GunnerBill

Why? Is he gonna play for Subway Ball Club in 2025?

Believe he has links to our new DB coach. One to watch for sure.

Fiske was excellent at the Senior Bowl but still need to dig into his tape.

I haven't got deep into the DTs yet to know who I like later. Of the possible early guys - love Newton. Top 10 player in this class for me. Think Murphy is a borderline first round type. Jenkins I like round 2 but if you are a 4-3 team I'd move him down almost a full round and Sweat is a late 2nd grade wise but I can imagine him going higher. He is the first 1T type but he has more pass rush potential than he gets credit for.

How many other teams have lost a first team all pro on defense to an injury of the severity of an ACL or an achillies rupture 3 seasons in a row? I genuinely can't think of any. It hasn't been the volume of injuries necessarily in Buffalo (though we had cluster injuries at linebacker at the end of this season) it has been the severity of them and the critical nature of who they have happened to.

Not true. I cunched the numbers the other day. Of the top teams KC have 3 who play 65%+ but nobody at 70% and nobody else above about 40%. They are the closest to a consistent 4 that plays most of the game. The Bills had Ed at 70% and Greg at 60% then a chunk of guys 40-55%. That is in line with the likes of the 9ers, the Eagles, the Ravens, the Lions (nobody above 55% except Hutch who plays 90!!) and the Cowboys. And the league is trending to more rotation not less - with the exception of a handful of the very top individuals (Hutch, TJ, Crosby etc) and we don't have one of those. I think when McDermott arrived 7 years ago he was probably ahead of the curve on rotating DL but the league has caught up now and almost everyone rushes in waves rotating guys in and out.

I posted the numbers elsewhere we really don't rotate that much more than other good teams and less than some in fact. It is just the way of the NFL now that teams rotate their DLs more than ever and try and rush in waves.

Yea and Josh wouldn't have thrown his guys under the bus. Isn't his way.

I don't think that was his argument at all. It isn't that Mahomes's success has been luck it is that the Bills have had particularly bad luck on the injury front the past few years with some of their best players. In 2021 they lost Tre White after 11 games - a 2nd team all pro a year before and two years removed from a first team all pro. In 2022 they lost Von Miller after 11 games - a 3 time first team all pro and 4 time second team all pro. In 2023 they lost Tre White (as mentioned above former all pro) in game 4 and Matt Milano - a first team all pro the season prior - in game 5. I think it is probably fair to say in respect of injuries to their best players on defense the Bills have had particularly bad luck the last 3 years both with the injuries and the severity of them. I am not saying without those injuries we definitely would have won a Superbowl over the past 3 season. Not saying that at all. But I can make a strong case that at the time those players got injured (possible exception Tre this year) they were the best player on the defense. It is equivalent to the Chiefs losing Chris Jones for the stretch run 3 years in a row. So it isn't that the Chiefs are lucky, it is that the Bills have been particularly unlucky with those key injuries of a serious nature to difference making players.

My comment was about Hall not Cook.

It is easily Nate Peterman. He. Could. Not. Play.

Zimmer was there before I think. With Parcells possibly?

I thought he was overrated as a draft prospect and I still do. Like you say he has a skillset but he is miles away from being a complete back. Said then Walker > Hall.

Fair he played a lot at Denver. But I wouldn't say their 10 points scored there particularly strengthens the argument. They are 3-7 in games Lamar hasn't started over 3 seasons. Lamar IS very valuable to Baltimore. I say that as someone who didn't think he was the right MVP.

Aaron Rodgers isn't much of a talent evaluator.

Certainly feels that way. No he was 2-3. Wins v Pittsburgh and Atlanta. Losses to Pittsburgh and Cleveland plus Cincy in the playoffs.

I said when he was coming out I thought he needed an offense with a lot of spread principles, pick your matchup pre snap and get the ball out fast. They have tried to fit him into the West Coast paint by numbers system and he can't execute it. At this stage though I think he might be damaged goods to the extent he ever had a chance.

Yea I was thinking that. Does Woody think Allen Lazard and the ghost of Randall Cobb equates to talent?

I think getting really fixated on the words is a red herring. It is the NFL's player of the season award. As for the Bills imploding without Josh, depends who the Quarterback in his place is. And Huntley was 2-3 last year (and is 3-7 over the last three years).

Aaron Schatz

I haven't crunched the numbers specifically but the point that it is a pretty consistent pattern is clear I think. If you aren't the QB of a 1 seed you have to have had pretty much a "beyond question" dominant type MVP season.

I think that is an exaggeration, but there are definitely some questionable names. I think in this era it is pretty clear the award almost always goes to the QB of a #1 seed unless someone else really has been dominant - Matt Ryan in his year and Manning in a year where I think he was the #2 seed being the obvious examples.

So long ago. How many of this set of voters were on voters then? Peter King possibly?

There were three minor elements on that play to Shakir if either one is right its a touchdown. If Josh is up half a stride he makes the throw. If Dion holds the block a split second longer Josh makes the throw. If Shakir clears coverage a half second earlier Josh lets it go before the pressure affects it. We just needed 1 of those three and it was a touchdown. That is the small margins.

His interview with Florio and Simms was better. Some really interesting snippets: - He says his mechanics got off this year because of some of the ailments with his shoulder but he acknowledges he has to get back to working on them (interesting that he said "with the appropriate people" - anyone know if he is still working with Jordan Palmer? I think Palmer did so much on the original mechanical clean ups with the over striding); - He talked about his internal dialogue with himself and it is the one worry I have with Josh in terms of temperament. I love that he holds himself accountable but I do worry at times he gets in his own head about stuff and internalises it; - Cites the Ty Dunne piece as the one of two factors in the turnaround (without prompting) and then when asked further agrees with Rasul Douglas's view that McDermott's response to that article was the moment things changed; - Acknowledges that if he'd just slid up slightly in the pocket on the Shakir throw he probably has a touchdown; - His favourite throw is the Jake Kumerow touchdown in Denver. Really good interview.