hondo in seattle

Every weekend, I run/hike with the puppy anywhere from 9 to 18 miles in the mountains of Northern California. And every time I do, something hurts, whether it's my feet, ankles, knees, quads, or whatever. If I were a professional athlete, they'd call my pains "injuries." I'd get examined, treated, and put on a recovery plan. But since I'm just an old nobody, I keep running without labeling or treating them. This is my way of saying, I think Max will be fine.

I get the joke but... A lot of players, especially the marginal ones who get signed in the spring, bounce from team to team. So while the Panthers only account for roughly 3% of the players in the NFL at any given time, the number of players who once were on Carolina's roster is roughly (I'm guessing) 10% of the league. With a spring roster of 90 guys, we should expect about 9 ex-Panthers on the Bills at this time of year.

Agreed wholeheartedly. Our beginning-of-the-year roster always has notable holes. Injuries then make the roster worse. Still, McD generally gets good production out of our battered defensive players. Until the playoffs, when good coaching can't compensate when faced with equally good coaching and better rosters.

My ideas are vague because it's hard to get into the heads of McD, Babich, and Brady. Offense. I think Brady wants to grow and evolve. I think he's probably generally happy with the run/pass mix and the run game in general. I think Hawes is interesting because Brady clearly likes putting big blockers out in front of his backs which might give Hawes some playing time. I think Brady's big hope is to create a more dynamic, chunk-play offense. I think we'll see more from Samuel and Kincaid, obviously, because they'll (hopefully) be healthy this year. I think Brady will try to get Moore involved to use his quickness & speed. He'll have more yards receiving this year than last because he fills a niche on the Bills. I hope for a better screen game but don't expect it. I think Palmer has a typical Palmer year - good but not special. Defense. I think it'll be much like any other year with slight differences. I think, inevitably, we'll see rookies getting more playing time than usual. I think there will be more of a focus on stopping the run but certainly not an abandonment of the nickel as the base D. I wouldn't be surprised if we blitz more. I'm interested to see if they do anything unconventional with Hoecht as a hybrid DE/LB.

Didn't they do the same thing with Josh? He's rated #1 over the past four years, if I recall correctly, but projected 4th going into this season.

Sure, maybe. You could make a good argument. But that offense was loaded. Hurts had a great year and the receiving corps was one of the best, so it made it challenging for defenses to focus on Barkley (or anyone else). As for his excellent yardage totals, obviously Barkley played more games that than the all-time greats like Jim Brown, OJ, and Walter Payton. Additionally, today's defenses are built to defend the pass. Teams nowadays play nickel (i.e. what used to be called "pass prevent") most of the time and LBs are primarily agile coverage guys not the bestial hunter-killers of the past like Chuck Bednarik, Dick Butkus, and Jack Lambert. I also think the voters finally realized Josh has been one of the most valuable players in the league for a few years and him not getting the award yet was a travesty. For me, all things considered, Josh deserved being named MVP.

I have a different viewpoint. As an Army officer, I once took an oath to not lie, cheat, or steal; nor tolerate those who do. To paraphrase Kant's 'categorical imperative' a bit: we should all act in a way that we would want everyone to act. And the world would be a better place if none of us lied, cheated, or stole. And yet, from a practical standpoint, it does seem to be true that the people who deflect and deny fare better than the small minority that doesn't. Sadly, the pragmatist's approach generally provides better outcomes.

Three things... First, we should never underestimate the gullibility of football players. Remember when Manti Te'o of Notre Dame said on national TV that his girlfriend died on the same day as his grandma? But later it was discovered poor Manti was the victim of a catfishing scam and his online gf never existed? Players believe dumb things sometimes. Second, I believe in the America value of the presumption of innocence. The reason everyone caught doping says they didn't know is because it's plausible. Some athletes don't know; some pretend they didn't know. Maybe a respected trainer or older veteran (not a sneaky lowlife "pusher") gave Hoecht some supps. In any case, I've seen so many people suffer from false accusations that I choose to give people the benefit of the doubt when there is no/little track record of misbehavior. Third, many supps include unlisted ingredients. You suggest that Hoecht should have read the label. But one published study found that of 3,132 dietary supplements examined, 875 (28%) had undeclared substances including anabolic steroids. and sibutramine. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9054437/

Only once in my life did I witness a player play so bad that I thought, "That's it, his career ends here." And yet...

I missed or don't recall the Trent Edwards-as-Successful-as-Tom-Brady-in-the-Pats-Offense Take. Yikes! We all recall We-Drafted-the-Wrong-Josh argument. Some Bills fans had to eat a little humble pie after the dust settled on that one - though did so happily. As evidenced on this board, sometimes even smart people promote really bad ideas. I'd personally be amused if someone started a bad take Hall of Fame.

Doc, c'mon man. First of all, it's unkind to say a take is "dumb" and violates the do-no-harm principle of the Hippocratic Oath. Second, you have a very short memory if you rate this the dumbest take on this board. I've personally made dumber takes although I think my dumbest take pales in comparison to some others. There have been some doozies over the years.

All this makes me wonder what Beane knew when he cut Diggs. Essentially paying him $31M to play on another team is a big decision and must have been based on considerations beyond the sideline antics.

For everyone who says this doesn't matter without a Lombardi, imagine a different scenario. Imagine we were last in scoring and last in point allowed. Picture that level of misery. I agree, the job isn't done until we get a trophy. But to be #1 in both those categories means folks at OBD are doing something right. Bean, McD, Josh, and company have made us relevant, given us a chance, and created some good memories.

Hoecht said he put his faith in someone who didn't have his best interest at heart. What if that's a true statement? What's the problem with articulating that? He also said (multiple times) that it was his mistake. Without evidence to the contrary, I chose to take him at his word. I agree about Tucker, though. He looks small.

This is probably my favorite post ever on TBD. Thank you.

It wasn't just that Schatz was wrong about Josh. Many were - and with good reason. But I never liked Schatz's hubris. When he said Allen success in the NFL would 'defy math,' he misspoke. Math was never defied; Schatz's math was defied. Schatz was seemingly arrogant enough to believe his advanced metrics would better predict NFL success than Beane's judgment or the judgment of many professional personnel guys who saw Josh as a solid first-rounder. I once heard a scout say that zero college QBs are pro-ready. They all have things to learn and improve. The evaluation of college signal callers isn't just about their current (college) skill set, it's about the likelihood that they'll grow into a good NFL QB. Work habits, dedication, maturity, discipline, intelligence, etc. come into play. Schatz's DVOA and other metrics can't measure that. Yet Schatz spouted garbage that Josh becoming successful would violate fundamental laws of the universe. Instead of now calling Allen an outlier, I'd love for Schatz to say, "My analytical tools just aren't good enough."

Schatz is the guy who once called Allen "a parody of a NFL quarterback" and also said, "the idea that Josh Allen could become an elite NFL quarterback pretty much defies math.” I can't say I trust his judgment.

Yeah, in those days reaching the playoffs felt like a fantasy. But occasionally, we'd beat a playoff-quality team and that felt great.

So you weren't a loyal follower of the Buffalo All-Americans back in the 1920s or the Buffalo Bisons back in the '40s. In other words, just another trend-hopping, clout-chasing, fair-weather Johnny-come-lately.

Me, personally, I've been a Bills fan since before Josh was born. My first memory is of Mini Max Anderson reputedly swallowing his tongue. But two or three years ago, I met some bandwagoners. They had gone to school, and were friends, with Josh's mom. Said the entire family was very nice - good people. They became Bills fans when Josh was drafted. Can't blame them.

“I love the enthusiasm, and also I would just say the energy from the coaching staff, they actually make you feel like they care, and that’s something that’s very exciting.” Apparently, he didn't feel loved in Buffalo.

Despite them saying this: "Allen’s 95.4 overall grade over the past three seasons ranks first among all quarterbacks." www.pff.com/news/nfl-quarterback-rankings-all-32-starters-2025-nfl-season

I'm intellectually shocked and emotionally devastated that no Bills receivers made the list. Then again, if the Bills average 31 points per game again, I don't really care.

Vince threw for 377 yards in his first game with the Bills, wearing the plays on a wristband before that was normal. I thought: "Man, just think how good he'll be when he learns the playbook!" He sucked the rest of the season - never topping the 300 mark again and rarely topping even 200. I guess learning the playbook is overrated.

For all those too young to remember... Preston Ridlehuber. Ridlehuber is the player who scooped up the fumble at the end of the infamous Heidi Bowl game and returned it for a TD to win it for the Raiders. In 1969, Ridlehuber played for the Bills as the third-string RB. Against the Patriots, both OJ and Mini Max Anderson got hurt (the Pats cheated even back then) so Ridlehuber came in with the game tied 16-16. Coach John Rauch called an RB option that they had practiced that week with OJ throwing the ball to the TE. But Ridlehuber, a former college QB, swept left, ignored the pressure, and threw deep to Haven Moses instead for a 45-yard TD pass to win the game. Ridlehuber only had 4 carries and 4 receptions in his short, lackluster NFL career but his one pass and one fumble recovery were memorable. 1:48 Ridlehuber to Haven Moses