BillsFanForever19

It had nothing to do with Bernard being hurt. They were giving everyone a shot with the 1's in a completely open competition. My stance is, like Gunner said, they most likely want Hairston to be that #2 CB. But they don't want to overwhelm him and the other Rookies, who just got the Playbook. So they're starting Hairston out slow and putting White out there for the time being. So his being with 1's now seems more circumstantial. There's lots of guys running with 1's in June that aren't going to be Starter's. Forrest, through circumstance, ran with 1's at times and I think he's a longshot to make the team. I also think, given how he looked last season, they also wanted to test where White is at by putting him against the toughest competition. And the results didn't seem great. I think Training Camp and the Pre-Season are a different animal than Non-Contact June OTA's. I believe even if Tre responded better than he did in OTA's that Hairston is going to run with the 1's in August. I doubly think that given the reports of Tre's performance. And I think when Training Camp is in full swing, it's a very real possibility that they think guys like Dorian Strong, Ja'Marcus Ingram, and/or Dane Jackson is performing better than he is for those last 2 spots on the 53 for CB. I don't want to make it seem like I'm bashing Tre. I am rooting for him and would like to see my penciling him in on the 53 turn to ink. But yesterday didn't seem like he was all that much better. He was in position to make a tip drill pick. But he still was getting beat. All of this to say that I think OP's take that running with the 1's in June secures his spot on the Roster is putting the cart before the horse.

Yes and it's funny because you mentioned him in your earlier post... In 2023, before Terrel Bernard was formally given the job, there was an open competition for Starter at Middle Linebacker. Famously, McDermott still hadn't named a starting Middle Linebacker deep into Training Camp and openly told the press someone had to step up. Everyone from Bernard to Dodson to Spector and Klein was given opportunities with the 1's as they searched for their starter. A.J. Klein ran with 1's in Training Camp and didn't make the roster. It isn't uncommon anytime a position is up in the air or a Rookie is being eased in (in this case Hairston) that a veteran will run with the 1's, when the job likely won't be theirs. I think you're putting too much stock in that right now. Especially since we haven't even gotten to Training Camp yet. If he were looking great, I'd say "yes, that's a good sign he'll make it". But that's not what's reportedly happening. If he continues to consistently have reports of "another bad day for Tre", he won't be running with the 1's for long and it's not far off from there to being lost in the numbers game. I'm not guaranteeing he won't make it. But if things don't turn around, his running with the 1's in June isn't going to supercede his poor performance - as you suggest.

I think it's fair to question whether Coleman will take a step in Year 2 or Kincaid in Year 3. But to declare the idea that they could an unreal "dream", especially Coleman after a single season, is a little much. We've seen a number of players on this team take steps or bounds forward unexpectedly. It's a little early (again, especially in Coleman's case) to be telling people they're dreaming when it comes to them taking a leap forward. Some players come out of the gate swinging. Some are late bloomers that take a couple years of development before the game slows down for them. Declaring a Round 1 pick is definitively who they are after 2 seasons and especially after their Rookie year is foolish.

But if he's lost more than a step and that's looking like a real possibility, he may not be able to execute the Defense flawlessly. At this point, he may not even be Prime Levi Wallace or Dane Jackson. I can't remember a time when Levi (or any other CB really) had it reported that "it wasn't a good day for them" by every reporter on a consistent, every day basis. If he's struggling that badly and it continues through Training Camp, I don't think you can say "he knows the Defense and that will get him by". We only lost 2 CB's and brought in 5 between the Draft (Hairston, Hancock (who may or may not fall under the Safety chart), and Strong) and FA (White and Jackson). Of those 2 spots, it's an absolute given that Hairston is taking one. At no point have I thought White was "nearly a lock". At most, I had him penciled in. But he has to prove to not be a liability and also beat out a number of guys. And from what's been being said lately combined with the number of guys he'll have to beat - I don't know how anyone could be so confident that he's going to be here. But time will tell....

I wouldn't, personally. It's June OTA's. They could easily be trying him there just to test him and see where he's at. I also don't think he's been exclusively running with the 1's. A good percentage of the negative reports have come from him being owned by Elijah Moore. They could easily see him looking bad with 1's and he is no longer out there in Training Camp. There's been a number of guys throughout the years, especially when there's a positional battle, that have gotten time with the 1's at one point or another and not made the team. Again, I hope he makes it. But I wouldn't look at overwhelmingly negative reports of a player and think "well, he's running with the 1's in June so it doesn't matter how bad he reportedly looks - he's safe".

I think I'd need more information on the theoretical deal. When the question is asked "money or your team winning the Super Bowl?" - what are we talking about? Like are they saying for that year that they would win or are they asking "money or your team never wins the Super Bowl?" With the QB we have, I think we'll have a lot of chances to win a Super Bowl. So there is a dollar amount (definitely more than 500) I would accept to give up a Super Bowl we'd potentially win in a single given year. But if the deal means that it won't ever happen? That's a horse of a completely different color.

Hilarious timing....

His music and composition helped shape my life. God only knows what i'd be without him.

With Hoecht suspended, it still makes Solomon 5th in the pecking order to me. With Bosa being a walking injury waiting to happen (he's already been dinged up before Training Camp) and him not going to take so much as 50% of snaps, Jackson being a 3rd Rounder that has never played a down in the league, and Hoecht suspended - I don't see AJ being moved until Hoecht is in the lineup (if at all). We've only got the minimum 5 we keep at DE for Week 1-8 as it is. If we have an injury and we've moved on from AJE, we'd be short handed and relying on Jackson and Solomon. I don't see that happening. So, yeah, long story short - with Hoecht in the lineup or not, Solomon is looking at 5th in the pecking order at best in my eyes. Which is the role he had last season. Jackson will be in Smoot's role.

Palmer will be starting. That's a given with the contract we signed him to and the relative lack of star power at the position. With only 5 WR's, Shakir exclusively in the Slot and Samuel at least 50% in the Slot, Moore will see his fair share of reps whether or not he's starting. If Coleman doesn't impress during the regular season, Moore may cut into his number of reps more than expected. But i'd be surprised if he outright supplanted him for the role in Week 1, regardless of how he looks.

I'd bet most of these "injuries" would have players not even missing practices if it were the regular season. They're *incredibly* pre-cautionary with things this time of year. If someone says "eh, i'm feeling a little tight but I'm good to go" they're gonna say "sit the f-ck down".

Don't sound so excited 😆 It cracks me up how enraged people were over a completely theoretical holdout. Like you were screaming to trade and replace him during the Draft over something that was only so much as a non-verbalized possibility and now that it didn't happen - the same people sound disappointed that he didn't do it and is in the building.

Incorrect. He has not signed yet. Nor has TJ Sanders or Deone Walker. There are new things in place that guarantee protections and the contract regardless of injury, allowing unsigned Draft picks to practice without having been signed.

Even if we hadn't signed Shaq Thompson, we wouldn't pay that much for a backup MLB. He'll probably be starting for Vegas as well. So, yeah, wasn't going to happen.

Yeah, the Lions game last year when he was lined up on Jameo was so tough to watch. Not only him getting torched on the reg, but the look on his face that seemed to read "i'm done". I hoped that returning to a zone scheme that he's much more comfortable with and familiar with that provided him help would make him look at least good enough to be the 3rd or 4th Boundary CB off the bench on the 53. But with each day and each new report, it seems like that's not the case, at least thus far. I had him and Strong penciled in after Benford, Hairston, and Taron. But I think he's going to be hard pressed to beat out Dane Jackson and/or Ja'Marcus Ingram at this rate Today was the first time I saw something positive tweeted about him. But even then, it was followed by another negative report:

My expectations are that he'll be on the 53, but we shouldn't want to see much of him. With the depth at Defensive End we have, if we're noticing him on the field very often - that means we've had injuries.

If you reduce James Cook to just the Touchdowns, you're neglecting 228 of his 246 touches. Averaging 4.9 yards on the ground and 8.1 yards per reception. A whole lot of yardage that extended the sticks and gave good field position for others to score. That's just as important, if not more. I think you're also downplaying some of those TD's as well. The league is full of athletic RB's that either lack the vision or the decisiveness to find and hit those holes as quick as he does. There's plenty of fast backs that don't get to the edge because they took the wrong angles. You come across as if you're saying "any fast RB could do what he did". I don't think that's accurate. If you feel that some overestimate his value, that's fair. But I think this evaluation swings the pendulum too far to the other side.

No... that's not what you said. That's what you're saying now. Before you were saying:

Your take was that he's "not doing the right things", "isn't a team player", and compared him to Diggs. Now you're moving the goal posts to he won't be a Bill next season. I think even the ones (like myself) who are saying you're taking things too far see that as likely. My dude - you're the one comparing him to Diggs, still holding a grudge and saying "let's see how this ages" even after he showed up to Mini Camp and didn't even "Hold In". If anyone's (strangely) taking things too personally, it's you.

Oof. This seems to be a trend thus far and is sad to hear. I think we all saw that his time in LA last year was a disaster. He looked better in Baltimore, but I don't think he looked particularly very good either like fans like to say. Just much better relative to being a disaster. I think we all want Tre to be on the roster this season. But he needs to look like a player we can call up on if Hairston isn't ready or someone gets injured if he's going to be on the 53. We're all rooting on him. But I've yet to hear anything from reporters about him beyond him having a bad day

I would say that calling him "nothing close to a Superstar" is underrating him more than calling him a "Superstar" is overrating him. I think you'd be hard pressed to find an NFL fan, of any team, that doesn't know who James Cook is.

Would you now? I thought you wanted to start Ray Davis?

That's why we have Dorian Williams and signed Shaq Thompson. We also have guys like Edefuan Olofoshio at OLB and Joe Andreesen at MLB who are entering Year 2 in their development. It always cracks me up when you see us Draft or Sign someone who isn't who you had your heart set on for the position and you go "let's forget about him and go get my guy" immediately after the move happens. That's not how it works.

He tore it on 9/30/24. It will be over 11 months come Week 1. Modern medical Achilles rehabilitation in the NFL has made leaps and bounds from the old days. It used to be a Full Year or more. In recent years, we've seen guys return much quicker than that. I think it's very likely he's ready to roll Week 1. As for the signing itself, I love it. I've been saying all offseason that I was surprised we did nothing for the LB room. Especially at Middle Linebacker. It was crazy to me that they didn't even bring in so much as some competition underneath Bernard - where we only had Joe Andreeseen and Baylon Spector. Thompson missed the past two years with injuries. Before that though, he was a very good starter. A broken leg shouldn't hamper someone long term. An Achilles can, but not as much as a Torn ACL. If he can stay healthy, I think he has the potential to be a great Backup. I'd def feel more comfortable with Shaq than Buffalo Joe and especially Spector.