Beck Water

Diggs was targeted 10 times during the Bengals playoff loss. He had 4 receptions. Someone here (I forget who) had some inside info that towards the end of the season but well before the Bengals game, Diggs and Allen were "on the outs", that Diggs would go after Allen in the locker room for perceived mistakes or miscues (not targeting him when he felt he was open, not throwing where he expected the ball to be thrown, etc) to the point where others were uncomfortable, and that by the end of the season Diggs and Allen were barely talking to each other. The Bengals game didn't have the look of a new development

Yep. I've reached the point with Von Miller where I'm at "I'm from Missouri, you have to Show Me"

So playing a lot of 21 personnel as well as 12?

Is this a blog or a podcast? Anyone got a link to the actual recap? If Van Pran Granger is C with the 3's almost certainly no play with Allen.

I expect to see some different OL combinations, partly because Kromer likes guys to try playing different spots. Mostly because someone will inevitably get a little dinged up and TC is not the time for your starters to gut it out.

Similar things were said about Poyer and Hyde when Buffalo signed them. Poyer had played 48 games for 2 teams and started 10 of them Hyde had played 63 games for GB and started 33 of them It's true that Rapp had little interest after 2022 with the Rams (which is why the Bills signed him for 1 year, just a bit over vet minimum) I believe Rapp had interest as a starter after last season - I don't think the Bills offered him 3 years, $10.6M with $4.8 guaranteed because he had no other teams interested and Beane had his "Stupid" hat on. And he WAS signed for more than vet minimum in 2023, which implies he did have some interest. Same with Edmunds - Bills didn't offer him $2.8M with $1.6 guaranteed at signing because he had "zero interest" and Beane just loves to toss $$ around In any event, when a player has shown they can start in the league for multiple years, I stand by my take that it's peculiar to label them "not NFL caliber starter". They have proven they can play in the league and start. Whether they're good starters, or starters where teams want an upgrade, is another question.

What is your definition of NFL caliber starter? Edwards started the last 5 games of the season and all 4 playoff games for the Chiefs. Was playing 30-50% of the defensive snaps before that. He also started 12 of the 13 games he played in for Tampa in 2022 Rapp started 48 out of 57 games for the Rams, including playing 95 and 96% of the snaps in 2020-2021. Rapp also played 100% of the snaps for the Bills in 4 games last season, 3 of them wins against MIA, DAL, and LAC then a 2 pt loss against DEN. A few games after the JAX game where we lost Milano, what evolved is that Rapp was regularly subbing in for Poyer at safety, while Dodson went out and we It seems peculiar to me to proclaim 2 guys aren't "NFL calibre starters at the position" when in fact they have started, and for very good, in fact championship winning, teams. You and I might believe (with reason) that they're a big step down from what Poyer and Hyde were in their prime, but that's true of most NFL-caliber safeties in the league; Dr Poyer and Mr Hyde together were a whole far more than the sum of the parts. More power to you, too for recovering back to near normal.

True Dat, but it's maybe a $3k pair of sunglasses and a $14-18k piece of jewelry. With career earnings of reportedly $24.8M, that's like 0.08% of what he's earned. It's kind of like one of us buying a pair of Nikes. Now I get your point, it's more reflective of a mindset and $20k here, $60k there, $600k somewhere else and pretty soon you're Vince Young, you've filed bankruptcy, and you're shilling for your former university as an $100k "Assistant to the Athletic Director".

Who has the biggest calves on the team? 1) Dion Dawkins 2) somebody else Dion all the way, the man is huge.

I think it just goes with the territory of being a rookie. He probably thought he was getting in peak physical condition, and he probably was - only it wasn't peak NFL starter physical condition. Wait what? I don't think that's Hyde. Hyde only 2 inches shorter than Bishop.

It's not just a mental hurdle, though that was undoubtedly there. Lay people who haven't gone through it don't realize what an immense insult to the overall physiology heart stoppage followed by CPR/time on a ventilator really is. Hamlin's ribs were undoubtedly damaged. Cracked ribs and cartilage take months to heal. His lungs had the equivalent of severe, life-threatening pneumonia. In this antibiotic age, we've lost touch with how long it used to take people who lived to recover from severe pneumonia - it took months, and that's months to just return to normal physical activity, not to restore peak athletic ability. And he spent months last off season where he was severely limited physically in what he could do leading to de-conditioning of muscle. We "get it" mostly that an athlete returning from an ACL usually needs until his 2nd season post-injury to return to whatever his best form was. Same for Hamlin.

I mean, what do you want him to say? Douglas and Benford did very well as our starting CB last season. They've earned the chance to return as starters until and unless Elam shows he can outplay one of them. Historically, McDermott and Beane have emphasized that they tell the rookies "you got to put the work in and come into camp in shape" and every year one or more of the rookies thinks he's done that thing, but he really hasn't

It's not crazy. It goes with McDermott's philosophy of "iron sharpens iron". Cook was by far the best back last year with no serious competition. The hope is that 1) Ray Davis throws down the gauntlet that he runs hard AND can make those "gotta have 'em" grabs 2) Cook looks across the RB room at Davis (and maybe Gore Jr) and ratchets up his level of concentration to make them himself Either way is good for the Bills

Oh, Crap, I hope you kick back at them both Real Soon. Enjoy your doxycycline cocktails! Evvybody send their Permethrin-soaked clothing to Simon to use going forward Or next thing you know he'll get alpha-Gal and it'll be Soyburgers for Life for our boy

A moderator isn't needed to rename. The thread starter @Donuts and Doritos can rename it. Just edit the OP post, a window will open, change the tame to something like '2024 Training Camp Opens and Day 1: July 24"

It didn't help, but I think he more checked out upstairs. Same as Fat Kelvin Benjamin; he could probably have rehabbed and returned from the injuries, but he made his bag and checked out.

This is totally fair and goes with the "past performance predicts future results" and "if someone shows you who they are, believe them" strategies. Claypool was such a locker room meltdown mess that he got slung off of, not one, but two different teams in successive years. That screams "player in crying need of a critical Attitude Adjustment". The contraindicating data are that after he got slung off to the Dolphins in exchange for a 2025 6th round pick (the ultimate low-investment trade), he played roughly 40% of the ST snaps. ST, the phase of the team where unsung players go to grind without fanfare; and, for the cost of a 2025 6th rounder the Dolphins surely wouldn't have hesitated to sling him out the door at the first hint of "locker room cold", let alone letting it progress to "locker room cancer". The Bills signed him to a VSB contract May 1, so there clearly was little to no other market for his services. (VSB: Vet salary benefit, system where player gets signed to a inimum salary contract (with a signing bonus less than $165k) and the club is allowed to count him as a 2nd year player's salary against the cap (the idea is to encourage clubs to sign veteran players). Claypool got a signing bonus of $25k. That ought to be the ultimate ego check: the former 2nd round pick who was highly regarded his first 2 years, now getting paid less than career journeymen like Isaiah McKenzie (and, oh yeah, less than half the cap hit and 1/20th the signing bonus of vet journeyman Mack Hollins). One of two things is possible: 1) people are WYSIWYG, they usually can't manage significant change, and you're Right On 2) Claypool has looked at his career trajectory, decided he doesn't want to leave the game of football like that, and gotten his head on straight, in which case your comment about his ability is relevant. I would put his odds a bit higher - say 20 or 30% - but that's for no particularly great reason other than his ability to finish out the 2023 season grinding ST for the Dolphins, without causing any ripples that got into the media. If he hadn't managed that, I'd put the odds lower than you.

Did they actually grant Ty Dunne press access (he'll be at the press conferences, practices, etc) or did he just get "access" in the sense of being granted some interviews? I don't think Joe Marino has media access. Certainly when pressers were virtual never saw him. The Bills have to grant access to members of the media per NFL mandate. I don't think they go any further than the NFL mandates them to go.

TBD endorsement and $24 will get you a case of Budweiser

Anyone who can gift Astro tickets is doing a public service IMHO The Cover1 guys were also begging for tickets Let's not pretend that wasn't a viewpoint stated by multiple members of the media (TBN, Athletic, various TV pundits)

He's slimmer. You can see it in his face.

That is a good article, Thanks! It sounds as though it's been hard on Bernard, missing the game and knowing that he might have made a difference. Tiny nit, Graham makes it sound as though Bernard played every game as a defender his rookie season but had a mediocre impact. Bernard did play all 16 games, but primarily on Special Teams. He started 1 game, and saw significant snaps in 2 others. In the game he started, he racked up 7 tackles; in the game where he played 33% of the defensive snaps, he had 6. So while what Graham says is correct, it's a bit cherry-picked to make it sound as though Bernard played every game on defense and did next to nothing.

Agree again about Toney, but while the duration of his struggles is shorter - when a team drafts a guy in the 1st round and essentially gives up on him after 2 games played in his 2nd season, the steepness of the decline in confidence kind of makes up for the short duration of struggles. But yeah, the Chiefs sent some decent draft capital to the Giants to acquire him.

Fair point. I was more focused on draft resources used in my answer. I think this is Right On. When the Bills extended Diggs they thought he and Josh were a gonna be a solid pairing for 3-4 yrs. Reportedly "Things Fell Apart" the second half of last season, so when Houston made a good offer, the Bills looked at the 6 straight games with minimal contributions from Diggs and said "time to go" But the Bills had no expectation of moving on from Diggs and Davis at the same time.

I think it's clear that overall, I agree with the point that KC has invested more at WR. And they have Xavier Worthy and Marquise Brown - who is a disappointment as a 1st round pick, but can legit play NFL WR and may blossom with Mahomes throwing to him. But I think you actually kind of weaken your point with Kadarius Toney. He was exactly the same kind of rifle shot for them that signing Chase Claypool and KJ Hamler was for us.