JustWinPlease

First thing's first...I have to stand behind these moves, because these are the guys I wanted. I'll explain why... First of all, I wanted McDermott long before we fired Rex. I lived in Myrtle Beach, SC, for a few years and I heard a lot about these guys. Josh Norman was at Coastal Carolina, and I saw him play a few times. When he was drafted to the Panthers, I followed that closely. I would hear him talk about how McDermott was such a detail oriented person, and that he always tried to get the best out of his players. He would work individually with them after practice if they wanted. I heard other players say the same thing, Thomas Davis being one of them. I heard Ron Rivera talk about how he expected to lose him sooner or later. All the players always had the same type of vibe when it came to Sean McDermott, they loved the guy and the reason why was because he would never accept anything less than 100% effort from them. Nobody was ever singled out and embarrassed, and none of the veterans were ever given any preferential treatment by him. Jobs were jobs, and they were going to be earned. McDermott was credited for taking players like Josh Norman and Greg Hardy, late round picks, and turning them into pro-bowl caliber players. Charles Johnson and Captain Munnerlyn took off under him too. Second, I would always hear Rivera, Gettleman and Richardson talk glowingly about Beane. You would hear things like "eye for talent," "hard worker," "worked his way up the organizational ladder." He was another guy that they all expected to lose sooner or later. He was critical in keeping them afloat when they fired their GM half way through a season. He was an integral part in the cap structure of the team. I'm pretty sure he was instrumental in bringing Greg Olsen to Carolina. I also recall hearing he was the one pounding the table for Luke Kuechly over Stephon Gilmore and a couple other guys (Ingram, Coples, Cox, Jones, Poe). In 2011 Carolina ranked 24th in passing defense, Gilmore visited with the team (March 2012), their DB coach (Steve Wilks) visited with Gilmore (April 2012), and he grew up 20 minutes down the road. From my understanding, a lot of people wanted Gilmore. However, it was Beane and McDermott who wanted Kuechly and thought he would be an all-pro caliber player in the NFL and a cornerstone/leader for their defense. Beane was somebody who was always spoken very highly of, by everyone I would hear talk about him down there on the radio or in the newspaper. If you take a look at the Carolina Panthers' draft history, their selections seem to have gotten better in 2011/2012 once Bean became more involved too. Both of these guys were constantly talked about as great football men, who knew what they were doing and would one day be running their own teams. I don't claim to know anything from any inside sources, and this could all mean nothing...I'm just giving my two cents on something I was close to and paid attention to when I was living down there. A couple other interesting facts...the Panthers had interest in Jerel Worthy that year, as well as 2017 Bills (rumored) free agency targets Keenan Robinson and Morris Claiborne. Here's a transcript of Stephon Gilmore's introductory press conference, that was posted on the Panthers' team website... http://www.panthers.com/news/article-2/Transcript-Stephon-Gilmore/75cb2456-5578-4b28-b3ee-d14d3af4770f (And if it wasn't Beane, I would've wanted Veach...simply because my former high school teammate, Ryan Poles, works with him in KC and had spoken highly of him.) ***I didn't know if this should be put in another thread, but I figured there was enough here and I didn't want it to get lost in the shuffle...if you want to merge it, I understand.***

Tyrod, Peterman and Cardale...if Tyrod stays healthy and they win, great. If he gets hurt and one of the others win, great. If he gets hurt and the others suck, great...we get a top-5 pick next year and a chance at one of the top-3 QB's.

Because he consistently sells a mediocre product...that's his only job, and he's the best at it in the NFL by a long shot. Nobody buys mediocrity like Bills fans, we've done it for nearly two decades. #PlayoffCaliber

Yeah, how did all those great draft grades work out in the past? Give me a break. Let me know in 5 years how this draft grades out, until then it's irrelevant.

Amen.

Best fullback? That's a little biased. (And no, this team needs defensive help badly...unless I can trade Shady for a 1st round pick.) Pro Football Focus ✔@PFF Top-graded NFL fullbacks this year 1. Kyle Juszczyk, Ravens, 86.4 2. James Develin, Patriots, 85.7 3. Aaron Ripkowski, Packers, 85.5 7:44 AM - 15 Dec 2016

Comical. He's a borderline generational talent. They just need something to talk about and a name to smear. This is why these guys are talk show hosts and writers, instead of NFL scouts.

Major off-field issues, no combine and can't work out for teams? Highly doubt he gets drafted. Sign him as an undrafted free agent...otherwise there's more pressing needs with only 6 draft picks to fill them, to spend one on Chad Kelly. (Just think it's a terrible idea to put him in that situation, wearing "Kelly" on a Bills jersey and playing in his hometown...if he fails, he would be hated and laughed at like Manuel, Edwards, Losman, etc.)

Mike Williams, JP Losman, Aaron Maybin, Donte Whitner, John McCargo, CJ Spiller, Torell Troup, Leodis McKelvin, James Hardy, Chris Kelsay, Josh Reed, Ryan Denney. Woof. Just awful 1st and 2nd round picks. No wonder we've sucked for so long. Even the ones that were "good" were extremely questionable. Sad news to hear, regardless.

Erik Flowers or Mike Williams, hands down. *Add Aaron Maybin to that group and make it a trio.

The only teams I think we're better than right now are the Texans, Browns, and Jets. All the other teams either have better QB's, or better overall rosters with QB's comparable to Tyrod Taylor. (That's an unbiased, non-koolaid-drinking opinion.)

Hope he comes back...that's the biggest need on this roster right now, besides a #2 WR. They desperately need a LB with some speed, he should've been a priority over Lorenzo Alexander. (They need LB's in general, there's no depth there...wouldn't mind seeing them bring in Sean Spence. Kevin Minter or Jelani Jenkins.)

Not sure I'd say that 29 years old (in June) is "young."

Davis is a former safety who can cover, Alexander is a former defensive tackle...Davis has speed, Alexander doesn't. Really wish they kept Zach Brown, good QB's are going to absolutely destroy these LB's. (I get he's a great guy and all, but I don't like this at all...rather put that $4.5M towards Zach Brown, someone with speed who can play sideline-to-sideline.)

No, could've got the same exact kind of production from someone like Trevor Siemian, for less than $1M...and drafted a QB to groom. (And used that $15M elsewhere to fix other holes.) And Siemian threw for almost 500 more yards, with a bottom-5 rushing attack and awful offensive line.

I hope he kills it out there, quite underrated this year...he'll be Shanahan's new Taylor Gabriel. Besides that play against the Jets, digging Tyrod's pass out of the dirt in the end zone at Los Angeles was a nice play. (Too bad he'll have an even worse QB out in San Fran though.)

(Can't stand the thought of wasting money on this guy.)

​ Another chance to draft a QB gone to waste..."maybe next year." (Or they'll try to sell us on Pat Mahomes or Chad Kelly.)

Like I said...

"Like Shaq Thompson before him, Jabrill Peppers' pro position in question - but not in his mind:" http://www.panthers.com/news/article-2/Jabrill-Peppers-pegs-his-position/cfb4bb7c-6c96-4878-8460-23e00535626a Just saying, don't sleep on McDermott seeing things the same way, with such a need at safety (and linebacker)...trade down, get more picks, draft Peppers. (Personally, I want a QB...but don't see that happening.)

Okay then, just figured a team like the Bills who have holes all over the roster could use a versatile player that couple play multiple positions. I guess we'll stick with guys like Jonathan Meeks, Walt Powell and Ramon Humber...instead of one guy who could play all those roles. (Deone Buchannon and Mark Barron are the same kind of player too, and they've been quite successful at the same size.) *Especially since many Bills fans wanted to draft Sua Cravens.

Players that played different positions in college...kind of self-explanatory. The both played safety and got moved to LB. Which is why he's seen as a LB...again, like the other two were.

205 pounds...same as where Davis and Thompson were coming out of college. But, okay. That's what they said about the other two players I mentioned, so they moved to LB and gained weight...since they both weighed the same as Peppers.

Sorry if this has been discussed, but I searched the topics and couldn't find anything on it. haven't heard anyone mention it either, on the radio or elsewhere. But, Sean McDermott took Thomas Davis (former safety) and Shaq Thompson (former jack-of-all-trades) and ran a great defense with them in Carolina. Could Jabrill Peppers fill this role, since we need a OLB/SS on our defense? He seems like the exact kind of player that McDermott would fall in love with. Peppers and Thompson seem like the same player to me, the question is how much could Peppers bulk up if McDermott sees him as an OLB? http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000473401/article/nfl-teams-say-shaq-thompson-should-play-strong-safety-as-pro (I think trading down is a wise move with so many holes to fill, but if he's there in the 2nd round it would be a no-brainer.) "The ultimate Swiss Army Knife on the collegiate level, and will likely play a hybrid role on the next level that allows him to blitz, cover and chase." (He's compared to Eric Weddle...but I don't think Thomas Davis is a stretch either.) http://www.nfl.com/draft/2017/profiles/jabrill-peppers?id=2557980 *Davis and Thompson are both 6-1/6-2 and 230-235 pounds, so Peppers would need to be able to put 20-25 pounds onto his frame at some point to play OLB.