Kirby Jackson

Yeah, it’s kind of an “eye of the beholder” thing. I wouldn’t keep any of the current TEs so 2 was my conservative number. Clay OR Croom probably stays. I doubt that they are both back. Thomas is almost certainly gone IMO.

That’s why I said there needs to be a tier break. No one is going to scrafice 2nd round picks to get Oliver when they can stay put and get Wilkins (or whatever). It’s not really speculation it’s reasoned thought based on the current state of the draft board (which is close to set). I agree with the rest. The Bills desperately need offense. They need 3 OL, 2 TEs, 2 WRs and a RB at minimum. I don’t care where they get these guys but they need them.

For whom? Haskins I presume? I think Herbert will be gone by the time we pick. If he stays in school then maybe Haskins goes in that spot. I don’t see many (or any) other QBs that are going to go near the top 10. Because someone wanted to come up for a QB.

I don’t think that they are in the same tier as guys like Bosa & Quinnen Williams. I have a bunch of defensive players ahead of any offensive players. In a draft like this it has the reverse effect too. If it is thin at a position guys naturally get overdrafted. If it is deep at a position guys get underdrafted. I’m a BIG believer in drafting to the strength of the draft for that reason. You get better football players.

Which is an option IF someone wants to come up to where we are picking. The only time that trade downs are feasible is when you are on the verge of dropping a tier in terms of players. Maybe if only one of Greedy Williams or Deandre Baker is left then it’s possible. I really don’t see any other possibilities.

I think that everyone agrees that protecting Josh and getting Josh weapons are the 2 biggest needs. That doesn’t mean that you reach in the draft. Good teams never do that. The top tier of this draft is on the defensive side of the ball. Get the best player that you can. You have to draft to the value. They will plug some holes in FA to lend that flexibility.

It doesn’t matter. If the Bills are picking in the top 5 it will almost certainly be a defensive player. That’s the talent that warrants a top 5 pick. If they fall closer to 10 it could be an offensive player.

It was a REALLY dirty play. I don’t blame Jenkins at all for being angry. There is no place in the game for that.

Teflon Crossman HAS to be gone

They are brothers I believe. With that being said, I like the work that Ryan does. He’s a good follow on Twitter. He will defend his opinions and interact with people. He is an asset to Bills reporting IMO.

You don’t know if any draft picks are going to be good. I can say, with confidence, that Little and Pierschbacher will be starting in the NFL next year. You contradict yourself. You want proven linemen but you want them to add some in the draft. You are never going to find a proven player in the draft. FA is where to get the OL this year. It is a solid group. Sign 2 guys (take your pick of any of the guys constantly mentioned) and go from there. If you are expecting them to keep Dawkins and get 7 new OL be prepared to be disappointed. You are looking at 2, maybe 3 guys turning over. They will sign a couple guys to play and then take a flier or 2 in the mid-rounds.

@Joeziehmer what are your thoughts on Greedy Williams if he slips to the 3rd or 4th round? I think he’d be a good pick opposite Tre White at that point.

This is good work, as always, from Ryan. This would be a GREAT offseason IMO. The only concern I’d have, at this point, is the #2 CB. Good work though Ryan

I like it. I’d use 1 of the 4ths on Nick Bosa and one of the 5ths on Quinnen Williams but other than that it is solid!!

So in the 7th round you are going to pick 2 guys that will go by the 2nd and a 6th round pick that will go in the 1st? That’s a winning strategy!! I like it

How many more do you want? He drafted 2 guys in Little and Pierschbacher that would start tomorrow. He took 3 others in the draft. You only carry 8-9 OL. He drafted 5!!!

Saw that today!! Some guys can’t stay out of trouble. I wonder if that’s how he ended up at Kansas in the 1st place?

I would hope that they wouldn’t do that. Teams need to be careful to not get arrogant when things are going well. It looks like the Sabres are in the early phases of a long successful run. If they chased off people like you now, they would be able to replace you. If they did that in the midst of the last few years, they wouldn’t. When the pendulum swings back the other way they will still need those people that will buy tickets. It is risky/arrogant to push away the fans that were there when you were at the bottom.

It’s okay. FA is where I think OL gets addressed. This is a really weak pass catching FA class so that has to be addressed in the draft or via trade. I’d expect 2 starting caliber OL in FA. They may add another guy in the draft.

That’s the most Canadian thing ever!!

I’d say that it is definitely working. We (when I was in the NBA) were one of the first teams to embrace it. It was in large part by necessity. There were still team’s with an old-school mentality. We embraced those guys and had a dedicated manager that worked only with them. We tried to be transparent with them and in turn there was a lot of data sharing. We would look out for them and in turn they would do some favors for us. The goal was to bring the secondary market off the corner and into our control. We would do things like sell them harder to move inventory at a discount. This allowed us to get the revenue from that as well keep some internal revenue by not cannabilizing walk up. As an example we might sell them the worst of the club seats at $75 a piece. They may have been $125 or $150 face. We would do this instead of selling them lower corners at $40. There is a certain type of buyer that will spend $40 or maybe even $90 for a club seat but wouldn’t spend $150. So we are either getting $75 of the $90 or $75 + $40. Our best cases scenario with that same consumer would have been a $40 lower corner. The broker may, in turn get as much as $105-$110 for the club. Everyone is happy. The data sharing is great, but it’s really nothing earth shattering. That’s why some teams (especially in baseball) went to dynamic pricing. We talked about it when our demand was high but it was a little risky. I think that this is the likeliest move for the Sabres. They have enough demand at the moment that I think it would work. It’s risky still though as they likely have a few big broker partners. They really don’t like the dynamic model (at all). They like a limited inventory and high demand for big games. Dynamic pricing spreads it out and will leave a bigger supply (even for prime games).

I always liked Roosevelt and felt like he belonged in the NFL. With that being said, he’s like 31 or 32. He isn’t exactly a part of the future. I’d rather take a shot on another young guy and hope to get lucky.

I am with you Lenz. While it isn’t ideal for the home fans the brokers are a necessary evil. This holds especially true in a “gate-driven” league like the NHL. They are not getting the revenue from the networks that other leagues are. The ticket revenue in the NHL is infienitely more important than NFL, NBA and even MLB (although they are closer). You can get brokers to commit to tickets for Calgary on a Tuesday Night when both teams stink. They are willing to do that because they can make a profit when the Leafs play on a Friday and both teams are good (or whatever). The value of broker partners is that they own many of the seats that may or may not be filled on a crappy game. They play a major role in teams hitting revenue and ticket goals. I’d venture to say that the Sabres have 2,000 or so seats (no idea on the actual number) that are owned by broker partners. There are a handful of really large ones around the country that own chunks. We had about 3,500 one year and there were owned by about 7 guys. With that being said the accessibility between ticket holders and the general public is easier than ever. That makes it even harder for brokers. Teams have to continue to be creative to incentivize brokers to continue purchasing the lower demand games. You may do something like, “for every season ticket that you have you can buy double that amount for Toronto.” So if a guy buys 100 season tickets and is allowed to buy another 200 per game for Toronto you get a lot of Leaf fans in the building. You do this to protect the less desired games and drive demand away from games that will sellout anyways. Lenz, is that along the lines of what you are looking for?

He EXCELS in shorts and a t-shirt!!

This year is different in that there is. O doubt that Brady is hitting a wall. Stats aside, he can’t make all of the throws anymore. He’s aware of this, the coaching staff is aware of it so they’ve tried to scheme around it to mixed results. He’s had a decent season by QB standards but a terrible season by his standards. You don’t “bounce back” at 41 either. This is the beginning of the end for him. They are still a good team and he a good QB. The Pats are NOT the dominant force that they once were. They are a “good” team but not “great.” Their window is closing. It may not be this year, it may not even be next but it isn’t open longer than that.