SoTier

Absolutely true. The protest movement took a decidedly violent turn after the killings at Kent and Jackson State as various anti-war and civil rights groups splintered into a myriad of smaller groups, some of which advocated violence like bombings and killing the police. Thank you, Richard Nixon. May you roast in hell.

I was 20 and a sophomore at Buff State on May 4, 1970. Kent State and Buff State were similar institutions -- inexpensive state schools with significant percentages of their students being in the first generation of their families to attend college. Neither school was a hot bed of student protest against the Vietnam war until the Nixon administration launched the ill-fated invasion of Cambodia when the US was already engaged in peace talks in Paris with North Vietnam. On May 6, 4 protesters at the UB were shot and wounded by Buffalo police. On May 8, state and local police killed 2 protesters and wounded 12 at Jackson State College, an historically black college located in Natchez, MS.

I think that the GMFB crew discussed what it takes to be a backup QB just last week in reference to Andy Dalton being released. Basically, successsful backup QBs -- Foles, Fitzpatrick, McKown etc -- are capable of checking their egos for the good of the team. A lot of failed QBs, especially first rounders, can't do that because having mucho self confidence is a pretty much a prereq for NFL QBs so they don't make it as backups. I think Trubisky's problem was that he didn't improve and even regressed when team's figured out his tendencies. I think I heard or read somewhere during last season that some of the Bears' coaching staff were concerned that he wasn't "getting it", which seems to suggest, at least to me, that he wasn't getting better at reading defenses or recognizing coverages etc. I think that after Brandon was fired, the Pegulas gave Beane the kind of control of the team that most GMs have -- nobody was hired to replace Brandon in regard to the Bills (don't know about the Sabres). He wasn't subservient to both Brandon and his money guys in the front office and subservient to the HC like Whaley. Beane's emergence as a strategist really began after the end of the 2018 season. Before that, he seemed to be scrambling to fill immediate holes and "make do" with very limited resources just as Whaley had done. Sharing a philosophy for the team with McDermott makes the relationship work even if McDermott is an equal. With a different HC it might not work so well.

Warren Moon played in a different era -- outside of the last twenty years -- when the prejudice against black QBs was the norm which resulted in him going to the CFL to prove himself and before FA and the salary cap created player movement and made it easier for teams to improve quickly. It took Moon a few years in the NFL to start putting up big numbers but that was because the Houston organization was so poor when he arrived. Once Warner got the opportunity to play in the NFL, he went on a tear, making the Pro Bowl for three straight seasons starting in his second NFL season, his first as a starter. Warner is unique because after being relegated to back up status on the Rams and then the Giants, he went to Arizona and resurrected his career with the Cards. I am very skeptical of Garoppolo myself, but he hasn't put together three mediocre seasons at the beginning of his career. He's benefited from being the GOAT's understudy or injured so that he's only had a handful of starts -- 10 actually -- early on before 2019. It's the typical small sample size dilemma. He's actually has started fewer games than Trubisky -- 26 to 41 -- despite being in the league for 3 more years. Both Tannehill and Bridgewater were decent early on. Tannehill put up decent passing stats during his first three years on mediocre Fins teams. Bridgewater was a Pro Bowler as a sophomore before his catastrophic injury. Both were also willing to serve as backups to stay in the game and both lucked out to get opportunities to raise their personal stock.

Brees was not a mediocre starter for three years in San Diego. He was decent as a first year starter and miserable second starting season, but came back in 2004 to make the Pro Bowl in his third season as a starter.

Trubisky played poorly as a rookie, improved over his rookie season in 2018, but took a major step backward in his third season. That's 3 mediocre seasons despite being on a team good enough to win 12 games in 2018. He simply hasn't progressed enough to be considered a top NFL QB after 41 starts, and no QB has gone that long and suddenly became significantly better. None of the QBs you mentioned were mediocre QBs for three straight seasons even if they didn't put up big stats because of the teams they played on. - Brees had a single poor season in his second year. - Smith, Cousins, and Stafford all were considered good QBs by the beginning of their fourth seasons as starters despite playing on crappy teams. Smith and Stafford were extended at least once by the teams that drafted them. Cousins was franchised at least twice by the Redskins.

I think that all of the 2018 first rounders except for Jackson, who improved spectacularly from his rookie year, and Rosen, who is already considered a bust, are in their "prove it" seasons. Mayfield regressed last season. Allen improved significantly from his rookie season but his passing and decision making remain relatively poor compared to bonafide franchise QBs. Darnold missed time with illness, but he's about equal with Allen. His passing is better but his decision making is worse. Time for all three to show their stuff.

When a team gives up on a QB they drafted in the first round, that QB is finished as a starter. Teams simply won't give him a real shot. Minnesota gave up on Bridgewater because his severe knee injury appeared to very likely have ended his career, so he's a very special case. I suspect that Trubisky vs Watson was likely the reason that Whaley was fired. The Bills didn't intend to fire Whaley early on ... or they would have done so when they cleaned house after Ryan rather than leave Whaley as a lame duck. The Bills ran FA much as they always did, too. The early FA signees, Poyer and Hyde, were typical Whaley guys -- talented players for a reasonable price who fit the HC's scheme well. They were significantly better than any of the veterans the Bills brought in after the draft and through 2018, so I'm thinking it was while creating the draft board that Whaley ran afoul of one or both of Brandon and Pegula. I don't think that McDermott, as a newly hired defensive minded HC would have had the clout to get Brandon's pal fired. I don't think that "it could be the year the excuses for Allen stop". I think that Beane has moved to prevent excuses even being raised. Keep in mind that the Bills very quietly added several more FA and UDFA OLers to their roster during FA and since the draft. That suggests that they're still looking to upgrade the OL if only from a depth standpoint. It's Allen year to step up big.

This only works if there's a QB they like that they can acquire. If not, then they likely have Allen and Fromm compete next year -- or maybe they bring in a veteran starter who's been displaced like Dalton, and hope there's a young stud QB they like -- and is attainable -- in the next draft. It's easier to say "draft a QB next year" than it is to actually do it especially for teams that are playoff caliber but need a QB upgrade. IMO, the Packers' decision to draft Love in the first round this year was partly influenced by the struggles by the Vikings and Bears to find their franchise QBs. They don't want to be a QB short of a Super Bowl contender.

Name a QB in the last twenty years who has been a mediocre starter for three seasons and then morphed into a franchise QB. There isn't anybody. A team doesn't pay $18-20 million a year for a QB who's merely competent. Moreover, if a team has built a good team, they aren't going to waste it by hoping that some QB "falls to them". They go out and try to secure one. As the Eagles did when they traded up to get Wentz. As the Vikings did when they signed Kirk Cousins. As the Chiefs did when they traded up to get Mahomes even though they had a good QB worth $18-20 million already on the roster.

Actually, I think it says a lot more about changes taking place in the NFL than specifically those four teams since there were numerous other teams that also didn't extend their 2017 first rounders. Teams want to see their first rounders get up to speed quickly even if they're supposed to be "projects". If they can't produce as well as their teams think they should in their first three seasons, they aren't getting a big fifth year pay day. I think the Bears not extending Trubisky not only underscores how skeptical the team is of his ability to be a good NFL QB but is likely based on the recent past experience: young QBs who haven't shown themselves to be top QBs after three years of starting aren't likely to have an epiphany and become good/great QBs in their fourth or fifth years. It just doesn't happen. I can't think of a single mediocre three year starter who suddenly "saw the light" and became a top QB in his fourth or fifth season as a starter. In recent years, teams that extended fifth year options to mediocre first round QB wasted both time and money: Jax with Bortles (2014), TB with Winston (2015), and Tennessee with Mariota (2015). A decade ago it was common for teams to not only pick up fifth year options on first round QBs but also to extend them even if their performance wasn't all that good. Both Mark Sanchez and Ryan Tannehill benefited from that policy. I'm sure there were others. That's now morphed into only the outstanding young QBs getting paid big bucks early (Goff, Wentz, likely Mahomes and Watson soon) and the lesser one getting kicked to the curb. Teams have also become quicker to cut their losses with first round QBs who are easily identifiable busts and move on. Paxton Lynch and Josh Rosen are the quintessential examples of this. I think this trend narrows the window Josh Allen has to become a top NFL QB. Lots of Allen fans were willing to give Allen the full five years, but I don't think he gets that unless he absolutely improves this year so that he's among the top dozen or so QBs in the NFL.. Beane has taken away all of Allen's excuses by providing him with a good WR corps, decent protection, and now a pair of young RBs. Beane also drafted a potential replacement/bridge QB if Allen doesn't progress well enough and leaves after 2021.

I agree. Taylor wasn't a very good QB, but in 2017 he had nobody to throw to except for McCoy. The personnel moves in 2017 really soured me on McDermott and Beane, but I think that Beane, at least, has shown himself to be a good GM. I wrote in the thread from last week or the week before about where Beane ranked as a GM that I don't think Beane really had true GM power until some time after Russ Brandon was fired. I think that at least through the 2018 draft, Beane was functioning much as Doug Whaley did: a talent scout/manager subservient to the bean counters in the FO and the HC. The personnel moves made by the Bills in 2017-2018 -- with players and with coaches -- were reminiscent of personnel moves made by the Bills since Brandon took over the team in 2006. That changed in 2019 as the Bills brought in almost an entirely new offensive coaching staff for Daboll, including a well respected and experienced QB coach. They also brought in an entirely new OL and WR corps. This year is much more like 2019 than 2017 or 2018. The Bills traded for their first proven play maker on offense in forever, they made solid if unspectacular FA signings, and they had a solid draft that looks like they have an eye on the future with Day 3 picks like Fromm and Bass. That all suggests an upgraded scouting department along with upgraded coaches and players. For the first time since John Butler and AJ Smith departed for the West Coast, it seems like the Bills FO is focused on winning football games rather than just filling the stadium.

Well said. Some Bills fans forget that he was an All Pro for the Bills. Most NFL players are driven to excel, so I find the idea of a player simply turning off that drive just because he's gotten a big contract the least likely reason for a player's performance to slack off. What frequently happens is that players change teams to get bigger contracts and the new situations aren't as good for them as the ones they left. Sometimes coaching changes impact players' performance adversely, too. They bring in new systems that don't fit the players or their personalities don't mesh well with some incumbent players. Dareus blossomed under Marrone, but then along came Ryan who tried to remake the excellent defense that he inherited, followed shortly by McDermott who brought in his own style of D. We, as fans, assume that McDermott and Dareus didn't get along. Maybe that's true -- or maybe the Bills brass under the money-ball philosophy of Russ Brandon decided he wasn't playing well enough to justify his salary. For myself, I think that Dareus suffered (possibly still does) some emotional/mental issue that impacted his play. When somebody -- anybody not just a pro athlete -- goes from being really great at something for a long time -- since high school at least in the case of NFL players -- and then suddenly starts just "going through the motions", it suggests something's wrong, Personal tragedy -- which Dareus suffered in spades -- as well as bad domestic or employment situations can all wreak havoc on individuals' job performance.

Unfortunately, the Bills have given us so many frustrating years, it's hard to pick just one. The mid 1980s, 1990, and 2004 are all worthy. For me, though, 2009 represented the nadir of Bills existence because it was a season that was doomed back in October 2008 when Ralph Wilson verbally promised Dick Jauron an extension after the Bills started 5-1. The team went 2-8 the rest of the way but Wilson wouldn't reconsider. Before the 2009 season, Pro Bowl LT Jason Peters, angry over the Bills refusal to renegotiate his grossly unfair contract, decided to play it out and leave, was traded away to Philadelphia for a late first round pick (despite the fact that the Eagles had a much earlier pick in the first round). In the draft, the Bills then wasted their own first round pick, #9, on Aaron Maybin . Brandon and Jauron never replaced Peters. RT Langston Walker rebelled when Jauron tried to move him to LT and "retired". Aside from rookie C Eric Wood, the Bills had no NFL caliber OLers but Brandon's signing of FA Terrell Owens convinced naive Bills fans that the team was going to be "good" -- and the Bills sold 55-60k season tix for 2009. During the actual season, Trent Edwards led an offensive offense. Marshawn Lynch was sent to Jauron's "dog house" probably because of his own frustration -- like the time he made a 50 yard run to the 2 yard line and the team failed to score a TD. This was the year that featured a 3-6 loss to the crappy Browns team in which the Cleveland QB Derek Anderson threw for all of 23 yards. It took a drubbing by the Titans to finally get Wilson to fire Jauron.

I haven't read this entire thread so I don't if I'm echoing somebody else, but after reading the column, it seems like it's a parody of what many Pats' fans are telling themselves, especially on sports talk radio. This is The Onion-worthy.

The Bills simply weren't good enough on offense last season. They've taken steps to address that for 2020 but the only proven play maker they added was Diggs. Their new rookies are going to have a learning curve made steeper by the the lack of off season mini camps and practices, so they may not contribute as much as they might have in previous seasons. The real determinant of the 2020 Bills' success rests on how much Josh Allen improves. Beane went out and got him some additional OLers, RBs, and WRs, so he's surrounded with significantly more talent -- and depth -- than any Bills QB in this century. Now, he has to do his part if he can.

You are very naive. Nepotism in/among NFL ownership/FO staff/coaching staffs is almost the norm rather than the exception. The Packers are probably the only NFL franchise that doesn't have at least 1 of the owner's relatives on their payroll -- primarily because they're owned by stockholders. It's very common for HC's to hire family members. In fact, after Beane was hired, somebody posted a news article about how unusual it was that both McDermott and Beane didn't have "roots" -- ie, relatives -- in the NFL. Even among players, where one would think talent alone would count most, we're seeing more and more second and even third generation NFLers not to mention siblings and cousins, being drafted and finding success. This was especially notable in the recent draft.

Last season, with a healthy Andrew Luck and Ben Roethlisberger, both the Colts and Steelers would have been playoff teams -- they were that good last season. Peyton Manning won a Super Bowl with the Broncos when he could barely throw because the team around him, especially the defense, was so good Don't assume that Rivers and Roethlisberger couldn't at least get their teams to the playoffs. I totally agree. The Bills won 1 game against a team with a winning record last season: their 14-7 win against the pre-Tannehill Titans. Of their 10 wins, 4 were by a TD or less. Of their 6 losses, 5 were by a TD or less with their single drubbing coming from the NFCE champion Eagles. If you look back at some of the previous Bills teams, they frequently managed to lose close games to better teams. They are certainly capable of winning 9-10 games a year and even winning the AFCE if the Pats dynasty is truly done. I'm not sure that they're good enough to win many playoff games. It seems to me that they are only incrementally better than some of the teams fielded by previous Bills regimes because they simply don't have enough game changing playmakers, especially on offense. Allen really needs to make a big step up this season.

Rumor also has it that Bob Kraft stepped in to stop Belichick trading Brady to keep Garoppolo. There's nothing wrong with my reading comprehension. The Bills' rise in the AFCE had no influence on Brady's decision. Since 2000 the Bills have only been, at best, a blip on the Pats' radar screen. The last time the Bills beat the Pats, Jacoby Brissett a rookie QB in his first NFL start when Brady was under suspension in 2016.

Y'know, it's great that the Bills are improved and are likely the favorite to take the AFCE in 2020 but so far they haven't won anything. They haven't played a down yet. Right now, they're sitting sort of where the Brownies were last year at this time: a team that made impressive moves the preceding season and followed it up with adding more talent for the coming season. It didn't work out for the Browns for a number of reasons in 2019, and the Bills could just as easily crap the bed in 2020 if something goes wrong -- like suffering a spate of serious injuries to key players. Agree. I think that the last time the Biils beat Brady and the Pats -- really drubbed them actually -- when the game actually mattered was in the season opener in 2003 when they won 31-0 in the Ralph. They sacked Brady twice and intercepted him 4 times, including a pick six by good ol' DLer Sam Adams. That was 16 seasons ago -- rumor had it that Lawyer Milloy, whom the Pats cut just before the start of the regular season, gave the Bills key info about their offense -- and the Bills have been the Pats' perennial whipping boys since.

I have been saying this about Allen vs Jackson since early last season when Jackson caught fire. Both Allen and Jackson improved significantly from how they played as rookies but Jackson improved far more, especially in the passing game, not just versus his own rookie season but versus the norm for NFL QBs. QBs that make the kind of improvement that Jackson made between their rookie and sophomore years don't suddenly collapse but rather continue to be top tier QBs. IMO, Jackson is the first 2018 first round QB who's solidly moved into the top tier of NFL QBs. The only QB from the group who's a bonafide bust at this time is Rosen. Whether he would have done better if he'd been drafted by a team other than the Cards doesn't matter at this point as he also failed in Miami. Mayfield, Darnold, and Allen are still at the point where they could go either way. Mayfield was disappointing last season but that may very well have been a coaching issue as with the entire team. As others have said, Darnold and Allen are about at the same level in their development. I think that Allen is in a better situation than Darnold -- because he now has better talent and better coaching -- however, so I have to see him step up to become a top tier NFL QB this season. The Pats still have Belichick, however, and as far as the Bills are concerned, he's had their number since his days as the Giants DC. The Bills' first SB loss -- Wide Right -- was orchestrated by Belichick when the much less talented Giants stymied the mighty Bills in a defensive battle. The last two decades have just been one horror story after another with Belichick in Foxborough. The Jets and the Fins have had significantly more success against Belichick than any of the Bills regimes have had, including the current one. I'm not trumpeting the death of the Pats under Belichick as a force in the AFCE until I actually see their corpse.

I don't get the hate for the Fromm pick. He was available, they liked him, and they certainly need an upgrade over Barkley. What's not to like? It's not like they traded up to get him when they have a future HOFer already.

From what I read about Fromm, he probably doesn't have much starting QB potential, but that's okay. Good backup QBs are valuable commodities in themselves, and Fromm would likely make a better bridge QB in the event that Allen failed than Barkley. I think it was a good move by the Bills to have an eye on the future ... "just in case". Moreover, having little chance of becoming a starter doesn't mean that it's impossible. The Seahawks took Wilson in the third round, the Cowboys found Romo among the UDFAs, and the Pats plucked Brady out of the sixth round. Kurt Warner also was an UDFA who got a break, so sometimes lighting does strike.

I think Gase is more of a problem for the Jets than their talent level. My feeling exactly. Keep in mind that in 2001, the Pats lost their franchise QB at the time, Drew Bledsoe, in the first game of the season. Belichick brought in an unknown 6th round QB from Michigan and won the Super Bowl with him at the end of that season ... and won 5 more SBs over the next two decades. In 2008, Brady was knocked out in the season opener but Belichick took the Pats to an 11-5 record with Matt Cassel. I would not be shocked if Belichick makes Stidham/Hoyer work.

This is a valid point, especially since there have been several first round QBs -- Bortles, Winston, and Mariota -- from recent drafts who haven't proven out. There's also the example of Trubisky regressing in his third season. The Bills also definitely need a backup QB who can come in and "hold down the fort" if Allen gets hurt as the Chiefs and Saints demonstrated -- and Barkley isn't that guy.