GreggTX

That's true, but I think they know what kind of money Clowney and Clark are asking for, so I doubt they'd make the deal if they weren't willing to meet their price. I can't remember who, but I remember a GM saying pretty much this same thing a few years ago after a blockbuster deal like that.

I hate that we play the Patriots right before the bye. We'll have to sit on another stinging home loss to Bellicheck and Brady for 2 agonizing weeks.

7-9. If we land Williams or Oliver and add either Clowney or Clark, I'll up that to 8-8. Drafting Metcalf at 9 would do nothing for our win total.

3-2 at the bye. Finish at 7-9.

Not gonna happen, but as consolation, he played better at G than some posters give him credit for. If he makes even a small step in year 2, he should be your average starter.

At #40? Fine. If they make such a huge reach at 9, I'll be very, very upset.

We really need a DT more than a DE, but we definitely would be improved with Clowney. I don't know how much he's worth, but even if we did sign Clowney, we still need a big upgrade ar DT.

I have a "hunch" that our OL will be better too. Anything is possible, but it's hard to imagine Shady having a worse year than last in 2019 unless this O is riddled by injuries.

I doubt we'll have a top 12 passing offense and right now our top 2 RB's are over 30. I definitely think our 3rd RB could get a lot of snaps. Also, our OL is average. There is not a single probowl caliber player there. Still, that's a big improvement.

The Bills might draft a RB in the mid to late rounds, but I think the plan is to draft one early on next year and ride Shady this year.

This needs to be a run heavy offense primarily to avoid turnovers. Josh will make big plays, especially with his legs, but he will also make a relatively high percentage of off target throws that will be intercepted. Running will be safer. There's no question that Shady's physical gifts have started to atrophy some and this will be his last year as our starter, but I think he has another 1,000 yard season in him. Of course, our improved OL should help us score more rushing TD's also.

Winning

On points 2, 3 and 4... You're right about the defense. If we score more points, other teams will be less conservative and we'll be nowhere near #2 in 2019 without a dominant DL. I sincerely hope that we go DT & DE in the 1st round (by trading back up into the 1st again). Our DL is weak, I also hope the coaches ride Edmunds and toughen him up. He has to learn to love hitting. I don't care if he costs us a couple personal fouls. The kid just isn't mean enough to play MLB. He needs to spend an offseason doing attitude adjustment with Dick Butkus. I think Kroft is going to have his best season to date. He's not great, but I think he's been a bit hidden behind Uzomah and Eiffert. He'll get a chance to be the #1 guy this year and as he did when given more chances in Cincinnati, take another step upward. Call it a hunch. Our OL is not now dominant. Far from it. However, we went from somewhere around 26-32 in ranking to somewhere around 10-15. That's quite an improvement and I think it will show. I'm looking for another 1,000 season from Shady now. I think that, more than anything else, will help Allen to progress.

Thanks for reminding us that McDermott was hired as the GM and thus he ran the 2017 draft. How could we have forgotten? BTW, who is giving you all this insider information that none of the rest of us are privy to?

This tells me and everyone in the NFL that the Pegula's will spare no expense to make this franchise 2nd to none. That's good for recruitment at all levels of the organization -- From top to bottom.

Who's going to Canton?

Do you want a WR at 9? The reason I ask is that there don't appear to be any WR's in this draft rated that high and we already have Beasley, Brown, Jones and Foster and a couple others. Maybe we should even wait until next year to bring in someone that could be elite. One way that the Bills could maximize their talent at WR is by using 4 WR sets and forcing other teams to use 3 or even 4 CB's to cover them all. All of the WR's I listed are average or better. How many teams have 4 CB's that are average or better? Our #3 and #4 WR's could have pretty decent numbers this year because that's where you'll find our most favorable mismatches. Imagine Jones or Foster all day against a dumpster dive CB that just signed. I'll take that matchup all day long.

Great thread and OP. Morse will "definitely" be a better C than Wood. E Wood was a backup caliber C for several years before he retired.

Bosa, Allen & Williams are 3 guys worth trading up for, but not if we trade away our 2nd round pick. I think the more likely scenario is trading back up to get 2 picks in the 1st or 2nd round if there is a guy at a position of need (Edge, DT, CB, LB or RB) that they have rated as a steal at that point or there is a considerable drop off in talent after him. I mention CB here because of its importance. RB and LB because we are thin and a bit older at those positions.

We will all be shocked when our 1st pick is announced because it's rarely the guy that most of us expected. We should all have our wives take a picture of our faces when the pick is announced and post it on TBD.

I disagree that pass protection should be favored over run blocking. The hardest offense to stop is the one that runs between the tackles, runs wide, throws short or long equally well because they can catch you off guard more easily. Obviously the Patriots are an exception because of Brady, but he truly is unique in that regard. I also think relying on Allen's passing acumen too much would be a mistake.

It's true that we lack high end talent, but I think having a roster without more than 1 or 2 big holes actually makes a team very hard to beat. They don't have to overcompensate for weak areas and can more easily catch the other team off balance because they can do one thing or another with equal aplomb. This kinda goes hand in hand with my belief that playcalling is an underappreciated art. There's no better play than the one the other team isn't looking for. That said, we musr have 3 or 4 elite talents on our roster to win a SB or it gets much harder to do. Maybe not impossible, but still much harder.

And this is a unit that can heavily tilt the win/loss column in your favor if the talent is very good.

2 points I wanted after reading the OP. 1. Deon Lacey should be on that list. He just signed a new contract. 2. You seem to treat DT as an afterthought. I see it as the last remaining "gaping hole" on the roster (assuming Allen and Edmunds play well in 2019). Lotulelei is average at best and after him there is a big drop off. H Phillips may be a solid starting DT some day, but he's still a long way from there. I really think that great defense starts with a great front 4. At DE, Hughes is very good, but no one is comparing him to guys like A Donald, K Mack or V Miller. After Hughes there is also a considerable drop off. I want the best players we can get on draft day, but would be greatly pleased if the 2 day 1 starters you refer to were a DT and a DE. I also think Suh will be signed by someone shortly after the draft and possibly by us if we still have the cap space.