HardyBoy

I mean ensh$tification is a real thing...the issue is we're being turned into the product, not the consumer. They're also coming in, stealing the market by offering super low prices and getting rid of or buying up any competition that might exist and then once that is achieved, they jack up prices on customers and turn the customers into the product and then using excess cash for stock buy backs and then laying off employees This is a lot more nuanced of an issue than you're making it out to be...like there is a social contract aspect of this whole thing...like $20 for a cd back in the day, when the money mostly went to record companies and the musicians got saddled with signing bonus debt and loss of control of the master recordings (aka their music) Look at spotify...artist make like .0004 cents a stream or something insane like that, but the record labels still get a significantly larger piece per share.

Shakir is making more money than Cook... I'm not comparing him to Chase If having workhorse style backs significantly decreases career longevity and in turn allows teams to point to workhorse backs and say their careers are short...who made the rule they needed to be workhorse backs? If Cook makes it into a third contract...he's had a lot less usage going all the way back to college...also, I'd argue the Bills aren't using a running back by committee as much as a running back by situation...much like pulling receivers off the field for different personnel packages and such...also, #1 receivers are on the field for a lot of snaps, but they're also decoys a lot of the time/run clear out routes to help other people get open

Shakir played 54% of snaps last year...Cook played 45%

Virtually nobody can handle the rigors of the position. Yes there are a lot of people who can do 70% of what an elite running back becomes because you play them 70% of the snaps...what if you played them 50% of the snaps and got 100% of their ability for a much longer time? Why do they need that many carries? I think the bills have shown with Cook that it doesn't need to be that way...and they aren't spending a lot on Davis or Johnson at all. But yeah, the long line of talent is not better than or as good as the best running backs, unless you grind the best running backs into the ground with too many carries.

Oh I get that it's a physical position... I'm talking about who says they need to get 350 carries a season? Look at what the conversation around Cook was during the contract negotiations...he doesn't play enough % of plays

Says who on it being the nature of the position?

I was just watching something on Shaun Alexander and how his body broke down basically right after signing a big contract extension. I also think Ricky Williams falls into this category as well. Both of their teams gave them on way way way too many carries...so much so that Williams decided he needed to take some time off to rest his body in order to essentially survive, and then the amount of vilification he received from that...it was wild and the attacks were extremely personal on him and yeah, it wasn't cool. What I'm saying is that teams often use their running backs in unethical ways that contribute to their bodies breaking down and then turning around and saying see, the position is not worth paying...except they're largely causing that to happen

Got me thinking in terms of a player like Dequan Jones...he's not able to dominate anymore and make plus plays regularly, but perhaps he's able to allow you to play a scheme and that has value as well (perhaps significant value). Like if he's still able to anchor against double teams and not get pushed out of the hole, that then allows everyone else to play better because they're able to do what they need to do within the scheme and structure of the defense and then they can make plus plays because they are capable of making them within the structure of the play. Like Bernard improved so much when he had Jones playing well and same with Oliver...not everyone can be Josh Allen or Aaron Donald and play outside of scheme and dominate, very few can, but there are many players that can be excellent within scheme and you need teammates that can maintain scheme to do that. I guess that's a long way of saying maybe it doesn't matter so much if he's not playing at an elite level still, if he can allow them to be confident he can maintain his role within the scheme consistently.

Sounds like there are questions/ evidence he might already be in decline fwiw

Don't forget how losing a game against an nfc team can actually help your playoff odds...

But he's an ex panther

The defensive injuries have been absolutely brutal for the bills in the playoff games against the chiefs. Like imagine going from Darrell Revis or Champ Bailey (Benford is really really really good) to a non-scheme fit player who didn't get the first team reps in practice, in Arrowhead in a sudden change situation...and a coach who is going to anticipate every adjustment you're making. How was Andy Reid's scheme against the Eagles? Now that said, maybe McD being from the Jimmie Johnson tree helped because Andy Reid has so much familiarity with that style? Not the overall defensive design, but the underlying super granular concepts

Yeah, people didn't watch the video and started making assumptions. Except they did it with a guy Joe Marino) who watches a crap ton of tape on players all over the league and is one of the most consistently objective voices out there. This is the Bills Squad episode from the draft where they talk about Walker and Jerry O breaks down why he thinks it was likely an awesome pick and insane value...sounds like everything Jerry said is coming true and this is where Marino's mind started opening up that he was hopefully loud wrong on that pick and the grade he had put on Walker (without the medicals and not being a doctor, sounds like Jerry O has significant background in that stuff not just as a player, but through medical sales post career and through coaching/having kids that play): They start talking about Walker at 21:45 in the video and it really is an extremely excellent listen, highly recommend to everyone.

Don't they have like 8 for the whole season they can designate to return and those two players on cut day count for the season total?

To be fair, it looked more like a push to me than a punch, he just had to swing higher and farther...like Davidson had just pushed his head a moment before... I also only saw the replay once and one angle to be fair, maybe it was a punch (I didn't watch the game)

He literally said in that specific video that he is being proven wrong and has been being proven wrong all summer long, and if he does prove him wrong he'll be extremely happy and that he's rooting for him. Also, on one of the first episodes of Bills Squad, Jerry O was explaining the injury to Joe and how it explained the entire drop off his last season in college and how it's an extremely common injury for nfl lineman and how nfl strength and conditioning coaches are great at handling and managing it...how in college the focus lifting is just to do as much lifting as possible at the highest weight possible...in the pros it's much more targeted and not about ego. Basically with that injury, Walker isn't able to do squats, and that likely explains the weaker lower body muscles and how especially after next off season when he gets a full nfl off-season with nfl strength and conditioning coaches we should see a big body shift...Jerry O said the back injury wasn't that concerning and Joe M was basing basically all of his thoughts on how he was being impacted by an injury that was no managed properly and was very manageable long term (it's not one that ever heals I guess). Joe Marino started changing his opinion at that point and said he was cautiously optimistic and hoped he'd be proven wrong...I guess this makes me an "everydayer, lol" but I think your take on Marino calling out Walker to protect his ego is flat incorrect... but you'd know that if you watched the video in the OP

This thread appears to be a bit of a blind squirrel looking for its nuts

I mean I haven't seen a breakdown of the play calling vs you're going up against a Ben Johnson offense without any game planning and you really need to game plan and play as a cohesive unit against his offense, even one where Johnson likely just played vanilla stuff and didn't game plan either. Especially where the Bills played really well in that joint practice...I think someone earlier in the thread (I read it somewhere and it was a good point) that the Bills were likely trying to get players on islands and seeing how they would react and what choice they would make in that situation...especially where there might not be a correct answer, cause Johnson is trying to make it so no matter what you do individually you're wrong...which is why you need to play as a cohesive unit in general, but especially against that offense. Long way of saying I'm sure there could be more than one explanation for it...like the Bills have had a lot of success playing highly vanilla defenses, even if they have struggled in the playoffs (Caleb Williams isn't Joe Burrow right now)...they disguised and rolled coverages really well during that time...I'd love to know if the defense had the ability to audible at the line and the real issue was they were intentionally sending in play calls that might not win early in the game and seeing if the play was properly diagnosed and audibled...obviously they didn't game plan, but Joe Marino was talking about a play where they blitzed and they ended up with Codrington on DJ Moore either for a td or a big first down...that seems like a situation that might call for an audible...

Seriously? They brought in a few new coaches who are super familiar with press man and blitzing...plus some of the free agent signings and drafting Harriston...a bunch of talk all off season has been around how the bills seem to be shifting their defensive philosophy. They aren't going to install new stuff in front of a bunch of fans and such

Yes, they should totally run their new defensive system in a meaningless preseason game for the first time so the Ravens can prepare for it... that's a fabulous idea

Not gameplanning against a Ben Johnson offense isn't ideal, lol Remember the bills starters dominated the joint practice...that matters a lot more than this

I think this deserves it's own thread down the line, but the NFL should have lost a collusion case around limiting guaranteed contracts...yes the RB market is severely lower than that of WR...also the timing of Cook's hold out happened after a lot of the reporting around how the league and nflpa prevented the document detailing the specifics of the case and the questionable ruling by the arbitrator came out. Just saying...

Cool, I've been watching football for 35+ years, doesn't mean I have any illusions I have any idea on the nuance on what I'm watching. Even pro film people have to take guesses and make assumptions because they don't know what a specific play call is and what the responsibility of a specific player is on any given play...only way to know that is by being on the team basically. Also, if you've been watching the NFL for that long, you should know that the preseason is completely worthless in terms of telling you anything, and week one is horrible in terms of telling you anything as well, but the preseason is totally worthless...not having that lesson learned...I actually think you likely very much do know that, you've just got some very strong biases at the moment and are looking for anything to support those biases, even if it's awful and worthless data/observations. It's a human nature thing, not a you personally thing...just be aware that maybe, just maybe it's possible that that is happening and it's altering your world view on this topic...it just seems like a visceral reaction that is almost hiding from feeling feelings instead of being driven by a feeling...

Did you watch the all 22 film? What are you basing them not winning 1 on 1 battles on? Do you know what they were asked to do? Do you realize you're using logical fallacies?

Are you comparing them to the regular season last year or to the first preseason game last year? Cause I have a feeling you're comparing it to the regular season You can't have gleaned any insight from that preason game at all...like they likely were intentionally doing that style of defense to make opponents think they were gonna play a similar style this season...but there's no scheme, there's no gameplanning, and there's players trying to avoid getting hurt... Like it's scary to see how willingly people with an agenda or a preconceived opinion will take the absolute worst data and use it to run with in a mob mentality...it really is kinda wild