BADOLBILZ

Look at it this way..........when the play becomes uncompetitive.....an easy grab....Knox level of performance drops. He has made tremendous, tightly contested grabs. He excels after the catch when challenged. I assume you saw the catch in Saturday's practice.........the defenders had no chance.......but he had to leap and fully extend for the TD.........he was challenged........there was no time to think about mechanics or how bad it will look if he doesn't catch that ball. I don't see anything to indicate that his problems are broad/chronic/random...........it's a pretty specific, isolated issue and the common denominator is being unchallenged. When he is running wide open toward an uncontested throw........I believe he has shown that he needs to get himself in the same frame of mind as a contested catch situation. IMO, the way to be there is to be thinking......"this is me competing against these guys fighting for my snaps". A guy like Tom Brady can find a slight in anything and use it.........but for Knox it might be harder to suspend disbelief and think that he's in danger of losing a roster spot when you are as superior athletically as Knox is against his feeble competition at TE in Buffalo. Short, slow, physically compromised.........these TE's are not in Knox class physically He's talented.......if he gets to the next level, that could become...."this is me competing against Travis Kelce or Gronk" but for now he needs to fix his mindset when unchallenged.........because with Josh Allen at QB and these WR's he is going to be left open A LOT.

Yeah, IMO it does. It indicates that the drops aren't a physical problem..........the more time he has to think about it, the less efficient he is catching an easier ball. He's thinking too much.........competition takes a player out of his own head and serves to create productive stress in competitive people. This isn't something you need to have been a pro athlete to understand........it applies to occupations of all kinds.........and most anyone who has played a lot of organized sports has experienced the value of one's frame of mind on performance. If you are so dubious about this concept, I gotta' ask..........why do you think coaches love competition in camp? Not a believer in the steel sharpens steel way of thinking?

This should be the year for Hamilton. Been 21 years since TiCats won it all.

I was at the practice Saturday and I said it here when I got back...........it looked like he was pushing more for WR4 than in any competition with Hodgins/Stevenson. Just a different tier. He's intense and competing every snap out there. Hopefully Davis rises to the challenge. As @dave mcbride pointed out a few weeks ago........sometimes Davis seemed in his own head last season and dropped some easy ones.

When players aren't in competition they often get into their own heads and struggle with things like this. The Bills haven't provided Knox with a lot of competition since he's been there..........he's always been the only TE with all the physical traits you want. Davis also has some struggles with dropping easy ones to some extent. Hopefully the heat from Kumerow will get him focused on competing against someone rather than battling his hands. The pool of players was shallow overall.........but not for WR.........very deep draft at WR. There have been plenty of years when a guy like Stevenson goes 3rd or 4th round. Ask Buddy Nix about TJ Graham. Not nearly the prospect Stevenson was........but sometimes there have been WR droughts that last for several draft classes. 2015-2017 was like that most recently.

As Russ Brandon once said......."the brand is tarnished". One season as a SB contender isn't going to change that. Winning a SB would help a lot. Josh Allen having a long and illustrious career in Buffalo could help immensely.

The Bills put in a good deal of work on Anderson in the draft process. Sometimes the late picks are about interviews and access/exposure to the player. I always like to see them go with the high upside guys late........Smith over Doyle or Anderson would have been a popular choice with me...........but sometimes drafting like that is also how you end up with Cardale Jones and Kolby Listenbee.

The best Ford has looked as a pro was in the preseason of 2019 lined up at guard on the right side next to Nsekhe. Somehow a bogus narrative came about that he was somehow better suited on the left side.........he stunk when he played there. His best shot is on the right side, IMO. Boettger definitely outplayed Ford on the left side last year.

Excellent synopsis. Obviously injuries will also help sort it out and to me it sounds like Hollister might be the first IR candidate. Your picks certainly reflect a McBeane that are afraid to move on from veterans.........which makes sense because they are in SB contention........but while I think the Bills should be all-in on this year..........IMO it would be good for both 2021 AND 2022 if they cut some of the deader weight like Addison, Klein and Star and Taiwan now. Klein and Jones played well last year but another year older at athletic positions like that matters. As @Rochesterfan pointed out, they might be able to PS one or two of those guys.......there is a lot of guaranteed money in their pockets.......and not a lot of fits for them on decent teams elsewhere (see how long it took Justin Houston to get his little contract). On paper, Star is an obvious fit for a cut and stash. He's already going to get his money. Give him half a season to practice back into shape and insert him into the lineup fresh late in the season. If they can't get one of the vets to take one for the team and chance to win......there will be comparable veteran LB's, ST's and 1 techs available cheap off the street all season. Also a 7th WR isn't on my radar right now..........they should be able to field capable options on the PS with such great depth around the league. The Bills have a highly productive WR corps but the "potential" of their WR corps.......QB'ing being equal........fell well down the list with all the explosive talents entering the league the past two seasons. I don't think teams are drooling at the thought of getting their hands on Hodgins or Stevenson. But as you said, if they play great in preseason they could force the team to keep one of them.

It was on one of the telecasts, I thought it was late season but it might have been at a point in the season when the Dolphins and Cardinals were in the playoff seeding. Entering December they had played 7 games against teams over .500, which was the most in the NFL at that time. They did have a strong schedule. Now in 2019........they had an easy schedule and faced a parade of laughable QB's.

Yeah everybody has heard about the Bosa brothers grandpa being a mob boss........they get a lot of attention because they are star players.........but that's the Kumerow side. John Bosa was from New Hampshire. Eric Kumerow came out of HS in Chicago and he and his sister both attended Ohio State. That's how the Bosa boys ended up at Ohio State despite living in SFLA. If Jake Kumerow turns into a key contributor we can thank them for him..........but we can always thank the two former 1st rounders for all of those beatings that the Bills gave Tom Olivadotti defenses.

Anyone who saw #83 leave Darrell Green behind in that game in Buffalo knows that there is no caveat to Andre Reed being the greatest WR in Bills history.

That part of the story is interesting but the fact that John Bosa married Eric Kumerow's sister.........both players having been ineffective 16th overall first round selections in successive drafts(87', 88') for the Dolphins.......is quite a story in itself. Those guys not panning out for Shula had a very positive impact on the Bills SB years.

In a world where the more highly regarded college "prospect" is always the better player........yep, Stevenson should be the guy. Unfortunately, Stevenson wastes motion that most of the veterans in camp do not at this point.........which negates some of his speed/quickness. If you take a good long look around the league there is no shortage of guys on roster bubbles with similar raw tools to Stevenson. The NFL has been absolutely bombarded with WR talent in the past few drafts. The right play at this point is to take the guy who is best for them THIS season.

But dropping your 27 year season tickets because you had no faith in the Pegula's and the frickin' McDermott guy..........you really put your money where your mouth was there. In your time here on TSW you are lucky if you are hitting a buck and change.

You and @mannc are both wrong.........the Bills had a projected tough schedule going into the season and they ended up playing the most regular season games against playoff teams of any team in the NFL.

Were you at the practice?

He's definitely in the top 6 right now. He looked more like he was pushing Davis for snaps than fending off Hodgins/Stevenson. The 11-on-11's were really not a lot of plays to judge upon but just watching all the drills as well he really stood out. Definitely been working on getting open quicker so he can fit in this offense. I had seen him as a long shot going into camp myself but he showed a lot of juice. I would expect we will see a lot of he and Davis at the Z in the preseason as Sanders probably won't be exposed much.

I really can't see them keeping 7. Keeping an extra at a position is really more about protecting players at tough to fill positions and the league as a whole is so deep at WR after multiple bountiful drafts in succession that I don't think Hodgins, Stevenson or Gentry are very likely to be immediately claimed at the end of the preseason even though Bills fans are high on those players. I was underwhelmed in my first look at Hodgins/Stevenson in practice setting. I wouldn't even be surprised if the Bills went outside for PS WR talent. The top 6 looked pretty defined.......the rest have catching up to do, IMO.

Today at least, the gap between Kumerow and Hodgins looked wide. Like two different tiers of players. It's worth noting that Hodgins got some run with the 3rd team in the last 11-on-11's. It looks like he's got an uphill battle. Stevenson looked unsophisticated in his routes on short throws..........so don't look for him as a slot guy to beat out McKenzie(who looked sharp all around). In the first set of 11-on-11's they also ran a play with McKenzie lined up as a RB offset to Allen's right..........they ran a designed QB run out of that set......but using McKenzie out of the backfield and not just on jet sweeps has been something some have mentioned as a way of getting more speed on the field.......so it's worth noting that they showed that at least. I know there was some line of thought that McKenzie/Stevenson was an either/or battle but it's hard to envision them cutting McKenzie with the experience he brings. If Stevenson makes the roster it will probably because he shows he can take the top off of a defense in preseason...........but I wouldn't give him that edge over Kumerow the way he looked today. Kumerow looked fast.......efficient footwork for such a big WR......and he's big and physical and showed some nice concentration on that tipped pass that he caught(but really he was excellent in all the drills, not just the 11-on-11's).

He looked more like WR4 or WR5 than a guy fighting for the last spot. There are A LOT of practices and preseason ahead but Hodgins and Stevenson look like they have a lot of catching up to do for either to edge out Kumerow.

What you don't see in this video of an Epenesa sack is Tremaine Edmunds dropping a gift-wrapped interception that was right in his grill......it bounced off his mitts and the deflection was almost caught by a DB. He's gotta' make those gift wrapped plays. Josh Allen had a rough day in 11-on-11's..........no doubt about it. Kumerow really stood out..........he looks like a different player.........crisp footwork and faster than I thought he could be. Looked way ahead of Hodgins and Stevenson. Obada and Rousseau looked good..........Obada got his tweets in this thread already but Rousseau had a nice sack of Trubisky that I haven't seen posted..........it was one of his patented moves where he maintains the level of the QB and when Trubisky stepped up Rousseau was left with a clean shot. Those are sack+fumble opps. McKenzie was by far the best looking of the punt returners. He was comfortable and confident. Stevenson and Powell didn't drop any but they weren't as smooth to receive it and quick after the catch.

"The most important addition could well be the return of run-stuffing defensive tackle Star Lotulelei"

Stanton literally should only bat against lefties. It's that bad. Even his 114 mph singles are mostly useless because he can't run the bases and he's always in the middle of a bunch of guys who can't move runners over. If George were still in charge they would have eaten the balance of the contract and dealt him to the Angels by now. When you figure in the $ he's owed......possibly their worst acquisition ever. But still........drop in the pocket when you consider the profits they are making under Hal versus George.

Yeah the deal got much better for me without Pereira (and Vasquez) in it. Pereira has been great so far this season, IMO he would have been prospect #1 in that deal. Would have not liked to see those two players dealt essentially for a sidearm lefty in an era of 3 batter minimum. And now it's reported that the Rangers are paying most of the money on Gallo and Gonzalez. I hate that they added another whiffer but they needed a power lefty to address the non-stop parade of slider throwing RH pitching that has been killing them for the past two seasons. Somebody has to go though. The lineup doesn't flow with that many rally killers. Gallo is particularly atrocious at driving in runners from 3rd with less than 2 out..........they can't afford to get WORSE at that. All the prospects they sent are having big years.........but the farm system as a whole is having a great year. By contrast, the system as a whole had a very down year in 2019. Then they really didn't use the alternate site last year to develop some of their top young prospects the way other teams did. And on top of that, they cancelled their fall instructional league. The farm came into the season on a cold streak but the players somehow came out hot. I follow them every day at this address: https://www.mlb.com/yankees/prospects/stats/affiliates Great way to check the in game progress on every team in the system daily.