BillsFan4

Both have the potential to be the driving force behind a championship. It all all depends on who hits their ceiling. Dahlin seems loke a pretty sure bet to hit his. Allen we will have to wait and see. But they bith both have a tremendous amount of natural ability.

I feel like this pick (Dahlin) has the potential to make all those other very painful misses - McDavid, Babcock (etc) - worth it. We may be able to look back and say "it all happened for a reason". Had we landed McDavid, or Babcock, we wouldn't have been in the position to land Dahlin, and we wouldn't have a potential 1C/1D combo like Eichel/Dahlin. That combo could be "Stanley Cup level" good. Not all by themselves, obviously. But almost every cup winning team has a top tier 1C/1D combo. So I just mean that it looks like Buffalo could be adding a crucial piece to the puzzle. Not the last piece by any means, but maybe the most important. Its amazing what this pick has done to refill my hope meter as far as the Sabres. I was so burnt out after last season....

Listening to Mike Weber talk about Rasmus Dahlin gets me even more fired up about this kid, if that's even possible... lol. I know ive already said this, but he really does sound like exactly what the Sabres need. Buffalo desperately needs more guys that give 100% effort at all times, in games and in practice. Yeah, they added some guys like Nolan and Wilson who work their tails off, and don't get me wrong, It's nice when you have a guy like Jordan Nolan who always works his ass off. But he's a 4th line guy. Nobody's going to follow a 4th line grinder. Now, when your best player is also your hardest worker.... that is something that IMO will trickle down through the whole team. Guys are going to want to match this kids work ethic. Maybe not immediately, but they will once he starts establishing himself among the NHL elite. That's how Crosby was in Pittsburgh. He's one of the hardest working hockey players in the entire NHL, and by year 2 he had kind of changed that culture in Pitts. Everyone on the team wanted to match his work ethic.

Well, just in case there was any doubt in anyone's mind that the Sabres will pick Dahlin, Brandon Beane just gave it away in his WGR interview a few days ago. http://www.wgr550.com/media/audio-channel/04-30-bills-general-manager-brandon-beane-howard-and-jeremy the part about the Sabres starts right near the end of the audio clip around the 21 minute mark. It's a good listen. He says a lot of good stuff about Josh Allen, too (about how he went through his progressions and called plays at the line etc).

Of course I want to get it right. I get it man. I was all in on Darnold and Rosen, and was upset when Allen's name was called. But what can I do? They didn't ask me before they picked him. If Allen fails, I doubt they will ask me before they pick the next QB. So I'll just go along for the ride like I always do. But in the mean time... I like having hope. I am not just just going to assume that Allen is already a bust before he's even thrown a single pass in a Bills uniform, and be miserable for the next few years. That seems absolutely pointless to me. Instead, I am going to try my best to find reasons to be hopeful until proven otherwise. But that's just me. I choose to be positive until given very good reason to be negative. And if/when that negative thing happens I'll get over it and try to find more reasons to be positive again. It has nothing to do with blind faith and treating the Bills like a religion. It has to do with not wanting to be a constantly negative and misaeable person (not saying you are). And it has to do with wanting to be hopeful for my hometown team that I love. What's the point in even being a sports fan if you can't have hope? We dont control any of this stuff. We are just fans. Me personally, I'd rather try to find the good things about Allen and try to spread hope to my fellow Bills fans.

I knew it was going to be a negative article on Allen before I even clicked on this thread. All I needed to see was the screen name of who posted it under the thread title... lol.

Sure it is! lol A fan (usually) only buys a certain player's jersey once. If that player changes teams, a whole new set of fans can/will buy his jersey. And then the fan base from the team he left will buy a jersey for another player currently on the team.

Not surprising. Maybe the only surprising thing is that he was cut before Hackenberg... lol.

https://www.12up.com/posts/4792594-carson-wentz-is-only-an-eagle-because-of-analytics-and-the-browns http://www.theherdnow.com/radio/the-browns-missed-on-carson-wentz-because-analytics-cant-measure-franchise-qb-traits/ Also, I think its worth mentioning that Allen and Wentz had pretty similar college stats - https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/carson-wentz-1.html https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/josh-allen-7.html

Wonder if it's the same analytics the Cleveland Browns relied so heavily on, that told them Carson Wentz would never be a top 15-20 QB in the NFL... Hopefully the Bills end up looking as smart as the Eagles did.

http://www.wgr550.com/articles/news/dahlin-special-player Sounds like exactly what the Sabres need. Feom everything I'd read, it seems like this kid wont give anything less than his all every single time he is on the ice. And he sounds soo driven to be the best. Hates losing with passion (which is also something the Sabres desperately need more of). When your (potential) best player is also your hardest working player, that can really drive the whole team to try and match that work ethic. I am beyond excited that Dahlin will be a Buffalo Sabre

Makes me wonder if maybe Belichick was doing it so he had some intel on Mayfield in case he ended up in the AFCE, as there were a lot of rumors at that time that the Jets wanted him bad.

$812,500 AAV. Great depth signing. He was showing some nice progress in his development.

Thanks for sharing.

That article makes it sound like Rosen wasn't even on the Bills draft board, or if he was they had him below Rudolph.

Can you provide a link to anything that backs up your claim? I'd be interested to read/watch it. Everything I have seen says they had Allen ahead of Rosen.

It was stuff like this that (supposedly) made the Browns pass on Carson Wentz. They hired a supposed analytics guru and he and their GM (at the time) Sashi Brown studied analytics, looked at Wentz's somewhat pedestrian stats and how they declined in his draft year, and came to the conclusion that Carson Wentz would never be a top 15-20 starter in the NFL. So they traded the pick to Philly... http://www.nj.com/eagles/index.ssf/2017/03/eagles_can_thank_browns_and_analytics_for_carson_w.html http://www.theherdnow.com/radio/the-browns-missed-on-carson-wentz-because-analytics-cant-measure-franchise-qb-traits/ https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/carson-wentz-1.html

In my head I picture one of those Bills fans at home games that are throwing/dumping beer on opposing fans, while swearing at them and doing other threatening things (even trying to fight on occasion). I have family from Boston and every time I take them to a Bills/Patriots game I have to deal with this stuff. We always run into a lot of great Bills fans, but it's those few doing the stuff I mentioned above that kill the experience for them. It has actually gotten to the point that they don't even want to come to games with me anymore, and that just makes me sad. I get the hostility when the opposing teams fans come to our stadium and act like total jerks and are starting trouble with everyone. But when I bring a couple young females to a game who are beyond respectful (and aren't even cheering for their team because they are too scared to), and I'm still having to defend them and almost fight other Bills fans just because they are wearing a Patriots jersey... that is a problem. I will always treat opposing fans with respect, unless given good reason not to. From my experience, most opposing fans that come to a game just want to have fun and watch their team play, same as me. They don't come to be disrespectful jerks, so why treat them like crap? Ive been to other stadiums/arenas to watch football/hockey games, and it's great when other fan bases are welcoming. On the other hand, it can be an absolutely miserable experience when opposing fans treat you terrible. I know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of that and I would never do that to someone else. It's just immature and stupid.

Fully agree John. I have said the same thing myself numerous times. I was kind of pissed off when the Buffalo fans booed Bettman when the 2015 NHL entry draft was held here. We very well might not have an NHL team right now if not for him.

Hopefully most will start getting over it soon and get on board with Allen. I have seen a lot of people doing just that already. I expect/hope more will too. It seems like most are IMO. I wont lie, I was disappointed by the Josh we picked at first. But I got over it pretty quickly (maybe an hour or so... lol). That's just me though. I am the type that pretty quickly finds reasons to get on board and get excited. I don't see the point in looking for reasons to hate something the Bills/Sabres did. We have zero control over any of this stuff... I like having hope and being excited about the Bills future, and I like to be an optimistic person. I always try to look at the positives, not the negatives. So i'd MUCH rather look for reasons to get excited instead of looking for reason to be negative. It drives me nuts when I see people doing nothing but finding any/every reason they can to be negative... But anyway... lol. I love the kids attitude and personality so far. He makes it very easy to root for him. Cant wait to see what he can do after getting proper NFL level coaching, and getting to play with NFL level talent. I expect it'll take some time but I'm excited for the future! One things for sure, if Allen fails it won't be for lack of effort. He seems very coachable and very driven to be the best. I don't think many guys will be outworking him.

That Weber interview was amazing. I've read a lot about Dahlin's work ethic and drive being next level, and Weber confirms it. When your (soon to be) best player has a relentless drive to get better, that flows down through the whole team. I really think good things are in store for the Sabres in the future! I am beyond pumped we actually landed this kid. Still feels too good to be true! It's like a dream.

Welcome to the family! I think it's so cool how many Wyoming fans we've gained in a matter of days.

Dude. Be at ease! Dahlin easily has the potential to not just be a 1 defenseman for the Sabres, but the #1 defenseman in the entire NHL - ahead of Doughty, Keith, Karlsson, Subban, Suter, Weber etc etc. He is absolutely the home run #1 pick and it's not even close. Svechnikov looks like an elite winger, but Dahlin is in a tier all his own. He is the McDavid of defenseman, and I'm not just saying that. He has been a phenom since a very young age. Started playing in the top men's professional league in Sweden by his 16th birthday, and made an immediate impact. He was the only teenager on the Olympic team. Many many people are saying that he is he is the best defensive prospect to enter the league since Potvin in 1973. This is the type of pick that can change a franchise. He's that good. I even feel that he will help us attract free agents, just like McDavid did in Edmonton. I expect he will be in the Norris trophy running most years. Players that played with him in Sweden said that he will be a first ballot hall of famer, and that they never played with anyone with his skill level before (and these are guys that played in the KHL, AHL and even NHL). Nick Lidstrom said Dahlin is way ahead of where he was at the same age, and has way more skill. That's amazing. He's not going to be one of those defenseman that take years to make an impact. He's much more skilled than Drew Doughty, who stepped into the NHL at 18 and made an impact. I'm sure it'll take him some time to transition to the North America game/ice, but he will be an impact player very quickly. Every NHL team that won a cup recently has had a true #1 C and a true stud #1 D. Now Buffalo has both! If you asked me would would I rather have McDavid, or Eichel and Dahlin, I take Eichel and Dahlin hands down (even though McDavid is probably the best forward on the planet).

Dahlin has been playing in the top professional men's league in Sweden since he was 16yrs old. He's a pretty special case. I cant see any way he's riding the bus in Rochester. He's literally like th McDavid of defenseman. Kid is so special.