Last Guy on the Bench

Seriously? That is way too short a leash, considering these will be his first two starts ever, and they are against the defending conference finalists. If he completes fifty percent of his passes and throws a few picks and struggles in the red zone, sure we'll all be disappointed and worried, but he's got to have a chance to find himself for a few more games than that unless he absolutely melts down, which I don't think he will. Seems like a pretty cool customer. I think he'll perform decently, but either way, I don't think you can use these first two games as a major benchmark. They will begin to tell the story but not finish it.

I agree. I don't think that he lacks the speed or quickness to be a decent runner - but he has no feel for it. He always looks awkward and unsure of himself. I don't think he's got the brain feel for running in space. Although, as you say, he looked somewhat better at Florida State (still not great in my opinion), so who knows?

Interesting that on defense Butler is listed ahead of Brooks.

I like the move. Cassel is floor insurance. The floors for both TT and EJ are uninsurable. They may both end up way better than Cassel - God, I hope so. But they could both totally tank as well. If Cassel is seriously the number 2 QB, this will cut down on EJ's reps in practice, which is not insignificant. Even if EJ is the long-term #2 in case of injury to Tyrod, the practice part will slow down his development. Although maybe running the scout team gives you more reps?

He makes fair points about the QB situation, though I don't think Taylor playing at least reasonably well is that much of a lottery long-shot. But he makes no sense about the OL. Very lazy POV. The guards are way better. Wood is the same. Cordy had a down year - so using Barnwell's pseudo-statistical approach, he should see some reversion to form, especially given his off field struggles last year and the fact that he showed up in great shape this year and has played well in the pre-season. And Henderson was a rookie. He is likely to be at least somewhat better (most second-year players are), especially given his physical talent. I think this O-Line is going to sneak up on people and be one of the better ones in the NFL by season's end. That's the view through my rose-colored fan glasses, sure, but even an objective, "logical" observer - which Barnwell pretends to be - should conclude that the Bills' OLine is likely to improve significantly, barring injury.

If you claim them off waivers (which go in reverse order of record from last year, I think), you have to add them to the active roster. If they clear waivers (meaning no team claims them), then they are free agents and can sign to any team's practice (or active) roster.

I agree - he wouldn't be my first choice for a guy to go the extra mile to get on the practice squad. But maybe they've seen something in practice that hasn't been apparent to the untrained eye? I don't know. I'm just saying there is going to be one person on the roster this week that they are planning to cut next week. I doubt it would be someone they would use in the game (like an extra backup DT). So it's more likely going to be someone they've prioritized for the practice squad. The other explanation for O'Leary still being on the roster is that they are going to keep five TEs for the season, which seems crazy. Four is already a stretch, though it probably makes sense for Roman's offense.

The wildcard is the Dareus spot. That actually lets them hold onto someone that they might want on their practice squad until a week after everyone has already filled their rosters and their practice squads. O'Leary could be that guy. Keep him around for a week and then cut him when it is much less likely that some other team will pick him up.

Totally agree. And I wasn't a kid at that time. I measure it by the amount of joy a team gives me. Not some frat boy ideology that there is one winner and 31 losers every year. Would I like the Bills to have won one of those Super Bowls? Sure. But that ride had a lot more peak moments than a boring team that manages to string together a one year Super Bowl run. Of course at this point, after 15 years where the moments of joy have been few and far between, I'd take that one year Super Bowl run in a heartbeat.

That was amazing. Too many great lines to even try to quote them all. One of the best Why Your Team Sucks ever. That dude is a genius. And the fan comments were even better.

Who are these yahoos? I'm sure you could dig up one or two if you try hard enough. But most people seem to be excited about the potential they see in TT (and most of them are using a MUCH more sophisticated and nuanced lens on the different things he has done than you are), and totally willing to admit that nothing is proven yet at all. Very few people are sure TT is going to be great or even good. Most of us acknowledge the huge gap between preseason games and the real thing, especially once opposing coaches have film. Most of us are very unsure as to how things will develop with TT. Nothing would surprise me really, good or bad. But we are excited and do see potential. That's all. YOU'RE the one who is acting so sure about his future based on a handful of preseason plays.

I think there are more than the two sides you are painting. For example, I personally agree with you that it was a bad decision to cut Fred (also for lots of reasons), and in general I am fairly neutral wrt Whaley. I think he's made some good moves, but I don't think I have a complete enough picture of him (let alone a few winning seasons in the books) to really judge. And I am a bit troubled to see this kind of stuff rearing its head after we heard about similar discord with Marrone. However, I cannot believe that Whaley is cutting people without the general agreement of the coaching staff (or at least Rex). That would be insane. There might be disagreement within the coaching staff, but that would be normal. If Rex was either against this or uninformed about it, I would fire Whaley on the spot if I was Pegula. But I doubt that's what happened. I am definitely not pro-management in general, but I also know that egos exist on all sides. Fred is wounded. He spouts off (as many of us might) in probably not the most mature way, even thought it's understandable. If I remember correctly he was a bit publicly disgruntled a few years back around his contract negotiations as well (or am I totally making that up?). He's a prideful guy. Whaley may not have been 100% candid with him. But I wouldn't take Fred's version as gospel any more than I'd take Whaley's or anyone else's. To me it's a muddy picture made up of contradictory human beings.

Wow. I see his interviews totally differently. He seems very grounded and confident in himself. And that's the way he plays too. He looks super calm on the field to me. Don't know where you get Geno Smith. Start from the fact that Geno's teammates don't seem to be in love with him, whereas Tyrod's gush about him (VaTech, Ravens, and now here). No guarantees TT is going to be good, but if he fails, I am very confident it won't be because the stage is too big for him. It will just be because he is not good enough. I think EJ is working hard to become someone like that, but I don't think it's as natural to him. He often seems to be trying too hard to be the leader type. Not in a bad way, just in a less grounded/mature way than someone like TT. (And I like EJ and am hopeful, if unconvinced, about his future in the league.) Anyway, that's just my read on it. I could be way off.

I can't see any way Whaley is making any cuts (let alone Fred) without consulting the coaches. That would be career suicide, even for a Tsar, which he is not, as you point out. I think the theory about the other departments like marketing makes a lot more sense.

Now that actually makes sense, Yolo. Thanks.

That's the only thing that makes sense to me, too. If Brandon is leaking his unhappiness about this to Graham, seriously bad move (on Brandon's part). But it could also be a lower level employee who heard Brandon venting and then leaked to Graham. Who knows? If Brandon is not the one who is upset, and the coaching stuff was on board, then who the hell are we talking about? I really hope that football ops ARE Whaley and Ryan and this is wordplay nonsense. (Edit: Yolo's theory below about all the other people with ops responsibilities (e.g., marketing, contracts) - not overall ops oversight - does make sense too.)

Sorry if already posted. Did a search and didn't see it. http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/article-1/Ravens-React-To-Tyrod-Taylor-Winning-Bills-Starting-Job/64c6b4ab-2efe-47a2-a14f-906f548ff828?mobile-id=950594&media-type=N

Word. No one will ever come close to the master.

Nothing wrong with a "hop hop" artist, Wazzu. Welcome to the 21st century. I hope you enjoy it.

I think he looks great.

Right on. This is by far the best football discussion board that I have seen. But the trend over the last year or two toward jamming all discussion into gigantic threads is a crazy overreaction to thread proliferation. It's nice not to have 20 threads on the same topic started in one day. But after a few days, there is no reason not to let people start new threads, especially because there is almost always a new angle or article or bit of info to add. If this policy keeps going, I'm afraid a year from now there will only be one thread - topic: The Buffalo Bills. Anyone who starts a thread on any Bills related topic will have it closed immediately, as it is "already being discussed" in a previous thread. Again, I say this with the greatest love and respect for everyone who spends time helping to run the best board on earth. But please use a lighter touch, guys.

I think people are way overreacting to a handful of preseason throws. I strongly believe Taylor should be the starter, but we really don't know what we have in Taylor or Manuel, as they are both young and still developing. It would be crazy to throw away the one guy with an established record. Mediocre though that record might be, mediocre is better than terrible. And there is still a chance that TT and EJ might be terrible when all is said and done. I don't think so, and I certainly don't hope so, but it's worth a roster spot and a few million dollars to have some decent floor insurance. Two other reasons Cassel might be worth a lot more than his preseason appearances would suggest: 1) These game defenses are vanilla. In practice, however, all the QBs have been seeing the full range of NFL formations, blitz packages, etc. So if Cassel is handling the real defenses in practice better than the other guys, that has to weigh more than a handful of throws against cardboard preseason defenses. Only the coaches know for sure. 2) We don't know what effect Cassel has on the young guys and on the QB room in general. Maybe he is a great mentor? Maybe he is a great teacher? Who knows? (The coaches, maybe, but not us.) I wouldn't be so quick to assume that TT's and EJ's development has nothing to do with Cassel. Maybe he is a critical factor even when he is not on the field. Then again, maybe not. The point is that the coaches are working with a LOT more information than the fans or the media. And a lot more goes into the decision of who to start and who to keep on the roster than preseason stats. The stats aren't meaningless, but they are just a small piece of the picture.

Exactly. EJ was terrific tonight, and my comfort level with him went way up (though I still don't fully trust him). But the kinds of plays he was making aren't consistently reproducible against good defenses game-planning against you, unless you are a QB god, which I don't think he is (yet, anyway). Not saying he wouldn't make any big plays like that - just not consistently against good defenses. But the little things that Taylor was doing to convert third downs, keep drives going, work the team into scoring position, etc. ARE consistently reproducible by a good QB, which I think Taylor is. I think this has to be Taylor's team. Again, though, three cheers for EJ and if he keeps on progressing, who knows where he ends up. He surely gunned some beauties today.

Because he has apparently been getting way fewer snaps with the 1s than either TT or Cassel over the last few weeks of camp? Some people (including Rex) have come up with somewhat tortured rationales for this, but I don't see any way to read it other than that he has been behind the other two in the coaches' minds. Doesn't mean he has been out of the competition, and doesn't mean things won't/can't change. But I think anyone who argues that he has been even with or ahead of the other two QBs is fooling themselves. Credit to Rex, though for staying flexible and giving EJ a shot this weekend. I don't believe he had this in mind all along. Otherwise he would have kept the fairly even practice rotation he had earlier in the year. If EJ can really pull it together to become a more confident, accurate, and comfortable QB, I will be surprised at this point but very, very happy. Hard not to root for the guy, even beyond the fact that he's a Buffalo Bill. But I'd say the same thing about TT, and I think he's got more of an NFL QB temperament and brain than EJ does. We'll see. Most exciting season (in advance) in recent memory!