billsfan89

Shady and Clay out the backfield along with Sammy and Woods split wide with Harvin in the slot would make for a very versatile talent team. Clay can block as a fullback so having Clay in the backfield doesn't dial it in as a pass. But you have two players that could legit catch the ball out the backfield and then having 3 wideouts all of whom you have to account for spread out the field. Only question is will the O-line and QB hold up.

Well they weren't going to fire Marrone after just one season. So it's kind of a moot point. Still I think having Schwartz with last years defense was better than Pettine, Pettine's scheme was very aggressive but it also resulted in huge running lanes as players were shooting gaps and over pursuing.

Harvin needs to stay healthy. He is a versatile potentially explosive offensive weapon. But his main issues has always been staying on the field and being an issue in the locker room.

Only thing is he is very limited. He hasn't played well against better defense esp in the playoffs. Granted I think the trade market for him would be very good but it's not exactly the best option.

Context of stats is very important. When your defense is really good and your offense is limited it's going to lead to more conservative calls.

Unless they had a QB on a rookie deal they wouldn't have the same roster if they were paying 20+ million to a QB. It would be very hard to pay the big bucks along the D-line and at other positions if the team had to have a huge cap hit from a franchise QB. So everything is relative.

Right now this team needs a guard badly and could use upgrades at other positions. Trading down to pick up extra picks in the mid rounds isn't a bad idea if there isn't a highly coveted player of need there. But in the mid second round you aren't going to trade down and get too many other picks other than a 3rd rounder or lower.

I don't know if EJ will develop into a top 10 franchise QB but I don't know why he can't develop into a solid game manager. He has solid tools, some experience, and doesn't need to do all that much to make it work.

Rex seems like the type of coach where it's going to be fun for the first 2-3 years and then the crash is spectacular. Players coaches seem to be that way in general, good initial boost but a bad downfall as they tend to lose the locker room towards the end.

Nah I doubt it. Why would he agree to such terms with a team he wouldn't be playing for. Face it odds are he isn't available.

Pass, just draft a guard in round 2 or wait for the Saints to cut him. The team can't afford the cap hit and I doubt Evans would agree to restructure. But if Evans gets cut make a play for him.

I think the Bills were the weakest QB situation for Taylor to land. He actually could get a look to be the starter and I wouldn't be surprised to see Roman run some sort of read option wildcat funky type plays for him.

Gronk is such a !@#$ing meathead somehow I don't fully hate him, maybe it's just because of how dumb and unaware he is.

Weird, wounder if NYC was the venue would the decisions by both QB's be different? I highly doubt it has anything to do with it being in Chicago. But it doesn't really matter enough prospects will be there to get their photo op and victory lap.

I don't think anyone has ever said rookie OL never come in early and produce. A lot of times OL esp guards and centers come in and play very nicely right out the box. I think what most here have said is that rookie OL aren't always plug and play positions. That sometimes a lot of players in all positions take a year or two to develop. Each player is different and not everyone is ready right out of college to come in and play. Sometimes players have to work on their craft in game and overtime even if they have the physical tools.

Good to see EJ putting the work in. He could easily win games with this defense and the weapons around him (Assuming a upgrade to the O-line via the draft). Overall I say that he might not need to be a great QB to win with this team, he just needs to develop into the best version of himself.

Hopefully they don't have to give him 19 million a year like Suh. As good as Suh and Dareus are it's a lot of money to commit to a DT. As valuable as DT's are controlling the run game and collapsing the pocket in pass rushing they aren't worth paying nearly as much as a QB would command. But if they can get his number down to 14-15 million more in line with McCoy that would seem to be a fair value considering how much he anchors the D-line.

I don't think the teams current cap space allows for them to take on a big salary like Evan Mathis (Who is seeking a raise). But there is modest room to scoop up a couple of veteran players still out there to be had for modest salaries. I would try to get Brandon Spikes back and sign Dwan Landry. As good as the defense is, it could still use some more depth. Spikes and Landry provide Rex two very good depth pieces and role players to the defense. Landry competes with Duke Williams and provides a solid option in case of injury. Spikes provides a run stuffing power LB in an early down role and gives the MLB position depth. Good teams have depth and right now the team should make moves to add depth. You could find a guard in round 2 and you could address other needs in round 3. The team doesn't need to trade away more picks to find answers. However the team can find useful depth pieces on the market right now for a modest price.

If I had to change the rule it would be simple. A standard touchdown is worth 7 points without kicking any extra points or having to do anything else. A standard two point conversion is the new extra point. You can go for 2 by backing the ball up 10 yards. The rules would be designed to make games a little more competitive and still reward teams for scoring TD's as opposed to kicking field goals. TD's can be worth up to 9 points (7 point TD with a 12 yard 2 point conversion). That makes games closer as it takes 10 points to be a two possession lead, also 19 points for the game to be a three score game as opposed to 17. It makes extra points much less automatic and thus more exciting. Also the standard TD bumping up a point still rewards you much more for getting the TD and not the field goal since it's two field goals plus a point.

It's so hard to do in the NFL but I guess it's good the intention is there. Players careers end so abruptly or if they play very well into their 30's the cap comes up and could force them to spend a year or two elsewhere. On the other hand once players start to decline it's hard to not cut them and then they may get another shot down the line.

The compensatory picks process is the dumbest thing in the NFL and that's saying a lot. I get the formula, it's a simple how many players did you sign vs. how many did you lose. So losing a player to a 5 year 50 million dollar contract is the same as signing a free agent to a one year 3 million dollar deal. The process really doesn't allow for much context or nuance for signings. Simple how many in how many out. The way the system should be set up is dollars in vs. dollars out. So if your free agent losses were 75 million and you only signed 30 million worth of contracts you should be compensated in accordance to the 45 million dollar difference in free agent dollars (IE a 3rd round pick is worth 40 million, a 4th round pick is worth 30 million, a 5th rounder 20 million, a 6th rounder 10 million, and a 7th rounder 7 million). And of course you have caps and limits to amounts of picks. But this simplistic formula has to go.

I wouldn't call Kiko top level, he played well in 2013 but I wouldn't have called him a top 5 LB by any stretch. Kiko also is coming of a pretty serious injury the second of it's kind that he has suffered. Also Wood's has improved very much from his second year. Woods had about 700 yards on 65 receptions with 5 TD's with a combo of EJ Manuel and Kyle Orton behind a shaky O-line. Those are pretty good numbers factoring in the circumstances. So while he might be solid now when you factor in the context he could be with better QB and O-line play a 1000 yard receiver.

I think the market for him as a starter isn't there. He wants starter money (3+ million a year 4-5 years with a guaranteed in the 1st and 2nd year) and starter playing time. No team has really offered him that. The Bills probably have been talking to him about being a 1-2 down LB on a one year deal for over 2 million. I think he feels that's the best he is going to get with his skill set being less in demand in a passing league.

His measurable weren't good. The only he was in consideration to be drafted was because of how well he played in the SEC. The Rams drafted him late and he played OK enough to impress the Cowboys enough to be on their practice squad. He will probably be brought into training camp for a team but will more than likely get cut or best case he gets on a practice squad again. I find it very hard to see him being on a 53 man

I think the Bills are also the only team to give him a concrete contract offer. Seems like only Buffalo is interested in him with numbers to offer. Spikes will probably sign a one year deal for 2+ million and take his chances on the market again next year.