[WR Percy Harvin's first visit is with Bills]

Can we just sign him already? I'm getting anxiety just sitting here waiting to hear ANYTHING about Clay and Harvin

[WR Percy Harvin's first visit is with Bills]

I heard they locked Harvin up in the basement and chained him to a radiator. They refused a phone call or any visitors, only chance of leaving; Sign the Contract!!!

 

 

 

Imo

Are they going to grape him in the mouth? For decades and decades and decades?

[[closed]Playing "What if?" how would you feel about Greg Hardy]

Let's get this out of the way, so that people don't have to keep saying it: He is obviously a scum bag. He assaulted his girlfriend and threatened to kill her. He is a horrible person.

 

Because of how good he is, he WILL get a new contract on some team. NFL.com has him rated as one of the top 5 free agents despite his history. The NFL is a business, and because of that, people who are skilled enough get all the chances they need. Just look at T.O., who was continually described as a locker room cancer, but continually got new contracts until he got too old to play. Look at A.P., who assaulted his own kid, but would apparently be welcomed back to the VIkings with open arms.

 

All that said, how would you feel if the Bills signed him to a one year deal? Having him play opposite Hughes in a 3-4, with Hughes, Dareus, Williams, Williams, and Hardy all having the potential to rush the QB on any given down would give the Bills a huge edge on defense. However, is that worth all the baggage and horror that would bring?

 

I'm not advocating for either side. I'm simply asking, with 12 hours to go until free agency officially begins, how all of you would feel about the Bills signing Hardy to a one year deal.

[Any chance of signing Julius Thomas?]

They used the franchise tag on D. Thomas. Rumor is that they're willing to let J. Thomas test the market, but they still want to get a deal done.

That's what I've been hearing, but unless Manning takes a pay cut, it doesn't seem like they'll be able to bring him back. The Raiders and Jags keep getting listed as possible landing places for him, but it's possible that he might decide he wants to go somewhere that will get more than 3 wins next year and still have his pay day

[Any chance of signing Julius Thomas?]

So it looks like Julius Thomas is on the outs with Denver. Does anyone think there's a reasonable chance that we sign him? Would we have the cap room to do it? I for one would love the move, as we need a play making TE, but would he price himself out of our range?

[Bills/Raiders second half game thread]

Anyone know if Dareus is coming back in? What did he actually do?

[Just because we're paranoid - Another suspicious call]

That wasn't the route that Watkins took. The above is a clear pick.

 

And to be perfectly honest, the block is close enough to when the ball gets there that the ref could have thought it was a block after the ball arrived (which is not a penalty). I don't know if that play was called or not, and it should have been, but with how close together they are at full speed, its possible the refs just thought it was too close to call if it wasn't called.

[Just because we're paranoid - Another suspicious call]

Thats how all picks work though. The defender who is trailing a receiver runs into another receiver who's route is designed to take him into the path of that defender.

 

That's exactly what happened. At the very least it's illegal contact on the offense.

 

Thre is a difference between a legal and an illegal pick. Here's an illustration of it:

 

If a receiver runs down field and blocks a receiver, that is an illegal pick, and the receiver will get flagged for illegal contact or pass interference.

 

If a receiver runs down field and his route takes him into the path of a defender, then the defender has to go around him. That is a completely legal play.

 

If you have the second scenario, and instead of going around the receiver, the defender tries to go through him instead of around him, that's defensive pass interference. If the receiver does not try to block the DB, the receiver should never be flagged on that type of play (I say SHOULD instead of WILL because we all remember the Sammy Watkins offensive PI call against the Patriots* where Sammy tries to run his route, gets run into by Woods' defender, gets jacked up, and an obviously wrong offensive PI call was made against him).

 

Another example is any time you see two receivers run crossing routes coming from opposite sides of the field. You have a smaller guy run the inside route, the bigger guy run the route about 6 inches further down the field. If the smaller guy's defender is downfield at all, he has to go around the bigger guy (allowing the smaller guy to get open) or he can run into the bigger guy and draw a defensive PI call. Those are his options.

 

TL:DR - not all pick plays are illegal. In fact, most aren't, and offensive coordinators make use of them all the time.

[Just because we're paranoid - Another suspicious call]

I'm sorry that was clearly a pick by Watkins. The ball was in the air going towards Hogan not Watkins, so no way pass interference. Talib broke towards Hogan, Sammy "accidentally" ran in front of his path to Hogan while the ball was in the air.

 

That's a pick.

 

You're an idiot. Sammy was just running his route and never even saw the ball was in the air. He made no effort to run into Talib, and it was Talib that ran into him. Watch it again, you'll see. If anything gets called, that's defensive pass interference, but for once in that game the refs actually made the right call. Incidental contact, like when feet get tangled up. No call.

[Bills at Dolphins TNF - 2nd Half Game Thread]

Is McKelvin injured? It looked like he went down hard when he whiffed on that run in the first half, and I haven't seen him since. I'm at a bar watching the game, so I don't get sound too well

[Dolphins 5- 5.5 Point Favorites]

Two games ago: Bills beat Dolphins 19-0.

One game ago: Bills beat Dolphins 29-10.

 

My prediction: Bills win 39-20

[NFL Maps: 2014 Week 10]

Why does the Steelers vs Jets game get so much coverage? That's a HORRIBLE game. Biggest blow out all year?

 

Eh, maybe I'm just upset because I've been about 2 counties away from getting Bills games at home all year, yet have not had a single one so far this season.

[Official 1st half thread Vikings at Bills - week 7]

Another bad no call: no PI on the throw to Watkins by the goal line. Vikings player grabbed Watkins by the arms and dragged him with him while Watkins was trying to catch

[As long as we're starting ex-Bears wash-outs...]

...why not "Unleash the Dragon"? Why not go with Sexy Rexy? He's a free agent. In the post game, Mike Williams, while commenting on his 80 yard TD, said “Ran right by him. The play before … I ran right by him then, too..." Rex Grossman can throw the deep ball all day.

 

Warning: language, NSFW

http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/2006/11/f-k-it-im-throwing-it-downfield.html

[Wanna feel better, Bills fans?]

I'll give you that. I'm sure you've probably seen this but hope it helps.

 

 

If you're gonna post the "factory of sadness" video, you can't forget this one, too!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM

[Who Will Be The Top Performing Bills Receiver For Bears Game]

Fred Jackson. I'm really hoping I'm wrong, but I'm predicting EJ loses confidence early, stops trying to throw it downfield, and checks down far too often, making the RBs the players with the most catches. Freddy edges Spiller by being the better all-around player.

[Should the NFL expand?]

I'd actually think that doing something along the lines of the english soccer leagues would be a really good idea. Add 8 football teams, then you have two interconnected leagues of 20 teams each. At the end of the year, the three worst teams in the upper tier league get demoted to the lower league, who are replaced by the three best teams from the lower league. That way the better teams are all going against each other and the league stays competitive without crappy blow out games that people knew who was the victor before the game was even played, like the Broncos vs Jaguars game last year, or something equally ridiculous. Even the teams at the bottom of the league have a reason to keep fighting deep into the season so that they don't get demoted.

[2014 media projections for Bills]

http://www.rantsport...e-draft/#slide8 6-10

 

http://msn.foxsports...4-season-051914 6.5 - 9.5

http://www.cbssports...-nfl-win-totals 6.5 - 9.5

http://blakeattherig...tions-2014.html 6.5 - 9.5

http://www.nationalf...djustments.html 6.5 - 9.5

 

http://espn.go.com/b...our-team-finish 7-9

http://therealsports...ss-predictions/ 7-9

http://blakeattherig...tions-2014.html 7-9

http://www.cbssports...fseason-preview 7-9

 

We either have the 14th hardest or 23rd hardest schedule according to this: http://fivethirtyeig...edules-in-2014/

 

I went through that article from fivethirtyeight.com you gave and saw the link about pythagorean wins, and was curious so I clicked on that (http://www.pro-football-reference.com/blog/?p=337). In there, it lists a good way to predict wins for the next year, namely "Year N+1 wins =~ 3.93 + .11*(Year N wins) + .34*(Year N Pythag wins) + .06*(Year N AdjPythag wins)" where Pythagorean wins = PF^2.37 / (PF^2.37 + FA^2.37) and Adjusted Pythagorean wins are the average of the calculated pythagorean wins for each game (so that blow outs aren't counted too heavily).

 

Doing all the math, I came out with a predicted 7.29 wins for the coming year, which is essentially what the media is predicting for us, also

[Power Ranking The 32 Teams]

Preseason Edition

This season, I'm inviting TBD to help with Power Ranking to determine the pick order for DraftTek mock drafts. I know it's early. But we actually have to have a pick order established in 2 weeks, and DraftTek Analysts need players in rank order for our Big Board in a month. So that we have something to argue about, here is my initial rank-order of teams.

 

THE "TOP-SHELF SIX"

San Francisco 49ers

Tank Carradine, Corey Lemonier, and Aaron edge-rushing

Navorro Bowman will miss games but I love Chris Borland -Shayne Skov - Patrick Willis, with Aaron Lynch in reserve.

Jimmie Ward and Eric Reid S

Colin Kaepernick

Weapons galore: a healthy Michael Crabtree, added Stevie Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Baldwin, Bruce Ellington, Vernon Davis

offensive line, wild card: Aldon Smith situation

running back depth, can pound it but have speedsters (Gore, Hyde, Lattimore, Trey Millard, LaMichael James who is also PR and KR), distributing one ball to so many playmakers

 

Denver Broncos

Peyton Manning. Wild card is sharp dropoff behind him: Osweiler, Dysert, Renner

Have aging Wes Welker, Added Emmanuel Sanders and Cody Latimer; Lost Eric Decker, slight improvement

Julius Thomas=elite TE

Ryan Clady returns, with Franklin, Ramirez on L side.

Gone: Wesley Woodyard, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Champ Bailey New: Aqib Talib at LCB, DeMarcus Ware at RDE, T.J. Ward at SS and Bradley Roby at RCB opposite Talib

Von Miller at SLB

 

Seattle Seahawks

The Champs

Russell Wilson, then Tarvaris Jackson and Terrrelle Pryor

Backfield of Marshawn Lynch (if he returns--same nonsense in Buffalo), Christine Michael, and Robert Turbin

Paul Richardson new WR, Percy Harvin’s healthy, average after that.

Michael Bowie replaces Breno Giacomini 0n the offensive line--net gain. Okung, Carpenter-Unger is left side

Gone: Chris Clemons, Clinton McDonald and Red Bryant---net loss

DL: Avril, Michael Bennett DE's above average,; DTs are Tony McDaniel (added) and Mebane, Kevin Williams which are above average.

They added WLB Kevin Pierre-Louis (draft)

Legion of Boom backfield is fully intact.

 

New Orleans Saints

Drew Brees then a big dropoff (McCown, Ryan Griffin, Logan Kilgore)

WRs Brandin Cooks, Stills, Meachem, Colston, , added Brandon Coleman

RB Pierre Thomas, Mark Ingram; and Khiry Robinson and/or Tim Flanders could impress

Jimmy Graham TE is red zone (have until July 15 to work out a long-term deal--then one year deal)

Akiem Hicks and Cameron Jordan are NFL's underrated DEs

Add Jairus Byrd with Kenny Vaccaro S, and you now have one of top 3 safety duos

not a lot of depth

 

New England Patriots

Tom Brady

OL still above average

WRs Aaron Dobson or Josh Boyce will have to step up, Amendola, Edelman must show they're consistent, and Gronk must stay healthy.

On DL, Dominique Easley's the wild card with his medical issues, but typical BB pick.

Dont’a Hightower, Jerod Mayo and Jamie Collins is impressive LB group

Secondary is Top 5: Darrelle Revis, Devin McCourty, Brandon Browner and Logan Ryan.

 

Green Bay Packers

Aaron Rodgers. Healthy.

WR Weapons Davante Adams, Jeff Janis, Jared Abbrederis added in the draft. Randall Cobb is healthy.

Bryan Bulaga is healthy and the line is average

Pass Rush looks good. Julius Peppers, Clay Matthews

Ha Ha Clinton-Dix adds the springy athleticism needed on the back end of the defense.

Colt Lyerla and/or Jermichael Finley TE

 

THE "PAY ATTENTION TEN"

 

Philadelphia Eagles

Chip Kelly is a factor; pace and efficiency are the key concepts

Best OL in NFL

Darren Sproles added to LeSean McCoy means full throttle without fatigue

Jordan Matthews will be thrown into the fire right away and Jeremy Maclin’s back,

Gone: DeSean Jackson

TE Zach Ertz

Wild card is back end of the D.

 

Baltimore Ravens

Restructuring mode...okay, they're rebuilding.

Ozzie Newsome great drafts

Mercenary Steve Smith brought in at wR

Pitta returns

Gary Kubiak’s calling the offense's plays

Jeremy Zuttah>Gino Gradkowski at center Aging but still good D-Line (Ngata, Cody, Brandon Williams, Canty) and adds Jernigan

LB unit is top five (Suggs, Dumervil, Daryl Smith, Upshaw, Arthur Brown, and now Mosley from draft)

Terrance Brooks should be a fine complement to Matt Elam on the back end of the secondary.

 

Kansas City Chiefs

Wild card team in 2014 (9-0 at one point, then 2-5 down the stretch, turnover ratio of +18)

Lost to Colts as Andrew Luck led the come-from-behind victory, a microcosm of their season

Impressive D (Eric Berry, Jamaal Charles, Justin Houston, Tamba Hali, newbie Dee Ford)

Wild card is Alex Smith

OL losses will be costly (Branden Albert and Jon Asamoah)

 

Chicago Bears

O-Weapons: Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, Martellus Bennett, Matt Forte, and Ka’Deem Carey

Wild card: Jay Cutler's health (career numbers, then got hurt)

DL revamped, adding Lamarr Houston, Jared Allen, Willie Young, and rooks Ego Ferguson and Will Sutton. Chicago needs young LB to improve.

CBs could be good if Kyle Fuller learns quickly from vets Charles Tillman and Tim Jennings

 

Detroit Lions

Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate, Brandon Pettigrew, Reggie Bush and Joique Bell.

Add: Eric Ebron, Joseph Fauria, Ryan Broyles, Kris Durham, and Kevin Ogletree

Sound offensive line

Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley, and an improving Ziggy Ansah --nice D-Line

Add: rookie Kyle Van Noy (who'd better learn quick from Stephen Tulloch and DeAndre Levy in LB corps)

Two Too-new coordinators?

 

St. Louis Rams

With Buffalo, top NFL Defensive Line= Robert Quinn. Michael Brockers. Chris Long.

Better depth than Buffalo though=Aaron Donald., William Hayes, Alex Carrington, Kendall Langford

Learning curve for OL, but damn good at outset (Greg Robinson, getting Jake Long and Rodger Saffold)

Zac Stacy and Sam Bradford.

Tavon Austin: if he stays healthy he can help, but if injured, the unit is average at best (Brian Quick, Britt)

The secondary is above average

 

Indianapolis Colts

Andrew Luck

Added Hakeem Nicks

Dwayne Allen returns

OL needs development

Robert Mathis suspended to start

Zach Kerr and Josh Chapman at nose

D’Qwell Jackson at MLB is above average

Trent Richardson is a wild card

 

Buffalo Bills

RB is one of NFL's most-solid on paper (Spiller, Fred Jackson, Bryce Brown, Anthony Dixon, Fred Summers, Evan Rodriguez. Pick 3).

The offensive line (Cordy Glenn, Chris Hairston, Eric Wood, Urbik, Kouandjio) gets 5 preseason games to jell

WRs Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, Mike Williams, Marquise Goodwin (TJ Graham, Easley, Hogan, Elliott) have speed to burn, and might keep 7, so good run-pass balance

EJ Manuel is the wild card

DL one of NFL's three best, I rank them #2 behind Rams due to Dareus's probable suspension (Mario Williams. Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus, Alan Branch, Jerry Hughes, Lawson, Corbin Bryant, Jarius Wynn)

Jerry Hughes was one of the NFL’s most efficient pass-rushers in 2013 per PFF

Additions of thumper Brandon Spikes at MLB, Rivers at OLB, Alonso's range moves to OLB

Gilmore, McKelvin, Robey, Graham at CB; Aaron Williams, Searcy at S is impressive backfield

 

Cincinnati Bengals

Loss of Anthony Collins and Michael Johnson in free agency

Rookies Jeremy Hill and Darqueze Dennard will be thrown into the fire early

Geno Atkins and Leon Hall return

Andy Dalton--meh

 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Top spenders in Free Agency (Michael Johnson, Alterraun Verner, Clinton McDonald, Josh McCown, Oniel Cousins)

Playmakers acquired in draft (6’5″ Mike Evans and 6’6″ Austin Seferian-Jenkins)

Darrelle Revis is gone

Lavonte David and Gerald McCoy, First-Team All-Pros excellent

RBs Doug Martin, Mike James, and rookie Charles Sims

 

THE "WILD CARD FIVE"

 

Cleveland Browns

Mike Pettine knows how to blitz, has some pieces to do it, but he's new

Johnny Manziel is the wildest of wild cards

Josh Gordon suspension will hurt Andrew Hawkins YAC slot guy

Solid O-Line and D-Line

Jordan Cameron is a freak

Above-average D with Karlos Dansby, Donte Whitner, Pierre Desir

 

New York Jets

D-Line is disruptive, likely top 3

Rex Ryan's blitz schemes with Muhammad Wilkerson (DE is 2nd in NFL to Watt), Sheldon Richardson DT

David Harris, rookie Calvin Pryor

WR Eric Decker acquired, draft added Jace Amaro

Geno Smith a wild card like Buffalo

Loowest percentage of Elite and HQ players in division, per PFF

35% of team is in Poor or Below Avg. ability ranking, most in division per PFF

 

Pittsburgh Steelers

Shazier won't help them as much as they think

Dick Lebeau’s defensive mind is a plus

Shamarko Thomas and Markus Wheaton need to step up

Picks Stephon Tuitt and Josh Mauro will play early, learn on the fly

Some aging, some inexperienced players is biggest Achilles heel.

OL is just below average except for David DeCastro

 

Miami Dolphins

Improved OL---Signing Branden Albert, Drafted Ju’Wuan James

Ryan Tannehill needs to step up

Mike Wallace, Jarvis Landry at WR are just above average

No Elite players on team, per PFF

DL is underrated (Olivier Vernon, Randy Starks, Jared Odrick)

Average LBs, moved Koa Misi to MLB (not sure about how that'll go)

Finnegan could be picked on in secondary but Brent Grimes at CB and Reshad Jones at S could help them

Lamar Miller at RB is their wild card

 

San Diego Chargers

Overachieved in 2013

High-efficiency offense will help them, Rivers to Keenan Allen will help

Beyond the secondary, defense is below average

OL is below average but with quick passing, it won't have to be.

 

THE "SEVERELY AVERAGE SEVEN"

 

Arizona Cardinals

DL is well above average (Calais Campbell and Darnell Dockett)

One of the best secondaries in NFL (Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu, & rookie Deone Bucannon)

Season-long suspension of Daryl Washington, and Karlos Dansby wasn’t re-signed Andre Ellington RB

Jonathan Cooper adds more stability to an average OL

Carson Palmer profits from a nice group of WRs (Fitz, Floyd, Ginn)

 

New York Giants

Likely the second-best roster in the NFC East

Gone: Hakeem Nicks; Added: Odell Beckham Jr. and Victor Cruz, so net gain in pass game

Eli Manning and rook Andre Williams wild cards, along with New OC Ben McAdoo (expect more efficiency)

Improved OL

Promising DL needs time to gel (Jonathan Hankins, Damontre Moore, and Jay Bromley); Will Jason Pierre-Paul rise up?

 

Washington Redskins

A healthy Robert Griffin III

DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garcon, and TE Jordan Reed are good targets

Below average defense, added Jason Hatcher

Very good LBs (rookie Trent Murphy, Orakpo, ILB Akeem Jordan, Ryan Kerrigan)

Liability is secondary

 

Minnesota Vikings

Playmakers Greg Jennings, Cordarrelle Patterson. Adrian Peterson

Very good OL (Matt Khalil, John Sullivan and Phil Loadholt)

Teddy Bridgewater learning curve is a wild card, will ascend later in season

Average DL

Xavier Rhodes is rose among thorny secondary

LB is below average for now; Anthony Barr will ascend later in season

 

Dallas Cowboys

Strength will be offensive playmakers ---Tony Romo, Dez Bryant, Jason Witten, DeMarco Murray and rookie Terrance Williams, but will be outscored in half their games with their bottom five defense

Defense was below average then lost DE DeMarcus Ware (now with Broncos), LB Sean Lee ( tore his left ACL at the team's OTA ), and DE Jason Hatcher (to Redskins, has camp injury)

Questionable choices in recent drafts along both lines

 

Carolina Panthers

Gone: Jordan Gross (retired), Steve Smith

Cam Newton to Kelvin Benjamin is interesting, but...who else can you throw to? Cotchery (year 11)? Avant (9th year)? Underwood (178 lbs, waived by 3 different teams)?

Secondary is well below average

Well above average DL (Hardy, Chas Johnson Lotulelei) and LB corps (Kuechly) will keep them in it

 

Atlanta Falcons

Matt Ryan. Roddy White. Harry Douglas. Julio Jones are the playmakers. Check.

Drafted: Jake Matthews OL. Check.

Lost: Sean Weatherspoon. UhOh. Weak defense except for Desmond Trufant

Some defensive changes in base nickel alignment will add more stress to D

 

THE "CELLAR DWELLER FELLERS"

 

Oakland Raiders---cream of the crap

Significant improvement in Front 7 on D (Justin Tuck, LaMarr Woodley, Khalil Mack, Antonio Smith, Justin Ellis, Sio Moore)

Gabe Jackson will be baptized early as OG

James Jones a good red-zone target

Matt Schaub or Derek Carr? Better decide early

Maurice Jones-Drew

 

Tennessee Titans

The quarterback position is worrisome with Jake Locker. The transition to Ray Horton’s 3-4 doesn’t exactly fit the strength’s of the defensive personnel.

Gone: Alterraun Verner (Tampa Bay)

Kendall Wright the playmaker

Will Justin Hunter be more consistent in Year 2?

Above average OL through the last two drafts

Bishop Sankey will get you fantasy points

 

Houston Texans

Ryan Fitzpatrick as the starter with backups Tom Savage and Case Keenum

J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney are elite

Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins will be nice, reliable targets for whoever is throwing them the football.

Aging Arian Foster (7th season, tied his career average of 4.5 in 2013)

 

Jacksonville Jaguars

Henne or a raw Bortles? Oh, my.

Slightly above average WRs, and young (Ace Sanders, Marqise Lee, Cecil Shorts, Mike Brown)

Below-average OL means less time to throw

Decent DL (Red Bryant, Chris Clemons, Walter Thurmond)

Average LB corps

 

Have a different order? A different logic? I want to hear from you. Convince me to change my Power Rankings on the as-yet-unpublished DraftTek Power Rankings Page!

--Astro

 

 

My groups are somewhat similar, but here's how I'd do it (teams within groups in no particular order:

 

Top Shelf Teams:

San Francisco

Seattle

Denver

New England

New Orleans

 

Very Good Teams:

Green Bay

Chicago

Arizona

 

On the Bubble:

St. Louis

Buffalo

Philly

Baltimore

Indy

San Diego

 

Teams Still Good but on the Decline:

Carolina

Kansas City

Cincinnati

 

Average Teams:

Detroit

Tampa Bay

Cleveland

New York Jets

Miami

Pittsburgh

 

6-10 Teams:

New York Giants

Washington

Dallas

Atlanta

 

Bottom of the Barrel:

Tennessee

Jacksonville

Oakland

Houston

Minnesota

[Wow...I must be such a homer...USA Projections]

One of the biggest jokes in this article I see is that they have Indy going to the Super Bowl for the AFC. Granted, Andrew Luck is very good, and the AFC South is very weak, so they will be going to the playoffs. I just don't think they compare in any way to the big boys. When you have a spectacular QB, but absolutely nothing else, you're kinda screwed. Kinda like how if you are good everywhere but QB...

[Watkins trade compared to Julio Jones trade]

I don't get all the people on here demanding that EJ be replaced with our first next year. He has half a year experience under his belt, that's it. He had some games that could imply he's a bust. He's also had some flashes that could imply that with consistency, he could be a top-10 QB, if not better. If he keeps playing like last year (if not improves) with at least flashes of brilliance, I don't see any possible way the Bills use a first round pick next year on a QB, even if they had it.

 

I've also heard people saying that Bills are in a win-now mentality. My response to that: FINALLY! How long has it been since we've had that mentality? Where we genuinely expect to win and are pissed off when we don't? The fact that we made this move will probably signal to the entire team the demand that we win now, and that we expect to win now. There shouldn't be that "lovable loser" mentality, and I doubt it will be allowed any more. The players can either buy into that mentality or buy a ticket out of Buffalo.

 

I don't know which I approve of more, enforcing that win now mentality onto the organization, or the pick itself in that we are most likely getting a true blue-chip player and a #1 WR, someone who I personally expect to become a top-5 player at his position.

 

For all the nay-sayers out there who still think this was a bad trade, and that we gave up too much next year, I have this to say to you. Even if E.J. does end up not being the QB of the future, we are set to provide for the next. We have WRs who, by the time we get another QB, will have the experience and ability to be one of the best receiving cores in the league. With the picks this weekend on our line, Kujo and Richardson, we've shored up the offensive line with good young players who, along with Wood and Glenn, could become one of the better lines in the league. We have one of the better RB tandems in the league. We had a good, aggresive defense last year, and other than the loss of Byrd, it's getting better. I've looked ahead to the people who could become free agents in 2015, and there's no one who cannot be replaced, or would need to be replaced due to retirement, anyways (Jerry Hughes, Fred Jackson, Erik Pears, Brandon Spikes, Searcy, and Easley are the cream of that particular crop). If we do in fact need to replace E.J., that new QB will be surrounded by a young team that still has some experience, and should only be getting better.

[Bills playoff chances even better this year?]

Ending the playoff drought during a year that the playoffs are expanded would be exceedingly 'Billsy'.

 

I feel like not getting into the playoffs despite the expansion would be ever more "Billsy"

[I'm mad as hell & I'm not gonna take it any more!]

Lets win the offseason! That always works out well!

[2014 dream draft scenario]

I'm with #34fan. You pay your elite players at whatever position they play, then fill in holes around them as necessary. Any non-elite players are expendable. It's elite players that win you championships.

[Has anyone new risen to top 8]

I think that where some of us differ is our opinion of Cordy. The advance metrics say that he was outstanding this year in only his 2nd year. He was by miles the best OL on the team. Glenn could have easily been a pro bowl LT this year and that is where I expect him.

 

I also believe that all 3 OTs are really good prospects and are LTs. If the Bills were to take one it would not be with the intent of playing the at LT. That is why I am against OT at 9.

 

Back on the topic though one more guy that I forgot earlier is Aaron Donald. He tested SO well that maybe he continues to climb. The only top 8 team that I could see making that move though is Atlanta at 6. I don't think that it is likely but possible.

 

Okay, I get that. Cordy is very good. I agree. But if you get a second OT, the better one, whichever that is, plays the blind side. If you don't have a second OT, though, like currently do not, what happens when the other team actually has a second good pass rusher? Or, like with Mario Williams, the best pass rusher likes to play against that RT that isn't as good as the LT? Your QB goes down, you can't run the ball well, etc.

 

I am completely fine with us drafting an OT. Even if Cordy remains awesome and the other LT never surpasses him, if Cordy ends up leaving after his contract is up, we would then have someone to plug in at LT instead of being screwed like we were after Jason Peters. Additionally, the FO has more leverage when Cordy's contract comes up, saying "hey, we don't absolutely need you, we can just plug in this other incredible LT." Then, we have the chance of keeping Cordy long term at a fair price that doesn't keep us from being able to pay anyone else, we have another OT to take care of the other side of the line, and we're set at C with Woods long term, so we just need some serviceable guards and have a great offensive line that can dominate at the line of scrimmage for years to come. How is that a bad thing, or not game-changing? Dominating the line of scrimmage is game changing at its most basic, even if it's not what you see in the replays.