jwhit34

You also have to think about who is active on game day. If they have 8 OL they can have 48 active on game day. It will probably look something like this (not accounting for injuries): Offense: 22 - 2 QB, 3 RB, 6 WR, 3 TE, 8 OL Defense: 23 - 8-9 DL. 6 LB, 8-9 DB Specialists: 3 - 1 each K, P, LS So for DL, maybe 5 DE and 4 interior dress. For the interior, that's Oliver, Star, and then the other 2 that make it between Phillips, Butler and Zimmer. Barring a trade, Hughes, Addison and Rousseau are locks. My guess is Epenesa is too. That leaves at most 1 spot. Basham is probably not suiting up. If Johnson makes the team, does he dress on game day?

I have seen this a few times now on various threads, are they inviting Jeff Gilooly to camp?

The Golden Age of Buffalo sports was that 1973-75 or '76, don't forget the Buffalo Braves who had McAdoo. OJ and McAdoo were MVPs and Perreault was one of the top players in the NHL, the French Connection the best line in the league. I have long thought the '75 OJ year was just a little better because of the TDs and the receiving threat. Also in '73 the team was not considered a playoff threat so while they were obviously trying to win games, the focus was really on the rushing record. The '75 year was phenomenal because they were coming off a playoff year, expectations were high and opponents were gunning for them.

DL group on the 53: Jerry Hughes Mario Addison Greg Rousseau Carlos Basham AJ Epenesa Ed Oliver Star Harrison Phillips Vernon Butler The mix of proven performers in the twilight of their careers (Hughes, Addison) with the young up and comers (Epenesa, Rousseau, Basham, Oliver) is very interesting and could be one of the biggest areas of upside potential in 2021. If they keep 10 maybe Darryl Johnson. If not, he will land a spot in the league. Maybe Beane trades him for a 6th.

Jerry Rice is not on the list. He played for a smaller school but had 300 catches, almost 4,700 receiving yards and 50 TDs. Imagine him in the Air Raid offenses in today's college game. Kirk Gibson is a cool name to put on the list at #45 but better college career than Rice? And you really can't use the small school argument against him either. At #40 is Aaron Turner who went to Pacific. Their football program folded 3 years after he graduated and his numbers weren't as good (266-4,345-43).

Early days: Also WRs - Marlin Briscoe and Bob Chandler. Though he had a great playing career, OJ's first 3 years (year 2 he got hurt) were wasted. Imagine if Saban had been here from the beginning of his career. Tony Greene and late 70-80s, Charles Romes Later: Moulds for sure

With Epenesa, Rousseau and Basham, if 2 of 3 end up being productive players, starting caliber edge guys (with versatility of kicking inside) the Bills have 2 value picks for the next few years. Edge rusher is great to have on rookie contracts for value. That is an example of the subtleties of the draft, roster building and cap management that Beane understands. Combined cap #s next 3 years: '21: $4.4 million '22: $5.6 million '23: $6.5 million If all 3 work out Beane hits a HR.

Has anyone ever see both Chuck Dickerson and Buddy Nix in the same room at the same time? I think they may be the same person.

All of this...against a bunch of guys who never made a 53 man roster. The coaches see him every day in practice and he hasn't been good enough. Beane uses the roster rules to their full advantage. Bringing him back for a 3rd year doesn't mean anything in terms of a "plan for him". See Spain, Quinton...

Christian Wade, the RB equivalent to the WR camp champs from Da'Rick Rodgers to Duke WIlliams. If Wade makes the 53 something has gone terribly wrong with Singletary, Moss, Breida and even Antonio Williams. That doesn't detract from his story, it just doesn't get him on the roster.

One of the better jazz vibe players...signing him would be music to Bills fans' ears.

A lot of people and articles say if there are only 20-25 players with first round grades and you have #30 and they're all gone, you should trade down. The flaw in that logic is if everyone else has the same grades why would they want to trade up? Of course not everyone has the same grade for every player so it is possible.

Definitely one of the top, well deserved. I would think that OJ Simpson would merit a lot of consideration but with the stuff after his playing days he is not given much thought for a lot of "best of" lists.

Trade to Raiders for a 5th rounder.

Shades of Marshall Newhouse.

Looking forward to Matt Breida becoming the best version of himself with the Bills. This is so smart, a relatively low/no risk, high reward scenario. If he plays at his 2018-19 level it's a terrific pickup. I think part of Beane's strategy is that if you sign enough of these low-budget, "be the best version of yourself" type guys you're bound to hit on a couple and if you do you really add value to your team (and end up looking pretty smart).

Signing Trubisky and Sanders and bringing everyone back = We're all in to win Super Bowl LVI.

If Wallace is the 11th best starter on D then the D will be pretty good. He probably will have significant competition for the starting spot. This also means that the Bills have all 11 starters back on D plus Taron Johnson the nickel (or AJ Klein as 3rd LB) so top 12 are all back, 9 of 11 on offense, with #10 Boettger tendered. Only John Brown is gone and they get potential starters Cody Ford and Star (on D of course) back from injury and opt out, respectively. In the salary cap era that has to be extremely rare.

If Wallace is the 11th best starter on D then the D will be pretty good. And probably will have significant competition for the starting spot.

Probably tried to work out a deal and when they couldn't they tendered him.

Fitz is #30 all time passing yards. If he starts the whole year he can get to #23: Fitzpatrick 34,977 Cutler 35,133 Kelly 35,467 A. Smith 35,650 Hasselbeck 36,638 McNabb 37,276 Esiason 37,920 Krieg 38,147 Next two are Unitas and Montana. Way different eras but still amazing he's that high on the list.

Jonnu Smith's numbers by year (year, rec., yds., TDs): 2017 18-157-2 2018 20-258-3 2019 35-439-3 2020 41-448-8 Gerald Everett's #s: 2017 16-244-2 2018 33-320-3 2019 37-408-2 2020 41-417-1 Dawson Knox's #s: 2019 28-388-2 2020 24-288-3 They play in very different offenses. You could make a case that Knox is further along in his development than Smith or Everett were at the end of their 2nd year. I was interested in Smith when first learning about him being a free agent, now I am thinking more that Knox is on the right path. Is 45-450-5 realistic for Knox this year and is that enough from the position given the other weapons/options? I look at passing yards breakdown like this (presuming all healthy) in 2021: Diggs 110-1350-8 Beasley 80-900-6 Davis 55-800-6 Other WRs 40-400-4 (hope McKenzie is part of it) RBs 50-400-3 TEs 55-550-7 That's 390-4,400-34, pretty close to 2020. Add in a better run game and it's high-powered offense again. My point is that the $8 million or so to bring in Smith probably does not align with the value. I don't think him or Everett come in and has a 65-700-8 season. If the Bills can get 100-105 receptions for close to 1,000 yards and 10 TDs from the RBs and TEs that will diversify the offense enough and still get the WRs, their best position group in terms of weapons, the requisite touches they need for the offense to be near the top of the league again.

For the draft now, they definitely can go BPA but for the first round pick my guess is they pick a position like CB or edge rusher because of relative value, particularly in years 3-5 of rookie contract. Then in rounds 2 and 3 I could see offense - interior OL, WR and wouldn't rule out TE or RB. I could also see them trading down, something like #30 for an early 2nd and early 4th. Trade value chart possibilities for #30: Atlanta's 2nd and 4th (#35 and #108) Cincy's 2nd (38), 4th (111) and 5th (149) Bills could throw in their 6th (211)

Someone posted the question the other day will McDermott eventually pass Marv as the best coach in Bills history. What does Beane have to do to pass Polian as the best GM in Bills history? I would say either (a) win a Super Bowl or (b) have about a 15 year run of excellence with multiple Super Bowl appearances.

Do the Bills have a John Nash clone working the salary cap for Beane? Brilliant. I'm going to guess that Williams counts $5-6 million against cap this year. Still room to maneuver. No Lee Smith saves another $2.2M. They have to decide what they want at G, they have Ford, could sign Boettger and/or Feliciano, could draft a G. Lots of options. Most of all it is so nice that they have a sound plan and strategy.