billsfan89

I like the Bills trying to get deeper at safety. Poyer and Hyde are older players both coming off injuries. Hyde had a really serious injury to end his year early and while Poyer didn't miss too many games he still was banged up a lot. Rapp can be the elusive "big nickel" and add some depth to an area where it will likely be needed. The Bills have a veteran coverage safety in Marlowe, a heavy hitter in Rapp and a younger player who flashed potential in Hamlin all behind Poyer and Hyde. Likely Marlowe may be cut but if the Bills can find a way to keep all 5 it would prove to be a good move in my opinion.

McGovern’s contract seems reasonable to me. He started 29 games over 3 seasons and played a full season last year. He is 25 and only signed for three seasons and can have his cap number adjusted down the last two years of his deal. He is getting paid not terrible money for a very good pass blocking guard who while not a great run blocker is not as tragic as his grades on PFF make him out to be. Seems like not a bad use of a fairly modest amount of cap space.

He has to go somewhere right? I think it’s unlikely that the Bills land him but I would say that ruling him out because of timing is just flawed. He visited two teams and has yet to sign. So I just wouldn’t count the Bills out completely

I don’t think it would “waste” Kincaid but rather just be another set and look the offense could run. I think having Dhop would just add so much versatility to the offense.

Even if D-Hop gets hurt after 8-10 games just having a good WR2 for the first half plus of the season makes a positive impact. It allows Davis, Shakir, Hardy and Sheffield to grow into their roles more and takes the pressure off Kincaid early on. I don't want to put those lofty expectations on the offense simply by add D-Hop but getting a good veteran player at WR even if they get hurt still has positive value for the offense in several other ways. The Bills should be able to offer something competitive in terms of a one-year deal. The team can massage the salary cap via a Dawkins restructure and a Jones extension. The other issues you mention are valid. But even if D-Hop just gives you 8-10 games of good WR2 production before getting hurt that could be enough to justify the acquisition. It would take pressure off Kincaid early on in the season and allow the WR's like Davis, Shakir, Hardy and Sheffield to grow into their roles on the offense. It's a risk but if the Bills can get Hopkins to take a one year deal that makes sense for the Bills risk wise then it is a risk worth taking.

I also wouldn’t hate having Hop and Gabe on the outside and Diggs in the slot with Knox at TE as a set either. I hope the Bills can get Dhop at a solid price as it certainly would open up some options on the offense

From 98 to 02 he was an INT machine. Obviously a lot of people were aware of his 28 INT's as a rookie which I think was the record for rookie year INT's. But the next 4 seasons he had 15 or more INT's including 23 in 2001 and 19 in 2002. Manning of course then settled into being much better with the ball only throwing 10 or less INT's from 2003-2006 his best years.

I don’t understand why any NFL player would bet on any NFL game. Bet on college games or literally any other sport if you must get your gambling fix. Just avoid anything NFL related. The NFL being a non profit does not mean they don’t pay taxes. The NFL league office does not make a profit they are basically an administrative body for the 32 franchises. They don’t make a profit, the 32 NFL franchises take in the profits and pay taxes on them. The 32 franchises basically pay the entity known as the NFL league office to do the work of managing the league and then the money that is made gets distributed to the players and owners. They don’t make a profit for themselves as an entity, thus unlike a charity the reason they are a nonprofit is basically because they don’t turn a profit and aren’t allowed to.

Smith will likely keep his job, he is one of the few "personalities" they have left that has any mainstream recognition. Largely because he is the only one they have promoted for a long time but he has his fans I guess.

ESPN could have developed their own shows from the ground up cheaper, I think circa 2018 they could have outright hired McAfee for a fraction of the cost he went for later on and been more ahead of the pack instead of playing catchup and having to buy into the market at a premium cost. It's sad that these people are out of jobs because the company they work for couldn't adapt and had to dramatically shift resources over to streaming. But yeah the time would have come eventually just sad to see that this likely is going to impact other office and production workers and not just the well off pundits.

The offense in the playoffs wasn't an issue in 2021 when the team was blazing. So taking a look at 2020 and 2022 is probably the fairest comparison if you want to analyze playoff offenses sputtering. 2020 the offense was solid in the wild card game against the Colts, a bit inconsistent but the Colts had a good defense. The divisional round game was an odd game due to the weather but the offense largely did not do much in bad weather other than not make critical mistakes. Odd game against one of the top 3 defenses in the league. The AFCCG against KC was where the offense really "failed". But that game was also really really weird circumstance-wise. The WR corps was entering the game banged up. Every WR on the roster except Mac and Diggs was suffering from a nagging injury. Beasley was playing on a broken leg suffered towards the end of the season, Brown reaggravated an ankle injury and from what I remember Gabe got hurt against the Ravens. Then early on in the game against KC Diggs got banged up. KC was able to fully blanket an injured WR corps and that was a wrap on the game. 2022 the offense beat up on the Fins even if they played sloppy and allowed them to hang in the game with turnovers. But then the offense completely flattened out against the Bengals. The O-line which was a mess all season completely derailed the offense and the lack of a consistent WR2/3 was also very very apparent (although I think the O-line was a worse issue). The Bills also were mentally gassed from a hellish season so a "flat" game was not completely unexpected but still frustrating. So really since 2020 in three seasons, you are looking at two playoff offense failures. One attributed to a WR corps that was almost entirely injured and another attributed to the bizarre circumstances of 2022's season. I would like to see if the success of the 2021 playoff offense can be replicated given the improved offensive line and throwing targets for Josh. It is no coincidence that the best stretch of O-line play the Bills have had in the 2020-2022 stretch coincided with the Bills offense performing at an all world level. In 2021 the Bills kicked D.Williams inside to right guard and he was really good while a rookie Spencer Brown was solid at RT, they then kicked Bates into guard full time and he was solid at the other guard spot while Mitch and Dawkins were their usual solid selves. That Oline was really good. Hopefully Torrence is an impact rookie, McGovern a solid guard, Mitch and Dawkins have a good season again and Brown returns to form. That could be a big difference come playoff time.

Athens is an underrated party city

These pundits are paying for ESPN’s bad business decisions. Yes some of these pundits were on bloated contracts and every few years some people get let go or not resigned to deals. But ESPN has to do massive cuts because they failed to develop anyone or any programming meaningfully.

I don't think it will be an issue. Seems like Diggs wanted to be heard in June and voice his opinion to the coaches as opposed to things blowing up in camp or worse yet in season. I don't like all this diva stuff but I would rather someone take care of this well before camp starts. The Bills have given Diggs nearly everything he wants a new contract and now his voice heard along with more investment in the offense. Hopefully McGovern, Kincaid, Torrence and the other additions are enough with or without adding D-hop.

Probably is insinuating that there was more love for Fitz due to the fact his is white. Which I honestly think could be true on some subconscious level. Not because fans are raging racists but rather the way Fitz was portrayed by the media was different than Tyrod possibly due to race. Fitz was a white QB who played for the Ivy League and was an underdog story. Tyrod had the same underdog story but was not portrayed as the same loveable hard-nosed player. But I think in addition to a different media portrayal due to who Fitz was (white QB from the Ivy League that played with his wedding ring on), Fitz also showed a love for the community that Tyrod didn't. Tyrod by almost any measure was a better QB for the Bills yet fans seem to remember Fitz more fondly. I hope that fans do show Tyrod some love down the line and I hope Tyrod shows some love back. But I think the disparity in fans perception is multi-faceted and race could be a part of that. Comparing Fitz 2010 to 2012 season to Tyrod's 2015-2017 seasons basically the three seasons both were the starting QB. Fitz threw and rushed for about 242 yards per game. Tyrod threw and rushed for about 243 yards per game a wash in terms of yards per game produced Fitz compiled 72 total TD's rushing and throwing in 45 games. Tyrod compiled 65 total TD's in 44 games. A slight edge to Fitz. Fitz however was a massive turnover machine 54 INT's in three seasons compared to just 16 for Tyrod in three seasons The Bills were pretty awful with Fitz in terms of wins and losses. Fitz had a 16-29 in those seasons and a 20-33 record overall in the four seasons Fitz was a starter. The Bills had a 22-20 record with Tyrod the first Bills QB with a winning record since Flutie. Now I am not going to put the losing record completely on Fitz, the team was not very good in those years and although the team may have won a few more games had Fitz not had so many turnovers the team was flawed beyond the QB position. But Tyrod allowed the Bills to win games by not making mistakes and making some plays with his legs. He broke the drought and helped to establish McD's culture by helping the Bills overachieve in 2017.

I have a lot of love for Tyrod, more love for Tyrod than Fitz (love Fitz's personality but the team won nothing with him, Tyrod's worst starting season from 2015-2017 is still a win better than Fitz's best season). Tyrod was not the answer at QB long term, but he brought the Bills back to a sense of respectability with competent QB play. Tyrod was never a top 16 QB but he made plays with his legs and didn't turn the ball over both of which led to the team winning games behind a strong running game and in 2017 an overachieving solid defense. Tyrod helped the Bills turnaround as an organization. The Bills in the Rex era were not good but they won more in those two seasons than they had in any two year stretch in a long time sadly, then Tyrod helps usher in McD's era. Tyrod helping McD make the playoffs and establishing his culture before getting trading for a fairly high draft pick. The hate some have for Tyrod is just crazy.

Regress in terms of the talent level around the QB not being reached because the QB can't get it done consistently. Obviously not compared to what they did last year. I think the Pats offense will be based on running the ball and not turning the ball over. Maybe they can make the playoffs on the strength of their defense and an offense not turning the ball over, but is a 9-8 seventh seed really all that impressive?

Given the volatility of injuries in the NFL I would rather not have 1-star player and very little depth behind them generally speaking.

I would say the TE projection is optimistic but not "wildly" optimistic. I think Knox is just outside the top 10 at TE (look at most lists and he is usually ranked at around 11-13 and rarely cracks the top 10) and Kincaid was the best tight end in the draft. Adding them together and it could easily be a top TE duo. There aren't many teams that pack a combo at TE so having a solid player in Knox and a great draft prospect in Kincaid and it is clear that the potential is there for that duo to be among the leagues best.

I just don't see the talent level with the Pats on offense. At best with D-Hop they maybe have an above-average level of talent on offense. Factoring out Mac Jones (who I am not personally high on) the Pats O-line last season was a fairly average unit, not bad but not the elite unit it has been in the past and not much was added to it. The Pats at RB have Stevenson who is a good RB but not much depth. Then at WR/TE even if they added D-Hop I just don't see that unit really overwhelming anyone consistently unless D-Hop returns to his 2020 form which is unlikely given that he is 2 years older and coming off some injuries. At TE the Pats have Henry and Gesicki a solid combo but neither are dynamic TE's and at WR Bourn/Ju Ju/Parker/D-Hop is nice but there really isn't a consistent WR1 there and without that dynamic playmaker it becomes harder for a bunch of WR 2/3's to really have room to operate. Then there is Mac Jones who I just don't see being anything more than a game manager. And that's not to say you can't win with a game manager but rather that having a game manager at QB depresses the abilities of the talent around you. So even if the Pats are better at WR/TE/RB/O-line than I think having Mac Jones there means that the talent level won't be achieved and the offense will likely regress to being average.

Top to bottom the Bills roster is among the top 4-5 in the league and arguably top 3. The Bills boast a defensive unit with only one glaring hole (MLB) and 10 other starters of high quality, a D-line that is very deep, a great LB in Milano, a CB group that is deep and talented and a good safety combo that while older has better depth behind it. The ST unit top to bottom is very good, Bass is one of the best kickers in the league, Martin a top 10 punter, Hines/Harty a great returner duo and a solid cast of specialists. The offensive talent is also very good. Josh is one of the best QB's in the league, Knox/Kincaid are a top 5 TE duo, the RB core while not having a superstar RB is a solid group of 4, the O-line is massively improved with the additions of Cyrus and McGovern at guard and at WR Diggs is a stud and Davis and the rest of the WR group aren't bad. Yes on defense I would like to see the team have a better MLB and yes on offense I would like a better WR2 and a true backup swing LT/RT but to look up and down a roster and see only 2 major holes and one glaring depth hole is pretty solid. Esp given the fact that the Bills outside of about three areas actually have quality depth on top of a good front-line talent in most areas. Hopefully the Bills can add D-Hop and a true backup for Dawkins before camp starts and maybe in season if MLB is a glaring need make a trade to sure that up.

No idea why they would invest a moderately sizable contract into a 30 year old WR who has had back to back down seasons. Parker only had one good season (2019) and a couple of other decent seasons (2020 and 2016) so it isn't like there was a big peak for him to return to. Also apparently this doesn't impact the Pats cap-wise much at all, so I don't know if this at all related to Dhop or not. Either way Pats throwing money at a WR who is unlikely to meet the expectations is a good thing. https://sports.yahoo.com/devante-parker-deal-means-patriots-233503508.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

The only combos I can think of are KC, Cincy and Philly. That’s only 3. Maybe you can argue one other one like Lamar/Harbaugh but who the ***** else are you really saying is better let alone 3 other ones on top of what was mentioned

Not to mention the offensive line depth is a lot better, last season the only decent backup was Queese, this year they added Torrence which moved Bates back to a super backup and they added Edwards a solid guard who started on a Super Bowl winner in addition to having Queese back and kicking the tires on Snell. The Oline is much better equipped to absorb an injury or two which happens as usually one or two linemen will miss some time

The Bills grabbing the best guard and tight end in the draft along with signing McGovern one of the better guards in free agency was a good start to helping Josh succeed by having him be “Superman” less. The smaller additions like retaining Hines, signing Edwards as oline depth, adding Sheffield and Hardy to the WR corps and signing a pair of power backs in Harris and Murray all add up as well. The best thing for Josh and his development will be to make sure he is not having to be the playmaker all the time. Better protection, a better conventional run game and better overall playmakers will go a long way for Josh.