BADOLBILZ

By that logic, who would complain if the Bills ended up with Quenton Nelson instead of Josh Allen? Nelson looked like a HOF'er the moment he took the field. If positional value doesn't matter then that would have been a win. But, positional value is important. RB's are still a relative dime a dozen. The most explosive RB in the league is not Kamara or CMC........it's Raheem Mostert........who was a UDFA that kicked around with 4 teams before making it in SF. Mostert is the kinda' guy you want when you have a QB like Josh Allen who can utilize the whole field with his great arm and athleticism. A true burner, not a 4.5 guy like Etienne, and a guy you don't have to give 200+ touches to in order to justify the investment........... because taking the ball out of Allen and his WR's hands is not recommended. If you have a noodle armed check down pocket passer like Drew Brees or Teddy Bridgewater maybe you want to get your RB the ball a lot more.........in Buffalo the goal should be stretching the field more.

There is zero frame of reference for that take. Who are these organization changing RB's? How many times did we have to watch the Saints face-plant in the playoffs to realize that the impact of an Alvin Kamara doesn't really make much of a difference? Teams without great regular season RB play have been consistently winning SB's for decades now. It's not important to have an exceptional RB. As for the notion that whatever RB you pick in round 1 will be good.............and therefore you can just pick one every 5 years.............I think you should look at the list of RB's drafted in round 1 over the decade previous to this season. Basically, if they were drafted from 10-32 they were mostly underwhelming or outright busts.........and if they were picked in the top 10 they were about 50/50 to succeed.

You didn't answer my question. There ISN'T a first round RB that the Bills have passed on in the past 25 years that was in the least bit regrettable. As for the mythical "putting the offense over the top".........the Bills offense was literally second in the NFL in scoring last season. The reason was because they threw the ball downfield a lot.......and effectively. Etienne isn't very likely to be like Alvin Kamara..........in fact the beating he took in college makes it more likely that he'll be JAG with the Jags. But even if Etienne met any unreasonable expectation and did become a great RB.......feeling compelled to hand it off......or even dump it off........to an Alvin Kamara instead of throwing it downfield is a recipe for less than what the Bills did offensively in 2020. As good as Kamara and McCaffrey are for RB's.........they average around 8 yards per reception for their careers............that juice is hardly worth the squeeze of putting it in the air when you have receivers that average 12-17 yards per reception. The position is devalued because there is only so much difference a RB can make in today's game. And no, there is NEVER a good time to use round 1 for a "luxury pick". Free agency changes rosters in a heartbeat now.

I agree. We have seen Beane trade up for a guard with RT flexibility in the second round and draft RB's in the 3rd round two years in a row. It's in his nature. Like his mentor Dave Gettleman.......big uglies and RB's are probably too high on Beane's personal list. Sometimes you gotta' be lucky and have fate intervene to prevent stupid mistakes like drafting a RB in round 1. The Bills haven't "regrettably" passed on one RB that went in round 1 in at least 25 years. Thinking that would change with one of these high mileage Etienne/Harris models would have been the epitome of impulse buying irrationality. Pass rushers are second only to QB's in value in today's NFL........they are also high risk but the potential return is very high. So having the draft fall that way was a stroke of good fortune for the organization, IMO........dodged a bullet this time........but the reality is that CB and WR need to be higher priorities in today's NFL.................I trust that Beane will grow out of his remaining Gettlenutz tendencies as he gains further perspective on what works and what does not. Returns on investments like Tre White and Stefon Diggs have been second only to Josh Allen.........it's best to value those positions far above RB in todays NFL.

Name a RB that the Bills passed over in round 1 in the past 25 years that was a regrettable decision. It's simple math...........but every year somebody thinks this time is different.

I think you are mistaking the lack of demand with the lack of potential supply. Teams don't want to put non-athletes on the field in a passing league.........the demand for dedicated 0's and 1's is low. There is no guarantee that there will be even 1 job on every team for a traffic cone DT now..........and it certainly isn't the way to get paid.

Get used to it. Belichick made Easterby his right hand man for a reason. You can't build culture thru plain old hard work way anymore.......players and their union are too sensitive to perceived abuse. Religion is a great tool for coaches to create things like peer pressure and discipline in a touchless environment.

That perception that he's just a decoy when he's out there isn't reality though. His production in the 9 games last year was on course for nearly 1400 yards. That's elite per game production......not decoy work. His catch rate was the highest of his career at 75%. And he would have likely lead the NFL in yards per touch for the second straight season if he had enough touches because he had the NFL leader(Tyreek Hill) beaten by a full yard per! Could he fall off like AJ Green? Maybe........but that speculation is not based on his play.......just his age. So calling him just "above average" is a massive understatement. And overrated is even more absurd. His career numbers are amazing. As a non-fan of the Falcons perhaps you expect him to put up 150 yards per game but the guy has literally lead the NFL in yards receiving per game 3 times. The bar might not be as high as you think it is. If anything, he doesn't get enough credit because he is quiet and plays for a franchise that makes a habit of hiring one bad HC after the next.

The moves they have made.......and haven't made..........seem to indicate that 1 tech DT was a bigger problem in the eyes of fans than to the organization. They even cut Vincent Taylor at the end of camp and haven't added a single 1 tech since. If they planned to feature rotating space eaters they'd treat it like they have so many other positions.........with veteran depth. Instead they bring in guys like Hester..........after already adding penetrating interior players like Zimmer and Rousseau and Basham and Obada. It's a passing league........it makes sense to feature more pass rushers.........the 3 teams with the best records in the NFL last year gave up 4.5-4.7 yards per carry.........it's not a run and stop the run league anymore..........and frankly, it's not like they were good against the run with a healthy $10M 1 tech either.

The evidence that they don't want non-pass rushers on the field seems pretty strong. The team views both Rousseau and Basham as guys who can be used to rush the passer inside..............and they signed Efe Obada.........who got most of his pressures from inside. Obada played on a Panthers front that used 4 DE looks extensively against the Chiefs.........a game Carolina almost won. I'm not saying McD is going to follow his mentor Jim Johnson and go all wide 9............but being able to bump the 1 tech player to the 2 or 3 alignments opens up the pass rushing opportunities without tipping your hand personnel wise the way putting a lump like Star on the field does.

He's had two seasons where he missed a lot of games......his 3rd season and his 10th season........18 total. In the other 8 seasons of his career he has missed a total of 7 games...........and he's put up enormous production..........his 1871 yard season is literally the second highest yardage figure a WR has ever had. So I would say your characterization that he is injured all the time and overrated is without merit.

1 tech is the only position on offense or defense where they haven't signed anyone..........even a depth player.........since last training camp. That would be unusual for a position where they TRUSTED the veteran(s) at the position...........let alone whatever they think Lotulelei can do heading into a season where he would turn 32 with 19 months between the last NFL game he played and this preseason. At some point people might want to consider the clues that they value the pass rush greater now that they are a high scoring team..........they literally played the entire season like that last year. Their statistical dropoff defensively was more about a brutal schedule, injuries to the LB position and the loss of the pressure that produced 16 sacks from walk-year Phillips and Shaq than it was who they had playing traffic cone at 1 tech.

1 tech DT is the only position they haven't signed a single new player at since last training camp. They played last season with just one player who is considered a 1 tech............though Harrison Phillips had always been more of a high volume tackler than a traffic cone.

Was the other option you were considering for six pages an intervention of some sort?

I don't see Diggs staying healthy with the same volume of hits per game he took last season........he was pretty beat up at the end........it isn't a video game......I don't think it's realistic to expect that again. Hopefully Sanders will absorb a lot of those hits on the short throws and Diggs will average 15+ ypr instead of 12 ypr and get near that 1500 number again with less wear and tear.

Always surprises me seeing the people who jog/run and have such bad form that you can practically see them destroying their knees and ankles.

Shelved with pay in 2021........a thorough investigation.........and then a full season suspension in 2022 is about the only way the NFL doesn't come off looking much too lenient if he is guilty of this behavior. It's a much bigger issue for the NFL than his season's pay check..........they really can't let him play from a PR standpoint. With prior sexual assault type cases it was typically one person claiming they were harmed...........in that case there is usually the distinct possibility that perhaps the interaction was consensual or was embellished or even a lie...........this is a couple dozen different women.

My point was the original post. That the guy who was the subject of the thread was part of a run of bad decisions by a rookie HC and then a rookie GM that did not have much experience as a personnel man. You were the one arguing with flimsy excuses. I chose Jim Kelly and Bruce Smith as players who tried to avoid and leave Buffalo because they are arguably the two greatest players in team history and without them the SB era doesn't happen. But the "he didn't want to be here" excuse extends to a LONG list of good to great players that the Bills indulged their want to leave......during "the drought"........... for nothing or far less than they should have netted.......Antoine Winfield, Nate Clements, Willis McGahee, Jason Peters, Marshawn Lynch just to name the ones who were in their primes only.

I literally own this jacket. I will be wearing it at the home opener........provided I avoid a traffic accident......to scare @Stank_Nasty

Wait, let me guess the player: 1) Bruce Smith? Yes. Extend him. He'll get a multi-game suspension for the cocaine and pass out drunk at a few stop signs and in a TV interview but we'll call it "sleep apnea". It's gonna' work out. He's going to be pretty good. 2) Or is it Kelvin Benjamin? No. Cut him in camp.......save the $9M. He's gonna' refuse to work and give up on plays in games and make your process look like a sham until you can quietly release him on a day when the media is off. 3) If it's Sammy........don't be dumb........just pick up the unguaranteed option.........then if you decide that you want to trade him the acquiring team has an extra option year of control. Trading players in their walk year drastically reduces the return. In 2017 the 5th year option is a big value add situation for teams. At the very least they should have come out of that 2017 spring/summer with a couple first rounders for Gilmore and Watkins. And like I said..........people who accept losing accepted the idiotic "he didn't want to be here" mantra. Young Jim Kelly vocalized his disgust at the thought of living in Buffalo. Bruce Smith signed a free agent contract with Denver. There is no Super Bowl era without those two HOF'ers. When you let the players decide where they want to play you handicap yourself by wasting the league shared advantage of player control.

You're ex-wife says you argue more than six barbers.

Cutting Kelvin Benjamin in preseason had a lot of value..........it would have been worth about $9M. But it goes down with holding onto Trent Murphy and his unguaranteed $8M last summer as "the cap room that got away" from the 2017-2018 McBeane acquisition file. The last shoe to drop on that is the $10M in cap room still committed to you know who. Luck is passing on Patrick Mahomes in the draft and then getting a chance the very next season to select a Josh Allen. Trading away the chance to select Mahomes to a conference rival.........and the repercussions......is less about luck and more about poor judgement. As for the "he didn't want to be here" excuse.........that is the oldest and most tired bad excuse in the dumpster.........you guys are pretty naive if you think that there aren't A LOT of players who would strongly prefer to play elsewhere. You should be embarrassed pulling that card and using the avatar you do. That scenario never unfolds if he wasn't forced to join the Bills.