DCOrange

It’s a cap hit of just over $9 mil both this year and next according to Spotrac.

Drake Dixon Kamara Hunt Conner Cohen Jamaal Mack Freeman Hines As I said, all 10 have either been starters already or are more like Cohen where they’re playing a lot of snaps and playing well but aren’t technically the starter. Are all of these guys as good as Prime McCoy? No. Are they as good as Current McCoy and Next Year McCoy? Not all of them, but for the money, I’d rather have a committee including guys like this than to spend $9 million on McCoy, who’s arguably a below average starter right now and in the very least, could realistically be below average next season.

To me, I think it makes sense to cut McCoy in the offseason, so getting a 3rd round pick for him now would be very nice. A 4th round pick is just enough that I think it's worth moving on from him a little early. An extra 3rd or 4th round pick could potentially be a McCoy replacement, could be a bonus chip to move up for a prospect that the team especially likes, etc. 3rd and 4th round RBs between the past 3 drafts: Kenyan Drake CJ Prosise Tyler Ervin Kenneth Dixon Devontae Booker Alvin Kamara Kareem Hunt D'Onta Freeman James Conner Samaje Perine Tarik Cohen Joe Williams Donnell Pumphrey Jamaal Williams Wayne Gallman Marlon Mack Royce Freeman Nyheim Hines Mark Walton Ito Smith Kalen Ballage Chase Edmunds Obviously it's still early, and in some cases, extremely early, but of the 22 guys listed here, 12 of them already have a fairly sized role on their NFL team. Of those 12, 10 of them are either starters, or play roughly starter's snaps and grade out very well. So we're talking almost a 50% chance that a RB you take there can be a potential McCoy replacement and they'd be paid roughly 9% of what we're paying McCoy.

Yes, Barnwell mentions that in the blurb that I quoted. I agree that this deal doesn't do it for me. I'd definitely do it if it included a 3rd instead though. A 3rd alone is more than enough for me. A 4th is where I'd begin to consider it. Anything less and I wouldn't bother.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/24951743/2018-nfl-midseason-trade-ideas-why-make-sense-teams-bill-barnwell

I'm wondering (hoping) that Buffalo is forcing him to focus on improving on the fundamentals before they'll be willing to make the read-option/QB Keepers a larger staple of the offense. They do seem to run the read-option a fair amount as is, but as Benoit pointed out, with Allen's size and mobility, you would think it would play a larger role in the offense, especially given the lack of playmakers around him.

I'm not going to try to paint the Cardinals as a strong supporting cast by any means. The O-Line alone is enough to really hamper any chance that Rosen has, especially given his relatively lackluster mobility. Regarding the pass catchers, looking at the numbers for each team's top 3 reception leaders from PlayerProfiler.com: Larry Fitz: 85% True Catch Rate (receptions/catchable pass attempts) Christian Kirk: 90.5% Ricky Seals-Jones: 66.7% They don't display David Johnson's since he's a RB unfortunately. Total: 82.1% Zay Jones: 81.2% (for the record, this is a gigantic improvement from last year, when he was roughly the worst in the NFL) Charles Clay: 81.8% Kelvin Benjamin: 53.3% Total: 71.4% Obviously this is still very early in the year, but for what it's worth, based on all of the receivers that I tracked last year, a true catch rate of 82.1% would be considered elite while 71.4% would be below-average.

I mean he's the #2 QB on the team. The likelihood that he isn't getting any passing reps is pretty slim. I don't think that's a guess at all. As for the footwork, you could see it in their respective college tape and you can see it in Allen's NFL tape; no guesswork needed.

Yeah, I said pretty much this same exact thing in the Anthony Johnson or Bryce Love thread haha. I believe I said "He could be what we expected Benjamin to be". He stood out big time whenever I watched Texas last year, though his overall production last year wasn't really where you'd hope it would be. He might be too similar to Ray-Ray for the Bills to take him, but Olamide Zaccheus is another guy that's pretty interesting to watch. I'm not entirely sold on him as a good NFL prospect just yet, but I do love guys that you can use in a lot of different ways. He's listed as a RB for some reason, but he averages over 100 receiving yards per game so far this year and only has like 5 carries so far.

The McCoy rumors and the "Anthony Johnson or Bryce Love?" thread got me thinking more about the RB prospects, so much like how we have a WR Prospects thread, I thought I'd create one for RBs. Curious to see who people like so far. A few of the guys I have my eyes on: Damien Harris - Media seems to see him as the #1 RB in the class now that Montgomery and Rodney Anderson both got hurt. I'm not sure he's the best RB prospect personally, but he does offer a pretty varied skillset, and given his connection to Daboll and his scheme fit, I could easily envision Buffalo targeting him with their early 2nd round pick if he makes it there. He ironically kinda reminds me of a young Chris Ivory with some Kareem Hunt in there too. Seemingly always falls forwards, willing blocker, pretty good hands out of the backfield, and nice vision and patience but seems to lack the burst that you'd ideally look for and also doesn't seem to really make people miss/run through them and keep going very often. Karan Higdon - For now at least, I think he should be in the discussion for the best RB prospect. Explosive as hell and feisty; he kinda reminds me of Ronald Jones from last year. I want to see how Higdon does this year against the better Big 10 teams. He had a good showing vs. Maryland but Michigan hasn't really gotten into the heart of their schedule yet. Matt Colburn II - Probably a Day 3 pick at the moment. Doesn't have the production that you'd ideally want, but he looks like a good all-around back to me. Kinda reminds me of Doug Martin coming out of Boise State. Darrell Henderson - He is putting up other-worldly numbers so far this year. 156 rushing yards per game on just under 12 yards per carry, and another 30 receiving yards per game on 20 yards per catch and 14 TDs in 6 games. Memphis uses him as a traditional RB as well as a Wildcat QB. Only listed at 5'9" but he's a pretty thickly-built dude ala Maurice Jones-Drew at 200 lbs and he's pretty explosive too.

Josina Anderson was just on ESPN saying that from what she's hearing, it sounds like the Eagles plan to get past their Thursday night game this week and then they'll turn their attention to pursuing McCoy.

There is another thread (that I posted), but I’d disagree with Marpet not being elite. He’s been rated as a top 5-10 player at his position all 4 years of his career now and he’s done it while playing 3 different positions. I think he’s more than deserving of being one of the highest paid in the league.

Power rankings have always been what they think. If you wanted to know “what is” you’d just look at the standings. And the comment about which game a team is least likely to win has no real bearing on where they are ranked in the power rankings. It’s just a one-off comment about a difficult game on their schedule.

I’m not the one you’re asking, but my personal opinion is that I think McCoy is cut in the offseason, so the options are either to get something for him now, or to hold onto him for this wasted season to try to benefit Josh and then lose him for nothing. a 4th round pick is where I start to consider trading him. Anything more than that, I would say yes. Anything less and I wouldn’t bother.

I think Clayton pretty much nailed what is McCoy's actual trade value. I don't think Buffalo will trade him for that though. Probably need a 3rd without strings attached to get it done from Buffalo's end even though McCoy probably isn't worth that anymore.

I realize that my initial comment wasn't very specific... A few of the RBs and WRs that I have my eye on right now: WRs: N'Keal Harry - Still early, but I have him as the #1 WR in the draft class at the moment. Kelvin Harmon - Good combination of route running and hands. Probably a first round pick, maybe top 15 Collin Johnson - Might be what Kelvin Benjamin should have been for us. I'd guess he's valued around the 2nd or 3rd round for now, maybe higher if he has a good Combine. Olamide Zaccheus - Sometimes listed as a RB...he's explosive as hell however you want to use him. If Buffalo liked Ray-Ray, they'll like this guy too. Probably a Day 3 pick if I had to guess but I'm keeping an eye on him. Tyre Brady - Always stood out to me when I was watching Chase Litton tape. Seems to be a Day 3/UDFA guy at the moment but I think he's undervalued. RBs: Damien Harris - Media views him as the #1 RB prospect in the draft this year, and given his connection to Daboll and his natural fit for where I think this offense is going, I think this is a serious possibility, especially if Buffalo trades McCoy. Strong runner, good vision/patience, willing pass blocker, good hands out of the backfield; the main flaw is that he looks pretty slow, not really elusive, and while he always falls forward, he doesn't seem to really run through people and keep going. Matt Colburn II - I'd guess he's on the Day 3 radar right now, but he kinda reminds me of Doug Martin coming out of Boise State. Just seems like a good all-around RB to me. Darrell Henderson - Absolutely tearing the country up right now; basically this year's Bryce Love while also bringing some pass-catching ability to the fold. Probably a Day 2 pick. Karan Higdon - I think he might be the best RB in the class. Explosive, agile, and feisty as hell. My two complaints are that he has a smallish frame (School lists him at 5'10" 202 lbs, but I've seen him listed at 5'9" 190 elsewhere and he looks pretty small) and he hasn't had much of an opportunity as a receiver.

How about neither? Neither guy is a 1st round pick IMO and there’s better options in the 2nd and 3rd round too. Between the two, I’d take Love, but I’m not really sold on either.

They all have either good weapons around them, or a good coach, but they obviously also play a heavy hand in that themselves. For example, Kenny Golladay is the highest rated WR on the Lions this year. Chris Godwin was rated higher than DeSean Jackson last year. Kamara IS the weapon; I think he was the highest rated RB in the league last year and he's a huge reason the Saints offense is what it is this year. Hunt's running ability played a large role in allowing Alex Smith to throw it deep for the first time in his career. And Buffalo has to start somewhere as far as weapons go. To me, the chance at adding even more cap space and also having a swing at another highly rated draft prospect is more than enough to trade McCoy. My main argument in favor of trading McCoy for a 3rd or 4th round pick would be this: You can replace McCoy for roughly half the money we are currently paying him. You can also hope you draft well and just draft his replacement for pennies compared to McCoy. Or you can both sign a player of roughly McCoy's current/long-term playing level and also draft a RB that may also be that same level. It's not terribly difficult to find above average RBs anymore, which is optimistically what you're hoping McCoy will be moving forwards.

The Kamara draft was likely a flukey year, but it really is pretty crazy to look at. 9 RB/WRs went in the 3rd round that year. 6 of them are above average starters this year and 5 of them are elite according to PFF.

Not sure if it's really been discussed as a possibility here, but I've been trying to tell Bills fans that Marpet would not hit free agency this offseason. Terms of the deal have not been made public yet but I'm guessing roughly 5 years, $65 million. Edit: 5 years, $55 million is the official number.

If you actually provided film breakdowns, you could be. That's kind of the beauty of America; if you're willing to put the work in and know what you're doing, there's a decent chance you can carve out a niche for yourself like he has.

Cleveland is a very talented team IMO. One of the best O-Lines in the league, two decent RBs (plus whatever you think of Chubb), a good WR in Landry, and two talented TEs in Njoku and Fells. The Jets aren't a very good team, but their RB tandem is playing as well as anyone in the league outside of the Gordon/Ekeler and Kamara/Ingram tandems, and they have a pretty good group of WRs (missing a #1 guy but have a bunch of solid options). And the only starting QB in the league that has a lower grade from PFF than Darnold is Allen himself. They've both struggled immensely overall this season. Rosen had a strong debut for the Cardinals but he came back down to Earth this week. And he at least has Fitz, Kirk, and David Johnson to work with. That OLine is a mess though. I do think all 3 of them would be playing better for Buffalo than Allen presently is, but I also think Buffalo has the worst supporting cast by a decent margin between the 4. I believe Marino is a Bills fan who happens to have been breaking down film for awhile now. The guys at TDN do a lot of blending film study with advanced stats.

I think it's pretty much a certainty that Lamar is taking passing reps in practice. He hasn't had an opportunity to show it in live games yet, but in terms of footwork, I think Allen presently has more issues than Lamar does (Lamar has his own as well to be sure though).

I do think it's okay for now, but for example, a guy like Rosen (who I did not and still do not like anywhere near as much as Allen) would not be displaying the footwork issues that Allen is. The gamble with Allen is that with his work ethic and intelligence, he'd eventually iron out those issues and coupled with his physical tools, turn into an elite QB. To me, I'm down to make that gamble every time on a guy with those tools and personality. But having said that, in terms of the development curve, he's most definitely behind the other rookies that are starting right now and might be behind Lamar too.

They're literally just stating which game the team has the lowest chance to win. The game in New England is a lower probability than the game in Buffalo; that's all they're saying.