Coach Tuesday

He number 1 running back.

I suspect they'll improve on special teams significantly, which may be enough to steal an extra 1-3 wins. I also expect they'll be better at stopping the run and assembling 11 men on defense for every play. That all said, I still think 9 wins is the ceiling.

Reports out of Pittsburgh say that Hunter is having a monster training camp and may be jockeying to push out Coates for a starter role...

There is not even a "crowd." It's a stupid label to use because it suggests a collective agenda. Well done. You're a winner.

That first sentence you wrote doesn't even make sense. And again, painting people with broad brushes, and simplifying every issue into two camps, is the real trolling.

There are idiots everywhere (no offense to your sister). But painting everyone who is concerned as a hypocrite or a hack is unproductive and inaccurate.

There is no "they" - that's a fiction you've invented to avoid the merits of the argument.

That actually is not the job of a GM, and that's why Whaley is no longer a GM.

What is the "global warming crowd"? This has always confused me. Are all of us who are worried about human-caused climate change a bunch of enviro-nuts with an anti-business, tree-hugging agenda? The science is uncertain. What if there is a 30% chance that humans are causing the planet to warm up at a dangerous rate? Can we afford to bet the odds? It's possible to be anti-regulation, centrist, and deeply concerned about man-made climate change and the effect it will have on our children. The labels and snark around here are tiresome.

If he becomes an explosive pass rusher in the Suggs model, I'll be surprised and psyched - will happily eat crow.

He wasn't given a fair shot. He also sucked. Both things are true. Big deal - almost all players have to fight through adversity at some point in their careers. Dak Prescott will get his lumps, it just didn't happen in his rookie year. EJ can't play QB in the NFL. For me, it wasn't the Houston game, it was the Jaguars game. I knew by the end of that game that EJ's career was over.

Really good listen. I enjoyed the discussion about linebacker depth and how it might help with special teams this year. The added depth at LB and other positions suitable for ST, coupled with the coaches' focus on ST, has me thinking that Teams might win us an extra 2-3 games this year.

Such a missed opportunity to title a thread "Don't slumber on Humbar."

Rookie coach move.

Rob Riddick is who I'm talking about.

Well that was boring...

New schemes and no depth, with a QB who can't carry the team enough to make up for these issues. They may be on the right track but this season is going to be rough. 2018 should be a different story.

Exactly.

IIRC most of those TDs were scored on his patented "goal line leap" maneuver. He would highjump a pile of defenders on goal to go situations. It was his only skill.

Actually it's an indictment of Whaley...

Goodwin's issue is his frame - his training regimen is speed-focused, not football-focused. He seems to limp off in pain after every tiny bit of contact. I'm sure he'll tantalize the coaches in SF like he did here, but at the end of the day he won't offer full availability.

Some real jerks in this thread.

When you draft a CB (or any other player) in the top 20 your dream scenario is that he plays his way into being valued in the top 5 of his position by one of the top 5 organizations in the league. If you don't want to pay a guy like Gilmore, don't waste a premium draft pick on him in the first place, and/or use the fourth round pick they pissed away on a project QB to draft a potential replacement. By the way, the Panthers did something similar, they let Norman walk and waited until that draft to try to replace him, and it was a disaster.

And just to play this out - this issue isn't just that they let MG leave without shoring up their RB depth a year or two ago. MG should've been retained as a potential replacement for Shady, who many of us realize will not be here for more than another year or two max. THAT is where the mistake repeated itself this offseason, among other examples. It was a repeat of failing to retain Hogan who, while not amazing, could've handcuffed (i) Sammy's predictable injury-plagued 2016, and (ii) the loss of Woods this past offseason. The Bills cannot afford to let quality young players leave over a few hundred thousand dollars in value disagreement. Or if that's how they're going to be operating, they need to see those departures coming 2-3 years in advance instead of trying to plug leaks on the fly, during the draft.

The thing is, it's not the decisions themselves it's the lack of foresight and advance planning. What's predictable about the Bills is that they replace players on the fly, not a year or two in advance like quality organizations. The departures of Woods, Gilmore and MG could've been foreseen well in advance of this offseason (and I don't buy that Darby was drafted to be Gilmore's replacement - he wasn't; White was). The Bills continue to operate year to year and that's why they lack depth and rely on luck (which has never worked for them).