TigerJ

It also appears there is a very good reason that this is an area where Allen is behind. It has to do with the offense he operated at Wyoming. There is no particular reason to think he can't eventually get it.

A few local media types have suggested that may mean McCarron has opened a slight lead in the QB competition. OK Maybe. I don't really have a horse in this race. I want to see all of them do well. If McCarron wins the competition and starts ths season, I'm fine with that. Obviously, the Bills drafted Josh Allen to be their starter some day. That needs to happen at some point to assure the regime's long term success, but it doesn't need to happen this season.

I'm not into smashing tables, but in an autograph as a sentiment, it seems harmless, as long as those who break tables have paid for them.

I am by nature an optimist. I look with rose colored glasses at what might be. Yet I recognize the "ifs" I see all over the place as questions that must be answered and obstacles that have to be overcome if that bright future is to be realized. I am hopeful that the Bills will match or beat their 2017 win total in 2018 and make the playoffs again. But certainly the team needs to answer questions to make it happen. Some are expecting an awful offensive line this year. We lost two solid starters, arguably the best two offensive linemen from the line last year. Can Dawkins continue to develop and serve as a leader for the line this year. Ducasse was OK last year. Can he get better? Who's going to be the center? Can Miller rediscover his rookie success? Is Mills still the best we got at right tackle? There may be encouraging answers to just about all those questions, but national media personalities aren't paid to look for or assume the encouraging answers. I'm optimistic that there are players with talent at WR, but anybody with half a brain can figure out that Buffalo doesn't have a bunch of established stars or hot shot high draft picks at WR. To be successful, we will need some no name types to step up and make meaningful contributions. I don't know if it's Reilly or Dupre or Foster who's going to surprise, but somebody needs to. No matter how good they are, Benjamin and Kerley aren't going to be able to do it all by themselves from the WR spot. Whether it ends up being McCarron, Peterman or Allen, the QB question is huge and regardless of who gets named as the starter, the question of how good he can be this year isn't going to get answered in the preseason. Even Edmunds comes with questions. Can he really handle defensive play calling and make the plays he needs to as MLB in McDermott's defense at 20 years old? That's asking a lot. Yeah, I'm optimistic, but I know I'm hoping for positive answers to a whole bunch of questions.

The NY Post is the Johnny Manziel of news publications.

I think Boettger is kind of a utility guy. He can play inside or outside. Mo Porter is another young guy in the same boat. I don't expect either one to do much of anything this year. Maybe one of them will latch on to the PS with a chance to develop. The flexibility to play both tackle and guard is a tremendous advantage for depth players.

I don't necessarily agree with the majority of the so-called experts.

I can't disagree. Most others are predicting a decline this season. Many mock drafters are already projecting the Bills with a top 5 pick and some #1 overall.

We can bandy stats and semantics back and forth, I suppose. I am happy to recognize and accept that you have a particular opinion. I expressed mine and I'm content with it. I'm fine with Kelvin being a receiver for the Bills. I want to see a higher percentage of his targets turn into receptions, and I'd like to see him get over 1,000 yards again. I'll leave it at that

My local TV is Elmira, and I can just about guarantee preseason Bills games won't be on. I've got a ROKU, so I may see if something from their lineup of free channels has them. It's a long shot though. I think the third one is being picked up by the NFL network. That's the most important one. The others, I'll probably have to settle for radio and look at some replays later.

You're right, of course, Shaw. Nobody's third string is going to look polished. I think offensive line is more dependent on cohesiveness than just about any other position on the team, which is why third string offenses often look so sloppy in preseason.

It would have been interesting to see how Josh Allen does in the first preseason game even without Brandon Beane having made that comment. I'm assuming he will play in that game with the 3s. The dumpster fire comments not withstanding, I think these are kind of unusual circumstances in that apart from Shady, Kelvin and Charles Clay, all the skill positions look to be unusually fluid. Who are the third string wide receivers? Not Kelvin Benjamin - that much is established. Maybe not Andre Holmes. I'm not sure there's anybody else you could rule out, but a number of presumed depth players have already been with the ones in practice - Malachi Dupree for instance. The way these receivers are moving up and down from day to day, I'm not sure the threes as a group are going to be all that much worse than some of the "better" receivers on the team. I'm sure Allen won't be throwing to Charles Clay in the first preseason game, but with Nick O'Leary out with injury (he may or may not be back for the first preseason game) Probably Logan Thomas is second team, but Khari Lee is not all that green. Jason Croom was in training camp last season and wasn't too bad. There could be worse targets for a third string QB to have to throw to. But the running back room actually has a fair amount of experience. Everybody but Keith Ford has played in a NFL game, Cadet, Jones, and Murphy flor Buffalo (among the non-starters). Keith Ford is actually a fairly promising UDFA, with good size and decent speed/quickness. It's really the offensive line where things could be kind of ugly. Redmond will be the center. Ike Boettger, Mo Porter, DeBeer, and Deondre Wesley are among those who could line up at tackle on third string. Some of them could also line up at guard along with Wyatt Teller. With the switching around they've done, they probably won't be a terribly cohesive unit. The good news is Josh Allen played with a terrible offensive line his senior year at Wyoming. He should feel right at home LOL.

I expressed an opinion in my post, but I guess Trump pointing a finger warrants a response. In Kelvin Benjamin's rookie season, his best season, he had 1008 yards on 73 receptions. He was targeted 145 times. That equals out to approximately 1 catch for every 2 targets or 50%. Where did that rank him? He ranked 20th in the league in yardage for WRs. He was 14th in the number of receiving touchdowns. He ranked 19th in number of receptions. Benjamin was out all of 2015 with an injury. In 2016, Benjamin's 941 yards ranked him 26th in receiving yards. He was targeted 117 times and had 63 receptions. That reception to target ration is well down the list among receivers for both years. With 7 receiving touchdowns, he actually ranked a little higher in that category than two years previously, tied for eleventh with about 4 other receivers. Last year with the Bills, of course, he was well down the stat sheet for receivers, but then he was fighting through an injury and had Tyrod throwing the ball to him. There is no particular criteria for declaring a receiver is something special, but from my perspective, he's got to be somewhere in the top 10 to get that label from me. Kelvin Benjamin hasn't been there. That doesn't mean I dislike him. If the Bills think he has some untapped potential, they are in agreement with me. I like him, and I think he could be a difference maker for the Bills, but he clearly has not been thus far in his NFL career. And what Mr. Trump needs to learn is that when he's busy pointing a finger at someone, he's got three of his own fingers pointing back at him.

The list of receivers in the AFL East is underwhelming to say the most. If you go by past results, Kelvin Benjamin is nothing special. I think the Bills signed him because they believe he still has some unrealized potential and they can create the situation with the right QB where he can realize more of his potential than he has thus far.

Yeah, the one injury that is worse for a DB than an ACL. And it wasing even a practice session - it was his reporting conditioning test.

Of course not, but one of the two interceptions was a catchable ball to Kelvin Benjamin that Benjamin tipped twice before the defender came down with it. Let me make myself clear. I don't think Josh Allen has won the starting QB battle by a long shot. I'm not predicting he will. I am saying that he has shown us the qualities the Bills liked about him when they drafted him, as well as the weaknesses he needs to correct. The qualities that the Bills like include the facts that he is bright and coachable. I think he is making some progress in addressing some of those weaknesses. By addressing the weaknesses, he automatically helps his odds of being named the starter, but he's not there yet. It's also clear that if he can fix his weaknesses, he has a far higher ceiling than McCarron or Peterman. I'm hoping he can realize his potential eventually because if he does, he's far more likely to qualify as a franchise QB than McCarron or Peterman.

No, but his grandad has been known to swing a golf club once in a while.

absolutely

I'm not hoping for a specific winner in the QB competition. I am hoping it doesn't drag on for too long. Originally I predicted McCarron would be the winner, but the trend certainly looks like Allen can pull it out. They wore pads on day three. The competition is far from over, but the signs are showing improving odds for Allen.

I think the Bills players could do a lot worse than becoming a reflection of their head coach. When they were a reflection of Rex Ryan, they were sloppy and inconsistent.

I understand he walked on water today, after he fed the training camp fans with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread that some boy brought for his lunch.

These are some quotes from Joe Buscaglia's day 3 camp coverage: On McCarron - "Every once and again he'll see his first read and make a great throw down the field that makes you want to see more, but the remainder of the time shows a version of McCarron that is playing not to lose the job. The trouble is, that mentality might also cause him to lose the starting competition." On Peterman - "In his first three days, Peterman has panicked in the pocket a bit and looks a little nervous to my eye. As a result, his accuracy has suffered, completing only 6-of-14 pass attempts over the last two days." Today in 11 on 11 work, all five of McCarron's completions were dumpoff type passes, either behind the LOS or within a very few yards of the LOS. McDermott may not be thrilled with turnovers, but I doubt that a constant diet of dumpoffs are his cup of tea either. After all, Buffalo just got rid of a QB this spring essentially because he was a game manager who wouldn't take enough risks. Regarding Peterman, I was a cheerleader for him last season, but he's hardly been proven to be a QB you can rely on not to throw interceptions. If he doesn't regain the form he was showing in OTAs, I don't see him as a serious threat to start. I agree that Josh Allen needs to work on his consistency. He needs to see when DBs are baiting him better, keep working on his footwork and accuracy in the short passing game. I'm just saying at this point, it's Allen who looks like he wants it and appears to be on a learning curve. McCarron and Peterman to this point look like they're on a train headed nowhere. If that trend continues, I would have a hard time rooting for McDermott to pick McCarron or Peterman as my starter.

More than one media observer noted today (third day of training camp) that Josh Allen outplayed his competition for the position. If that is happening this early in training camp, and it continues with some consistency, it's going to be hard for McDermott not to name Allen as the starter come September, if not a lot sooner.

It's been explained well enough here and elsewhere, there's no point repeating it. It's another sign we go the right QB.

Yeah, physically he's just about the same size as Lawson. When he came out of college he as regarded as having good tools, but underperformed on the field-wasn't as physical as he could have been. He's was drafted in 2015, so he's had a little time to get coached up, but the fact that he's a free agent suggests that hasn't been entirely successful.