billsfan89

This team is a few pieces away. One is Josh developing a bit more. He is a decent NFL QB but he needs to polish off the rough edges to his game in order to get this team to be competitive. The defense needs a CB2 and a prime time edge pass rusher, while the offense needs a WR1 and a RT. There are also possible smaller needs of depth and specialists like a Gore replacement and a possible vet TE. But the team has the cap space and draft picks to take care of those needs while retaining their productive core. Hopefully this team takes that step but right now I am just focused on this season. Beat the Steelers and secure your spot in the playoffs that's all you need to focus on. Playoff experience is going to be big for this team as there has even been a lot of turnover on the team since 2017 when they played in the playoffs last.

Singletary (which was a pick I hated, more so because I thought they could have gotten him later) has impressed a lot. He is probably going to knock on 1000 yards (850-900) which is impressive for a rookie let alone a rookie that missed games due to injury and split time and wasn't the lead back until late. He kind of reminds me of a Lev Bell type runner, super patient, good speed, and a low center of power. I don't think he is quite as patient as Bell (although he could develop that) and I think Bell is a greater pass catcher but that is the type of player Singletary reminds me of.

I don't have an issue with it. It is trying to break a big play before the half by catching a defense lapsing mentally. Now tactically was it a good move? I don't think so. I think it is more likely that you fumble or something else bad happens than you breaking a big play there. But is it bush league or somehow going against an unwritten rule? No, it is just a let's try and keep them honest play.

The O-lines inability to protect Josh with any consistency was the key to the game in my opinion. The fumble and other issues offensively were caused by the Raven's conssitnet pressure. But that being said the Bills went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the league. No moral victories but when assessing this team and Josh you can come away with some positives to go along with the negatives.

I like Knox but I think he is still super raw and will likely need at least another year to develop into a starting caliber TE. Sweeney in my opinion is nothing more than a decent backup, maybe he can develop into a quality backup or at best low end starter. Lee Smith is a blocking TE a niche player. Kroft was supposed to be the veteran stop gap while the young guys developed but he has been often hurt and should be cut. I would heavily support brining in another vet TE to help alleviate the pressure on Knox. But I do think Knox has a bright future.

I don't think Biden would have won in 2016 and that's the only other person who could have challenged the Clinton machine in the nomination. This is an anti-establishment era of politics. Any "Moderate" Dem is going to be viewed as a part of the establishment that Trump will just rip into. What is a more appealing message to voters, a true populist who doesn't take corporate money, has held the same positions since the 70's, has bold policy ideas and hasn't supported the ***** over of the country throughout his public life. Or a moderate who proposes slight changes around the edges? Trump is going to make the same attacks on Biden as he did on Hillary (Supported the Iraq war, supported NAFTA, takes a ton of corporate money and all the other awful stuff Washington has supported.) Trump can't do the same with Bernie because he doesn't take corporate money and didn't support those disasters and according to reports Trump has privately told people that he is most worried about Bernie. I think Trump is an egotistical buffoon but he does have a good sense of how to read what the people want politically and he knows he can't steamroll Bernie a true populist.

The Dems running a moderate and Hillary did them such a great job. In a populist era you are better off nominating someone who is antiestablishment. Even Trump privately has acknowledged a populist would be harder to defeat.

Against better defenses the lack of a threat opposite Brown will hurt. But that doesn't mean this team can't find ways around it but rather that it can be a limitation.

Your assessment would be more accurate if most of Beane's successful signings were in super strong free agent classes flushed with talent. But Beane hit on many middling and under-appreciated free agents. This O-line market was not flushed with players. Feliciano, Spain, and Ty were mid-market or lower market free agents who are available in any free agent market. The WR market was rather average. Tyrell Williams, Adam Humphries, and Randle Cobb were some of the best talents on the market outside of Brown and Beasley. John Brown was an often injured WR whose most productive season was barely above 1000 yards several years ago. Cole Beasley was a mid-level solid slot WR. Neither Brown nor Beasley were exactly slam dunk signings. Beane's only duh signing was Andre Roberts who was so cheap for a pro-bowl special teams player at a position of need (although how many times have the Bills not made those types of signings.) The overall free agent market this past off-season while not bad was nothing special (No NFL free agency class is really special thanks to the Franchise tag and the fact that players will often get taken care of before they hit free agency.) Some of Beane's biggest hits in this market were on Feliciano and Spain players who were signed to lower end deals. Beane also made these massive improvements without tying up their cap long term. Only Mitch is hard to get out of past 2020. So the team is going to be in a position to supplement an already good roster over the rest of the course of Josh's rookie deal the next 3 seasons as even when Tre, Dawkins, Milano, Poyer and others come up for extensions some other significant contracts like Star will be able to be dropped.

I like Baker but I hope the relative disappointment of this season (I still think they finish 8-8 which is technically an improvement on their season) humbles him a bit. He has always had that swagger and confidence that has propelled his underdog story but he has to have some semblance of humility to realize that he was never going to fake it until he made it in the NFL and that he needed room for a lot of growth. I hope he learns the difference between confidence and cockiness. I still think that Baker will be a successful QB (How successful remains to be seen) and that the Browns can take that next step next season (They still have plenty of cap space and a full assortment of draft picks to supplement a young core.) But only if Kithcens, Baker, and the rest of their primary players/leadership could learn from the season, or else they will struggle to get to even 10 wins despite their talent. Sure they could easily add a piece or two to both the O-line and defense and be ready to compete talent wise. But they will not get far if they don't learn from this season and if Kitchen can't be a real leader.

Pegula has a world class organization and seems willing to invest in the team and coaching staff. McD has an already good team, young QB locked into a rookie deal for the next 3 seasons, and a cap situation where he can add to a good team while retaining talent. I don't see any situation in the NFL that McD would rather be in esp since he has spent the last 3 seasons building what has just started to come to fruition.

I would agree if Watkins had no history with the team and the coaching staff. I think if Wakins is cut he would be a smart acquisition for a team on a one year 4-6 million dollar one year deal with a very low or no guarantee. But Sammy left here in a bad way and alienated himself from the coaching staff is something that would not work well in the locker room and limit the chances of Sammy being successful and makes him a higher possibility for being a net negative. If Sammy had zero experience with this team I wouldn't mind seeing him brought in as a WR2 to play in front of a rookie drafted early. And you would have Brown/Sammy/Rookie drafted in round 1 or 2 playing on the outside while Beasley plays in the slot. Sammy would essentially in that scenario take pressure off of a rookie to come in right away and work as a bridge player while in the short term helping Allan by adding some speed to the team. But you can't have Sammy in that locker room with McD as the coach.

Considering Spain has put in a good season through 12 games and the absolute lack of quality O-line play in the NFL means that it is going to get paid starting caliber guard money around 6.5-7.5 aav if I had to guess.

I think McCarthy's resume is significantly better than Rivera's (Although Rodgers is the better QB than Cam, Cam is pretty dam good) so I think he can have the confidence that he would have a job within a year or two. I think Rivera will get offers but they will be for less than ideal franchises/situations. IF Rivera wants to improve his chances at getting the right job he would better be served to go back to being a DC for a really good defense for a couple of years. Whereas McCarthy I think will get a lot of solid offers without having to take another job.

I would give the Bills a 40% chance of winning. At home with a quality defense you have a 40% chance no matter who you play. Baltimore is playing as good as anyone in the league and this is a big test for the Bills. Lamar Jackson is a tough matchup as DC's are still trying to find a way to slow him and this offense down. Hopefully McD comes up with something that slows him down and Josh get the offense going with consistency.

It is all speculative honestly, I think by getting this year under his belt he at least become a bit less raw going into the next off-season. He is going to likely need at least one more year on the PS before he has enough experience to actually make the 53. I think that it was very positive for him to basically have an exempt year to simply gain some experience and have a shot to improve enough to make a PS let alone a top 53. I hope eventually he does make it and the NFL uses his development process as a way to get international players from Rugby and other sports into the league by giving them exempted PS spots for 1-2 years so that teams could just incubate these athletes and improve the talent pool and get more eyes on the NFL.

I wonder how Wade is developing and what exactly he is working on. Just having a year to practice and get used to the game while not taking a PS spot is kind of a huge advantage in his development. I think the NFL made a good move allowing that exemption. As it gives these foreign guys a chance to stay on a roster for a full season and 2 off-seasons to try and develop into a quality enough player to at least make a PS spot and continue to develop. PS spots are developmental but if a guy is super raw and needs a lot of work then a PS spot is hard to justify as those spots aren't freebies.

I think Daboll won't be a HC candidate in 2020 either. I think he needs another season to sort of prove sustained success and continued development with Allen. I think there is a 90% chance he is the OC in 2020. If Josh is a top 10 QB and the offense rolls then he will get looks. But then again things in the NFL can be whacky. I would never have thought Lynn would have been picked up by the Chargers after his short and OK run here.

I don't think Rivera will have a HC opportunity in 2020. His run with the Panthers while not bad only totaled 4 playoff births in 9 seasons (with one of those playoff births coming in a 7-8-1 season) so only 3 winning seasons total. His playoff record was 3-4 which while not tragic was not very good either. I think it is possible some team retreads him but I would put that possibility at less than 50% significantly. I think if he wants to get back to a head coaching opportunity I think he would be best off taking on a DC opportunity with a good defense and reestablish some success in that realm and then have his pick of the opportunities in terms of coaching (right now even if he got an opportunity it wouldn't be a great chance.)

He can be stopped, the question is will the Bills be the team that finds that strategy? I think any QB can be stopped if the offense around him is exposed to their weaknesses and limited in their strengths.

Fair read on Josh, they mention a lot of what he does well and the areas where he still needs to improve. Allen "as is" is going to be an OK QB. But if he can make solid improvements to his game he can ascend to a consistent top 10 QB and possibly depending on how much he improves his deficiencies and build off of his strengths he can be a top 5 QB, but he has a long way to but is getting there.

I do think that the lack of a consistent outside option outside of Brown and Josh's still to come growing pains (I think Josh will have at least one more bad game as some team throws something at him that he won't respond well to) will stall out the offense once they start to play elite defenses. But the scheme and all these sort of non-sensical complaints are just kind of stupid and reek of someone being lazy and not actually watching the games or understanding the stats.

I thought Ford had been playing well since Ty went down. but what do I know.

Who knows if Shaq plays the same way if he has a guaranteed year locked in after this? Also, people need to keep in mind that Shaq's 5th year option was roughly 10 million, why is anyone so sure that his next deal is going to average as much or more than that? Shaq has 5.5 sacks with 4 games left in the season and he plays 2 QB's who don't take many sacks in the final 4 games (Brady and Lamar Jackson) so at best I think Shaq finishes with 8ish sacks on the season (about 2.5 in the final 4 games seems like a healthy total.) I am not so sure a player with 5.5-8 or so sacks is going to command more than 10 million aav deal esp if that number doesn't get past 7 sacks. I would much rather see a player and have to overpay him for doing well than lock him into an expensive year despite the fact that he showed no reason to warrant a large guaranteed salary.

Dareus will hang around for a couple of more years. I think he signs a one year deal next season and might fool another team after that. But considering he has collected on that massive contract a lot I think his motivation to play will either be more money or non-existent.