TigerJ

I was participating in a church camp for fathers and sons, with my son, who was 7 at the time. We were camping at a water only access campground at the Kinzua Reservoir near Warren, PA. We were on a canoe excursion, heading back to our camp site, when a thunderstorm blew in very quickly. We are on the water in aluminum canoes. The wind came up quickly and blew directly against us. It was so strong that it kept turning the canoes around so we couldn't go back to our campground. Lightning was frequent and the thunder indicated the strikes were pretty close. My son asked me in tears, "Are we gonna die, Dad?" We did the only thing we could, canoe to the shore of the reservoir, pull the canoes on shore and wait out the storm under a tree. I know when you're in a field, under an isolated tree is the last place you want to be, but when you're in a national forest and there are trees all around, you don't have much choice. One tree is no more likely than a million others to be struck. In a forest, the place you don't want to be in a thunderstorm is on a hill top. Lightning strikes are much more frequent at topographical high points. I saw a tornado when I was a kid, but apparently it was near the point of dissipating. On the radio the next day, it was reported there were other sightings, but no reports of damage. More recently, in our present home, just shy of 8 years ago, we had a lightning strike that apparently hit an electric line close to our home. The sound was instantaneous after the lightning and sounded like a real loud gun shot. It triggered a GFI in an electrical circuit in our basement and fried our washing machine.

We've got 5 weeks and 2 days to kill before there is going to be any new content related to what the Bills are doing on the field. That means if we're going to talk Bills at all, we're going to talk about old stuff. I think it is well established that Tyrod is a high character guy who gets the most out of his talent, but his ceiling is clearly limited. For most of us, I think Michael Salfino is preaching to the choir, whether or not we have looked at a particular statistic.

I don't think Lawson is quaranteed a pot on this roster, given the acquisition of Trent Murphy and a few other free agents. He is competing for a roster spot, but I think he has decent odds of making it. Eddie Yarbrough was a good addition last season, but he doesn't have great athleticisim. I think he is in as much danger as Shaq. It depends not only on Trent Murphy making a successful comeback from his injury, but players like Odighizuwa and Mike Love, both of whome are pretty athletic. Odghizuwa in particular is close to elite in his athleticism. If he can get his athleticism to translate into production, he will be a key contributor to the team, and somebody else is going to have a tougher time making the cut.

Obviously, Aaron Rodgers' success is connected to a lot of factors, not just instinct. He's athletic and smart too. The way Green Bay brought him along worked for him. That brings up the whole debate of whether it's better to play a rookie QB right away or let him sit and learn. I don't know the answer to that, but my suspicion is that it might be different for different QBs. That's a different issue however. I do think besides everything else Aaron Rodgers has going for him, I do think he's pretty instinctive, which was to point of my post.

The age of Buffalo's running backs is indeed an issue. If as some project the Bills' running backs are McCoy, Ivory, Travaris Cadett, and Taiwan Jones, their respective ages right now are 29, 30, 29, and 29. That does make me a bit nervous. Appart from the proverbial wall, there is also the isue of injuries. Bot Cadett and Jones are coming off injuries, and now they are a year older. With the receivers, it's an issue of question marks. Kelvin Benjamin, if healthy is a good receiver, I think. He seems to be both healthy and motivated this season. Zay Jones may develop in his sophomore year. Jeremy Kerley is a savvy veteran in the slot, even if he lacks great measurables. Beyond those three, we don't even have a real good handle on who is going to make the final roster. Reilly and Streater could be pretty good. McCloud and Proehl have some quickness. Dupre seems to have some talent. Who's going to make the team though? Will they get a chance to compete.?

"Instincts" is a work that gets thrown around a lot when discussing draft prospects. I think there could be some confusion with it in view of its broad usage. When I think of instincts, I think of something that is more or less genetic. You either have it or you don't and there is nothing you can do to change it. I think there is probably some of that among NFL players. Among QBs instinctiveness seems to be connected in some way to anticipation and to the ability to sense pressure. Aaron Rodgers has it. EJ Manuel does not. Tyrod Taylor may have some, but he could stand to have a lot more. There are things that some people associate with instinct that might not be, however. I've seen the criticism that Tremaine Edmunds is not instinctive, versus Roquon Smith (who is instinctive). I have to wonder, however, if some of the perceived deficiency in Tremaine's instinctiveness might be connected to his youth. Roquon is a full year older and played in a program (Georgia) that is part of the SEC (which is kind of like a farm league for the NFL). I figure Tremaine is going to bite on a few misdirection plays this year and get faked out occasionally, but I think next year, when he is the age that Roquon Smith is now, he's going to be a pro bowler. As for QBs in the draft, it could be five years before there is a QB in the draft who comes with little or no risk. Buffalo could go through McBeane and an additional GM/coach regime before they have a chance to grab one. Whether Allen is the right one this year or not we'll have to wait and see, but Baker Mayfield was gone, and I'm glad Beane chose to gamble.

Ironically, I went to the Bills' site today, and it has been completely revamped. So, everyone who has posted might want to go take a look and then come back and post your reaction to the new look of the official site.

The one negative with the official site is sometimes there is stuff going on, but the official website won't acknowledge it until the team makes an official announcement. Case in point: the signing of UDFAs. The identity of the Bills' UDFAs was correctly reported by numerous outlets while the official site maintained complete silence for days.

I wish that I could pick a team other than the Pats, but I think they probably have one more year at the top.

On the other hand, my son is a Bills fan, and I can probably take a little credit for that at least.

I wouldn't read too much into that. Shady knows the plan is to keep Allen mainly with the threes to start training camp. There is no time frame associated with "eventually." Personally, I'm not expecting Allen to be the starter in game one either, but after that, who knows? game 2 in 2018 or game 1 in 2019, or somewhere in between - or later than 2019. I haven't got a clue.

I seen a couple of the quotes, but not all in one place. Thanks.

I would have a two hour drive home, including lots of back roads. Twenty years ago I might have ventured it, but I'd rather not cross paths with a deer in the wee hours of the morning.

My dad was many things, but football fan was not one of them.

I'm pond scum.

Sorry, I completely forgot that Peterman started the Indianpolis "Snow Game" due to Tyrod's concussion. Yes, considering the nightmarish conditions for a QB, his performance in that game was respectable.

Absolutely agree. I think the coaching staff was disappointed in Peterman's performance in the Chargers game last year, but they didn't write him off as a possible starter. When the decision was made to part with Tyrod, I think circumstances were set in motion that are a little bigger than Peterman's own ability, however. The disastrous performance versus the Chargers meant that Beane could not stand pat and just count on Peterman succeeding Tyrod. He had to plan either to obtain a clear veteran starter (which ultimately proved too expensive) or set up a competiton with multiple viable possibilities. That's what he did by signing McCarron and drafting Allen. The percentages I suggested are not much more than my guesses, but because he has started multiple games, McCarron is going to be seen as a safer pick, and Allen, because he was the 7th overall draft pick automatically is awarded the mantle of "QB of the future." It may not be this year, but you have to believe the Bills are going to do everything in their power to help Josh Allen develop not only into a starter, but into a franchise QB in order to prove to fans and the league that they were right to make the trade and pick him where they did. If Allen is not the starter in 2020. if not 2019, lots of people around the league are going to question if Beane made a huge mistake, and that is the last thing Beane wants to happen.

Just saw an article today (sorry - no link) that says Tyrod has outplayed Baker Mayfield, and it's not close. Hue Jackson has said Tyrod will be his starter for the full season. So, did Cleveland draft the wrong QB again? With the glowing reports of Josh Allen's minicamp performance, did Buffalo draft the right one for a change?

Minicamp is over. The players are leaving the area tomorrow to be with family, train on their own or with their own training gurus. With a few exceptions, most of the contracts that need to be signed have been signed. We have entered the slowest time of the year for NFL fans. What are you doing to get your football fix?

The limited reports we've been getting suggest that Peterman has outplayed McCarron in the last few days at least. However, McCarron is the more recent acquisition and has a bigger contract than Peterman, who is on a fifth rounder's rookie deal. Not that those things should matter, but they often do. McCarron has also started more games than Peterman, whose only start was a disaster. I'm not saying that Peterman can't beat out McCarron, but because McCarron has probably been seen as a safer pick to start, Peterman will have to make it abundantly clear that he is the superior QB to McCarron. I'm not completely ruling out Allen as a starter in September, but because the plan has been to bring Allen along slowly, I think he will continue to have to wow the coaches, and play close to perfect football in training camp and the preseason to get McDermott to alter the plan to bring him along slowly. So, at this point, I think the odds are about 60/40 McCarron starts. Peterman has about a 30% chance to start and Allen brings up the rear at 10%.

He could also see it as a way to get the competition for his job hurt so he isn't competition any more. "Coach, I didn't mean to throw the ball high so the linebacker could hit him in the middle of the back like that."

Well, Tyrod, you have at least been able to hang around Bills message board as a topic of conversation. That's something I guess.

Congrats, plenzmd1. Frankly, I don't get to enough Bills games to have a strong opinion about the way things should be. I just know that when I'm there, I'm there for the game. In recent years, I've had a good experience, but Ii can imagine that there are some fans who spoil it for others by letting their rowdiness and drinking get out of hand. Anything the team can do to stay on top of fan behavior is appreciated.

Allen attempted a pass that was broken up by Micah Hyde. I don't know if it was one where Hyde tipped the ball and Edmunds intercepted it, but regardless, I liked what Allen said in his press conference. He said that after the play he went up to Hyde and asked him what he saw that enabled him to break on the ball and break up the pass. Hyde's respons was that it was Allen's eyes-where he was looking. The important thing is that Allen is taking time to get the perspective of the DBs, not just relying on what he coaches are telling him. Obviously, his intention is to learn from everything and everyone, and use that to get better. Presumably, every QB has that attitude coming out of college. It may be that some are more thorough than others. Allen looks like he's pretty thorough. Hopefully, he's also good at transferring what he learns into his own performance.

He was an undersized running back in the 2014 draft, or one of 2 linebackers from Auburn - on in the 2015 draft class and one in the 2018 draft class. I couldn't find any Tre Williams in the 2019 draft, but if you're patient, There might be a defensive tackle in the 2024 draft. He's a 6'3, 308 lb defensive tackle attending a Washington DC high school at present.