BillsVet

To put things into perspective, Buffalo hasn't drafted a TE in the top 3 rounds since Kevin Everett in 2005. They've attempted to fill that position with UDFAs and UFAs for far too long, largely because there are apparently other positions more important. And that happens when you draft for need and/or don't draft well. It's been well-proven a solid pass catcher is a need for the modern NFL offense. Across multiple GMs and HCs, this fact has been largely ignored. Clay had bad knees to begin with and Chandler was nice, but not a guy to stretch the field. He had early success catching passes from Andrew Luck, but is clearly isn't the same player he was almost 7 seasons ago. He's also missed 29 games since 2013.

Would you give Anthony Barr 8M per to play 50% of their snaps? And in free agency, it's likely a 4 time Pro-Bowl player will command much more. I can't fathom using valuable cap space to sign another front 7 defender. They've already spent on Star, Hyde, Murphy, Poyer, and used 2 1st round picks on that side of the ball. The reason this team continues to remain mediocre is their offense is less than pedestrian. Barr doesn't move this team ahead from a resource allocation perspective to more wins.

Allen strikes me as the latest version of Alge Crumpler. A formerly productive pass catching TE who has become a blocking type that NE has discarded. Sure, Buffalo needs TE's and he'd be their blocking guy. Still, opponents know what's more than likely going to happen when he's on the field. McBeane are continuing to build a roster inconsistent with the modern game. Signing ancient RBs, having interest in blocking TEs, signing UFA FBs, more defensive players.

SAM LBs are going the way of the FB. Team's don't need to hand out a large contract to one of them. This loading up on defense mentality has been disproved for years now. Every time Buffalo signs a defensive UFA or drafts another defender high it takes away from the resources to build a competent NFL offense.

It's a one year audition for him hitting UFA next season. And, his agent wisely understood this was the best situation to get a chance to prove it (little DT depth) and be in position to hit UFA next off-season.

If their offense wasn't complete mess, sure.

Would not be surprised to see Buffalo still take another DT. McCoach gotta get his Dlinemen.

I have a hard time believing that someone like Zimmer would waste someone on his defense.

Carolina has been one of the most inconsistent teams in the NFL the past 8 years. 3 10 win seasons and 5 mediocre years mixed in is not the model I'd follow, but they're doing just that. I don't understand why McBeane are convinced being Carolina north is the way to go after those results. I wanted to believe these two were fairly innovative, but have seen that it's a replication here, extending to the guys they bring in from that roster (Tolbert, Benjamin, Lotulelei, Kaelin Clay, Dean Marlowe). They are going with what they know and don't seem open to new things.

This thread can be summed up as: "Fans enamored with player physiques confuse that with actual football skills." If performance in the combine was the deciding factor, Mike Mamula and Bruce Campbell would be HOFers. Pass on Metcalf.

The people talking about Zay's college coaching having "messed up his head" are dense human beings. If you don't know there's more to what happened to him last off-season by now, I don't know what to tell you.

The UFA signings on the OL have been meh at best. Newhouse, Ducasse, Bodine, not to mention Dawkins perhaps playing a position he's not as suited for. The drafting of Allen took a lot of resources to move up from 22 to 12 to 7. It may well work out in the long run, but right now their offense (as a result of the aforementioned decisions) is not encouraging.

No doubt McCoach sees the league trending toward offensive coaches and knows he'll come under some fire for that. And in his first public comments since the season, he tries to get out front of that concern that he's a square peg in a round hole. Still, he's also the guy who talked after one game this season about sure they'd love to score 50 points per but it wasn't realistic. And now he's gone the opposite way by saying they don't want to win games 9-7, another criticism leveled after last season. It puts him right there at this 21 points per discussion. I'm still not seeing any innovation or departure from his background. He and the GM didn't spend big on defensive free agents or use 2 1st round picks on that side of the ball their first 2 off-seasons to try and run and gun.

Is Jordan Matthews not available then?

Zay was phenomenal when games were out of reach. His big day at NYJ with 8 catches for 93 yards and 2 TDs largely occurred when Buffalo was up 2 scores. When it matters, ZJ's targets aren't high. Blame it on the QB, OL, whatever...he's not a factor when it matters. At least not yet.

Duke is a possession guy and not elusive enough to play from the slot. No one hates him. It's a matter that as a 2nd round pick he's not exactly performing in a pass-heavy league the way many fans expected. Especially when compared to other recent 2nd round picks. Eric Moulds' best days were 15-20 years ago and the league's dramatically changed since then. The PI and RTP calls, among other things, make this even more a passing league than it was in the late 90s/early 00s. These comparisons are moot and not representative of the opportunity that WR's have presented now to succeed at the start of their career. And, one player's career has absolutely nothing to do with another's. Besides, Moulds and Jones are completely different players. Before he got older, Moulds could run by people but Jones is not a burner (cue the person citing his 40 time).

As someone said on Twitter yesterday, with the hiring of a new Analytics Director, one would expect a more efficient clap/minute ration now.

I expect a LOT of clapping.

There is a GM feature in these games now, correct? I haven't played in many years now.

I get you here, but it's not my money and frankly, if they need to spend (and they do) then do it. I'm not signing the checks...and if you're owners, you want to win. Saving cap space is what gets you fired eventually. And they'll have enough to re-sign Tre, perhaps Milano, and maybe even Dawkins when the time comes.

I watched that skit today thinking how it applies to some high frequency posters. I love it when he asks Jon Lovitz if he's ever kissed a girl...and then returns to say that was the bad Captain Kirk.

Don't forget LaFontaine and Marrone resigned, with the former being quite contentious. Regardless, that's a lot of people in senior management over the course of about 12.5 years owning the Bills and Sabres.

I think that day 19 years ago when Bruce, Thurman, and Andre were let go in quick succession is what many older Bills fans still don't let go of. Yet, so much has changed in the ensuing years, especially the yearly cap increases as the league's revenue rose. The cap people have adapted so well, as you point out. It's a concept akin to rebuilding. I'd argue Bills fans haven't seen a successful one completed since the late 80s. So, the idea of being like the Saints and sustaining a good team is about as foreign a concept as learning a new language. Buffalo hasn't truly rebuilt (yet), but there's a mindset that we need to hold back because there's risk in signing UFA's. Well, not if you've done your homework and have a, dare I say it, "process." Besides, UFA should be viewed as a method to fix some needs moving into the draft. Chicago signed 2 WRs and a TE last year to help their young QB grow into the starting job. Sure, it wasn't cheap, but those signings are force multipliers to get their QB up to speed. It certainly seemed to help them improve from 29th to 9th in points scored from 2017 to 2018.

Who said speed receivers can't be number 1 types? That's a straight up straw man argument right there. The off-season is in full swing because some are losing their minds and exaggerating the 2018 season. Let's remember Foster was a nice story, but he will not sneak up on opposing defenses anymore. Perhaps he'll be solid again, but the 2018 sample size isn't indicative of future success at that level.

I hope the Chiefs have reinforced tents at training camp. Otherwise someone might need to yell "Incoming!" one or five times.