Blokestradamus

Bills left Zach Brown and Jerry Hughes behind https://instagram.com/p/BKN994JgQrf/

Genuinely thought I'd be more excited about today than I am. Maybe because I'm confident of a victory, I'm not as pensive as normal.

I can't eat scrambled egg. Not sure why but it makes me ill. I can handle anything with egg as an ingredient, just can't stomach it on its own.

Yolo can correct me if I'm wrong but I think he's added some weight from last year. I've not seen him in 2016 so far, just a couple of his freshman games. As a freshman, he looked smart. Discipline was a little lacking at times in run defense, good motor, makes things happen with that effort. Uses his hands well, adding more bulk to his frame can only help. Work-in-progress but he's got obvious talent. Interesting how he develops over the next two years. @E_Dilla Jon Allen hit someone so hard his face moved to the side of his head.

If Cardale isn't ready and they need a capable backup cheap, I really wouldn't mind using a Day 3 pick on Rush or Colorado's Sefo Liufau. There's value in those sort of plodding, keep your offense on time kind of guys. CMU ran a few similar concepts to Greg Roman last year, Liufau is a really impressive play-action QB with a nice deep ball. You'll have to report back on CMU WR Jesse Kroll. 6th year senior, will be 24 in November. Old as dirt for a prospect but looked really good last year.

Haven't seen a snap of Speight yet. Couldn't honestly give an opinion. Rush - I think he's got a few solid translatable traits. Arm is adequate but he struggles with deep ball consistency. Smart, manages his pocket well, accurate and can throw with touch and anticipation. Not a rushing threat but he can take off vs man across the board and grab a few yards. Accuracy is good on the move. Quick release, feet can get a touch wide in his delivery. Worst case scenario, he's a Day 3 pick and he's backup calibre. If he can show a little more downfield and develop a little more velocity, he might sneak into Day 2 as a developmental type with low-end starting talent. I think he'll be around the NFL for quite a while.

The team would've used him, chewed him up and spat him out without a second thought. @JasonColeBR Told by a source close to #49ers G Anthony Davis that he is not retiring.

If his head and his heart aren't in it, he needs to walk away. Not a place to play half-hearted.

In this day and age, negativity will find them. Some fans in any fan base will target players with abuse through social media (if anyone thinks it doesn't happen with Bills fans, search EJ's twitter handle and any number of slurs after London). If it doesn't come from the press, it'll come from somewhere else. You just have to hope that they're thick-skinned enough to understand the realities of playing for the Bills at this point. Great fans or not, there's a lot of frustration out there. Weight of expectation is real.

Sixteen years of missing the playoffs, they're not seeking it out. It's a very real thing. This team has been awful in a league of parity for a substantial amount of time. Nobody involved gets the benefit of the doubt because there's so much evidence to suggest it will be bad. Only way perception changes is when the team wins. That goes for local and national media.

Press don't have to be fans and write nice things.

Future 12-year multi-millionaire NFL backup QB Cooper Rush lighting it up for CMU vs OK State. While the "Blokes, you're an idiot, shut up. Deshaun Watson is the greatest QB ever" crowd sees him having his Paxton Lynch/Temple game against Troy. EDIT: And Rush leads CMU to the upset with a YOLO ball hail mary lateral - https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/774694162788552705

I agree. You're talking to a guy that sat down and watched college kickers and built a database of stats, trying to find someone to replace Carpenter. Options were out there to replace him, they chose not to. Having Gay is the next best option. You don't have to agree with it but try to see the logic in it. Carpenter wouldn't instantly make us rank dead last in the NFL if his average return of 23 yards was a season-long constant. By the 25-yard touchback theory, that would be a net 2 yards per kickoff. Just that if Gay can replicate his 2015 stats, it's a net 8.3 yard per return gain. The team values ST. Rightly or wrongly, they do. Gay is an investment in their beliefs.

Let's not confuse field position and defensive performance. Gay and the kickoff coverage team held up their end. If the Bills kickoff 5 times per game, the difference between Carpenter putting the ball in play and Gay doing so, on average, would be 30-35 yards. For a team that wants to be stifling on defense, that means something.

Funny you mention that, Yolo. My guy, Arkansas tight end Jeremy Sprinkle could be on the list. Wrote about him here along with 3 others to watch out for today. You know me, always giving spotlight to guys you've never heard of http://billswire.usatoday.com/2016/09/10/college-football-week-2-draft-prospects-buffalo-bills/

Seen two mocks today giving us a Williams. I didn't realise the jokes about a Williams quota were fact.

Absolutely. I carry immense power and use it only for kickoffs. I'm wasting my gift.

Thanks. I had written all about Carpenter and how that could affect ST. Published it yesterday, 2 minutes later they activated Gay

Now that Jordan Gay is on the roster (again), I looked into Gay's kickoff stats and how Devin Hester might affect the Bills' plan on kickoffs. http://billswire.usatoday.com/2016/09/09/bills-ravens-nfl-week-1-devin-hester/

Won't let me post the file type directly. Kelly's passing chart from the FSU game. https://twitter.com/CFBFilmRoom/status/774355108641419265

Jay has had so much discouraging news on his knees. I feel for the guy. Apparently he's showing frustration in practice, likely because he knows his career might be a shorter one due to health.

I'm going to petition for a change in NFL anthem protocol. All Bills games should see the anthem start "Oh Gay, can you see..........." as a mark of respect for the best kickoff specialist in the NFL.

Don't toy with my emotions. Would absolutely ruin a piece I've got planned though

It also helps them down the line in terms of need. Teams tend to think more long-term than we do. Lewis is contracted for 2017 now, Wood has a voidable year for 2018 whereas he was a UFA in 2018. If there's a long term C they like through the draft, they can grab him and Lewis is $100k dead money. If not, Lewis is on the books fairly cheap, they don't force the issue. @spotrac By extending OL Patrick Lewis through 2017 the #Bills saved $771k in 2016. Lewis carries cap hits of $900k/$1.3M.

That's the conclusion I drew from it. They've had a few days to evaluate him now, maybe it's not going to plan?