Rocky Landing

I’m sure the reports of Rodgers’ mutant healing powers are legit. He’ll bounce right back from a torn Achilles like it never happened.

Oh trust me, my activities are quite subdued these days. 🤙

Snapped my left ACL twice. The last time included a torn MCL, meniscus, and a fractured tibia, and two surgeries. Had my fourth knee surgery in July-- total knee replacement, and now I'm back on the slopes. Cheers!

Wherever he lands, I hope we play him in Buffalo so the Mafia can give him a warm, welcoming ovation. Truly a class act. He'll always be a Bill.

Yeah, absolutely foolish to... bring him in for a visit...🙄

The thing about Hollins vs. a draft pick is that we know exactly what Hollins can do, and how well. He's pretty much a known commodity-- a situational WR with specific skills. The only real question, IMO, is whether those skills fit into a position of need, and I certainly think they do. We know he's a decent gunner (position of need with the loss of Siran Neal), and we know he's a decent run blocker (position of need with the losses of Davis, and Sherfield). We also know that he's 6'4", and strong with decent hands, a decent catch %, and contested catch ability. And we know he's slow, doesn't get separation, and not a lot of YAC (you can even see those negatives on his highlight reel). But if we stand him up like a ficus tree in the end zone in redone situations, opposing teams will have to account for him, and even if he doesn't get a single target, he becomes valuable as such. There's been a lot of debate in these pages about what he can, or cannot become, and I don't see the point. We know what he is, and for the money, it seems like a pretty smart signing to me.

Well, mind you, just because I don’t want to spend all of our draft capital on offense doesn’t mean I want to spend it all on defense. I suspect that if the Bills draft a WR at 28, it means that someone they were really high on dropped to them. But if I were to bet on it, I’d put my money on a bpa defensive position of need. And then hopefully a WR that they’re high on drops to them in the second. I don’t love it. But I suspect that’s how Beane and McDermott might see the big picture.

I don’t often disagree with you, but I sure do here. if you look at the Bills current roster— and I’ll say including reserve/future— at what positions would you say the Bills are thin? To my eye: Offense: QB, excellent OL, adequate WR, thin(ish) RB, adequate TE, deep Defense: DT, thin DE, thin LB, adequate(ish) S, thin CB, thin And where were the majority of our injuries last season? We ignore defensive depth at our peril.

In all seriousness , take a look at the active roster, and then tell me if you still think they “should go all offense.”

It’s an unpopular opinion, but I challenge anyone on here to take a gander at the active roster and find a position on defense other than LB (and only because we’re base nickel) that isn’t woefully thin. https://www.buffalobills.com/team/players-roster/

I would bet money that our first round pick will be defense.

I would bet money that our first draft pick goes to defense.

I think LB is the only defensive position in which we aren’t terribly thin, but that’s only because we’re base nickel.

If we re-signed him, he would be the third-best DT on the active roster.

Three if you consider that he is now a Bill.

Honestly, I’m just assuming he can’t. Be that as it may, there are currently two DTs on the active roster (Oliver. Jones) three DEs (AJ, KJ, and Groot), and Von. After that, it’s a collection of JAGs on futures and PS. Of course it’s early. The sky ain’t falling or anything. But that’s as thin as I ever remember it being.

I agree, but it’s not by a large margin. McDermott’s signature defensive line rotation is nowhere to be seen at the moment.

Come to think of it, I suppose one of the “competitions to watch” going into TC (at least from a fan perspective) might end up being Mack Hollins vs Tyrell Shavers?

Is there not a fair amount of context missing from that stat comparison? Josh Allen is far more accurate, with far better ball placement than anyone who ever threw a pass to Samuel. Not all contested passes are created equal. And, of course, Samuel gets much more separation than Davis.

I always liked Siran Neal. Solid depth piece who, while not spectacular at any one defensive position, had an enormous amount of versatility, and played with a fierceness. And he was an ace gunner. good for him getting a gig in Miami. I suspect the Fish aren’t going to do very well this coming season, and their games are likely to mean less and less as the season progresses. But the weather’s nice. This could be the NFL equivalent to becoming a Walmart greeter after retirement.

I think the notion of Hollins as Siran Neal’s’ replacement increases the likelihood of that (as well as Hollins’ chances at the 53).

Bet you feel a lot better now tho, eh?

This move makes me feel a lot more comfortable with the inevitability of Beane/McDermott drafting a defensive player in the first (and let’s face it… probably the second) round.

Hm. Starting to like the guy. I hope he can ball.

This is a frustrating part of the offseason when a certain number of fans will, once again, opine that depth players are a waste of money, and special teams don't matter. Every season proves both perspectives wrong, but here we go anyway. After watching some footage of Hollins playing (what little I could find), and looking at his stats, I think he could be a good hire for the money. He's tall and strong, and plays the ST position of gunner well (which is a need, now that Siran has retired to the Dolphins...). Offensively, it looks like his strengths are exceptional run blocking, a decent catch radius, reliable hands, and decent contested-catch ability. His negatives are that he looks slow, doesn't get separation, and has surprisingly little YAC. He could be a good situational player in the run game, and also as a red-zone target. Even if he doesn't get many targets, opposing teams will absolutely have to account for a 6'4" target with reliable hands in the end zone. If he manages to actually earn the max $3M on his contract, we should all be pretty happy with the result.