OnTheRocks

When these topics come up I can never narrow it down to a single player. My top three would be: Jim Brown Jerry Rice Lawrence Taylor I once read a stat (I can't confirm if it's true or not), that Jim Brown was never tackled for a loss. As far as top athletes all time, I wouldn't include any of the above guys. Top Athletes All Time: Wayne Gretzky Michael Jordan And I'm going to throw in Serena Williams because.....well.....23 Grand Slam Singles Titles. 14 Grand Slam Doubles Titles. 2 Grand Slam Mixed Doubles Titles. And 4 Gold Medals. Domination for nearly 20 years.

Just saw that the Eagles are making a move to release Fletcher Cox. I don't know how good his last season was, but up until two years ago, he was right there next to Aaron Donald as the premier D Lineman in the league. How difficult is it for the Bills and Beane to forecast who might get released or cut? Meaning....lets say they're looking at Cox, two weeks ago, but they also have their eyes on two or three other players. How long do they wait to pull the trigger on the other two, before they think they miss out on any an all targets? If they knew Cox would be available two weeks ago, would they have targeted him instead of Tim Settle & DaQuan Jones? I know these thoughts are scrambled a bit, just thinking out loud.

Yeah, I'm glad no one went flaming on me for asking the question, because it wasn't my intent to be critical of him, as I said, I love the guy, and he leaves it all on the field every single game. He's what we've all been looking for since Jimbo retired.

I love Josh Allen. One of the first things that jumped out at me was how quickly he became comfortable as a locker room guy. When he was drafted there was some question about how he would adjust to the NFL immediately after there was a report that while he was in high school or college he had quoted lyrics from a song on twitter that the cancel culture was wanting to smother him over. Even during his first two seasons when he struggled to develop his accuracy, he just looked the part of a guy that was going to lead this team to the next level. So the question was put to me this morning by a Cowboys fan who is frustrated with Dak Prescott. He's a top NFL QB. But he's missing something in the maturity and leadership. Something that Aaron Rodgers has. Tom Brady has. Peyton Manning had. Jim Kelly, John Elway, and Dan Marino all had it. And that's this, they didn't hesitate to grab a lineman by the facemask and get in their face to tell them mistakes are not to be tolerated. Get after a WR if they run a bad route or read the defense poorly and don't cut a route short, or adjust and go long. I don't recall ever seeing Josh get in a guys face over a mistake. I hadn't given it any thought but wanted to throw it out there for discussion. Is Josh Allen too Buddy-Buddy with the men he's leading? Is it necessary for that kind of leadership to get to the next level?

Bates looks like the Golden Ticket they were gifted in exchange for giving away Teller. It's pretty amazing how one teams trash is another teams prize. Player evaluation has so many intricacies. This morning I've read a few articles on Bates. None from NFL Front Offices but scouting reports that I suspect are words written by some guy that was regurgitating what NFL Personnel have said in sound bites while scouting Bates or seeing him at the combine or sometime since. He's a road grade run blocker. His only weakness is run blocking. He's a Tackle. He'll never play tackle. He can only play Guard. He can fill any position on the OL. The combination of reports goes on and on. These guys (Teller, Bates) were guys that just needed time to develop. Some players peak in college, get drafted high and then suck in the NFL. Some guys don't peek until year 3 in the NFL and they turn out to be absolute steals as late picks or FA's because some player development guy saw something that no one else did. Regardless, the Bills OL is stocked with depth. Especially with Morse still there with one more year on his contract. Spencer Brown struggled mightily filling in at LT, and the plan wasn't for him to start at RT as much this year, but here we are. And guess what? I remember watching Anthony Munoz get absolutely embarrassed by Sherman White in his rookie year. Only one of those two guys is in the HoF. The O Line struggled through a lot of Covid and injury issues this year. I'm looking forward to how well this unit looks if they can stay healthy.

I think it's the OL play. Feliciano is a huge loss. He's that gritty leader you talk about that's been missing. And Daryl Williams - I don't have a snap count, but it seems like he's been in and out of the line up and inconsistent. Dawkins had some early games where he looked average at best. Morse is getting old. Ford has been a guy that was expected to be a starter and has managed to play his way into being a backup. Spencer Brown is a positive addition but he's still improving. Spencer Brown by the way, for those of you that have been around for a long time, reminds me of Joe Devlin and Ken Jones.

Who do you see on the current roster that the Bills might give up on that has the potential to become a Pro Bowler? (and I know the Bills didn't necessarily "give up" on Teller, but they gave away a future pro bowler on the cheap).

It was. Just gave me PTSD flashbacks.

Oh man! I just saw Tom Donahoe in the Eagles war room. I just had nightmare flash backs about how his drafts destroyed the Bills organization for an entire decade.

If Daboll takes a head coaching job, who is he most likely to take with him currently on the Bill Staff? Does Dorsey get the first look at the OC position? Or does he move with Daboll?

Can someone create a meme using this movie poster for tonight’s game.

In my opinion, the drought era began in 2002 with Tom Donahoe drafting Mike Williams and Willis McGahee in back to back years in the first round. I remember being super pumped when Donahoe was brought in from the Steelers. It reminded me of when the Bills landed Chuck Knox, except success never followed with TD. And he added Tom Mordrak who at the time I was also high on. What a disaster that front office turned out to be. As I remember it, the Bills had gaping holes all over their roster. Mike Williams was a larger than life personality, and a larger than life bust. Then Donahoe selected Willis McGahee who blew out his knee the year before and we knew in advance he wouldn't be available for at least one year. Not to mention that most draft specialist expected McGahee to be available in the next round. And if that wasn't enough, in 2004, he traded up into the first round to select J.P. Losman. Tom Donahoe is the single most responsible person for a nearly 20 year drought. And if there were a Wall of Shame for the Bills, he would be a first ballot inaugural member.

Good catch on Saban. I had no memory of him being added. I disagree on Chandler. He played in a different era. I would agree he wasn't a great all time NFL player,. but I think he belongs with the great all time Bills. I guess i would have to reconsider Knox. The 1980 team was my all-time favorite year as a Bills fan, and my memory of that season has likely sugar coated my opinion of him. Byrd, Hansen and Schobel are also all good choices.

I haven't posted on this board in years, so I'm not sure if this topic has been posted recently. I was reviewing the list of players and other members of the front office named on the Bills Wall of Fame and I got to wondering what other names you would like to see named? Here's five that I would like to see added: 1. Chuck Knox - At the time, he brought respect to the organization the moment he was named HC, after a decade plus of disastrous play. 2. Lou Saban - He lead the team to two AFL Championships. Enough said. 3. Bobby Chandler - My sentimental pick. As a guy that grew up in the 70's he was the guy that I always mimicked when playing ball in the backyard. 4. Rueben Brown - 9X Pro Bowl Guard from the post Super Bowl Era. 5. Cornelius Bennett - The missing link needed on defense to put the organization of the hump and bring 4 consecutive AFC Titles. https://www.buffalobills.com/team/alumni/wall-of-fame

Fingers crossed for James Daniels.