Rocky Landing

You’ve listed Hardy twice, with very different assessments.

That’s a long list, I’m afraid. But I suppose you could start with me…

I did notice that they've brought in Matt Haack, who was not as good a punter for us as Martin has been, I believe. IIRC, there was some discussion after Bass's terrible miss at the end of the KC divisional round game, that part of the issue was Martin's hold, but it wasn't discussed much after that. And, of course, this FO is never going to point fingers publicly. I wonder if they feel that the issue lies, at least partially, with Martin's hold?

Nah. Former GM Bill Belichick* is long gone.

Sounds like Keon dodged a bullet!

I wish @DC Tom would start posting again. We could use his...umm... perspective around here, lately...

Considering how Bass finished the season, it's not an irrelevant question to be asking.

I nominate you for one of the QOD posters. See my post above.

I think it's a great idea. As far as who gets selected, and who gets denied, I would hope that some of our more contentious posters would get a day, or two, and I would also hope that different sides of the spectrum would be represented-- optimist vs. pessimist, if you will. Like maybe Wednesdays could be one of our "knowledgable jackasses" (we all know who they are), and then Thursdays could be the "hopelessly optimistic homers." (We know who they are, too...) Be that as it may, great idea, and I'm really looking forward to it. It may take a week, or three to catch on, and certainly some questions, and some posters will have varying degrees of popularity, but I suspect that with some tweaking, it's going to become very popular.

Regarding TE, it's not just Kincaid. The one-two punch of Kincaid, and Knox is one of the best (if not the best) TE duos in the league, and while Knox may not have the hands, or route ability of Kincaid, his YAC is damned good-- downright violent. He put the work in to clean up his drop issues, and he's a clutch player, who doesn't choke in the big moments.

Not that I'm a fan of Claypool, or this signing, but that is not an apples to apples comparison. Davis was #2 on the depth chart. But if Claypool had been in this offense last season, and given the same number of targets (and I am certainly ignoring Josh's comfort, and familiarity with Davis), he's probably going to deliver the same amount of production. To keep Davis here would have been expensive, and worked against the cap. Bringing in Claypool is low risk-- and who knows? Maybe this is the season he lives up to his reported "potential?" Probably not, but if he did, he wouldn't be the first WR to have career years with Allen throwing them the ball-- Diggs, Brown, Beasley, were all seasoned veterans, and all had their best seasons when they arrived in Buffalo. Taking a "flyer" on a vet who never lived up to their potential means something different when Josh Allen is your quarterback.

That's a fair point. (Although, an offensive scheme in which WRs getting separation isn't a significant plus doesn't exist) I think we could see the increased importance of YAC in Brady's scheme, after he took over from Dorsey. And YAC wasn't really a strength of most of our receivers, including Kincaid. It should be something to see the improvement in that element of the game this season.

Speed, and size in the WR room is not mutually exclusive. Shakir, Samuel, and Kamler are all fast. Coleman is faster than he's getting credit for. Slow 40, perhaps, but his top-end speed is up there. But the thing that hasn't, and likely won't be replaced from the departure of Diggs is separation. Diggs' ability to effortlessly separate, and get open (and then consistently catch the ball, of course) is what truly made him elite. Those crazy, athletic grabs he would make from time to time were icing on the cake, and made for super entertaining football-- but it was his ability to separate, regardless if it was on schedule, or extending a blown play that really won us some games. It's hard for me to get too excited about Claypool, or much of our WR room, to be honest. The well-earned knock on Claypool is that he can't separate off-schedule, and get himself open. He has all those strongman YAC traits, and can catch a contested ball, and competently run the route that's assigned to him. That might work for a team like the Dolphins, who butter their bread with timing routes, and quick reads-- but that's not Bills football.

Bills came due in Miami much the same way they did in Buffalo. And, just like us, a lot of talent walked out the door, especially on defense. And of course, they are stuck with Tua. The only team that might take the AFCE over the Bills are the Jets, who wisely spent a lot of resources in their draft and FA on improving their O-line, and protecting Aaron Rodger’s. And once again, their season hinges on Aaron Rodgers. That’s an even bigger gamble this season than it was the last. Frankly, I very much doubt this narrative being peddled in New Jersey that Rodger’s is some super-human with mutant healing powers. I haven’t looked at the Vedas odds recently, but I have to believe the Bills are the favorites to once again take the AFCE.

I'm currently on hiatus from my job, and so I've been re-watching a bunch of games from last season (condensed on NFL+), and I have to say-- the Bills are going to be a very different team without Stefon Diggs. It's unquestionable that he fell off at the end of the season. To my eyes it looked like he just wasn't trying as hard. But all that notwithstanding, there isn't anybody on this team to match his ability. But while Diggs fell off at the end of the season, as did Gabe Davis, quite frankly, others sure did step up. Shakir, Kincaid, Cook, and Ty Johnson all became markedly better as the season progressed. And not for nothing, the ascendence of those players (especially Johnson, and Shakir) did seem to coincide with Brady becoming OC. I think you mean 12 personnel? 1 RB, and 2 TEs.

No thanks to Drop-Zone Jones. His drafting was a cautionary tale on drafting players based on how "NFL ready" they are.

My hope is that Clayton makes the 53, and they use him in those Jumbo packages they love to run. I hated those plays last season. They were useless, and ineffectual. But, imagine Clayton, at 300lb+ with that speed, in a Jumbo package announced as an eligible receiver? That could be fun.

Rice and sausages. Detroit fare.

And Milano, and Bernard are both coming off injury-- a significant injury wrt Milano.

We need all those guys...

I don't know the guy, but he kinda looks like Motor Singletary.

I don't know what y'all seeing on your TVs, but for me, the same two, stupid Rob Gronkowsky commercials are annoying TF out of me.

Yes. A Boston Cheats fan.

Promising? Have you been sneaking into One Bills Drive and watching the practice squad?

You guys are dating yourselves...