fergie's ire

Yes...which was smart. No need to dive into an oncoming defender.

The reason these players didn't return investment is that they played. Other teams saw what they were. When QBs don't play...or better yet appear in just a few games when teams don't know how to prepare for them, people can become convinced they are great....like Gardiner Minchew or Jake Browning. Daniel Jones threw for over 300 yards in his first game and looked GREAT. If that game came in a substitute role and he went back to the bench you could end up with teams giving multiple firsts to get him....but once you see enough of him that's when a Matt Cassel becomes meh.

Exactly. That's why I would love for the Bills to take a flyer on a QB in the later rounds of the draft every few years. Yes, you are grooming a possible replacement in case the worst happens, like an Andrew Luck situation. However, I think the bigger reason is as an asset. Having a young unknown QB is the best way for good teams to collect on investment. Yes, Matt Cassel is an example and if Bellichick hadn't done Garropolo a solid and traded him to SF, he could've gotten a mind for him from Cleveland or a similar team. Look at what we paid for Rob Johnson, or what the Seahawks paid for Matt Flynn in free agency (and what GB could've gotten for him if they still had him under contract). Teams fall in love with backups on great teams who appear in pre-season and a few spot regular season games. It's a great investment. If Josh goes down, this teams going nowhere so have a backup who you could flip for some picks. Could you imagine what we could get for Nathan Peterman if he were drafted two years ago?

Someone mentioned cutting Gilliam and using a TE as fullback. How about 3 TEs with Knox in the backfield? I think you'd need to have one set back off the LS like a wingback but if you did that you'd have all that size that you could pass to...or hand off to Cook and nobody would be able to find him amongst the trees.

The one thing that gives me hope for Cook is that last year in training camp Shakir was "Hold My Breath" team captain.

Over 30 speed receivers' production can suddenly drop off a cliff. Miami better hope that doesn't happen.

I thought it was good on first watch, too. However, after going back and re-watching it I have to agree that the second one was probably incomplete. He bobbled both catches which is not surprising since it was contested. On the first, he clearly comes down with a knew in bounds. On the second one, though, you can't see the sideline when he catches it, but he goes to ground right after and at that point you can see the sideline behind him. He's probably two yards out of bounds so if you extrapolate where he was when he caught it, he was probably a step out of bounds.

Do you remember how long in camp it took for rookie Ed Oliver to beat out Jordan Phillips? Once the season came, Oliver started and while some may question if Oliver lived up to his draft status, he is certainly better than Phillips. McDermott seems to have a good sense of who needs to be pushed and who needs to be encouraged. He also uses starting position to reward veterans for past service (as with Phillips). At least that seems true on the defense. On offense they seem to want to get players accustomed to playing with Josh. I feel like we have this discussion almost every year with some player.

It can't be taught

Yeah, and it's not just against the Bills. Their offense averages about twice as many points against losing teams as winning teams. They tend to struggle against good teams. It's much like the complaint about the Bills defense.

Yes, I think this was the sequence you were referring to (per Thad Brown): "Josh 3 INTs in four plays in team drills."

As a kid in the 70s I had two favorite QB/WR pairs on different teams. I loved Fred Billitnikoff and Ken Stabler on the Oilers (loved the untucked, long hair, stickum anti-establishment vibe) and I liked Dan Pastorini and Billy White Shoes Johnson. Pastorini because he would just get destroyed but would keep playing and Johnson because he was so much fun. Of course, one of the reason I was watching the Raiders was because they also had a favorite former Bill, Bobby Chandler.

I wonder how much of Josh Allen's inability to read defenses is on Ken Dorsey and I am curious if we see a leap in that area once Allen has an offseason with Brady. I thought he was getting really good at reading defenses toward the end of Daboll's tenure. When Josh made the controversial comment about not watching much tape he followed it by saying he doesn't worry about what the defense is doing because if the Bills offense can do anything it wants and it's up to the defense to adjust to them. I've long suspected those were Dorsey's words being filtered through Josh because it seemed to be one of the key differences between Dorsey and Brady. I'm hoping that's the case and that Josh starts reading and abusing defenses again.

The way they were constructing a team they reminded me a lot of the Bills under McBeane. The big difference is that the Bills drafted Allen and the Jets drafted Wilson.

Benford. I like him but to me he has always been a "good for a 6th round pick guy" and it seems we are counting on him to be flat out good. He seems like a spot starter, high quality backup kind of player...like Dane Jackson...but is he a good starting corner? Not sure. It will help if Douglas continues to play the way he did last year and Elam follows through on the way he looked in OTAs. I just worry that we will need to count on him to be a #2 or even #1 corner and I'm not sure he's that.

I feel that developing Teller was a luxury the Bills couldn't afford at the time. He was aggressive but the knock on him was that sometimes his aggression got him in trouble. He would get off balance and whiff. Having a lineman in the middle whiff on a rusher is the last thing you want with a young QB who you hope to be your franchise player. At the time, Beane had signed a ton of journeyman linemen who were competent but unspectacular. I think he wanted a bunch of low ceiling, high floor guys who would just help keep Allen from getting killed.

Thank those fat thumbs for me. I am really enjoying the mental image.

Funny typo. I'd love to see a 1/12 sack. Everybody on the field and one guy off the bench run over and jump the quarterback.

Who is from Duke? Davis went to Kentucky (and Vanderbilt...and Temple). Cook went to Georgia.

Actually, I am hoping this drop is him practicing whatever drop program Shakir was working last year. If you remember the concern in training camp last year regarding Shakir was his tendency to drop passes. Then he had a lot of drops of easy passes in OTAs and training camp. Then the season starts and he ends up having the lowest drop rate in the league. Maybe these drops are part of the patented Shakir process.

When he did the quarterback draft with Mina Kimes, Nate Tice made a comment about some of Josh Allen's turnovers make him crazy for a few seconds and he thinks "why would you even attempt that throw," but then when he thinks about it he realizes, "Oh yeah, I've seen him complete that pass like six times in a row." (Btw, both he and Kimes said they had Allen as the clear number 2 QB in the league.) So, part of the issue is what other sports might call usage rate. Allen is involved in so many of the plays that, of course, he is going to have more turnovers. However, the other issue is that he attempts throws nobody else should because he completes passes nobody else can on the regular.

I just came here to say LeBron is the GOAT, not Jordan. End of discussion.

Reid may not have had Allen or Mahomes, and Alex Smith is not a hall of famer. Still, go back and actually look at some of those earlier Reid playoff games. There was some absolute coaching malpractice. Down two scores to the Patriots and they go on a long time consuming drive and look like they are trying to run out the clock, and blowing an 18 point lead against the Titans. Reid had a reputation as a terrible playoff coach and we would be losing our minds if McDermott made some of the decisions that he did earlier in his career.

The Kentucky Wildcats BB had an insane amount of talent on their teams from 2015 to 2020 or so. It's amazing they didn't win more championships. Devin Booker, Karl Anthony Towns, Malik Monk, Bam Adebayo, De'Aaron Fox, Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Tyler Herro, Tyrese Maxey, Jamal Murray, Immanuel Quickley, PJ Washington. Julius Randal and Anthony Davis were just before this period.

No, but I remember the reports of all the interceptions that Mahomes kid was throwing after Kansas City wasted picks to move up and get him.