Florida Bills Fanatic

The company (the Jags) didn't assault anyone but the employee apparently did. The names of the attorneys aren't really relevant but you can pick most every large corporation that has exclusive travel arrangement contracts who spend millions of dollars on employee travel. They make it a condition of doing business with those large corporations and use the large monetary value of the contracts as leverage to get the terms that they want. The financial liability doesn't extend beyond the offender under those kinds of agreements. I have first hand experience with these kinds of contracts.

This is most likely true but It really depends on his employment status. Different levels of employment status generally create different levels of responsibility and liability for their employers. If the team attorneys were doing their job, their agreement with the charter company would contain language to protect them from third party "deep pocket lawsuits". I'm guessing that this all goes away with a large check and a new kicker in Jacksonville.

Jerry Hughes dumb penalties drove me nuts. Rex Ryan was the worst for me with bad decisions and having no strategic thinking at crunch time.

As a business, ESPN is not a profit driver for Disney. They are under pressure to reduce costs and bring in viewership to increase advertising revenue. There are probably more changes coming. There are many more sources of good sports information and ESPN doesn't have the near monoply that they once have. IMHO, ESPN is almost irrelevant.

New teammates, new playbook, new coaching staff........apparently doesn't see any value is becoming familiar with them sooner. For a guy that wants to be the number 1 receiver wherever he has been, his absence is not helping to close the gap with Collins and Dell. He could easily be third in the pecking order for targets. If that is the case, there's going to be more than a couple of sideline meltdowns. I'm glad the Bills don't have to deal with it.

NFL center is a complex position because of the pre-snap responsibility dealing with pass protection, etc. If McD doesn't throw the rookie in early in the season, it will probably have more to do with knowledge and mental preparation rather than physical ability. I believe he will become a solid performer for the Bills when he is ready or sooner in the event of injuries. I hope we are looking at this late round draft pick in the future the same way we look at the selection of Milano.

Enforcement of the play clock is generally poor. Have an audio alarm in the earpiece of a referee who watches the snap. If the alarm precedes the snap, throw the flag and stop the play. Seems like a better approach than a guy watching the clock and then looking for the snap.

When they did blitz, too often they were very simple and easily countered. I would like to see them blitz in conjunction with d-line stunts, use delayed blitzes, or use overload blitzes forcing the QB toward the short side of the field. Most importantly, they need to blitz more selectively and less frequently so that they are less predictable.

I can't really disagree with much of what is being pointed out here. For me, injuries to front line players may throw any of the rookies into a more prominent role. As fans, many of us fall into two categories. One group over estimates the positive impact that rookies will have on the overall team. The other group is what I like to call "the sky is falling crowd". These people believe the season will go in the toilet, if the team has to rely significantly on rookies. The reality is more nearly somewhere in between. I have more confidence in Bishop and Carter having the ability to step into an important role than some of the other rookies. I do believe Coleman will eventually have a significant positive impact but it might not be this season. I also wonder if we are missing something with Gore Jr..

I've been to several Bills games in Miami. There was usually a large group of us and we sat together. The obnoxious hometown Miami fans (which there are many) left us alone. When the fins are losing, most of their fans are gone before the end of the third quarter. Overall, it's a pretty good game experience. We usually stay in hotels away from the stadium, maybe 20 miles. For a Sunday game, we mostly travel in on Friday night and leave on Monday morning.

Having seen Burks play live at a game, no way would I waste any time or resources on him. Bad hands, poor route runner, and poor quickness was what I saw from him. I don't understand how he was ever seen as good prospect.

I think this whole idea of it being a transition year or a rebuild is a bit over blown. Returning 8 starters on the offense and 7 or 8 (depending how you count Douglas) on defense doesn't sound to me like a major upheaval. I thought Morse was reaching the end of the line and it was time to move on. Diggs and Davis were not the weapons that they needed to be, especially for the last nine games. The team also didn't need the ongoing Diggs drama. Floyd had good games but faded some down the stretch, showing some of his age. White's major injuries and missed games made him a non-factor for two seasons. Poyer and Hyde were not terrible but had clearly lost a step. They remained somewhat effective because of their intelligence and experience. The Bills need the new receiver group to collectively deliver good results, Miller to be at least as good as Floyd, and the safeties to be at least as steady as the older versions of Poyer and Hyde. Moving on from Morse will probably prove to be a nonevent. I don't think any of these things are out of the realm of reasonable possibility.

A friend of mine that works in the NFL (not the Bills) told me not to discount the impact that Hamler will have. He said that Hamler has the speed and deep ball tracking skills that will make him a real threat. Hamler has never had a QB like Allen. He also told me that other teams were interested in him before he chose the Bills. I hope my friend is correct but I will remain skeptical until I see him in the preseason.

second round guy

It would be interesting to correlate the data with good or elite QB play. Some of the guys going in the top half of the draft probably went into a bad QB situation. No matter who the Bills select, they will be under a lot of scrutiny and will constantly be compared to Diggs.

Beane's first round M.O. has been to move up to get a guy they like, if there is a chance the player isn't going to get to them. It will all depend on who they like and where that player or players are likely to be selected. A lot of people expect 5 QB's and as many as 6 OT's going in the first round. If that happens, a good receiver should fall within range to move up. With 10 draft picks this year and the extra second rounder next year, Beane has the capital to make a couple of moves. I'll be surprised if they actually select more than 7 players. The other picks will probably be used to move around. If there isn't a player available to them at 28 that they like at that price, a trade back could happen. I believe that Beane really wants to gain a pick before the end of the third round and those two factors could motivate him to trade back.

How about Bass hole?

Dallas and Miami for starters

When I look around the league and see the number of good receivers that were not drafted in the first round, I get the feeling that fans are more locked into a first round receiver than Beane. The depth in this draft also contributes to that feeling. Beane isn't prone to making abrupt moves without a plan. Trading Diggs wasn't done in a vacuum. The Bills must be confident of drafting a guy that can be a good player or they believe that somebody like Shorter or Hamler can do the job. I thought Diggs looked slow and ineffective during the last half of the season. Davis was too inconsistent. Improving upon them doesn't seem like it should be much of a reach. The Bills may also believe that Allen is good enough to elevate the performance of less regarded draft prospects. In any event, I will be watching the draft unfold with a high degree of anxiety and a couple of adult beverages.

No GM is going to telegraph any info that will tip their plans for the draft. Given Beane's past, he is too clever to do otherwise.

I can't rule out any of your well thought out scenarios. They all could be accurate. Thanks

Thinking back, I felt the same way when Hyde and Poyer showed up. Neither had really given an indication of how good they would become. McD needs to work his magic. I do hope the Bills draft someone that can play sooner rather than later. Having to play Lewis and Hamlin would be a nightmare scenario.

Picking a day two talent with a first round pick is a losing strategy for the long run. Fortunately, there are more receivers with first round talent than are likely to be selected in the first round. Even with the numbers stacked like that, there are no guarantees that the Bills will even like any of those guys that are available. I do hope they select a highly graded receiver in the first round. IMHO they need to be prepared to replace Diggs in a year. Beane has not shown the propensity to over reach in the draft and I don't expect him to this year. If they go with a day two guy, they probably know something that we don't.

It is highly probable that a WR worthy of pick 28 will be available. There are also a large number of receivers that make sense for a day two pick and should not be selected in the first round.

It is all going to come down to perceived value, supply, and demand. A run on receivers or d-tackles might force Beane in one direction. It could also be a situation where a player drops and is the best value on the board. We won't know for sure until the draft unfolds. I am confident that having 5 or 6 teams taking QB's before pick 28 will guarantee that some really good value will be available. As free agency unfolds; WR, Safety, and d-tackle appear to be the most important needs. And to a lesser degree, they also need to add at CB and IOL. Because of the concentration of positional needs and the number of picks, Beane will be able to trade picks to move around and still pick more than one in some of these position groups. It's no surprise to me that Beane has himself in a great position going into the draft.