2003Contenders

I would add Keon Coleman to that mix as well at 28. He has the size and skill set to replicate the things that Davis did well -- with better hands to go along with it.

Mort was a great one -- and a man of integrity. He had real inside sources -- and when he reported on a topic, you knew it was legit because he always vetted his information. I know many of us were unhappy with him during the drought years because he was brutally honest about what a mess the front office was in those days, but he was right. Prayers to his family and loved ones.

Based on his impressive 40-time and explosive numbers in the cone drills at the combine this week, I highly doubt that Chop makes it anywhere close to 28.

I agree. Also just looking at the sheer numbers, Diggs and Shakir are the only receivers that are certain to return next season (and some folks aren't even certain about Diggs). That means that is is necessary to replace Davis and Sherfield who are likely gone (and possibly Harty too). I am hopeful that Shorter will be a piece of that puzzle -- but that is far from a sure thing. We clearly do not have the cap $ to pursue a top free agent receiver but someone like Samuel or Mooney makes sense in addition to an early draft pick.

Assuming the price is right, I think Curtis Samuel could be everything we hoped McKenzie and Hardy could be in this offense. I also think Mooney could be a nice bargain basement pickup: he's never had a legitimate passing threat at the QB position, and I think pairing him with Josh could help him explode -- or at least evolve into J. Brown type production. Regardless, the team still needs to draft a prototype deep threat WR.

It goes in cycles -- and assuming we still have #17 for years to come, the Bills' time will eventually come. It took Landry and the Cowboys awhile to get to the dance because Lombardi and the Packers stood in their way. It took Noll and the Steelers awhile because Shula and the Dolphins stood in their way. It took the Raiders awhile because the Steelers stood in their way. It took the 49ers awhile because Landry's Cowboys stood in their way. Then, it took the Cowboys awhile because the 49ers stood in their way. It took Favre and the Packers awhile because the Aikman/Emmitt/Irvin Cowboys stood in their way. It took the whole league awhile (including Manning/Colts, Cowher/Steelers, Reid/Chiefs) to get past the Brady/Belichick Patriots. Now, it is KC with Reid/Mahomes that stands in everyone's way. I am optimistic that with a few additions (especially at WR and on defense) and better luck with health come playoff time, we will eventually see the Bills hoist a Lombardi trophy.

Hmmm. Maybe the fact that the Bills' defense was depleted at virtually every level -- most particularly at LB where they had trouble hanging with Kelce and Pacheco -- had something to do with it. That is not an excuse, it is a reality. And, yet, when the game was on the line in the 4th quarter the defense did come up with a critical stop to force a punt and get the ball back in the offense's hands.

The closest situation like this I can think of happened with Lavar Arrington (15-20 years ago). Recall that back in those days Daniel Snyder and the (then) Redskins went crazy each off-season throwing money around at free agents, back-loading contracts to circumvent the cap, etc. Eventually it came time to pay the piper: they were way over the cap and running out of guys to restructure to help create cap space. Arrington wanted out -- but the cap hit to trade or cut him was too exhaustive for Washington to do anything in those regards. Knowing that he had suitors on the horizon, Arrington repaid Washington a portion of monies already paid to him in the form of signing bonuses, etc. which provided the team with the cap relief they needed to cut him. Arrington landed on his feet with the Giants, who gave him enough up-front money to make this whole transaction worth his while. I highly doubt Diggs would be up for a deal like this.

I like that he has experience (both as a player and coach) with QBs as well as WRs. Obviously with Brady's promotion there is a void at the QB coach position, and the receivers haven't been the same since Chad Hall left. So maybe Curry can help solidify there. I am also all for bringing in a smart guy who can help with concepts for the passing game -- and hopefully work with Brady to devise schemes and routes that will allow our receivers to get open and get decent RAC numbers.

Wouldn't it be great if Shorts could somehow be that guy? I guess we can dream.

Looking back it is amazing the way things fell into place. First, we went into the draft -- or rather into the draft season -- with 2 first round picks, but both of them were late (back-to-back in the 20s). One of those picks came via the trade with KC on the swap of 1st round picks the year before, where KC netted Mahomes 10th overall. The other came via the Bills having made it to the playoffs for the first time in 17 seasons the year before. Beane also traded Tyrod Taylor to Cleveland in exchange for the 1st pick in the 3rd round. Beane traded Cordy Glenn to the Bengals to move up 10 spots, which had us sitting at 12 on draft day. When the Jets made the move with Indy to move up from 6 to 3, everyone knew they were going QB there. Everyone also knew that Cleveland was going QB at #1 overall. Knowing that at least 2 QBs would be off the board by the time the 4th pick came along, Beane had tried all through the pre-draft to move up. He tried to work out a deal with his old mentor from Carolina (who in 2018 was GM of the Giants) to move up to 2, but they were not willing to budge. After having taken their QB at #1 (Mayfield), Beane thought he had a deal in place with the Browns to move up for their next pick (at 4) but they reneged and took Denzel Ward. The Ward pick had a rippling affect, because the Broncos (like most pundits) thought that the Browns would take Bradley Chubb there -- and when Chubb was available, the Broncos themselves backed off the trade they had in the works with the Bills (at least the Broncos made it clear ahead of time that the trade was contingent on the one player they coveted NOT still being on the board). Both of those deals would have involved Beane parting ways with that other 1st round pick. At #6, the Colts were dead set on Nelson and were unwilling to move down. Tampa was willing to trade down to 12 but they wanted the same deal that had been in place with Cleveland/Denver, the Bills other first round pick. The two sides eventually agreed to the Bills' two second round picks. On an unrelated note, Beane used that pick acquired from Cleveland in the Tyrod trade to move up in the 1st to net Edmunds. Funny that Edmunds was almost as polarizing a figure in Buffalo as Josh. LOL

Would love to snag him in the 3rd/4th in ADDITION to a 1st round pick at WR.

This. I would add also something else that would not show up directly in the analytics. And that is the demeanor of the play-caller and the influence he had on the players. From the first game we saw with Brady (against the Jets) the "Low Positive" Josh was gone and the loose Josh was back. Cook commented on this as well -- praising Brady for not losing faith in him and putting him back in the Philly game after the costly drop. (Two weeks before, against the Broncos, Dorsey had benched him for a significant portion of the game after the fumble on the opening drive).

Scott, I am so sorry to hear this very sad news. While I can't pretend to walk in your shoes, I can say that I understand what you are going through, as I lost my wife back in 2021. All that I can suggest is that you hold onto all the wonderful memories that the two of you shared together -- and to continue to seize the unending bond that you have with your family to get through this. May the Lord bless you all and lift your hearts during this sad time.

I guess my biggest misgiving about Lamar is that his unique talents require that a specific offense be in place to make the best use of those talents -- in terms of scheme, supporting cast, etc. Meanwhile, Josh and Mahomes both transcend any such limitations. You could literally plug either of them into any offense and be set.

Praying for your wife and the whole family. 🙏

And exactly what poor coaching decisions did he make in the game Sunday against the Chiefs that cost them the game? The reality is that one team went into the game mostly healthy. The other team had a depleted defense and was missing their WR2 -- and STILL went toe-to-toe against the defending Super Bowl champs. The difference in the game? One team's receivers who had struggled with drops all year caught everything that hit their hands -- the other team (with one of the highest paid receivers in the NFL) dropped multiple key catchable passes. Hard to see where McD can be blamed for the loss.

I think they should draft one in the 1st AND pursue one of the middle-tier WRs in free agency. The guy I like is Mooney; he played with a garbage offense in Chicago and battled through some injuries -- but he did post a 1,000-yard season back in 2021. If we can get him at a discounted rate...

I was thinking about that after the game too -- what will Josh's career look like when it is all said and done? I think it will go one of three ways: 1. Like Dan Marino or Dan Fouts he will be remembered as one of the best QBs of his era -- but one who sadly came along at the wrong time when he played for a team that just could not get past other teams that were simply better. 2. Like Ken Stabler whose teams were always playing deep into the playoffs back in the 70s but thwarted by better teams (Dolphins, Steelers) -- but he finally won one. 3. Like Peyton Manning who could not get past the Patriots (and other teams) early in his career -- but finally broke through in route to multiple Super Bowls. I think Josh is better than all of the QBs on my list above -- he just needs better receiver options (like they all had) to get over the hump.

Good post. I was one of those who was starting to believe that it was time to bring an end to the McDermott era when we were 6-6 and lost to the Eagles after some questionable decisions. Then the team went 5-0 to end the season, beating some good teams in the process. Hard to imagine wanting to fire a head coach that oversaw such a closeout to gain the #2 overall seed in the the AFC, when they were on the outside looking in just 5 weeks before. And it is also hard for me to lay much blame at the feet of McDermott for what went down Sunday against the Chiefs. In terms of coaching decisions, I suppose you could fault him for approving the fake punt -- but that did not cost the Bills the game given that they were fortunate to get the ball back after the fumble. Otherwise, I thought he did a good job with clock management, challenges, and having the team prepared (given the circumstances). In fact, there have been numerous posts about what cost the Bills that game -- missed FG, critical dropped passes, questions about the 2nd an 9 play after the 2:00 warning, depleted defense, etc. Again, hard to blame McD for any of those. How about this? Maybe the Chiefs deserve some credit for playing out of their minds on Sunday! Their receivers, who had been sub par pretty much the whole season, caught every catchable pass thrown their way. Their OL, playing on the road in a hostile setting against a healthy Buffalo DL (the one part of the defense that was healthy), was spectacular allowing almost no pressure whatsoever against Mahomes. When their own defense needed to clamp down in the 4th quarter, they did -- adjusting the stop Cook and the running game that had been carving them up the first 3 quarters.

I agree with most of this -- just not that Diggs and Miller necessarily have to stay based on their contracts. There are ways to rework other contracts (Josh's, Dawkins, etc) that could put us in the position of ridding us of those other inflated contracts. In Von's case (unless he suddenly finds the fountain of youth and is 100% healthy) I think that is a necessity. In Diggs' case I am still on the fence. What caused the serious regression in the 2nd half of the season? Evolving role in Brady's offense? Diminished skills? Undisclosed injury? Off-field distraction? Depending on what that root cause was, would determine what I would want to do with him heading into 2024. With or without Diggs, in addition to investing at least one high draft pick on a WR, I would be inclined to bring in at least one mid-priced free agent WR (like Beane did back in 2019 with Beasley and Brown) rather than scrap-heap guys like Beane has thrown darts at the last few seasons. Obviously we can't afford a high-priced guy like Higgins or Evans. But what about someone like Marquise Brown, Darnell Mooney, Curtis Samuel, or Josh Reynolds? Mooney could be a real sleeper going from the garbage he has had in Chicago to #17, and he is just 2 seasons removed from a 1,000-yard season. Bottom line, Beane needs to hit the jackpot on some of the draft picks come April, including some late-round gems.

IMHO the absolute worst play of the game was one that will likely be forgotten in the grand scheme of things -- but changed the trajectory of a game where both defenses were having trouble stopping both offenses. Ironically NEITHER team would score again after this play. That play came on the 1st offensive drive of the 4th quarter, right after the Chiefs had just taken a 27-24 lead. On first down, Josh takes it 8 yards to set up 2nd and 2. That is a great position to be in for the offense. Either you run a high percentage play to get the 1st down -- or you run play-action to try for a big play and even if you don't convert it, you come back with a favorable 3rd and short. What do they do instead? They call a draw to Cook from shotgun -- and he gets blown up in the backfield for a 3 yard loss. Now, instead of a 1st down or 3rd and short it is 3rd and 5, which is no longer a gimme, and the next play results in a batted pass. The next play after that, of course was the failed punt attempt. The Bills, of course, get lucky and get the ball back after the Hartman fumble. So what is the first play called as the Bills try to regain momentum? You guessed it, another draw to Cook from shotgun, resulting in a 4-yard loss. After a short screen to Shakir, the 3rd down-play was the deep shot to Sherfield that he dropped. So instead of seizing the momentum here, they go three-and-out and punt the ball away.

This. The Vegas line had it at 2.5 for the Bills and and over-under of 45.5. That means that the Vegas experts implied a 24-21.5 game. So the offense held up to their end of the bargain. The defense gave up 5.5 points than projected. While it can't be denied that the defense (secondary and LBers) was a MASH unit, the DL was pretty much healthy -- and with 10 available players on that unit, they should have been fresh all game. With the Bills offense dominating time of possession that is even more the case. So the real story -- beyond everything else that happened -- is why the DL with so much invested in it was unable to pick up the slack and at least apply some pressure on Mahomes, let alone bottle up Pacheco. And any game plan (regardless of injuries) that allowed Kelce to run as wide open as he did, needs to be highly scrutinized. Also, credit where it is due, the Chiefs played very well. Their WRs (aside from Rice) played terribly all season -- and even in the playoffs against Miami had a number of key drops that resulted in stalled drives leading to FGs rather than TDs. Against the Bills last night, however, I do not recall a single dropped pass on the part of KC. Of course, the Bills had a number of huge ones.

Yea, with the depleted defense and lack of speed at LB there is no way they would have been able to contain Lamar as they have historically done in the past. Imagine LJ doing what Mahomes did on that one long run to start the 2nd half all game long! Speaking of that, it was sad how Douglas just watched Mahomes run right by him without even trying to make a tackle. In fact, Douglas looked out-of-sorts all game long; probably would have been better to let him sit out another week and rolled the dice with Elam.

I will have to see greater detail on the All-22, but the crossing route to Diggs also may not have been as open as it first appeared. There was a corner lurking right behind Diggs, possibly bating Josh into that throw. Remember, just a few minutes before there was a near-pick 6 jump route on an attempted pass to Diggs.