billsfan89

They have Ty (and possibly Waddle if they resign him) to push him make him earn his spot. They are going with Ford/Ty at RT. With an eye to have Ford win the job long term. I think the improvement in the O-line is going to come from a combination on continuity and Ford improving. They don't need to spend 15 million on Conklin when they have other needs and a limited amount of cash (esp when you consider they are going to want to roll over a chunk of their cash for extensions.)

Isn't Waddle a free agent? I would love to see the Bills resign him if his medicals are good. He would be the 9th O-line player and they can draft a O-line player late to bring some competition and get on the PS.

When the Giants won their Super Bowl in 2007 that O-line had 4 starters that had been playing their 3rd full season together and were a big reason they went on that run. In 2011, 3 out of the 5 starters along the O-line were the same from the 2007 season. I think continuity in O-line play is huge as is depth. Right now this team has kept together the O-line and retained its depth. This move along with Norman and the option pickup of Long are all good moves. Hopefully Shaq can come back at a good price too.

IF the Bills signed Conklin and kicked Ford in or traded him to get a WR I would love it as I think you can never be too good along the O-line. However in a capped league I think you have to manage your resources smartly as you only have so many dollars to throw around. Ford in year two will be improved enough at RT to where I think most will be comfortable with his caliber of play. I trust McBeane's drafting and Ford did play better last year deeper into the season.

I get the inclination to want to kick Ford inside and bring in a RT. But I think McBeane deserves the benefit of the doubt with Ford. Granted he was up and down his rookie year but played better deeper into the season (which is usually a sign of a player working out the kinks) so I think people are really nervous about Ford despite not taking into account the balance of his season and the regime that drafted him. With Spain back in the fold I think they are going with the idea that the O-line last year ranged from average to above average and two things will help push their level of play up, and that is continuity and Ford improving/developing. Don't they have Ty? I would love to see them resign Waddle if his medicals are good. Ty and Waddle would give some quality options behind Ford and Dawkins (as both can play both sides.)

I'd hate to break it to you but they are playing Ford at RT. McBeane drafted him (and traded up for him) and I think that they are rolling with Ford at RT with Ty as the backup plan in case he struggles. I think people here are underestimating Ford as he played a lot better to end the season. Give him another off-season to work out the kinks in his technique and work with his teammates he is now familiar with and I think he surprises you.

In a weird way that makes me nervous that the Jets are actually looking at a guy like Spain, maybe they learned their lesson from 2019 and aren't just going after a few big name free agents. But 3 years 15 million is a good deal for the Bills, not bad for Spain either who never had a big contract but a very good value for the Bills.

I hope Ford surprises a lot of people at RT this season, it would be good to see him and Dawkins anchoring the tackle positions the next 4-5 years or longer. I kind of trust McBeane and I Think Ford played better as the year went on.

I think McBeane drafted Ford because they want him at RT and given that Ford was far from tragic his rookie year (I would say he was average overall, rough early but finished better) I think they are comfortable with him (and they have Ty as a stop gap) at RT. This dream so many on this board have of Ford getting kick inside isn't happening (At least I don't think so.) I think they are rolling with the same O-line as last year hoping that continuity and Ford developing more takes them from an above average O-line to a very good one.

Fair enough, I was more so thinking of 2020 and not beyond. I think they will extend Feliciano and Dawkins and then draft a O-line player late and stash him on the PS to get a bit younger on the bench after 2020 as both Ty and Long are up after 2020. But With Spain and Mitch on long term deals and Ford with 3 years left on a rookie deal (And I think Bates is a restricted free agent after 2020), I think they just need to extend at least Dawkins to be fine over the course of the next 3 years. I love Feliciano so I would love to see him resigned too but you have to at least get your LT taken care of.

O-lines tend to play better the more they have played with each other. I think McBeane are banking on two things to improve the O-line play. 1- Continuity and 2- Ford developing. If the line having a full season under their belts results in better play and Ford takes a step up this should be a top 10 O-line.

This is a genuine question. IF Spain is resigned then where are the major moves? The starting line would be the same as what ended last season Dawkins-Spain-Mitch-Feliciano-Ford off the bench would be Long, Ty, and Bates. I don't know where you are usurping someone along the line and what else you would need besides another depth player and some camp competition. If they resign Spain then where else are you making moves along the O-line besides maybe one more piece of depth? I know a lot here think Ford at RT isn't good but McBeane drafted him in round 2 and while he was up and down he got better the more he played in my opinion. I think they are fine with Ford at RT. Mitch and Dawkins are locks to be starters, Spain is too if they are resigning him, and I see no reason why Feliciano isn't the starting RG either. So how is "mostly set" not accurate? If Spain is retained I don't see where the major move comes. If Waddle's medicals are good I would love to see him brought into camp along with another low end veteran O-line player and a late round pick who could be placed on the PS. I think this team is set along the O-line beyond just adding that 9th O-line player and some camp competition which could be done with a low cost vet and a late round pick.

If Spain resigns then the O-line is mostly set (rolls 8 deep with TY, Bates, and Long off the bench) just need a couple of extra pieces for depth, a low end vet signing and a late round pick would do the trick.

There is a major difference between trying to give people accurate information and being in a state of complete denial. Trump was literally lambasting the media as blowing up a non-issue just several days ago. But now you want me to believe that Trump is super serious about this? Get the ***** out of here. You say that everyone has Trump derangement syndrome or just listens to the mainstream media. I don't have cable, don't watch cable or mainstream news, and I mostly get my news from the AP. I follow Trump on Twitter he was downplaying this for weeks. You can suck off Trump all you want all the time but a straight reading of his Twitter feed by anyone would show you a man with both too much time on his hands and in a serious state of denial. Also the Swine Flu was not as easily transmitted because it had a much shorter incubation period. It's not the same, quit trying to defend everything the guy from the Apprentice does.

I think so but now they get a chance to see what he has to offer in camp and kick the tires before cutting him. In fact they get less dead cap if they cut him late in camp than they would if they just cut him outright.

It is basically going to cost the Bills 600k to see what he has in camp? Compared to a 1.5 million dead cap hit if they just cut him? Seems fair, I think they can bring in another vet to complete with him on a one year deal.

Again you can't gaslight his many denials and attempts to cover the stock market. Does this sound like someone who was really on top of it and taking it seriously?

The man was telling everyone this was nothing to worry about for many weeks, he has one third of this country in his cult of personality and they thought the virus was just a media smear of him. He was literally tweeting out this was not big deal not that long ago. Once again you can't gaslight a health crisis. He ***** this up.

I think Trump crafting a narrative that this was fine and nothing to worry about (in an attempt to cover the stock market) is what created a lot of the bad response.

No but they created a response to the virus that was dismissive and slow to act that could have potentially caused more damage than there needed to be. If you think the response of denial denial denial was great then you are just working backwards from your conclusion that Trump is great and everything negative is always someone elses fault or their was nothing he could do.

Because the Trump administration is really nailing this.

I will mark down your prediction but a flu that you don't that you have and are communicable for many days is very concerning as it could have a huge infection rate far greater than a normal flu and even if it is only 50% more deadly (and I have seen rates ranging for morbidity rates from 1-3% compared to .1% for the regular flu) than a normal flu could still easily result in millions of deaths and a huge taxing burden on healthcare systems.

I don't know how anyone could rate McD lower than a 9 out of 10. Year 1 They got great value for the often injured and somewhat malcontent duo of Darby and Watkins, drafted 3 starters (White, Dawkins, and Milano), signed Hyde, Poyer, and Haush, all while getting the team back to the playoffs and completely changing the perception of the team. The only bad mistake they made was the KB trade which was the right move philosophy wise (Adding a WR to a team off to a hot start) but just didn't come with the right player. Year 2 They properly assesses the need for a continuing of a rebuild, getting excellent value for Tyrod and Cordy Glenn, while getting a young QB to try and build around while drafting 3 additional defensive starters (Edumonds, Phillips, and T.Johnson.) The team uses 2018 to put into place key young players at critical positions while getting the team out of a bad cap situation. The only major mistake (I would qualify the Murphy and Star signings as smaller mistakes) was the completely crap handling of the QB situation in front of Josh. Just a tragic mistake. Year 3 The first off-season with meaningful cap space and they knock it out of the park. Completely rebuild the O-line with only one major acquisition (Mitch) with the rest of the starters coming from either a draft pick (Cody) or mid-level to lower level acquisitions. The WR core which had zero talent was given a great boost with the Brown and Beasley acquisitions which didn't break the bank. The draft added good talent to both lines (Ed Oliver and Cody) while adding a quality young RB and some tight ends with potential. In 3 years McBeane has made the playoffs twice, they have a young QB in place with 2 years and a 5th year option on his deal, a ton of cap space to supplement a 10 win team (that easily could have been an 11 game team had that 11th win meant anything) and a lot of other young talent on the roster while having all of their own future picks going forward. Have they been perfect? No but no regime is, overall I don't see how you can't give them a 90 or above.

Seems like he would be a good signing to replace Lorax as the 3rd LB and someone would could flex into other situations.

I don't think they have to delay the start of the year. Most of what the NFL's early off-season will be can be done either with no crowd (draft) or with little travel/contact. Contracts can be negotiated over the phone and signed by fax. Pre-Draft workouts can be taped and sent out via private links and pre-draft interviews can be done over Skype. I always think there should be a use of caution when it comes to public health however I don't think the NFL Off-season needs such a high degree of caution. I think they could do all of this in a safe manner.