thurst44

You're not wrong, but we were Lorenzo Alexander's sixth team. In any case, he could just be good depth and someone who could play adequately or better should we have the same injury issues at the position as last year.

I don't get this level of negativity about him. I love Edmunds and even I think this is the longest of shots, but he's the sort of player where if he takes another step, he could have at the very least have an insane breakout season. Man, I hope this is sarcasm, because whatever you think of his play, he was the point person on two top-ranked defenses. To call him mentally slow is just ridiculous and unnecessarily mean spirited. Physically slow is wrong too based on what I've watched, but I can get believing that as much as I disagree.

Normally, I hate these sorts of things (even if i do them myself all the time). Both these posts made me laugh and smile!

I could be wrong but I don't imagine they would do this for Allen or Edmunds' extensions b/c those would likely be structured to not change 2021 at all and even lower the 2022 hit (since the high caps will almost certainly be there in '23 and beyond). This might not be for any major moves (although none of Ertz, Nelson, or Sherman would surprise me) and might just be for maneuverablility and for the just-in-case (someone they can't pass on) becomes available today.

I think it has more to do with the idea that he's not making noise about being the 19th highest paid WR (or whatever the actual number is) while it's happening.

Did he score a TD?

This is true, and people are balking at Bortles, but while we mostly knew we had a better QB than Bortles at the end of two seasons, the numbers are comparable. Bortles had a solid Season 2, at least statswise. However, as you suggest, if you look at Allen's season as other than overall stats, you see a QB who improved over the course of the season. From Game 5 on and through the playoff game, he had 17 TDs to 3 iNTs (plus 6 rushing TDs and a receiving TD). I'd contend that's at least a bit above avg. If you were a fan and/or you watched him every game, you'd realize he was essentially working on his short game in year 2--an aspect where he improved by an almost unfathomable amount. After 2019, I felt fairly confident that we had something special at QB and that while there was still a slight chance he could go the Bortles/Mariota route and teams could figure out how to defend, that felt more like tamping down expectations. It was his capacity for learning that won me over quickly after we drafted him and that sets him apart from those pretenders.

He was a UDFA signed the day after this year's draft.

Cool topic. I've built up a hearty hate (well, not really hate--football fan "hate") for most of the AFC (and Cowboys, Eagles, WFT), but the few NFC teams I'm OK with winning other than against us: New York Giants -- live here, know many fans who are lovely people, Tiki Barber did great for my fantasy team a few years. Green Bay Packers -- love the fanbase and the Lambeau Leap and feel like they are our cousin in emphatic small-town fandoms (also love that they have stock in team), liked Aaron Rodgers until recent nonsense in which whatever the true story is, there's not really a scenario that paints him in a favorable light here) Carolina Panthers -- know many people from the area and do an annual draft analysis on a local radio station there Players I'll root for are mostly just former Bills--and it's still hard in many cases to root for them as if they do great, they go into the "one that got away" category... Fitz - hard not to root for him and would love to see him in the playoffs someday, while admiring how he keeps finding his way back to starting roles. Shaq - could not root for him in Miami, but always thought he got a bad rap here. Jordan Phillips - I'm a well-wisher in that I wish him no specific harm.

Four games is a pretty good balance of respect and not having to play a 5th game at a weird time. Getting a Thanksgiving game two years after the last one may be the sweetest plum in terms of respect from the league. That's the ultimate regular season marquee game. You almost have to wonder if they are trying to make the Bills TG Day Game a thing.

I'd give them more leeway if they had not gone into a tailspin and won just one game while the Bills did not lose again until the AFC Championship game. Honestly though, it barely bothered me at the time as it felt fluky and them having a moment rather than us blowing it and that felt time a change. This was not who we were anymore and games like this felt like an exception instead of a pattern. That said, it is still tiresome to see it without it being once put in context. That the national press is airing it way too much is understandable--it's the sort of play that reminds people why they love football. It sells. That the Cardinals are doing it given how they did the opposite of capitalizing on it, just seems kind of sad.

Exactly. Funny story: Bills Pass D was ranked 1 and 4 in 2018 & 2019, two years in which Levi Wallace started 7 and 16(!) games respectively. I'm standing by my running argument that 2020 was a weird year for our defense (and yet Bills still were 13-3 and a game from the Super Bowl). I'm all for adding a veteran, but this attitude that the Bills are in dire shape at cornerback is silly.

Can't help but feel a lot of the D issues last year stemmed from a convergence of 2020 weirdness: having all these new players, a lack of Star, and less time to practice together. I'm truly excited to see what this defense does in 2021 b/c if the reversion to the mean is the top 5 defense of 2018 & 19, this is going to be one hell of a team.

You left out the most important part!!! Did you find any good vinyl? (also it was a fun story)

JessicaWalter.mp4

Hah, he does seem like a totally loveable guy and I was totally on the Jasper train at the time. I hear in the seventh season of The Brandon Beane Show they'll introduce a tiny alien who only he can see, as well as a 7-year-old cousin who comes to live with the Buffalo Bills.

Yeah, why would anyond defend a GM of a team that has gone from 6-10 to 10-6 (playoffs) to 13-3 (one game from Super Bowl). It's hard to defend that. Been there with the pets though, although one of my cats seems to love Brandon Beane (is staring at his press conference as if he were a bird).

Mike Jasper is the David Sills V of Da'Rick Rogerses

This guy is an even bigger bust, as he was a top ten pick. He was comically bad when with the NY Giants. Some days on WFAN when I was driving home from work (I'm in Jersey, about 6 miles from Meadowlands) and every single call was about how much they hated Ereck Flowers. Remember when everyone was fawning over Miami's off-season last year? Other than Byron Jones (who was a good pickup), is there anyone from their Spring 2020 shopping spree remaining?

Wow, that escalated fast. I missed that he called Beane an idiot or a liar and if so, I certainly do not agree with that. I do think Beane will be a bit opaque in his intentions at time, which is fine. Honestly, I'm at the point with Beane where if there's a draft move or a pick that I think is dumb, and he makes it, I'll rethink my own strategy. I get mad if I see a GM ranking list and he's not at least top 10. At this point, the team's record has gone up substantially every offseason he's been here. I'll trust the process and after all these years, I'm thankful to have a team that seems to be working.

That's as good an argument that I've seen that they are going BPA, whatever you think he did the last few years, as the best player at any position is most likely to help you in the long run. I've always looked at BPA as best player for the longterm as opposed to best player immediately. For example, if you're drafting for the longterm it might make you more liable to draft, say, Caleb Farley, if you think his injury is temporary. Ultimately, what might be the problem here is that people have their own definitions of what "BPA" means or what different teams' needs are.

I guess it's semantics. I agree that sometimes it's good, sometimes it isn't. My annoyance (I was not annoyed by your post, btw... even said fair analysis) tends to stem from people who use this sort of thing to denigrate our current players. And it's a stupid pet peeve of mine when people act like there was a perception before the draft that just was not true (i.e. Epenesa was a stretch when he went over 17 picks after where the lowest person I could find had him). Sometimes BPA & need converge as you can arguably say happened with Edmunds. When I was doing mocks in Fanspeak et al, I usually had to trade up to get him when on a lark I did a non-QB draft. Allen is a great example of when drafting for need was a good idea. Although even then, Mel Kiper had him as the top player available. And, what do I know, I wanted Rosen. Allen won me over within a week, but still..

This is a fair enough analysis, but just b/c the draft fills a need does not mean that the player was not the BPA, for example, we picked Epenesa 17 picks later than any mock draft I could find. If the BPA happens to be at a spot that is a weaker spot on your roster than others, do you not draft the BPA just to show you are not drafting for need. Ford was a first round pick in some mocks. Knox, sure. Edmunds was a top ten pick in many mocks that year and I remember at the time the trade happened getting giddy and texting friends that it had to be for Tremaine Edmunds b/c he was dropping down the board. Allen, well, duh. With hindsight, he's the BPA :).

Really? Just b/c you think someone is better than the others does not mean that others do or that Beane is not drafting BPA. From the phone call, it was clear he thought he was BPA. However, yes Dobbins and Chinn looked great this year and Epenesa had a slow start (i thought he was beginning to show flashes at the end of the year. Anyway, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you were a good prognosticator (at least for rookie year, the book on these players are nowhere near closed) and not just picking the two names from the second round who happened to shine in their first season. Most mocks had Epenesa in the first round and higher than both those players. First draft I found has Epenesa at 23 with Dobbins at 54 (to the Bills, funnily enough) and Chinn at 64. https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/03/20/mock-draft-11-three-rounds An update of that kept Epenesa and Chinn the same and moved Dobbins up to 44 The next one: Epenesa 37, Dobbins 45, Chinn 47 The next one: Epenesa 35, Dobbins 49, Chinn 51 The next one: Epenesa 37, Dobbins 45, Chinn 71 The next one: Epenesa 23, Dobbins 39, Chinn 50 Maybe he was not BPA in your mind, but to many football experts, Epenesa was clearly BPA. Also, your logic falls apart as clearly the team saw RB as a need as they drafted Moss in the next round.

While there's certainly some truth to this, my reasons for thinking we can make the Super Bowl (besides the Any Given Sunday of it all) have nothing to do with the Chiefs taking a step back. The Bills have enough young players at key positions and such continuity that I feel it is quite likely we take a step forward. Although, in fairness, I thought it very likely Mahomes would take a step back in his year three, so...