BuffaloBillyG

Elam wasn't ready. He's a press corner that needed to learn and get better at zone coverage. Benford played meaningful snaps because he was better suited for the defense. Cook not being ready was two fold, I believe. One at his position no use running him into the rookie wall early. Two, as he showed even late in the season he had some struggles reading pass protection as well as breaking off his routes a bit early or free lancing...which lead to 2 Allen INTs I can recall off the to of my head. Again...not rushing guys on the field due to draft position rather than getting them out there when they are ready is a GOOD thing and the result of a deep roster.

I believe this is one of the more overblown narratives on this board. 2017 Draft class included: White Dawkins Zay Jones Milano All saw significant snaps as rookies. 2018: Allen Edmunds Phillips Taron Robert Foster All saw significant snaps as rookies 2019: Oliver Ford Singletary Knox All saw significant snaps as rookies 2020: AJE Moss Gabe Davis All saw reasonable snap time 2021: Groot Brown Both ended season as starters and saw significant playtime throughout the year. So most of the top end higher picks have seen significant playtime their rookie year. Some worked in a bit slower and some started right off the bus. The mid to lower picks saw less time...and that's actually a result of the Bills taking guys that are a bit more raw with bigger upside than it is anything else IMO. Not handing guys playtime off draft status is actually a good thing. Make them earn it. Also notice that as the years go on and the roster gets deeper with more talent the rookies get less playtime. Believe it or not that's actually a POSITIVE thing. The drumbeat for this narrative has been growing louder since last year because fans want to see Shakir more. While I believe Shakir has the tools to be good he flat out wasn't ready last year. He showed some splashes. He just wasn't where he needed to be. The simple fact that they would play McKenzie over him (a guy they have tried for years to replace) and brought Cole Beasley back off the basketball court is a solid sign that Shakir just didn't impress the staff enough. And that's ok for a 5th rounder. He'll get there. There are a lot of things that are easy to target McD on with questions (challenge flag usage for example). However rookie playtime just isn't one of them.

Other Josh Allen is becoming too commercialized.

Agree. The guys left that they could restructure all have some question marks around them. I think it's far more plausible we see an extension or 2 that lowers the cap hit this year if they need to free up some money. Jones is possible. An Oliver extension would free up space (not that I'm advocating that they do that one). Dawkins perhaps (but like Oliver, not advocating). They could also have a surprise roster cut/trade this preseason as well. Tons of breathing room to still maneuver for Beane and still end up $4-5M under the cap without too much future impact.

I don't think it's a mystery at all. Shakir just wasn't ready. Yes, he looked great in the preseason and had some flash plays during the season... especially later on in the year. However, the fact they didn't give him snaps over the corpse of Beasley and McKenzie who they have actively tried to replace for 2 seasons speaks volumes. Kid was a 5th round pick and was taken there for a reason. That said , I do expect him to take some steps forward and get meaningful snaps this year. Some guys just need a bit longer to learn what to do. He'll be fine though, IMO.

He absolutely is. No question about it. Now, I don't see the Bills making this move, but it's not because of financial reasons. I don't think Beane would feel good about giving up the draft compensation that the Rams would likely be looking for if they choose to move him. And I can't blame him there. As fans it's easy to sit here and scream "DON'T CARE HOW...I WANT IT NOW" all sounding like Veruca from the Willie Wonka movie. But mortgaging the future is a risky endeavor and one that if it doesn't work out has far reaching consequences on not only his job security, but the job security of everyone under him.

I do agree that he would likely want new a new deal. However, if a team is trading for him and giving him a new deal they can structure it a lot of diff ways including adding void years to minimize the cap hit as well. I believe they could even structure it back loaded so his actual cap hits are LESS than that $13.5 and $10 million the first two years as well.

I agree with this for a few reasons. 1. Ed seems like the type that is motivated by a payday to me. I think he will have an amazing season. We sure could use it this year. 2. Better he plays the higher his next contract will be and there's a chance that won't come from Bills. Beane seems to be leaning into the comp pick game and Ed could fetch a high one with a great year. 3. I'm not 100% sold on Oliver being the type that gets a big deal and plays up to it. I think there's a good chance he's one of the ones that gets paid and gets complacent. I predict that whatever and wherever he lands his 2nd contract...he won't live up to the price.

My eyes read that as "Baby Yoda"

I just got the mental image of Daboll running the route tree and catching passes. For some reason it was set the the Benny Hill theme and it was absolutely hysterical.

Both the Bills and the Dolphins have VERY full RB rooms at the moment. I don't see either team making a beeline to sign him despite the early off season rumors that Miami wanted him. Minnesota did him a bit dirty hanging onto him this long when most RB needy teams have spent FA money and high draft capital on RBs.

McKenzie is a fine player. He does have the skillset to play in the NFL. He however IMO is better suited as a role player. He can be a fun player to watch on an up and coming team...which he was here for years. And I believe he will be for Indy. I just don't believe he has the talent to be a full time NFL WR on a contending team. I do wish him luck and will be rooting he does well.

Brady was part of the Bucs problem last year. Just didn't have it in many games. I don't see a huge dropoff between what they got out of Brady last year and what they may get from Baker or Trask this year. Experience and friendly flags will be the the main difference. Baker can play at an average starting QB level. He's got the best WR tandem he's ever had at his disposal. Would have liked to see him with a more offensive minded coach than Todd Freaking Bowles.

Ho.estly, Justin Jefferson may be the guy this year. Or Hurts.

Doomed

I mean, he's been a FA for a bit over 24 hours. May take a few days to gather up offers. To the bolded: everyone said the same thing about Odell until Baltimore shelled out some significant dollars. Just takes 1 team.

I wouldn't call it scary. They were very good last year. They were awful the year before with largely the same players (added Sauce and another couple players). Sauce had a great rookie year. Sooner or later though, those flags he wasn't getting on the DPIs all season will be thrown. Mosley is another year older as well. Williams is about to get PAID...does he go the route of Dareus and slack off? This was also a team without expectations last year. That changes some things. Right now, Saleh keeps mentioning the Jets as a Super Bowl contender. Not playoff. Not Division winners. Super Bowl. His mouth is writing checks and hoping a 40 year old QB that showed a big downswing last year can cash em. He's basically putting himself on the hot seat. That team starts slow....it will implode FAST.

Wait, Virgil isn't your name? I don't believe that. Next thing you'll try and say is that isn't actually you in the profile picture. We aren't falling for your tricks, Virgil...

This feels weird to type... But I think we are set at the IOL position. Between Bates, McGovern, Edwards and Torrence.... I'd like to see how that room plays out.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this defense ran by McD. A healthy Hyde and Poyer. White bouncing back a bit. The return of Von. Year 2 of the young CBs. And new look ways to get pressure on the QB...this defense has potential to be really solid.

IIRC, he was a finalist for that job along with Culley and someone else. Frazier ended up pulling his name pretty late in the process and the job went to Culley. My gut feeling was always that he was getting that one and pulled out because of the way the Texans leadership was structured at that time. It was a job that was set up to fail and Frazier couldn't afford that at his age. I think they were just looking for a "yes man". Seeing how they dealt with Culley, Frazier made the right call.

Here's the thing. There is absolutely a place in the NFL for a guy like Frazier to have seen another HC job. It just never materialized the way he hoped. Teams that are coming off turmoil filled seasons often look to an older, mature steady coach as a transitional coach to get the franchise smooth again. I honestly believe his best shout was a couple years ago when he interviewed with the Texans after the Bill O'Brien tenure. Would have been an ideal guy to come in and be basically the opposite of O'Brien. And the Texans hired that kind of coach as well, reaching for Dave Culley. That was likely his last real shot. I don't see him getting a HC job now, at his age after taking a year off but stranger things have happened. I do think he ends up somewhere as a consultant or some other such title. You can say all the negative things you want...but the man has a wealth of knowledge and football experience on his resume.

I do and have said many times that consistency is an issue. I also feel like Dorsey is partly to blame for the inconsistency as he really didn't seem to adjust much to get Davis going in many instances. I find it more of a problem that the offensive coordinator calls long developing routes knowing that pass protection was an issue last year. I know some have speculated that Allen's elbow injury caused the Bills to have to throw longer routes but who knows.

I think he's a tad higher than low end. One of the biggest issues with his play last year is that a lot of his routes were ones that take time to develop. When you couple that with immediate pressure up the middle on many of Allen's passes last year it causes him to have to break that off and it becomes a bit of "backyard ball"...just get open and be ready. That isn't Davis's strong suit. He plays very well when things go to plan. When Allen has protection and Davis can get through his whole route he usually does very well. This is why I had issue with Dorsey not adjusting the offense a bit to a quicker fast attacking short to mid route gameplan. With the Bills focusing on shoring up that IOL this year with McGovern, who is very strong at pass blocking, Edwards and Torrence I expect Davis to be able to run those deeper routes that Dorsey likes to run.

836 yards. 7 TDs. 15 games. Those are solid #2 numbers. Does need to be more consistent. Does need to haul in more passes thrown his way. But I can cherry pick a stat or 2 as well.