All_Pro_Bills

Absolutely agree with the OP. To say Allen needs to be developed is correct but look at what kind of development he's received to this point relative to the other 3 tops QB's in this years draft. How much do you think Wyoming spends on their football program compared to Oklahoma, USC, and UCLA? What is the quality of staff and facilities for training and development? It's like Rocky V where Darnold, Rosen, and Mayfield have been training with Ivan Drago at his elite training and sports facility and Allen has been working with Rocky picking up logs and rocks in cold and desolate Siberia. Who do you expect to be better prepared? Now he's on the Bills roster where the training, learning, and development provided is going to be at professional levels. So now talent, intelligence, drive, and effort will take over. I'm going to trust the judgement of our GM/HC at this point as they had the stones to reach for great and not settle for good..

I get that some have watched Josh Allen's games and came away less than impressed. He's a work in progress and how that all develops isn't clear right now. We can debate the pick but any definitive conclusion one way or the other right now is just speculation. It comes down to faith in the people making the decision. What people are really questioning is the decision of the Bills management team. The basic premise is we can never get anything right and our team is a loser and our choices are always losers. But if Allen's so obviously a bust then what was the thought process behind the Beane/McDermott decision to pick Allen over Rosen? This in the context of Rosen being the obvious superior choice to most posters? Are the Bills GM and HC stupid or incompetent? Did they miss something obvious? They have 1st hand knowledge of each QB through interviews, workouts, combine participation, talking to people that know them, doing other kinds of direct evaluations and investigating. But somebody watching a couple game films who has no direct knowledge of any of the QB's is able to reach a better decision then they can? Is that possible? Is it that simple? Did they waste 100's of hours of their time evaluating the QB's skills and potential when they could have just watched TV and some videos for a couple hours? Detractors are saying they don't trust the judgement of our GM/HC and think they made the wrong decision. Maybe they did and time will tell the story. But for me, I'm wiling to give them some slack here because what I've seen so far is pointing things in the right direction. The team made the playoff given some inconceivable series of events but they still broke the streak. They're putting a system in place with an eye toward the long term view. They're changing the culture and moving away from the loser mentality. I can go out in public once again with my Bills gear on and not have somebody make negative or apologetic comments. I have faith in the choice and I believe Allen is going to surprise to the upside.

NE wanted Mayfield? Yeah, I want a lot of stuff too but neither of us are getting what we want. For this to have any chance of happening I'd expect there would need to have been a conditional deal in place between the Giants and Patriots. If Mayfield is there at 2 then the Giants would trade the pick to the Patriots for some combination of picks/players. If he's not there at 2 then the deal is off. Per Gettleman there was no deal with anyone so either he is lying or the agent's story is a product of his imagination. For example, Beane said he had a conditional deal in place with the Broncos but when Chubb fell to #5 Elway pulled out of the arrangement. Then Beane made the deal with Tampa Bay. NE/NYG had no such arrangement. So logically the story is bogus and to add to my amusement the Giants selected the QB everybody said NE was in love with so I patently await the day Brady is gone and they go down in flames at 2-14 some season in the near future.

Who is Jamal Adams? Seriously, the guy hasn't earned the right to trash talk anybody yet.

Exactly. the market sets the price, the chart is just a guideline to relative value. It seems that a lot of these draft experts don't do a lot of dynamic or situational thinking. Like how much is a glass of water worth to a thirsty man in the desert vs. somebody on the Titanic?

Absolutely perfect. IMO you just summarized a decade of debate on the franchise QB topic in a couple paragraphs to produce what should be the closing argument on the topic. Well done!

My take on the OP is they're taking a pessimistic view of Allen and Edmunds while being overly generous with evaluating of three other players. Wynn, Payne, and Moore. Wynn is such a 'Stud' that the Patriots traded for Trent Brown (OT) with the 49ers during the draft. What message does that send about their confidence level or your evaluation? I'd say they're hedging their bets and Wynn's no sure thing to start. Payne and Moore are good players but from past performance and athletic ability neither are what I would characterize as 'elite potential'. But there's no guarantee I'm right either and maybe they develop to that level at some point in their careers. I think the Bills look at Allen and Edmunds and see two physically gifted and intelligent players that have the personalities, desire, and potential to become elite and dominant players. These guys have the highest ceilings and great potential maximized to its highest level of performance cannot be beaten. I think Phillips can be a great player too. Those are the types of players that build the core of your roster. It's up to the coaches and management to bring out that potential. At the moment I have faith they can.

This is just the opinion of a 'draft expert' and his assessment of the team's picks is more or less determined by looking at who they picked against his personal rankings. You pick a lot of players he ranked high you get a high grade. You pick players he ranked low you get a low grade. Take it for what its worth. But I recall many times the Bills drafts have been rated poor and there'd be lots of protests about 'what do they know'. And looking back most of those drafts were very bad. Last year most said the Bills did well and I think that was correct looking back at last season. So for me personally, if Mel gives us a 'A' for once in my lifetime I'll take it and be happy. Top this off with the Sabres actually winning the draft lottery and we could look back on this weekend as the turning point for Buffalo's major league franchises.

Very true. There's some anti-Bills bias in the media. By all indications Allen has the physical traits and intelligence to succeed. No doubt there's work to be done but the potential is sky-high and if reached this pick will transform the Bills into a dominant franchise for a decade. My take is wait and see until they get a couple rookie and mini-camp sessions complete when we'll get some pro level looks. Will he excell, struggle, look average?

As a Bills fan I don't really care what QB they pick. I'm sure the pundits will rave all night about whomever it is but if they didn't trade Garoppolo for a 2nd they'd be set. Major strategic blunder. I rest easy knowing that no matter who it is it's a 100% certainty it will be a downgrade from Brady. A once in a life time player. And the big edge they've had at QB for all these years will soon be gone. IMO, the odds of them stepping in crap again and lucking out with another late round steal like TB are slim to none.

Absolutely. EJ was aiming or guiding the ball like a guy learning to play darts. And given his resume I never understood why the Bills would ever consider him worthy of a 1st round selection. I get the Allen pick. Allen throws with velocity. Some like Allen, some don't, some would rather have Rosen. But the guy has talent and a lot more potential to be very good. The question is can he transform that potential to results on the field?

I think basic accuracy is a matter of hand-eye coordination. Pitching, archery, target shooting, billiards, horseshoes, quarterbacking. I also think its a genetic trait and not something that can be learned. Either you have it or you don't. But as you say there are other variables. Play selection, degree of difficultly, pressure/no pressure situations, quality of receivers, etc. Things that can be managed or controlled to some degree by play selection, coaching, the surrounding cast of players. In those situations maybe Allen is highly accurate or maybe he's not but we'll soon find out.

Opinions run the spectrum here and the only thing that will resolve the debate is going to be actual playing time under center in NFL game situations. We may or may not see a lot of that with Allen this year. But if Bills fans are upset at the pick what about Browns and Jets? Their GM's also passed on the "most NFL ready QB" at picks 1 and 3. All three front offices and coaching staffs put in countless hours of effort checking these guys inside-out. So what do fans see that 3 teams of professionals do not? Personally I would have taken Rosen too but my knowledge is limited to him passing the eye test. I watched a couple UCLA games and saw some highlight films. Never spoke to him, or his coaches, or anyone with direct knowledge about the guy.

I was thinking the same thing. If NE picks Rudolph everybody is go say they did a great job and made a smart pick, probably getting the best pocket passer available in the draft. If the Bills pick him its going to be a reach. I haven't heard a thing in the football world about what a strategic blunder it was to trade Garoppolo to SF for a 2nd rounder. They idea I guess was the pick would be at the top of the round and it would be like a late 1st rounder. The plan backfired when he started and ran up 5 straight wins to close out the season. They had their successor and outsmarted themselves. Whoever the Patriots pick I rest easy knowing its 100% certain that he's not going to be as productive as Brady and that team's dominance over the Bills because of the huge advantage behind center is no longer the big edge. As for the Bills, the problem is you just don't know how all these guys are going to translate to the NFL. I trust Beane knows his stuff, has done his homework, and is prepared for whatever scenarios unfold and will make the best pick given the circumstances. I'm no expert at college QB's and I've seen all these guys play a game or two and in my view they all have flaws. Its a question of what they are, can you live with them, and are they correctable?

The Jets deal was just the best scenario for the Colts. They don't need a QB assuming Luck returns and plays as he did previously. Taking the Jets offer gives them options that taking the Bills offer did not. If all 4 QB's go in the top 5 picks (Browns, Giants, Jet, Broncos) then the Colts potentially have their choice of Chub or Barkley or a top position player of their choosing and 3 2nd round picks (4,5, and 17 in rd 2). If 1 or more of the QB's falls to 6 they can still trade out of that pick with the Bills or some other team and acquire even more picks in 2018 or 2019. Taking the Bills offer of 3 for 12, 22, and some other picks would mean they were likely done gathering picks unless a specific player dropped and some team wanted to move up a couple slots on draft night. It didn't matter what Beane had to offer for #3 in rd 1 since it could not match any multiple trade back situation scenarios the Colts find themselves in going into the draft.

I feel pretty optimistic going into the free agency and draft period for the first time in a long time. I have faith in this management and coaching group to identify and address specific roster needs while managing the cap better than previous regimes. This time it just looks and feels different. Making the playoffs was the result of a series of fortunate events topped off by the Bengals stunning 4th down play. I'm glad the drought is over and its one piece of baggage we no longer have to carry around.

Maybe nobody else see's it this way but I'll offer a slightly different perspective on the hit that knocked Gronkowski out of the game. I think taking him out of the game actually aided their comeback. It required Brady to change his reads and progression and look elsewhere for a receiver. Jacksonville had the big TE more or less under control to that point. They practiced all week to focus on taking away Gronk. Now with him gone the defense needed to adjust their coverage to other receivers, alter their secondary calls, they didn't seem prepared, and they didn't do a good job. It's obvious the Patriots lead a charmed life. Hope I'm wrong and I hate to say it but I see no way the Eagles are going to win the SB. Throwing 38-21 out there.

I hope the moral of the story is nobody will be talking about the 'music city miracle illegal forward pass' any longer. Thank you Saints.

That was the longest 1 second ever. it was almost like time travel. Maybe the NFL needs to do what the NHL does with using off ice officials from other cities? As for the on-field officials there is certainly a bias at play and for some reason the officials seems to be intimidated or afraid to call the game straight with Brady/Belichik. After seeing this I decided the Saints are the only team that might beat them. I expect the Vikings would crap the bed as the 'home' SB teams and the Eagles w/o Wentz are not the same team. NE has had the Steelers number for quite some time, they don't match up well on defense against Brady, and why expect anything to change next Sunday? Jags have no offense. Brees might be the only QB left that can put up enough points and the Saints defense has been good lately too.

Absolutely spot on. I'd wager if the Bills 'hit' on the draft and free agency on the offensive side of the ball Dennison's play calling is going to look a lot better. But that won't necessarily mean he's a good OC. Not being in the room with management and the coaches I don't have a real good idea on that. All I see is what happens on Sunday. What I see is an offense that was mostly ineffective with a few bright spots throughout the season. Checking scoring I found it amazing the Bills offense did not score a 3rd quarter TD in the last 9 games and only 3 in the 4th (plus 1 in OT against the Colts) which came during garbage time in routs by the Saints and Chargers. To some extent systems and processes are overrated because you also need talent to make them work. There's a balance to be found and its not there right now. An infusion of talent is needed and then likely better use of them by the OC..

Absolutely to me the most critical mistake the Bills made all game given the time left, field position, and score. It took the Bills 27 seconds to snap the ball rather than having the situational awareness to hurry up, line up, and run a play. I thought it was over after that.

I guess it depends on how you define success. To me, making the playoffs and taking many steps in the right direction to put a competitive team on the field is success. Sure there's only ultimately one winner so I suppose by your definition the super bowl loser should be viewed the same as the Browns at 0 and 16. The Bills need an infusion of talent to go deep in the playoffs and still had opportunities in this game to move on. That says a lot for the effort and what could be a solid foundation. Upgrades on D in the front-7, O line, maybe another WR and RB, and of course QB. A lot of complaints about Dennision's play calls so we'll see on that.

Who is Colin Cowherd?

We get at least one playoff game, something only the most optimistic among us could have expected. They're playing with house money here. Let's just enjoy it and save the over-analyzing for later.

I actually feel pretty good at how the year went for the Bills on and off the field. The way I'm looking at it, win or lose today along with the outcome of the 3 other games impacting the AFC wild cards, the ending of this season is far and away better than last year. A playoff spot would be great and not getting it would be disappointing but for the first time in a long time entering the off season this team looks like its headed in the right direction. Now if the Sabres can turn it around the rest of winter/early spring might get more interesting.