Delusional Bills Optimist

Man, it doesn't take LeBeau long to close holes. That throw to Chandler would've been perfect the first time around.

Looked like a lot of torque on his lower back. You don't see that kind of action too often. Hopefully, nothing was torn off his rib cage.

Kyle Fuller and Zack Miller dinged in the first half. It'd be nice not to have our LBs' coverage skills tested early.

http://profootballta...arius-robinson/ One big receiver down. Two open roster spots. DE depth move coming?

Bears WR Domenik Hixon - ACL (3rd time)

Pro Se jailhouse litigants say the darndest things. It's not a joke, at least the indications are it is not. It has a legitmate Federal Civil Matter docket number. Unfortunately, this happens a lot (on a lot less insane level, of course) when you have inmates with (a) a lot of time on their hands, (b) access to a law library and (c ) indigent person status that typically lets the courts waive their filing fees. The process exists for the 1% of inmates who may have legitimate claims, but the other 99% of their filings are just like this; largely meritless nuisances. The sad thing is, if this gent properly serves the Defendants, they'll have to spend time and money to appear and seek dismissal of this crap-screed. The chances of the Court granting the TRO is 0%. But the standing issue would have to be raised by the Defendants, at their cost, at the time of their appearance.

Actually, upon further inspection, the Browns themselves have a TJ Graham type. Travis Benjamin. Track star. Same height. Better 40 time. Has scored TDs against the Bills both times he's played us (he's the one that had that long return in the night game). And they got him 31 picks after TJ... Maybe his ACL won't be fully healed? I'm guessing they'll be looking for someone with a different skill set. I give up. My bad everyone. I FORMALLY RESCIND MY QUESTION. Here's to hoping TJ has had a very productive offseason.

I've been a lurker for a few years now. The personality transformation that this franchise has undergone lately has stirred enough enthusiasm within me that I finally felt the urge to dip my toe in the pool. ***Also, as a public service announcement, Skeltons are currently buy-one-get-one-free, as both John and Stephen are on the market, and looking for a good home. In fact, I think Sarah McLachlan just put out a commercial for them.

I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. And while I don't think that TJ is "junk," just sort of a fifth wheel in a deep group, I don't suspect that any GM would be giving up anything of appreciable "quality" for him. He is more of a known quantity than an UDFA, and likely has more physical talent than any UDFAs out there. For a team that is really hurting at WR, he might be worth a low draft pick. The small value we would receive in return could, however, be packaged with other things of value, be it picks or players. Whaley seems to be willing to wheel and deal, why not have more assets with which to deal? If the brass knows, or highly suspects that a player is "expendable" and is going to ultimately be released, why not try to move him while he has some value? Like I said before, once camp starts, I think his value dries up, and a team like the Browns would just wait to poach him off the scrap heap. But, if Pettine considers TJ to have the stink of losing on him, he might not want to bring him on even if he's available for nothing. Normally, I don't really think like this, but the Bills have an active FO now, so talk like this might not be as fantastical as it would normally be. Plus, we're in that football vacuum between rookie camp and training camp. I'm just looking for excuses to talk about the team.

Trade that first for Skelton. I like where this is going.

Sure, why not, assuming you can get a pick, even a 7th, for him. Most recent trades seem to be for consideration that is almost obsessively in line with the draft value chart, which is why you see teams switch in-round picks, or send low rounders back and forth. For example, let's assume that we finish 6-10 again and end up with the 10th pick in each of the 2nd-7th rounds. Our 2nd (480), 3rd (220), 4th (82), 5th (37), 5th from TB (let's say 35), 6th (23.4) and 7th (10.6) are worth 888 combined points. If we found a willing partner, that could get us to 19th overall. If we picked up another 7th for TJ (or anybody), the extra 12-15 points could get us up to 18th overall. An improbable scenario? Yes. Stupid? Probably. But's that's how TJ helps get us a 1st. And almost mid-first, at that. Let's not pretend that a large portion of this board isn't pissed that we don't have a 1st rounder next year. Consider this post just some salve for them. I actually hope TJ gets it together. I think the more talented WRs and RBs you can work into the lineup, the better. A fresh B. Brown or TJ stepping into the 4th quarter of hard fought game might be pretty tough for a worn out defense to stop. But, at the end of the day, I'm also a realist, and think that TJ might be the odd man out, as he is perhaps the only WR that wasn't brought in by this regime, or given kudos by them.

Would you rather have TJ or Easley on the roster as your 5th WR? Serious question, no sarcasm whatsoever. Easley contributes on ST, but his WR contributions seem to be marginal, at best. TJ, on paper, should be the better WR, and he has scored a TD or two in regular season play, but I'm not sure what he contributes to ST. Which skillset would you value more from your 5th WR? I suppose you could keep both, as your 5th and 6th, but I would rather keep a player like Barden, just for the height and size he would bring, if nothing more.

I don't disagree that by August they might be able to pick him up for nothing, but, if they bring him in now, they would at least have camp to get him acclimated to their offense. Given that he doesn't have the traditional amount of experience at the position, I would suspect that they would rather not bring him in cold, ten days before week one. Also, given Gordon's track record and prospects of pulling his head out of his butt, he, too, might be joining Maybin before too long. I guess the point would simply be a hedge against cutting him and receiving nothing. And, given, our lack of a 1st rounder next year, you never know when an additional 5 or 20 draft value points might come in handy. It couldn't hurt to have more ammo for trading up into the1st round. IIRC, NE recently traded their late-1st rounder for a 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 7th. Barring an amazing turnaround, I think TJ's best-case scenario is being the 5th WR. I'm not sure that alone gets him a roster spot, unless he has developed into a ST stud (To be honest, maybe he already is, but I have no recollection of noticing him on STs).

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/22/ray-farmer-open-to-trading-for-receiver-but-doesnt-think-he-needs-a-big-time-one/ How about this pitch: TJ to the Browns for a conditional 7th (becomes a 6th based on playing time)? Coach has some familiarity with the player. TJ's raw, but is young, on a manageable contract and does have some decent measurables. He looks like he could be the odd man out here. Might as well get something for him if you can. If you're Doug Whaley, do you at least make the call?

They're different situations, but the rationale would be the same. In Brown, the Bills identified a player that (A) would improve their roster, even if only at the 3rd spot on the depth chart (for now) at his position, and (B) who was ostensibly rendered expendable due to a new influx of positional talent and/or a scheme change. This would be the case with a Crabtree, or any other TE prospect they would bring in at this point. I'm not advocating they scour the other 31 teams' TE stables and headhunt a player that may be on his way out for one of the reasons set forth above (off the top of my head, I can only think of Fauria in Detroit), as this would require us to part with either a pick or player. But if a player happens to get shaken loose, and we can kick the tires for next to nothing, why not take a chance? Of course, the Bills brass might feel perfectly comfortable, at least in 2014, with the four guys they've got under contract right now. This might be the reason they didn't take a 5th or 7th round flyer on a TE, or bring in any UDFA TEs this week. If that's the case, I'm perfectly fine with that. I trust Mr. Whaley and Co., and I defer to their judgment with respect to assessing the level of talent they have on the roster. They have earned that deference with their recent moves, in my opinion. P.S. What a relief it is to finally be having a pre-camp discussion about something as seemingly trivial as potential back-up TE options, instead of how the Bills have failed to adequately fill one or (usually) more gaping holes on the roster.

Ceded. Typically, no, they're not. But James Harrison, Wes Welker, Jeff Saturday and FJ would tell you that's not always the case. I'm not cheerleading for Crabtree, or any other player in particular. I can see not bringing in a Lyerla, if you think he could be a cancer in the room, or a Finley, given the nature of his injury. I'm just saying, we're getting there roster-wise, why not turn over every reasonable stone to punch up each and every position group as we gear up for a playoffs or bust campaign? The Bills seem to be doing it with the RBs. Hell, we're even plucking guys off of active rosters now! (see B. Brown).

If we do let CJ go after the season, it will be thoroughly disappointing in the sense that he will be yet another 1st round pick to walk without us getting much of a return on the five year investment. Since the 90s, we seem to have a penchant (when we don't outright whiff on a pick) for drafting quality skill players when the rest of the team is in no shape for said player to lift us out of our rut. We've drafted very few foundational players in the 1st round upon whom we could shape the team. It's like we draft the icing when the cake isn't done baking. And now that the team finally appears poised to realistically compete for the postseason, we have a carrot cake roster, and CJ is a delicious chocolate buttercream icing, not cream cheese. That said, if EJ makes the strides that most of us hope he will, the mid-to-late second round appears to be a nice spot to draft our flavor of RB, at least the way the draft has gone in recent years. Our cake seems to finally be done. Time to ice it.

All fair points. I wouldn't expect a player like this to be the "answer" at the position, I was just wondering out loud about the prospect that he could provide some sort of an upgrade. To me, this season is somewhat of a different experience compared to many (or most) of the seasons over the past decade. The Bills are in "win now" mode. They have expended great effort in addressing areas of need. Frankly, I'm a bit shocked at how stocked this roster seems to be. We're not loaded with superstars by any means, but we do have a few very good players and seem to have some solid depth at almost every position group. If we truly are "all in," why not try to upgrade wherever possible? Why not try to obtain better players from anywhere you can, even if you're merely replacing players # 51, 52 or 53 on the roster? It seems to me that the only area of "need" that we had at the end of the 2013 season that remains unaddressed is TE (excluding, of course, QB, although I'm not sure this board will ever agree that we've pinned down the QB position until our guy is clutching the Lombardi trophy). So, why not bring in as many TEs as we can until the season starts? I trust our evaluators to figure out if any particular prospect is better than what we've now got pretty quickly. All this said, I hope they really explore what Gragg can do in camp and the preseason. He's got some interesting measurables. Maybe he can be the guy after all. If not, at least we'll know not to pin our hopes going forward on the possible emergence of our 7th round TE.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000351182/article/tom-crabtree-released-by-tampa-bay-buccaneers He's 28, coming off some minor to moderate injuries. Forced out by the drafting of ASJ. I have some faint memories of him playing for GB. He's only about 18 months older than Moeaki, has more TDs on far fewer receptions, and a better YPC average. It's a smaller sample, but those are the numbers. Anybody know more about his game? Any reason not to bring him in for a look? Moeaki insurance (are we really that desperate at the position)?

If this young man does actually have genuine talent to go along with his apparent mental capabilities, the Bills would do well to put him on the 53-man roster, particularly if they're even remotely considering the possibility of keeping two kickers. Send Hopkins to the PS. Give Kenny a clipboard and pin him to Hackett's hip (or his sideline liaison's) and let him drink in every aspect of the offensive scheme. Assuming the physical talents among Dixon, Tuel and Guiton are relatively equal, his decision-making ability alone should earn him the No. 3 spot. Should anything happen to EJ, having a field general with a strong, confident grasp of the offense might be all we would need to win an extra game or two (think KC 2013), given our re-tooled supporting cast. If our roster is anywhere near ready to take the next step, a win or two like that might be the difference between a New Year's Locker Clean-out Day and ending the drought.

Be not afraid. Brown has fumbled 4 times on 211 lifetime touches, or, about once every 53 touches, with all four fumbles coming on his first 128 touches as a rookie. Similarly, CJ has fumbled 14 times on 729 lifetime touches, or, about once every 52 touches, including five fumbles on 98 touches as a rookie. I submit that adjusting to the pro game, from a ball protection standpoint, may be more difficult than it seems. I cede that Brown has a smaller sample size, but both players seem to have made strides since their rookie years. I figure, either you worry about both, or neither. That said, these fumble rates compare favorably to Reggie Bush, who fumbles once every 50.5 touches. Thus, I don't particularly worry about fumble issues going forward. We should be all right. For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that our elder statesman, Mr. Jackson, has fumbled 22 times on 1,394 lifetime touches, or, about once every 63 touches. Go Bills.

QB: Manuel, Lewis, Dixon/Tuel (3) RB: Jackson, Spiller, Brown, Dixon, Summers (5) WR: Watkins, Williams, Woods, Goodwin, Easley, Elliot/Barden (6) TE: Chandler, Moeaki, Smith, Kaufman (4) OL: Glenn, Williams, Wood, Richardson, Kuoandijo, Hairston, Urbik, Unga/McClain, Asper (9) CB: Gilmore, McKelvin, Robey, Cockrell (4) S: A. Williams, Graham, D. Williams, Ladler (4) DE: Williams, Lawson, Hughes, Wynn (4) DT: Williams, Dareus, Branch, Charles/Bryant (4) LB: Rivers, Alonso, Spikes, Bradham, Powell, Brown, Johnson (7) K: Carpenter (1) P: Dombrowski (1) LS: Sanborn (1) Practice Squad: Henderson; Hopkins; Loser of the Dixon/Tuel competition, if eligible; Loser of the Unga/McClain competition, if eligible; Elliot, if he loses out to Ramses and is eligible; Gragg, if eligible; as many DBs and D-Line as we can sign. Pears is too expensive for the production. Graham gives us some flexibility at CB/S. No need for two kickers this year, and Hopkins may not even be fully healed. TJ is awfully fast, but too raw to keep around given our depth at the position.