BillsFanForever19

You're looking at this as a Bills fan and like this is some sort of list curated by experts who are painstakingly evaluating and comparing stats and performance by position and ranking them justly. This isn't that kind of list. This is a list put together quickly by players and is often more of a list of popularity and fame. I mean, Tua played 11 games in a year where the Dolphins had a losing record. And he made the list bc he's Tua. Unfortunately, Benford isn't flashy or famous. He doesn't get a lot of pick 6's or picks in general. He's a great zone cover guy that locks down his man. We all know as Bills fans he's great. But this is the kind of list where you can bet your bottom dollar someone like Jalen Ramsey has 10x the chance to make it over Benford based on fame and popularity amongst players.

It wouldn't remotely shock me if Brown made it and Benford didn't. Fair or not, Brown got way more attention for his strong play last year than Benford did.

Dawkins and especially Allen will undoubtedly make it. Again, Benford could, but I'm 50/50 at best on that. Rousseau? No way that happens. You have to keep in mind, we're now in the Top 81 players of all positions on all teams league wide. If Rousseau was to make it, he'd be at the bottom of the list with Josh Sweat - who given his Super Bowl performance would probably supercede Rousseau league wide.

I definitely think he should and I wouldn't be surprised if he made it. But "no doubt" he will? I wouldn't go that far. Most fans don't even know who he is. He's often left off Top CB's lists, period. Let alone the Top 5. And this is a player voted thing, often with bigger names who had down years voted in over players who had better seasons. Again, I think he should be on the list. But I certainly have doubts that he will be.

... Huh? We utilize 2 LB's. We just signed one of them to a long term contract in Terrel Bernard. And for the other spot, we have Matt Milano who has been showing improvement on a gradual basis since returning. Even if you're concerned about his health and long term future, we have Dorian Williams underneath him who we spent on a 3rd Round Pick on and performed admirably as a Starter for long periods of time and may be the long term starter at OLB. As for Bernard getting injured or Milano/Williams, you could play that game with almost any position. I don't see any way you could say LB was on equal ground as CB when all we had there was Tre White, Dane Jackson, and Ja'Marcus Ingram opposite Benford. You're concerned about Bernard and Milano/Williams if there was an injury but not concerned about Tre White starting on 2025?

Yes, that's exactly what happened. And I'm sure it was a result of the Araiza situation: https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/maxwell-hairston-sexual-assault-lawsuit-could-eventually-result-in-league-discipline So unfortunately, Maxwell Hairston COULD be suspended. But it wouldn't be until after the Civil Suit has been resolved, if there's a settlement or he was found liable in court.

Yes, if you entered the lottery you'll have an email telling you if you won or not. I did not.

What are you on about? Do you need me to link every single article of each resolution date and suspension date? If the press has that they plead guilty to a crime, they've plead guilty. It's not they plead guilty to prosecutors and the prosecutors announce it to the press then there's some long waiting time to plead before the judge. It's done. Even if you want to argue that there's a case where it leaks to the press first (which isn't what these reports say) - then they all came to agreements with the prosecution that became public before they were suspended. That hasn't happened with Rice. And why suspensions come with no charges, again, has no correlation to Rice. He has been charged. It hasn't been settled. The suspension won't come until it has been settled, he's found innocent in trial, or guilty in trial. None of these things have happened yet.

I know as Bills fans some of us want to make out that there's some preferential treatment to the Chiefs in Rice's situation. That's simply not the case. They are consistent in how they handle suspensions when it comes to Criminal Cases. @Malazan argument that they suspend before resolution of Criminal Charges is proven wrong by simple research on the cases of each player.

This is just factually wrong. I don't know why you end each of these with cases not being resolved when a little research on each Criminal case shows that they were indeed resolved. Deshaun Watson: Reached settlements on 20 of 24 civil suits on 6/21/22. 3 more cases settled on 7/31/22. Suspended 6 games in August of 2022 for cases settled. Revisited by the NFL and extended to 11 games. Alvin Kamara: Arrest on 2/6/22. Took Plea Deal pleading guilty on 7/11/23 to Misdemeanors. Suspended on 8/4/23 after case resolved. Chris Lammons: Warrant issued for arrest on 2/16/22. Took Plea Deal pleading guilty to Misdemenors on 7/11/23. Suspended on 8/4/23 after case resolved. Zay Jones: .... you literally say in your post that the charges were dropped in March of 2024. He was suspended on 8/23/24 after case resolved. How can you say the charges were dropped but the legal case wasn't resolved? J.C. Jackson: Arrested on 9/25/23. Case resolved in early October 2023 after appearing in court and completing an online course for reckless driving. Suspended on 8/23/24 after case resolved. Von Miller: Arrested on 11/30/23. Girlfriend recanted her statement of wrongdoing on Miller's part, so no charges were filed. Never a case to even resolve. Suspended in 10/2024.

That's because the legal process hasn't played out with Rice yet. The league doesn't hand out suspensions until after criminal charges or civil suits have been completed. Save for heinous acts caught on video (like with Ray Rice), that will have the league put you on an exempt list until things play out. To suspend before legal matters are resolved would be to assist Prosecution or Plaintiff's attorneys by giving them an institution to point to that has already completed their own investigation and held the player responsible for the crime or allegation. Rashee Rice's criminal matters have yet to be resolved. Justin Tucker's allegations didn't include criminal charges or a civil suit. This is also why Von Miller got suspended fairly quickly compared to others - his girlfriend didn't go forward with criminal charges or sue him.

That's something we'll have to wait and see on. I do think the Defense is definitely improved, on paper. That doesn't doesn't guarantee a better performance though, especially when it comes to things like Turnovers which are often entirely situational. But when it comes to this discussion, I didn't say "he'll make the Super Bowl this season". Just that I'm confident that unless something unforeseen occurs, he'll make a Super Bowl before he retires.

If he stays healthy and plays until the age most elite QB's like him play, I have very little doubt that he'll win at least a Championship game. He's come within inches (or 13 seconds) and was still in the game late with a poor roster just last season. Of course, I can't see the future. But I am very confident that he will at least make a Super Bowl before he retires, save for unforeseen injuries or an earlier than expected exit from the league.

I remember going into the Draft thinking we'd end up taking Michael Huff or Haloti Ngata. When Huff went 7, I was like "alright, it's gonna be Ngata then". When the pick came in as Donte Whitner, my jaw about hit the floor. I couldn't believe it. I liked the pick of John McCargo at the time of the Trade Up. Same for Ashton Youboty in Round 3 and Ko Simpson in Round 4. Little did I know the real victory would be in Round 5 in the form of Kyle Williams.

There probably wasn't a time when I more actively followed College Football as it were happening and was more invested in a Draft than the 2006 NFL Draft. It was wild then to later see most of the College Superstars from that Draft end up wearing a Bills jersey at different points in time, even if incredibly briefly in some instances, in Mario Williams, Reggie Bush, Vince Young, and Matt Leinart.

That's hilarious. What do you want? Them not to cover you?

In what's sure to be a hot take: James Cook. His speed, vision, and elusiveness is so fun to watch.

I think it's a moot point, as if he plays a long career and isn't hampered by a serious injury, he'll at least make a Super Bowl. But I disagree. If he plays for a long time and doesn't fall off a cliff early, I think he's already Hall of Fame bound. His accolades, numbers, records, and performances in games that are considered perhaps the greatest of all time alone will get him in. It's silly to say, "well Warren Moon was the last person to get in without a Super Bowl appearance so Josh can't do it without one". His career (again, without a major injury derailing things) will easily surpass that of Warren Moon. Dan Marino appeared in a single Super Bowl, but had he not, he'd have still gotten in. And Josh is a modern day Dan Marino level QB. I also feel pretty safe in saying Philip Rivers will make the Pro Football Hall of Fame without a Super Bowl appearance. Maybe not 1st Ballot bc of that, but he will make it in the coming years and reset the clock on that supposed qualification. We're obviously putting the cart before the horse here and I don't like talking about such things bc I'm slightly superstitious. But, in my opinion, Josh Allen is a Future HOF'er right now with or without a Super Bowl appearance so long as he doesn't fall apart before his mid 30's.

Robbins was possibly the worst Punter in the League in 2023. Camarda was picked in Round 4 of 2022 (which is like the Punter equivelant of going 1st overall). He was very good in 2022 and 2023, winning Special Teams Player of the Week honors as a Rookie and Special Teams Player of the Month in 2023. He was cut in 2024 after a new Special Teams coordinator came in and after a little bit of a slump. Most fans felt it was an odd release as after 2 solid years, they booted him after a bad month and a half. I think Camarda is the clear favorite and the more talented Punter. His performance that led to his release was still better than Robbins' 2023. Robbins' might have a better story, but Camarda has thus far proven to be the better Punter.

Mahomes at 4 is crazy talk.

I don't know. I think everyone's *interested* in how Coleman's looking and has hopes that he'll take step forwards. But I think if there's people on this board who are expecting him to be great this year or are over hyping him, they're the minority around here. There's way more negativity surrounding Coleman than positivity. Me, personally, I'm just in wait and see mode. I wouldn't be surprised if he took steps forward. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't.

That may be so. It still makes essentially calling it a Pipe Dream that either can be anything more than we've seen from them in Year 1 or Year 2 of their development kind of ridiculous.

That's awkward bc we did just pay Joshua Palmer a 3 yr, 29m deal, with 18m guaranteed at signing...

I completely agree with this. All things equal, it should go to the Rookie. Especially in this scenario where your Rookie is a Round 1 investment. If you're looking at one guy who has reached their ceiling vs. another who hasn't and they're equal in a competition - you're delaying development by going with the vet.

Considering they paid more than a million more for Howard than White, at a position considered non-premium (as opposed to White), his release was more surprising than a White cut would be. Regardless of how many reps with the 1's he had. You keep going back to these June reps with the 1's. I think, or at least hope, there's a communication breakdown in our discussion. If you're saying as long as he continues running with the 1's, he's safe - I'd agree. But that's not the verbage you've been using. Your implication is that it doesn't matter how he looks, he ran with the 1's in June so he's safe. My stance is that his run with the 1's in June were at least partly circumstantial. And given his mostly negative reports combined with Hairston getting up to speed, it's possible, if not likely, that time with the 1's will reduce if not come to an end in Training Camp. As opposed to OTA's, Training Camp is when they start positional battles and really start giving the Rookies heavy play. If he continues on the path he was on in OTA's, him running with the 1's in June will not matter as heavily as you're weighing it. First off, Dane Jackson is only part of the equation. I personally don't believe he'll make the Roster. I think Dorian Strong will be one of those two open Roster spots outside of Benford, Hairston, and Taron. I believe Hancock, being trained as a Cam Lewis clone, will fall under the Safety roster like Lewis did as a Backup Nickel/Safety. However, there's a scenario where they could feel he needs to focus solely on Nickel in Year 1. Which would complicate things on the CB roster as he's almost assuredly going to be here (we've never outright cut a Rookie before Round 6). My discussion on Jackson comes down to your idea that if he looks better than Tre, it doesn't matter bc you can just put him in the Practice Squad and play Tre White. My point was if Jackson looks better than Tre, sticking him on the Practice Squad for a couple elevations doesn't help the team as we'd be only getting 2 elevations out of him while playing someone who looked worse. I'd also add that I think Tre White could be brought back on the Practice Squad. No one was beating down the door for him this offseason. We got him for a small 2.2m guarantee. He didn't look great last season. If we were to cut him bc he didn't look great for us, I don't think anyone's going to be chomping at the bit to put him on their 53 for Week 1 cold. There's much more at play here than Dane Jackson. There's the other Rookies, as I've discussed. There's also Ja'Marcus Ingram, who had a helluva game for us in Miami when we had to start him and is also a core Special Teamer. If Tre continues to performs poorly, any number of those players could take his place. I don't think Jackson is making it. But if Tre doesn't step up and earn his spot, I don't think it's crazy to think they feel Jackson is a safer bet as one of the last CB's. This was kind of a surprising post to read from you. As we've discussed CB post-Draft and I thought we agreed that White is likely to make the roster, but not a lock. Saying it's Hairston or White to Start and no other options would imply to me that he's a lock. I don't believe it's just Hairston or White. I think it's very much more likely than not that's the case. But if Hairston isn't ready and White's struggles continue through Training Camp, I could see a scenario where something unexpected happens. In 2022, no one thought Christian Benford would start for us Week 1 over our 1st Round Pick and Dane Jackson. But that's just what happened. Just like in 2022, we took Strong in Round 6 after taking Hairston in Round 1. If it played out the same way where our vet options didn't wow and our Round 1 Pick wasn't ready, but our Round 6 Pick wowed - I could see history repeating itself. I don't think it's likely. But it happened in 2022. I could also foresee a scenario (again, albeit not likely) that if White and Hairston looked bad and especially if there were injuries and Jaiire Alexander was still floating out there that they may hop on the phone. And yes, although I don't see it as likely, there is a scenario where I could see them thinking Jackson looks better than Tre at this stage and he gets the spot over him and is a bridge starter, as we've used him in the past. But only if Hairston and Strong aren't ready and Tre looks bad. All this to say, Hairston or White is almost definitely the plan. But any number of unexpected things could happen where it's neither. Yes, I completely agree. The basis of this entire discussion stems from my original post that if Tre continues on the path that the reports from OTA's have said, he may not be safe. Of course it's early. And that's been the crux of the discussion. The guy I'm going back and forth with wants to say that since he ran with the 1's in June, it means he's safe come September. My stance is that if things were to continue looking negative for Tre through July and August - it doesn't matter where he ran in June. And again, I want him to make the team. I want him to look better. But I think people are in their feels when it comes to Tre and want to vehemently argue anyone who even points at the possibility that they may not be a lock. If reports were coming in that he was looking good or if we didn't have such a logjam at CB, I wouldn't even be discussing it.