HappyDays

Good night for Van Denmark. He played LT the entire 2nd half. I specifically watched him on every snap and I didn't see him lose a single rep. That's two weeks in a row that he looked solid at LT, albeit against 2nd and 3rd stringers. Bad night for Elam. Somehow he has regressed even further. Last night was the worst performance I've seen from him. Way too grabby and looked lost in coverage a couple times. Maybe the all-22 will show some favorable reps but what I saw on broadcast footage was bad. The whole 2022 draft class is trending towards throwaway status. Hopefully Cook can salvage it a bit. Luckily the 2023 draft class is looking like a possible home run.

Van Denmark was excellent last night from what I saw, playing exclusively LT. I specifically watched him on all of his snaps and I didn't see him lose a single rep, and I'm pretty sure he played the entire 2nd half so he put a lot of reps on tape. I would need to see him perform well against starting caliber talent before I fully buy in but I am certainly encouraged by what I've seen from him in each preseason game at LT. What makes you think him being on the roster is a bad thing?

Hard to see the whole field on broadcast footage but I thought I saw him work open a few more times when Josh was out there but the reads were to Diggs and Davis. He was also going to be open for a TD on the red zone play where Barkley threw an interception, he had beat his man 1v1 and was headed towards the pylon looking back for the ball. Barkley never looked at him. As impressive as he looked in his limited opportunities it still feels like the Bills are hiding him a bit. I expect his role to be fully unleashed in games that matter. An elite pass catching TE is a cheat code and very hard to find. I'm glad Beane didn't overthink the pick and simply took the best talent remaining on the board.

Play Dawkins and Brown for at least one series to make a point. The other locked in starters I would not put out there.

I mean this is just awful from Spencer Brown. Gets knocked off balance, hops back awkwardly, then grabs his guy as a last resort to stop Allen from getting walloped. He's supposedly had a pretty good camp but if this is what it's going to look like in real games we are in deep trouble. And that's Markus Golden doing that to him, not a top tier edge rusher.

Van Denmark sealed off his man, creating the hole on that TD run. Very impressed by what I've seen from him the past two weeks. Presumably he will get the start next week with Dawkins likely sitting. I'll be keeping a close eye on him.

Okay, this is the first time this offseason that we have seen signs of life from Shorter. It might be enough to force Beane's hand and keep his 5th round pick.

I have yet to see Van Denmark lose a rep. I wanted to see if his performance at LT last week was for real. So far he is acing the test.

If anything we would trade him for a late round pick, not cut him. I just don't know what it is that he does particularly well. At least Isabella has some juice and some special teams contributions.

If they keep Shakir over Isabella, they are ignoring what they've done on the field. I unfortunately can't discount that possibility.

😬

If the Bills want to keep Shorter as a 5th round draft pick, that means the final spot is between Shakir and Isabella... And honestly what is the argument for Shakir in that scenario, given what they've shown on the field this offseason?

He clearly has not taken his conditioning seriously. He has struggled with his weight the past couple seasons and looked winded down the stretch last year. LT suddenly becoming a hole on the roster is an awful development in mid-August.

Also Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday...

Dorian Williams tackles extremely well and looks decent in zone coverage, he does get completely washed out by blockers too frequently though. He won't be a realistic MLB candidate until he figures that out.

Van Denmark I think won all his reps on that drive. His man tackled Mims on the run but the handoff was slow so the timing of the play was all off, I think there was a hole there if Mims had gotten the ball cleanly. Every other rep his man didn't impact the play at all. Maybe we have something here.

Isabella is starting to feel like a roster lock. One way to make up for bad tackle play against elite pass rushes is run the offense through Kincaid/Harty/Isabella.

I'll be watching #74 Van Denmark on this drive. Good first rep, took his man out of the play.

That gruesome knee injury is the 3rd worst thing I've watched from a Bills tackle tonight

You think Dawkins and Brown are suddenly going to turn it on in the regular season? They unfortunately look as bad as they did to close out the season last year. It's by far the biggest concern heading into the season. MLB we can maybe scheme around, or maybe Dorian Williams finds his way later in the season. With tackle there is no hiding it and no solution waiting in the wings. I'm sincerely very worried.

This year's draft class at least is looking amazing, which is ironic because it was supposed to be the weakest draft class in a long time. Kincaid looks like he has elite potential, Torrence is already showing starting caliber ability, and I've seen promise from Dorian Williams albeit playing against 2nd stringers.

Positives from the first half: 1) Kincaid 2) Torrence 3) Davis Disasters from the first half: 1) MLB 2) Dawkins & Brown 3) Elam 4) McDermott's glasses

He looks completely lost out there. He appears to have no clue how to defend a pass without blatantly grabbing his man.

Elam beat by the 2nd string TE for the Steelers who was drafted in the 6th round last year.

Elam somehow looks worse than last year. I won't give up on him yet but it's not looking good.