thurst44

Man, spoiler for someone who is two years behind on their Marvel movies

Maybe teams are just put off Tre Boston, b/c he lets random gods at gas stations decide what teams he's gonna snub?

I've seen two redrafts of 2018 -- both had Foster in the first, one of them had both Foster and Wallace (but that one did not have Edmunds in the first)...both also had Allen getting drafted 3rd (with Darnold going to the Giants).

Yup, that's why Darnold is about 10 higher...oh wait.

Look, I'm optimistic, but it's more cautious than it seems. I agree with all you say. I'm fond of the plan and can see a philosophy behind it and I like it. As for 2019, what annoys me more is when someone says something to the effect: "this team can't be better than 7-9 or 8-8." I think saying this team can't be worse than 8-8 is just as ill-informed, but it bothers me less as relentless negativity bothers me more than runaway optimism -- at least when it comes to sport (it's a game, please don't try to convince me i should be miserable). This team could be anything from 16-0 to 0-16 depending on how everything shakes out. Realistically, the window is probably smaller, but it's wider than most people believe b/c there are SO many x-factors. Take Miami for example, so many years when people have predicted them to have a 2-14 or 3-13 record, they contend for a wildcard, and other years when they are supposed to be a contender, they find themselves battling for the number one pick.

Yikes, really Hapless? I'm not even saying Allen is "the man," just that the national press idea that he "can't win games" or Darnold has shown more is annoying since he has done well so far winning actual games. I've even said today in this forum that I was a doubter, but feeling that "maybe I'm wrong." Don't act like I'm being all Pollyanna-ish about it. I'm just saying, unscientifically, that the idea he "can't win games" should align with what's going on in the field. Sorry if I seem a bit defensive, but it's annoying when one is making a perfectly reasonable comment and someone acts like it's hyperbolic and blinded by fandom. He's done better at winning games than people could reasonably expect at this point. How do I match it? I match that with the idea that when it comes to getting to a final score that's higher than the other team, Allen has had more experience winning in a totally unscientific, not yet with a meaningful sample manner. Nor am I saying that it takes less than a whole team to win games. I just said that he has done well "winning games" so far, and better than Darnold. I don't see where this is all that controversial. All that being said, your stats are cool. Let's go Bills! Hopefully, as I imagine we both feel, Allen proves it in a more meaningful way next year, particularly bracketing the season head-to-head.

The schedule is one of the easiest in the league... Homey, don't play that!

My point was not that Allen looks better in stats or has "looked" better in games, but that with supposedly terrible supporting casts, Allen has done better at winning ACTUAL games, one is 5-5 in complete games, the other 4-9. I meant so far if that wasn't clear... more to make the point that Darnold was looking more promising than Allen in terms of winning games which is what this thread is ultimately talking about. Ok, I'll make it simpler. Allen did better at winning games in 2018 than Darnold did, and by a decent margin. And the head-to-head, while interesting, is pretty meaningless as it is ONE data point. By that logic, Jeff Hostetter is a better QB than Jim Kelly. He was on that day. That's Darnold's only game-winning drive so far. Allen has three in fewer games. Further, Allen's success came at the end of the season. Darnold only won that last game. I wasn't saying that it proved anything, except that one of them should not be getting that much better press than the other if we are talking about winning and losing. Allen has actually been better at it so far and at the end of last season. These all seem like "reasonably objective criteria" I guess what gets me a bit annoyed is that pundits act as if Allen can't win, when he did win games with a team that these same people would make fun of the offensive roster.

Thing is, Allen has already shown himself better at winning games than Darnold thus far. It does feel like the narrative has changed slightly where I'm starting to hear a lot of "mind you, I was down on him on draft day but I may have been wrong" (while not a pundit, I am in that camp myself) and hear him mentioned more often as one of the great young QBs. I'm not convinced that he's going to be a superstar, but I do like what I've seen, and feel like he has the potential (if he does all the things you say) of being an all-time great, and if he takes a step anywhere near that, if the defense stays stout (or improves, as it very well could with Oliver), this team could be very, very good. It could also be a nightmare. However, as much as I'm generally an optimist, this is the first time since Levy (or maybe pre-Music City Wade P.) that I've loved the coaching. I'm fascinated by Beane's plan and how in sync he seems with McD. So, while I've predicted good things in some bad years, I haven't been this excited since 2005, yet, weirdly, it is still cautious optimism. Either way, the pre-season portends to be fun, between Allen's growth, determining the o-line, the great stories (many of whom may not even make the team) of players like Sills, Wade, Duke Williams part deux, and a host of other things.

I'd say as of now, this is probably the best I've felt about the team since 2004 and a couple late acquisitions or early wins from feeling like it could be best I felt about team since before that dark day the three Hall of Famers were released. As for national press, the one thing I find telling is that the local press, which is usually fairly negative, but sees all that is happening, have been cautiously optimistic. I've seen three post-draft predictions and they've been 9-7, 9-7, 10-6. The national press is looking for what sells and there can only be so many chic teams. The Jets and Browns are sucking up all the atmosphere. It's ultimately that their moves have been more splashy, while ours have been methodical. While their moves were splashy (Bell, Mosley), we built more depth than they did, because we were a better team going in. People forget what a train wreck the Jets were at the end of the season, while after we gave the Jets their only win in the last 11 games, we had a winning record after that. It's harder to put what the Bills are doing into a sound bite. People understand Le'Veon Bell more than Beane's unique manner of fixing the line so Allen can grow. What I marvel at a bit is the cognitive dissonance. There's a general consensus that the Bills had one of the better off-seasons and one of the better drafts, but also that they are going to somehow not improve or even backtrack. Whatever: usually this bothers me more than it should, but I feel like regardless we are going to have an interesting pre-season full of compelling stories, and an exciting team to watch, a team that actually plays with passion and direction who we will feel happy for which to root.

We don't know his relationship with the coach. He may even prefer to sign a long-term contract than have the 5th year picked up. My opinion: we are way too hard on him here and he has rated very high on stopping the run, and still has the potential to show upside. That being said, I can understand the hesitance to tie ourselves to him next year. I could also have seen since we are likely to have an absurd amount of space, and the Pegulas a lot of money, taking the chance on holding him for another year. I hope he grows as a player and if he's the kind of player who fits in the system, he will want to come back to play next year.

Ha, that was the only part of that Simpsons sequence that annoyed me, but can't really argue with that image.

It's the Raiders! Anything is possible.

Foster was a huge prospect going into college and would be on pace for 1300 yards as a rookie based on his stats after his return from release. I'd say he's pretty promising. Zay Jones was hit-or-miss. Beasley and Brown have actually been pretty consistent in their career. Roberts is mostly for ST but he has done well as a WR4 or 5 in the past. It's not an amazing bunch, but it's not as terrible as you imply, and definitely improved over last year's bunch (who still went 5-5 with no consistency and many injuries when Allen played a complete game).

And we have the cap room, so it's worth the chance.

Totally different style of play and skillsets. I don't think it has to be one or the other.

I'll bite (although the timing of this feels a bit wonky -- and just after posting this read your later post and believe you meant it in a positive way and it's an interesting mind experiment, but still you zigged a bit from where i would expect posts to be ). I agree that they've probably already bought themselves a fourth year as GM/coach just due to the fact that they have laid out a distinct plan, and a noticeable culture change. If they have a losing record in 2019 & 2020 and it's not due to everything going wrong in ways no one could predict, then, yes, that's probably it for at least one of them. However, while I tend to be overly optimistic, this may be the most confident yet that I've felt about this team. It truly feels like there is a unique plan in effect and it has led to a pre-season where instead of trying to find 53 players to cobble together a roster, they are going to have to spend a lot of time whittling down and making painful cuts to get down to 53. They also seem to have made it a destination -- both Oliver and Ford seemed delighted to be coming here and it's telling that we drew some of the top names in UDFA (but also signed fewer than usual b/c there just wasn't room -- and we still have tons of cap space). So, hopefully, the arrow is indeed up, and we will see a coach and GM make it into (and through) that fifth year for the first time since the (Coach) Levy days.

Another UB signing: CB Cam Lewis

It's a sixth round pick and they took one of the best players left on the board according to NFL.com. What were you expecting?

Surprised Maxx Crosby dropped so far. Even when the Raiders take a guy I like, they take him too high.

Agreed: one of the best hints he's likely to pick up on the message is we first heard he was on the hotseat from Dion himself. My inexpert (tepid) take is that ideally they want him at LT but are making sure he earns it. In any case, love the idea that they used the fact that they had extra money and draft capital to create essentially a casting call and surely they are going to try every combo that makes sense (well, all with Morse at C) to find the five best starters with the best chemistry and the best three (or maybe even four) subs.

We signed six OLmen with over a year of starting experience, two WRs, two RBs, and a TE in free agency...w Part of why we did this was to be able to sign the BPA, so let's do that. If it's offensive (like the RT who was my second choice to Oliver at 9), so be it.

The strangest thing in this crazy draft might be if we take our picks.

Ha, these are the exact 4 I just said I'd love a trade up for.

Exactly. He dominated in college. He dominated at the combine. He's happy to be a Bill. What's not to like?