JESSEFEFFER

And I am suggesting that DL/Edge is the one position option where the number of elite players available, the #9 pick and the BPA mantra all align.

May be true but if they are convinced they will have an option to take Burns, Sweat, Oliver or some other DL/Edge player that drops to 9 then it makes sense not to prioritize this need in FA. The numbers suggest that they will get their choice of a few and every QB pushed up into the top of the draft will give them even more from which to choose.

I would suspect the same. They probably needed resolution to his legal status before even giving him a look. I think he spent some time with the Birmingham team if I inferred correctly from Twitter.

Doug Flutie. Lagging sales of luxury suites and Ralph Wilson's ultimatum (maybe only a phony one--but we really do not know) had the franchise here in doubt. Flutie as a starting QB injected energy into the team and spurred demand for luxury suites and they were able to hit the threshold (it was $9 million--maybe?) Anyways, that's what is deposited in my memory bank which often has insufficient funds, much like my other bank accounts. Anyways, enthusiasm for the franchise was waning at a critical juncture in franchise history and Flutie was the dose of prednisone they needed at the time.

Sal is doing a great job. He had almost 30 minutes of live coverage of Tyree's throwing session. I think Palmer was running it but maybe it was UB's QB coach but Palmer is there as Sal got some comments from him. Palmer will get the reputation for putting extra money in draft QB's accounts. Tyree looked good.

UB center James O'Hagan looks like a McDermott kind of guy: State Champion It's kind of a tradition to run and jump into your coaches arms after a title win. But, at 285, maybe you should think twice and then decide it might be a bad idea. Some more background

UB Pro Day today. Sal Capaccio will be covering it. I have always wanted to know more about what happened there than what was ever reported. Some possible story lines: Tyree Jackson worked with Jordan Palmer in January, at least, while Josh Allen was there too. Does Palmer show up to run Tyree's throwing session and he run it? I think he did that for JA last year. Is Josh there too? Any other current Bills players? Who does Tyree throw to? AJ would make sense but who else? The UB guys were working at STASportsPerformance as was Naaman Roosevelt. I saw a nice group picture of them taken there all giving the "Horns Up!" hand gesture. Might Naaman might run some routes for Tyree? If not, who else runs them aside from AJ? Hodge, O'Hagan, Harris, Lewis were other NFL worthy UB players that were not combine invitees. This is big for them as well as AJ who did not run the 40 at the combine due to an ankle issue. The test numbers for these guys are huge and I want to know their test results. Numbers, I want numbers. Not just for these guys but anyone else that tests. I think other players can be tested who are not draft eligible this year but on whom scouts might want to do some preliminary work. Also, players for other regional schools or from WNY will be there, like Dolegala. I'd like to know who they are and how they test. How many teams are represented there and who is sent? Which Bills FO, scouts or coaches are present? Also, who seems most in charge of the event, Bills/NFL people or UB people? I think Sal has a chance to do a better job today than what we usually get from other sources.

These highlights showed lots of body control at the point of the catch and sort of define him as more of a big play threat rather than a possession guy. He supposedly had the largest wingspan ever measured (for any player or just for WR?) at just under 7ft. The 20+ ypc says the same but most of these passes in the clip are pretty soft tosses and are not much like what JA typically throws but with the ball in the air longer it gives him more time to adjust his body position and track the ball. I wonder what sorts of passes characterized his drops that I have read about. Those don't make highlight videos. I'd like him in the 2nd and then another guy in the 4th.

When a team is on the clock Mayock's pretty good a predicting the pick, imo.

I think you are right. The video I saw showed the team walking into a fieldhouse for their first practice and I thought it was their new one as they looked to be checking it out for the first time. Their first practice was at AdPro though.

UB Pro Day should be more interesting this year. Tyree throws to his guys, Anthony Johnson's 40, Hodge w/o the combine invite and something to prove and c James O'Hagen looks to be in line for an NFL shot. Probably some others I did not mention. I wonder if it will be at Ad Pro per usual or if it will be in the new fieldhouse on campus. I would think the latter could accommodate it but their may still be advantages to One Bills Drive hosting. It's a week away on 3/13 and I hope we get some better coverage of it than we usually see.

Hakeem Butler is a contested ball specialist with a huge wingspan @ 6'5" and 228 lbs. and good YAC ability that helped him average over 20 ypc. He may be everything they hoped Kelvin Benjamin would be but he actually showed more athletic ability at the combine with a 4.48 s 40 and 36" vertical he outperformed Benjamin at every measurable beside weight. They definitely do not have anyone like him on their roster. He'd be a nice target to have at the other end of a Josh Allen scramble. He doesn't seem to be in many top 10 lists and I'm not sure why, but, that might be changing post combine.

Maybe some ST upside. He could be a Butch Rolle type TE.

I can see the post game press conference now. The Bills just lost by giving up a FG as time expired, 23-21. Brady had been given the ball with just under 2 minutes to play but the Bills' D couldn't stop Brady from doing Tom Brady things. Sean McDermott opens by saying "We hit our points quota at the end of the first half when we went up 21-10 and I was convinced that 21 was all we should need to win so we decided not to try anything risky to score additional points."

I think you have that right. There was a question posed by a WGR poll about which offseason is more important to the Bills future, 2018 or 2019. Tasker was waffling about it and the reason for that, in my opinion, is last year's draft was more important, mostly for the draft moves made to get Allen and Edmunds, than this year's but that the sum total of all the offseason moves, draft + FA + long term cap commitments + coaching staff changes(as you mentioned +ST) for this year will be more important to their future. Last year's dead cap space handicap is converted to bigger risk/reward opportunities for this year. One of my favorite movie quotes: Andy Dufresne in the letter to Red: Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

Quotes from a press conference vs. an interview with Joe Buscalgia. Saying something similar, using slightly different words. Logically, he is not going to stop scoring once they hit 21. So.......... "at least" or "21 or more" could be inferred from however he chooses to say.it.

The obsession with a #1 WR in the group is more of a fan thing. I do not believe that the Bills think that way. I think that in McDermott's brain a #1 WR = Diva and Divas are not process/team guys. Any WR coming from Canada should have been humbled and thankful for an NFL shot. Humbled and thankful are good WR traits.

Scoring "21 points, at least, every game" implies that they score more than that other times. Therefore, the average is not 21, it has to be higher. If you have an offense that scores 21 as a minimum during the season, it's pretty darn good and likely averages closer to 30 than 21.

Well the little bit we see of the bottom of the list is consistent with transplantbillsfan's rather exhaustive study that concluded that Josh Allen's accuracy "issue" is totally consistent with the accuracy "issues" of other rookie QBs both this year and of recent history. None of this seems to indicate indicate that Josh has a fatal flaw accuracy problem, quite the opposite. He is in the mix of typical rookie starters. Either he improves or they move on. Same for all the others.

Does your breakdown factor in the cost of PSLs? They are a typical result of new stadium construction and they would drive me out of the market.

Nothing wrong with that stadium as a venue for 10, 11 or maybe 12 games a year. Paying twice the price for armrests, a cup holder and a roof can't be justified within my budget. The totality of the gameday experience should not be sacrificed to the whims of Roger's vision of what's best for us. My $.02. Thanks.

I think Beane has said as much. Phrases like "on me" and "my mistake." He made it sound like the Derek Anderson option was discussed late in camp and he blamed himself to waiting too long to make the call.

Almost all the potential adjustments I can think of would hurt the defense in other areas. Afraid to play man and turn your back to him so you play more zone? Leave one or two spies near the LOS? Have your pass rush just push the pocket and fail to work upfield ala Detroit? All these things just open more space on the field or limit the effectiveness of the pass rush. Sure, take away his scrambles and suffer the consequences elsewhere. Yes, he does need to become more capable of exploiting those advantages but that's what usually happens from year one to year two.

The OC calls a passing play. The QB has the ball in his hands and needs to do something to help his team. The question shouldn't be "How often did he throw the ball and for how many yards?" It should be "What was the ratio of good outcomes to bad ones?" For dual threat QBs, looking solely at comp%, yards and TD pass/Int ratio is only a partial analysis. I read that Josh averaged over 10 yards on runs that started as pass plays. If true, that is a huge number--a number bigger than any QB averaged per pass attempt. It would be poor work to ignore this production in any comprehensive assessment of JA's rookie performance. Many scrambling QBs also take more sacks and commit more turnovers as a result. Apparently, not so for Josh.

You'd have to subtract runs that were 1) goal line/short yardage and 2) kneeldowns or 3) designed run plays (draws and read options.) So his sack rate per dropback (which would include scrambles runs and therefore be a larger number) would be even better vs. the league or historical averages of other Bills' QBs. I'd say QBR appreciates this ability whereas the NFL's passer rating totally whiffs.