Nihilarian

Thanks! What I think a lot of evaluators missed with their assessment with Allen was when you look at his backstory, Josh Allen was brought up on a farm and is no stranger to hard work as his dad ingrained a work ethic, up before daylight and home after dark. Football is a cakewalk compared to the life of farm work. Josh grew up a Fresno State fan and tailgated with his parents. He attended the Bulldogs' summer camps and even retrieved the kicking tee during a few games (former coach Pat Hill once yelled at him to get off the field). One of Josh's favourite moments was meeting Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr. Brett Favre is his football hero. What I think those evaluators missed on was just how much Josh loves the game. In a time when so many players are so concerned about money, I think Josh Allen would play NFL Football for free.

It was exactly that! What a lot of people forget is how much of a hard time Bullough gave Bruce his first year with Buffalo. Bruce had some poor training habits which limited his effectiveness in his first season. Bullough rode Bruce hard that first season and was always yelling at him and needless to say, Bruce probably hated him for it. Not sure how or why and perhaps it was Bullough's riding him hard, Smith worked like a mad man to get into shape after that first season. I can recall stories of him wearing out exercise bikes and causing them to rust from all the sweat. After that, he quickly became a sack master.

Josh Allen had the highest ceiling and yet was considered by many a project QB that was supposed to sit and learn for a year like Patrick Mahomes. Yes, Allen had accuracy issues and concerns he was well aware of and started working on his issues right after his college season ended. Jordan Palmer started working with Allen and they worked on his biggest issue which was his footwork. Palmer stated he fixed his footwork but alas we all saw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tIb-B4sGd8 It was Allen's backstory that was so impressive as after high school he was a 6'3'' 180lb scrawny kid with a big arm. With no football scholarships to a division one football program, he attended a junior college. After his first season in JC, he sent emails to every division one football college out there (over 1000) By this time he was 6'5'' 210 with a big arm. Only two colleges responded Eastern Michigan, Wyoming offered him a scholarship and once EM found out he visited Wyoming they rescinded their offer. While at Wyoming he basically carried his team to a winning season and a bowl game win. Plus, Allen didn't play in a gimmie offense with short passes, bubble screens to pad his stats as he was in a pro-style deep passing scheme. Besides, anyone on offense who had touched the ball in 2016 was gone from the team in 2017. So basically Allen was dealing with a bunch of rookie receivers learning how to do their jobs. It's not just the off the charts physical intangibles, it's his competitiveness, his fire, his burning desire to win which is so infectious that it fires up his teammates. The kid is big, strong and has arguably the most powerful arm in the league. Allen played in the snow and cold at Wyoming so he should fit right into Buffalo's blue-collar town. What's not to love?

I believe he had a third round grade on Allen... Good stuff. Thanks for posting RR.

So many Bills fans wanted Josh Rosen and were begging Beane to move up to the #2 spot and thereby giving up the farm (all the 2018 early picks and 2019 first) for the guy. My thoughts! From page ten of that thread. Love the pick! The Bills just got a big, tough, blue-collar kid who played at Wyoming (think snow) and he was a winner with a bunch of nobodies around him.

I met Gale Sayers in Chicago, great guy and a darn shame his career was cut short due to injuries. Mike Ditka said he was the greatest NFL player he had ever seen. Anyway, my case for sweetness. "never die easy"

No doubt! While Barry could juke you outta your shoes and OJ with his 4:29 30 speed could run right by you. Sweetness motto was "never die easy" as he would never run out of bounds and always try to punish his tacklers. He had a stiff arm like no other! He didn't have the speed so he would use a "stutter step" to distract opponents to take the wrong angle as he would read what they were about to do and do the opposite. Like I said, for the majority of his career he didn't have top talent around him and basically carried his team every year

Walter Payton !! There was nobody else on those teams and opponents would gear up just to stop him and nobody could! Against Dallas on one Thanksgiving day when the Cowboys were good under Landry, Walter just tore them up all on his own. Other RBs had good teams around them....1977 Bears had Bob Avellini (who?) at QB 11TDs, 18 INTs. Sweetness rushed in 14 games for 1852 yards. That season they went to the playoffs all on Payton as the Bears best WR was James Scott...who? Sweetness didn't have great talent around him until the very end of his career. The Juice had Joe Ferguson at QB at the Electric Co to block for him, Jim Braxton at FB, JD Hill, Bob Chandler at WR, Paul Seymour at TE. Jim Brown was on Championship teams with Ernie Green at HB, Paul Warfield at SE. BTW, Thurman kept Barry Sanders on the bench at OSU! Sanders was on five playoff teams with some halfway decent talent with Herman Moore, Johnnie Morton at WR who were both 1000 yard receivers in 1997. PS Frank Reich at backup QB, Pete Metzelaars at TE.

It is my belief that because Ralph Wilson saw value in Russ Brandon and that the Pegula's in being new to the NFL they also saw value in his Management/marketing skills. Therefore, they made the move to take him away from the football side of the org in which he was deeply involved and gave him duties that would keep him fully occupied in his particular skill set. Brandon was managing partner in the Pegula sports empire and also president of the Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Bandits and Rochester Americans. Once it came to light that Brandon was being investigated for his workplace behavior/ personal misconduct he resigned rather than answer questions. The man was a true snake by taking advantage of his place of power and then lying about it. Kim Pegula took over as president. Winning or losing had nothing to do with keeping Brandon on as a front office executive. I for one am damn glad he is gone as I used to equate him to Matt Millen the ex-team president of the Detroit Lions. While the Pegula's gave McD quite a bit of power when he was first hired I'm fairly certain he had a plan going forward that he shared to shape the team he wanted. Going 9-7 record and making the playoffs to an abysmal 6-10 and next to last in the division. That 2018 -105 point differential has to be alarming 269 PF, 374 PA. That number is up from the 2017 -57. Now just imagine if the Patriots are the ones who offered a #2 pick to the Cardinals for Josh Rosen and Belicheat moves forward without Brady. They did manage an 11-5 season with Matt Cassell at QB in 2008. Think of it, Cassell was never a starting QB at USC in his four years there and he went 20 for 33 his entire USC career. This year in his third season as Buffalo Bills head coach, winning means everything! Like I said If McD can't beat the Patriots in six attempts he no longer deserves to be the head coach of the Buffalo Bills!

While I agree that McD has/had a lot of power as he brought in his own GM and the Bills did make the playoffs in his first season as HC. I look at Rex Ryan and see his first year the Bills went 8-8 and then went backward to 7-8 before he was fired. Now granted Ryan screwed himself by attempting to run his archaic lame 3-4 scheme that was dependent on elite linebackers that he didn't have...Meanwhile, the Bills defense was better suited for a 4-3 with that superb defensive line. Then instead of rushing the passer with that D line he would rather they hold their blocks while at times dropping into pass coverage A blind man could see Rex Ryan was a big mouth fool. Still, the 2018 Bills season was marred with blowouts (5)and a run game that stalled more often than not. (His defense crapped the bed in a bunch of games last year). While taking big steps backward to a 6-10 season. Keeping run game coordinator/O line coach Juan Castillo for 2018 wasn't nearly as wrong as giving Nathan Peterman the starting job with all the starting season reps ...much less keeping him as a backup. While the defense was #2 yards allowed those blowouts held the Bills to 18th in points allowed. I honestly don't think McD will survive another 6-10 season and quite a lot of it will depend on how the season transpires. McD has had two seasons to show he knows how to build a solid team and took a Chan Gailey step backward last year. I'd have a different feeling about the situation had McD been able to beat the NE Patriots at least once and right now he is 0-4. In my view what good is he if he can't beat the Patriots at least once in six attempts. It's my take that the Pegula's want to win in the NFL more than most realize.

So true and so stupid! The team was desperate for a LT and the team drafts a "water-bug" RB with that #9 overall. It wasn't just the defense as that first season (2010) the offense was slightly worse 4-12. The next season the offense was 14th with Fitz throwing 24 TDs, 23 INTs and Fred Jackson the leading rusher with 934 yards, Spiller with 561 yards. 2012 saw Gailey go 6-10 again with a 20th ranked offense, 26th ranked defense. Meanwhile, in Seattle Lynch had 1204 yards rushing with 12 TDs. In 2012 Lynch had 1590 rushing yards, 11 TDs. There is a reason Chan Gailey has been out of the NFL for two years, going on three.

Pro sports is a performance based business and if a player can't do his job he is replaced. Why shouldn't the HC, GM or assistant coach get the same? After last years draft/ FA Beane isn't going anywhere! McD OTOH needs to have a winning season to at least 8-8, 9-7 or better.

I agree. Again, A big reason as to why "someone" leaked Allen's inflammatory high school tweets. Allen was looking like the #1 overall days before the draft and the release of those tweets killed a lot of interest from some of those teams as they didn't want the controversy. I also think it somewhat killed the Jets interest in Allen (thankfully). and it might have helped convince the NY Giants that they wanted a RB at the #2 spot. The Bills were so lucky that they got Allen at #7 with the Broncos at #5 who wanted that DE Chubb. This off season they jettisoned Keenum and signed Flacco and STILL need a QB! This year the Dolphins, Redskins, Bengals and the NY Giants will all be looking at QBs.

They will suffer with Darnold! The guy was on a pace to break Peyton Manning's rookie interception record before his injury and missed three games. His problem in his final season at USC was all the turnovers 13 INTs and 11 fumbles and a lot of those fumbles were on his own. In his final 20 starts at USC he threw 44 TDs but also had 20 INTs, 14 fumbles. 57% of his passes were for 9 yards or less which padded his passing completion percentage. Smaller hands could be a problem in certain situations. Seems like the more he games he plays and the more reps the more his accuracy wanes. Footwork can get sloppy which can cause bad throws. All that said he is also working with Jordan Palmer and can get better. I think the Bills got the better QB who was not quite as polished as Darnold or Rosen and didn't have the level of talent around him as those two others did.

`I think you may need to reread my post because I have no idea what you are talking about. My point was... there is more like about a player then just accuracy and that the player was working to correct his accuracy issues. I even stated how the player was inaccurate and how he knew he had that issue was working to correct that particular issue. Josh Allen fit all the criteria that most NFL scouts look for in an NFL pocket QB in terms of physical ability and whats more he was exactly the type of player teams want that have a tremendous desire to win while showing great leadership skills.

After the Bills traded TT to the Browns we Bills fans knew that they were going after a QB in the 2018 draft. That said, I watched as many games as I could on youtube on Darnold, Rosen, Allen, and Mayfield. I didn't bother with Lamar Jackson simply because I looked at him as more of what they already had with Taylor and they wanted more of a pocket QB. I didn't just watch highlights as I watched entire games and came away really liking only one QB. I liked Mayfield too, just not as much. Yes, Allen had his flaws. But they were correctable as his biggest problem with his accuracy issues were his footwork. After working with Jordan Palmer right after the 2017 College season ended he had worked to correct his footwork. Allen even stated as such while being interviewed by Mike Mayock at the combine and Mayock noted that he looked so much better with touch passes in the senior bowl. The biggest thing I took away from watching Josh Allen play in his final season at Wyoming was that he basically carried his team to an 8-5 record and a bowl game win. Allen didn't have a rusher with over 500 yards or a receiver with more than 550 yards and almost everyone on offense that touched the ball in 2016 was gone from the team in 2017. At 6'5'' 233lbs with a cannon for an arm and an ability to run when needed was outstanding. Plus, this kid played at Wyoming in the snow and cold so in Buffalo he would feel right at home. I listened to his college coach Craig Bohl rave about how Allen's arm made the opposing team's defense cover the entire field. About how Allen's hero was Brett Favre and in practice they would call for a dump off to the FB and instead Allen would throw a deep out for a TD! His coach would ask what the heck are you doing? Allen's response was "Favre says touchdowns first"! He would then run the play properly. Allen's positive attitude and desire to win was infectious and no matter what would happen he was always upbeat in motivating his teammates. His coaches, teammates loved him. I'm pretty sure that after watching Allen play in Buffalo this past season that most Bills fans now love him too. Hopefully, the entire NFL world will soon catch on.

There were a few of us that loved Josh Allen pre-draft as most on this board wanted Josh Rosen (cough-cough) and acted gut shot when they passed on Rosen and took Allen. From what I can recall Metz and Bandit wanted Allen and the former made several posts about Allen and his playing time at Wyoming. Not many Bills fans wanted Allen pre-draft as they were worried about his accuracy percentage while at Wyoming AND as often as I could I posted that the poor percentage was based on the deeper pro-style passing scheme he was playing in vs the scheme Rosen and others played in with a lot of high percentage dump off passes. Not to mention that Allen was also surrounded by mostly first-year players in his final season at Wyoming. Plus, that he worked with Jordan Palmer in the offseason to improve his footwork and mechanics. Not many actually listened though.

I took the family to all four SBs as vacations and spent the week attending the card shows, NFL experience. Minneapolis shows were empty all week until the weekend. The ice sculpture was a nice touch out front though. Also went to the 1988 AFC Championship game in Cincy, 1989 playoff game in Cleveland. Like you, I'd only to go another SB if the Bills were in it! It's starting to look like they just might be very soon.

I also believe that Allen was their guy from the start and I also believe it was the Buffalo Bills that leaked Josh Allen's high school tweets so other teams would avoid the controversy. Now for the Furious question. Bills fans gotta remember what it was like leading up to the draft as Buffalo was sitting at the 12 spot and wanting one of the top four QBs. The majority of Bills fans on this board wanted the Bills to trade up with the NY Giants for that #2 spot to draft Josh Rosen. Most fans here wanted Beane to give up most of the 2018 picks and the 2019 first round pick to move up to the #2 spot! Lucky for the Bills that the Giants were adamant about selecting RB Sequon Barkly (Dunno why) just as Denver was adamant about selecting Brady Chubb if he was there at the #4 spot. The Browns wanted too much for their spots and the Colts wanted OG Quinton Nelson if he was there so Tampa was the only realistic trade partner and the Bills were determined to get that #7 spot before the Cardinals. So, I can see why the Bills FO might be furious with the Jets about that #3 spot and they were thinking the Jets would take Allen ahead of them. For whatever reason, the Jets will be the Jets and took Darnold. (the Tweets might have had something to do with it) I also think that Cleveland wanted Allen at some point and then Baker Mayfield at the end. So happy things worked out the way they did.

The price for ODB must have been too great for Beane, otherwise, I think he pulls the trigger. I can see the NY Giants wanting that #9 overall this year and I can see why Beane said no to that. Kind of a shame though that they couldn't get a deal done because adding Beckham might make up a bit talent wise for drafting Watkins with two firsts and a fourth. Although Beane already scored big last year with two firsts in a franchise QB, ILBer and Robert Foster, Levi Wallace as free agents add to last year's talent influx. Beane already filling some the needs in free agency and I can see this draft class really adding to the roster. P.S. that article on fools gold really showed how stupid teams can be by adding big names only to create a paper tiger. BB went the other way in adding decent fill-ins until he can draft/ find quality starters.

When you look at the 2017 offensive line rankings with Glenn, Wood, Incognito it was a top 15 unit and not much changed subbing Dawkins in for an injured Glenn. Still, we all saw how badly Mills/Miller played on that right side at times. (San Diego game) 2018 was different for Dawkins without the help of Incognito next to him he took a downturn and graded poorly. The entire line graded as one of the worst in the NFL in almost every category. 12th worst in QB hits given up with 101. 14th worst in QB sacks given up with 41 and I can only imagine a pure pocket QB would have been sacked far more. Stating that what we can't see is how these new players to Buffalo performed in their respective units due to the talent around them. Let's look at Center Mitch Morse for a min, as that grade of 69.5 is low from what I see. The guy has only allowed one hit in his last 21 starts. Bodine graded a 61.6 but allowed 16 pressures on Allen in 10 starts. Not to mention that Morse played in a very explosive complicated offense and he knows how to set protections for the line. No question that his upgraded skill should help the two OGs around him. It looks to me like the Bills signed the best young center on the free agent market. We don't know if the Bills are done with the O line rebuild until after the draft but as of right now I think they greatly improved the unit with just the center. https://expo.newyorkupstate.com/sports/g66l-2019/03/b971c0cdb50d4/9-thoughts-and-a-grade-on-buffalo-bills-signing-free-agent-c-mitch-morse.html

If there is a reason as to why the Browns fail this season it's on the GM for naming the former RB coach the new HC and allowing the DC/interim HC Greg Williams leave. HC Hue Jackson replaced after going 2-5-1 and Williams going 5-3-0. Meanwhile, OC Todd Haley removed when Jackson was removed and the QB coach promoted to OC. Clearly, the GM thought someone would steal their new OC in Freddie Kitchens so he went from a RB coach to OC to HC. Like Anthony Lynn managed to do with Buffalo and then went on to HC of the Chargers. I look at this hire in the same view as the Arizona Cardinals hiring Kliff Kingsbury... a former HC at Texas Tech and had QB Patrick Mahomes as his QB there. he ran the "air raid offense at TT and his six-year record there was 35-40. While never finishing better than 5th in the Big 12 conference. Freddie! Kinda looks lost here.

I look at these moves as not very good for the team unless by some magic they think they can upgrade cheaper through the draft. Buffalo and other teams haven't been able to do this in forever. Vernon might have been 19 mill against the 2019 cap with a salary of 15 mill for this year and the next. While I get that they don't like that cap hit, then why not restructure and keep their only edge rusher that is worth a damn. This trade leaves a huge hole on the defense that is very tough to fill. While they are getting a slight upgrade at RG a pro bowl player edge rusher for an average right guard still seems like a bad move to me. Then letting pro bowl SS Landon Collins leave without getting anything in return and he went to a hated division rival in the Redskins! This! Collins was due a salary of 10 mill per with a cap hit of around 14 mill. This isn't about malcontent players that aren't motivated to play their best (like Dareus)or players who missed all or most of the season with injuries (like Watkins). This is all about purging the roster of expensive players regardless of the impact of losing them. How on earth do you trade away a 26-year-old superstar WR like Odell Beckham Jr and keep a 15 year NFL QB who has taken his team once to the playoffs in the last decade who is making 22 mill per with a cap hit of 23 mill. I would have kept Collins, Vernon, Beckham and dumped Manning. The NY Giants had the #2 overall pick last year with Gettleman and took a RB over a QB. This year they have the #6 overall pick and the #17 overall from the Browns. Bills fans aren't the only people who are having a difficult time seeing a bright future for the NY Giants, http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001022315/article/odell-beckham-jr-trade-fallout-ny-giants-plan-hard-to-see?icampaign=trendingNews It's frankly hard to see what the Giants' plan is, unless they have one more dramatic move in their future. In the space of a handful of days, they have given up on three of the most talented players on their team -- Landon Collins, Olivier Vernon and now Beckham -- and for their troubles, they got a starting guard (Kevin Zeitler), the Browns' first-round draft pick (No. 17 overall), a late third-round pick (No. 95) and safety Jabrill Peppers, a former first-rounder. There is plenty of time to question whether that is adequate compensation -- and for that matter, why they didn't trade Collins last season rather than letting him go for nothing. What is unquestionable is that the Giants' attempt at a competitive rebuild should be over. These moves make a modicum of sense only if the next one is the one they dread most of all. What is the point of keeping Manning -- no matter how much better the offensive line should be at protecting him -- if you just took out of his arsenal one of the most dangerous receivers in the game? Dunno about you, but I'm very happy the Bills have Beane and the NY Giants have Gettleman.

Naa, hiring Nathaniel Hackett to be their OC was the dumbest move by Maroon. The last guy on earth I would want to help develop a young QB is Hackett. Another of Marrone's masterfully dumb moves was that the Huckster had no experience as an NFL OC in Buffalo in 2013 and yet the first season they had no experienced veteran QB on the roster and no QB coach with basically three rookie QBs on the roster. All three QBs failed.

You may be right and it might be the owner who wants to keep Manning. But then in the last years draft, Gettleman decided to build the offense with that #2 pick at RB instead of a QB or trading back as many teams wanted to move up to that #2 spot and the Giants refused to move. (Luckily for Buffalo ) Manning wasn't really all that bad last season but he was sacked 47 times, 97 QB hits which were 11th worst and Gettleman did bolster the line with Solder at LT and a rookie at LG. What's odd is the sacks were actually worse in 2018 as the 2017 line only allowed 34 sacks, 70 QB hits the previous year as they went 3-13. Now, consider that the only two pro bowl players on defense for the Giants last year were SS Landon Collins who is now a Redskin that the Giants got nothing for, edge rusher Olivier Vernon at LBer who is now a Brown and was a straight up trade with Cleveland for RG Kevin Zeitler. A Pro Bowl pass rusher for a RG? I don't get it!