Forward Progress

Move to Canada and get DAZN. Every NFL Game (live or delayed) and European Premiere Soccer (plus some sports I don't watch) for $150 Cdn per year. If you only watch NFL, $20/month might be better. We are nice people here, I think you'd like us.

Thanks to three injuries to the guys above him, he got a lot of reps for a 7th round draft pick. It sounds like he made the most of his opportunity. I'm looking forward to seeing him with my own eyes tomorrow night. I'm still higher on Knox than Sweeney as he is significantly faster and he was playing well up until the injury. In addition to his own routes, his speed will help with down field blocking as well.

Realistically, there isn’t room for both the Jets and the Bills in the playoffs. Assuming the Patriots continue their reign of dominating the AFC East, it’s unlikely that both AFC wildcards come from the same division. The winner of this game is much better positioned than the other for a wildcard spot. The fanbase of the losing team of this game will be hurting after this game as both fan bases view this as a winnable game.

That is a different scenario than I had in mind. Thanks for the clarification. I’m sure the players are tired of practice and ready for some real football by now.

I like the habit of taking a shot when the defense jumps offside, even in practice. You want the WR’s to develop the habit to run the full route every time, even on a flagged play.

After thoroughly scouting a 5-min highlight reel, I thought Duke would be our 5th receiver. Unfortunately, he hasn’t made many headlines so far, so I have to admit that he feels like a long shot now to make the roster. He could hang on to the practice squad, it’s probably between him and Sills for that spot. I may also have to accept that my scouting methods have let me down. Next year, no less than 7-min highlight reels before forming an opinion. ?

Met Life Stadium Standings after Week 2... W-L Bills 2-0 Giants 0-1 Jets 0-2

I agree with the OP if you define the weakest link as the weakest player on the field. The weakest player on defence gets targeted more than any other player and likely has a greater effect on the game than the strongest defender who is avoided. The weakest member of the O-Line will be targeted in the pass rush. Weak receivers can be shut down in single coverage by average defenders leaving double coverage for the top receiving threats. When comparing the top-heavy Whaley rosters with a deep and balanced roster (like I think we are building here), I believe the deep and balanced rosters are more successful.

I’m happy to Singletary’s high pass blocking grade. I wasn’t expecting to see that.

I wanted to like the Browns after so many years of struggling. However... The personality of the Browns' players are wearing on me... between the cockyness of Mayfield and the me-first attitude of OBJ, I find it really hard to like this team. Just another team to add to my hate list, topped by the Pats*.

I am in Ontario, but much closer to Detroit than Buffalo. The fan base here is pretty diverse, with fans of the Lions, Packers, Steelers, 49ers, Patriots and Bills. There are not enough fans of any one team to dominate the region. To be fair, it was the marketing strategy of the Bills to play their games on Global TV (then CTV and City TV) every week, beginning in the late 90's that picked me up as a fan. Watching the same team, week after week sucked me in and now I'm obsessed with all things Bills related 365 days per year. My sons are also diehard fans of the Bills as well.

So true. Right now there are about 25 fan bases (Bill's included) that expect their team to make the playoffs this year, because, on paper, almost every team is better than last year. The league feels more balanced than it has for a long time with a large number of young and capable QB's joining the league in the last few years.

In the NHL, it is common for the back up goalie to play when teams play in back-to-back nights to give the starter a rest night. They could have schedules without back-to-back games so that every game is high quality, but they want more game revenue. In the MLB, teams have a rotation of five starting pitchers because they need recovery time. Catchers get rest days occasionally as well because their legs need time to recover. They could schedule games once per week so that every game features the ace pitcher, but they want more game revenue. I understand and that the QB is more integrated with the other players on offence, but other sports already have accepted the practice where players in prominent positions miss games and the fan bases accept it. I agree with other posters that the NFL has something special where every game is of high importance which adds to the fan experience. I grew up playing hockey, but watch very few games because the wins and losses don’t seem to matter much in an 82-game season. I won’t miss one play of a Bills’ game. With 18 games, the season is still short enough where every game still matters, but this is another step toward diluting the product.

I'm relaxed and I understood that you were being facetious. If the league goes this way, I think the strategies for how teams use their healthy scratches will be interesting to see how it plays out. Do you take your lumps and mail it in against the league powerhouses? Do you wait for injuries to happen and then adjust in the second half? Do rookies sit out the first two weeks to get more practice in before they play their first game? This change will influence how teams build rosters as teams with depth will have an advantage over teams with the salary cap concentrated into a few players. Do you want one elite WR with three No. 3's or four No. 2's where your 4th WR is 3rd on the depth chart six times per year? I saw a proposal with 17 games where every team plays one game at a neutral site. With all of the games played in England and Mexico City, this could work too.

There is no way that the star players sit out for Divisional match ups, even if one team has been stealing the other's lunch money for the past 20-years. The weakest rosters will be reserved for inter-conference games, that don't count as playoff tiebreakers.

I can understand the basis for this... Grow the pie with $2.5B more in revenue without forcing the players to take on more safety risk. The owners win and the players (who share in the pie) also win. I could see this passing as both sides of the negotiation walk away with more money. The only losers are the fans who watch teams with a different roster every week.

Sadly, this is one of the more meaningful discussions that we have had while we wait impatiently for training camp.

Hopefully in 20 years we can look back on the great Bill's teams of the 20's and long for the nostalgic white helmets and blue end zones.

The debate of culture vs. talent is an interesting one, to say the least. I think that you need both to win in the NFL, because the league is so competitive. The 2018 Bills had a good culture, that lacked talent, depth and competition at every position. The next step in culture evolution for this team is real competition at every position which drives players to improve to keep their million dollar jobs. It is essential that the best players are self-motivated individuals because their talent allows them to get by without a full effort. To compete in the NFL the best players need to be your best players, and not be satisfied by staying above the backups on the depth chart. Dareus was satisfied with with his situation and wasn't driven to be the best. I think that Watkins could have been more if he hadn't landed in Club Rex. Watkins was told he was the shiny Ferrari in the garage and he wasn't motivated to escalate his level of play to his highest possible level of play. When Tre' White was told by GMFB that he may be the best CB in football. He brushed the comment off and talked about how he's working hard every day to take his game to the next level. This is the type of attitude you want from your best players. He could be satisfied with his level of play today and has already done enough to position himself for a big second contract. When Ed Oliver walks into a culture like this (where nothing is given, everything is earned and the leaders on the team set the kind of example that Tre' is), he starts down the path of continuously improving his game instead of being content with his God-given talent.

I had a very similar experience as part of the coaching staff of a hockey team. We had taken on a team of 16/17 yr-old boys of a AA midget hockey team. In the previous season, this team had a terrible locker room with bullying issues, while on the ice they played as individuals. They wouldn't pass the puck, lead the league in penalties and finished 10th in an 11-team league. Through the off-season our head coach devoted hours and hours to get to know the players to find out what kind of people they were (sound like the drafting strategy of any teams you know?). He spent time with their coaches of other sports, as many of them played lacrosse or soccer in the summer. He needed to know if they were coachable and team-first players. When training camp opened, there were 5 players from the previous season that were cut after the first practice. These players were physically more talented than the 5 players who were ultimately promoted from the team below, but they had to go change the culture. It shocked a lot of people to see the team gutted and many predicted that this team could not win a game with so little talent on the ice. Remember, this team was almost last a year ago, so how could they compete with so many of the most talented players cut from the team? The early practices were focused on building the player's individual skills needed to compete as a team. These were the most efficient practices I had ever seen, without a moment of practice time wasted. This team that wouldn't (couldn't) pass the puck effectively one season ago was now executing very challenging drills to drive a quick-passing and finesse style of hockey. This first month of the season was predictably tough, but the team-first culture was evident. The locker room was healthy with a "team above all else" attitude permeating from every boy on the team. By the end of the second month, it clicked and close losses turned into close wins. The team got better and better as the year wore on, finishing in the middle of the standings. In the playoffs the team won the first round easily, knocked off the 2nd best team in the second round and battled hard but couldn't take down the league champions in the finals. In one year, the team went from second-last to second place with less individual talent because culture matters in team sports. The Bills are on the right track. Their culture is healthy. Every player is driven to get better and determined to do whatever it takes to help the team win.

As long as the most productive RB gets the most snaps, then I'm happy. I'm not sure that Shady stays happy if he's losing reps to the rookie.

9 would be fantastic, but 5 or 6 would be a great rookie campaign. Under. Hughes, Oliver and a healthy Trent Murphy should get to the quarterback more this year than last. With multiple points of pressure, The QB will run away from the first pressure into the waiting arms of the second.

I think there's more to the story of contributing late round picks than just picking the right players in the draft. There are several components that I see supporting to better player development on the Bills roster... Establishing a culture where every player is driven to improve. It's not about where you start but where you finish, so late round picks and UDFA's can earn playing time by showing up every day and competing hard. Capable coaches providing tangible development plans, giving road maps for players to become better versions of themselves. Competition at every position, leading to a "no plays off" mentality. Drafting players based on character in addition to physical talents. This doesn't mean we are drafting choir boys - it means we are drafting team-first, competitive-by-nature football players. One of the characteristics that shows up in these players is the drive to get better. I think our future Bills teams will have more depth because of the developing players on the roster. Not every late-round pick can become an NFL starter, but it feels like we are trending in the right direction.

This reasoned and patient perspective takes away the fun over reactions that make message boards so much fun this time of year. Please refrain from this destructive behavior.

71.4% completion percentage for those who are obsessed with such things.