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Not the best throw but I don't think you can expect pinpoint accuracy after the kid just ran away from two pass rushers and then unloaded the ball to his right as he was running to his left. Sure, woulda been nice if the ball just floated right to Clay and hit him in the numbers right where he stood but either way, the ball hit him in the hands and he dropped it. Gotta catch that. Clay would tell you it's on him.

He's making more plays than he's missing on, which is progress. And yeah, the scouting reports and "concerns" written about this kid were really overstated. Read any report on him and you'd think every other pass of his ends up a mile outside the stadium. Does he miss here and there? Yeah... but he's also made a bunch of throws this season alone that I haven't seen from any Bills QB since Bledsoe. He's getting it done with a less than stellar supporting cast, too. It makes you encouraged for the future once they get some legitimate weapons in place. Kid was the entire offense yesterday and he's changing things with this franchise. If the team was down in the past, the fan-base would be like, "Bah, forget it, they're done, 4th quarter comebacks don't happen for the Bills." But now, you can tell that the team rallies around this kid and knows that if he gets a chance to go out and win it in the final few minutes, there's real belief there that he's going to come out with the win. That was something I found encouraging during the run up to the draft. Coaches and teammates both consistently said that they always felt like there was a chance when Allen was on the field. And he almost came away with the improbable victory yesterday, if only Charles Clay hadn't tripped over his own twinkle toes, dropped the ball and then faceplanted on the goal-line.

I gave up fantasy football a long time ago because by week five or six I'd always forget to set my lineups and it became more of a chore than fun... Anyways, don't they still have Charcandrick West? Thought I saw him get some carries in the Rams game the other week. Not sure if he's RB2 or RB3 tho. Oh, and this behavior from Hunt is disgusting. Kid should sit out the rest of the year for it.

Yeah, his ceiling is nuts. And instincts/recognition are something he still needs to develop. He's so athletic that he's just always leaned on his physical gifts to make up for any lapses on the mental side of the game. He's definitely coachable so I assume they've been working with him a lot on his diagnosis/recognition skills this season. Kid has tons of potential. His size and speed alone has caused some QBs this season to not even bother looking to throw in a lane that's anywhere near him because of his reach. Combine that with Tre' who has been shutting receivers down all year and the only spot left to look for a QB is one side of the field. That's not too shabby.

If you look at how their draft classes are contributing so far, by that metric, they've drafted very well. 2018 1. (7) Josh Allen - starting, shows flashes of awesome mixed with flashes of "good lord, what in the...?" but I personally think the kid has it. Eager to see him play with a more solidified OL and some better offensive weapons. 1. (16) Tremaine Edmunds - instant starter and "QB of the defense" by age 20. Still has room to grow as a player and definitely should given McDermott's track record in coaching up LBs. And I saw a post that commented something like "Would you rather have Player X or Brian Urlacher?" Thought it was interesting because Urlacher was the pro comparison a lot of scouts put on Edmunds. 3. (96) Harrison Phillips - Contributing in the DL rotation, has flashed at times, learning from an all-time Bills great. Has the intelligence and tenacity to be a factor. 4. (121) Taron Johnson - Small school gem, kid sticks to receivers like glue and although he's a bit undersized, hits like a truck. 5. (154) Siran Neal - Contributing on special teams, has taken the most special teams snaps alongside another player whose name escapes me at the moment. 5. (166) Wyatt Teller - Now starting at left guard. 6. (187) Ray-Ray McCloud - Has been upstaged by Isaiah McKenzie as of late but if they have to bow out on a sixth-round pick, I don't think anyone is gonna lose any sleep over it. 7. (255) Austin Proehl - A comp pick that was one selection away from being Mr. Irrelevant. 7th round picks get cut all the time. Undrafted - Robert Foster - Made the team to start the season but then stumbled out of the gate and lost his job. Got it back and has been their best receiver over the last two games. Undrafted - Levi Wallace - Playing well enough to supplant Phillip Gaines (former 3rd round pick who they sent packing) and is part of a secondary that has allowed the least passing yards for the entire season and allows the lowest amount of yards per game (193.7). 2017 1. (27) Tre'Davious White - Instant starter and has turned into a top CB in the league. 2. (37) Zay Jones - Clearly works his tail off, hopefully the results will soon show. Rookie year he played on a run-first team and had to adapt to playing with four different QBs this season. Hopefully he turns the corner next year. 2. (63) Dion Dawkins - Played well enough in place of Glenn to take over the starting job as a rookie. Still developing but is the best player on the OL and an emerging leader. 5. (163) Matt Milano - Complete steal. Kid makes plays all over the field, always seems to be around the ball. 5. (171) Nathan Peterman - The unluckiest QB I've ever seen play. They whiffed on this one and held out their belief in him a bit too long but finally owned up to their miss and cut him. I'm sure he's a nice dude and all but he just doesn't have it. And this was the guy that scouts everywhere were calling "The most pro-ready QB of 2017" so it's not like the Bills were the only ones to miss on him. 6. (195) Tanner Vallejo - Drafted for depth and special teams, injuries got in his way, maybe he gets a better shot in Cleveland. Again, late-round picks often get cut. So, out of 16 total players (14 draft picks, 2 undrafted signings) EIGHT of them are starters (Allen, Edmunds, Johnson, Teller, White, Jones, Dawkins, Milano) and four of them are either getting substantial playing time as part of a rotation or on special teams. Of 16 total players they've drafted/signed, 12... TWELVE of them are already contributing. Two of them are having Pro Bowl-caliber seasons this year (White and Milano) and several more of them have the chance to be Pro Bowlers as well. Some (Edmunds, White) may even make All-Pro in their careers. I'd say this front office is off to a pretty good start. It's never been about 2018, this year has always been about being the sacrificial season, if you will, as they work towards sustained success, something this team hasn't had since the 90s. And it's because of impatience that they've spun their wheels time and again during that 17-year drought. Impatience and the belief that they were always just a piece or two away from competing and being contenders. Never having the guts to take a hard look at things and truly engage a full-on rebuild. I think they have the right guys in place to build a very good team. Just takes time. But they're on the right track.

To your first point, exactly. Hindsight is always 20/20 and after the fact anyone can nitpick about anything. And Edmunds played a lot more OLB in college, he's acclimating to the NFL while switching to MLB. Vander Esch is playing outside so these guys have different responsibilities based on their positions.

Well, they aren't ending up with either of those guys. This years WR group for the draft also doesn't have a bonafide #1 guy available. There are guys who excel at a handful of things but aren't quite the total package just yet. Doesn't mean they can't develop into that, but right off the bat, there aren't really any pass catchers that are gonna come in and set the league on fire in 2019. I said this in another thread, I don't think the Bills end up with a "true #1" WR next season. I think they end up with a group of guys who all have certain skill sets and a couple of traits which they're really good at and kind of average with all the rest. Think about where Daboll comes from... New England, where they never really had a top-flight receiver aside from the few years where they had Randy Moss. Besides him, it's always been a rotating group of receivers (with one constant like Wes Welker or Julian Edelman) Gronk and whoever their #2 TE is and their cast of running backs. Those are the types guys that have been catching passes from Brady for 19 seasons now. I think just with the way things are shaping up with the draft and free agency that the Bills will try to put together a strong overall cast of offensive playmakers as opposed to having one or two superstars. You'll have guys like Foster and McKenzie as your speed options, Zay as your possession guy who can run some tough routes inside and keep the chains moving, they probably want a guy *like* KB, someone with that size and the ability to win contested catches (which KB has not done since he got here). I also think Daboll may pound the table for a new option at tight end because of the extensive use of TEs in New England's system over the years. I like Charles Clay but I think his knees are shot and I wouldn't doubt if they cut him loose this off-season. Jason Croom seems to be developing but the position can be upgraded and it may be something they look into. But yeah, the hope for a big-time #1 guy like Julio, OBJ, AJ Green, etc. I don't see that happening for the Bills in 2019.

That can be said about any player, that there's no guarantee, no sure bets, etc. It applies to all players. Edmunds may have different responsibilities than Vander Esch at this point as well, who knows? We don't, cause we ain't at practice and we ain't in the huddle. And I think Edmunds will get better because of the skills he already has and the situation he is in. McDermott knows how to coach up LBs and DBs. They probably haven't quite thrown everything at him just yet but by the end of the season I'm sure they'll be saying there wasn't a lot that they didn't assign to him. Edmunds has the work ethic to go along with the athletic talent as well. Some guys come into the league and figure they can coast on athleticism alone and don't bother to do their homework. That's not Edmunds. He'll be fine. Vander Esch will probably be fine as well. Both guys look like they're poised to have nice careers.

These hindsight posts are getting ridiculous. Just because another player in the same draft had a good game doesn't mean the player your team picked is all of a sudden unworthy of the draft slot he was selected in. Vander Esch made a few flash plays last night. Edmunds has had his own share of big plays as well. Edmunds is still also only 20 years old and handling a ton of responsibilities on defense already. He's only gonna get better. He has the higher ceiling and more athletic talent. Both guys are probably going to be good, solid players for the next 10 years in this league.

Guess it would depend on if the Tampa Bay organization wants to tear it all down and start over or if they think they can still compete with a different coaching staff and much of the same roster. Evans also just signed a 5-year $82 million dollar deal earlier this year. I'd assume he's there for the foreseeable future.

I'm not advocating for him being brought in here but it's been clear that McBeane does like to work with guys they've had a previous experience with.

I'm pretty much down with whatever the organization wants to do at this point. I'm all in on Allen. There's just something about the confidence and ease with which he approaches the position. If he can put it all together he can be really good. It's encouraging to see what he's done so far but I think once they get him some more weapons we'll maybe see him turn a major corner. Kid has never played with stars. Surrounded by one and two-star recruits at Wyoming and so far he's been surrounded by a solid running back, a former first round receiver who doesn't know how to reach his potential, a second round receiver who is working his tail off but is still struggling to separate/be seen on the field, and then a handful of late round and undrafted guys as well as an OL that had too much tinkering done to it during the summer. They definitely have some work to do on offense, no doubt. I don't necessarily think they need a superstar pass-catcher, either. I actually think they're going to end up with a group of guys who will all have one or two specific skills they excel at while being average at the other things a WR does. Like, Foster and McKenzie will be the speed guys that'll take the top off a defense but neither one will likely ever run tough inside routes against man coverage because they get knocked off the line too easily. Zay will be the possession guy.. everyone seems to think he can be some slot superstar but I read recently that a lot of his best plays have come when he's lined up outside so maybe they wanna do that more with him. And hopefully they find another guy that has the size like KB but has the desire to go with it. I think they'll want a well-rounded group to give Allen a variety of options and give Daboll a variety of ways to scheme and plan. Daboll comes from NE where they never had a big time WR (aside from Moss). It's always been a rotating cast of whoever they have at receiver, Gronk and their TE2 and their backs. Wouldn't surprise me to see a similar set up here.

Can't see OBJ buying into what they wanna do here. He's a diva that's prone to sideline and locker room temper tantrums if the ball isn't coming his way every third play. Tyrell Williams of the Chargers is gonna be a name to watch in free agency. Big target, faster than KB, stronger hands, etc. Don't forget Devin Funchess in Carolina, either.

Yeah, they may not contribute immediately but they'll at least be playing right off the bat and getting experience. I mean, there are some skill position guys that are coming up that could surprise, N'Keal Harry is a rising name and DK Metcalf from Ole Miss just declared and his skill set might actually propel him to be one of the first, if not the first, receiver taken. There are also a handful of strong tight ends in this group and with Daboll being a former TE coach and having worked with Gronk, he may pound the table to bring in a super athletic TE. Noah Fant of Iowa is seen as the top TE right now. RB is a down group this year. There's no Elliots or Gurleys in this class, probably not even a late first rounder. I gotta think they grab a guy to develop this year. Maybe in round 3 or 4, because I can't see them rolling into 2019 with just Shady and Ivory just because both guys hit age 31 in 2019. And they don't seem to be as thrilled with Marcus Murphy as they used to be. So... yeah, in a year where offensive skill positions are a B+ group at best, here's our Bills with needs at every offensive skill position besides QB, lol. But, I like the way this FO has done their jobs so far and expect this off-season to be pretty exciting.

I actually don't think this front office will be too keen on spending high round picks on OL. Beane said it himself during a pre-season game, the learning curve for even more experienced OL prospects is huge these days because these guys all play in schemes where they rarely ever line up with their hand in the dirt. They have to learn a whole other facet of their position once they reach the NFL and it takes quite a while to coach that. I can see them going OL in rounds two or three but I don't think they'll spend their first round pick on OL. If they end up with a top ten pick, I'd bet money that they'll be taking calls all day from any teams looking to come up. The offensive prospects this year aren't the greatest so the value on those players is gonna be in rounds two and three. So I can see Beane trying to stockpile a handful of twos, threes and even some fours if the offer is there. Ideally, I think they'd like to spend some of that cash on a couple of guys with experience who can step in and produce right away. I know the FA crop for OL also isn't great but I think they'd rather find a guy or two that way rather than having to wait it out and develop a guy. They're all in on this youth movement so I'd expect their first round pick to be a guy they feel can start right away or isn't that far away from being a day one starter. Don't be surprised at all if a defensive player is their first pick. If they're sticking to BPA, it's likely gonna be a defensive player that'll be BPA when it's their turn in round one.

Not really, usually just to check the schedule and any player transactions as they do those infographics any time they bring in a new guy. The BBMB was a daily stop for me going all the way back to 2002. They switched message board providers/service in 2004 which, if I recall, caused some grief with the posters at that point. When they got rid of the BBMB they said that fan interaction would shift to social media but any time I scroll through comment sections on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, it's mostly just people shouting random stuff and no real conversations or interactions going on. The board always provided a good place for fans to come together and (usually) have civil discussions about all things Bills. I don't think social media comment sections have done very good in replacing that. This board was fairly active while the BBMB was still around but it received a huge boom in new posters migrating from BBMB and for the most part, it's replaced the BBMB almost in full. I'm sure there aren't as many posters here as there was on BBMB but overall, it's been a viable replacement.

I think they interviewed Reich after Marrone left but at that time he didn't quite have the experience he has now. I think at that point (early 2015) he had only been an OC for one year with previous experience as a QB and WRs coach. And I think at the time, many fans were all over the Pegulas for being "homers" and "nostalgic for the glory days" when they interviewed Reich. But, you know, hindsight and all that. McDermott is constantly lauded as getting a lot out of a little. Made the playoffs last year with an average roster. Has this current group playing well over the last couple weeks despite the blowouts and tough losses. He's still getting this team to show up everyday and put in the work when guys could easily start mailing it in because they know the chances of returning to the playoffs this year are slim. And this league has consistently tweaked the rules to favor the offense, that plays a huge role in these high-powered offenses we see right now. And let's not act like this is the first time we've ever seen teams score crazy points like this. Rams had the Greatest Show on Turf back in the early 2000s, the 2007 Pats put up crazy numbers, there was a 15-1 Vikings team that set offensive records (late 90s, I think). Plus, teams like the Chiefs, Rams and Saints have a few things: strong OLs and Pro Bowlers at every just about every skill position. But, as always, there are ebbs and flows in the league, which is also a copycat league. Teams will adopt what other teams do both on offense and defense. And sooner or later, defenses always catch up. A decade ago the Wildcat took the league by storm and everyone was all, "It's a new NFL!" but what happened? Eventually defenses caught up and the Wildcat faded away. There's always new trends that come up and eventually there's always an answer to those trends.

I think McBeane have likely determined that these guys have a job here for as long as they'd like. They can keep doing one-year deals if these guys wanna keep playing. In addition to their on-field production, I'm certain McDermott views their experience and leadership as invaluable to his locker room. If they finish the season trending upward, I think both guys would have an interest in coming back for one more go 'round to see where they can go in 2019 with the youth movement that will have some experience under their belts by then.

But have you heard of Darcell Mareus?

I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to go a different direction and I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to stay the course with Crossman. He may have an out with all the punter injuries this season as well as Taiwan Jones, a ST captain, going on IR earlier this year. McKenzie looks like he can provide a spark in the return game, but when it comes to return coverage, that's where they haven't been very good. But again, wouldn't be surprised if they left things as they are and allowed Crossman to stay on and keep working.

Edmunds also played outside most of his college career, so, like McDermott has said about Allen and managing expectations, we should do the same with Edmunds as he's adjusting to a different position as well as the speed of the game at the NFL level. McDermott has a knack for coaching up DBs and LBs, I think the kid will be fine.

Offensive line is supposedly his specialty, but their starting left tackle (Cam Robinson) went on IR early this season. And yesterday, the LG, (Andrew Norwell) went down with an injury. The left side of their line is headed up by Ereck "Turnstile" Flowers at LT and undrafted kid at LG. Fournette has been in and out of the lineup and they lean so heavily on him that they're basically a different team when he's not playing.Also, the whole team seems undisciplined to me, which is weird for a Marrone-coached team. He's a stickler for rules and all that crap. I remember him benching Dareus a couple times because the dude could never be on time. But the way he ran the locker room here in Buffalo left a lot of veteran guys with a poor perception of him. He tried running things as if it were a college program and that stuff isn't gonna fly. So, I dunno if he backed off on being a stickler and is allowing the team to be themselves but I feel like that team could be down 42-0 and the defense would still be talking trash and instigating. And then there's Bortles. Didn't Marrone hire Hackett to be his OC as soon as he was named head coach?

I didn't necessarily mean yesterday in particular, haha. They did indeed get shredded on the ground and Fournette is a straight up dummy for instigating and getting himself kicked out. The crowd response was awesome and the defense's response was even better. To have them go from the one yard line, get stuffed on a couple run attempts, Bortles gets sacked, then have penalties that back them all the way to the 25 yard line and then they miss the field goal was a thing of beauty.

Lawson has been playing well even if he's not showing up in a big way on the stat sheet every week. His versatility to bounce between DE and DT is big for this team. He's very sound in his assignments, he's been getting more pressure on the QB, plays the run well, etc. He's played well enough to retain the starting job over Murphy who was healthy and active this week and was only in there after Lawson was ejected.

Ha, there's those "obviously's" that were sorely missing from his comments back on Wednesday last week.