BADOLBILZ

At worst Addison and Shaq are a wash...........Addison isn't exceptional by any means but he has more sacks and TFL's than Shaq and he also has played some of the Alexander role so he's had several passes defensed and has some positional versatility. In Miami Shaq looks like the guy that played for Rex and then had his 5th year option turned down by Beane........not the guy who was playing his hardest for a contract last year. If you think Shaq could do better against Murray you are likely wrong...............and the Fish are stuck with him until then because the dead cap next year would be over $10.5 M. Addison's job isn't safe with his dead money only being $4M. Far from Beane's worst move.

The future first ballot HOF'er made a first ballot HOF'er play.......that's why he makes $25M this year.

Back in the day there were meatheads like Matt Millen with meathead narratives that always talked Bruce down for not being the same type of DL as Reggie. Not that Millen didn't turn out to be a great evaluator of talent in the 2000's............basically more in depth analytics really hushed a lot of dumb narratives in the past decade or so. Bruce would have annihilated next gen stats..........but more importantly his team would have been shamed out of playing him at DE in a 3-4........whatever team he was on would have played a 4-3 just because they had him.

It's Mahomes...........in the head to head matchup Allen played poorly. But otherwise nobody else has been clearly better than Allen.

When you see something close to the lean that Bruce had now it's from much smaller players like Von Miller.........basically OLB types. Bruce actually came into the NFL the same size or larger than Reggie White(Bruce was 300-310 at VA Tech and as a rookie in Buffalo, Reggie played at 290 but was often over 300). Smith knocked about 50 pounds off of his frame to become the specimen he was.

This may be the first time in my 22+ years on TSW that someone has called me a "homer".

Will Fuller is a tremendous deep ball receiver and he was the subject of a lot of trade speculation.....especially wrt Green Bay....... as a pending free agent. Word was Houston wanted too much. Kenny Stills was a cheaper option that could have been pursued. John Brown is the better overall WR than both if healthy though. As for the 1TDT..........I think that the Bills don't see it as the need that some fans do. The hand wringing about Star has been hilarious. I think they'd have preferred to cut him outright but settled for the pay cut option because they were still on the hook for a boatload. IMO they overloaded on 3T types in UFA because their inclination was to try to be more disruptive on the front. Further proof: They cut one of their better 1T options in Vincent Taylor at the end of camp and then when they had an opening they picked up the small disruptor Justin Zimmer instead of a big body. And there were no actual rumors about the Bills pursuing 1T options via trade either. Harrison Phillips has actually been playing quite well the past month in that traditional 1T role........but it's a tossup whether he is even active from game to game........so obviously that big body is not the priority to the Bills that it is some fans. Ultimately when you are rotating DT's do you need a 330# guy to just stand at the LOS and get in the way? If it's only for 15-20 snaps per game I think they expect Jefferson and Oliver and Butler and Zimmer to take turns........and at the same time provide some actual pressure when teams go to the air.

Definitely mixed feelings. I didn't think they would get enough mileage out of a defensive acquisition to justify the means........to me the defensive struggles are more scheme and effort related than simply needing a pass rusher or 1T or LB or CB2. But I definitely wanted another deep threat to give them what they had had with a healthy John Brown. A big play TE would have been nice but realistically there were none available. If Brown can recover and Davis continues to make a greater impact and Knox brings something to the table in the pass game then they will be just as well off as if they had traded for a Will Fuller..........and still have the picks they would have had to trade. But by the same token Brown was still limping around last game.........he's not 100% and may not be the rest of the season..........and Davis didn't really step up from weeks 3-8 when Brown was hurting........and Knox hasn't done anything this season...........so yeah it would be a lot more comforting to have a healthy deep threat or a seam stretching TE to counter the defenses that were slowing them down for a month. I don't think the team got a boost from the deadline passing the way sometimes MLB teams do though........in MLB players on the active roster often get dealt to make room for the upgrades........ or the ones who remain lose 95% of their playing time to the newcomer since you can only substitute a player once per game.....the trade deadline is traumatic in MLB. In the NFL players still split a lot of snaps........Davis and Brown would still get a chance earn more snaps every week......... and the guys at the bottom of the roster basically can go a month without playing and the churn is so great there that I don't think it affects team morale at all if somebody in the bottom 10 spots of the roster or so is jettisoned.

If the measure is "who is the best receiver in the league in this given year" then age and contract status don't matter. I'd say the majority of franchises would have taken Hopkins, Hill and Jones to finish their 2019 season because they are system versatile. Big plays play big in every system. Everything they do carries over. Thomas......and Adams as well......are to a greater degree the products of their system and highly accurate HOF QB's.

We are still tailgating and watching the games together and the place exploded last week when he did that. Love it. Hoping that we see more of it tomorrow against a banged up Cardinals defense that has to turn around and play their toughest division game of the year at Seattle on Thursday. Hoping for 500 yards passing.......5-6 passing TD's..........8 pounds of chicken wings......bad weather games are coming so we won't get a chance to see this every week but another chance to see some kick stepping tomorrow!

I think that you think that you don't need to support any of your points to produce a strong argument.......................but could you humor us with your top 5 most coveted WR's if you were a GM in week 9 of the 2019 season? You don't need to weigh in contract or off field issues.........just the guys that most GM's would prefer to have for that season, everything else aside. That strips bare the "best receiver" IMO.

I hope he's still #1...........but it's hard to lead the league in yardage at 12 a pop............instead of kick stepping like James Lofton in the middle of the field.........he needs to get over the top and high step like him into the end zone a bit more and that would really help his chances of staying on top. As for grabs......Diggs is on pace for 112 receptions.......that figure probably won't lead the league......and would be 37 off of Michael Thomas total last year. But Diggs is also on pace for about 15 drops...........so in terms of getting open he is having an even better year than that 112 projection would indicate.

He had the best statistical year last year.......yes, breaking the catch record earns him that nod..........but was he the most coveted WR in the NFL?........I don't think that's the case. Chris Carter had better years than Randy Moss too..........when he was leading the league in receptions and TD's people like you argued that he was the best......but even though Carter finished with a lot more grabs he will be a relative footnote in the greatest WR discussion while Moss is a fixture. Did I mention that Stefon Diggs 100 reception season was the lowest y/r of any 100 catch WR season in NFL history? What you gotta' say about that? Nada? That's what I thought. Or was it just "lower than you expected"?

You guys are really fixated on yardage and catch totals when some guys have played 9 games like Diggs and others have played 8 or even 7. Don't worry........the Bills bye week is coming. With opportunities not being even at this point of the season.........per play production and % of targets caught and even per game production are better indicators.

Yep and it's a concern when a coach gets off to a playoff start that's different than his MO. Marty Schottenheimer didn't blow leads in the regular season either............but once he got that rep in the playoffs it took on a life of its own. One of the reasons why I've been confident in Josh Allen developing is that early on in his career he was able to win some games in the 4th quarter..........they weren't necessarily spectacular but it got that signficant psychological barrier out of his path.

You just said I was wrong about my take on Thomas.......which included my perspective on where he stands relative to a guy like Julio.........you should have qualified it. But you can be an elite WR AND also overrated relative to your peers. Thomas plays with the most accurate passer in league history.......in a great offensive system..........saying he is not overrated is the same as saying that he could catch 149 passes elsewhere.........which he could not. He's outstanding.........but IMO, he would be Mahomes 2nd (or 3rd) read.

Jefferson is another case of the perils of you trying to be so on the nose with every prospect..........you called that very wrong. Same with Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. This isn't ESPN where takes are lost in the noise, when we take strong positions on players in this small community we have to take the "L's" here........."better than I expected" is a very dismissive way to admit these things........but what makes it humorous is the depth of your prior assessments. Now are you saying I'm wrong that Julio Jones will be remembered as the greater player than Michael Thomas? Really? How long do you expect Drew Brees to play? When the greatest WR's are mentioned it's all big play guys...........Rice, Moss, TO, Megatron.........not the Steve Largent's and Chris Carters', regardless of their gaudy catch numbers. As for Diggs.........he isn't what he isn't until he isn't.............I literally gave you a mountain of statistical support for my opinion.........you just don't think I am right.........but you have nothing to tangibly support your position? Disappointing. I would love for Diggs to turn into a regular 14+ y/r guy at his 68% catch rate and would be fine with him being a high 70% catch rate 11-12 y/r guy............he just isn't even that guy now, 6 seasons into his career, in his prime.........and them's the bars for top of the league WR conversation.

Might not want to use a roster spot on him even if he's healthy and they think he can be productive. Already have 3 TE's plus Gilliam and they like to be able to activate extra DL and special teams only guys like Kumerow and Matakevich so they might be better off stashing him on IR until next season.

I literally took a ration of abuse from you for predicting that the 2017 Bills were going to play Jauron Ball instead of tanking...............and now you are saying they've played too much Jauron-ball for you. Classic TSW. You guys are lucky I still keep calling it like it's going to be for ya'. (this is where I put the emoji that I use to "pretend" that I have it in the proper perspective). On a serious note.........yes I think that trusting the offense will score should help the defensive staff be more aggressive...........getting John Brown back in the action and Gabe Davis having his breakout game were big too and hopefully the arrow is pointing up on their production from here on out..........if so that is huge for Allen.

I think they were very caught off guard by John Brown being available more too.........he'd made just 1 significant play in the prior 6 weeks due to injury...........his big play ability/potential is a catalyst for the offense and it was also a breakout game for Gabriel Davis too. Davis is among the league leaders now in separation numbers......averaging almost 4 yards of sep per catch. But Pete was also busy negotiating his contract extension last week and a road game of lesser significance against an AFC opponent may have had him looking ahead just a little to having to play the Rams and Cardinals in the subsequent 11 day period.

1) Actually.......it might surprise you to hear that the Chiefs are averaging more yards per play this year than last year. 2) Thomas is great at what he does and he's in the best position to maximize those super-possession-receiver numbers..........but in the same way that Chris Carter had a lot more catches than Randy Moss........history will remember Julio Jones as the greater player of the period..........we remember the big play guys. Julio, btw, is quietly having one of his best seasons ever with a career high and very Thomas-like 77% catch rate to go along with the typically big y/r. Justin Jefferson is also catching 77% of his targets and his 18.4 y/r is second best in the NFL. That's why he is getting the love. Nearly 50% more production per reception and a higher catch rate is why it's not unfair at all to rank him ahead of Diggs to this point. You defending your take that Justin Jefferson is just going to be a "slot guy" while arguing my statistically on the nose takes on Diggs is foul play.

1) Again.........you claimed Reggie was matched up against great tackles on those Super Bowl teams..........he wasn't.......like most RT's of the time they were glorified guards.......years later teams would learn that putting their best pass rusher on RT's was a great way to get to the QB. Strahan, JJ Watt........these dudes put up 20 sack seasons against mostly schlubby pass blocking RT's. 2) You asked for another player who had inflated stats in the 46.........I literally gave you the guy playing across from him. 3) Looking at Smith's 90 season.......he also had 5 sacks called back on penalties. And 5 career sacks against Armstrong was a lot. 2 sacks allowed was a bad YEAR for Armstrong. Walter Jones is arguably the greatest pass blocker in NFL history......he allowed just 23 sacks in 180 career games.......he allowed 3.5 sacks to Bruce in 2 games. Smith had a 3 sack game against Orlando Pace. These are all-time great pass blockers........the notion that he couldn't beat great LT's is just wrong. Could Reggie? Who knows because he didn't have to face them. Look.........the media loved to laud the humble religious man from the more successful conference over the boorish Bruce from the annoying Bills.......and yes, Reggie White was GREAT........he might have been the greatest overall DL ever and could have easily been the greatest DT ever had he played in the middle. But Bruce Smith was the better pass rusher by a wide margin......had he been in a 4-3 for his whole career with single gap run responsibilities like White....... and better, bigger pass rushers around him like White...... he might very well have put up 300 career sacks even if he had to do it against greats like Bruce Armstrong and Richmond Webb and Anthony Munoz and Walter Jones and Orlando Pace instead of the JAGs that typically occupied RT in the NFL in that era. It's only fitting that he has more sacks than Reggie because it shouldn't have even been close.

I think you need to be on IR for two years to be classified as a Troupacabra though.

Yes.......I am all about the big play aspect and of course I have "scoreboard" this year with the Chiefs being the SB champs and the favorite to repeat. If Diggs becomes an 80%+ catch rate receiver like Thomas the past two years........ then you might have a point. Personally I think Thomas is overrated.......Brees is fine without him, which says it all, IMO.......but his production is just so great it can't be ignored. And right now he and Diggs aren't the same type of receiver. Chain movers who drop the ball aren't going to catch 149 passes and force the accolades the way Thomas has. Which leads to why I question whether Diggs can be in the top 5 over an extended period of time........he's a tweener...........can make some big plays but isn't a lid lifter or TD machine.........he is great at getting open on short to intermediate routes but still catches just 68% of his targets.

1) The right tackles on all of those 3, difficulty defining teams you mentioned..........none of them even made a single pro bowl at RT in their entire careers........how do they compare to Bruce Armstrong and Richmond Webb and Tony Boselli and Mark Tuinei and and Jumbo Elliott? 2) Clyde Simmons played opposite of Reggie White at RDE in Philly........he faced the left tackles on those teams......studs like Jumbo Elliott and Joe Jacoby........and he put up 55 sacks and an un-*****-believable 455 tackles in a 4 season stretch from 1989-1992. That defensive front just ran to the ball. There is a reason why he has more career sacks than JJ Watt will likely ever get but JJ is a first ballot HOF'er TODAY..........and Clyde is still waiting for a call. It isn't the lack of a dominant stretch or All Pro accolades. It's because everyone knows his numbers were inflated. 3)The Bills played with leads.........they also rested players with leads. It was the club Marv way and probably bought Bruce some extra years at the expense of a bunch of cheap sacks in the second half of blowouts. And having the better team doesn't begin to offset the statistical scheme advantage of White playing his entire career in a 4-3, the 46 in particular, and on lines where he wasn't the only player who could dominate games. With all due respect to Phil Hansen and Jeff Wright and Leon Seals......Bruce was the only elite pass rusher on the Bills defensive line. And White's teams were mostly good so don't give me a line of sh*t about him not getting chances to rush the passer with leads he played in 2 Super Bowls himself.