skibum

Bass kicks everything on an angle. It makes no sense, because the effective distance between the goalposts shrinks as the approach angle of the ball increases. But that seems to be the way he likes to kick them. All that said, Bass is overall a fine kicker who is unfortunately prone to cold spells. I would love for the Bills to someday land one of those sure-thing kickers. I don't think Butker gets nearly enough credit for the Chiefs' success. People talk a lot about what would happen in the Bills and Chiefs traded QBs - I would like to see them swap kickers!

It wouldn't be a Bills season without a Jordan Phillips signing. What the heck, he's a known quantity and the DL depth chart is looking unseasoned and mediocre until Hoecht and Ogunjobi come back. He will probably be inactive until something bad happens, anyway. Also a great teammate and de facto Bill for Life, by somewhat unconventional means. Also, does anyone know if there is a record for the number of times a player has retuned to the same team after being off that team for whatever reason?

Fitz goes without saying.

If he got an MRI and they haven't figured out a prognosis yet, my GUESS is a partial ACL tear (grade 1 or 2 sprain). It can be very difficult to judge the severity of them from an MRI, and sometimes you have to wait for the swelling to go down to do more mechanical-type testing. MCL and LCL injuries are typically more definitive right away. I guess it could also be a PCL, but those are rare. Whatever, I just hope it's not bad.

Wande Owens, anyone?

I don't think it's a big deal for him to say that. It's been an obvious roster battle from day 1, and it still is. It also doesn't mean he thinks the options all suck; maybe it's just that nobody has separated. Worst case scenario is nothing changes from last year. Maybe a little worse scenario is the rookie starts and gets blown up early and often.

I guess you could think of him as Mack Hollins before there was Mack Hollins. In that light, I don't think it's a terrible idea if they don't like what they're seeing from the guys they have today. Now can they get him for Mack Hollins money? At this point, probably.

Great topic, I often wonder about this myself. I graduated high school in WNY in the mid - 90's. I remember there being more non-Bills fans than Bills fans in my school (small sample size). The Bills were a joke when I was in grade school. Kids made fun of Bills fans, and a lot of kids either jumped on bandwagons, or got behind a team in a city where they had family or liked a particular player. Even my dad stopped watching games for a while. I definitely remember the '87 season being the first time in my life that folks were optimistic about the Bills' future. Niners, Raiders, and Skins were probably the most popular alternatives, then the Cowboys when they became good again (remember they had a major rough patch in the late 80s). I don't recall many Miami fans - their gear was just too ugly. I think it says something about someone when they root against their local team just to be different, especially when they get on some dynasty team's bandwagon. It's a 'type', for sure!

Well, if Josh wants him back, he's probably coming back.

Myles Garrett seems to be the most logical choice. I don't really think Mahomes would give the Bills any better a chance than Josh does, except perhaps in the eyes of the officials. The primary advantage the Chiefs have over the Bills is Andy Reid.

Hard choice, because no SBs at all is worse in terms of underachievement, but 4 SB losses is so much more epic.

I didn't see the game yesterday, but unfortunately he was featured often in the Giants' offensive highlights. A couple of times he opted not to drop into coverage and left a guy wide open on the outside for a big play. He also gave up a catch for a 2 pt conversion, though he was close on that one.

Every year I wish the Bills would just select the best K in the draft, even if it's a 3rd or 4th round pick. It seems like a low-risk position to evaluate, as kicking field goals in college is exactly the same as kicking field goals in the NFL. It's such a key role, and one the Bills (and many other teams) seem to undervalue. Think about how important guys like Butker and Tucker have been to their teams' success.

Yeah, but as a 5th round pick he is overqualified.

Did Wande Owens show anything in training camp? I can't say I've seen his name mentioned anywhere since camp started. He would have gotten my pre-camp vote, and I guess I'll let it ride because I don't know much about how any other UDFA/invitees performed.

Somewhat true, if you consider that most of the Bills' division "rivalries" have been either lopsided or meaningless throughout much of their history. Even during the Kelly-Marino days, Buffalo usually got the best of Miami (and way back in the day, it was all Miami for a while). The Bills dominated the Pats for many years until Brady turned it sharply the other way, and now it's back to the Bills with the big advantage. The Jets have never been much competition, except when both the Bills and Jets were mediocre. So yeah, not a lot of sustained excitement within the AFC East.

Glad it's not longer, looking forward to someone stepping up.

Looking at the Bills' draft history, there have not been a lot of knuckleheads taken in general, and the few that were didn't tend to grow out of it. It's hard to find a good example. I guess Aaron Maybin would be one - he was super cocky with the whole "Mayhem" thing, but didn't have the chops to sustain an NFL career. Since then he has done a lot of very unique and meaningful work in the Baltimore community and in the art world.

Now that you mention it, it would be nice if this happened more often. Each team could have one home and one away with the throwbacks. It's kind of a let-down when only one team is wearing them! OK, so it looks a little different when painted on the modern helmet design, but I'll take it. Is Cole Bishop going to wear the Kelso helmet cushion?

They should do more throwback unis from the '70s, and then match the stadium and TV segue music to them on game day. The league could have a whole weekend of games devoted to it. That, and I want just one Bills game with the blue mask getup of the early '80s.

I hope he has a full recovery. Isn't this the guy Tom Brady had anointed as the next big thing a time or two? As much as I hate TB, the guy knows quarterbacking. I wouldn't count his early career against him; a lot of great QBs suck out loud for a couple of years. Maybe he can one day live up to the hype.

Thurman was the most complete RB of the group. Yeah, he could carry the rock with the best, but he could also run great routes and had hands like a proper wide receiver. He was a deadly weapon all over the field. Barry had the best juke moves of all time, but I think he gets more GOAT talk than he should. Emmitt was an amazing RB, and for a long time. His highlight reel is exciting to watch. He also won titles. He also ran behind an all-time O-line. One reason I think Thurman gets overlooked is that Marshall Faulk, LT, and Edgerrin James arrived on the scene soon after him, and they quickly brought the dual threat RB game to a new level. There just wasn't a lot of time for football fans to appreciate Thurman before he was surpassed by a new generation.

Only in hindsight. It was a great signing until Von got hurt. Yes, the suspension was on Von, but on balance there are still far worse contracts in the annals of Bills history.

It's always a sad moment when the big FA signing finally leaves without making a SB happen. Thankfully, it will not have a major impact on the Bills' success this season. I don't blame Von, it just wasn't meant to be.

Shenault is going to bust out as the return specialist, because for some reason I think every non-star on the team should have at least some reason to be considered in this thread.