Beck Water

Well, if you click on it, it would take you to the Buffalo Bills website

I get it maybe Spencer Brown is a bit skinny for an OT but Dang! Do you think the Bills want Dawkins to look like this? He seems a bit....rotund

Why you poor thing. But maybe speak for yourself

I think Beane's comments were snipped out of context and over-interpreted. What they drafted him for (eventually) and where they believe he can contribute this year, not necessarily the same thing.

Given his proven on field special teams abilities and proven pass catching in NFL games, I think Sherfield is a very good chance. I hope everyone is correct about Harty and he makes the team and makes everyone say "Isaiah McWho?" If I read OTC correctly, the Bills owe him $4.75M fully guaranteed. Harty played in 4 games last season, missing most of last season with a turf toe injury. He's had persistent hamstring injuries in previous seasons. Last season, the Bills signed TE OJ Howard for $3.5M ($3.195M fully guaranteed). He was cut before the season after struggling in camp. In 2018, the Bills traded a late rounder for former Browns 1st round pick Corey Coleman, due $2.96M guaranteed (he was cut before the season after struggling in camp) I'm concerned that Harty may be Beane's 2023 version of OJ Howard or Corey Coleman. Time will tell.

Pretty good explanation here. Basically Phase 1 is conditioning, no coaches allowed on the field, and meetings with position coaches. Phase 2 is walk-throughs and individual/group drills with position coaches. Phase 3 allows 7-on-7, 7-on-9, and 11-on-11 drills, no contact. So it starts to look (but not feel) like football. No. Mandatory minicamp is mid-June.

That is such a cool story. So glad to hear the good samaritans got some recognition - it's not a small thing to take 10 people into your house for an indefinite amount of time, let alone 10 strangers from another culture. As the article said:

I said nothing about evidence the plaintiff's lawyer has But said lawyer (who IMO is a piece of work) pointed out correctly that the DA, and the released interview, only touched on a portion of the evidence. Yes, a criminal charge would make a civil case more solid, but the absence of a criminal charge doesn't mean absence of evidence that would support a civil verdict. Again, I'm not saying there is such evidence, I'm not saying the civil suit has merit, I'm just saying being cleared of a possible criminal charge does not mean Araiza's legal journey is over, as long as a civil suit is still pending.

I don't think "grifters on both political sides of the aisle" are a problem for teams who might be interested in Araiza. I think an actual pending civil suit scheduled to occur mid season is a problem for teams who might be interested in Araiza.

I can get behind that advice!

You understand the difference between a DA's decision to not press charges, and a civil suit, yes? The one has a standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt" and the other "more likely than not". I was empaneled for jury selection for a civil suit and the lawyer for the plaintiff made a huge deal out of "a hair's difference" being the standard. The civil trial is scheduled for October, the young woman's lawyer has made a huge deal out of the DA being selective in what evidence was discussed in their meeting - as is appropriate, given that the purpose is for the DA to explain why there is "reasonable doubt" in the evidence. He's made a point that they won't "be intimidated into dropping their case", and Araiza has made a point that he isn't interested in settling, even for a relatively minor amount of money. Why wouldn't teams be leary of signing a rookie punter who is scheduled to have the potentially huge distraction (and PR problem) of a civil trial start 1/3 of the way through the season? I don't think it's "most", but there were several good veteran punters available after roster cutdowns last season because 3 or 4 teams had 2 punters in camp. Really? Who did the Bills have in prior to last year's preseason? I know they had Araiza and Haack in camp in 2022, but who besides Haack did they have in 2021? Who did they have besides Bojo in 2019 and 2020?

The phrase I used was "hard hitting questions", not "personal stuff". I pointed out that you don't catch Pat McAfee asking Aaron Rodgers uncomfortable questions. "Yo! Why did you buy a $28 million dollar estate with Danica Patrick only to ditch her 6 months later for a woman a decade younger who plays teenagers professionally? Were you cheating on Patrick with Woodley? Doesn't happen. Do you understand the difference between a hard hitting or uncomfortable question and a personal question? Because the examples you give - love of golf, golf game, F1 fandom - are personal, but they're not hard-hitting. Until you make clear that you understand the distinction, calling it "disingenuous" has little meaning to me. Oh, bull####. I bet there's stuff in your family(if not yourself) which is personal, but comfortable to share or discuss in public - what sports you like and why, what books you like and why, movies, video games - and also stuff you would not care to discuss - without knowing you, can't make an educated guess at what specifically, but abstractly: the ancestry DNA test showing actual paternity of sister's second child, stepfather's DUI arrest, BIL's psychiatric diagnosis, the reasons for being fired from one's second job would all be potential examples affecting some people. But, if you think it's hypocritical to be happy to talk about your opinion of various books or movies, your golf game, your taste in clothes - but NOT about a potentially emotionally wrenching end to a 7 year relationship, rumors painting you as a bit of a cad, or your personal health decisions re: a vaccination that became politically wrought - be my guest.

The good news is that the Bills have a good athletic training staff and sports medicine staff. The bad news is that they rely on said staff to project how players will be able to come back from injuries, and sometimes they're wrong. Every new OL coach likes to bring in "his guys" who can player-coach the room and help cultivate respect for the coach's message. These guys aren't necessarily the greatest talent as players. I can't bring myself to name who was Juan Castillo's "guy". Jon Feliciano was Bobby Johnson's "guy". Rodger Saffold was Kromer's "guy".

That's truly an impressive "receipt" file. Well done!

By contractual agreement with the NFLPA, the NFL can NOT discipline a player for actions that took place before he was drafted or signed. That includes putting him on the Commissioner's Exempt List. Said list and its use are durn falutin' vague, but the league seems to be trending towards using it only for players who have been arrested or who face criminal charges, vs. players who are facing a civil suit or players who are being investigated (but have not been arrested or charged) for a possible crime. The "loophole" isn't for based on accrued seasons or rookie status. The distinction is between actions that take place after the player is drafted/signed vs. before the player is drafted/signed.

I don't think he "underperformed except for week 1". Von Miller specifically called out Phillips after several games for the pressure up the middle that let Miller do his thing. I do think the Bills expected Phillips to behave with more sense on the field and not pull his hamstring and tear up his shoulder chasing around the backfield like a nickel corner. Then you're going to fundamentally always have a problem with a roster built to support McDermott's defense, because McDermott believes in DL rotation as a fundamental underpinning of his D.

I don't have any sources, but I'd point out that McDermott has previously not been shy about either firing, or moving on from, coaches whose efforts left him dissatisfied. Rico Dennison -> bye Felicia. Juan Castillo -> bye Felicia. Others have been allowed to "save face" by "leaving to pursue another opportunity" in a parallel role (Heath Farwell), or, if their contract was up, just thanked for their services (Chad Hall). So it's entirely believable to me that if McDermott wanted Frazier gone, he would not be as concerned about "saving his face" with this "step back from coaching" move. Frazier would be told to seek a position elsewhere right after the season, or outright fired. I can't call the names to mind, but IIRC several highly successful coaches stated that the best thing a fired HC could do was to take a year off to reflect vs immediately stepping into another role. These weren't the words used, but the precept that "when you're up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember that you came to clear the swamp" applies - if you're full-go into the grind of the NFL season, it's hard to take time to reflect on how you're doing things, gather information on how other organizations and coaches do things, and put together a cogent plan for an improved strategy. It may be that Frazier honestly decided he needed to step back from the swamp and reflect on better strategies for clearing it, free of daily responsibilities for alligator wrangling.

I think it's possible that the change Frazier didn't like was prioritization of talent acquisition for defense. Frazier probably came out of the team's post-season analysis knowing that the team's off-season priority was going to be to add talent on offensive skill possitions and OL (which, by and large, is how the off season played out). That meant that the Bills were going to move on from Edmunds and not take a big swing to replace him with a comparable defensive talent. That means it's fairly likely that our defense will take a step back. For a coach who apparently badly wants another shot as a HC, having a defense that drops from #1 or #2 to maybe #15 or 16 could be seen as lowering his potential value as a HC. And yes, it's also possible that McDermott wanted changes in how the defense prepares and is called that left Frazier feeling like he might be relegated to a figurehead role at times, which would also lower perception of his value.

I think this might be reading into the tea leaves a bit much. Leslie Frazier is taking a leave from the Bills so he has no team affiliation at present. We really don't know what his contract status is - there were rumors his contract with the Bills was over, but @john wawrow who is typically very reliable, said that is not true. Bottom line, I didn't think it was likely that Frazier would be back, but I'm not sure this memo tells us any more or less than we knew before. Fifth possible outcome: the Bills either underperform or make another early playoff exit, and "Management decides to make a change" in the coaching and FO, which would see Frazier out the door along with the rest of them.

Whippersnapper.

To be fair, Bernard was asked to start a game and play for Milano and he 1) really looked lost 2) when he got to the right place at the right time, he got trucked and dragged 5 yds downfield. He looked slow and lacking in physicality. So that's a bit more than "some spot duty". Prior to that game, he'd seen a couple quarters of play. After that, he saw a lot of ST snaps but nothing on D. To be clear, I think the Bills concluded from that game that Bernard was "not ready for prime time". Now none of the above means I personally believe the book on him is written, because players can improve a lot from their 1st to their 2nd year and if a player is still learning the defense and thinking instead of being able to read-and-react, it's gonna slow him down. But there was a bit more of Bernard than "spot duty".

This is a really good point. Back in 2012, the Bills drafted a LB named Tank Carder in the 5th round. There was a fair amount of excitement about him because he was making plays in the preseason, breaking up passes and making some picks. Chan Gailey was asked about him and said, somewhat laconically and sounding un-excited, that he "continued to stand out on film" or something like that. The Bills released him at the cutdown to the 53 man roster, and a lot of fans were in disbelief - how could those stupid coaches cut a player who was all over the field making plays? Elementary, my dear fans, it's because he wasn't where he was supposed to be, doing what he was supposed to be doing, and there were many offensive plays that were succeeding, under the radar to the fans, because he wasn't carrying out his actual assignment.

I have no idea how the joint strength and stability to play a non-contact sport like golf maps onto a timeline for developing the joint strength and stability needed to make it through a football season. I don't think you do either

Well, first of all, weekly podcasts with a media figure are "feel good" pieces. No athlete is going to do them with a guy who asks them hard-hitting questions. If you listen to Josh Allen's segment on Kyle Brandt's basement, it's often uncomfortably fawning on the part of Brandt. Pretty sure the athlete or his PR team submit lists of questions or topics that are off-limits. The sports talk guy doesn't "play ball"? Neither will the athlete; these are extra media appearances beyond what the NFL requires. So weekly podcasts with sports talk guys are NOT going to go there. Catch Pat McAfee asking Aaron Rodgers uncomfortable questions. Doesn't happen. Second, being a public figure does not mean the public is entitled to know every aspect of the guy's life. The Bills, under McDermott, seem to be doing an excellent job of training their players to handle the media. Consider how Josh Allen neatly side-stepped questions about his personal health choices or his grandmother's cause of death. Josh just said "I'm going to keep that in-house" and that was that. Jordan Poyer same - led a press conference with a statement that he wasn't going to take questions on the "panini" and just responded to any attempts with "do you have any football questions? I'm here to answer any of your football questions". If reporters want to know about stuff like that, they can do what reporters used to do when looking for a story - hit the streets and look for sources. All the stuff that's supposed to have happened, must be someone who actually saw or heard something with their own little eyeballs. And Josh speaking on the topic would NOT put rumors to rest, people who want to believe gossip would just say he's not telling the truth or he's covering stuff up. I think it was pretty clear from Brittany's friend's "now accepting husband applications" post at their Fresno Derby celebration, and also from Josh's solo appearance at the Derby, that they're split up.

You're kidding, right? Kidding, or trolling