finn

Agree. A good line would give Allen time to find his receivers AND keep him healthy. You could add Hopkins, Jefferson, AND AJ Brown and still not move the needle much if the line continues to be a sieve. Defensive linemen are some of the best athletes on the planet, yet Beane seems content with JAG players like Bates, Boettger, Edwards, Van Roten, Quessenberry, and Brown (at his best). Beane seems convinced that elite players are needed at D-line, but mediocrity will suffice on the O-line.

Or, worse, a fan of a 2023 Rams team that hadn't won the Super Bowl in 2022.

At the time I was thinking, "Hopkins makes that catch." And I was right.

I can see trading Oliver now if they don't play to keep him later. But I would prefer using the compensation to sign a younger player like Jeudy instead of Hopkins, or, better, draft a prospect. We have enough aging, expensive, fragile veterans.

Looks like another Singletary, with less elusiveness.

Except for the seven or so that were blacked out every week, including most Bills games because they were national or primary. Drove me crazy.

Runs like Marshawn Lynch. A bruiser who doesn't stop.

Maybe that's the Pats'* MO: Hold off on signing FA's until the comp picks are settled. You might miss out a bit, but you have an extra 3rd or whatever. To put it another way, is signing Dane Jackson early worth the third-round pick they would have had if they had waited?

I think you're right that Mahomes' receiving corps weren't elite, but neither was Allen's. If you grant that Diggs and Kelsey are equivalent, who had the better receivers? At best it's a wash, but I would give Mahomes the edge. Plus, as you say, he had one of the best lines in the league and Allen the worst. So I can't agree with what has become the consensus view that Mahomes is better. Put him behind Allen's line and give him Dorsey calling his plays instead of Reid and we'll see who's better.

Sure, here are three peer-reviewed studies that suggest that sugar is not a healthy breakfast option for children: Vos, M. B., Welsh, J. A., & Gillman, M. W. (2015). Added sugars and cardiovascular disease risk in children: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 131(14), e439-e454. Smith, C. E., Tucker, K. L., & Kris-Etherton, P. M. (2016). Association of breakfast cereal consumption with nutrient intake, body mass index, and cardiovascular risk factors in US children and adolescents. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 116(4), 486-494. Deshmukh-Taskar, P., Nicklas, T. A., O'Neil, C. E., Keast, D. R., Radcliffe, J. D., & Cho, S. (2010). The relationship of breakfast skipping and type of breakfast consumption with nutrient intake and weight status in children and adolescents: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2006. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 110(6), 869-878.

What about Leonard Fournette, provided he's in shape? 28 years old, fast, elite runner and receiver in his prime. He's already earning $2m guaranteed, so maybe he'd sign for $3m, given his age. Big guy.

They need to resign Shaq and Phillips first. I'm hoping Bobby Wagner will sign for cheap so he can end his career with a Super Bowl win. That will give them a chance to take a top WR in the first round, a TE in the second, and OL and RB help in later rounds. Beane will likely find an aging veteran OT to compete with Brown. They can't have everything, and I'm guessing they'll pass on pass-rush help and hope the young guns can do ok until Miller returns. If Wagner doesn't sign, it'll have to be LB in the first, and it'll be a long season on offense, unless Gabe and Shakir suddenly go nuclear or Harty is amazing, which sounds like wishful thinking.

Now we need a tall, rangy WR or TE in the draft.

Ok, so what about his size? Along with JJ Taylor and Boston Scott (I never heard of them, either), Harty is the shortest player in the NFL at 5'6". Even Beasley is 5'8". And at 170 pounds, you can tackle him with two fingers. I'm not saying signing him is a bad move, necessarily. But his size makes it a risky one.

....or a fumble. Or he'll catch it and stay inbounds so the clock runs out. Or he'll step out of bounds in the end zone and watch the ensuing interception and return as a passive bystander. It won't take much for Harty to be an improvement.

I wonder if Beane was so frustrated by the McKissic betrayal that he overcompensated by drafting Cook and also signing Hines, when one would have been adequate.

Yeah, I was joking. Forgot the smiley face. 😄

Davis alone for a 2nd. Davis and McKenzie for a 4th.

Cosell really liked Terrell Bernard. We'll see if that works out.

All the more reason to draft a tackle who can handle speed. Spencer Brown couldn't handle my grandmother.

I blame that injury 100% on Beane. He assumed Spencer Brown would be starting quality and Quessenberry would be an adequate backup. Instead, they were two of the five worst tackles in the league in pass drops. It was just a matter of when Allen would get injured, especially with another spectacularly poor judgment of his, bringing in Saffold to start at guard. I suspect Beane realizes that he blew it and, arguably, doomed the season for the team, since that injury was the inflection point of the season. We'll soon see if he's learned that he needs more than journeymen, low draft picks, and has-beens to protect the most important player on the team.

I wouldn't be surprised if he signs with another team as DC or position coach, after a short, face-saving interval.

Hey, don't mess with the national narrative. Allen has regressed. Yes, he had incompetent receivers and a girls tennis team for an Oline, and a damaged elbow limiting him. But, hey, Mahomes had a hangnail in October, and Burrows had a stomach ache at least once, I heard. So altogether, it was a level playing field.

So that's two season-long starters on the OL who ranked among the very worst in the league, including backups. Do we really need to look further to explain why the Bills were stumbling by the end? Or how terrific other elements of the team were to makeup for the high school varsity quality of Brown and Saffold? I prefer the second frame. What other team did as well with players as base incompetent?

So is the pain that limited him gone by now? Is the injury healed? I heard he isn't getting surgery, but are we looking at another season with Allen limited to deep throws?