dave mcbride

Arguing against letting Gilmore go only works in the context of a we-could-have-drafted-Mahomes/Watson argument, but if the regime wasn't sold on either of those guys (and they clearly weren't; otherwise they would have taken a QB given that they weren't invested in Taylor), then they wouldn't have drafted them anyway and the point is moot. The Bills pass D has been very good without him even though he's a very good player himself.

? - They were 7th in passing defense as measured by team passer rating (the differential of which is the most predictive stat of success in sports). Opponents had an 85.4 rating. http://www.espn.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/passing/sort/quarterbackRating/position/defense/seasontype/2 Raw yardage is indicative of nothing other than the fact that their opponents were playing from behind most of the time.

Um ... .

Apropis of your point above about qbs, I thought you might be interested in this piece: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/a-cheap-qb-is-a-quick-route-to-nfl-playoffs-but-sustained-success-costs-big-money/2019/01/03/c014f9ba-0f9a-11e9-84fc-d58c33d6c8c7_story.html?utm_term=.dad9be59b542

I also think that short of a franchise tag, which the Bills would never have done (and I don't even know if they could have done it that year), there was no way he was going to resign with Buffalo. He was moving on regardless.

very weird. There is another set of stats in the same article with him being targeted 5 times and giving up 1 catch for 7 yards with 2 BUs. I also read in another spot that he had two BUs. Anyway, 3 catches on 6 attempts for 19 yards is good -- 50 percent completion rate for 3.3 ypa.

I agree completely. The Bills have a good secondary, obviously. But Gilmore is very good too.

?? Gilmore wasn't necessarily the main guy on that play (I read the piece you got the info from too in the Charlotte Observer). https://patriotswire.usatoday.com/2018/02/05/these-stats-from-super-bowl-lii-show-impact-of-malcolm-butlers-benching/ Gilmore officially gave up one completion in five attempts for 7 yards; he also had two pass breakups. And to reiterate, NE probably isn't even in that game if not for the great play he made at the end of the Jax game.

You were wrong, but that's OK. I was completely unaware of Virgil's thread when I began this and actually came across the news about the All-Pro team outside of this board. I was less interested in what Virgil was interested in (the lack of Bills) anyway than in who actually made it.

Totally right about Seattle. The non-QBs on that team gripe when contract time comes around, but they keep winning because the team focuses on the main thing (and drafts well). Incidentally, how about Tyler Lockett this season? I remember watching him in a losing effort for K-State in a bowl game vs. UCLA and thinking that he was by far and away the best player on the field (and Miles Jack and Eric Kendricks were on that field). https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/01/01/tyler-lockett-had-one-of-the-greatest-wide-receiver-seasons-in-nfl-history/ This is actually false. They avoided throwing at him pretty much the whole game.

I'm unsure of your point. Making the AP All Pro first team is a big effing deal. What has Preston Brown done of note? As for myself, I pay close attention to Bills' draftees who leave the fold. Most here do, in fact.

What has to be factored in in his last season was the extreme discontent among most of the Bills defensive players with Rex's system, which was an abject failure. They finished 27th in defensive DVOA in 2016 (and 24th in 2015) despite having a lot of talent. They were 2nd under Schwartz in 2014. It was way too complicated and there was no Jim Leonhard (a bizarre constant in all of Rex's good defenses) who could explain on the fly to other players the Rube Goldberg machine that was the Bills defense in those years. I'm a Foster fan. He's a player.

Because he plays for our main division rival, he used to play for the Bills, he was a top ten pick for us, and we're likely to face him 4-6 times over the next 2-3 years. Plus -- again -- this is an NFL board too. It's not only about the Bills. That's why a lot of the good posters here (Bandit, Kirby, 26, Badol, Yolo) have contributed so much for so long.

This board is best when other teams and their players are discussed, and that has always gone on here for nearly 20 years. A Bills-only discussion board would suck, and I'd run away screaming.

Talk about moving the goal posts!

There was a ton of discussion about that play after the game. Reading the tea leaves from postgame comments, the general consensus was the coverage was blown. I think there were about five threads on that play after it happened.

Um, he's not overrated. Throws against him had the lowest completion rate (42 percent) in the entire league: https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/patriots/patriots-stephon-gilmore-was-pffs-highest-graded-nfl-cornerback-2018. How does being the best equate with "overrated"? Also bear in mind that he essentially got the Pats to the SB with a genuinely impressive pass break up on 4th down vs. Jax in the AFC championship game that, if completed, would probably have led to a Jax victory. And he played well in the SB (unlike the other members of the NE secondary).

That was a blown coverage by the safety.

I've been known to do that, yes.

Being good against the run is nice for a corner and all, but that's not why they're paid and it's not how they're assessed. Most plays in the league are passing plays.

Best corner in the league by a number of measures this season.

He was just named a first team all-pro. This comes after PFF rated him as the highest corner in the league (90.7). If I recall correctly, he was best in the league in terms of completion pct on balls thrown his way, and he led the AFC in pass breakups with 20. He was second overall in that category; Kyle Fuller, the other all-pro, had 21.

He didn't rank Rosen above Allen!

Rosenthal is an excellent analyst who perhaps overprioritizes accuracy (which, to be fair, is an incredibly important trait). Re: his ranking of Allen, it's fair because he's not simply ranking him based on the last few games. The early season debacles get factored in equally as well. He's not saying he won't improve.

Even still, the Bills D started from the worst field position (32nd overall) in the league when opposing offenses began their drives. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/2018.htm. The offense was terrible at moving the ball for most of the season, they turned it over a lot, and the special teams were terrible too. That sort of thing dramatically affects point totals.