Rocky Landing

I suspect that when the 53-man roster is finally built, that there is going to be a broad range of types of receivers. A lot of hay has been made about these big-bodied receivers that are all competing for spots, and for good reason. But, opposing defenses are going to have to defend the whole field. That's what I think they're really going for this season. I think you're wrong about Coleman. That designation of "eventually being an average starter" may even be true, but it's a vague, and useless talking point. And it doesn't negate his strengths, or what his usefulness might be in a Josh Allen led offense. He has exceptional ball tracking, and his 40-time notwithstanding, he had the fastest gauntlet speed in the combine. However he pans out as a WR, he will stretch the field. (So will MVS/Claypool/Shorter/Shavers-- whomever gets a roster spot, their deficiencies notwithstanding...) I actually think Allen's biggest strength in passing are the intermediate throws from 10 to 20 yards beyond the LOS, or 30-35 air yards. He consistently delivers those on a rope. That's ideal for the big guys we're going to have receiving the ball, as well. But, I'm expecting a much broader spread than that. Receiving ability is a requisite on this team. On any given play, there will be five legit receiving options on the field-- even in Jumbo packages. I also don't put much stock in Allen's (or Cook's) lower numbers after Brady took over. a) It's not a large enough sample size to be close to definitive. (And 96.6 to 85.5 really doesn't constitute a "plummet.") b) Those numbers are far less important than the win percentages. Dorsey= 0.500, Brady= 0.857. I know this all sounds overly optimistic, and I fully admit to being that type of fan. I'm a homer, to be sure. But, I try to be realistic, as well. Not having an elite receiver like Diggs on the field is going to matter. Even as his production fell off at the end of the season, he was still drawing coverage. DCs were still game-planning him. Where my optimism comes from for 2024 is the notion that even with the loss of an elite WR in Diggs, the sum total of all the parts in the WR room could very well exceed that of 2023. That's not an expectation, but I think it's a reasonable hope. GO BILLS!

No more depressing than living in Northern New Jersey in the first place...

I'm interested in a couple battles: WR depth: I've seen several posters on this site predict that the WR room will look something like: Coleman, Shakir, Samuel, MVS, Claypool, Hollins. I just don't see it happening like that. At the end of the day, they're not just going to take the best five, or six WRs. This will be the first time Joe Brady gets his offense installed, and the WRs who make it will be the ones who fill certain roles in that offense (plus special teams). In the above list, I would assume Coleman, and Shakir to be locks, and Samuel to be pretty close to a lock. After that it's a battle, and I very much doubt there will be so much redundancy on the roster. If they don't like one of the smaller, speedier guys, like KJ Hamler (my dark horse), or Isabella, they may only carry five. JMO. But looking at how they've been building the roster so far this offseason, it's evident they want size on this unit. So, look at MVS, Hollins, Claypool, Shorter, and Shavers, and pick two. O-Line: Losing Mitch Morse is still a head-shaker for me. He wasn't really costing us that much. That being said, I do not think the plan of McGovern at center, and Edwards at LG is written in stone. We know that Kromer is going to spend much of training camp looking at different configurations. Van Pran Granger could certainly compete for the center job, and I've been saying for weeks now not to sleep on Will Clapp. I think he's better than people suspect. Beyond that... I know that Brady was working with a system that Dorsey had installed at the end of the season, and this will be his system in '24. BUT... it seemed as though he loved those jumbo packages with a sixth lineman-- he certainly ran them enough! Edwards played that sixth lineman, and reported as an eligible receiver when he did. Of course, he never had the ball thrown his way. If Edwards does end up at LG, who would be that sixth guy? Could it be..... Travis Clayton? OK, I'm just dreamin' here... but come on! 6'7", 300+lb, super athletic, knows how to catch, and run with a ball, ran a 4.79 40... how much fun could that be???

I would put the Browns over the Jets. The Browns' fanbase has been dedicated throughout all of their crap, and are as loyal a fanbase as you will find. But then their team went and paid hundreds of million$ to a rapist, and a significant number of them have decided to basically hibernate until the Watson era eventually ends-- which could take quite some time... Watson's debut on the field in Cleveland, during a preseason game, was to loud chants of, "...YOU SICK *****... YOU SICK *****..." Pretty embarrassing. New Jersey Jets fans, on the other hand, by and large, don't really give a *****.

Part of Nick Wright's MO is that he'll say things like this-- predictive, plausible, but definitely a hot take-- and then if it comes to fruition, he'll crow about how brilliant he is. Of course, when such statements don't pan out, he'll ignore that he ever said it. His schtick is rife with such nonsense.

Near as I can tell, this thread seems to be about wishing a rookie sound financial advice?

That is really quite a remarkable article. I will say that the grain of salt to be taken from it comes from the fact that it was written by Josh Schrock, who's kind of the equivalent of Maddy Glab for the Bears. You're not going to read a lot of criticism of the Bears' organization from him. But, the article certainly is a cautionary tale, and largely confirms what has been mainly discussed on this thread: the issues are between his ears. So really, the questions that have to be answered don't have much to do with what happens "when the pads come on." It's much more a matter of can he, and/or has he matured? Can he control his temper? Can he respond to the Bills' leadership? TBH, what I found most disturbing in the article was the unkind, and immature way he dealt with his own teammate in practices-- S Eddie Jackson. Sure, the Bills have practice field skirmishes, but there's always a resolution, and unity within the locker room. That's part and parcel of the Bills' culture. Perhaps that 14-game losing streak taught him a few lessons? We can only hope. Because as many have said in this thread, the talent is there.

nope

I watched quite a bit of tape on Clapp from last season, and to my eyes, I thought he played quite well, especially considering the inconsistency on that O-line, and being bracketed by very poor guard play. (Not to mention, an utterly crap coach). And from what I've read, the knee injury was minor, IR designation notwithstanding, and is not expected to be an issue going forward. Certainly not a frontrunner for the starting center position, but don't sleep on him. Solid depth, if nothing else.

The talent is clearly there. It would be a surprise if Claypool wasn't playing consistently good ball... in OTAs... The real concern is how long he can maintain that consistency during an entire NFL season.

I basically agree with this. But, I think the bigger concern on defense (where we lost all those aging veterans) is the lack of depth across the board. I also think that the loss of Leonard Floyd is a much bigger deal than is being talked about.

I think it's been as recent as within the last couple weeks that Beane has mentioned that the "plan" was to move McGovern over to center, and put Edwards in at LG. But, I'll say this-- I don't think this is written in stone. There's a lot to be said for continuity, IMO, and with Edwards playing as much as he did as a sixth lineman in Jumbo packages, the combo of C McGovern, and LG Edwards probably offers the most continuity. But, it's also to be expected that Kromer is going to play around with different combinations in TC. In that regard, I think there are several things that could very well happen. Van Pran-Granger could excel in TC, and win the starting job. But, even if he doesn't, he could show up well enough that Kromer/McD would plan to have him groomed for the starting role later in the season a la Spencer Brown, as early as week three or four. In such a scenario, it probably makes more sense to play McG at center, and then move him back to LG. (I'm assuming McG is the better option at LG than Edwards, or Edwards would have held the position last season). But... Don't sleep on Will Clapp. Watching the tape on Clapp's performance last season, he played competently on a wildly inconsistent IOL, and some really terrible coaching. It's hard to excel at center when your supporting cast isn't performing well, but Clapp held his own. He did end the season with an injury, but reports are that it shouldn't be an issue going forward. If Edwards appears to be a downgrade from McG at LG, Clapp could win the starting center job outright, or be used as a placeholder for VPG, if the above scenario occurs. GO BILLS

Not only that, he has Edwards as the starting LG, and McGovern not even on the starting roster.

I want to attend a Bills game overseas, preferably London, and meet up with some British Bills fans for a pint.

They should have it in Toronto.

I hope Aaron Rodgers gets blind-sided in the ribcage, and his spleen pops out of his colon.

No one should sleep on the Jets. They still have a very strong defense, and a solid offense. And, in fact, this might end up being the best O-line Tyrod Taylor's ever played behind.

If he's used in exactly the same way he was towards the end of the season, than 50-60 ypg, for around 1,000 yards on the season, is not an unrealistic expectation. However, I suspect his target number is likely to drop off a little from that. It seems likely the ball will get spread around quite a bit more this season, with Kincaid, Cook/Davis, getting more targets, as well as Coleman and whichever other 6'4" WR ends up on the field. I think 700-800 yards on the season is a reasonable expectation, and that would be great. It could certainly be more, however. He was so reliable at the end of the season, with a 0% drop rate. If Coleman doesn't excel, and the other acquisitions aren't as good as we hope, he could become the go-to guy, and end up with the same sort of usage he ended the '23 season with.

On the one hand… We have the thinnest defensive roster of recent memory, and they really can’t afford too many injuries on D. So, maybe we see some more cover 2, bend, don’t break? We’ve gotten younger at safety. It’s not too comfortable a feeling to be hanging our hats on Rasul Douglas, but he is going to need to stay healthy, along with Benford, and Taron. On the other hand… We have the weakest pass rush of recent memory, as well— especially in terms of rotation. And, quite frankly, I’m not expecting much of anything (other than an injury settlement) out of Von Miller. Sorry if that’s an unpopular opinion. And I just don't see our front four having much ability to get to the quarterback. So, maybe we see more blitzing this season? Perhaps our defensive identity is going to be just trying to stay healthy enough to give the offense a shot? I’ll say this also: I know a lot of people on this site, especially this time of year, downplay the importance of special teams. But, IMO, field position is going to matter more than ever. I would expect, and hope that the depth players are going to reflect that.

AS I understand (and I'm terrible with these contract issues), When a player is released after June 1, the team is again relieved of paying that player's base salary for the year in which he is released (and all future years) and the only amount that counts against the team's Cap in that year is the player's bonus proration for that year. Which I think means that the cap hit if MVS is cut before the regular season would be $225,000. IMO, that doesn't make him a lock.

If the Jags fired them because McManus couldn't keep his hands to himself, then they have every right, and reason to sue.

Not sure why you would consider MVS a roster lock?

Of course Beane has the final say. I don't think anyone disputes that. But, it would be foolish to think that Beane doesn't listen to McD. He listens to Allen, for that matter. And, off course, they're both looking at the same board.

For me, Rex Ryan surpasses him. But... I'm with ya. Jauron's No Huddle/No O-line offense is what turned Trent Edwards into Captain Checkdown, IMO.

Good heavens. If your point is that every one of these WRs was brought in to fill some role as a... WR, then, uh... I guess I agree with you(?). But, if you're still trying to sell some point that all of these guys were brought in to fill the same role that Hollins will likely fill (which again, is a #4-#6 situational WR, and core ST, with the bonus of being a leader on the practice field) then you're still wrong.