BADOLBILZ

Never underestimate the motivational impact of a walk year. AJ had 6.5 sacks on just 38% of snaps and flashed a high ceiling as a pass rusher. Which has been surprising because he didn't seem to have that potential in his bag as more of a base DE at Iowa. His weaknesses are correctable.

A big impact on who? Wright is not some obscure talent he was a 5 star recruit that NFL scouts have been following since he stepped on campus. Which included an ugly run at LT. They've seen his tape at length. I sincerely doubt there has been much, if ANY, change of opinion on him for the positive from NFL teams since after the season.

The perception that players are moving up is only occasionally the reality. I think it was Sports Illustrated that had Jason Peters mocked as a late 1st round pick in their magazine mock that year after he had a seemingly huge "draft process". He went undrafted. Obviously the more recent Tariq Woolen example in last draft. Those are the memorable examples because they played well when they got in the league. Tons of less interesting examples of guys who "fell" despite media helium that never amounted to anything.

TSW eternal ignorance absolutely adores it's non-premium positions in round 1.........but those low hanging fruit choices at RB and C are a big non-difference maker organizationally. Boogie Basham was a poor choice IMO but pass rushers and CB1 talents are premium positions that make a difference and cost real money. That's what the early rounds are for. You can get centers and RB's that produce on day 3 every year.

You really don't know? Kelce has averaged 100 catches and nearly 1300 yards over the past 5 seasons. One teams fortune in not having to pay top of the market for a superstar receiving target does not equate to the formula being not to pay a star.

I generally agree but occasionally a Demario Davis comes along. A guy who seems to lack instincts but then 5-6 years into the league it kicks in and he becomes an All Pro after being replacement level for much of the time prior. It's not the example to go by though. LB's and RB's usually process info and make decisions quickly or they never do.

I followed him pretty closely after the middle of this past season.........and I didn't see the system hiding weaknesses in Seomalu. He just looked great. The metrics that had him ranked as the top pass blocking guard in the NFL from the midway point thru the Super Bowl itself passed the eye test. He was killing it. I do think the big question is sustainability. He made a HUGE leap last year after a long run of mediocrity and injury and now he's in his 30's.

Fluker looking fit doesn't change the fact that he's 32 and been away from the game. He was always a powerful but painfully slow footed dude and if I remember his GF used to beat his ass on the regular cuz he gets walked on like stairs. Not sure why you would think he'd be better than the young and more athletic(and mean) Spencer Brown. Rodger Saffold looks like he could kick every other guard in the league's asss when he's in the weight room but the movement skills are gone.

My guess is age......he's 30.......plus the fact that he's had some injuries and was really only close to this level of player in his walk year.

There is a thread for this totally non-Bills, non-football, non-Buffalo, non-WNY, non-NY state who-actually-gives-a-*****-but-gamblers-topic located "off the wall".

Nobody is going to pay anything close to his $19.5M base salary this year. That's why he doesn't have much if any trade value as it stands.

Yeah the Cardinals reported unwillingness to pay some of his 2023 base salary to facilitate a deal would of course make this the most likely scenario. From Hopkins perspective I think he'd be better off financially if Arizona did take on some of his 2023 base salary and trade him to get some kind of draft capital.........because he'll be lucky to get $10M in guarantees from his new team, IMO. I just doubt that they will give up $10M-$15M to get themselves a couple day 3 draft picks. So for some reference on the trade value of simple dollars and cap space: Back in 2017 the Texans traded Brock Osweiler to the Browns along with the Texans 2nd and 6th round picks in exchange for the Browns taking Osweiler off their hands and absorbing $16M in guarantees remaining on his contract. The cap has gone up from $167M to $225M since then so that same trade today would have been worth $21.5M to the Texans.

Not that sudden movement skills helped Tremaine Edmunds much in man coverage. Despite the hype about him being able to play nickel corner at VA Tech he didn't pee a drop in man coverage in his career in Buffalo and in the rare instance when he had the foresight to identify where a ball was going in time to easily defend the pass he would focus on running thru the player rather than playing the ball. He had something of a bounce-back year in coverage last year but the prior two years teams threw at him even when he had great position because his ball skills are incredibly poor. His physical talent/potential will be hard to beat but his lack of awareness in the heat of a play will not be hard for his successor to surpass.

His comp is Jason Peters like a Myles Murphy comp is Bruce Smith. In both cases........regardless of underwear olympic numbers they may have put up.......vastly different levels of athleticism on the field.

There is a misconception that he was good last season........he had the same kind of modest impact that he had in 2017 and 2018 when he also played around 450-475 snaps and produced similarly. The front office and fans alike were extremely disappointed in that version of Shaq and he had his 5th year option declined. He is quite simply a league minimum player at this point. Jordan Phillips should have been a league minimum only signing as well.

I think that's another "not" unpopular opinion..........but it's true that even the organizational water carriers who have had to poo-poo the notion that the team wasn't physical enough to protect their access to the team(like Shill Capaccio, for instance)......... are now having to admit as much because the coach himself is saying it in actions and words.

There was no indication that was what you meant.......learn how to communicate better or you'll be looking like buzzed vacation @McBean creating conclusions from thin air . And no, there was no doubt that Dawkins would start somewhere on the Bills offensive line as a rookie. There was zero chance he'd redshirt even on a very veteran Bills OL that had lead the NFL in rushing and big plays the prior 2 seasons. There would definitely be uncertainty whether Harrison could earn a starting role. For sure. The question with Dawkins was whether he was a tackle at all or if his lack of height and flabby body would limit him to being a potential high end guard. Power he had in spades and he also had "adequate" LT length with longer arms and bigger hands despite his squat build. Power and length/hand size are not strengths for Harrison entering the league.......hence him being a project and unlikely to translate to interior positions early in his career. The two players aren't good comps.........whoever said that was lazy scouting........perhaps trying to talk themselves or others into the Bills fit. If Harrison succeeds at LT it won't be done looking like the powerful Dawkins, IMO........... it will be more about footwork, awareness and technique. He enters the NFL as a finesse talent.

They said what about Dawkins?

Ironically, you hated the Josh Allen pick and were near inconsolable on TSW at the time. And I like how you drew a total nothing blow-off, leave-me-be-I-am-on-vacation statement from someone affiliated with a team that plays Buffalo every 4 years as proof that a specific unmentioned aspect of the Bills was seen as their most glaring deficiency. Humor is content. Not in 2023. In fairness, I didn't think Dawkins was going to be a good LT either but Harrison seems like less of an athlete and more of a project.

I don't see a Dion Dawkins comp at all. Dawkins was more athletic, more coordinated AND more powerful coming out of Temple.........he could have been an upgrade to the very good Richie Incognito at guard as a rookie. He was quite a versatile player.

That's what could have happened. He's the modern Alvin Harper type for sure. Back in the early 90's very few teams had 2 solid CB's...........the Bills made it to 4 straight SB's with only 1 of them..........so if you had a stud RB and stud WR1 your WR2 could EAT. Which Alvin Harper did and he then got PAID to be WR1 in Tampa and to this day remains their worst UFA signing ever. Today, there are a lot more dudes in the secondary........and all those stud offensive players gotta' be receiving targets in order for the 3rd best offensive player to get the favorable matchups in the secondary. Davis moving to WR2 by his lonesome doubly exposed him because he often had to face CB1's as teams chose to double Diggs with CB2. If Davis had hit free agency after the 2021 season he would likely have surpassed the Christian Kirk contract numbers and been a Harper-esque bust. If he had hit UFA after getting fully exposed this past season he would have been lucky to get the deal Marques Valdes-Scantling got in KC.

They got bounced by the team with the worst OL in the playoffs...........who nearly beat KC in KC after beating them the 3 prior meetings........and likely would have beaten your other best OL in the league Philly in the SB as well. They need to get better on the OL and replacing Saffold was addition by subtraction but it's rather obvious that the Bills particular affliction is not matching up with the elite teams in the receiving weapons category.

Well, if operated correctly, the west coast offense is a good, versatile offensive system and Shanahan happens to be the best play caller in the NFL. The 49ers team that Kyle took to the SB had Matt Brieda and Raheem Mostert as the lead RB's though. In fact, the Shanahan clan is as responsible as anyone for the death of the "star" RB. Mike could get any bum off the street over 1,000 yards in his Denver days. As for needing a better QB..........not really.........Brock Purdy is an excellent and perhaps elite fit for their system. It was always the main selling point of that offense that you could get by with a much less physically gifted QB so long as they were a quick processor and accurate with good ball placement on short throws. All that said.........the 49ers haven't been as good as the Bills offensively since Josh Allen broke out in 2020. You may like the way it looks because the WCO is more familiar to all the old timers but San Francisco is good offensively but their success is driven by their defense. When they aren't stout defensively, even with all their stars on offense, they aren't really equipped to get in shootouts with elite QB's.........as evidenced by the curb stomping KC gave them in SF last season.

Nah they had held the Chiefs to like 270 yards with less than 3 minutes left in that divisional game loss. They lost a shootout because they tried to slow the game down in the 3rd quarter and took the ball out of the hands of Josh Allen on a couple third downs and punted. Couldn't afford to give away those 2 possessions in a game where KC already had 2 extra possessions due to coin flip luck. The Bengals loss was just a disgrace on both sides of the ball but make no mistake that the offense was even worse than the defense.

I think it's the whole "worst quarterbacked game in NFL history"......and accomplishing that feat in just 2 quarters of play........thing being associated with the Bills. I don't know what the big deal is........they did have one series without an interception in that half. Granted.........the Chargers dropped a sure pick 6 on third down on that drive..........but you are what your record says you are in the NFL and it was NOT his 6th interception of the half!