Rocky Landing

The most important piece of "stuff going their way" would be for Drake May to exceed all expectations, and very quickly transform from a raw, boom/bust prospect into an NFL phenom. The idea that he could do that quickly enough, and to a degree that they could take the division from three teams that are clearly more talented, with the specious O-line, and pedestrian receiving corp they currently have, is a sucker's bet.

In my opinion, Joe Douglas, and the Jets did a much better job in the offseason than Grier in Miami, and I think the Fish take a step back from last season. The Fish lost a lot of key defensive talent-- Van Ginkel, Wilkins, Jerome Baker, David Long Jr., Xavian Howard, and DeShon Elliot. That's six out of eleven starters, and Bradley Chubb is coming back from a late-season ACL. They also did very little to address O-line issues. The Fish will lose in the trenches, which blows up all those precise timing routes that the league figured out mid-last season, and their D will have a hard time getting off the field. The Jets, on the other hand, focused on improving their O-line, and protecting their last chance at a playing a HOF QB. It's hard to imagine Rodgers lasting an entire season, but he has a better shot going into '24 than he did in '23.

As good as Taiwan Jones was as a gunner (and he was really good), he was an absolutely terrible RB.

It would seem that at least for this season, the Bills are moving away from the ST-only players. But I never understood the problem people have had with guys like Siran, Taiwan, and Matakevich. They’d rather have poor ST play, so the Bills could carry a #6, or #7 WR, who would probably be inactive on game day, and would otherwise be carried on the practice squad? Special Teams matter. Field position matters!

Does Patrick Moran's interview of Tyler Dunne's interview of Brandon Beane discuss Beane's interview of Keon Coleman asking questions of Sean McDermott?

I was a bit puzzled by this, until I found out it’s been around for 20+ years. It reminds me a little bit of affirmative action— it’s relevant, it’s necessary, and it’s helpful. And, at some point it (hopefully) renders itself obsolete. It may even be the next generation of professional athletes that does it. My daughter just graduated high school. My wife teaches there, and my son is entering his freshman year. I have been struck by how utterly accepting these kids are. It was almost ten years ago that I saw a sign for the “LGBT Club” posted on a school bulletin board. When I was a child, that would have been called the “Line Up for a Beating Club.” Now, there are openly gay students, including athletes, and they receive zero bullying. My daughter is openly gay, and went to the prom with her girlfriend. If there are other students who have a problem with it, they keep it to themselves, lest they get scolded for their intolerance. Hell— I’m a Scoutmaster with my son’s Boy Scout troop, and we have openly gay scouts. I’m sure that nationally, my kids’ HS is not the norm (I do live in Los Angeles, after all…), and there are plenty of posts in this thread that illustrate how far there is yet to go. But I can well imagine how the tenor of the current NGFFL differs from its inception. And of all the the organizations from the last several decades that have helped bring the LGBT community out of the shadows, It seems perfectly appropriate that the Buffalo Bills lend their support to this one.

I remember during the drought, these were the best of times. We always seemed to win the offseason...

If this weren't a public poll, those votes would already be there.

Preseason denotes a healthy team. I voted 1-4 going into the season. Of course, many things will change as the season progresses. My biggest concern is depth, especially on defense, but on offense, we've got 17. That bumps us up the league regardless. I feel like 1-4 is pretty optimistic on my part, but homer's gotta home.

I don't care at all about "disgruntled ex-players." As long as all our current players are gruntled, I think we're good.

UPDATE: CHAMPS! My son was also named Defensive MVP for the season, making TODAY my best Father/Son sports moment, and one helluva great Father's Day!

My son has been playing NFL Flag Football for four years. They have four seasons a year, so this will be his 16th, and last season, as he's entering high school in the Fall. He's never won a Super Bowl. Today, he plays at 3:00 (PDT). If they win, they'll play in his first Super Bowl at 6:00. They actually give the kids rings. Wish him luck!

Miami may have been the higher seeded team, but the Chiefs had an easier game of it. The Fish hated every minute of that cold-weather game. They barely showed up. If Tua could have played wearing mittens, he would have.

He would need to have a soul.

This is very similar to the narrative on Gabe Davis at the beginning of last season. I guess you can be optimistic in watching his playoff games. But it was really only the Divisional, and AFCCG that he excelled. Beyond a nice TD, his numbers were paltry in the Super Bowl. Be that as it may, MVS played in 20 games last season. Not three. I really don't want to sound like such a downer on this guy. If he ends up on the 53-- which is likely, I suppose-- I'll be optimistic as hell. But, I don't see him all that high on the depth chart. And I really don't see him as a "difference maker" for the Bills. He wasn't a difference maker for the Chiefs. He was fourth in receiving yards for them-- just ahead of TE Noah Grey.

Bill has bigger t!ts.

I have a hard time accepting this narrative that MVS becomes a better player during the playoffs, so don't worry about his crappy numbers in the regular season. I have yet to read an acceptable justification for the fact that MVS has the worst completion percentage, and the worst drop rate of every WR on this team.

Just how much success does a 50% completion percentage, and a 7% drop rate bring? Based on what?

Simply untrue.

I think it's safe to say (early though it may be), that at this point in the process, Hollins is well above Hamler. I would go as far to say that the Bills' brass probably place Hollins fourth on their white board for WRs who will be on the 53. Hamler most likely resides on a level that has a number of names placed in a row. At the end of the day, it won't necessarily be the best six WRs who make the roster. Joe Brady has a playbook, and he needs guys who fill out that playbook. If there are three WRs who basically fill the same role, they're not all making the team. Hollins certainly has a leg up for his leadership, and ST acumen. But it currently seems like there's quite a bit of redundancy in the top six guys in the WR room. That includes MVS, and Claypool in terms of the playbook. IMO, that's what gives guys like Hamler, and Isabella, and perhaps even Thompson, or Shavers a shot. (Shorter... not so much...)

Do the Bills have an in-house psychotherapist?

Man, this thread concept hasn't aged well over the last couple days...

Last year, there were a lot more returning WRs, including the two starters. This year, we have Shakir. Regarding Shavers, when we took him as a UDFA last season, the biggest buzz on him was his special teams ability. There has been a lot of turnover on ST this year, most notable Neal, and Matekevich. But with the lack of depth on this team, I think it's likely the Bills are moving away from the ST-only roster spots. If Shavers can be an effective gunner, that's great. But, they'll likely want him to have value on offense, as well. He has an uphill battle, to be sure, but it's not unreasonable for him to be in drills with Josh Allen at a mini-camp.

My thoughts on minicamp: There’s been a lot of hand-wringing over who’s getting a lot of reps (especially from Allen). It’s weird to me that guys who are further down the depth chart getting passes from Allen, during a mini-camp, would be a concern to anybody, but here we are. I think there’s a few things at play here, that aren’t being discussed: With the departure of Siran Neal, and Matekevich, it’s possible the Bills are moving away from ST-only players. Players like Shavers, Isabella, Shorter, and Mack Hollins (and everyone down the depth chart) are going to be looked at for their ST roles, but they’re also going to be evaluated for offensive abilities. This WR room isn’t going to be made up entirely of 6’4” guys who aren’t particularly fast. That would be redundant. Isabella, and Hamler both have top-end speed, exceptional cutting ability, K/PR potential, and have traits that would be unique to the room. They need a gadget guy. IMO, one of these guys is going to make the roster. With so many new, and unproven faces on the roster, as well as Joe Brady installing a new offense that will be tailored to Josh Allen with Allen's input, it is every bit as important for Allen to get an evaluation of every available receiver, as it is for Brady. In my opinion, Allen should be throwing to every receiver on the current roster, if they’re going to have any chance to show up in training camp. Hell, I think Allen should throw a couple passes at Travis Clayton-- see if he can't be the sixth lineman in a Jumbo Package. If not now, then when? And in disagreement with @HappyDays, I will say there is no such thing as “practice squad fodder." Every player with a number should be ready to be called up.

These are the sorts of things that Fred Jackson heard his entire career. The Bills would bring someone in, everyone would crow about how they'd be the feature back, and FredX would end up with more snaps.