Forward Progress

This game is huge for a week one matchup: - Division Rivals - Each team is better that last year - Sophomore QB’s that appear stronger than last year - Significant playoff implications This is really a must-win game for each team. When I’ve lurked on the Jets’ board, almost every poster checks this as a win for their team. On our board, almost every poster checks this as a win for our team. One team’s board will melt down on Sunday night. It won’t be ours. Bills 24 Jets 20

We can and I was thinking about this too. It would be too much risk to run with the rookie kicker in high-pressure situations, without knowing that he can handle the pressure. I'm sure we stick with Haushka for the next two years, barring an injury or complete break down in his game.

Beane's scouting expectations go well beyond watching film and picking the most talented football players. He's drafting players for who they can become and to do this he needs to understand their character. He's looking for players who play to win, put the team first and will show up to work everyday to get better. This approach to talent evaluation takes much more effort, but will pay out in the long run. Allen's college performance isn't worth drafting if that's the QB he will always be. It is Allen's character that convinced Beane that he is the type of person who will continue to grow as an NFL football player. I understand your point - just get up into the top five and grab your quarterback. What if three QB's are gone in the top three and you are sitting at 5 without a QB that you want on your team? All of the draft equity we had would be spent to move up and we still don't get our QB. Beane had several trades lined up for draft day to move up, but only if a QB worth drafting was available. I think the draft played out pretty well for us where we got both Josh and Edmunds in the first round. It looks like you and I were making similar points at the same time.

For both McDermott and Beane, the character of the players is critically important in their evaulation of every draft pick. This is even more true at the QB position as he becomes the leader of the offense, whether he is a natural leader or not. Beane and the Bills scouting staff put tremendous time into the evaluation of the QB's in the 2018 class. For McDermott to endorse Mahomes one year earlier without the thorough evaluation that occurred when Beane arrived would have been a huge gamble. In hindsight, we all saw what Mahomes did this past year in the perfect situation with coaching, developing behind a veteran QB and strong supporting cast on offense. Would Mahomes have been a league MVP in the Bills' offence? I don't think so, but I think he would have been very good. This year we will see Allen's second year and I am hopeful that we will see a step forward. I think our offense will be a "take what the defence gives us" offense. I think we will get some more support from the running game, with the O-line upgrades and RB depth. Allen's running threat forces a LB spy, leaving one less defender in coverage and I think Allen will make better decisions with the football. Mahomes and Allen will always be compared because of the trade, but our GM and scouting team were not in place to be sure that we got the right guy. I agree with an earlier comment, that Whaley couldn't make that pick because he was on his way out the door.

Honestly, I am more concerned by the Pats Defence than their Offence now. I think our defence is great and the Patriots defence is also great. It’s not easy for me say that one is much better than the other.

Preseason stats don’t tell us much of anything. The preseason games are little more televised practices with other teams. If football was simply a mathematical optimization, all of the coaching and scouting staff would have degrees in actuarial science. The focus of game two was the quick passing game, which featured Josh and Beasley. The focus of game three was the run game, which also does not feature Brown. The reports out of camp were that Josh and Brown were connecting well and that Brown was a better route runner than anticipated. He can do more than just run fast downfield.

Seriously?!? If any of us were going to switch teams, it would have happened by now. The last 20 years have not been kind to us and we keep coming back. I'm sure that $100 increase on the ticket price is a lot easier to handle than what we've already spent replacing broken TV's, lamps, windows and marriages.

The Dolphins are clearly tanking if they let Mills walk out the door.

I don't think this makes the Bills' path easier - actually, I think it makes it harder. Somebody still has to win the AFC south, so that playoff spot is still taken. The AFC West plays the AFC South this year, so the path just got easier for that division. Any reason to think that both KC and LAC won't go 4-0 against the AFC south this year? Wildcard spot #1 probably goes to the AFC West. This leaves one Wildcard for the AFC East and North to fight over. I understand the argument that weakening AFC playoff contenders is good for the Bills. I just believe that these injuries help the teams that play HOU and INDY this year more than the injuries help the Bills.

I draft #2 tonight as well and plan to take McCaffrey. I am tempted to take Zeke, because he is the better pick if he plays and holding out into the season will cost him too much. Anyway... McCaffrey for me.

If the asking price includes a first round draft pick, we are better to walk away. I’d rather have 5 years of a first round pick on a rookie contract than one year on a franchise tender with no legal means to extend the contract. Next years draft is strong in WR’s, where a strong #1 receiver will improve our team.

Duke is looking like the receiver that Kelvin Benjamin was supposed to be for us - not great speed, but big, strong and wins contested catches. Benjamin had checked out before he got here and didn't come close to meeting expectations, but still got all of the #1 snaps for the first half of the season. You know the arrow is pointing up when the guy fighting for the #6 WR spot on the team is playing better than the #1 guy the same time last year.

You know what this means... we did face an NFL starting QB against Indy.

Week 1 is an important matchup against the Jets. The Bills offence needs preseason to gel to win that game. No one wants an injury, but we need to be ready to win week 1.

Jets fans are clearly paying close attention to ESPN, the national media coverage and some kid named Brandon who, based on Josh Allen's stats from high school, junior college and Wyoming have determined that Josh Allen and any team foolish enough to draft Josh Allen will be easily beaten in 2019 against every NFL team and the top 5 ranked college teams. I do believe the Jets have improved this offseason, and I think Darnold will be a good QB for many years. We have also improved and our defense will make life tough for the Jets offense, while Josh has shown that he is learning to read the defense, make adjustments at the line and take whatever the defense is giving. I like being the underdog. I like gliding under the radar and I will enjoy lurking on the Jets board after the first game when they have to deal with losing to an inferior opponent that everyone said they should beat.

This article on Darryl Johnson just came out today. Sorry for posting from a paid site (it's the only paid site that I subsribe to), but it's a great article that goes into Johnson's background and path through high school and college. https://theathletic.com/1154574/2019/08/22/he-can-be-a-beast-in-this-league-how-darryl-johnson-became-the-surprise-of-the-bills-draft-class/ Small excerpt: His old coaches have seen this movie before. “He’s always faced this same scenario: ‘Fight for a spot and show what I can do.’ He’s accustomed to this,” Coffey said. “He’s hungry for this. He’s not going to let up. He’s just always kind of been in that mode where he’s had to prove his value and his worth in some type of way. There’s no reason for me to believe he’s not going to respond now. “I promise you, you guys haven’t seen anything yet,” Washington said. “The sky is the limit with this boy. He’s going to do some things because of his natural ability and talent but also his work ethic. He’s going to outwork the average guy.”

The Jets, who picked 3rd overall in this year's draft, are not in the bottom 10?

Through our entire playoff drought, I don’t remember any of our QB’s getting the bashing that Allen does. Our string of QB’s has been Kelly Holcomb, JP Losman, Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick, EJ Manual, Kyle Orton, and Tyrod Taylor - none of these guys got the national disrespect that Allen is getting. The stat sheet scouts have very strong opinions against Allen because, in their opinion, numbers never lie. It’s reached crusade level recently.

Hmmm... it is tempting to give up a first round pick to add a me-first personality to team-first team. Let me sleep on it.

As long as we lose our NFC matchups, tie breakers will put us in the playoffs and nobody gets fired. ?

Slightly off of your topic... I don’t like the booth reviews. Managing your challenges and timeouts is just another strategic layer of the most strategic pro sport. I think every very challenge should be a coaches challenge, so coaches who are better with challenges have a strategic advantage over those who challenge poorly. No more automatic reviews on scoring plays, turnovers and in the final two minutes. Let the coaches be the only source of challenges. The result will be that only game-changing plays are challenged, which should be the purpose of the challenge system.

Funny, I thought this was going to be a thread about trading away the players who don’t make the final 53 with the Bills to teams who would trade day-3 picks in return. Instead, it was an actual garage sale thread.

I’m worried that our team has improved so much that I will be disappointed when we make the playoffs as a wildcard team instead of winning the division with a bye and a home playoff game.

This looks like the best five on the field to me. When we signed Spain in free agency, I checked out the Titans board to see their response. They weren't really sad to see Spain go.

This has me excited. There were two many games where teams ran it down our throats last year and Edmunds choosing the right gap will go a long way toward correcting this. We already know our pass defense is very strong... if our run game is strong like it appeared last night, this defense will be elite.