Kirby Jackson

These guys keep retiring that I already thought were retired. Roy Hibbert retired this week!! I don’t remember seeing him in a game since like 2015.

I am in the same boat. He was absolutely atrocious last year. Any available metric supports that but I’m just not ready to write him off. The irony is part of the reason that I am not ready to write off Zay is because I was a big fan going into the draft. He looked like a star in the Senior Bowl and I bought in. I was thrilled when they got him. A season like you said is certainly not out of the question. In hindsight though, Ju-Ju would have been a better option (although I didn’t necessarily believe that at the time).

It’s funny how these things go sometimes. If you flipped Milano and Zay’s draft position people would feel great about the draft. They would say, “we got a Pro Bowl CB, a starting LT and a playmaking LB all before the end of the 2nd round.” Zay would have been considered a decent contributor as a 5th. Drafts are often viewed based on our expectations prior. If you look at the results the Bills got a lot of contributions out of the class just not necessarily from the guys that they expected.

We did and I owe you some beer. PM me your address and I’ll send you something good

EJ is a nice guy and a bad football player. There is nothing wrong with that. It’s not his fault that he went in the 1st round. He was a product of a terrible QB draft. A lot of QBs don’t make it. He was just one of those guys. As someone that struggles with depression though I don’t wish that on anyone. It isn’t easy.

He’s going to get around $15m a year for 3 or 4 years (right or wrong). The teams that can afford to do that are teams with QBs on rookie contracts. A team totally devoid of weapons (especially if Shady is gone) makes a lot of sense. Maybe so, but Theo Riddick can get you that many receptions at 20% of his price. The entire point is that the QB is irrelevant (as evidenced by Duke Johnson’s 74 catches). You can find backs to catch a lot of balls cheap. You can’t find guys that rush for 1,300 yards and catch 85 balls cheap. That’s Marshall Faulk territory. The Bills have 1 weapon and they may not even have him. If Shady goes I don’t know why anyone would be opposed to adding a guy that would give you 1,300 on the ground and instantly be your best receiver? The cap isn’t an issue. You can take him for a few years and get as much out of him as you can. If he is done after 3 years, so be it.

For a RB that is irrelevant. Shady caught the most balls on our team by 10. Teams that focus on throwing to the RB will see results. It doesn’t matter if Nate Peterman is throwing him the ball or Tom Brady. RB receptions aren’t dependent on quality passers. It is dependent on quality pass catching backs. Duke Johnson caught 74 balls last year. There is no correlation between QB quality and RB receptions.

Not sure what you are getting at? He caught 85 balls and had 1,300 yards on the ground (and missed a game). Bell would be an elite weapon to a pass happy team like GB or a run heavy team like us. He’s Marshall Faulk. There isn’t a team in the league that doesn’t need his skill set.

Especially when you have a QB on a rookie deal. They can give Bell 4 years and $60M with the majority of the guaranteed money in the first 3 years. That wouldn’t even put a dent in their space. They can still add a starting WR and a starting OL without doing much damage. They can bring in Golden Tate and Martavis Bryant (let KB walk) while getting a solid OL starter (maybe Ali Marpet). They wouldn’t even dent their cap space and have 9 picks.

You’ll love Bell then. He caught 26 more balls than the guy with the most catches on our team (McCoy). It being a passing league IS a reason to chase Bell not a reason against it. Bell will not be cheap but is a good option if Shady is done (which may or may not be the case). This team is COMPLETELY devoid of weapons outside of Shady. We have arguably the worst skill players in the NFL. Adding arguably the best skill player in the NFL (I still think it’s Antonio Brown) wouldn’t hurt the Bills.

Chef’s has been a family “go to” since I was little. I still go every time that I am in town. Small spaghetti parm, extra crispy with 2 meatballs and a carafe of chianti.

I would hate it. It is worth consideration but as a tiebreaker. Rosen has been my guy for a couple of years. I hope I’m wrong.

Please, please, please don’t turn this into a Tyrod thread. For some reason anytime someone mentions him, certain people jump into say “yeah but he wasn’t good.” This thread isn’t about Tyrod. The OP clearly said that they had “mixed feelings” on him. I think that a lot of people did. The point of this thread was to talk about how teams are factoring in concussion issues. “The most important ability is availability.” That has been a motto of McDermott since he got here. The Bills seem to be taking that seriously. That’s the story here not Tyrod vs. the Panthers. FWIW, I think that it is something that needs to be considered. We’ve seen a bunch of guys recently walk away for fear over their long-term health. It is still a secondary factor in my opinion but when you have a decision to make it can be a tiebreaker. It is “A” factor not “THE” factor.

I challenge you to a duel!

...the day before her eviction hearing. There is absolutely as much evidence (at this point) that it was her doing and not his. It would be naive to think that it is anything but one or the other but you’d have to be an idiot to not see the motivation of each side.

For me it isn’t so much about changing styles as it is changing the age group. You can win in the NFL on the ground or in the air or both. Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Rams, etc... all win with a balanced attack. By the time that the Bills are ready to compete (another year or 2) Shady will be ancient by RB standards. He has held off Father Time so far but for how much longer? Get a young dynamic back next year to grow with Allen & co. They aren’t better without Shady. No team is better when you take away their best player.

Gang Starr Mos Def Talib Kweli Jay Electronica Royce da 5’9” Common (before he became famous)

Maybe a slight upgrade at this point but neither is a needle mover. They are both depth guys. I’d rather have 2 “depth” type guys though that are at least NFL backs. Carson is intriguing as well. I don’t see the Bills trading more than a 6th for a RB and a 7th. Guys like Ware/West fall in that tier. If the Bills want to get a little more aggressive they should take a shot at Tevin Coleman. He’s entering FA and doubt that he gets paid after that Freeman contract. Maybe you can get him and extend him? He’s the guy that can be a lead back.

Tolbert doesn’t play here. West and Ware aren’t necessarily an upgrade from Ivory but at least in the same tier. I’d be interested for sure. A trade is a better route than any street FA other than Murray.

I think Graham over Wilson has to be the answer but we should stick to the 1st round or 2 at most. Stars that were drafted later were missed by everyone. Swinging and missing early sets you back. I’ll try to use just 1st rounders vs. other 1st rounders. Also i will try to take guys that made sense at the time. With that being said: - Mike Williams over Ed Reed - Whitner over Ngata - McCargo over Mangold - McKelvin over Talib - Maybin over Orakpo - Spiller over Thomas - Dareus over Julio - Gilmore over Cox - EJ over Hopkins - Sammy over Mack FWIW, we really didn’t pass on a lot of great QBs. We had a shot in 2017 at some good ones but got our guy this year. We will see how that plays out.

Not saying that we should be content but the goal isn’t a wild card berth. It is a championship. The Bills are building towards a championship caliber defense IMO. Outside of Allen and Dawkins I’m not positive that any guy on offense will be crucial by the time that the Bills are ready to compete. The OL, and pass catchers need to be better and the RB younger. If Allen looks the part this year the record doesn’t matter at all to me. 2019 comes with 9 picks, $100M of cap space and potentially a franchise QB on a rookie deal. That’s a recipe for success.

I don’t expect this team to have a great record with or without Shady. I think that I had them at about 6-10 so if you subtract him it probably amounts to 5 or less imo. With that hat being said the focus isn’t really on this year. All that matters this year is that Allen looks the part. Shady wasn’t going to be a key figure on this team by the time they are ready to compete anyways.

You mean like trading up to the 7th overall pick to get a guy? Don’t you think that the Bills are going to play that guy? We won’t know if he is good until he’s out there for a couple of years. They’ve already addressed QB.

This is more along the lines of what I was thinking but he appears to have carved out a nice niche as a pass catcher in Cleveland. My thought was similar in a young guy, with production, down the depth chart, in Tevin Coleman. He is a FA after this year. You can throw a pick their way (or maybe even a player) and give him a year as the lead guy. With all of the money that they are paying Freeman this is likely Coleman’s last year in Atl IMO.

Um, not good