BADOLBILZ

Bates was Dawkins backup at LT last year. He has played some right tackle, I think his first looks were actually there and center in preseason after they traded for him. Trey Adams is another guy to keep an eye on. I think Ford was bad at LG but Beane is invested in him and I think he will get EVERY chance to prove he isn't one of the best 5.

Oh Bates is definitely ahead of Boettger on the center depth chart. But I think Bates might actually get first crack at right tackle next season if Williams is lost. Sal Capaccio echoed that sentiment yesterday on WGR. I think conventional wisdom is Ford might get another shot at RT but I think they haven't been encouraged by his development and might just want to keep him at LG and hope he develops into a plus blocker next to Dawkins. They've put in quite a bit of time developing Bates and they really like him. In a scenario where they lose both Williams and Feliciano.........and knowing as they do that Morse is likely on borrowed time with the concussions.........it would be interesting to see if they pooled up savings and bought a top interior OL to anchor a supporting cast of Bates/Boettger/Ford.

I don't think the Bills had a SB roster. Neither does Beane, as he said in the aftermath of the AFCCG. Josh Allen really carried them. They'd probably have had a losing team this season if they had just a solid QB like Philip Rivers. Simply not enough playmakers on either side of the ball. Beane and McDermott dug themselves a roster hole in choosing to let all of the drought era 1st and 2nd round players go. They made a ton of bad decisions in McD's first 14 months on the job......things like passing on Mahomes/Watson and paying Star Lotulelei $50M etc.. But then they hit a grand slam with Josh Allen and have generally made better decisions since. They've learned on the job, which is frustrating, but encouraging. BUT......as the media noted in the lead up to the AFCCG the Bills had the fewest home-grown players on roster of the final 4 teams........flying in the face of the narrative that the Bills were the young upstart on the block. They are actually one of the oldest rosters in the league........which means that they are likely to experience even more turnover than most teams over the next 2-3 seasons so they will now really need to draft and develop better.

I shudder to think about 40,000 cars at a Bills game. I don't think you have much experience attending games or are just really bad at math.

Right of first refusal. I wouldn't be surprised if Boettger ended up as the Bills center if Feliciano walks and Morse is cut or gets concussed out of action again next season. He's reportedly cross-trained to help anywhere.

Funny you should mention that. After Jauron's first season I was on TSW saying......."kudos to Jauron.......he cleaned up Mularkey's disorganized mess........and now is the perfect time to fire him.......the team can only get to mediocrity by playing not to lose and that's the only trick Jauron has up his sleeve". That didn't go over well here.........Jauron was beloved. I was a big proponent of bringing in Marty to fix the mess but Marty did or said something when he played for the Bills that Ralph never forgave. Not sure what it was but his disdain for Marty was not a secret.......only the reason why was. I always suspected he knocked up one of Ralph's daughters or something. It wasn't a surprise that Marty became a coach he was already actively training to be a coach when he was with the Bills. A former AFL champ Bill coming back to coach the Bills back to prominence? Made all the sense in the world. Ralph did try to lure Mike Shanahan and Bill Cowher before having to settle for Gailey.......but after decades of thumbing his nose at having a powerful HC the Bills jobs reputation as "where coaches go to die" preceded him.

Yeah he didn't fit in Rex scheme........but neither did a lot of the defensive roster. The Bills ascension from obscurity really began with Marrone at the same exact time as Andy Reid in KC..........in fact the Bills started out well ahead of KC roster-wise.........McDermott has tried to make a point that "his" system is much newer than Reid's.........but the reality is that they were neck-and-neck roster wise during the Marrone/Ryan years and the scheme and regime changes are the primary reason why their rosters are disparate. Zimmer coming back on the rebound is a nice story but the backstory is Billsy.

The slam dunk champ! The preseason NFLDPOY. I had a guy tell me yesterday that Mitch Morse couldn't fall into the late rounds of the draft because his combine performance was too good...............just look at players who have passed thru the Bills that had crazy dream catcher #'s like Jason Peters, Brandenburg, Zimmer.........it happens all the time. Brandenburg is an example of why NOT to trust the track #'s. Peters is an extreme example of why you shouldn't sleep on them. Hopefully Zimmer keeps improving. He's already pushing 30 so it's not a given but it's a good story.

And the Browns let playmaking Joe Schobert walk to the Jags. The reality is that the position is de-valued for a reason. Everyone thinks "teams are passing more we need great coverage LB's".............well KC basically played the AFCCG without LB's and won with ease. The Ravens could easily have been in the AFCCG with maybe the worst MLB in the NFL last year in Patrick Queen. MLB is nice to be strong at.........but it's not steering teams to success............the NFC is the weaker conference for a reason.........they've got all the best MLB's and few of the best QB's.

No question Beane dropped the ball when he passed on playmakers AJ Brown and DK Metcalf in round 2 of 2019. They NEEDED that player for Josh Allen in 2019..........not another developmental offensive guard with right tackle flexibility in Cody Ford. That error cost them two All Pro type talents.......Wyatt Teller's roster spot and one of those WR's. But comparing the processing ability and accuracy of 2019 Josh Allen to 2020 is way off base. Allen improved greatly. In 2019 he left hundreds of yards on the table to wide open receivers deep. That wasn't a lack of receiving talent issue. This year he was hitting a good % of those passes while greatly improving his accuracy and ball placement on short to intermediate throws. He would have been better in 2019 with a stud WR to go with his excellent targets in Beasley and Brown.........but he wasn't at a stage of his game where he was going to elevate the game of guys like Hill or Kelce by 30%+ like Mahomes did INSTANTLY as a first time starter in KC. Allen is a work in progress..........Mahomes was ready to be the league's QB1 as soon as he was given the opporunity. For reference go check his early season stats in 2018 where he was just putting up pinball machine numbers right out of the gate.

He makes plays. That extraordinary speed and quickness catches people by surprise which has a tendency of freeing up the football. The much-deservedly-maligned Tremaine Edmunds has traits that could allow him to do the same but not as an uninstinctive off-ball LB. In his first game as a pro he had a strip sack in Baltimore. The more he learned the system the less impactful he became. We should be seeing those kind of plays on the regular from #49. For those people who want me to admit that I was wrong about something...........I thought Zimmer was going to make the 2016 Bills team. So I was wrong. But so did former resident TSW draft and camp analyst Astro.

Hill's ascension to a first team all-pro WR happened when he got Mahomes as his QB in 2018. As @NewEra stated Hill was the first team all-pro return man in 2016. For perspective, Andre Roberts was first team all-pro return man in 2018. Kelce was first team all-pro but that was relative.........Mahomes has basically increased his production by about 30% which is crazy considering he was already well into his prime and outstanding. That's not to detract from those players but my point stands..........they were not nearly as lethal with "only" a pro bowl QB in Alex Smith..........in fact, that's why they went out and paid $16M per year to get Sammy Watkins.........they didn't feel they were explosive enough. The 2017 Bills were able to shut them down and that was when they had the league's leading rusher as well. Mahomes is a HUGE difference maker. As for whether either will have greater weapons........who knows? Allen's receivers caught more passes than any NFL team since 1995. Once he gets paid they won't likely be able to have a $30M three man WR corps anymore like they do now. Mahomes has one more year before his cap # comes up and Allen has two. At that point they both might have to make due with a little less.

I agree with most of that but the Bills are most definitely chasing their elite pass rusher...........that's where I find the Edmunds usage discouraging.

Maybe the Chiefs get tired from all the long playoff runs.........but the Bills actually have one of the oldest rosters in the league........there will be as much or more turnover in Buffalo as in KC.

Actually I have liked all of the players the Bills selected in round 1 since McD got here. Of course, at the time, I assumed Edmunds was going to be an OLB with a chance to be developed as a game-breaking pass rusher. The MLB experiment has resulted in a whole lotta' "meh"...........hasn't worked because Edmunds is just not an instinctive MLB.......that position really needs to be a mirror of the RB position and he is nothing like a RB in any way, shape or form. So keeping him at MLB is a waste of a player who could have had the impact of a TJ Watt, IMO. You can get that 2021 cap room info on spotrac but roughly: Colts $80M WFT $45M Bucs $40M Ravens $30M Browns $30M Bills $5M Chiefs are over the cap by $20M but they are BUILT. They aren't chasing and their key players are under contract. The Colts probably have the best roster in the AFC aside from the QB position. The Ravens are the team most Bills fans are sleeping on because they think Lamar can't pass the ball. They're wrong. I don't want to see him get a couple weapons in the passing game but that's exactly what the Ravens are going to do.

He gets voted to the Pro Bowl because he plays a devalued position and there simply aren't many good MLB's in the AFC. I mean........name ANY Chiefs linebacker? They are the favorites in the Super Bowl and their LB's are JAG's. If you are going to put big chips into the MLB position he needs to be a playmaking machine..........otherwise it's a waste.

Edmunds is good in pass defense? He had a 114 passer rating against and less passes defensed than Mario Addison. Everyone expects him to just get better with age.........what they forget is the lesson we learned from the likes of JP Losman and Trent Edwards......... the more weaknesses they put on tape the more teams were able to exploit their weaknesses. With Edmunds......this season QB's threw at his man when Edmunds was right on him because they've learned that Edmunds does not have a nose for the football..........he does not make big plays and force or collect turnovers..........so if you throw at him the worst thing that can happen is the ball ends up on the turf.

I think Allen is there already. He's great. Mahomes is there too and he's simply proven to be greater. Their contests have been no-contest. They've both been starters in the NFL since 2018 and their teams are in relatively similar cap situations so I don't think it's to be assumed that the Bills and Allen can get better and the Chiefs and Mahomes can't. Beane has been competing against "Billsy" for the past few seasons.......now he has to actually out maneuver the Chiefs while also fending off teams like Indy and Baltimore who are also right on the Bills heels.

Right of first refusal or a cheap long term deal. If you lose him draft one or sign one in UDFA. Beane has overpaid a lot for special teams to get to this point.........now that they are cap-strapped it's time to start watching what they spend on ST'ers.

You're frustrated because it's maddening knowing that they passed on a QB and he's dominating the league and has now directly blocked the Bills from a SB. Tough talk isn't going to change that. But your point about Josh having to develop his talent and team.......that is probably the best chance that Allen has to catch Mahomes. Mahomes makes uber-athletic Deshaun Watson look robotic by comparison so making it look easy like him isn't a realistic option for any current QB. But it's come easy for Mahomes. Allen was a nobody in HS with zero family professional pedigree as an athlete. Mahomes was top prospect in both baseball and basketball and his dad was a pitcher in the major leagues for a long time so everyone in the scouting community knew about him. He was a non-stop one man highlight reel throwing the football in college......where Allen had to grind and struggle, only showing flashes of brilliance. It's come incredibly easy for Mahomes.......mostly by his own doing.......but nonetheless he hasn't had to fight to make it. If his team keeps sleep-walking into title games it's not out of the realm of reason that he could eventually lose his edge.

The "2 weapons that are HOF candidates" were on the field.......along with the NFL's leading rusher Kareem Hunt........when a Bills defense that had just experienced their worst 3 game stretch in franchise history went to KC and shut down Reid and his Chiefs in 2017. With just a top 10-12 QB in the NFL in Alex Smith they weren't that scary. Too much is made of the significance of Mahomes "weapons". Mahomes elevates the level of those around him...........the AFCCG where the Chiefs were piling up yards of RAC? That was just taking the low hanging fruit. He wasn't pressured or stressed at all. If he had to push the ball down the field more he could have. They absolutely toyed with the Bills scared and tentative defensive strategy.

I would say Olajuwon would be the better comp. The Bills passed on Mahomes to get to Allen.......sorta' like the Rockets passed on Jordan by taking Olajuwon. Like the Bills.........they LITERALLY could have drafted either. I'd take that........"The Dream" won 2 titles in Jordan's absence.......but let's hope for more.

And scouts are scouts because there aren't enough better jobs as gym teachers. Here's how the system works: The NFL knows scouting is a very inexact science. They pay their scouts accordingly.........very little. Draftniks pay attention and $ to a network of needy scouts to help them put a framework of players together. They follow the tips and probably at least scout that framework. If Mitch Morse isn't in that framework..........he is either ignored or assumed to be something that teams of regional scouts have totally missed. Which is rarely the case.........but at the same time for every Mitch Morse there is a TJ Graham. "Surprise Bills fans! Nobody had us taking TJ Graham so early.......see those dumb "pundits"." The NFL is one of the few industries where the formula for making the product is more valuable as a product for public consumption than as a trade secret.

No. Shaq returned to his "meh" self once he got paid. Addison was a disappointment but he was a one year commitment.............Miami is stuck with Shaq for next year because the dead cap is over $10M to cut him. Addison's dead cap is $4M.........which sucks.........but at least that's $6M in 2021 cap room that could in theory go into year one of a long term deal for a legitimate pass rusher. Ultimately $10M+ DE's that don't move the needle in pass rush like Lawson and Addison aren't a fit for this style of defense.

History? Hey some of our best baseball players gave up a couple years of their careers to help save you soccer playing, injury faking wimps from Hitler and this is the respect you give? Sheesh. Josh Booty is actually a good example of why we have better athletes at QB today.........the guaranteed baseball money was huge compared to the earnings potential as a QB in football at the time. Booty wanted more than anything to be the QB at LSU but he couldn't pass on the huge guaranteed money. Drew Henson followed him as famous dual sport athlete QB but Henson actually preferred baseball(and he was signed with the Yankees, who you of course have never heard of or seen people wearing Yankee hats around town I'm sure). They both should have stuck with football.......the increase in degree of difficulty from HS to pro football is much less than in pro baseball. Much easier to project that's why after failing at baseball they were able to practically walk off the street into reserve roles in the NFL. With all the arm talent in the US it amazes me that we still have QB's at the Shrine game and Senior Bowl every year who can't even throw a football but at least it's almost to a point where every team at least has a starting QB who can pass for one.