They could have even kept Deonte Thompson and I would have been happy. I’m not saying “I can’t believe they didn’t get Julio Jones.” It is more “I can’t believe that these guys think this WR group is fast enough.”

He was thought of as high as a late 1. He was even in for a visit I believe. It would have been investing in a talented player with a weird family. It would have showed an effort. I’m not using hindsight which is why I specifically used St. Brown. The goal wasn’t to be “we could have taken Tom Brady in the 6th.” The fact that the Bills were okay with an UDFA rookie as the speed guy exemplifies the fact that they didn’t emphasize it. If he turned into something, great but if not they believed that they had enough options. Their offense was tragic so they got together and said “we need to be faster.” You can find posts from me and others on here from months and months ago saying exactly that. We were right, not Beane and McDermott. They admitted as much by addressing it. Again, my issue is that coming into training camp they were fine if they didn’t have speed. After they cut Coleman they felt the same way. “We are fast enough.” It was a mistake. It hurt the pass game and the run game.

Again though that is in hindsight. It is kind of my point. On draft day, no one had Foster as a better prospect than St. Brown. Taking an UDFA isn’t valuing the position regardless of the outcome. If Foster was Antonio Brown this year it doesn’t change that. The issue that we are having is that they neglected speed and didn’t think it was important. If they did, they would have prioritized it.

They could have taken St. Brown over Siran Neal or Ray Ray. He went after both of them. That’s why I used him as an example.

Yep, which is more than you can say for the others. That’s why those 3 are at the top of the list. They all were acceptable options. They weren’t ideal but were acceptable.

My point is that speed isn’t optional. They treated it as such. You can find cheap speed (like McKenzie). You had to have someone. Foster was a long shot and made the roster because the group was terrible. That’s not a guy that they could have counted on. If he played well it was found money. If not, it was expected. They had to have speed and they didn’t. They realized it, admitted it, and tried to fix it. This isn’t Monday Morning QBing either. A lot of us said this months ago. I’m glad that they came around.

An UDFA rookie isn’t making it a priority. That’s being fortunate.

You asked for suggestions and I gave you one at a cheap price. He would have had a chance to play a lot here. They admitted that they didn’t value speed enough. They got together and decided that they had to have more speed. Many of us have said this for months. It was a non-negotiable to me. They’ve made an effort now to correct their mistake.

They could have drafted a guy like St. Brown for example. They undervalued speed. They realized it was a mistake and have tried to correct it.

Speed didn’t have to be expensive. It just needed to be prioritized. A guy like McKenzie costs peanuts and can impact a game. Speed opens the running game. They drafted a big armed QB as well. They needed to have a guy to stretch the field. They undervalued it. Fortunately, they’ve come around. A lot of us though thought this months ago. It was absolutely a mistake but not one that can’t be corrected.

It should be Allen here within the next year or so. If he isn’t he will end up as a massive bust. I’m pretty confident that Allen will take steps forward and be a good QB. At this point it is Tyrod, Fitz and Orton IMO. All 3 were competent NFL QBs.

Congrats to Aaron Maybin on making a difference. He has gone on to be a great role model for those kids.

I loved that they wanted Kirk. They tried to get John Brown too. An UDFA rookie doesn’t count as valuing speed though. If anything, it’s an indictment on their inability to add speed that Foster was the best option. McKenzie was added after the middle of the season as they realized that speed was needed. That’s a reaction to a tragic passing game. They should have made it a bigger priority. Speed isn’t “optional” in today’s NFL. They treated it as such and learned a hard lesson. Thankfully, they did appear to learn that lesson.

The NFL has been moving to smaller, faster guys for the last 5-10 years. The rules make it so that these guys can get space. They are also less of an injury risk than the used to be because the game is safer. The rules all favor speed and offense. So what did the Bills do? They got big, slow guys that can’t get into open spaces and wondered why it didn’t work. That’s really dumb.

We shouldn’t have expected this to happen quickly. It’s pretty clear that these guys don’t value speed.

The guy was ARRESTED once for child abuse. It’s a fact, you can google it. NoSaint said it well when he mentioned the friend with 3 DUIs getting behind the wheel after a few drinks. That guy doesn’t get the same benefit of the doubt as the person with no DUIs getting behind the wheel after 2 drinks. You are what your record says you are. Adrian Peterson is a child abuser. That’s not up for debate. He accepted a plea deal admitting it. Now you have to be pretty dumb to continue to engage in behavior that can be interpreted the same way. You also have to be pretty dumb to defend a guy, found guilty of child abuse, hitting his children with a belt. I’m actually amazed at how many people are outraged by certain acts, yet defend this guy. Anyone that thinks this is an effective way of parenting is a terrible parent (and the law agrees):

I’m always amazed at how fondly people remember Bledsoe. He SUCKED!! After his first 8 games in a Bills uniform he was 18-22 with a talented team. He averaged less than 200 yards a game, was a statue and turned it over as often as he scored TDs. He is the most over-appreciated player in Bills history.

Well said John.

This is revolutionary!!! Who’d have thought that you needed speed to win in the NFL? Surely the Rams and Chiefs don’t believe in that. I’m so glad that the Bills are ahead of the trend on this one.

This may be the first thread that I’ve ever read all of the posts in. It’s been an interesting discussion. On the topic, I agree with Weo’s point. AP has no business in this league. If you are suspended for drugs and you get busted for drugs again, you get suspended a second time (and more severely). Why would he continue hitting his kid with a belt? Regardless of where you stand on discipline we can all agree that it CAN be interpreted as abuse. At the very least AP is a moron and at worst he’s a criminal. He was already punished for child abuse. Clearly, he didn’t learn a lesson if he still believes that a belt is an acceptable form of discipline. He’s a terrible parent.