Bleeding Bills Blue

Hamlin was not good last year - but there was a number of factors on the defense last year. Douglas losing a step and looking nothing like the 2023 version. TJ missing some time and Cam lewis being an inadequate replacement Williams replacing an injured milano and struggling in pass coverage to the point they used Lewis and Ingram 3rd down dime packages frequently Spector playing almost 300 snaps. Elam playing almost 300 snaps.

He won the job last year because all the players they brought in to compete ended up missing all of camp. Bishop played a few games early and looked lost - can't have wide open 80 yard TDs to the other teams best player. If anything i felt more shaky with Lewis and Williams last year.

I think you're thinking of Hancock. Strong's a boundary corner.

He played the 2nd most snaps for the defense last year. I feel like if he was SOOO terrible we would have had a lot more problems.

He's likely a PS candidate as he was last year when he had a great camp/preseason. He didn't this year with some pretty ugly drops, and he's now 27 so... not really likely that teams are itching to sign him.

He's one of the couple of core STers. He was a ST ace in college too - he blocked 6 kicks at Toledo. Hawes likely replaces Morris who was another core teams player. Ingram and Lewis are on the bubble and it isn't usually advisable to have total turnover there.

I think Young is fine, and probably better than Epenesa. He also just signed a 3/51M contract to get fewer sacks than Epenesa (2/12M)

Young had 5.5 sacks in 2024 on 742 snaps. Epenesa had 6 sacks in 612 snaps.

Shenault doesn't return punts, and codringtons PR average last season was 4th in the league. You can use both as KR's, but you can also pretty much use anyone who can field a kickoff on KR's including ray davis, Ty Johnson, probably Elijah Moore, whoever.

He was hurt a bunch in college as well. I never saw much from him in preseason that made him look like he could be a player. Buffalo Joe last year, and then bringing in the vet in thompson likely made him expendable. Thompsons the wrong side of 30, but i'd feel more comfortable with him coming in than a 2nd year guy at this stage. You only keep the young guy if you could see him becoming something more than what he is.

Considering he's never returned punts much at any level, thats a pretty big stretch. A legit #6 at a position that many teams carry 5 at, is not saying much. If you carry 6, to be active (usually only 5 will be active) - you have to be a gunner or a punt returner. He did not look the part of gunner.

Epenesa is still on the roster and averages like 6 sacks a year in a rotation. I don't consider that a waste. He has the same amount of sacks as the 2nd overall pick from that draft. Singletary averaged 4.7 YPC and had 16 TDs. Just because they didn't extend him doesn't make it a wasted pick. He was a good player for us. Moss also has more yards rushing than - Dobbins, Akers, Josh Kelley, and Edwards-Helaire from the same draft class FWIW.

At the time our defensive ends were rather old - it was an attempt to get young talent at the position. Hughes, Addison, and Murphy were all 30+ and Epenesa looked like... a worse version of what he is. He had dropped a ton of weight and struggled to set the edge on early downs.

I think there will be WRs and CBs on the practice squad in those scenarios. Like you would need 2-3 injuries in 1 game to see either playing snaps on offense or defense. This too - Shakir already having an injury and missing a lot of practice time makes it unlikely to use him at PR. The other option was coleman which is just... strange to put a starter on PR. 4th in the league last year is tough to top. Can use Johnson and ray davis next to him on kickoffs too.

End of the day - The bills make money every year. The trimmed down sabres MIGHT break even. Bills selling equity for cash to cover stadium overages, indicates that the bills and their books have value. There isn't a line of people coming to buy a stake in the sabres to fix their dilapidated dump, on a franchise that doesn't generate income, and would only generate any tangible value if sold. Teams gotta win, and they gotta get people in the building. Thats the only way they can make anything.

Couple of nice TDs for Cooper. I think he hurt his back on that jump ball against the jets, and didn't really do much after that.

*Day- The interior line was atrocious in that one.

Could be looking to get some cash for a mclaurin bonus? Or just didn't expect robinsons contributions to match his compensation. I think Mcnichols is still there too.

I don't know that its blissful ignorance - i'm a fan of the team. I root for their success. I go on a site like this because there's at least a higher percentage of level-headed discussion vs. something like twitter where its just everyones hot takes arguing. I don't think saying you have concerns about depth or something is inherently pessimistic - but basing your concerns about cornerback depth for example - because we didn't do well in a preseason game isn't fair to the players and coaching staff. I have no idea what Dorian strong is capable of, and i don't know that i got more insight based off of that preseason game. The 24 hour news cycle, and the NFL's insistence on daily news amplifies the importance of practice games that truly don't match the game-planning process, or the physical intensity of actual NFL football. Every year "the game slows down" for all the QBs in the 1st round, followed by them playing actual games and it speeding back up and punching them in the mouth. The player you are today isn't the player you will be come september, october, november, all the way to february. Just my 2 cents in trying to try and be a bit level-headed with player criticism, and expectations.

Beyond not so bright in picking up concepts - there was just a loss of confidence that you can't really teach/coach (nor should you be expected to at the professional level).

I think any cuts prior to the final preseason game are more about adjusting the roster that will be playing. If you have 4 rostered WRs who won't play, and you only have 4 healthy fringe guys, you may cut a player to add a healthy one so you don't have to expose a roster player.

I think in the Elam pick there was interest in traits they wanted. Speed, length, man coverage chops. But he seemed to really struggle with his composure, tackling, zone concepts escaped him, and his confidence loss led to penalties. Hairston would probably do better to be on the field, but its hard to compare players when the thing that most hurt elam's development was between his ears.

Yep - entirely skippable when i know like 3-5 guys who play will make the roster.

I think its a tad overblown on the pass rush "sucks". The team was 10th in pressure rate a year ago (with the 5th lowest blitz %), added several young pieces as well as joey bosa. They were also #3 in takeaways which is usually somewhat influenced by a pass rush.

Very true statements. When we blitz, or when mahomes knows buffalo is in man - he has consistently hurt the team scrambling. It's getting pressure through the DTs, and proper containment and clean-up from the edges. He makes mistakes when under pressure, and usually when he can't buy time.