BADOLBILZ

We tend to view all knee issues as random but the vulnerabilities can be hereditary. Given how the injuries set back his bro you can't blame them for having him sit out. But a team can be cautious about it. If he clears medical concerns and tests thru the roof he could very well be a top 10 pick regardless. Not a great WR class.

Like Zach Wilson, Phil and Chris Simms didn't see the field well/quickly or have great pocket presence coming out of college. Chris never panned out. Phil developed into a very good QB but he was much less than the sum of his parts for a number of years and by the time he turned into an elite game manager people had forgotten that he entered the NFL as an elite prospect(#7 overall like Allen).

I like the way that receiving the pass is so easy for him. With the Bills band of ball battling receivers......having another like Diggs who has great ball skills is very appealing. The two big questions are the medical evaluation after missing this season and whether drafting a slot-only type in round 1 is good value. His brother Canaan is a 1st baseman the Yankees drafted in 4th round in 2017 and knee injuries slowed his progress in the Yankees system before he was dealt to Pittsburgh, so I wonder about the medicals. I know people will argue about whether he's slot only........but it's a distinct possibility, IMO.

I think we are only 5-10 years away from the NFL playing some games where teams wear their rivals colors for a game.........and young Bills fans happily wearing the Bills logo around town in teal and orange.........much to the disdain of the generation now that loves the terrible color rush uni's.

You've described what the Bills are.........but I don't blame it on Josh Allen just wanting to throw deep. If they were worst in YAC and Allen was at the top of air yards per attempt that would be more supportive of it being an Allen problem. He's not. Allen is 9th in air yards per attempt. Lot's of QB's with much higher YAC production and higher AYA. The Bills receiving targets are the dynamic Stef Diggs........and 3 athletes with hard hands........Davis, Knox and McKenzie. Think back to the opener against the Rams.........Allen was getting back quick and getting the ball out in rhythm........I think that's what Dorsey would like to be able to do. But you can't make a living throwing bullets over the middle to ham handed double-catchers, clap-catchers or tiny trampoline padded body catchers as receiving options.........the risk isn't worth the gain. IMO that's the primary reason why they throw the ball where they do. My question is have defense's caught on and are baiting Allen into taking the cheese what look like the easy windows they try to live in? There has been an absolute RASH of situations lately where a defender has oh-so-headily drifted from his position into what looks to Allen to be a wide open passing window. Seems to be happening every game now.

So let me get this straight.........you did this exact thing for a decade+ here on TSW during the drought and now you are being critical of your own technique?

It's a combination of factors........most already mentioned in the thread. But the receiving corps is definitely part of the issue..........Diggs is great before the catch but just good after he's received the ball............and Knox and Davis both struggle to catch the football......so as with all receivers with poor ball skills do they often have to stop or leave their feet in order to concentrate on the catch.......which leaves them dead for YAC. I've mentioned it before but when you build your receiving corps with middle round talents you generally don't get targets with the whole package.

What else did you think is insinuated when his primetime numbers are brought up? It's hard to draw a different conclusion than he is clearly more focused in those higher profile matchups. He needs to be like Brady and many other great QB's of the past and try to generate intensity/disdain for each opponent. I think we saw Allen do that when the Bills played Denver in 2020 and he was determined to show John Elway(who had put in a good deal of time evaluating Allen as a prospect) how dumb he was for picking Bradley Chubb instead of him. For all the talk about how amazing Allen's transformation to a great QB was.........the reality is that he went 7th overall in the draft.........it's not like every team passed on him multiple times in the draft like GOAT and former GOAT Tom Brady and Joe Montana.

I do too. And I think both decisions could be regretted immediately...........and the results could be very different next season........in a bad way. You don't want to be built around an expensive and oft-injured RB and a middling QB.

Every new regime has an initial advantage with none of their work with their new team being on tape............see McDermott's defense early in 2017. The Giants have had a similar fall back to earth after midseason. There is a lot of potential there for Daboll and Schoen to look as stupid in year 2 and they look smart now............they have a contract decision due on a star RB..........same with their serviceable starting QB..........if they screw those things up they could pull a Ben McAdoo in year 2.

Probably 6-7 different people who were "best friends" at a time growing up from age 5 thru college that drifted apart from for various reasons. Usually because they moved away or they just got into different things than I was interested in. I can't relate entirely to the one best friend every day for years thing.....that much familiarity seems destined for contempt.......but I have seen the story a lot in movies(and that's often the theme). I had different groups of friends within different grades and different social cliques of the schools I attended, different groups of friends in the different neighborhoods around the village I lived in, kids who lived by my grandparents, kids who only visited in summer etc.. I certainly miss all of those friends, we had great times. Sometimes I/we try to round some of them up for parties or games(usually with little success). Still tightest with all of the guys from my catholic school from grade 1-8 and their families.

Yeah I think that's the kind of per play impact you would expect/want........but given the Bills situation wrt cap and having Singletary as a UFA(and Hines with too big of a cap number).......I think they also LIKELY have a higher need for Cook to be well into the 200's on touches in 2023-2025. Which gives him a chance to not just be impactful in limited use(which might be fine by McBeane) but also on the field for a relatively high % of snaps and put up the kind of numbers you expect from an early round RB.

First of all........there will likely be 10 RB's that hit 1500 total yards this season so you are intentionally using a soft number. IMO the league looked at the contracts WR were earning........realized they were getting too expensive.........and stopped calling PI/holding/obstruction penalties and now RB's are getting more action. That's the league James Cook entered. But as for being realistic? About 50% of 1st rounders don't even get their 5th year option exercised.......abject failures mostly. I don't think you are actually talking about the difference between what is considered success and what is actually "realistic"..........the bar is quite low for "realistic". The math on RB's is pretty simple........only a few get picked in the first 2 rounds most years(3 this past year)..........and the new tipping point for durability and production for most is about 26 years of age. So basically every 4-5 years it's almost a complete turnover at the top end of the position. If you are picked early and you aren't one of the very best on your first contract then you didn't pan out.

Daytime high of 56 degrees in Cinci on Monday...........low of only 39........but 40% chance of rain.

If Payton takes that job there will have officially been a complete re-set on the high end of coaching salaries. That ain't a place he's going to go to without a lot of coaxing. Given the success of Brock Purdy and Baker Mayfield in recent weeks I'd suspect anyone tied to the Shanny tree is going to be a hot commodity. Jets might even lose their LaFleur brother.

No he's quite different. James Cook is A LOT faster than Jones but doesn't have the same center of gravity/balance. Production-wise though.......there isn't any reason Jones should be more productive than Cook. Aaron Jones was a nice 5th round pick. That's ideally where you find your RB's.

Yeah it would be a shock if he ever got the near requisite 300 carries in a season to reach the lofty heights of 1500 yards rushing like his fellow second round pick bro did in 2020. More like 200-240 carries and 60-80 receptions.......280 touches......for his style of back. I doubt he will get there but when you use a second rounder it's a full notch higher than a 3rd.......and a 3rd you still expect an RB1 with that pick.

There are plenty of free agents that won't come to Buffalo whether the Bills are a likely playoff team or not. You can not buy it all day but it's fact. Josh Allen badly wanted Christian Kirk to be his slot receiver this season........went on vacation with him to woo him.........and Kirk was full pfffft to the idea of playing in the cold in Buffalo. And he's turned out to be a much better slot WR than even peak Beasley. Then there are the WAG's..........Kyle Jusczyk had a better deal lined up with Buffalo but his GF burst into tears at the notion and he signed with SF instead. Bills even got seconds on a fullback. Not wanting to play in Buffalo is still going to be a thing for some of the best talent........even if Josh leads the Bills to a SB........and especially for WR's so the Bills are going to have to keep addressing that in the draft or taking the seconds on the market and trying to elevate them.

I'd say James Cook needs to become a 1500 yard per season producer between years 2-4 of his deal for the selection to be a modest success on it's own merit. That's not to say they won't be able to find a RB1 late in the draft or UDFA or off a scrap heap somewhere and then have Cook instead be a useful change of pace back and come out unscathed by the selection anyway..........but you don't take a RB in round 2 to not be a big time producer.

Credit where credit is due. Excellent work by the Jets.......they could have tried to re-sign Adams but instead moved him for great value. A big part of Miami's re-stock has also been the trade where they fleeced Houston for Tunsil. And look at the Seahawks..........stupidly traded for Adams.......and then found their QB in their own recycle bin and fleeced Denver out of a haul of picks. I'd like to see Beane find some stars in the mid-late rounds like Seattle just did with Tariq Woolen...........but first Beane has to stop trying so hard by drafting for need after round 1.........that leads you to lower ceiling players.........which Beane has accumulated a few too many of. Not sure where James Cook falls in that equation yet..........for a 2nd round RB pick.......ideally you get at least a 1500 yard per year RB1 producer.

Brother of a current star NFL RB 5 star recruit Played in the spotlight in SEC and on a national championship team 2nd round pick at a time when RB's rarely get picked before the 2nd round

The other 3 AFC East have lost a combined 10 straight.

Josh Allen wasn't great at Wyoming in the slightest either. Players are picked on potential. I didn't think Wilson was an elite prospect but you gotta' take chances at QB. The Jets otherwise talented roster is proof that you can literally waste two top 3 overall picks on QB's in a 4 year span and still stockpile talent. The most overrated personnel chip in football is a #1 pick NOT used on a QB.

He's slippery and made some nice plays. The Bills really need to find a useful DL that they didn't have to buy in UFA or use a 1st or 2nd round pick on.

That is totally false. The Bears had one good run to the right.............on the first drive of the game..........and it was the first play that Kingsley Jonathan was inserted for Rousseau. Jonathan got totally engulfed and Montgomery went like 30 yards to the goal line.