Straight Hucklebuck

We spent 13 combined years of Quarterbacking on JP Losman (2005-2006), Trent Edwards (2007-2009), Ryan Fitzpartick (2010-2012), EJ Manuel (2013), Kyle Orton (2014) and Tyrod Taylor (2015, 2016, 2017). Over a decade trying to win with backup caliber QB's, running the ball and playing defense.

This is 100% true. Bills fans love the underdog story, and seem to enjoy trading away their best players for draft picks that may work harder and want to be in Buffalo more than the talent that was here.

Unpopular Takes: 1. The Bills screwed up the Jason Peters situation. I don't care that they renegotiated his deal once before. The fact that Derrick Dockery was making $7 million a year, and Langston Walker was making $5 million a year, when Jason Peters was making $3.25M was absurd. Funny how the Philadelphia Eagles were able to get a contract done immediately. Russ Brandon standing up in front of the media in 2009 saying he had no idea where Peters was, and that he hadn't heard from him since the 2008 season ended. And then seeing PFT quote sources saying the Bills got fleeced. Fans largely sided with the organization, saying Peters was a fat, out of shape slob and that the Bills made him into what he was. Rinky Dink organization. Peters is a HOF LT. 2. Fans sided with Doug Marrone and EJ Manuel when the Bills traded Steve Johnson. I hated that trade. Somehow the guy that turned down Free Agency to stay with the Bills, and led the Bills in receiving 3-years was now too erratic of a route runner for disciplinarian Marrone and EJ. Plus, the coddling of Sammy Watkins started then too, couldn't have Sammy face any competition. Fans tuned on Steve Johnson, his "antics", what a dropped pass and a shirt that said "why so serious?". I know how ghastly. And I ripped the Bills for the Marrone hire to begin with. Again, Russ Brandon promised a no-stone unturned search for a HC. And what we got was 5-days in Arizona.

Ole’ Chris “General Platitudes” Brown. The guy simply repeats old football cliches from the 8,000 bad coaches we’ve had over the years. Establish the run, pick your poison, the jump from Year One to Year Two, etc.

Until Buddy Nix got caught by teenagers on a prank phone call ripping Fitzpatrick.

Nix and Whaley are the end results of trusting 90+ year old Ralph Wilson to make football decisions into the 2000's. It's Promote from Within & Cash to Cap philosophy that sunk the Bills, compared to the rest of the league. After Donahoe, Wilson reached out to 80+ year old Marv Levy for advice on who to hire for GM. In the middle of that phonecall, he asked Marv Levy if he wanted to be the GM. Marv, was a disaster at GM. Hiring his buddy, Dick Jauron, and that went horribly. Marv stepped down, and with no GM in place, Russ Brandon took over. He immediately traded Jason Peters. Tom Modrak was still leading the College Scouting efforts into the 2010 Draft. Ralph and Russ "scanned a list of names" for the next GM, "didn't know any of them", and narrowed the search to "two in-house candidates" - John Guy (Jauron era) and Buddy Nix who was 70 years old. That was the plan. Look down the hallway for your answer because Bill Polian worked 40 years ago. Buddy Nix, who said he was asleep at midnight when FA opened was your GM and orchestrated the worst offseason I have ever seen in 2010, by extending Chris Kelsay, hiring Chan Gailey who was out of football, converting the 4-3 defense to the 3-4 which was a disaster, having the worst draft I've ever seen, and trading Marshawn Lynch for nothing. Nix, hired Doug Whaley, and he proved to be a disaster too. "Humans aren't supposed to play football". The residue of Brandon was felt into the Marrone hire, "no stone unturned search" that lasted 5-days in Arizona. The Bills were a complete rinky-dink organization.

Modrak said the same thing about Roethlisberger. At the end of the day he couldn't have wanted him too badly. Completely disagree. We would have a HOFer. He would have lifted the entire franchise.

Matt Barkley has 10 career TDs passes and 21 Interceptions and a 65 rating. The OP is 100% correct. The Bills didn’t do everything they could to improve backup QB. They maintained status quo by protecting Allen and keeping the competition bar on the floor.

We can’t be limited to 49 yard field goals. Live through the growing pains of Bass and get your long term kicker.

Forks over Knives showed everyone how to beat heart disease and almost every other chronic illness back in 2011.

Mechanics? Let’s call up Gailey’s favorite David Lee, maybe we can get Scott Van Pelt.

QB: C- Allen is trying to get to Top 16 QB, he can't be rated any higher than average. Barkley's career statistics are atrocious. RB: B- Singletary made plays, although the Coaching staff kept hamstringing the team by putting Gore in. But two 22/23 year olds, and Yeldon puts this group slightly above average, although lack of speed keeps it from a better grade. OL: C The Bills have more depth than in years past. To me, this is an average unit. Sometimes they allow pass pressure. WR: B+ Diggs has increased his production every season, Brown is coming off a career year and Beasley is slotted perfectly. I also like the additions of Davis and Hodgins because the lower end of the group needed competition. TE: C- I think Knox can be nice athlete on the field. But the rest of the group are fringe players, and Lee Smith is terrible. DL: B- The Bills go 2-3 deep everywhere. No elite players, but a solid unit across the board. Epenesa, is a welcome shot of youth at DE, as Murphy is overpaid, Hughes is getting older, and Addison is already 33. LB: C+ Edmunds and Milano are athletic, but the Bills have virtually no depth at this position. They skipped LB in the Draft. CB: B White is as good as they get, and I think Wallace has been steady since taking a starting job. I'm happy Kevin Johnson is gone. Depth is ok with the additions of Norman and Gaines. S: B Hyde and Poyer are steady veterans with some playmaking ability, with decent runway left in their primes. ST: C Hopefully the Bills stick with Bass. Seems silly to cap yourselves at 49 yard field goals because you are reverent to Hauschka.

Just tuned in for 3 minutes. It was Chris Brown talking to Steve Tasker about the running back position. And like we all have noted, it was the most generic, coach-speak that Brown has memorized over the years. Things said: 1. Running back is one of the more easy positions to come in and make an impact 2. Locker room leadership of Pat DiMarco is valuable, he is a sounding board for Josh Allen 3. Gore was forced to "carry the load" when Singletary was out (the Bills chose to not give Yeldon the ball) 4. Moss' style is to "wear-down" the defense, getting stronger throughout the game Chris Brown is a football-cliche generator. Pull the lever and out comes a Dick Jauron, Chan Gailey, Doug Marrone, Rex Ryan, Sean McDermott cliche.

Comments as I scroll through the article: 1. Washington is too high. Peterson is well past his prime. 2. Dolphins are too high. 3. Texans are too high. 4. Packers - How high can Aaron Jones go? 5. I think Indianapolis will be good with Mack and Taylor, they are too low 6. New England - Too high. Michel has no explosion whatsoever, and White is a pass catcher with little else 7. As good as Carson is, Seattle is thin. 8. Bengals are too high. Mixon is alright, but Bernard is shot. 9. Broncos - Melvin Gordon is 3 yards and a cloud of dust. LA Chargers were smart to not pay him. 10. Jets - Way too high. Every play that the Jets give the ball to Gore is a wasted play because someone more explosive doesn't touch the ball. Le'Veon Bell averaged 3.2 ypc last year and just turned 28. Other observations - Yes McCaffrey is great. But he stifles the Panthers offense at times because he is the only one that touches the ball. So they don't have a vertical component at all, and Bridgewater will not fix that. They are overly reliant on McCaffrey. Numbers are already suggesting Zeke is declining.... Fournette is big and strong, but inefficient. Marrone thinks he is imposing his physicality on the other team. But in reality they're happy to sit back and let Fournette ram his way 3.5 ypc at a time.

Two things: 1. Eric Moulds and Lee Evans were first rounders. Steve Johnson was a 7th Rounder. So he made the most of his athletic ability. 2. He burned Richard Sherman in his prime and Revis. He could not be covered on a slant.

Isn’t he the only Bills WR to have three straight 1,000 yard seasons?

Whatever man. Good for you.

Dan O ranked Tua higher. Why? Is Tua taller - No. Does he have better arm strength - No. So why? Better college, better competition, more production, more accuracy, National Championships. Not once did I make the argument that I agree with Dan O, or base all QB judgments on college production. That's you putting words in my mouth. Dan O watched the tape, looked over the numbers and came to that conclusion. But I don't understand all the outrage from some Bills fans at this.

Math You can't read. So lmfao. In the statement you bolded I said "FIRST TWO YEARS AS A PROFESSIONAL" Not every analyst is blown away with Josh Allen. To me, that's okay. Allen can prove them all wrong this season. What's so bad about that conclusion at this point?

Huh? How is Wyoming not relevant when an analyst is ranking Tua over Allen? What does the analyst have to go on? He has Tua's college performance only and draft position verses Allen's college production, draft status and first two years as a professional. There was a book on Allen coming from college into the pros. The cons in his Scouting Report have not been totally unproven by his first two years. The thing is, some Bills fans can't even have a debate. They are so focused on how offended they are. Yes Allen was 6th in total TDs. He also was 30th in ypg, 32nd in completion percentage, 23rd in rating, 21st in passing TDs and his offense scored 19.6 ppg against a weak schedule, with a defense that allowed 16.2 ppg. Tua is shorter in stature, not an elite athlete, not elite arm strength, and Greg Cosell said he is a system QB, not transcendent. So not all analysts are Dan O. But I don't get the outrage over that ranking. Allen can silence all the critics this season. YES I DID SAY THAT, IN REGARDS TO THE OP WHICH WAS WHINING ABOUT DAN O RANKING TUA HIGHER THAN ALLEN. Yeah an analyst watched one guy win a National Championship and watched the other guy throw for 16 TDs in his final season at Wyoming. Not everyone agrees with the Bills FO projection on Allen, and that's okay.

That's you embellishing/exaggerating for effect. Nowhere did I say that. But faulting analysts based on what we've seen so far is strange. Bills fans act like Allen has taken the league by storm or something. He had a horrible supporting cast in 2018 and was a rookie, he passed the ball poorly, ran the ball well. He played a lot like his Scouting Reports said he would. In 2019, he passed the ball better relative to his rookie self, ran the ball for TDs, but was a bottom 1/3rd QB. He played to the positive side of his Scouting Reports. 2020, is his best setup yet. Continuity on the offensive line and Coaching staff, and the best skill talent he's ever had.

I knew this would come up. The Bills made a projection when they drafted Allen. That his stature, physical gifts, intangibles, would outweigh the immediate inconsistency and rather low statistical production. Other analysts watch Tua, note his stature and injuries, but say that his high level of production and accuracy translate well to the pro-game. I don't fault analysts for watching Tua's college career and Allen's college career/pro career and concluding that Tua is better. Allen has not led a top flight offense at Wyoming or in Buffalo, but this year is his best supporting cast yet.

Are we really going to be mad at analysts for picking Tua over Allen? Tua led a Top 2 D1 football program to a National Championship. Look at his college statistics verses Josh Allen's. Now, Darnold thus far has been more hype than results, and his foot/sickness has not helped his progress. Also the Jets skill positions have been weak.

? Schopp brings up Corsi puck possession statistics, he was on the Bills reliance on physical run game and special teams/defense as the rest of the league ditched 3 yards and a cloud of dust, he challenges the notion of locker room chemistry and work ethic as meaningful differentiators from team to team, he challenged the Bills thought process on tearing down the roster, trading away say a CB, then drafting a replacement in Round One. He is more more attuned to changes in how sports organizations make decisions than Bulldog is. He drives the show. Bulldog is not going to bring any original thought. He sits back and reacts to what is said around him. As others have noted in this thread, Bulldog hosting when Schopp is off is a chore to listen to.

This is a good point. I think across the board now the voices in sports are getting tired because these people have been in the same positions for 20+ years now. For instance, Dan Patrick. Every day it's the same cadence to his show, "yeah Pauly", "yeah Fritzy", "yeah McLovin" as point by point is dribbled out to the audience. I've tuned into Colin since he joined ESPN in 2004, but his sports opinions are the same: two cities in America matter: LA and Miami, and fill in with Brady/LeBron/Tiger/Cowboys/Westbrook and John Wall bashing. We turned on the TV yesterday morning and Get Up! was on ESPN. They had Kendrick Perkins and Mike Greenberg breaking down sports "GOATs" - guys do you have anything else to talk about? What irritates me locally is Howard Simon talking about how he's never had peanut butter, or a strawberry, or how out of shape he is and how he isn't going to exercise. I feel like he wakes up, doesn't shower or brush his teeth, and just does the show with no preparation. During this pandemic, Bulldog has been theatrical about how much danger he's in, and he acts like it's become his right to do the show from his house going forward. Like Simon, trending towards the laziest version of the show we can put together. I like Schopp and Jeremy White because they push the topics on the show. Without them you are talking about Owen's hockey practice, or sitting around the house. Now Schopp does get off topic - talking about Tootsie, his Fantasy Football, obsession with old games on Youtube, but without him, you get no critical thinking on local teams, no statistical references to standards in modern sports.