GASabresIUFan

It’s a great question. Do you go with the younger guy who is less productive or the older guy who is more productive. I’m a UGA guy, so I’m partial to Floyd, but Epenesa had a breakout year and I can see him having more upside going forward and this team needs to get younger. My other thought is try to get an edge rusher in the draft. I think we could get lucky and someone like Chris Braswell could fall to us in 3rd round.

Here are 4 the top 4 WRs for the Bills other than Diggs since Beane became GM 1. 137 catches 1316 yards 11 TDs 2. 106 catches 1560 years 10 TDs 3. 233 catches 2486 yards 11 TDs 4. 167 catches 2730 yards 27 TDs Any guesses? 3 are UFAs and 1 is a draft pick. Here is how much we paid each player 1. $5,911,443 (Isaiah McKenzie) 2. $18,990,981 (John Brown) 3. $23,170,797 (Cole Beasley) 4. $5,774,690 (Gabe Davis - 4th rd pick) For a cap-strapped team, what should the plan be, go after another UFA or use a high draft pick (which we have never done since Beane has been the GM) to get a real upgrade in talent at the WR position? To me the answer is obvious. Enough with FAs. We have already invested enough in the fading Diggs. Time to build a good receiving corps in the draft. This is something long overdue.

Beane drafted starters Offense - Allen, Cook, Brown, Knox, Torrence, and Kincaid. Plus WR 3 in Shakir. Defense - Oliver, Benford, Benard, Rousseau and Johnson, plus Elam, and youngsters Spector, and Williams at LB who look like potential good depth. Plus he also used top draft capital on Phillips, Basham and Epenesa that didn’t really work out. Seems to me he has been pretty even handed on both sides of the ball with more high end draft capital spent on Dline much of which were mistakes. The biggest holes on this roster are WR and Safety. Those should be the primary concerns early in the draft. I wrote in another thread we should trade down in the 1st to add another 3rd and then go WR, S, Edge, WR with the 1st 4 picks.

This team needs to get younger, cheaper, and more talented. Diggs is a 2 now and we can't afford (and shouldn't invest) in a true No. 1 receiver. We are better off drafting and trying to develop one instead.

We need to only use draft capital to solve our WR issues. We need to draft one early and another in the 3/4 rounds. We shouldn't waste any cap $ on another castoff from another team. See the money we wasted on Sherfield and Harty this past season for all the reasons not to add such a player. Diggs (1/2) Early draft pick (1/2) - Adonai Mitchell. If we trade back to the 2nd (to add other draft capital) then Troy Franklin Shakir (3) Later draft pick (4) - Ladd McConkey would be a great add late in the 3rd or Brenden Rice late 3rd early 4th. Shorter (5) if he even makes the teams Don't forget we already added one speedy castoff from another team in Hamler (who didn't even catch a ball last season). If they retain Hines, then the kick return duties will fall to him instead of a WR.

Hamler has zero catches last year and only 12 the two previous. This is not some un-polished gem waiting to be discovered. If he makes this team, Beane has again failed to give Josh the weapons he needs.

No. We can no longer try to fix our WR mess with cast off from other teams. We need to invest in the position. We need to use two of our top 3 picks on WRs and finally, for the first time in Beane’s tenure, have real depth and talent at the position that can be part of the solution long-term. Samuel is just another band-aid.

How do we make this team better? Draft well (WR & Safety), continue to get younger, and hit on some cheap FAs like we did last year on Floyd

Morse already said he wants to come back next season. I don't see a long-term extension, but they could easily add another year

He is under contract for next season. I expect they'll extend him for a year or two, which if structured properly will lower his cap hit in 2024. I expect extensions for Dawkins, Taron Johnson, and maybe Morse.

I don't think that will be an issue. Milano and Benard will be back. Williams and Spector are under contract and acquitted themselves well. I suspect Dodson will also be re-signed. Given Milano's injury history, I expect at least 2 LBs on the practice squad, but the 5 players mentioned above give us the most talented and deepest LB room we have arguably had during the McBeane tenure.

I’d like to keep Brady at OC and get him the WRs he wants and needs in the draft. I’m against making any big splashes in free agency. I want to continue to make this roster younger and cheaper. I’m for bringing back Jones and Floyd on the DLine. Mostly my dream is for this team to stay mostly healthy for a change. A healthy Bills is a SB contending Bills.

If the Bills end up with Adonai it will be a Kincaid level pick. He was a key reason UGA won back to back championships. Brady will love him. He is a perfect combo of size, speed with good hands. He is exactly what this offense needs. Then grab Ladd McConkey later in the draft to add a great route runner with excellent hands and speed and we’ll be set at WR for the next 5-10 years.

Ok, except they were great against the Chiefs in the regular season. Then in the playoffs they were without starters Milano, White, Benford, and Benard and three other starters, Douglas, Johnson and Dodson were all playing hurt. Could those injuries have contributed to the bad performance?

Absolutely. The terrible contracts for Knox, Diggs and Miller are huge issues, but I think all 3 will probably be gone after 2025. After 2025 we can move on from all 3 with a cap savings of 44 million. I think we can get decent production from Knox and Diggs over the next 2 years.

I watched Brady tear apart the SEC while at LSU using WRs (Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase) at WR with Burrow as the QB. Those two stars had over 3300 yards receiving on 195 catches in 2019. They also had Edwards-Helaire at RB who ran well and caught over 450 yards out of the backfield (and 1400 yards rushing). It was truly the greatest college offense ever. Brady simply didn’t have the weapons to execute his offense properly. Diggs is no longer in the same universe as Jefferson and Chase and he was the best of the WR lot. The only pass catchers Brady trusts are Kincaid and Shakir. I honestly believe if Brady stays, he’ll lobby for a 1st pick WR with size and speed to make his offense go. I can also see him wanting a 2nd big WR as another TD threat. At LSU he used Terrance Marshall as the guy.

Others have made this point as well. I agree Tre is not a good tackler but he does bring other good things to a possible move to free safety such as coverage and ball hawking skills. He is also like Hyde, a very smart defender positionally.

That was certainly the case heading into last season. Jones, Miller, Settle, Phillips, Floyd, Poyer and Hyde certainly made it that way, but heading into next season many of those players will be gone. Hyde, Settle and Phillips are almost certainly gone. The youth movement centers around Benford, Benard, and Rousseau and should continue with new draftees at safety and along the D Line. The team as a whole is going to continue to get younger. McGovern, Brown and Torrance now anchor the O Line. New WRs will be drafted and Kincaid is now the starting TE. Cook is the starting RB. I think the only over 30 starters on offense are Diggs and Morse. (Dawkins will be 30 next year).

I thought that as well. However after watching Greg Tompsett video referenced elsewhere I feel much better about the cap situation. They are between 30-40 mill over the cap depending on how much the cap rises. Cutting Harty, Hines, Gilliam, White, Neal and a few others gets us toward the goal. Add some extensions and a little restructuring and your’re there.

This is one of the reasons I started the thread. So many people are screaming in other threads fire McD, fire Beane, we are in cap hell (we aren't), the offense sucks and the defense sucks etc.. However, when you put together a visual view of the roster, it reveals that Beane isn't an idiot, but has built a core of a very solid football team, which is getting younger again. In the last 3 drafts, he has added starters Rousseau, Brown, Cook, Benard, Shakir, Benford, Kincaid, and Torrence. He has 10 draft picks in 2024 to add more depth at WR, safety, and to fill other needs such as D Line.

He'll be 30 in June.

I've mentioned it in other threads, but I like how this team looks on paper heading into next season. Only looking at players under contract Offense: QB - Allen RB - Cook OLine - Brown, McGovern, Morse (Bates), Torrence, Dawkins TE - Kincaid, Knox, WR - Diggs, ?????, Shakir Defense: DLine - Oliver, Rousseau, Miller LB - Milano, Benard, Williams, Spector CB - Douglas, Benford, Johnson, White (if healthy and not cut) and Elam S - Poyer Players under contract who I think will be cut - Gilliam (FB), Harty (WR), Hamlin (S), Hines (RB), Doyle (LT), and Neal (CB). Others under contract - Van Denmark (T), Davidson (TE), Anderson (RT), Shorter (WR), Jonathan (DE) I think that's 11 very good to great (Allen) players on offense, which only needs another 2 WRs and some OLine depth. I'd also bring back Ty Johnson to back up Cook and draft an RB with one of our 3 6th Rd picks. On defense, there are 7 excellent starters (Oliver, Rousseau, Milano, Benard, Benford, Douglas, and Johnson), plus the ever capable Poyer (if he returns). We need another starting safety and help on the DLine, but these are not insurmountable issues, especially if Floyd and DaQuan Jones return and by some miracle, Tre White returns healthy. If White does return, would he be moved to Free Safety to replace Hyde? I love our depth at LB, especially if Dodson is also re-signed. This is the core of a very good football team that could be a SB contender with the right tweaks and some luck in the health department.

I think we need to get younger along the D line, especially if we bring back Floyd and Jones to go with Mille and let Epenesa walk. The only returning D Line under 30 are Oliver and Rousseau (and little-used Kingsley Jonathan).

He is going to stay the course because he has a good team and given the bad contract he gave Diggs, Knox, and Miller, we are kind of stuck. He should stay the course because the majority of his starting lineup is under contract and again, it's a good team. He needs to get help at safety, along the D Line and at WR, and depth at corner, but other than that his roster is in good shape.