billsfan89

For me this isn't a major loss for this season as Carter was more of a marginal player as the 5th DT and with Larry O coming back from suspension in 6 weeks it wasn't gonna be easy for him to make an impact this season. What I am concerned for him is how this impacts his longer term prospects? It is somewhat fortunate this is a early season injury that will lead him to have many added months of recovery having close to 11 months to recover before the start of next years camp but if this sets him back next year then he's probably gonna get cut.

Every team has injuries…

Clark was only on the market because of the Parsons trade. Green Bay was not looking to trade a Pro Bowl DT unless it was for a talent like Parsons

Soto got off to a super slow start but it is not even September and he has 32 home runs and he's been one of the best hitters in the league since June. by the time the year is done his stats will look pretty comparable to what he usually hits. The Mets ownership is insanely wealthy and they have no issues paying a tax to get Soto. In a league that has no salary cap and more predicable longer careers you could afford to put in a massive contract like Soto. The Mets even shelled out 10% of his contract in a 75 million dollar signing bonus and paying him 51 million this year so of the insane 750 million plus they gave him they are already off of 15% of it by the time he's 27.

Shakir I think is a great later round pick because he’s gonna be a very solid flex option

My draft is Tuesday, very odd year because it is one of those dangerous years that can feel predictable but those are often times the most volatile years. From the Bills perspective it is one of those years where outside of Josh whose gonna be in most formats a 2nd round pick there's a lot of good reasons to outside of Josh avoid taking a player or take a player. I would say most draftable players outside of Josh James Cook (gonna go in late round 3 to early round 5 range) Kincaid (Likely a round 8-10 players) Keon (likely round 7-8 player) Shakir (likely round 7-9 player) Palmer(likely round 10 or later) Bills Defense (viable fantasy defense) But for as good as any one of those players can be there's also big risk involved in taking them and an equally compelling case not to.

Scheme fit I get but I also think much like the 2017 Bills trades if other teams liked his fit in their schemes then the Pats could have at least gotten a later round pick swap for him. He doesn’t have a gigantic salary cap hit either that would make him untradeable. I don’t mind the Bills grabbing him if they think he’s better than what they have but I doubt that’s true given the circumstances

Preseason is not an entertainment product is something people forget. It’s mostly for starters to shake some rust off and then for backups and PS players to get in reps to see if they can make the roster. I do hate how for season tickets they will make you buy the preseason games but that’s the cost of doing business no one forces people to get season tickets

Chemistry and consistency are big for offensive line play. So much data and institutional knowledge have all backed up that idea. Overall the Bills offensive line went from frustratingly ok to bad from 2020-2022 to one of the top units in the league

Why would they release him if he’s so good? What would be their reasoning?

The issue with high ankle sprains is that guys don’t usually get the 4-5 weeks off they fully need in season because more than likely teams are desperate to get them back and usually only give a couple of weeks off before pushing a guy out there at 80-90%. Shakir’s injury occurring very early in camp meant he got a month or so worth of time off which means he probably came back in proper time

Jerry Jones made a good deal here. Gets a Pro Bowl DT and a pair of first round picks and gets off a big cap number. I think Parsons can be very dynamic and one of the better pass rushers in the league. But the Cowboys with Dak on a big number as well as Lamb making top dollar couldn’t build a good roster with Parsons making big money.

They probably don't want to be too intrusive for the players from a personal perspective. But just the way they interact and talk with each other and how they talk about the experience really does comport with how the players present and former talk about the organization/city/team.

The PS rules drastically needed to be changed along with the IR rules. Having 4 extra slots with 6 allowed to be vets makes sense. But having 10 slots for 1-2 year players is also good because the PS is where these younger guys can get a chance to gain experience and develop to try to push to make the 53 the next off-season. So it is still for the significant majority of the slots a place where guys mostly develop. But it also allows the extension of vets careers to have them basically be "two way" players. Dane, Po, and Phillips are fantastic guys to have on those protected vet PS slots.

Hard Knocks kind of reinforces how much the players love being here. You can see there's just a different atmosphere around the team than with other organizations. There's a reason why so many players are very eager to come back.

I have never been more hyped for a 7th round pick than I was for Jasper I thought he could have been the next Pat Williams.

Possible they might just like Carter more than Zion? It's not like there was much competition for a 5th DT spot with Larry O suspended. I think they probably just hope Carter could work on things. They drafted him in round 3 for a reason. I think if there aren't any injuries once Larry O gets back they are gonna put him back on the PS.

I actually think the Ravens game was a well coached game. I think the Bills kind of knew the Ravens tendency to shrink in big moments so they wanted to play a tight game and trust themselves to come up in bigger moments. I do think defensively the KC playoff games McD has to come up with something because it’s just clearly not working

Seems gimmicky but I can't decide if it is gimmicky in a bad way or a good way?

Ciarlo seems like a good locker room guy, he came off really likable and fun in the Hard Knocks episode 4. He also showed out solidly in the chances he got in pre-season. Glad to see he made the Practice Squad.

Josh unlike Peyton Manning who had a bad playoff record early in his career actually has played well in all but three playoff losses (the Texans in 2019, KC in 2020, and the Bengals in 2022) and two out of those three were completely bad team losses and one his first playoff start. So even though the 2 vs. 7 matchup has inflated his playoff record it isn't like he has played bad in the divisional round. 2021 he was fantastic, 2023 he was good, and in both the Ravens and KC playoff games in 2024 he was good. He also would have played in that "perfect game in 2021 against NE as a 3 seed. Overall I don't put too much stock into it. I also think that had in 2023 the Bills had a bye week going into that KC game and not had to worry about the snow storm they beat KC as there would have been less injured players on the Bills and no rest disparity due to the massive snow storm. So it hasn't always played to Josh's and the Bills benefit.

I think the offense will likely be about as good as it was last year. I think if Keon could take a step up and Kincaid return to his rookie year form that's gonna even out any natural regression this team might have provided reasonable health. Even if the offense is 5% less potent it's still a top 5 offense in the league. Special Teams is where I think some positive improvements will happen. I think the new ST coach is going to get this ST until back to pushing a top 10 unit as opposed to the 20th or so ranked unit it has been. Defense is where the positive improvement I think will be the difference. I think the defensive line will be massively improved. I think the pass rush will be a tick better but I think the D-line esp when the PED Twins come back will be a much more physical force. The D-line last year against better more physical offensive lines (besides Detroit for some reason) did get run on consistently. I think that happens less this year along with an improved pass rush. The LB core is mostly the same a top 10 unit there but with Milano there from the start that could be a difference in production at the second level. It's the secondary where I am still not sold that the team's moves will be enough. I am not going to say this team didn't do anything in the secondary because that's dishonest. But the biggest piece they added in Mad Max is on IR to start the season. Tre over 2024 Douglas I am a little shaky on how much of an upgrade that is and it is mostly due to durability. Then safety I liked that they drafted a mid-rounder there and signed Forrest to try to add some depth/competition. But Forrest was a complete bust and now we are counting on Cole Bishop to be an improvement over Hamlin. Luckily Hamlin is still here for depth but I don't want to go into a season needing to start him. TLDR: Offense even with slight regression should still be top notch but the progression in Special Teams and hopefully the defense should get the Bills to be overall improved but the secondary remains a concern despite some attempts to improve it.

It all seemed pretty "chalk" to me. I think Dane and Forrest not making it was a mild surprise but given how neither performed that well in the pre-season and camp I wasn't surprised to see Dane on the PS given that McD would like to have some vet depth at CB even if Dane starting or playing is a bad sign it is at least someone who can plug in semi-serviceably (hopefully) very short term if a lot of injuries hit all at once. Forrest I thought could push for a starting spot but he looked like a player who was camp fodder as opposed to someone with some starting NFL experience given the lackluster camp/pre-season he put in still not a shock.

It also makes sense they improve the PS process as well as the IR process. I always thought it was stupid that the NFL IR system was that if you IR a player he's out for the season. So many guys would go on IR for injuries that would maybe keep them out for 2 months because teams simply couldn't burn a spot on the roster for 2 months. The PS only being for players with 2 or less vested seasons made little sense. Having a handful of veteran PS spots is just a smart way to construct rosters. The old PS and IR systems needed major improvements. I think it's a win win for the players who now have a class of veteran players who can extend their careers and get more opportunities for marginal talents to get call ups for games here or there. While the teams have some more breathing room as far as numbers and roster construction.

36 man roster incoming?