billsfan89

I don't think that Tyrod Slipped at all, I think he stayed the same but the talent level around him dipped from 2015 to 2016 (Sammy not being healthy) and then the talent level fell again from 2016 to 2017 (Woods leaving, Matthews hurt, and Benjamin getting hurt.) I also think that the O-line got a little worse each season esp with Glenn's major injury. I think Tyrod settles in around the 18th to 22nd best QB in the NFL. That's not fantastic but you certainly can do a lot worse. But when you have a lower mid-level QB like Tyrod his level of play is going to heavily depend on the talent level around him. Tyrod isn't going to make players around him better but he is good enough to allow the players around him to reach their level of talent. Bad QB's handicap the rest of their offense, good and great QB's make their supporting casts better, and OK QB's allow the talent to play to their level. You can win with a QB like Tyrod but it is super hard to consistently put that level of offensive talent around him while still investing enough in your defense.

Tyrod was a starting caliber QB in the NFL, There aren't 32 QB's I would rather trot out than Tyrod. I think you can make an argument there are much more than 20 QB's one would take over Tyrod. But Tyrod is also not a top 16 QB, I think it would be a hard argument to say Tyrod is a top 20 QB. Tyrod was also on a very friendly deal. The Browns offered up a low-end premium draft pick for him and the Bills took good value for him. The Bills wanted a longer-term answer at QB and The Browns needed someone that could play well in front of a rookie for a year. The Browns were willing to spend the 65th pick in order to get competent QB play to avoid having to force in their top draft pick. The Bills got a good pick for a QB that wasn't going to be here past 2018, the Browns got a solid QB that gives them the luxery to not have to start a rookie. Both teams won, the trade isn't a reflection of how bad Tyrod is more so two teams needs lining up.

There is no conspiracy theory here, Josh Allen is a polarizing player. Allen poses everything you want in a QB from a physical perspective and from an intangibles perspective, some scouts and coaches are going to love him because they will find ways to explain away the stats and the game film. But some more analytics oriented scouts and coaches are not in love with him because he does not fit the profile statistically and you can see some of the issues that might drive him to not be successful in the modern high percentage passing era. In the modern NFL a QB needs to make the easy throws on 1st and 2nd down. The NFL is built around increasing scoring, defenses are starting to adapt but once defenses start to get good and catch up the league adjust the rules to be more friendly to the offense. So QB's will need to make the right decisions and execute on almost all their easy throws in order to have success. Allen gives you reasons to be concerned about but he also gives you a lot to be optimistic about.

Linebacker could be a real concern, but I think that they can figure it out there esp if Edumonds stays healthy. But my biggest concern is the pass rush. There are no sure bets as to the Bills even having 1 player that can get to the QB. Hughes is coming off a bad season and is older, Shaq is coming off of an injury and hasn't light the world on fire, Murphy is coming off of a big injury, and Lorax is older and coming off a not so good season. Now all 4 players give you reasons as to why you think they will rebound but all 4 could be ineffective. If the Bills can get 2 good seasons out of those 4 players then I think it is off to the Races. Star and Phillips should be effective in the run game, the LB core should be competent enough, and the secondary is the strength of the defense. But if the Bills can't get the pass rush going it will just destroy the rest of the defense.

It's cost-benefit analysis, Tank probably wouldn't cost anything more than the vet minimum and the Bills are uber thin at Linebacker and don't have a dominant special teams unit. Tank could be an upgrade over what the team has and at worst would be a nice veteran to have in camp. I don't think this would be a bad move at all. The Browns are a lot more talented than they have been with some big trades and free agents to go with a lot of high draft choices they brought in. I still think they are a year away but 5-6 wins is a pretty reasonable expectation for them.

Haush has to be number 1, Carpenter would be number 2 in my opinion. Carpenter was money for 2 straight seasons in 2013 to 2014. In 2015 he was still pretty dam good on regular field goals but he just missed way too many PAT's. In 2016 he fell apart. But 2 great seasons and 1 OK season is hardly a bad run for a kicker. Lindell had some good seasons, but he never was capable of hitting longer field goals, I think that not having a kicker that could have a shot at hitting 50+ yard field goals really hurt the team.

I don't think McD would rush Allen in if he looked unprepared in pre-season but I worry that McD would rush in Allen if the team was floundering offensively and the season is slipping away. McD rushed in Peterman over Tyrod who is a competent pro-QB because the offense which had no NFL receivers that weren't hurt was floundering. Allen starting the last 2-4 games of the season is fine if the season is lost but rushing him in for a lot of games with a bad O-line and lacking in receivers could long-term derail his development and confidence.

I honestly am hoping that Allen doesn't play. If Edmunds is the real deal and they get some luck at the pass rush position I think the defense can be a top 10 unit in the league if not better but as good as the defense can be the offense can be just as bad. I think you run the risk of Allen getting rocked behind a bad O-line and developing bad habits due to tons of pressure. Throw McCarron to the wolves to manage games while Allen just learns the fundamentals on the bench.

It should be 0 starts, I agree. Allen needs at least 1 year to simply learn how to be a pro and work on his fundamentals. Probably better he sits 2 years since Allen is a massive project. But considering the aggressive move this coach made with Nathan !@#$ing Peterman when Tyrod was a competent starter (Everyone loves to **** on Tyrod but every NFL caliber receiver he had to throw to was traded away or hurt, not saying Tyrod was good but he was far from horrible) it would not surprise me if this coaching staff rushes in Allen. Putting Allen behind a probably bad O-line with hardly anyone to throw to isn't going to help his development either. If Allen starts the last game or two that's one thing but any more than that and it could actually stunt his development.

Mayfield - 6 starts Rosen - 12 starts Darnold -5 starts Allen - 6 starts Jackson - 0-1 starts That's my prediction, I think Tyrod holds down the Browns job until they at mathmatically out, I think Tyrod gets them to 3-7 or 2-8 and then they pull the rip chord on Mayfield once the season is lost. Rosen I think gets a lot of starts simply because Bradford will likely get hurt. I think the Jets get McCown to 11 games before their season is completely shot and then the hand it over to Darnold. Lamar Jackson isn't likely to start since I think that the Ravens will likely be competitive late in the season and I can only maybe see him getting 1-2 starts. Allen is interesting. I think the Bills season 10 games in might not be lost (something like 4-6 or 5-5) but McD doesn't seem like the type of coach afraid of a bold move. If the offense is sputtering and the season seems like it is slipping I think they can turn to a rookie QB deep in the season to try and jump start the offense.

Bodine makes for good competition and excellent depth, the money they paid him wasn't much and he is a 26-year-old center with 64 starts under his belt that's a pretty good player to have as competition for a spot and at worst a good depth player. I really liked the Newhouse and Bodine signings good depth overall.

Up until the draft and InCog's retirement, I wasn't too upset with the off-season moves regarding the O-line. Trading Glenn (Who I thought could have been an absolute stud at RT) was a bitter pill to swallow but they needed to gain the draft positioning and Glenn's large contract and injury issues are a huge concern. They added Bodine and Newhouse which added a good sum of affordable depth and competition. But then InCog who was counted on to anchor the LG spot retires and suddenly you go from needing some youth at guard to needing a starter badly. I think banking on Miller to rebound isn't a bad thing considering how good he was his first 2 seasons and the reason he regressed last year was due to scheme and not injury or performance based. Considering that you are planning on running a scheme he is a better fit for his skills that's not bad roster construction to count on him improving. But with InCog creating a huge hole at LG and the mortgaging of draft capital for 2 trade ups created a situation where there were going to be holes on this roster and currently LG and RT are two big holes and you are counting on player improvement at RG. I am super concerned about the O-line but honestly, I am treating 2018 as a bonus season. The team has a plan at QB and a coach and GM that are trying to build a system and have a coherent plan. Ending the drought in 2017 has really made that 3-year plan McBeane are on a lot easier to buy into.

They did draft Dawkins in the 2nd round, hopefully, they hit on some of these smaller signing and on the guard they drafted in the 5th. I think if Bodine/Groy hold down the center position and Miller rebounds at RG the O-line has a chance to be decent, but one injury and some regression and it could be a long season. Keep Allen away from starting, I don't want a guy who has issues with footwork playing behind a **** O-line.

It's insane how much they simply refuse to play the guy even as the talent he is benched behind continues to dissipate.

Greer joined the Saints in 2009 the same year they won the Super Bowl.

Why are they so against playing Groy? Dude is clearly one of their top 5 OL. As for Miller he had a really good rookie year in 2015 and he was more than solid in 2016. But that new scheme in 2017 really didn't fit his ability.

DWI back in December. I don't think he fits the process. If the character issues weren't so prevalent I would imagine someone would have kicked the tires.

I would like to see good player development on both sides of the ball and some optimism at QB. This team could go 6-10 or worse but as long as the younger players on the team improve and you get some decent output at QB.

They drafted 3 defensive players in the first 3 rounds, so they at least added some young talent to that defense but yeah the defense still lacks talent in several key areas. But the Colts should also be big time players in the 2019 free agency market (they have 63 million in projected space and could easily free up 20+ million in more space if some of their bigger contract players under perform) along with having an extra 2nd round pick in the 2019 draft. So their avenue for improvement beyond this season is very clear. I think their GM had a very clear 3 year plan. Tank 2017 to get a high draft pick (Which they then turned into even more draft capital for both 2018 and 2019) and get Luck healthy then gut the bad contracts from the team and spend smart in free agency in 2018 thus adding some talent here or there but keeping your options very open for 2019. Granted this all hinges on Andrew Luck being healthy but they did their best to protect him by not only sitting him all of last season (Thus taking him out of football for nearly 2 years) but building their offensive line up.

The Colts drafted 2 guards high to set up their offensive line and thanks to that trade down they were able to add 3 pieces to their defense high up. They sat Luck for a year to get him healthy and Luck is coming back to a team that is set up to protect him (They also have an extra 2nd next year which sets up another good draft for them.) Luck is too good and too young to not have a successful career. I still think they are a year away from competing (Outside of TY and Ebron there isn't much at the skill positions and their defense needs more help.) But they should be much more competitive with Luck back behind a better O-line and some significant talent added to the defense. But the Colts look to be on the right track, Luck really needed that massive time away from the game to heal and the Colts needed to get in a better position talent wise.

I think at best Shady has 1 more really good year left. As he gets deeper into his 30's I think he probably will have to be a third down back. I could see Shady falling off big time this year, 30 is a dangerous age for running backs, I think Shady's running style will allow him to be a little more successful than a lot of other backs that hit 30 but I don't see multiple good years remaining.

Star will take up blocks in the run game but he was never a penetrator or interior pass rusher. Kyle last year wasn't much of a pass rusher like he was in years past I think he will help but I don't expect him to be a huge factor in the pass rush. As for Phillips he might be a factor but it's hard to set expectations for a rookie at that draft position. I the pass rush will be improved but it's hard to pinpoint exactly how and where that improvement will come from. Star is the only proven addition to the team and he is much more of a run defender. Murphy is coming off a major injury while the rest of the team returns.

A volume of mediocrity isn't a great thing to have though, I think at least 1 of those 4 will have a good season. But if none of the 4 will pan out then the pass rush won't be improved much. Star isn't a dominant pass rusher up the middle. He will help improve the run defense for sure. But I wouldn't be counting on Star to get a lot of sacks and pressure.

I think it will improve but I am not sure how much. Shaq is a big question mark, Murphy is coming off of a massive injury, Hughes is coming off his least productive season and a bit older, and Lorax is older and coming off of a bad season. The Bills also took a flyer on that former third-round pick from the Giants who could amount to something but is just a flyer at this point.

Not sure that the Bills pass rush will be that much better but Murphy won't hurt and I think it is reasonable to expect on of the trio of Lorax, Shaq, and Hughes to have a better season. But the pass rush still is a concern in my mind.