JohnC

I have made this point on a number of postings which you are also making is that the best situation is to have an experienced qb in place so the rookie is not forced to play before he is ready. Goff was not close to being ready in his rookie year. He was overwhelmed. Having an offseason to prepare after his rookie year where he was exposed to the playbook gave him the preparation to function with some understanding what he was doing. There is still a learning curve for a qb such as Goff but after making a quantum leap this year I expect him to be much more comfortable entering his third year.

Buffalo at home with challenging weather gives us an advantage. I predict that Zay Jones will not only have a good game he will also be the primary topic of discussion.

I agree with your comment that "at this point" he isn't quite ready. What makes me interested in investing in a talent like him, raw as he is, is that he has demonstrated improvement (refinement) in his passing but still needs to develop his game. From everything I have read about him he has the character, work ethic and desire. Ideally, it would be useful for him to stay another year under the tutelage of Petrino but I don't see him staying in school another year. Another thing one has to factor in when evaluating him is that his team isn't really that good. He is carrying the load.

At the time he may have been the second best back in pro football behind Jim Brown. He was definitely a personality, a difficult one to deal with.

I respectfully disagree. As the examining process goes on I'm confident that he will go up the ranks. There is no disputing that he has a long way to go before his game is refined enough for the pro ranks. But the starting point is having the raw materials, and the next step is to mold that material. Gunner, as time goes by I'm confident that you will be jumping on the same bus that I am riding on. I'm not saying that he is going to be your favorite prospect but what I'm sure of is that an open-minded person like you will be receptive to the evidence that will be more fully exhibited as the process moves on. Trust me, I will not lead you astray. P.S. Please put the Tebow comparison away. It does not apply here.

The Bills have the ammo to trade up. The real issue is how much do you want to give up? If there are three or four high end prospects then it doesn't make sense to deplete your draft assets when you can still come away with a good prospect. There are a couple of prospects that really intrigue me. Mayfield is one and Lamar Jackson is another. I'm not concerned with Mayfield's short stature. What impresses me is his accuracy in a high volume passing game. Lamar Jackson is a rawer qb but he can be a dynamic player who may take more time to develop. What has impressed me about him is that he made a quantum leap forward from last year to this year. Having Taylor is a good situation to be in. That allows you more time to develop a prospect and not rush a player if he is not ready. It also allows your team to remain competitive with the veteran qb taking the snaps.

By the time the season ends and the player evaluations are in full swing Lamar Jackson will be moving up the ranks. Not if we stand pat. Last year, the first three qbs taken were selected by teams that traded up. There are so many qb needy teams that it is going to be difficult to secure one of the higher rated qbs without being in a high draft position to do so.

Put aside the qb position and then look at how this franchise has in general drafted. It's been mediocre. Not only that but the decisions to move up and gratuitously trade picks away for draft day maneuvers has too often not worked out well. It's very often said drafting is not an exact science. That's true. But what is evident is that some teams do it better than others. After McDermott was hired he essentially brought in his own GM. Our scouting department was summarily dismissed after the draft. I'm not only not worried about this thorough cleaning out of the old guard I am celebrating these coherent organizational reconfigurations. The Bills smartly have positioned themselves very well in this upcoming draft. This roster is competitive although in my view they are not a not a playoff team. In my view this roster lacks the depth required to go through the rigors of a long season. (Would love to be proven wrong.) I'm just hoping that this new regime drafts well enough to take advantage of their extra picks and give this roster a boost so that it can have some sustained success.

Watson and Mahomes were available for a team that hasn't had a franchise qb in a long time. The three teams that took the top three qbs all made deals to move up to get qbs. We traded down to get another first round pick from a team whose pick will be near the bottom of the round. You are now making an assumption that in the next draft that the Bills are going to use a high pick on a qb. I'm strongly for it but not fully confident that this organization will do so. I'm not a believer that any one qb, except a generational type qb, is going to lead a team to the promised land. So waiting for that perfect scenario is a wishful thought that will rarely materialize. I'm a believer that a good franchise qb with a well rounded roster is the right approach to take. You keep pointing out that I am cherry picking in hindsight. No, I'm not. What I have been consistently saying is that when a franchise has not had a franchise qb for a quarter century it can't take a passive approach toward that position. If you miss on your selection then try again. You act as if the franchise is going to be crippled for a generation by making a selection that doesn't work out. To that timid and cautionary approach I say it will not. Just get back to it and do it again. Whether you want to acknowledge it or not we have had our opportunities, yet passed. When Whaley was asked in an interview after he was fired what he would have done differently he without hesitation said that he wished he would have been more aggressive on addressing the qb position. Duh!!!

Where I disagree with your take (and always have) is the issue shouldn't be about the class's overall talent and depth as it is whether you are in a position to select a good prospect even in a thin qb draft class. Would Watson been a good selection last year? I say yes. Would Dak Prescott or Carr been good selections? In all these examples the Bills were in a position to secure a good qb prospect. Of course there are no guarantees and never will be. But when you are an organization that hasn't had a franchise qb in a quarter century then there needs to be a more aggressive response to addressing that position compared to teams that already have a franchise qb.

You can add Baltimore to the list of teams that are likely to consider drafting a qb with a high pick. What's surprising about Baltimore's drop to the bottom is that they have one of the best GMs in the game in Ozzie Newsome. The Ravens have been consistently good for a long time. What's clear is that when you don't have good qbing your team is going to struggle. I'm not placing all the blame on the qb situation because they also have other major issues on offense. But it is clearly a major factor in the team's decline.

Isn't it better for a new coach to lose big games for a franchise that hasn't had a recent history of being in big games? Unquestionably Harbaugh is a mercurial (odd) fellow who has a history of taking teams that have languished and then injecting a boost to place the team in a good position where it hasn't been. Then he leaves. Is it like a sugar high where it is a short duration? Probably so. As I said in previous posts Harbaugh is the type of coach/personality where he is good at rather quick turnarounds and then the frenetic pace exhausts those around him, including the organizations he works for. I disagree with you that Harbaugh is going to leave as soon as you suggest. However, I think that movement will occur after he does have some very tangible success. Overall, I think he has done a good job in a very competitive league. My feeling is that he won't leave until he has a higher level of success. Then he will move on to the next challenge. That's just the way he is built.

You and I sing in the same choir. The Rams heavily invested to get Goff in the draft. The new coach came in and immediately with the staff focused their efforts in putting the young qb in a position to succeed. The OL was bulked up with the acquisition of Whitworth at LT and Sullivan at Center. So the qb was better protected and the line was more accomplished in blocking for Gurley. The organization then brought in Woods and Watkins and used a high pick on Kupp to upgrade the receiving unit. The new and bright HC then devised a passing game that was relatively simple and put the qb in a position to have success. Success breeding success. This is good coaching, good front office work and player development. The Rams should be saluted. Compare what happened there to how the Browns have continued to flounder in their attempt to build a roster?

The Bills are taking another look at Rod Streater. The Bills are familiar with him and he knows the playbook. The time period has expired in which they can sign a player they had an injury settlement with. http://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo-bills/index.ssf/2017/10/rod_streater_works_out_for_buffalo_bills.html

If you look back over the past three to four years it is not unfair to believe that with a good owner and a smart GM this jinxed franchise could have gotten on a track to being a good team. With the Browns too often they tried to outsmart everyone and made decisions that not only didn't advance their team but set it back. From what I have read the Manziel selection was an owner selection. It was a stupid decision on a player whose red flags were at a bill board level. The lack of organizational coherency and direction is a case study in not what to do. In my view a downtrodden team that drafts reasonably well and makes judicious mid-level free agents decisions should be able to get back into the competitive fray, assuming a franchise qb is secured. For the Bills I see a clear organizational unity and a direction that over time, maybe three to four years, should turn this franchise into a serious team, assuming a top tier qb is secured.

So did Goff in his rookie year. The time to get a good sense whether a young qb has the wherewithal is in his sophomore season after an offseason of preparation and a rookie year of grasping the playbook. Both Goff and Wentz (less so) struggled in their rookies seasons and now both appear to be on their way toward being very good franchise qbs. Wentz may turn out to be an outstanding qb in this league. I have long advocated that it is imperative to get a good qb prospect on board so rather than later because the learning process can be excruciating and extended. The wait until the next draft class mantra has become an exercise in futility that is yearly repeated.

They had the opportunity to select Wentz but instead traded the pick for a boatload of picks. When are teams going to learn that getting a franchise qb has more to do (certainly not only) with success than anything else? It seems that it is so obvious! Apparently not.

You make it out as if I haven't been fair in acknowledging that Taylor has made improvements to his game. That is an unfair and wrong characterization. He has improved. So what! He's a seven year veteran who should improve in his weak areas, as do all players at all positions. I want Buffalo to be a serious and contending team. My goal is not for it to be simply a fringe contending wild-card playoff team. This qb who has improved isn't the caliber of qb who can take this team where I want it to go. He's simply not good enough but at this point he's the best of what we got. Not a criticism but a fact.

His passing game has a quality to it that is clearly evident to most observers when compared to good qbs. You make it seem as if I have condemned the qb in question to the depths of hell. Taylor is a seven year veteran qb. If you can't make a judgment on what he can or can't do at this stage then I don't know what else I can say. You may not have come to a conclusive judgment on what he is capable of but I have. You may not like my assessment but it is the consensus judgment that includes his own coaches.

Not necessarily. Zay is struggling. There is no doubt about it. Anyone who says otherwise is either blind or an outlandish homer. Just because he is struggling in his rookie year doesn't mean that he is an abject failure with no future. No question he needs more time beyond this season. Then a clearer assessment can be made about his prospects.

It's not about several instances of making those more sophisticated throws than it is about doing it consistently. When you watch other more accomplished qbs who can play that type of advanced passing game it becomes apparent that there is a qualitatively difference. You might not want to acknowledge it but it is evident to most people that it is the case.

My main concern with Zay is not his drops as it is his inability to get open. He's getting smothered by LBs. Just watching his body language he seems so tight. Right now he is arguably the worst wideout in the league. I'm far from giving up on him. But because he is currently such a liability he is adding pressure to the other receivers. It's time for him to visit the bench and take a break.

Virgil's analysis of Taylor was very accurate and incisive. Taylor had a good game and he should be given credit for it. But his game has limitations associated with his vision and ability to process. As he aptly described his game it is a passing game found in the college game where you are passing to the open receiver as opposed to throwing the ball to the spot, a much higher level of throw. He simply can't do it. Taylor is the best qb we have had in a long time. His game is most successful when he uses his feet and gives the running game another dimension. The issue I have with Taylor's game is that the stats that he accumulates don't include the plays that are there for him to make but doesn't because he for a variety of reasons can't. I'm also very enamored with Mayfield. What is apparent to me when watching him play is that there is a stark qualitative difference to his passing game than Taylor's. The irony is that Mayfield the college player has more of pro style while Taylor the pro player has a more of a college style to his game.

This is a case where most people agree that the commissioner has the authority to make a determination. I'm confident that at the end of the legal wrangling Goodell's side will prevail. However, there is a bigger issue than having the authority to make a determination without being challenged. That is the issue relating to fairness which in this case is actually immaterial to the appealing process. I don't know if Elliot is guilty or not. When you hear the evidence most fair-minded people will come to the same conclusion that the accusation has not been proved. There is something wrong when suspicions or assumptions are given more weight than the actual facts. There is absolutely nothing wrong with concluding that you don't know what happened. When that happens you shouldn't be ruled guilty. Elliot is undoubtedly immature. He may even be an insufferable jerk. But that doesn't mean that he shouldn't be given a fair hearing based on the evidence. If anyone listened to the telephone tape conversation between the victim and her girlfriend where she is boasting that she is going to make a financial killing in this sordid episode then some reasonable doubt comes into how one views what happened. The real problem isn't that Goodell has unfettered authority in his rulings so much as his judgments are very often stupendously stupid when reviewing the evidence of the cases he presides over. Being an obnoxious jerk shouldn't mean that you shouldn't be treated fairly. That's what happened here. And it's ridiculous!

I'm with you in that I don't know why there is so much chatter about Glenn. I thought he played really well. Although he is not a high profile player I have always liked his solid game. He may be one of Buddy Nix's smartest picks.