billsfan89

I think Kincaid will make a nice impact as will Sheffield and Harty. I think that Shakir also making some improvements year two will add some improvement to the WR core. I think the Bills last season were hoping to have Crowder/Mac split the slot WR spot last season. Crowder was supposed to be the veteran "zone breaker" and Mac the more speedy "man-to-man breaker". That split made sense but once Crowder went down it forced Mac into a full-time role which he wasn't great at. The team also lost Kumerow at the WR4/5 which forced Shakir into more snaps that as a rookie he wasn't ready for. Hopefully, with Kincaid, Harty, Sheffield and an improved Shakir all eating up time in the slot there is more depth and more production from the WR3/4 role on the field.

I think he spends the first six weeks on PUP which would give him the extra time needed to recover and get in gear

Between the addition of Flowers in round one and OBJ in free agency to complement Andrews, former first round pick Rashod Batemon and their other skill position players and they had we are really going to know a lot about Lamar’s ability to pass. I do think that Lamar has had a legitimate grievance about the lack of skill position players in recent seasons but they have now added a WR in round one 2 of the past three seasons along with a big veteran addition in OBJ there are no more excuses for the QB to not get it done.

Not shocking that Barkley is ahead of Kyle Allen. Barkley has been with the team 3 out of the last 5 seasons including last season. So he has a familiarity with the players on the roster and the playbook. I would give it a few more weeks to see how this shakes out for the regular season.

I do not think restructuring Dawkins which frees up about 4 million is going to bankrupt the team in any significant way. The restructuring would only "lock" the Bills into one more season with Dawkins in 2024 when he will be 30. D. Jones is 50/50 as he is older but a pretty key cog in the defense and the Bills only have one other DT on the roster in 2024. So if they feel like they want Jones on the roster for another 2 seasons they could simply do an extension to save some money now and lock him in longer term. I don't think the Bills should go all out to make space such as restructuring Tre and extending Hyde (both of which would hamper future flexibility.) But Dawkins seems sensible if they need some extra space and Jones is more of a judgement call on if they want him on the roster beyond this season. The Bills have been bottom 10 or even bottom 5 in dead cap since 2019 so I think they have done a good job not always borrowing from Peter to pay Paul so to speak.

Phillips seemed dominant in some stretches of games. His only issue is staying healthy. As a cheap role player the Bills are getting a good deal.

I doubt Elam a first-round pick will get consistently displaced by Dane Jackson long term, I think Elam is still going to need to adjust his playstyle to zone. I also think that there will be much more patience and snaps given to a first-round pick vs. Teller who was a 5th-round pick.

I think an in season trade will occur, likely on the offensive side of the ball. Good WR’s likely be available either Mike Evans, Jerry Jeudy or some other WR’s will be on the market but It is more rare that offensive linemen come available but it has happened

There are a lot of players in their late 20's and early 30's at key positions. Which is a concern short term and a massive concern long term. They are going to have to draft really well in the next 2 drafts to sustain the current success. You always need to draft well but once you are up against the cap your drafting needs to be even more impactful. I like what they did in the past draft, adding the best TE and Guard are going to help Josh out a lot long term hopefully. They need to likely spend 3 out of the first 4 picks on offense next year as well and then hit on some mid to late-round defensive players. Luckily the Bills have been fairly good at drafting and they make smart mid-level free agency additions. But for 2023 I don't expect the team's age to be a massive issue just yet.

I don't forget how far the team has come since the drought era. The team has a great core of talent, drafts well (the team has extended 2 or more players from each draft class from 2017-2019), has a franchise QB age 27 and has been massively successful the past 4 years. Four playoff appearances, four playoff wins and three straight division titles. AND There still is a window of opportunity to win a Super Bowl. The team is still a quality team that boasts what could be a top 3 defense in the league, a quality offensive supporting staff that improved the offensive line and added the best TE in the draft and a quality ST unit. I get playoff failures being frustrating but come on its still a much better ride than the drought years where making the playoffs seemed farther away than this current team winning a Super Bowl is.

I don't think they do either. I don't see a small extension because Tre is still under contract until 2025 when he will be 30 so the timeline of his deal works perfectly for the Bills. I don't see a restructuring because the Bills have the ability to get out of Tre's deals if they don't restructure. They can get 6 and 12-million dollar cap savings on a 16-million-dollar overall number as the deal currently stands. The Bills would effectively have dead cap numbers on Tre for 10 million in 2024 and 4 million in 2025. If they restructure his deal they get locked into him in 2024 and effectively for 2025. Whereas if they keep his deal as is they have major flexibility in future years and if he has an amazing bounce-back year they can do a restructure of his 2024 deal and save 5 million on that year's cap.

The Bills also have some ways they can open up more money if needed I think a D Jones extension and or a Dawkins restructure both open up 4-6 million each.

Concerning that a 6 foot 8 guy is already having some back issues. BUT it is August 4th and we don't really know much about it. Could simply be spasms from heat/dehydration. Until we get more information I can't get too worked up about it. I am curious as to how Brown has been doing in camp thus far? How has Snell and Queese done behind him?

If I were to design the rules for the NFL, I would set it up the following way A simple one-point conversion is from the two, similar to the current two-point conversion. A two-point conversion is moved back 5 yards and the snap is take from the 7 yard line. A three-point conversion is moved back an additional 10 yards and is taken from the 17-yard line. Even though a 3 point conversion would be insanely difficult it still would allow games to be within 1-2 scores a lot longer. Currently, a 17-point lead is a "three possession" lead. By adding the ability to get 18 points in two possessions you push back the "three possessions" lead to 19 points. I wouldn't even hate the idea of adding a 4-point conversion from the 30-yard line but that may be too "gimmicky".

I think if that were adopted into the NFL most teams would just go for 2, not really much of a difference in earning 2 vs 5 yards. I do genuinely like the idea of an "action point" and a 3 point conversion. I just think you probably would have to adjust the yardage.

I think the team carries 5 safeties given the age and injury history of the starting pair. I also think Hamlin sticks on the roster because he is signed to a cheap deal the last year of his rookie contract next season. Marlow is older and Rapp is only signed to a one year deal. So having at least some younger option at safety that is signed for 2024 only makes sense for the Bills longer-term roster building. I think given that Rapp is going to likely be used as a "big nickel" and moveable "piece" while Hyde and Poyer play likely means that they carry one less LB or CB and given that Marlowe is a good ST player they can justify it easier as well.

Kickoffs were the most dangerous play in the NFL, I think 30% of ACL injuries occurred on special teams plays despite ST snaps only being 18% of snaps and kick returns heavily part of that stat. I think doing the XFL rule is fine there is no reason to have such an overtly dangerous play when you can do it in a simpler safer manner that accomplishes the same thing.

Hamlin should make the 53, he played decently last year and there is not a lot of depth at safety

I think you can make the case at safety that the Bills are more injury prone and of course a year older. But I think for the most part the Bills despite the loss at MLB and the concern at safety are better in several other areas. Offensive line, pass catcher, corner (more experience and Tre further removed from injury) and DT the team has improved.

Looking forward to seeing how Torrence holds up in pads. Good reviews early on but O-line players really need the pads to really evaluate them. Also interested to see the RT battle, can Brown have a rebound season?

I wonder how Snell is doing at RT thus far in camp. I think Spencer Brown can and will improve but Snell has a lot of experience under his belt and various levels of productivity.

I never bought that McD "hates rookies" I think he plays players when he thinks they are ready. Torrence and Kincaid were the best players at their position in the draft and filled needs on the roster. So I am not shocked to see them getting mostly first-team snaps. I can't really think of too many rookies that were worthy of snaps that didn't get them under McD. Josh and Edumonds were thrown in pretty quickly as was Tre White. Ed Oliver was among the top 3 snap getters along the D-line in his rookie year.

The season was a wild ride. On the positive side 13-3 with a division title and a playoff win. But the season was hellish on the team from many perspectives ending with a blowout playoff loss that exposed a mentally exhausted team with some flaws. It was a wild season of ups and downs, but hopefully, this team can finally get over the hump in 2023 learning from the past roster construction and getting some luck.

I just honestly don't see it with Miami. Tua is constantly hurt and even when he plays he isn't much more than a poor mans Matt Ryan which while not a bad QB is not a QB that pushes a team towards contention. Their RB's are decent but nothing spectacular and their O-line is below average. Hill and Waddle are super dynamic but there isn't much on their roster once you get past those two so that puts a lot of pressure on those two. I don't think Miami is bad, their defense is good even without Ramsey and they have some talent on offense. But between Tua's injury concerns and a lackluster O-line and skill position depth, I don't see them being much more than a decent 8-10 win team. I a more concerned about the Jets in the division and even the Jets have massive O-line concerns.

I just don't see Doyle being viable there. He was never really anything more than a JAG before the injury and now he is coming off of a very serious injury. I think he gets put on IR to redshirt the year and try to come back in 2024 to make the roster. Shell and Queese are likely the guys to push Brown on the roster. But I do agree that Bates who should see snaps as the "6th" O-linemen out there but it would be nice to see him get some snaps at RT esp if Brown struggles.