billsfan89

Much like basketball the NFL is entering into its own small ball era. Defensive linemen are becoming better and better athletes. Linebackers are becoming more like hybrid safeties and safeties and corners are equally as athletic. I think in 5 years you will be seeing Aaron Donald and Ed Oliver be the prototype for DT’s. Sub 300 pound uber quick and uber athletic players. While LB’s will look more and more like strong safeties sub 240 quick and able to cover. The Bills defense is being adapted to that style and it is good to see the Bills being a modern team in that sense. I really enjoy seeing them building to where the league is going as opposed to chasing trends 5 years too late.

The Bills are generally speaking off the national radar esp when the team is average or bad. So I don't know why fans are always shocked or indignant when they get disrespected or ignored by the national media.

Ed Oliver should be a help to the pass rush.

My question with Wentz is can he stay on the field. Dude is coming off a torn ACL and a broken back in two consecutive seasons. Those are pretty serious injuries. He was an MVP candidate in 2017 no doubt and he was pretty dam good in 2018 when he played but he then got another serious injury. I think the Eagles do bounce back as they strengthened their O-line and got added some nice veteran pieces to both sides of the ball. But that is only if Wentz is actually healthy. I do think that the Rams however do fall down to Earth as their O-line is suspect.

No Mitch either on the O-line. We are going to see how good Mahomes is with a weakened O-line and Sammy and their 2nd round pick as their best WR's. Kelce is dam good but without Hill stretching the field things look worse.

They will probably platoon Ragland and Lee. Ragland is a thumper on early downs and Lee will come in on passing downs

I think if a team were interested enough to offer a multi year deal of any consequence he would have signed. He will likely take another one year deal given the red flags vs. good but not elite production.

I personally would have loved for them to trade up for DK at around pick 58 to 59. I would have loved for them to take a chance on him as a Mike Evan's type deep threat even with the health concerns as at that pick you can take a chance. But I don't think any fan can really be that upset with their decision to draft Knox and Single in the 3rd round. Both were players of need even if some didn't feel the value was there. For one the team not drafting a WR means that they like what they have on the roster behind Brown and Beasley. They likely think that there is a good chance Foster and or Zay can develop into a reliable WR. I remember NY Giants fans in the 2007 off-season were bitching how the team didn’t sign any notable free agents. I forgot which pundit said it but he said that if a team has some cap space and doesn’t make any major acquisitions it probably means they like what they have on the roster. That was my interpretation of the Bills draft. They signed Brown and Beasley (so it is not like they are just rolling over the same core that didn’t produce) and they like Zay and Foster behind them. In 2020 if they need some more help they can go to the draft or find another player via trade or free agency.

Almost every team's chances are dependent on their QB. If almost any teams QB gets hurt that's all she wrote for the season. The Bills season rests mainly on Josh Allen both his health and development.

A Tight End that can BOTH run block and be a threat in the receiving game is a huge asset. Which is why Gronk was such a weapon. But Lee Smith is not in any way shape or form a serious threat in the receiving game. He is a one dimensional player whose dimension is diminished in the modern NFL. A dual threat is so much more valuable because you can go smash mouth or toss it to them in the passing game. Lee Smith is not catching many passes. I think blocking tight ends have a place as a niche in certain situations but that niche is probably only 15-20% of offensive snaps, why are we paying good money for that esp when there were decent options on the roster for that.

McBeane's free agency decisions from 2017 to 2018 have been a bit of a mixed bag. 2017 McD was working with Whaley and they brought in Hyde, Haush, and Poyer who all were studs. However they also paid a nice chunk of change for Vlad, DiMarco, and Tolbert who didn't make much of an impact. In 2018 Trent Murphy failed to make an impact and Star while solid was massively overpaid. They also overpaid for Ivory who was subpar outside of the Titans game. Now I like what they did this off-season in free agency. But this Lee Smith move just on paper looks like the DiMarco, Vlad, and Ivory signings where it is good money after bad.

Oliver might be good as a 3-4 DE but in a 4-3 he probably wouldn't have the elite speed needed to work off the edge. Ed is a 287 pound dude who runs a 4.7 40. That's elite for a DT but that's fairly average speed for a DE. I could see the Bills shifting Ed around esp on goal line and short yardage packages to really hold the edge without giving up speed. But he is going to be rushing the passer from the intro 85% or more of the time.

Blocking tight ends are going the way of the fullback in that it is so heavily niche and only useful in a small amount of scenarios. Outside of short yardage, goal line, and maybe some early down running situations there really isn’t a need for a blocking tightend in the modern NFL. Passing downs, early downs, and almost any intermediate situation a blocking tight-end is inefficient and will not be on the field. Lee Smith isn’t worth this contract even if he is the best at what he does because what he does isn’t on the field a lot.

There were people saying that DiMarco could be a valuable piece given his versatility and blocking. I haven't seen much impact from DiMarco and while I don't doubt that there is a niche use for a blocking tight end but it seems like a position with limited utility in an increasingly more spread and passing oriented league. I don't doubt the need for an upgrade to the blocking TE position but it seems like a position that is fairly easy to find at a much cheaper cost and a position that is more of a niche that has limited use.

This reminds me of the DiMarco move. Paying a premium for a niche position that becomes less and less relevant as the years go by.

The Bills did just give Kroft a significant contract and they just drafted Knox. But behind those two you have Sweeney a 7th rounder more or less destined for the PS unless he has a great camp, Jake Fisher a blocking tight end at best, and Croom a player who didn't make too much of an impact last season. I think Kroft and Knox are locks to make the roster and the team typically has 3 TE's on the roster. So that leaves one roster spot open between Fisher, Croom, and Sweeney. I don't think either one of those 3 are that good so I wouldn't mind brining in Rudolph to start in front of Kroft who can be deployed in 2 TE sets and out of the slot via short and medium yardage situations while having Knox be the third stringer. But I wouldn't trade anything more than a 5th for Rudolph. Kyle is a nice Tight end probably top 10 in the league. And I am not too sold on Kroft and Knox seems like he needs a year to polish his game. So overall I am willing to upgrade the TE position but not at too heavy a cost. Considering this front office appears to know what they are doing when it comes to the draft I am more reluctant to trade picks even mid to late rounders for vets. But even if Rudolph gives you two years of top 10 TE production for a 5th round pick that's a good deal and one that allows Knox to progress naturally to take over the position.

I think there is value to having a QB with a healthy amount of starts under his belt. Josh has more starts in his NFL Career than Barkley. Coaches can provide most guidance but there is something to be said about having an active player in the locker room who has a lot of experience. Matt Cassell has 81 starts under his belt and played in a lot of systems under some well respected coaches. Josh McCown has 76 career starts and been in all sorts of systems. I wouldn't sign a Cassell or McCown to usurp Barkley and I wouldn't guarantee either a roster spot over Jackson. But if they can get either to take the vet minimum to compete for a third string QB spot I don't see why the team shouldn't do that. Even if they cut them before the season starts because Jackson looks good there is still some value to having all 3 players who have a total of 17 NFL starts around a seasoned pro.

I think the team should still bring into camp a vet QB. The only two out on the market are Josh McCown and Matt Cassell. I wouldn't mind the team brining in either if they wanted an easy check as a mentor QB3. Barkley is a solid backup but not exactly a seasoned vet. I liked Anderson as a nice mentor that Josh could learn from and rely on without Anderson having much of a chance to play given Barkley is the backup. I think Jackson could benefit from competing against an established vet too. Not sure if either McCown or Cassell are interested in such a role but if either were I think it would add value for Josh to have an active player with a lot of experience.

I follow the Eagles model of drafting in that your first round pick should be spent on three positions Quaterbacks (for obvious reasons) or players rushing the passer or protecting your QB. The Eagles since 2003 have only two times spent a first round pick on a player outside of their Lines or QB (Nelson Agholor in 2015 and Jeremy Maclin in 2009 both WR's for whatever that is worth.) The Bills not only secured a piece to their defensive line in Oliver but they also secured a strong first round caliber talent in Ford. Ford reminds me of Cordy Glenn a lot and Glenn was for about 4-5 years a really good starting caliber OT before injures kept him off the field (although whenever he was on it he was still a good player.) I think that the Bills should continue to follow this model. Beyond Oliver there isn't a lot of youth along the D-line, I suspect the first round pick next year will also be on a pass rusher or a guard. I think you can address skill position players in round 2 where the Eagles (whose model I would follow) have found elite players (LeSean McCoy, Zach Ertz, and DeSean Jackson were all second round picks.) Keep stacking the lines year in and year out address other needs via free agency and in round 2.

If you are a free agent this time of year you have flaws. I would take a look at Shane Ray as a 4th DE. But I think Ben Watson becomes the primary target for Beane at this stage.

O-line players tend to start to decline right around age 33-34. Ty will be 34 but much like Lorax and Freddie he isn't a guy 10+ years in. He hasn't played a whole lot. I think realistically it is possible he has 1-3 years of solid production left in the tank. I don't see him being a pro-bowler but I think he can be a average to above average starter.

Similar play styles but I do think that Dak is a bit better of a playmaker on third down. But both Dak and Tyrod are very conservative, make plays with their legs, reach low levels of turnovers, and both don't work that great out of the pocket. Tyrod however was only solid on third down while Dak is really good. In regards to Cooper I think most teams would have just let him play out the season and then franchise him if he had another good year. However with Dak also requiring an extension it makes that sort of safe play it out option less likely. In the end I think Jerry is more likely to lock in his QB and then reserve the franchise tag for Cooper.

The Bills were brining him in to be a part of a rotation anyway, I would have liked him on a one year deal it would have added nice depth but its not a huge loss.

Ty reminds me of Fred in a lot of ways. Ty bounced around a lot in his pro-football career. He played for the CFL, Arena League, and bounced around a lot in the NFL. But he stayed persistent and made it to be a starting caliber player. Hopefully he has another good year or two in the league. Could be a nice bridge players for the O-line.

The AAF lost 70 million to not finish the season (although they burnt more money on the gambling app they were banking on), the original XFL (Which did have a much better TV than the current production costs only deal they have in this new version) lost 70 million to make it a whole season. I think that the XFL will be designed to make it a whole season no matter what. However I think much like the original Vince burns through a lot of cash and pulls the plug after the first season. I think Vince hopes to see the XFL gain momentum after the first season and see the losses slow in year two and then maybe the league will break even in year 3 and be profitable in year 4. But I think the XFL 2.0 burns towards the worst case scenario amount of cash and they don’t quite have the success needed to project forward that the losses would slow significantly enough in year 2. Vince might have enough to burn 200 million in one season but not two and I don’t think McMahon wants to leverage his WWE position below majority ownership in order to keep his football fantasies alive. But as I said before I do think that he is leveraged enough to at least last the whole season.