Beck Water

Simms was really riled up. You can watch his facial expression when Florio shuts him up and talks over him to blather on about how Josh never called Diggs on anything (Simms, who has been in the Bills locker room as a journalist and knows a lot of guys, admits he does not know; Florio "infers"). You could just tell Simms was piping-hot angry and trying to figure out how he could express himself in "airable" terms.

He's not "pulling a Diggs".

The difference is, Rapp played hard (maybe too hard) for the Bills last season - he filled a role they have every reason to think he can fill this season. And of course, his guaranteed money is spread across the 3 seasons he's signed for, so if the Bills decide they want to keep him he's "locked in" at a very reasonable rate. La'el Collins on the other hand started last season on PUP and spent the rest on a practice squad; he hasn't played a snap since he tore his ACL and MCL at the end of 2022. He needs to prove he can suit up and play. It's not that Beane doesn't make mistakes - he does - and one can question whether McDermott and Beane's overall team building philosophy is correct. But contrary to what some here believe, they didn't build a team that has gone to the playoffs the last 5 years and the AFC Championship once, by being totally foolish.

Yes. Yes, he does. He really thinks that. Tim Graham recently said that he asked Gabe Davis whether they worked out with Josh last off-season and Gabe Davis said "yes, the cameras just aren't there any more". *rummage* *rummage* here: There's also the stuff on The Quarterback Room podcast with Kyle Allen and Jordan Palmer where they were talking about being impressed with Shakir last off season; they also said Kincaid "is out here now" Kincaid said something during last season about throwing with Josh in the off-season. So yeah, there's hints and pieces that they're working together off-season, at least some of them (Graham said in another tweet "I didn't take attendance") In the end people are gonna believe what they want to believe. Now, what Mahomes does is different: Whereas the Bills are going to have all the players show up in Orchard Park on Monday for Phase I OTAs, the KC Chiefs will have a "virtual Phase I OTA". During that virtual phase I OTA, the receivers will be in Texas with Mahomes, staying in various hotels, throwing and catching on different fields (grass, turf etc). This is during a phase of OTAs where teams who have in-person OTA are limited to workouts and can't throw and catch for 2 weeks. I think it's a way of circumventing the NFLPA's rules for permitted team activities during different phases of OTA, but the NFL hasn't said anything so apparently it flies.

Meh, Off Season social media drama. Wake me up when something significant happens, like someone tweets that he's not critical to Brock Purdy and Aiyuk tweets back "You Sure?"

No. He'll be given a chance to compete, but he would have to wow everyone or (avert) there would have to be an injury. He's not just a "camp body" as some suggested, though, because they did fully guarantee $1.5M salary + signing bonus - suggesting they are considering him as a backup they would want to keep.

Greg Tompsett should 100% know better than this. Always wait for the numbers, and now they're here https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/lael-collins-17403/ $1.75M, of which $1.5M ($1.21M salary plus $290k signing bonus) is fully guaranteed. He has per-game roster bonuses and workout bonuses, but that "up to" must be plenty of incentives. No, he's not the new starting LG or new starting anything. And now we know.

Thank you very much, this is exactly the high-level summary I was looking for.

OK, now if you want to find criticism of Josh Allen, Florio of PFT just rips his leadership to shreds. This seems like as good a place as any to put this. My jaw dropped. Wait, wait, hear me out here. Prior context, About 9:30 in: Simms: "Everything I know from some people in the league there ....this was a mutual parting of ways. That much I do kinda know. Both sides were done with each other. Now, to your point......Buffalo is obviously so annoyed and couldn't deal with it any more, that they were willing to give away a #1 receiver for next year's 2025 2nd round pick and take a $31M cap charge? That needs to be in blinking lights. That tells you how sick they were of Stefon Diggs. [Simms goes on about this for a while. Note that Joe Buscaglia, who is very in to cold hard facts of cap and trade value, thinks the Bills got a fair or even a good deal for an almost-31 yr old WR] Florio: "Well, it's their (the Bills) own fault, it's their own fault. They knew what they were getting. They knew they were getting a guy, who if you don't handle him a certain way he's not going to be happy. And he has a way of pressing YOUR buttons, until you get to a point of 'FINE, let's move ON! And at the end of the day, he got what he wanted." Simms: "I don't know how you can say it's their fault though. I don't know how you can say that." Florio: "Because they knew what they were getting, they knew that they were getting a guy who potentially was going to Wear Them Out." Simms: "I don't know how you can say that. By all due accounts, the Bills did everything they could, Josh Allen, the team itself, to make it work for Stefon Diggs. Nobody has had the ball thrown to them more in the last 4 seasons, than Stefon Diggs. I mean, they made him the guy, just feed him everything, all the time. Yeah, you know what you're getting into there, and hopefully Houston lucks out and gets a different Stefon Diggs who realizes 'wait, I'm not a top-5 or top 10 talent any more, I am getting up there in age a little bit, and if I keep having these antics, nobody's gonna want me any more. I would hope that helps him and his approach to things." [Yes and no, Simms. Stefon Diggs is in no way not acknowledging he's not a top-5 or 10 talent any more. And he was a great teammate his first 2 years in Buffalo, so sure, he'll be good in Houston for a single year. Count on it.] Florio at 12:30 in: "Antics is the key word. You're acknowledging there are things about Stefon Diggs that need to change. So, what a team can do is either come up with a plan for changing him and implement it effectively, or get to a point where they say 'we can't take him any more'. So the Bills, knowing or should have known, they're getting a guy you have to tread a little lightly with, and it's going to get difficult. What is our plan for when it gets difficult? What is our plan to coax him to mature into something else than what he's been? Where he WILL rush out of the locker room without talking to reporters? Where he WILL gesture in the face of Josh Allen on the sideline during a 27-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals" Simms: "Those are the things where I'm gonna blame Stefon Diggs a little bit there. I mean, just looking at it from outside, the year was great, all of a sudden he's mad in a playoff game because he didn't get the ball enough [Fact: 4 receptions on 10 targets, led the Bills in targets by a lot] and then the offseason became a disaster...I don't know the details or the fighting or the conversations that went on there and I'm not trying to act like I do" Florio: "Hang on. We've talked about this before. You know what Josh Allen needs to do in that moment [when Diggs is yelling at him on the sideline]? He needs to throw off his vest, he needs to stand up, he needs to grab Stefon Diggs, and they need to go have a conversation, and he needs to tell Stefon Diggs what's what. [yells over Simms, tells anecdote about Warren Moon going to Cris Carter, "you pull that ***** again and I'm never going to throw you the ball again as long as I'm the quarterback of this team, do you got it?"] I love Josh Allen, you love Josh Allen, you call him 'Boy Blue'. Sometimes I think he goes through life as an overgrown boy and doesn't really embrace what it means to be the Quarterback of the Team and I think that's what a lot of this is, Chris; I think this is Josh Allen being positioned, as he enters the back half of his prime, he's still in his prime, I think this is the Bills recognizing they have to put guys around Josh Allen that he's COMFORTABLE leading. Because I think he's a big part of this. And maybe nobody could properly get through to Stefon Diggs. But I think that relationship was too much of Diggs doing whatever he wanted, saying whatever he wanted, and Josh Allen never calling him on it. Not knowing how to do it. Not wanting to do it. 'Cuz it's awkward. A lot of people don't like confrontation. Simms: "No, and this is a guy that likes it [I think he means, Diggs likes confrontation] and if he [Allen] did that on the sideline, he [Diggs] would blow it up and make it worse and it would be a bigger spectacle. And I think Josh Allen is smart enough to say 'you know what, if I go do what Mike Florio says right now, everyone's going to go crazy on this subject, and people are going to be saying Josh Allen can't handle his team and all that, Josh Allen is losing his cool at the end of a playoff game, hey, you can't lead your team. That's just TALK, MIke, that's not really the reality of that way." Florio: "Chris, Chris, Chris. You can get him in the locker room and do it there" Simms: " You don't know that he hasn't. You don't know that" Florio: "I guarantee you he hasn't. I guarantee you. I guarantee you that never happened." Simms: "Come On, Mike" (disgusted) Florio: "We've never seen any hint. We've never seen Josh Allen talk about it. Josh Allen always has his back. There's never been a hint of any effort, or any frustration, or any attempt by Josh Allen to take over that relationship. That relationship was dominated by Stefon Diggs. As long as Diggs got what he wanted eveyrthing was fine, and Josh Allen never pushed back against that disrespect that we've seen from time to time" Simms: "You're ...you're" Florio: "I'm making inferences based upon what we've seen" Simms: "I know, and I'm just telling you, nobody ought to call out a player at a post game press conference" (said while Florio is talking over him and won't let him get a word in edgewise) If he did that, you'd say he's a Bad Leader. You're putting him in a no-win situation. Who comes into a press conference and says that stuff?" Florio: "Aaron Rodgers says it." Simms: "When? As a team thing? He never calls someone out..he says cryptically coded stuff. That's not a cool way to do it either, and YOU AGREE WITH THAT. And that's why he's out of Green Bay, 'cuz everybody was sick of it. Stop. Stop!" Florio: "Ok, you talk. I won't talk until the break. You take it over." Simms: "Be a baby" Florio: "I'm not being a baby" Simms: "You are being a ***** baby" Florio: "Let me talk" Simms: "You talked a LOT. Get out of here. Shut up, ya baby." Florio: "OK. See, this is what Josh Allen should do. (Laughs) I feel like, at the heart of this, there was a failure to manage Stefon Diggs." Simms: "Sure." Florio: "Whether it was Josh Allen not managing it the way Tom Brady would have, the way Peyton Manning would have..." Simms: "Tom Brady couldn't handle Antonio Brown...couldn't handle it" Florio: "Well...well...he wasn't there long enough Simms: "WHAT? They were living together! They were living together! I mean, *****, Holy Crap! It's just not always fixable with these guys." So if y'all want an example of the craziness of Media Criticism, There You Go. Here we have Mike Florio, who has never been in an NFL locker room as a player, led an NFL huddle, or appeared in a post-game press conference - I don't even think he spends much time interacting with players or visiting locker rooms as a member of the press - criticizing Josh Allen for being an 'overgrown boy who doesn't really embrace what it means to be the Quarterback of his team' (essentially, for not leading), for not calling Diggs out in front of the public on the sideline, for not calling him out in a press conference, for not privately in the locker room reining him in. And we have Chris Simms, who started 16 games for 2 different teams, played for 3 teams, and has actually done all of those things as well as been a coaching assistant on a 4th team, who has to basically talk over Florio because Florio won't let him get a word in edgewise to point out that the things Florio suggests would have major pitfalls and that Florio really doesn't know what Josh has or hasn't done behind closed doors. My jaw dropped and I'm shaking my head at how BLATANTLY SILLY this was. Yeah, Simms wasn't a great QB, but he understands actual locker room and player to player dynamics, he's been there. He understands the unwritten rules about what QB can or can't do. It was nuts.

I thought there were 8 felony charges?

I don't know that KC will dump him. Why would they dump him? Rice will be sued by the drivers that were injured in the crash no matter what. A civil lawsuit has a lower standard of proof 'more likely than not', and they have all kinds of evidence.

To this point - Rice's season graphs out as the inverse of Diggs. First 8 games, he averaged 45 YPG which would project to 722 yds over 16 games. Second 8 games, he averaged 72 YPG which would project to 1154 YPG. That would slot him in as #14 for receiving yards, right behind....Stefon Diggs Playoffs the argument gets a bit more tenuous. First game, 8 of 12 for 130 yds, and a TD, great game. Second game, 4 of 4 for 47 yds, almost 12 Y/R, solid. AFCCG and Superbowl, bunch of short catches so yea! he caught everything but he also fumbled twice, and it was luck those weren't recovered by the opponent. I think the whole season counts, but it's fact that Rice was trending up as the season went on, and looks promising to become a #1 WR for KC - if his legal troubles don't derail him.

I don't know what to tell you. Golf is his hobby and he's a talented amateur. He agreed to do a round near his home with a YouTuber, that means he agreed to be videod, because that's a YouTuber's "Jam". Football is his profession. Bills Mafia would be all over any workout videos with a microscope and a nit picker - "I didn't see Curtis Samuel, was he there? Josh missed on that out route, he needs to get back in the lab. How could Shakir drop that?" Bills Mafia would be scrutinizing the background to learn where they are to show up and watch. If it's just them lifting, then it would be comments on what he's lifting or how his body looks. Being filmed at your hobby and being filmed at your profession, different. No shambles.

Wait, do the Bills have a 3rd this year? I thought we traded our 3rd for Rasul Douglas mid-season, and only got a 4th in comp for Edmunds.

Can you share about what time that was? Does it bother you in Tom Brady (8.1), Pat Mahomes (7.7), and Aaron Rodgers (3 unless he's playing in The Match, then it's 10)? In a quick search, couldn't find Burrow's golf handicap but someone posted a photo bomb of her sister's wedding with Burrow putting in the background. Christian McCaffrey gave Brock Purdy golf clubs for Christmas so apparently Purdy golfs or is learning. Lamar Jackson has started playing, first outing went well. Jalen Hurts is admired for his swing. Who am I missing? Oh, yeah Tua Tagovailoa, there's this https://www.golfdigest.com/story/tua-tagovailoa-miami-dolphins-golf-nfl NFL QB love golf, Alert the Media PS can you imagine Bills Mafia if Josh golfed on gameday? Just Don't Do It, Josh.

My Magic 8 Ball says "it's the latter"

I think it's worth considering how the Bills acquired their all-pro caliber starting safeties. Green Bay had 5th round pick Micah Hyde playing nickel corner and backup at safety - couldn't really decide what he was. He bounced between nickelback and starting at free or strong safety when a starter was injured. He played out his rookie contract, and they let him walk. The Eagles released 7th round pick Poyer and the Browns picked him up as a backup safety. It took 3 years for him to work his way into the starting lineup, then he lacerated his kidney, they IR'd him, and let him walk. I think Beane has a lot of confidence in their ability to identify talent at DB in later rounds. Whether that's "good enough", I don't know.

Please educate me: why not?

I think these guys are just collating information based on the prospects social media and observations of who is observed meeting with teams at combines. But if the prospect keeps it quiet, the Bills sure don't publicize it.

Apologies to the OP, but I keep reading the title "how should we address WR" and having the TS Eliot poem "the Ad-Dressing of Cats" from "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" come to mind. I admit to being a bit "embrangled" in my thought processes, but Hear Me Out. I think star WR are Cats. 2nd verse: "How would you ad-dress a Cat? So first, your memory I'll jog, And say: A CAT IS NOT A DOG. And you might now and then supply Some caviare, or Strassburg Pie, Some potted grouse, or salmon paste-- He's sure to have his personal taste. (I know a Cat, who makes a habit Of eating nothing else but rabbit, And when he's finished, licks his paws So's not to waste the onion sauce.) A Cat's entitled to expect These evidences of respect. And so in time you reach your aim, And finally call him by his NAME. So this is this, and that is that: And there's how you AD-DRESS A CAT." It's the image of bribing that star WR with: caviare Strassburg Pie potted grouse salmon paste - or their equivalent evidences of deep respect and admiration - maybe the right age and brand of scotch Whiskey? fine Champaign? -before the QB is allowed to "call him by his NAME" and "AD-DRESS A CAT" Yes, I know, that's not what the OP was getting at, it's just my whimsey.

Where was the parts about McDermott "working with what he's got"? I think McDermott's vision of the ideal defense actually is, 'selfless guys all working their utmost to lift the team to the skies' or some such vision, vs. a "Stars and JAGS" model, and he had to be pulled towards the idea of needing a few "freakazoid" stars kicking and screaming, by experience. As far as Elam, Lance Zierline on NFL.com (I find myself nodding in agreement often, when I go back and read his takes) said this about Elam: "He plays with good awareness in zone and has the twitch and length to make plays on the throw when squatting in space.". Someone here who watches a lot of Florida games said that they played zone more than people thought (I think he said 30 or 40%) with Elam, and he wasn't the man2man specialist some portrayed him as. Take that for whatever it's worth to you. My personal take is that we thought we could coach him out of his known flaws (weak in run support, grabby with receivers, technique flaws) but so far, we haven't managed that.

I don't want to appear ungrateful, since you did follow through, and I realize you're not talking to me but: 1) your first link is apparently "just a guy" named Skap Attack who says he provides "Essays, arguments, fact checks, parodies and ***** talk". Does anyone care what a JAG with 39k subscribers, providing "parodies and ***** talk" says? 2) your 2nd link is a JAG called "Bills Bunker" with 4k subscribers who evidently hunted up a bunch of negative talk about Allen he could object to? 3) First Things First and Nick Wrong are long time Josh Allen Haters (and I'm not one who uses the word lightly); any criticism they have is Business as Usual for the last 7 years, Nothing to See Here, Move Along 4) "Get Up" on NFL Network with Kimberley Martin, Mel Kiper Jr., Louis Riddick and Field Yates have 419 subscribers (a more reasonable # to pay attention to) and seem to be more nuanced discussing Josh. Is there some criticism? Yes. As a scientist, I want to kind of reach through the screen and give them a little shake while I chant "Correlation is Not Causation" in their ears about 300 times. And the first guy (Riddick?) who said Josh is not going to have the same stats he did last season without a material addition to their WR room, which hopefully we'll get through the draft, is probably correct! I had a good laugh when the host said next season, in November when the Bills are 5-5 we'd have a bar "what's wrong with Josh Allen?" because of course, WITH Stefon Diggs, the Bills were 5-5 this November. I liked Mel Kiper saying " I don't think the sky is falling" mentioning Kincaid, Shakir, Knox, Curtis Samuel, Cook, and a draft pick". Then it was pointed out by Field Yates, 13 games without Diggs >100 yds vs. Lou saying, Diggs was having an impact just being on the field, vs Kiper saying "look, the #1 receiver's job is to be the #1 receiver, not just to be on the field opening things for other guys". I thought it was actually a pretty good balanced discussion. If this is what ya got as far as widespread critique of Josh Allen it's either 1) by JAGS 2) by a known extremist Allen Hater Nick Wright or 3) Huh, a lot of good points back and forth, except for the ijit who kept talking about "if the Bills are 5-5 in November" without recognizing that hey, the Bills WERE 5-5 in November in 2023 WITH Stefon Diggs. I don't agree with the statement "despite those interceptions usually not having an effect on the Bills winning games". Anyway, thanks for providing some info. You said "by the media and non-Bills fans seems to be the trend this offseason. He’s getting the label of a guy that can’t and never will get it done". The non-Wrong media you sampled here was actually pretty fair I thought. As for the JAG "non bills fans" in your first sample, Explain to me Why I Care.

I think you're both "on to" something here, and it's actually been my contention. Many people like to fault McDermott or Frazier (usually McDermott to my eye) for the defense falling apart in the playoffs. I see it differently. I see it as McDermott and Beane built a defense where "the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts". But, it had no true game-wreckers on defense. So if enough of the component parts were missing due to injury, or if one component makes a mistake - poor or mediocre teams will still be slowed enough to win. But the best offenses will drill into those weaknesses or individual miscues on any one play, and absolutely EXPLOIT them, and we have lacked the "freakazoid" defensive game changers to overcome that issue. I don't entirely fault Beane for this. He tried to acquire game wreckers. Tre White was the first. Then Ed Oliver, who took a while to "get after it". He drafted Rousseau, who, to be fair, has a higher wAV than any other DL in that draft and within 5 sacks of Jaelen Phillips. He tried to double down with Basham, after using a 2nd round pick on his body-remodeling project in Epenesa the year before. When those 3 weren't "cutting the mustard" in 2021, he went out and made a big FA splash by signing Von Miller. But Miller, and our 2017 1st round "freakazoid" Tre White, got injured and weren't the same for the next season. Then, just when Tre White looked like he might be coming back, injured again. Some Days You Da Windshield, Some Days You Da Bug. There's some bad injury luck there. There are also some legit questions "did we grab the right guy?" (Ed Oliver over Jeffery Simmons, say? Epenesa over Greenard or Woonum? Kaiir Elam over Roger McCreary or Cam Taylor-Britt?) It's the same thing with offense. We have Allen, we had Diggs, and then we had a bunch of "good" players who could win against most teams, but be taken out by the best defenses especially when the refs put away the laundry and say "let 'em play" in the playoffs. But no GM is perfect or gets it all right, and some of the teams that are championship-caliber have had some good luck - having "Mr Irrelevant" turn out to be a capable NFL QB, for example; or having a 7th round RB turn out to be a fightin' dog of an RB. There seems to be an element of luck in the whole thing as well. This is true. But so far, Groot seems to have an element of "looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane" in his makeup, and Spencer Brown doesn't seem to have quick enough feet.

I think if you got a guy whose best season so far is 49 catches and 587 yds, he's not in the same category as the TE "Freakazoids" Kelse, Kittle, Hockinson, Engram who are putting up more than 900 yds. So, "No" to qualifying Knox.

I'm unsure about the "misused" Harty is 5'6" with 28" arms. What about that screams "deep threat boundary guy" to you? He did catch some "long bombs" for the Saints in 2021 before the foot injury. But at a quick glance, that came to about 4 genuine deep bombs, 5 or so completions that were either just over or just under the canonical 20 yd "deep" pass, several incompletions or INTs against him on deep balls, and some shorter passes. 42% of his 570 yds came off of 4 deep passes; ~90 yds came off another 5 receptions. Are 9 receptions in a season enough to call a guy an "excellent deep threat"? But, bringing in the shorter and intermediate passes are essential to being able to use a guy who is not a true outside WR on deep bombs, right? because otherwise the opponent sees him walk on the field, says "here comes that boat-racer" and rolls a safety over him deep. Same with gadget plays; that happened with McKensie, until he improved enough to run some actual routes. Opponents got to where they saw him walk on the field and said "here comes the sweep or reverse". So what I saw, and I could be wrong, was a guy who just didn't have the quickness to uncover on the short or intermediate routes they asked him to run. And, he was thrown some deep balls early on IIRC but couldn't haul them in - maybe he was just used to playing in a dome, and couldn't adjust to outside, IDK. Or maybe he had just lost that quickness and speed edge that were his Jam. Now that said, could someone more clever than Dorsey have schemed up some way to use him more, I grant that point. But after week 7, Harty's snaps fell from an average of 22% to single-digits. Meanwhile, after week 7, Shakir's snaps rose from 26% to 69%, and I can't argue that was "misuse". I think he earned them. And I can't argue against Kincaid getting the snaps he did, either.