Bill from NYC

My thing is that the quality of a draft isn't only determined by who you draft, but also who you passed on. Levy admitted to numerous trade down offers and passed on HUGE talent (much of it at positions of dire need) in order to draft Whitner, an undersized safety (who btw held out and had off field issues). Whitner was weak in coverage and while he was generally OK in run support, he would also get pancaked from time to time. He went on to collect 36 million dollars from the Bills and it all counted towards the cap. Whitner was one of the dumbest picks I have ever seen but what were we to expect from the absolute worst Head Coach/GM teams that ever existed in the NFL?

My biggest meltdown was Donte Whitner. Spiller and McKelvin were close but Whitner was traumatizing.

Gotta disagree in that Allen already has freak physical skills. I know what the OP means wrt Bledsoe. Like him or hate him, the man had an absolutely great arm. Marino once said that Bledsoe's arm was better than his. Allen has a comparable arm to Bledsoe AND he can move. I too wish that he had more weapons but he does have better blocking and this would seem to be beyond any doubt. This will hopefully keep him in one piece. In 2020, there are what appear to be great receivers coming out. I hope to see 1 or more wind up in Buffalo.

I think that being negative about it and not being overwhelmed by it need to be separated. The team went 9-7. For the Bills this is good. They slid into the playoffs. For the Bills this is also good. They were promptly eliminated which is a shame, and caused some posters to temper their expectations, and it turned out that they were correct. How much does all of this matter? NE is getting older, the Dolphins look as if they are tanking and the Jets are young. This Bills team has a good chance to compete. I hope that the coaches can facilitate exactly this.

Wouldn't ignoring him make more sense than going to the mods? These are people who are nice enough to help keep this place together. Why would you want to bother them with this kind of petty stuff?

I think that quarterback salaries mandate the use of rookies. Imo when the NFLPA agreed to a rookie cap they thought that veteran players would get the money. Instead, most of it seemed to have gone to the QBs. For example, paying Cousins over 30 mil. guaranteed leaves a team less room for high priced vets. That particular contract set a scary precedent imo. Soon his contract will be dwarfed by much better QBs, in fact it is already happening. This makes early player development that much more important and is something that I hope our leadership focuses on in the coming drafts.

You make some good points but I do disagree wrt Dawkins. I am not saying that he had a great year but the NFL is a league that seems hard up for blockers, and I think Dawkins could land a spot on most teams. I also see him as likely to improve with better players next to him.

Yeah, someone must have confused him with Yeldon.

True but it was a pretty bad miss by professionals. But as Bandit said, if Allen turns into a franchise QB (and btw I was behind this selection from day 1) the whole episode will be rendered a moot point. If not.....you tell me.

This is what I was trying to get across. I am holding back judgement on McBeane, not universally blasting them.

Its great, but you need a QB in place. This league is obviously different that it was years ago. McDermott passed on 2 great ones, and one might be the best player in the NFL. I choose not to praise this but I respect your opinion.

But you see e-man, it is possible to view this differently. Mahomes and Watson were also pretty good, no? And we had QB problems at the time. Big problems that Peterman didn't solve. I think it is OK to be suspicious of moves like this without being "agenda driven."

I respectfully disagree. The first draft that McDermott was here for and heavily involved in (if not in charge of) was quite "Billsy" for lack of a better word. If Allen turns out to be the QB we all hope he is, all will be forgiven. If not, it will probably indicate to me that this administration is just another failure. Injuries, etc. will enter into my viewpoint. There are some things that I am totally looking forward to this season. Still, I find myself unable to do is heap praise upon everything McDermott and Beane do. Is this driven by ignorance or agenda? Nah, but I will cop to emotional self preservation.

I am going to be different here and place pressure on Cody Ford. For the better part of decades, the right side of the Bills OL has been manned by various stumblebums. I am talking about some of the worst blockers in the NFL. I am convinced that if Ford is as good as I think he can be, he could change the dynamic of the entire offense and even help the defense in terms of T.O.P. Jmo.

Never mind. Make up rules as you will. Wail away.

Nice deflection. You and the "others" who you deem fit to speak for are posters with opinions. Who posts here is a decision made by SDS and the Mods. They must be doing OK; you seem to like it here. They have proven more than capable for decades but if and when they need help, I am sure they will reach out to you and your self proclaimed cadre.

Maybe he participates because he feels strongly about the Bills and wants to discuss them. Who appointed you the keeper of the gate? I remind you again that people don't need permission from you to post here.

I don't think that doing that would be a great idea, but it does seem that when the union agreed to a rookie scale, the bulk of the money saved went to quarterbacks (and of course whoever Whaley would waste it on).

I am going to help you out and clear something up for you. When I saw Bruce listed as doubtful for that game with "flu" being the reason, I too was furious. I can clearly remember the absolute anger. I called him the p word and everything else but a child of God. About a month or so later I was driving home from work at about 8 PM. I actually like the cold but suddenly I was freezing and blasted my heater all the way. I went to bed and woke up shivering, aching all over, and in the fetal position. I couldn't eat for 3 full days, after which I had 1/2 a piece of white toast with no butter and a few sips of tea. I was hallucinating cartoons in vivid colors on my bedroom wall, and was throwing up and every other symptom constantly. After a week (and a loss of 14 pounds) I went to the doctor and he told me that this was a very dangerous flu and that there had been deaths. Yes, and a month earlier, I was up in arms about Bruce. At my sanctimonious best, I wanted Bruce to play professional football in that condition on a 20 degree day in Pittsburgh and there I was a month later, crawling across my hallway to go throw up and everything else in the bathroom, burning alive and delirious with fever. I have never missed a flu shot since that episode. In any event, I hope my rather boring tale gives you a better perspective and clears things up about that particular flu that Bruce was stricken with.

I agree but I have heard several defenders say that they would rather play against Montana than Young.

Fair enough.

FWIW, Fouts had one of the best groups of receivers ever to play on one team.

Oh I see your point, but the worst GM (to me) is one who gives away the store with poor results. AKA Whaley.

Sounds like an insurance thing to me. I don't necessarily believe that story at face value. Just sayin.....

Please keep your eye on Metchie at WR. He lit up the A Game and Saban was pissed when the reporters implied how good he is. I am hoping to see more from Raekwon Davis this season and think that he will do better with new asst. coaches. Also if you don't mind, would you let us know about Trey Sanders and Antonio Alfano? Thanks Bro!