JohnC

I don't see Botterill involved in blockbuster deals that will dramatically alter the roster. He will emphasize, as you are aware, cultivating his own players and add them to the big club when they are ready. I don't see him as a GM who is going to allow a touted young player to leapfrog over players because they were highly drafted. If Nylander is going to make the big club he will have to have earned it. As it stands he has a way to go with the good chance that lower ranked players will pass him by. Very often new GMs have a tendency to get rid of players associated with the previous regime. I think that Botterill is more analytical and will judge players on their own merits without any bias attached to who acquired them. It's my opinion that he won't trade O'Reilly unless he gets a good return on him. He needs O'Reilly to be reinvigorated and play at a higher level and help this team be competitive.

Augie, My condolences. You trying to help another person while in the midst of your own grief reflects your kind and generous heart.

That's probably the best way to get him acclimated to the North American game. Botterill has the Pittsburgh philosophy where he prefers developing players in the minors until they are ready to play and stay in the NHL I don't know how to pronounce his name. I don't speak Swedish. When it comes to gibberish I am fluent. ?

Success for rebuilding teams is certainly predicated on drafting well. But there is more to it. McDermott and Beane both believed that if you want to be a serious team you have to have a franchise qb. If you look at last year's draft moves and trading players for picks you can see that they weren't just going to give lip service to that endeavor but that they were going to make aggressive moves for the purpose of putting themselves in a positon to acquire a qb from the draft in a qb rich draft. If the Bills would have stayed pat without making deals to move up they wouldn't have gotten one of the top tier prospects. Again, they had a plan and they successfully executed it. McBeane also had a plan to clean up the cap situation. Next year they will be in an excellent situation with respect to the cap. Again, they had a plan and they superbly executed it.

With that shot I see him at the point on power plays. It will be interesting to see if he starts off in Rochester or from the start makes the big club.

My mentality towards the franchise and the new regime was that there was a recognition that they were coming in with a rebuild plan. The McBeane tandem wasn't going to do a patchwork job on the Whaley roster. They were coming in with the intention of dramatically reworking the roster and more rationally redistributing the distorted cap. I have always considered this a four year rebuild. Steadily the old line players have been dispatched and they are being replaced with their type of players. There may be short term frustrations while going through the process but what has made me very optimistic was what McDermott accomplished last year with a roster that had a dearth of talent. What was gotten out of last year's lackluster roster was a very pleasant surprise. The Bills made the playoffs last year with a roster that I considered was in the lower third of the league. Just wait when our franchise qb is established and the roster is more completely built. Needless to say I'm optimistic.

I don't want to get into the Tyrod debate on what he can and can't do. That's history that doesn't need to be revisited. However, with either McCarron or Peterman I see a more conventional passing game of quick reads and getting rid of the ball. With that type of quick release throws the OL will be more effective in pass blocking than with the qb holding on to the ball. Taylor had a lot of deficiencies to deal with on offense. But his unique style of play is not what McDermott wants to run. As I have said before while many here are stressed with the thought of Peterman being on the roster I see the wrestling coach being comfortable with him. There may not be a long term role for him but for the short term the wrestling coach envisions a role for him.

I'm taking an opposite view from most of the posters after hearing that interview. The takeaway for me that is illuminating is his philosophy on the type of players he wants to build a roster with. Tasker made an incisive observation in the interview when he said it seemed that last year you had less talent but the team played better. With the emphasis on the type of guys he wants you can see why Dareus and Watkins weren't players he wasn't going to invest in and trust. McDermott is not the type of coach who is going to tolerate a lazy and undisciplined player on and off the field. It's apparent that the wrestling coach has thought long and hard on how he would build and run a team when given the opportunity. Whether one is enamored with him or not you have to give him credit for enacting his beliefs. Now only time will tell.

As others have said reach out to someone (pastor, groups, counseling) and share your pain. You will realize that the burden of sadness that you are enduring is the same experience that others have endured. They can help you as you can help them. Don't give up. It's not easy but reach out. What you feel has been felt by many others. You are not as alone as you think.

The difference is that in the multi-generational families living together everyone had their roles and responsibilities. The case in this link is that with the deadbeat son there is abuse going on related to ignoring the wishes of the parents (owners of the house) and not making any contribution to maintaining the property going beyond even paying rent which I'm sure he is not doing. The only way that this leach is going to make it on his own is to force him to provide for himself. The problem is because he doesn't have any life skills he is not employable. I really feel for the parents. They will never have peace in their lives as long as this lost cause son is in the picture.

The new GM wanted to fire Hue but the owner wouldn't allow it. If the Browns don't come close to meeting a rising expectation Dorsey will be selecting another coach for 2019. A more interesting question is how long before there is a clamor to replace TT with Baker Mayfield? http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/index.ssf/2017/12/cleveland_browns_jimmy_haslam_hue_jackson.html

Your insincerity is noted. On the bright side I would rather have a flat nose than crushed nuts. ?

You are an incompetent kicker. You broke my nose in the melee with your poorly aimed kick. ?

The Vegas line from early March has Buffalo winning 6.5 games. https://www.betfirm.com/nfl-win-totals/

I am as confident in my position that Allen won't start right away as I was in my position that Rex was a fraud before he even took to the sidelines. There is a chance that he will play sometime in the season but it won't be when the season starts. Trust me on this issue; I will not lead you astray. ?

Wasn't he Elaine's boss on the Seinfeld Show?

He had a horrible game in his rookie year so now the mob concludes that he can't play. That makes no bloody sense! He might prove to be a completely incapable player but to make an iron clad judgment from that one game is dumb. I don't want to denigrate your expertise but on this issue I give more credence to the wrestling coach. That might be the case or it might not. That's why you continue to evaluate him and don't foreclose your options until you know for sure.

While waiting you can add O'Reilly to the package. He always speaks about the trifecta whenever one of their names is mentioned. ?

The TT aficionados are resentful of him. They want him dispatched to the ash heap so they can maintain their narrative about their favorite running qb.

You shouldn't publicly say that it is going to take time to become a more competitive team. It will drive 4merper4mer crazy. He believes instant gratification is a long term solution. ?

I got kicked in the nuts by the mob for saying that. ?

I was skewered by many here when I said that Peterman would be on the roster this year. I still believe that his value in the long run will be as a backup. A Frank Reich type of qb with a backup role. I thought the Rodak interview was a fair presentation of the status of this team. This is a rebuilding team that is a few years away from having a more complete roster. There is still a lot to do before the offense can be presentable. The current status of the OL has me unnerved. I wish this regime would have worked out an accommodating deal to keep Incognito.

I respectfully but strenuously disagree with you about Mittelstadt. He certainly appears to be a high end prospect. But I doubt that he is going to be a dynamo next year. He's still very young and has to physically mature. He's not going to come close to his ceiling in a year or so. It will take a few years before he reaches the elite level that he is capable of. If you want to accelerate the development process of the younger players it is imperative that veteran players like O'Reilly and Okposo play at a higher level. What makes young players better is surrounding them with solid veteran players who will take the pressure off of the youngsters. The normal process for talented young players is that they get steadily better to the point where they cross the threshold of maturity. It takes time.

So the Steelers drafted a qb in the third round who might not immediately help but might do so in the not too distant future? Why is that such a bad approach to take? Quite the contrary, it's a smart thing to do. If the Bills took a similar approach just maybe they wouldn't have gone nearly a quarter century without having a franchise qb. If you don't like the qb then for you it is a bad pick regardless where he was taken. But that's not how the Steelers judged the pick. In their eyes they selected a qb they liked at a draft spot that was lower than how they evaluated him. For them it was a bargain and smart pick. If you don't believe that a third round qb can become a franchise qb then ask Seattle if they thought picking Russell Wilson in the third round was a mistake even when they had a backlog of qbs on the roster? If Rudolph turns out to be better than the other backups then that in itself would make it a good/reasonable pick.

Everything you said is accurate. But it doesn't help the running game when your passing game is less than mediocre. If the qb can quickly get rid of the ball and complete some passes it will help in the running game. I'm not just blaming the play of the qb. There is a consensus that our receiving corps is less than stellar. In general, starting with the OL there is a lot to work on before this unit can become better than average.