BarleyNY

If we added a solid to serviceable starting CB (or better) to the roster I would be a lot more at ease. Lattimore is out of our price range currently. The other part of this issue is we don’t have much help at S or LB to cover the slot. We have Hyde, Poyer, Edmunds and Milano plus Neal for S depth. If we get an injury (or more) to one of our top 2 safeties or 3 CBs things just look really, really thin to me.

The FO is clearly prioritizing pass rush over coverage - to a large degree, in fact. We can debate that strategy - the analytics people will tell you that coverage should be prioritized - but I think a good case can be made that prioritizing the pass rush is a good way to go too. That the Bills have gone that route is not really what concerns me. It is that the CB corps has really been neglected except for the Tre pick and extension. CB is generally considered the first or second most important position on the defense and we’ve seen more attention to LB and S than CB. The DL has had a ton of draft capital and cap dollars allocated to it - with limited returns so far. I don’t think any other position group is close (except QB). So we might be 5 deep at DE now, but we’re only 3 deep at CB. That is not nearly enough depth so it just doesn’t make sense to me.

Believe it or not, it’s possible to have questions about both our D line play and our cornerback play/depth.

Yup. 3 deep at CB is not nearly enough for 17 regular season games plus playoffs.

That makes a lot of sense actually as this this thread basically turned into Homer Circle Jerk and Josh Allen Blind Loyalty Litmus Test. Sad. I’m rooting for Allen because he’s the Bills QB. I believe him to be capable of taking that final step, but I’m not giving him credit for doing so until he does. If he takes a step or two backwards I’ll still root for him, but I’d want an upgrade. That just means that I root for the team, not a player over the team, and that I understand things like logic.

This is exactly where I am. While I’m certainly not saying that Allen can’t take that next step - after all, he’s taken so many already - it’s pure homerism to chose a QB who has already done so over one who hasn’t.

It is worth mentioning that there’s a couple out there now in Sherman and Nelson. It doesn’t seem like interest is all that high on the Bills side so I really think we roll with pretty much what we have now. Obviously if we can get a deal on somebody we take it, but that’s not very likely.

It’s a pipe dream. If a decent or better team with no viable backup loses its starting QB for the year we might be able to get a pick for Trubisky. It should be noted that we would by no means be the only team who could trade such a backup. But no team is trading a quality starting CB to us during the season.

The Haslams screwed up the McDermott/Jackson decision. Depodesta and the rest of the Browns brass voted unanimously to hire McDermott, but the Haslams ignored them all and went with Jackson. Then Depodesta wanted Stefanski two years ago and the Haslams went with Kitchens instead. Finally they listened to him and hired Stefanski and Berry (GM) a year ago - though Saleh was a close second. Stepping aside and letting Depo do his job was easily the best decision they’ve made since buying the Browns.

Isn’t that what he weighs now?

Alas ‘tis the slow season

I have to think that these reports are just the Falcons trying to drum up a market for him. No way is BB trading for him. If JJ had been a Patriots WR, he’d have been traded away a season or two ago. Maybe Indy is desperate enough to make a move for him, but his trade value is significantly diminished by his contract and age.

We’d have to clear some cap space for a signing like that. We need to make some room by cut down day anyway. That could be a restructure of Dawkins or cutting/trading away salary. But signing someone like Sherman or Nelson would require more work to be done. Not that we couldn’t do it, just that we’re at a point where choices need to be made.

I agree with that too. I was really surprised we didn’t draft a 1T. Who knows what we’ll get out of Star after a year off? Or Phillips off of injury? Hopefully both are back to full strength, but I expect little from Star except to take snaps a 1T. His play since he’s gotten here has been poor IMO. Maybe Phillips can do the job.

I was a very big fan of the Oliver pick. He was literally the best prospect that I thought might fall to us and I was ecstatic when he did. But he hasn’t consistently performed well enough yet. The biggest reason I can point to is not unrealistic expectations from fans. I sure didn’t have those. It’s that he had to play a lot of 1 tech last season. He needs to be at 3 tech. He should spend the majority of his time there this season so we should be able to see what we really have in him. 🤞

Bills blue ink or no deal gets signed.

NO still has a lot of talent and good coaching. I have zero faith that Hill will ever be a good QB, but maybe the bookies think that Payton will work some magic with Winston. That line could move significantly after people get a look at the NO QBs in camp.

Yeah. I definitely think Rousseau is a swing for the fences boom or bust type. In a few years there isn’t going to be any hand wringing about whether or not he gets his fifth year option/second contract. He either will be a star and here long term or bust and will be gone. Also agree on Boogie and Epenesa. Lower ceiling/higher floor types of prospects - especially Boogie. They should be both be solid to very good players, but neither is going to be elite.

I agree. It just seems like the Bills drafted for long term positional and fiscal need. The defensive philosophy is predicated on pressure from the front four and quality defensive linemen who can pass rush are the most expensive FA players (next to rarely available QBs). So there’s logic to what the Bills are doing, but I just don’t like the odds of players like GR (and Oweh for that matter) developing.

https://www.twobillsdrive.com/community/topic/232764-2-of-6-sports-writers-pick-best-games-choose-bills/ Its just a USA Today article referencing ESPN from this thread

I wholeheartedly agree. That’s where my mind is too. Let’s get the first one in the bag. The Steelers won’t be a pushover either. To say they came out of the gate strong last year is an understatement and that defense is legit. Week 1 is not when I’d have chosen to play them, but this is the kind of game the Bills need to be able to win if they want a championship. It’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t happen, but knocking off a healthy Steelers team to start the season would solidify that the Bills are in the top tier of the league.

Remember the preseason game against Carolina when Benjamin played his ass off? That’s what really made me hate him. He’d have been a good player for us if he’d have given that kind of effort, but he never did again. F him.

One of the things I like about his length is that it gives him a huge “tackling radius”.

While I appreciate what the guys at Cover 1 do, I think they take a very positive view of the Bills and don’t take a hard look at negatives. I thought they did that with Rousseau. But maybe they’re right. Maybe what he can do well will make him a very effective player. That’s certainly possible. I’m particularly interested in how he handles rushing from the interior. I think that will be a big part of his game if he’s successful in the NFL.

I agree on his situation. His only effective move seems to be using his long arms to shed his blocker. He has no ability to get low and bend an edge and his change of direction is not good enough to turn in on the QB if he can beat an OT to the outside. His highlight reel did not even impress me. He beat up on some bad linemen.