Kirby Jackson

“I hate college football so much that I’m going to start a thread, on a football message board, to tell internet strangers, how much I hate college football.” That’s sad. Anyways, for those paying attention, the first month contains weekly matchups with playoff implications: LSU - FSU, Texas - Alabama, and OSU - ND. OU - Tennessee and OU - UGA were both called off because of OU entering the SEC. Speaking of which, conference consolidation will do wonders for college football. There will be more “best-on-best” matchups before determine the playoffs.

I don’t know much about the PSE situation. I’ve always thought that it was stupid to operate both brands with the same leadership/people. The NHL and NFL are completely different business models with different revenue streams. A lot of teams combine their staffs but their roles are different.

Malik Willis? Davis Mills? Andy Dalton? Case Keenum? Jameis?

https://x.com/adamschefter/status/1695214383729717550?s=46&t=aIi6rXjE4r9_s--847m7fQ

I’ve seen enough of Kyle Allen and Matt Barkley to not believe that they are more than scrubs. Lance has elite tools and basically no experience. I KNOW that they can’t play. If we had Keenum or Trubisky still, I wouldn’t care for Lance. I’d buy the lottery ticket because I believe that if Kyle Allen, Matt Barkley and Trey Lance each started that Lance would have the best results. The bar is VERY low IMO with the current guys. It’s as bad of a backup situation as there is in the league.

Well of course!! Lol, who said that it raises the ceiling? Your ceiling is the Super Bowl. It raises the floor!! If Josh were to miss a month, “could you go 2-2?” That is what you are trying to get to. I believe that it is more likely with Lance than Allen/Barkley. You also get the bonus, if he looks good in those games, of one of the best trade chips in football. It isn’t about a season!!!! Every team is done if their QB misses the year. It is about if your QB misses a week or month.

Fair question: I should have rephrased to “improved backup situation.” I do not believe that he could be worse than Allen/Barkley. I just don’t. I think they’re scrubs. If he is “not very good” it’s an improvement. His talent / style give him a floor as a decent backup IMO. Remember we wasted a 5th on Fromm and he had NO CHANCE to even be a decent backup.

Maybe, maybe not, he is in a similar situation to when Trubisky came to the Bills. He does need to rehab his image as apparently he is playing behind Darnold. MAYBE, someone like Atlanta, looks at him as a potential starter. If not, he needs to go to an established program and rebuild his value. Right now, the perception is, “he must not be very good.”

I would if I could but it would be contingent on a 2 year extension (acceptable base with lots of upside). Worst case scenario you have a solid backup for a few years. If he plays and succeeds, you have an elite trade chip. I think that it raises the floor on this team (he is better than Kyle Allen and Barkley). It potentially raises the ceiling if he shows out and they trade him.

It isn’t just in hindsight that it was a bad pick. Many of us were critical of it from the jump. He was, and is, a scrub. I have no issue with the Bills using a late round pick on a backup. DTR would have been great late in this draft. I have an issue using it on a guy that was never going to be any good. Fromm is an XFL QB (maybe).

I don’t want to overreact to the preseason. I had 2 big concerns with this team: OT and #2 QB. They are both worse than I was worried about. Add in the MLB situation and there is reason for concern.

I agree. I don’t think that the swing tackle is currently on the roster

This can’t be real: https://x.com/matthewfairburn/status/1692862483566854346?s=46&t=aIi6rXjE4r9_s--847m7fQ

Jason Peters would be the 2nd best tackle on the Bills. That’s pretty sad. If you have a chance to sign him, you should.

Ask yourself this, “who do I have more confidence in Ryan Van Demark, David Queesenberry or an old Jason Peters?” If the answer is Peters, you should sign him. It is for me.

I agree with @Tipster19 that OT depth is a major concern. I’m not sure how to solve it. The Beachum thought has always been appealing. He isn’t great but would make me feel much better.

The Bills to me are probably somewhere between 10-15 at this point to me. Diggs is a top 5 WR. Gabe is a top 40ish guy. Knox and Kincaid are a top 7 or 8 TE room (and potentially better). Harty, Sherfield and Shakir are middle of the pack depth. Cook is a top 15 receiving back (and potentially even better).

I am, and always have been, of the belief that you shouldn’t play your stars in preseason. I’d BARELY play any starters (if at all). Preseason is to be endured. Let’s hope that we get out healthy.

100% agree!! The only other guy for consideration would be Elam. He has the ability to have a bunch of picks if he won the job.

Andy Isabella is a blue collar guy. He works hard. Isabella is a high IQ guy. He’s tough. He is quicker than fast. Isabella is sneaky athletic. He brings his hard hat and lunch pail to work everyday. Isabella is the kind of scrappy, high motor gamer that the Bills have been lacking since Beasley went to the Giants. He has heart and the intangibles that this team needs. Isabella is a gritty winner that’s willing to get his hands dirty. He has heart and passion. Isabella will outwork the other 52!! James Cook is the best breakout candidate. We need to stop overreacting the the preseason. Harty is an explosive playmaker that has made plays in the NFL. He’s a big play waiting to happen. Harty is what we wanted McKenzie to be. Relax

I’ll throw another random name out there: Jameis. They have Carr and Taysom. I think he could be another option. The Saints think highly of him but maybe one of those DL and/or a late round pick could convince them to part with him? There are some options.

At first glance, I though Van Demark was the worst player on the field. I didn’t rewatch and was there so maybe my perception is off. He played earlier than I expected but it appeared that he didn’t belong. I’m in agreement on everyone else. I’d add Tim Settle and Hamlin to the positive list. Settle made some plays.

This ^^^ The 12th Man isn’t even ours. We pay a licensing fee to Texas A&M. That’s stupid. Bills Mafia is original and organic. That belongs on the Wall over 12th Man. While we are on the note of “original” let’s not do “Jump Around” before the 4th Quarter. They tried that yesterday at the preseason game. I don’t know if it was because it was kid’s day or they were beta testing it or what. That is not our thing. That belongs to Wisconsin. Let’s build our own traditions.

Those guys cost more than Murray (Fournette too). If you asked Beane, “would you rather Zeke or Murray at the same price” the answer would be Zeke. He’s lost a step but still the superior back. He just had/has a higher price tag. As we are into camp their prices potentially drop. I do agree though that Murray makes the team at this point. Before the Hines injury he was likely headed for our practice squad. Now he likely makes the team (unless one of those other guys wants to join a contender on the cheap). Murray is a guy that has been cut recently and on a practice squad as recently as last year. I just can’t put a guy from the Saints practice squad as a lock on this team.

Fair point on Howard (although he had almost $2m less guaranteed than Harty). Harty also is the ONLY player on the roster with his skill set (now that Hines is hurt). That makes him even safer. Howard was brought here to backup Knox, block some and play a little 12 personnel. Harty was brought here to make big plays. There is/was 1.5 WR slots open heading to camp. Diggs, Davis and Harty were 100% in. Sherfield was probably 98% in. Shakir is the 1/2 and he was probably like 80% to make the team. If he was a disaster he COULD have been cut or traded. He hasn’t had a great camp but almost certainly will make the roster. That leaves 1 spot for: Shorter, Shavers, Isabella, etc… The RB was a different situation. Cook and Harris were locks. Gilliam is very likely. Hines was also close to a lock pre-injury. Murray was the Duke Johnson or Mike Tolbert “veteran insurance.” He probably wasn’t making the team before the Hines injury. He still is not a lock though. He has a redundant skill set with Harris, who is ahead of him on the depth chart. It sounds like Murray is having a pretty good camp so he probably does make it. They COULD though turn their attention to Zeke, Dalvin Cook, Kareem Hunt, etc… in which case Murray is out.