Happy

I was just thinking that after watching Emmanuel Acho's clip on Epenesa. Tua could be hurt a lot.

DE/Edge and RB are the biggest needs right now. It probably just so happened that Epenesa was also BPA at pick 54. I'll bet they go RB in round 3, assuming who is there grades out.

At the very least, New England hated him. Schobel did well against Matt Light and harassed Brady often enough. DE's need to be aggressive against the tackle, but have to stay in their lane. Can't be like Murphy who allows his high motor to get him pushed 20 yards out of the play.

That would be good. Aaron Schobel was one of our most underrated DE's ever, probably because he was a bright spot on an otherwise dismal team(s).

yep. I would think this is what happens: 3rd or 4th round RB. Even if they don't draft a RB (highly unlikely), let Shady retire.

Well said. Manziel was a head case and his own worst enemy. Just one dumb thing after another.

I would bet that McD is right there with Beane and has a wishlist and/or gives input, where Beane gets the guy based on where he sits on the board. I doubt Beane will reach just because McD (or one of his staff) wants him, but yeah, I think you're right that they are working together. For example, take Cody Ford; for those that complain he is not a RT, was picked too early, etc, I could believe that is on Beane just as much as McD.

Very fortunate, which is the same way I would feel during a regular 16 game season. I don't think this team is at the Super Bowl level just yet.

The Chargers uniforms look fine. At least they'll be better than the team.

If so, why did Gilmore seem to struggle here? He wasn't as good here as he is in NE; you concur? Also, why did Gilmore point his finger at the safety (I forget who it was) when a coverage was blown? That tells me they were in zone and Gilmore and the corner did not communicate when handing off the assignment.

With what we had back in 2013, probably not. It still would have been better than EJ Manuel.

Thanks, MGK. I didn't include the Bills because they still have to prove they belong with the division winners (by actually winning the division) and being a step away from the Super Bowl like Tennessee was. Buffalo can, and should, win the AFCE, though NE will not be a pushover -- Belichick will see to that. I think Vrabel (for being a meathead) is a great coach, and seeing what he did last year to right the ship I'm fairly confident that he sees what he has to do to win going forward. Tennessee will win the AFCS easily and probably be closer to 12-4. If Buffalo can get to 10-6 with a tough schedule and win the division, I would call that a successful year and one to build off of. Clowney is a good player, but not worth $15M/year. More hype than production, so I'm not at all upset Buffalo didn't go after him. I would guess that Beane would agree with the first sentence in this paragraph. In the end, I just want Buffalo to take another step forward and prove that they got better player and coach wise. If they do that, I think the future is bright. They have to prove they belong with the big boys in the AFC.

Titans, Chiefs, and Ravens will be the better AFC teams this year. I would think if anything, the Titans will get better just by being more consistent; Vrabel probably won't have to make a QB change mid season. Tannehill could be an Alex Smith equivalent by doing just enough and letting the running game and the defense handle the load. They might want to give Henry more rotation as his workload was a bit much.

They would have had to massively overpay Smith back then, but they also had to overpay for Mario Williams.

Alex Smith went to the Chiefs in 2013. Jim Harbaugh went with Kapernick in 2013 over Alex Smith. I'm pretty sure I remember Alex Smith being mentioned as a possibility around here back in 2012/13. But yeah, it was a disaster in Buffalo during that time.

I'll answer it directly, since I don't have a directory of answers. If Kolb was a better QB than, say Moore or Hoyer, it wasn't by much; they were all of backup quality. The Kolb concussion history was a gamble, for sure, but who would have guessed he'd end his career by slipping on a bath mat. Freak accident. They could have brought in Moore or Hoyer and guess what, their production would have been bad to mediocre and calls for EJ to start would become deafening. EJ would still be in the league had he been behind Rodgers, Manning(s), Brady, Brees, etc where he wouldn't have seen the field much at all. The Bills were in a bad position going into the 2013 draft needing a QB. Where Whaley screwed up was doubling down on EJ by moving up to draft Sammy. So now he had a mess on his hands with a starting QB who was really a backup, and a WR1 who was really a WR2. Whaley could have cut bait in 2014 and if he was lucky, drafted Bridewater, Derek Carr, or Garappolo, but he also could have wiffed and taken Bortles or McCarron. Not much good in 2014 or 2015 as far as rookie QBs.

It's probable that nothing else was available at that time; Kolb got his bath mat concussion just before the season started. Where would all these wonderful trades be at in August? You really think Matt Moore, Brian Hoyer, or any of those other backup level QBs were better than Kolb? Say they passed on Kolb and took Brian Hoyer, who would have most likely performed around average; the rest of the team wouldn't have been good enough to overcome this level of performance. You and others would have complained about Whaley taking Hoyer. Whaley had his hands tied in 2013, your dislike for him blinds you to seeing otherwise. Again, Nix blew it in 2012 when he could have, and should have, picked up Alex Smith in FA.

Here is the 2013 NFL FA QB list: Joe FlaccoMatt MooreTarvaris JacksonJason CampbellDavid GarrardJosh JohnsonByron LeftwichBrady QuinnVince YoungMatt LeinartRex GrossmanDavid CarrDerek AndersonDrew StantonChase DanielBrian HoyerCharlie BatchBruce GradkowskiKellen ClemensTyler ThigpenJosh McCownSage RosenfelsSeneca WallaceDonovan McNabbA.J. FeeleyTroy SmithLuke McCownChris RedmanJohn BeckJordan PalmerJ.P. LosmanKevin O'Connell Who on that list were we going to acquire back in 2013? McNabb, Flacco....um, no. Stop acting like there were any good options in 2013, because there wasn't. As I mentioned before, 2012 is where they blew it and could have grabbed Alex Smith.

Agree. Starting him was the worst thing for EJ, even though the intention was to sit behind Kolb, which in itself wasn't a great plan.

In 2013 Whaley had little choice but to take EJ Manuel. 2013 QB FAs were slim pickings which is why we landed Kevin Kolb. Go back and look at the FAs and QB draft class that year and see if you disagree. 2012 is where Nix screwed up, could have had Alex Smith, who went to KC instead.

I think the difference is found between the ears. Josh has that competitive drive and is more resilient, where EJ just lost all confidence when things didn't go as planned/anticipated. What was Whaley supposed to do? Nix backed Whaley in a corner that draft, Buffalo had no QB. Nix had a trolled conversation with the "Bucs GM" basically not committing to Fitz. Nix also mentioned drafting a QB the next year. Unfortunately, EJ was the best of a very bad QB class.

I feel kind of bad for EJ. He was the best QB in a very poor, very shallow class. Someone was going to take him if Buffalo didn't and I doubt the result would have been much different if he was the starter. That whole class needed to remain backups and not see the field much. I know he was behind Kolb, who was a concussion away from mush; EJ starting was only a matter of time. Starting did him in, as did Geno Smith.

He averaged about 200 y/g passing, you think that is astronomical? Dude got 1200+ yards rushing, better than most RBs, and threw more toward the end zone while rushing more in mid field. You really think he would have been MVP without his rushing? That is what people want to see, it's entertaining...like a circus, only without the smell.

Sammy Watkins. I thought he would be an instant WR1 and stay there for years.

Huh? Where do you come up with this stuff?