HappyDays

I don't know about Kincaid specifically, but if our 12 personnel offense works as well as I hope this year, because of the two DKs I will be calling that personnel package the Donkey Kong offense.

Just saw this clip from the endzone angle which shows exactly why Josh tried to run away: TJ Watt beats Brown on the spin move and appears to be coming right at Josh with a full head of steam. It's at that moment that Josh decided to escape. What Josh didn't expect, and what he will learn, is that Torrence is already WAY ahead of most rookie offensive linemen and made a great cerebral play coming off his double block and helping Brown trap Watt. This is honestly super impressive from Torrence from a physical and a mental standpoint. Last year the likes of Bates and Saffold wouldn't have made this play. If Allen can trust his IOL to make plays like this on the regular he will stand in the pocket and deliver.

Yeah that play is awful lol. A textbook case of looking at the rush instead of looking at the routes. If I'm going to try and excuse it, I would guess that before the game it was drilled into Josh's head "don't get hit don't get hit don't get hit" a million times so when he sees a flash of TJ Watt making a spin move he instinctually went into escape mode. Josh is not afraid of contact. I know he has the cajones to stand in the pocket. He just has to trust his OL will hold up and not be thinking about escape as soon as the ball is snapped.

Dorian looks great flying into the picture and making the tackle, but if you watch him on reps where he isn't involved in the tackle he is frequently getting driven back 5+ yards by a blocker. It's hard to function as a MLB if you can't ever take on and shed blocks. I am sure that's why they're only giving him run at WLB right now. Maybe after a full offseason of NFL conditioning and strength training he will be ready for MLB next year. This year I'd be surprised. But hey I understand why fans are grasping at straws right now. My mind is doing the same thing. We don't have even a replacement level player for a full time position in our defense... It's a terrifying thought. I supported and still support our decision to let Edmunds walk for that contract, the problem is the moves they made to replace him have been a complete bust. They might have to make a desperate trade just to get a capable player in the room but I can't think of any realistic trade candidates.

Brown needs to hold up better than this against the likes of Markus Golden: He was immediately knocked off balance and never recovered. The best thing he did on that play was take the holding penalty to ensure Allen wasn't walloped in a meaningless preseason game. Agreed that Allen left the pocket too early on the other pressure. In preseason I'm fine with it as long as it is for caution and not a genuine mistake. There were times last year that Allen clearly did not trust his OL and made mistakes leaving the pocket early because of it. In general I was a little dismayed by the starting offense running the "bombs away" offense that most fans agree we need to see less of coming out of last year. Especially in a meaningless preseason game against a ferocious pass rush, I don't understand the reasoning behind that plan. I would have much rather used that game to focus on running and getting the ball out of Allen's hands quickly. I'm not going to read too much into preseason play calling, I just hope last night is not a sign of things to come. Kincaid should be a high volume passing target right away. That will keep the offense more on schedule and less boom or bust.

He is practically a lock now, right? He is the first in at LT after Dawkins and has played well. Plus he has no competition. Shell retired, Doyle is likely done for the year, Quessenberry has been awful.

Good night for Van Denmark. He played LT the entire 2nd half. I specifically watched him on every snap and I didn't see him lose a single rep. That's two weeks in a row that he looked solid at LT, albeit against 2nd and 3rd stringers. Bad night for Elam. Somehow he has regressed even further. Last night was the worst performance I've seen from him. Way too grabby and looked lost in coverage a couple times. Maybe the all-22 will show some favorable reps but what I saw on broadcast footage was bad. The whole 2022 draft class is trending towards throwaway status. Hopefully Cook can salvage it a bit. Luckily the 2023 draft class is looking like a possible home run.

Van Denmark was excellent last night from what I saw, playing exclusively LT. I specifically watched him on all of his snaps and I didn't see him lose a single rep, and I'm pretty sure he played the entire 2nd half so he put a lot of reps on tape. I would need to see him perform well against starting caliber talent before I fully buy in but I am certainly encouraged by what I've seen from him in each preseason game at LT. What makes you think him being on the roster is a bad thing?

Hard to see the whole field on broadcast footage but I thought I saw him work open a few more times when Josh was out there but the reads were to Diggs and Davis. He was also going to be open for a TD on the red zone play where Barkley threw an interception, he had beat his man 1v1 and was headed towards the pylon looking back for the ball. Barkley never looked at him. As impressive as he looked in his limited opportunities it still feels like the Bills are hiding him a bit. I expect his role to be fully unleashed in games that matter. An elite pass catching TE is a cheat code and very hard to find. I'm glad Beane didn't overthink the pick and simply took the best talent remaining on the board.

Play Dawkins and Brown for at least one series to make a point. The other locked in starters I would not put out there.

I mean this is just awful from Spencer Brown. Gets knocked off balance, hops back awkwardly, then grabs his guy as a last resort to stop Allen from getting walloped. He's supposedly had a pretty good camp but if this is what it's going to look like in real games we are in deep trouble. And that's Markus Golden doing that to him, not a top tier edge rusher.

Van Denmark sealed off his man, creating the hole on that TD run. Very impressed by what I've seen from him the past two weeks. Presumably he will get the start next week with Dawkins likely sitting. I'll be keeping a close eye on him.

Okay, this is the first time this offseason that we have seen signs of life from Shorter. It might be enough to force Beane's hand and keep his 5th round pick.

I have yet to see Van Denmark lose a rep. I wanted to see if his performance at LT last week was for real. So far he is acing the test.

If anything we would trade him for a late round pick, not cut him. I just don't know what it is that he does particularly well. At least Isabella has some juice and some special teams contributions.

If they keep Shakir over Isabella, they are ignoring what they've done on the field. I unfortunately can't discount that possibility.

😬

If the Bills want to keep Shorter as a 5th round draft pick, that means the final spot is between Shakir and Isabella... And honestly what is the argument for Shakir in that scenario, given what they've shown on the field this offseason?

He clearly has not taken his conditioning seriously. He has struggled with his weight the past couple seasons and looked winded down the stretch last year. LT suddenly becoming a hole on the roster is an awful development in mid-August.

Also Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday...

Dorian Williams tackles extremely well and looks decent in zone coverage, he does get completely washed out by blockers too frequently though. He won't be a realistic MLB candidate until he figures that out.

Van Denmark I think won all his reps on that drive. His man tackled Mims on the run but the handoff was slow so the timing of the play was all off, I think there was a hole there if Mims had gotten the ball cleanly. Every other rep his man didn't impact the play at all. Maybe we have something here.

Isabella is starting to feel like a roster lock. One way to make up for bad tackle play against elite pass rushes is run the offense through Kincaid/Harty/Isabella.

I'll be watching #74 Van Denmark on this drive. Good first rep, took his man out of the play.

That gruesome knee injury is the 3rd worst thing I've watched from a Bills tackle tonight