billsfan89

Cordy Glenn a very good Left Tackle, pick 21, pick 53 and pick 56 may not be the farm but that's a lot to give up. If Allen is a bust that decision may prove to be hard to come back from since it would be sinking not only a lot of draft capital and a good (Although injured in recent seasons) veteran player into drafting Allen but you could see him start 2-3 seasons and play poorly at the one position that could sink a season. I just don't see Beane coming back from Allen being a bust.

This team is a year away from winning the division. The dead cap money and trade-ups for Allen and Edumonds compromised the ability to put resources into certain areas of the roster (O-Line and WR in particular.) That's not to say that those weren't good long-term moves but rather that the team competing in 2018 on that level (winning the division) isn't likely because of those factors.

A GM is heavily tied to his team's performance (obviously) and the QB decisions heavily impact how well a team does. So if Allen is a bust and Beane doesn't find a good QB (Which if Allen is a bust will be unlikely) then, of course, the team won't sustain success and then a regime change will happen. There have been a ton of GM's who have made "Good at the time" decisions and they just didn't pan out for various reasons (some in their control other not) and then they eventually get canned. Trading up for a QB was the right move, the positioning to acquire assets and clear cap space were the right decisions. But if the QB you pick can't cut it then in a results-driven industry it won't matter if the moves were "right at the time." Results are the only thing that count.

Funny video, loved when that one player realized he never returned kicks.

My point overall was that looking at the numbers neither Sammy nor Woods were dramatically better in 2017 than they were in 2018. These weren't stud receivers in 2017 who sucked in 2016. Goodwin was the only receiver that flourished in 2017 that didn't have a good year in 2016 and considering that Goodwin was hurt in 2016 that might explain that somewhat.

Tyrod looked like a franchise QB in 2015 because the Bills had not seen competent QB play throughout an entire season for a long time (At best you could say Bledsoe and Fitz had a good half season each.) You also could have projected Tyrod to get better after just one year of starting. But that development never occured. We saw Tyrod's flaws in 2016 and 2017 at points but an NFL team throwing Tyrod out there as a starter has a solid shot of winning if the talent around him is pretty solid. The Browns needed to settle down their QB situation and not force their number 1 pick into action right away. Tyrod buys them a year of development time, he should look as good as he did in with the Bills. I liked the deal for both sides. The Bills got good draft capital to move on and the Browns bought themselves a year at QB.

Tyrod really grounded Robert Woods into mush in 2016 when Woods played in 13 games and caught 76 receptions for 613 yards, compared to 2017 when he was healthy for 17 full games and caught 85 receptions for 781 yards. In 3 more games he caught 9 more receptions and 168 more yards not exactly a lot more production for 3 more games played (A slight uptick at best.) The only thing that went dramatically up were TD's. If Woods was ruined by Tyrod in 2016 how did Woods get a massive contract from LA? The supporting cast for Tyrod skill position wise in 2016 was compromised by Sammy missing half the season and coming back from injury. Losing your #1 receiver hurts big time as it trickles down to the rest of the offense and it didn't help that Woods got hurt late in the year missing 3 games. Sammy was on IR with a serious foot injury in 2016 and only played 8 total games where he still put up 28 receptions for 430 yards compared to the 15 games he played in 2017 where he only put up 39 receptions for 593 yards, the only thing that dramatically went up were TD's. The only 2016 receiver you could truly saw flourished without Tyrod was Goodwin. But even Goodwin was a bit banged up in 2016 but he certainly crushed it in SF in 2017. I am not saying that Tyrod didn't have any receivers in 2016 but losing Sammy and some of the other players being banged up didn't make for a top-flight core. In 2017 they lost a lot of talent due to injury (Matthews and Benjamin) and Zay Jones was not as effective as a 2nd round pick should have been. I guess my point was that factoring in Sammy's injury I would say that the skill position corps was slightly below average in 2016 and dreadful in 2017. I am OK with the team moving on from Tyrod (Although I think short term we will miss him) but I just think there has to be an honest assessment of his time here.

Character issues make this an unlikely but certainly not impossible scenario. I don't see Beane offering up a 2nd but a 3rd might be in the cards. Locking down the position after Vonta and possibly nailing down the nickel position for the value of a 3rd round pick in next years draft is a pretty good deal but once again low character guys just don't fit the process.

They took a rookie in round 5 this year, that's not a major investment of draft capital in the position. But the Bills did invest a late 2nd in Dawkins last year which was a significant investment. Doing two trade ups in the first round (one for a QB which is always going to cost you more and eating a lot of dead cap was always going to compromise the roster in some areas. Our O-line and WR corps, in particular, were not able to be addressed due to having cleared out 3 of our 2nd and 3rd round picks to trade up for Allen and Edumonds. The D-line was where most of the team's limited free agency dollars went as well. To get your QB and add a premier young piece to the defense along with getting out of the cap sins of the past came at a cost of possibly handicapping the 2018 season. That might prove to be a worthy sacrifice as the team should have enough cap space come next season (69+ million with the ability to easily get that number up to 96 million. Or 91 million if you don't cut shady which is a more realistic number) without likely losing anything of value, a lot of the bigger contracts on the roster like Hughes, Clay, and even Shady if he dramatically falls off become a lot easier to cut with limited dead cap. Toss in another draft class and you could see the Bills really take that step up and fill some gaps and make the roster more complete.

I get why they traded Dareus but it was no coincidence that once he was traded the run defense fell off a cliff. It almost sabotaged the defense on the season but longer-term shedding that salary and getting him out of the culture might be worth it. Ragland was not a fit for the system that McD wanted to run. Ragland was a thumper in a 3-4 system, I don't think he would have been bad in a 4-3 but he might have been an early down run player who would be a terrible liability on passing down. Grabbing a 4th for him seemed like a good deal for both sides.

Benjamin in my mind is an injury prone high end number 2. Kerley is decent but not that great, Clay is good when healthy but hurt a lot and ineffective when he is banged up and Zay, Holmes and the rest are really unproven players. There really isn't that much to be optimistic about.

The context of that statement is that the original poster knocked the player Tyrod Taylor currently is (A player 7 years removed from being drafted) by where he was drafted. Is Antonio Brown a **** player because he was a 6th round pick? No of course not. Evaluating a player 1-3 years into their career their draft stock might be a factor worth considering but once a player gets deep into their career their pro resume speaks for its self. So if you want to critique Tyrod because of his 3 years of starting fine but to say someone sucks because they were a late round pick is just silly.

I worry Ivory is shot. He is 30 and has not had a good season since 2015. On top of that he has had injury issues. Overall I wasn't a big fan of the signing.

Probably not, the Eagles are hoping for a Super Bowl and Darby is likely to be their best corner if he has a good season. So I doubt that unless they are flushed with good corners (they are not) they would risk a chance at a deep playoff run to get value out of a good corner on an expiring deal. I think they stick with Darby and simply try to retain him at their price or let him walk. The Eagles aren't going to give up their best corner halfway into a season just to get a 4th round pick (What team is going to give up a pick in rounds 1-3 for a guy on the last year of his deal?)

The Eagles don't value corners they value safeties in their secondary and system in general. So I suspect if Darby has a strong year they might just let him go and keep the big money invested into their D-line and safeties. But I think the Eagles were OK with getting 2 years out of him for a 3rd round pick and a receiver they weren't interested in long-term.

Darby is on the last year of his rookie deal in 2018 so he will be on the Eagles at least one more season.

From what I read Darby was pretty good when he played, the SB might not be a good barometer for how he played since almost every defensive player was getting burnt on both teams.

Character could have been a factor but going from playing man to man all your years in college and 2 years in the pros to playing a zone scheme is a transition that not a lot of corners make. I think the front office simply saw a player that wasn't likely to be productive in a new system that could have fetched big value in a trade and pulled the trigger.

I don't think it played much of a factor. I think Darby being a man to man corner and the new scheme being zone played the biggest factor in deciding to trade him.

Colin Cowherd is a "Shock Jock" hack sports radio host. Cowherd knows controversy creates cash. Cowherd is the same guy that said LeBron James could never lead a team because he grew up without a father. He plays it up for controversy in a calculated way that he knows will get a reaction. It's the same thing guys like Howard Stern and Opie and Anthony use to do in the 1990's. Cowherd is just doing it with sports.

My grade is a D factoring in likely injuries, at best I can see the unit realistically being a C if everything lines up perfectly this unit could be a B but that's a lot of luck with injuries and a lot of squinting your eyes to see every player on the O-line having their best season. LT - Dawkins - I feel very confident here, probably the only position that I can have confidence in on the O-line as a whole. Situation grade (B+). LG- Vlad/Wyatt - A huge mess, a subpar vet or an unproven low round rookie. That's not to say that a 5th round guard can't be good and start but its hard to project confidence. Situation Grade (F) C- Probably the second position along the O-line that I can feel most confident in. Groy in my mind played well in 2016 when he stepped in for Wood and with Bodine as a starting option (although not a very good one but an experienced player) there should be a competent center in this bunch. Situation Grade (C+) RG- Miller was an above average Guard his first two seasons. Last year he regressed big time under the zone blocking scheme. This year we ditched the scheme and Miller is playing for his contract. This is a toss-up as you can project in realistic scenarios that Miller has both a good and bad season. Situation Grade (C-) RT - Mills is a piss poor pass protector but an above average run defender, Newhouse is a nice backup but not a starter. I suspect another year of Mills at this position which while not tragic (at least you get solid run blocking) is leaving a lot to be desired. Sittuation Grade (D-) That's two spots LG and RT where you have major issues and another spot in RG where you are taking a big risk on player improvement. Even Center is an unsure set of options. That's not inspiring a lot of confidence.

Out of all the rookie QB's drafted in the first half of round 1 I would say that Tyrod is probably the highest caliber veteran starter the big 4 QB's out of the draft are competing for a spot against. I think Bradford you could argue but Bradford has that massive health issue and is coming off of a huge injury.

You have to be a moron to think that where a player is drafted is a reflection of how good or bad a player is. The Bills were trotted out some pretty terrible QB's for 15 years before Tyrod got here. A middling starter like Tyrod looked like a world beater compared to the EJ Manuels, Fitz (outside of that half-season where Fitz was good), Trent Edwards, JP Losmans and past his prime Drew Bledsoe (Outside of that half-season where Drew was good) of the world. So in 15 seasons the team got exactly 2 good half seasons of QB play and the rest of their play out of the QB position was pretty horrendous. So when a QB came along and was pretty decent for a few seasons it made him look like a world beater just because what came before him was such trash. I like Allen's long-term prospects better than I like Tyrod's so I am glad they moved on. But there will be some short-term pain at QB due to Tyrod being gone, we will be much worse off at QB in 2018 as AJ and Peterman aren't inspiring a lot of confidence and Allen is a bit of a longer-term project.

That's not surprising. People **** on Tyrod here because they think that he was terrible but in reality, Tyrod was a top 22 QB in the NFL. Tyrod did not turn the ball over and he made dynamic plays with his legs both contributing with rushing yards and keeping plays alive. Tyrod made a lot of overly conservative decisions but he also made a lot of good decisions. Tyrod has been best described as a QB who plays up or down to his surrounding talent. Great QB's make the talent around them better bad QB's cripple an offense. The QB's like Tyrod in the middle are a reflection of the talent around them.

Lawson last season left a lot to be desired and getting hurt after 11 games does not help his cause much. However, there is no doubt that Shaq will get an honest shot to start on this team. Lorax, Hughes and Murphy will give him a good competition for playing time, they also signed that former Giants 3rd round pick to push him for a backup spot. There is a lot of competition at the DE position. Outside of Murphy who just signed a big deal I don't think any DE is safe to make the roster. Now it could be that no DE ends up having a good season. But if 1 player could have a "good season" (9ish sacks) and another have a decent season (6.5ish sacks) and 2 other players chip in 4 sacks then the depth will shine through. The Eagles were built in a similar fashion. They were 16th in the league in pass rush cobbling together 38 sacks with no double-digit sack players (Brandon Graham a former first round pick who hung around as a backup who never was a massive talent until this past season led their team with 9.5 sacks.) The Bills are designed that way in my opinion. It just looks to be Each player might be flawed but hopefully the new system of play takes advantage of the depth that could complement each player. Shaq and Hughes could stay in on run downs while Lorax and Murphy come in for pass rushing downs. Would any team be willing to trade for him if he isn't lighting it up in camp? Does he have a whole lot of value if he comes off 2 bad seasons and a training camp/pre-season so bad that his team is willing to trade him for a 7th? If Shaq is really bad I suspect he is more than likely cut. Unless that former third-round pick from the Giants (whose name escapes me at the moment) and the rest of the other 3 DE's outperform Shaq at an amazing level where the Bills are trading Shaq out of luxury. So in my mind this training camp is it for him do or die.