GunnerBill

CeeDee doesn't anymore. He did early in his career, but not now. Hill has been a consistent 65% plus wide as a Dolphin though he was closer to 50:50 his best years in KC. Godwin isn't elite. Puka and Kupp, sure. Puka is still year 2, let's see. Kupp and St Brown they are the exception that prove the rule. True elite ones will get paid. No question. But there are like max 3 of them at any one time. Compare that to how many outside receivers get paid and then compare the AAVs.

Have only just started to be honest. Literally this morning did a couple of hours on corners. So bit early to start committing on receivers. My view from watching college ball is I agree not as strong a class as last year. Maybe a couple of high end guys compared to 2023 (the Addison, Johnston, JSN year) but then possibly not the depth in those first couple of rounds.

If Ladd ends up moving outside the way CeeDee did and dominates the way CeeDee has then there is no doubt. At the moment he hasn't done that. He cna play outside in some packages, he can run crossers and in breakers and possibly some curl routes out there, fine. He gives you a bit more out there than say Khalil Shakir does - agreed. That doesn't make you a boundary receiver. He is a slot receiver who in certain 12, 13 or 22 personnel packages (and Roman runs plenty of those) can go and line up there. But if you tried to say "right okay we are gonna start Ladd McConkey as a primary boundary receiver and play him 65% out there his production would fall. There is no doubt in my mind. Because when you are out there 30 or 40 snaps a game eventually you better be able to get off press and threaten to win outside or else you just become too easy to defend for corners.

I don't think he is better than Peppers in fairness. But yea I think was better than the other 4. Freeney is kind of my Jared Allen argument. Freeney played longer. Has fewer career sacks. Fewer double digit sack seasons. Never led the league in sacks. But he is in and Allen waits. Reason? Freeney played on a Colts team that was a contender and was on tv a ton, Jared Allen was dominant but on average Chiefs and Vikings teams so he waits. No doubt in my mind Allen was far the better player. And he didn't have the advantage of teeing off on QBs during blowouts that Freeney had either. Last year's was a poor class.

I don't believe it is. They rarely get picked in the first round. They rarely get the mega deals. St Brown has. Kupp did. That's fair. They are the exceptions not the rules. That's like saying Q Nelson got nearly as much as the top tackle on the market when he signed his deal with the Colts therefore GMs value guards nearly as much as tackles. I don't think the facts support your position at all.

Yep. Last year was his first year of eligibility and he was passed over. Don't think so. Might have made the cut to 25 a few times but never the final cut.

I mean maybe he wouldn't - maybe he wouldn't have played on after New England. But I don't see what winning those two Superbowls would have changed about the Patriots dynasty thereafter. So I'll accept it possibly could have been 8.

First Balloters: Terrell Suggs - he was basically elite for his first 12 or so years in the league and then continued to play at a decent level for 4 or 5 beyond that. Eli Manning - it's for the two Superbowl clutch moments more than the overall body of work but NFL history is so radically different without them. Brady would have 9 rings. The Pats would have an undefeated season. Guys that have waited: Torry Holt - 8 consecutive 1,000 yard seasons. Isaac Bruce is in and Holt was the more explosive of the pair. It's time. Antonio Gates - longevity, excellence and helped with Tony Gonzales, redefine the Tight End position. Jared Allen - one of the most underrated players of the 00s, 4 times 1st team all pro and one of only 12 men to lead the NFL in sacks twice, and one of only two to do it with two different teams. 7 consecutive years of double digit sacks, 8 in total. If I was a voter they are the five I'd bang the table for.

Trust me my view on McConkey has zero to do with his skin colour. He is a slot receiver because that is where his skillset fits in the NFL.

In fairness I only have experience of him on tv and he talks way too much. But that can be an issue that radio guys find moving to tv and he may be really good on radio.

I can't stand Harlan. I know a lot of folks love him but his announcing drives me mad.

McConkey is a decent route runner but he isn't Stef Diggs level elite as a route runner. Few people are. He also isn't the "the same size if not bigger" he is and inch shorter, 10 lbs lighter and has an inch shorter arms. All of which matters to get off press coverage outside. You can keep banging this drum but the NFL always tells you what the truth is. And it is telling us on McConkey. He is a really good slot receiver. He might even be an elite slot receiver. He could be in that St Brown, prime Cooper Kupp territory. But that is where he is going to be used in the NFL and that is where he will produce. As a 65-80% slot guy who you can use split out in some packages but can't expect to be a sustainable long term option there. I also agree he is better than Shakir btw. I haven't ever disputed that. But the difference between an elite slot and a good slot is just not as significant in the NFL as the difference between an elite outside guy and a good outside guy. It's a tier two position not a premium position. Same as nickel corner isn't as valuable as boundary corner. I am also not saying McConkey can't get deep. I explicitly said above he can. But he is gonna do it largely from the slot against off coverage with a free release. I'm sure he'd be doing that here for Josh as you say. But the upgrade from Shakir to McConkey in terms of impact on the offense isn't as significant as the impact of going from whatever we had outside... I dunno... MVS? Claypool? To Coleman (and I am not even Coleman's biggest fan... I had McConkey graded above him).

In fairness the 31 points to Skylar Thompson was mainly because the offense kept throwing up on itself. The Fins had two drives over 30 yards all day. They could not move the ball. Lucky for them our O and STs kept doing the hard work for them and giving it to them in our territory.

I am not debating the how hot should McDermott's seat be based on his record that has been done to death elsewhere a million times and unless we win it all will be all the board talks about for the next 3 months. But I do again just want to challenge the above becaue I think it is really flawed thinking. Good coaches are not ten a penny. They are easier to find than elite Quarterbacks, granted, but not by much. If you believe you have one firing them because they go five years without making the Superbowl because you have set that as an objective standard without really evaluating the reasons for why and how they have fallen short is just illogical.

This is 100% right IMO. He is a good receiver but has at no point been a great one. I was pro the trade and he was my guy to target even before the Bills did it with the comibation of cost and skillset required, but he has kinda been who he always is. The flip side of everyone loving his down to earth "I just love being here and I don't mind not getting the ball if we win" vibe is that he lacks that dog in him that the top receivers all have... and need. I'm still open to the Bills bringing Amari back next year - mainly because having spent the 33rd pick on one last year I'd be stunned if Beane spends one of his first 3 picks on another this year even though a boundary separator remains a need, it just isn't his MO - but it has to be in that 2 year $20-26m type territory for me. Any more than that and I am waving goodbye.

In his run fits, yes. He was slow to read and react in his coverage responisbilities multiple times. One of the 3rd down conversions early was an example of Bishop being slow reading the play and consequently late to his spot. He is improving. But it is still a slow process. Looks like he will play again today and the chances are he gets time next week as well if its a dead rubber. But for Cole now it is about getting him ready to compete fully to start in 2025. And I keep coming back to my biggest concern there.... he plays the same position as Rapp. I think the Bills bigger need is an upgrade at free safety for someone who can play as the single high.

True. Forgot the Ravens still have a shot at #2. If Baltimore ended up the #2 seed and the Bills are 12-5 then I think Lamar is properly in play. It would also need Allen to be well short of his best the last two games.

I am sorry I just think this is the classic logical fallacy. We have to try something, this is something, ergo we have to try this. The Bills should fire McDermott if they believe he deserves to be fired based on decisions he has made and the impact he has had. Not just because they don't know what else to try. And I'd apply that same logic to the 90s teams even with the benefit of hindsight too. That isn't settling. It is rational decision making.

So the 7th seed scenarios are: - Denver win (possibly v KC backups) and they're in - Denver lose and Indy beat NYG and JAX and Indy are in - Denver lose and Indy lose at least once and Miami beat NYJ and CLE and Miami are in - Denver lose and both Indy and Miami lose at least once and Cincy beat PIT and Cincy are in

Only if I thought the reason they lost them all was definitely Marv Levy. Because if it wasn't then firing him is messing with what gets you there. Firing coaches just to "try something else" is bad strategy.

I have never said anything other than Ladd McConkey is a really good football player. I even said it in the run up to the draft that I thought he could be a very good slot receiver. But the way I grade, and you are entitled to disagree with it as a methodology, that's up to you... slot only receivers are not in the premium position category and therefore they have to be elite prospects for me to consider them 1st round talents. McConkey wasn't an elite prospect to me, though he was a very good one. It isn't about being wrong or being right. He is a very good player. But I do think he is slot only and I always have and always will value guys who win outside in the NFL - whether that is on edges of the line or on the boundary - higher than guys who win inside. Because the former is just harder to compensate for with scheme than the latter. The difference between Shakir and McConkey in the slot is not as great as the difference between a top end outside receiver and a middling one. I can find me a Khalil Shakir on day 3 of the draft.

I know he is more of a deep threat than Shakir. I said as much. But he is still a slot receiver and no, the Bills could not "use him like they used Stefon Diggs with probably better results." McConkey cannot be a down in and down out boundary receiver. He doesn't have the skillset to do it. I know you hate that but it is the truth.

We have barely had a linebacker cover anyone all season.....

@Einstein this does look like a real triumph as a piece of work. How does one access it? Or do we need to wait until its uploaded onto a domain? Tech is definitely not my bag if you can't tell

I don't think "the skillset" is the same. It is similar but I think McConkey is a route runner whereas Shakir is a space finder and Ladd has a bit more pop to get vertical which is why he generally catches the ball further down the field than Khalil. However, they both have to be deployed primarily from the slot. Does McConkey give you a bit more split wide than Shakir? I think so. But he isn't a viable down in and down out outside receiver. Going into the draft the Bills had Shakir and Samuel (both guys who really need to be deployed from the slot) as the consensus top two receivers on their depth chart with their primary outside receiver being Mack Hollins. Drafting another slot guy would have been difficult to fathom, let alone spending a 1st round pick on one (and yes, I know, we picked 33rd in the end).