Logic

While I do doubt the notion that a college team could beat an NFL team in the modern era, I DO want to point this out: Every year for 42 years, an exhibition game was played between a college all-stars team made up of the best seniors in college, and an NFL team. The College All-Stars won 9 of those 42 games. So a little more often than once every 5 years, a team made up of college players DID beat an NFL team. Granted, the NFL teams may not have played all their starters or tried that hard given that these were exhibition games, but nevertheless. I thought this was really interesting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_College_All-Star_Game

Must be the offseason.

Live/Dead by the Grateful Dead. Dark Star for the win. Dark Side of the Moon if you're feeling brave.

Warning: May lead to the overwhelming realization that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all once consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we're the imagination of ourselves.

If making millions of dollars off of legalized weed and decriminalizing a harmless and therapeutically beneficial substance like psilocybin is insane, then put me in the loony bin with my state.

I respect your take, and I respectfully disagree with it. Zay Jones will be a Buffalo Bill in 2019. He's cheap labor that's trending up. Beane and McDermott mentioned him in the year-end press conference as a guy who looks to be coming into his own. I don't think he'll ever be the dominant #1 wideout that Bills fans seem to want him to be. I DO think, though, that he can have a long and productive career as a possession receiver out of the slot and a security blanket for his quarterback. Now if only the Bills would wise up and start actually PLAYING him in the slot more often.

https://www.cfl.ca/2018/10/21/oleary-perspective-helped-duke-re-route-harrowing-path/ Awesome article about this kid if anyone is interested in learning more. Talks a lot about his "character problems" and history in general. Fascinating stuff. Will be rooting hard for him once camp rolls around!

I'm inclined to agree. Particularly because we need to keep Allen upright from DAY ONE of next season, not wait around for some rookies to develop. Get me some hardened vets with the FA money (especially given the weak WR FA market) and then draft a bunch of skill players.

There is NOTHING WORSE than watching an otherwise good football team be undone by a bad o-line. It was really painful to watch the Bills' o-line in action this season. Just gross. That being said: If everyone wants to commit to the offensive line to the degree the Colts did -- and I agree, it's my number 1 Bills wish this offseason -- they'd better be ready to accept some silly money being given out in Free Agency and/or some premium draft picks being spent on linemen. I don't want to hear any "the 2nd round is too early for a guard!" or "they overpaid Paradis!"....if you want an o-line like Indy has, you have to pay for it, either in money or picks or both.

Like Romo and Nantz said yesterday: Ground and pound is all good well until you face a team with a good defensive gameplan to stop you. And if you get down on the scoreboard and have to pass to catch up? God help you. Bills fans know because we lived through it for three seasons under Tyrod and Roman/Lynn/Dennison. Speaking of "good defensive gameplan", the Chargers' played 7 defensive backs on all but one defensive play against the Ravens. This was after they had played 7 defensive backs on the least defensive snaps IN THE LEAGUE in 2018. The Ravens were not prepared, and the speed the Chargers had on the field defensively was the difference. The blueprint to beat Jackson's Ravens offense (assuming you have the defensive backs to make it work, that is) is now out there for all to see. We'll see if he can take his game to the next level.

1.) Coaching 2.) QB 3.) Defense Those are the three ingredients to success in the NFL, in order. You could make the argument that #s 1 and 2 could be flipped, but those are the three things you need. The Bills appear to already have two of the three. If the third falls into place, here we go!

Apparently, this kid had lots of interest around the NFL. The Eskimos did him a favor and released him early so he could sign a Futures Contract with the Bills. It is a cheap, zero risk signing in January. The high likelihood is that nothing comes of it and he's cut. But even if you estimate that he has a 5% chance to make the roster, it's still worth a January roll of the dice at a position that desperately needs an upgrade. And hey, it's not unheard of for CFL talent to flourish in the NFL after a few years up north. I'm on board.

Yeah, to be honest, Phillips is sort of a man without a position. Supposedly, the reason he dropped to the third round in the draft is that he lacked the quickness and pass rushing skills to project as a 3, and lacked the sheer strength and anchor ability of a 0 or 1. I'm not saying I agree with that assessment, but that was the scouting report on him. This coming season will tell the tale, I suppose, of where he fits long term. Until further notice, I'd feel more comfortable considering him and Jordan Phillips as valuable rotational pieces and drafting or signing a quality 3.

I feel (and I think the coaching staff agrees, based on where they had him play more snaps this season) that he is a more natural 1T. Go back and read some of the articles from before the season https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2018/8/1/17637648/buffalo-bills-cross-training-rookie-tackle-harrison-phillips-stanford-around-the-defensive-line https://www.nfl.com/prospects/harrison-phillips?id=32462018-0002-5600-691a-386214c1981a They coaching staff cross-trained him at 3T and stated that ideally they want all of their tackles to be interchangeable. Phillips does not have the off-the-snap quickness that a full-time 3T needs. His strength, build, and usage this season lends credence to the notion that, while he will play 3T at times, he is more likely a long term fit at 1T. It's possible that he develops the pass rushing moves necessary to make the full time switch this offseason, but it's not something I feel comfortable enough with to bank on it. I'd rather see the Bills draft a natural fit at the position and let the best man win. They need a 4th DT regardless, based on the degree to which they rotate players at that position.

He's not a 3T. He can play there from time to time, but that's not what they drafted him to be. That's not his skillset.

The thing that a lot of Bills fans won't acknowledge is that 3T has actually become a pretty big need for the Bills after Kyle's retirement. Yes, it seems like they plan to re-sign Jordan Phillips. He's not a guy I want to entrust to be a full time starting 3T in McDermott's defense, though. Having a good 3T is CRUCIAL to the success of this defensive scheme. It's a top need now, there's no doubt about it.

Based on the perceived top-heaviness of this draft is it relates to defensive linemen, that's what I'm expecting the Bills to take. If they don't trade down and Jonah Williams isn't on the board (both very real possibilities), they should take the best 3T or edge rusher on the board. The draft history of the men making the decisions for the Bills support this likelihood, too.

Some analysts planted their flag in the "Allen will be a bust!" turf very early on. Many of them are "analytics guys". They now need Allen to fail in order to validate their strongly stated opinions. It IS silly, and there ARE a lot of overly negative, unfairly biased pieces out there. That being said, when Bills fans overreact to those types of pieces -- even though they reek of confirmation bias -- it makes them look childish and silly. Like I said before, Allen will either prove them wrong with his play or he won't. "Trust the process". The thing is, it's not just those types of pieces that get Bills fans riled up. Even articles like the one posted in this thread from Rosenthal seem to offend some Bills fans. Is calling him the 32nd best quarterback in the league really that crazy or unfair at this point? Has he really so firmly proven that he's better than that already? I like Allen a lot, but I don't see what's so unreasonable about what Rosenthal said.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Bills fans are way too easily offended as it relates to Josh Allen. Not every national pundit needs to give him a glowing review. It's fine. We're all excited about Allen, sure, but it's not the end of the world that non-Bills fans need more convincing. Who cares? Let the kid change their minds with his play on the field. The amount of hurt feelings and persistent pestering I see from Bills fans on Twitter and elsewhere any time someone gives Allen anything but praise is just crazy to me. Ease up. Breathe. It'll all be okay!

I was leery of the Culley hire, too, but Allen's development this season has quieted my fears for the time being. I'm not sure how anyone who is happy with Allen's development this season could ALSO still be ringing the "get rid of Culley" bell. The two views are not compatible, in my estimation.

I'm not crying, you're crying!

First, I'm not so sure it's a great idea career-wise to do what Juan Castillo did in that article. Secondly, the run game coordinator for a running game as putrid as the 2018 Bills' takes zero blame and doesn't think it was fair that he was fired? Really?! The guy has some legitimate complaints, but also seems to severely lack self awareness and accountability. Onward and upward.

Now just cut Chris Kelsay and we can all breathe a sigh of relief!

....It was sarcasm. He's not moving. I just don't get why anyone thinks the "move to OLB" thing has merit whatsoever. First of all, they didn't spend his rookie season letting him QB the defense from the Mike position just to switch him in year two and have to start from scratch at a new position. Secondly, if you move Edmunds to weakside LB, you're bumping Milano out of a job, and that doesn't make any sense because Milano is a playmaker. You're not going to put Edmunds at the strong side linebacker position because that's only a part time player in this defense. He'd be coming off the field for 79% of the snaps (based on how much the Bills were in base defense in 2018). So is it that people want Edmunds to bump the talented Milano out of the lineup, or that they want Edmunds on the bench 79% of the time? Either way, it's ludicrous. He's our long term ILB, Period. All of that being said, I DO believe there's merit to finding a 3rd down pass-rushing sub-package role for Edmunds in year 2. He showed excellent pass rushing efficiency.

You're right. I'll fix that.