thebandit27

If ranking 6th/7th qualifies as "dominant", then someone redefined the word and didn't tell me. Being in the top quartile is good, maybe even great. Dominant is definitely hyperbole. I would expect a dominant defense to be better than 27th in 3rd down conversion rate allowed, 16th in sacks, and 16th in takeaways.

A dominant defense? Dallas? They were good in some aspects, but that's pretty serious hyperbole.

I think the job will end up going to Cory Carter. He was probably going to win the job prior to getting hurt last preseason. Bojo was either feast or famine last year. He had 4 games in which he netted greater than 42.9 yards per punt, which is outstanding. He also had 2 games in which he netted below 32 yards per punt, which is horrific.

Don't tell me that anybody knows what this kid will be yet: http://pfref.com/tiny/cWIiH

They'll get all 3 of Dak/Cooper/Zeke done. By the time they sign their rookies and roll over cap space, they'll be about $70M under the cap for 2020. That includes Zeke's option year number of $9.1M, and they can easily gain another $15M by letting go of Tyrone Crawford and Cam Fleming. The real question is what they do with the rest of their 2020 free agents: La'el Collins, Robert Quinn, Sean Lee, Byron Jones, Jeff Heath, Jaylon Smith, Maliek Collins, Anthony Brown, and Kavon Frazier. They'll probably be looking at a heft sum of comp picks in 2021.

Well, the implication seems to be that the Jets have a very talented up-front presence, and therefore shouldn't be drafting such a player. My point is that the author seems to be forgetting that the Jets only have a talented up-front presence because they didn't draft for need back in 2015. Had they gone expressly for need, they'd have drafted Trae Waynes, since their corners were brutal in 2014.

The author should read his own article. The Jets only have Leonard Williams because they drafted him despite having 3 other solid DTs at the time: Mo Wilkerson, Sheldon Richardson, and Damon Harrison. All 3 are on their second or third team since Williams was drafted.

Better athlete, better pass rusher. Had them pretty darn close though. I had Quinnen at 3 behind Bosa.

I had them at 1 and 27

I have a feeling the pro bowl percentage for 1st round receivers will get a significant uptick once the 2020 class has a chance to make waves.

Funny stuff. I especially liked the item in the article that talked about the difference in EPA between a deep ball INT on 3rd down and a short completion. For years, I've said that deep throws attempted on 3rd down cannot possibly have a bad result; the worst case scenario is it becomes a punt. Best case is a DPI or TD. Hopefully, now that the Bills (presumably) have an OL that can pass protect for more than 1/3 of a second, we'll see more 3rd down deep shots this year.

I have a feeling that they'll try to go after Tyler Boyd next offseason. He really broke out last year, topping 70 receptions and 1,000 yards with 7 TDs, this despite missing 2 games, playing half a season without AJ Green across from him to draw coverage, and catching passes from Jeff Driskell. He had a very-solid 70% catch rate and averaged a respectable 9.5 yards per target (good for 23rd in the NFL). Compare his 2018 season with that of a popular offseason target 'round these parts, Tyrell Williams: Boyd: 108 targets, 76 receptions, 1,028 yards, 7 TDs Williams: 65 targets, 41 receptions, 653 yards, 5 TDs Boyd also ranked 12th in FO's DYAR and 4th in DVOA. Cincinnati is the kind of team you may be able to pick on in free agency next offseason. I expect that they'll be in a bit of a transition, as I can't see them keeping Dalton and his $17M cap hit when they can cut him with zero dead money, though if he looks good in Zac Taylor's system they could always extend him. Aside from Boyd and Dalton, their list of upcoming UFAs includes: AJ Green Tyler Eifert Clint Boling Andrew Billings Nick Vigil Which may not look all that daunting at first glance, but consider that Green is the unquestioned WR1 there, and they can't let both he and Boyd walk out the door. They have only John Ross with NFL experience under contract behind them, as Cody Core is also a UFA. Eifert, while injured, is the only TE on the roster aside from Uzomah with any experience. Boling played 969 snaps in 2018, and is one of the team's steadiest linemen--both he and Trey Hopkins, their other starting guard, are UFAs next offseason. Vigil and Billings both played over 600 snaps on defense in 2018; both are slated to start again this offseason. With $45M under the cap, something has to give somewhere, so if I'm Buffalo, Boyd and/or Green are guys I'm targeting to make a big offer.

Here's a very cool, detailed analysis by Football Outsiders on success of each route in the NFL tree on third down. Definitely worth a read: https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2019/third-down-and-air-yards Might provoke some good discussion now that we've entered the doldrums of the offseason.

Um, he had 5 sacks as a rotational DE and their number 5 pass rusher behind Bruce/Hansen/Paup/Northern in 1996. For contextual purposes, the Bills' best pass rusher had 7.0 sacks last year, in a much more pass-centered game. But all of that is tangential to the real point, which is that the number 77 should only ever have belonged to one man: Kendrick Step into my Office.

This is a brutally dishonest statement by Bobby Belt. If you do the math on it, not only is he counting the 2 WRs that were picked last week, he's cutting off his analysis with the last one of the 5 WRs selected in the first round of the 2014 draft--the best WR draft in history. Here are the last 19 receivers picked in the first round: Marquise Brown N'Keal Harry DJ Moore Calvin Ridley Corey Davis Mike Williams John Ross Corey Coleman Will Fuller Josh Doctson Laquan Treadwell Amari Cooper Kevin White DeVante Parker Nelson Agholor Breshad Perriman Phillip Dorsett Kelvin Benjamin If Belt wanted to make such a point while still being intellectually honest, he'd have left Brown and Harry off the list, and cut it off at Dorsett. In that case, he could've said only 1 of the last 16, and the point would've been both relevant and uncontrived. Instead, he drew an arbitrary line. If he wants to include someone from the 2014 class, how about all of them? I know the answer: because then you get into guys like Cooks, Beckham, Evans, and Watkins, who are actually really good. Okay, I'm calm now that I got that off my chest.

We'll see how they feel about positional value come 2020. I have a feeling that what they're saying now and what they do 11 months from now may not be in concert with each other.

It was addressing the position to the degree that there's actual NFL talent on the roster now. I think many folks were hoping that, somehow, someway, the team would add bona fide top-tier WRs to the roster. That two of the top 5 WRs in the NFL were traded this offseason is a fact that pours salt in some of the wound, considering that this was a team with 10 draft picks to use as trade ammo and an abundance of cap space to accommodate a new deal for such a WR.

Judging by his last 2 contracts, he cares about the extra $7-$10M

I can't believe the number of people that are saying that Clowney hasn't lived up to the hype. Since 2017, he's been nothing short of spectacular. Clowney actually ranks 2nd in the NFL in TFLs with 37 over the last 2 seasons behind Aaron Donald (44). I know he hasn't lead the league in sacks, but the fact that he's been as productive in every other phase of the defensive game, combined with the fact that he's still put up solid sack production, is pretty amazing IMO.

I haven't seen as much from Smith, but Jeudy and Ruggs are unbelievable. I think Ruggs is going to go top-10 after seeing what Tyreek Hill did for the Chiefs (though, as I understand it, Ruggs is a really good kid). Ruggs might have the best combination of speed, hands, and blocking I've seen in 10 years.

Those two Alabama kids are dynamite too. I'd take either of them on this team right now in exchange for my 2020 1st.

The Bills are only as far away from contending as they are from having a true, established franchise QB. Ask yourself: what path is the fastest to achieving that goal?

Agreed...there's as many as 6-7 WRs who have the look of 1st-round players going into the upcoming college season. Agreed. I don't know how much more could've been done, but I do wonder if we're going to look back at this offseason and wish that Beane had made the move to acquire OBJ (or made a similar blockbuster move).

The thing that I've pointed out in both the Goff and Trubisky cases is the dramatic shift in approach between years 1 and 2. In both cases, the respective teams: - brought in a creative, offensive-minded play-caller as HC. LAR hired McVay; Chicago hired Nagy. - fortified their OL as much as possible with draft picks and FA signings. Rams brought in Whitworth, Sullivan, and Blythe in a single offseason. Bears drafted Daniels. - stocked the offense with speed and playmaking ability. The Rams acquired Woods, Watkins, Kupp, Everett, and Reynolds. The Bears brought in Gabriel, Robinson, Burton, and Anthony Miller. The Bills have taken the Bears-Rams Lite approach. They stuck with an OC that they believe can be a creative play-caller, and tried to revamp both the OL and WR group in a single offseason. I fear that they have fallen short of either Chicago or LA's approach to the WR position, as I don't feel super-confident that Beasley/Brown will have anywhere near the effect of the other teams' additions. That said, if they can help Allen make even a 30% improvement in his play from his rookie season, you could see a much different WR group in 2020 that they'd hope would help him make the leap.

Josh vs. Mitch vs. Goff as rookies. In general, they're all very similar, though Allen arguably made the most of his situation in comparison to the other two, which isn't all that surprising considering that he's got more physical ability than them.