Utah John

Several points. First I posted a few days ago that Beane was relying on Josh, a great O line, and good RBs to make the offense productive. This is exactly what he's been doing this offseason. He's putting his money on a repeat performance, maybe with an upgrade with Palmer replacing Hollins although I really liked Hollins. Everyone else on offense is a year better, also a year older but none of them are past their expiration dates. Second, the reason he had to make such a drastic haul of D players really comes down to past failures in drafting D linemen. In general Beane has done a very good job but the return on investment from our D line players is not good. A lot of the problem could come down to coaching and scheming, but except for Rousseau there isn't a lot of talent there. Oliver is a pretty average player, not what they thought they'd get drafting at 8. Epenesa is a JAG. The moon shot getting Von Miller came about because the drafted players couldn't get to the passer, and it might have worked if his old knees hadn't broken down, but it ended up a terrible waste of cap space. Now they're trying again with Bosa. So here come a herd of large men, and McBeane are hoping a couple of them can really play. So, third, if the Bills had found their great D linemen already, there'd be more draft slots available for another WR. But Beane isn't looking back, he's looking forward, with a clear evaluation of what's worked and what hasn't worked.

It's looking like this is Beane's approach -- Josh is so good he can win with rentals and retreads at WR. It's not ideal but with the salary cap and the Bills' ongoing struggles to draft/develop/coach/scheme D linemen, maybe this is the necessary way to go. But no more 3rd rounders for aging guys. Rentals should come cheaper.

Let's see how he does at UNC without Tom Brady. We always guessed whether the Pats success was due more to Belichick or Brady, but after Brady left the Pats the answer became clear. Coach Belichick suffered from having an incompetent GM, who made bad decisions and ran the roster into the ground. That GM of course was Bill Belichick. At UNC as at most colleges, the head coach is also the de facto GM, leading the scouting and selection process, but now he'll be scouting high school athletes and not college or pro players. His track record in this regard doesn't suggest success is forthcoming.

It sounds to me like this is Ed Oliver's eventual replacement, which OK I get that, but where's the monster 1-technique we need next to these guys? Where's the 340 pound mountain? The Bills love to have their D linemen moving around which tends toward lighter guys, but that's no help when the other guys are gashing the D for chunk plays by overpowering the DTs. It sounds to me like this is Ed Oliver's eventual replacement, which OK I get that, but where's the monster 1-technique we need next to these guys? Where's the 340 pound mountain? The Bills love to have their D linemen moving around which tends toward lighter guys, but that's no help when the other guys are gashing the D for chunk plays by overpowering the DTs.

The NHL playoffs are too long, and there are too many games for viewers to keep track of. But for the teams involved, of course the tournament is a grueling demonstration of toughness and stamina. I just can't watch that much hockey when the weather is so nice (here in Memphis).

What I remember about White last year was him getting a DPI call (for Baltimore) while covering a Bills receiver, Coleman I think. But that was a bad call, happy for the Bills but that wasn't DPI. And that's the only time White's name was mentioned. And that's a good thing. Usually when a CB gets mentioned it's while he's chasing a receiver who beat him. That didn't happen to White in that game. So who knows, maybe he's got enough game to help the team win. Plus there's the locker room factor. The other players loved having him around, keeping things fun. Plus it was so sad when he was injured in his last game as a Bill (v.1), knowing that at least at that point it was his last chance for a ring with the team that drafted him.

The three demoted officials are second-year umpire James Carter, third-year line judge Robin DeLorenzo, and first-year down judge Robert Richeson. I went through the box scores for all the Chiefs games in 2024. I found them on the ESPN site, and all the officials were listed except for the Week 9 game when the Chiefs beat the Buccaneers. With the exception of that game, I found that each of the three demoted officials worked one Chiefs game apiece. Robert Richeson worked the Week 2 game where the Chiefs beat the Bengals 26-25. Robin DeLorenzo worked the Week 12 game where the Chiefs beat the Panthers 30-27. James Carter worked the Week 13 game where the Chiefs beat the Raiders 19-17. The result of all this is that the demoted officials had only a limited opportunity to help the Chiefs. However all three of the games I mentioned were very close (total point differential:6). So who knows whether there's any correlation. nfl officials 2024.xlsx

Byrd got interceptions, but he wasn't even the best CB on the team then. That was Booker Edgerson, the shut-down corner of that era. But all-time? The best was Robert James.

They improved from being busts to being mediocre, and with 32 teams all needing a QB, that's enough to pull down that kind of money.

Possibly the Pats did this at Milton's request. He doesn't want to be a backup, and Maye is clearly a rising talent who would have kept Milton on the bench. But the Pats seem to have sold for a very low price. This looks like a steal for the Cowboys.

OK, fine, her parents are wealthy and can provide a private jet for her, that she really can't afford on her own. Just asking, wouldn't it be nice if Terry Pegula sold the jet and used the money to pay to the cap for the Sabres?

Now, Cook.

Gotta give some props to the chair, too. Maybe literally if you want to use the chair again.

I was at Rich for all the games in 1973, preseason and regular season. I was working as a pop vendor in the stands. Doubtful I'll get to any games this year since I live in Memphis now.

He's 31, and tore an ACL in the middle of last season. He will need to spend this entire season in rehab until maybe the last few games. Check out Von Miller's recovery to get a sense of how good Diggs will be this year. Next year, 32 years old, and probably not allowed to bring his walker out on the field. Diggs's big sin with the Bills was that he wanted the ball. All. The. Time. Allen was much more effective throwing to whichever of his (less talented than Diggs) receivers were open. But Diggs was very professional in how he prepared, and he took great care of his body. He'll have a good impact in the Pats' WR room and in the locker room, but on the field...?

By leaving money on the table, Allen could have a ripple effect around the league. Other GMs can look at their starting QBs and point out that Allen is the MVP and is willing to help the team win by forgoing some of the money he could have gotten, just to help his team win. (I think Brady did the same thing in NE, and he's doing just fine.) As other QBs look around, some of them might feel a little sheepish about demanding Watson-like dollars, and those teams' fan bases will look at that greedy QB as their team flames out, and ask whether a less-well-paid QB with a better roster around him might have been a better choice.

I think Allen is safer moving out of the pocket and passing, than he is either remaining in the pocket where someone could fall on his knees, or when he chooses to run. Even when he runs he usually can see what's coming and can protect himself, although there certainly are plays when he takes a shot or lands awkwardly. Brady's offense relied on quick passes to receivers who could get open quickly. And he always had a good O line. He was so smart he could diagnose where the defense was attacking and usually could identify which receiver would be open. And he became a great, accurate passer for long balls when he needed to and when the opportunity presented itself. The QB who's the true GOAT, IMHO, is Joe Montana, and he was certainly willing to get out of the pocket and move. At his time, he was one of the more effective QBs at scrambling, as it used to be called. When he got replaced in SF by a younger (and also quite good) Steve Young, Young was even more of a threat to run, possibly at that point the best running QB who was also very good at passing, in NFL history. So much comes down to the skills of the individual and how the coaches design the offense around that guy.

Benford didn't get targeted much because the Bills' other CB was always worse, with Douglas struggling at times and Elam a train wreck. Of course other teams looked the other way.

The Texans front office seems to make questionable moves. They gave up a huge haul to Miami to get Laremy Tunsil, who did play very well for years but wasn't the best LT in football. They gave up a second to the Bills for Stefon Diggs as a one-season rental when they really didn't need another great WR, and unfortunately Diggs got hurt so he didn't even play a full season. Now this enormous contract, way out of line with what other top CBs have been getting. The winners in all this are of course Stingley but also Stingley's agent, who twisted the Texans into paying this much. Stroud's rookie contract will run out before Stingley's new contract does, so there will be a period in there when the Texans are really up against the cap.

The Bills as it stands have 10 draft picks. It's unlikely there's going to be room for 10 rookies on the 53 plus practice squad. I'm thinking some of the lower picks get used to elevate one of the 2s or maybe even the 1.

It doesn't sound like Palmer is the burner the Bills need, to take the top off the defense. He actually sounds like a veteran version of Keon Coleman. Not sure this is what the Bills really needed. And $36M. Good Lord, this makes the Samuel signing last year look frugal.

Thuney is a lot better than Ford ever was, at least while he was with the Bills. Ford is a slow-footed road grader, and the Bills offense involves a lot of pulling linemen.

He had those great stats playing behind the Eagles' ferocious D line. It makes all the difference when the QB has the extra half second or so to find open receivers. The Bills' amazingly bad work on building a D line is what's kept them from the Super Bowl. Patching a hole in the defensive secondary with an expensive Band-Aid when we're still relying on losers like Epenesa and Oliver to get to the passer is not the solution.

Thanks. I missed that comment from the announcer, who by the way was Curt Gowdy. Gowdy was by far the leading play by play man in NFL games in the 60s and going into the 70s. Little known fact -- Gowdy was from Wyoming (as I found out when I went to grad school at the University of Wyoming -- before Josh was even born). There were so few celebrities from Wyoming back then that they named a state park after Gowdy.

Elbert Dubenion didn't get a mention. Was he injured? That was a great defense, particularly on the line, but really at all levels.