Logic

Diggs’ biggest strengths — his route running savvy, release package, technical prowess, and strong hands — do not seem like the type of attributes that are going to wane too greatly as he ages. He’s also incredibly hard working and dedicated to his body health and to being great, so I see him keeping himself in top shape. I can understand why some are worried, but I think he’ll be just fine through at least age 33, which is all we need from him.

I like Edmunds, but his contract is coming up along with Oliver, Knox, and Poyer. I think they can only afford two pay two of them. Personally, I’d like those two to be Knox and Oliver. I don’t think Edmunds is as good as his biggest supporters claim or as bad as his biggest detractors claim. I think I he’s pretty good. But I also think he’ll want to be paid like he’s great, and I don’t want the Bills to do that. He doesn’t make game changing plays, he’s not an alpha tone-setter, and I’m sick of using his age as an excuse. All of this leads me back to this thread: if in the first three rounds of the draft, ILB is BPA at any point, take him. Let him learn and be depth and play the Klein role for a year and then take over for Edmunds next year, and we finally get a good compensatory pick when Edmunds walks.

This is my “Bills sign a veteran corner, now let’s get QB1 some help” draft:

Soccer style relegation? Interesting. Develop a 10-12 team minor league, similar to the old NFL Europe. This gives developmental players -- who have something to offer the NFL but aren't ready for prime time yet, like Kurt Warner and Fred Jackson -- an opportunity to refine their skills and get live game reps. Then, as you said, if a team has, say five consecutive losing seasons or their record is below a certain threshold, they get relegated, and the winningest team over that time frame from the minors is promoted. Certainly a pretty crazy thing to imagine. The Jacksonville Jaguars getting sent down to the minors while the Birmingham Dragons (or whatever) get called up.

The next big push will be for an international team. Jacksonville Jaguars becoming the London somethings seems most likely. Personally, I wish the NFL would stop expanding. Stop adding regular season games, stop adding playoff games, stop adding teams. Unfortunately they’ve never heard the phrase “don’t fix what ain’t broken” or read the story of Icarus, so they’re just gonna keep pushing, growing, changing, and expanding in the name of increased profits, regardless of how it waters down or eventually ruins their product over time.

Says the guy who made three separate replies to a topic he has no interest in discussing...on a football message board....at 11am on a Monday. Sayonara!

I just think they're a silly waste of time that does nothing to further the discourse. I made a thoughtful post ending in the question "if you've given up on him, why? If you don't think he can improve, why not?". So to me, it seemed reasonable that a more useful response than "yes" would have been one that made even a short, one sentence attempt to answer one of those questions or explain one's opinion. If you're interested enough to read the post and respond to it, it seems reasonable to me that you'd be interested enough to explain your position -- however cursory or brief that explanation may be. Of course, you ultimately have the freedom to give a one word response that offers no detail, just as I have the freedom to call that one word response a waste of time that does nothing to further the discussion.

Yep. Lots of folks gave up on both Singletary AND Knox prior to their third seasons, and both played pivotal roles in the Bills winning another AFC East title. I'm not saying Moss is a sure thing to have a bounce-back year three, but I think it's more likely than unlikely.

The post to which you're replying is an inside joke with a friend of mine. Take your own advice.

You're as good at contributing to message board discussions as you are at giving usable interviews to local newsmen.

Another killer contribution to the discussion.

For those that ask “what sets Moss apart from being Just a Guy?”, my answer is: Agility, quickness, balance, tackle breaking ability, compact build, runs with good pad level, very good run blocker. Let me repeat: I’m not saying he’ll ever be a top 10 back in this league. I’m saying that has utility on an NFL roster as an RB2 who can get you 800-1000 yards from scrimmage per season, and that’s not useless. Here are some highlights from his 2020 season, which saw him post three games with more than six yards per carry: Here’s an article from PFF, specifically about Moss, pointing out that 40 times are less predictive of running back success in the NFL than agility and quickness based tests like the 3-cone. https://www.pff.com/news/draft-2020-nfl-draft-forget-the-40-yard-dash-time-zack-moss-excels-at-the-things-that-matter-for-a-running-back And lastly, a reminder of one of the reasons the Bills were excited to draft Moss to begin with: I’m just saying the guy has skill. Dynamic RB1? No. Useless bust? Absolutely not. He can be a player in this offense.

Each one of you who offer a one word reply are really adding nuance and contributing positively to the discourse. Thank you.

Is Singletary? Because if people are saying "none of our RBs are good enough, we need a dynamic guy back there", then I can buy that. But if people think Singletary is good enough and Moss isn't, I'm just not sure I agree. There sure didn't seem to be a big talent gap between them in 2020.

I agree that his vision seemed poor in 2021 with the power gap run stuff. I do not agree that his vision seemed poor in 2020 when they were running more outside zone. He had three separate games averaging over 6 yards per carry and a fourth where he averaged 5.8.

It seems that just about everyone has written off Zack Moss as a reasonable RB2 option going forward. I understand that he had a down 2021, but he certainly showed promise in the 2020 season, to the point where he was viewed by many as the Bills' true RB1 heading into 2021. He is a hard running, physical back with good balance and catching ability. He was drafted in the third round just two seasons ago and Beane was very excited to get him (cue pithy Cody Ford remark here). A few things stick out to me: 1.) In 2020, when the Bills offensive line switched to primarily zone running, Moss became very effective. Singletary, less so. In 2021, the Bills tried to do a bit of everything, rolled out the "RB by committee" approach again, realized it was a failure by mid-season, and scrapped it for a heavy reliance on Singletary and power gap runs and pin-and-pull concepts. These are Singletary's bread and butter, so whereas he had struggled in 2020, he rebounded and flourished behind the blocking scheme with which he is most effective. Moss, on the other hand, went the opposite direction. After averaging 4.3 ypc in 2020, he averaged just 3.6 in 2021. Here's the thing with that: if I'm not mistaken, new o-line coach Aaron Kromer will most likely be bringing in the wide zone, one-cut-and-go stuff full time. As just mentioned, Moss thrived behind this running scheme in 2020. Why doesn't anyone think he can thrive again? 2.) We saw just last year, with Singletary himself, the following phenomenon: A running back comes in and thrives as a rookie, has a sophomore slump partly due to change in blocking scheme, then rebounds in year three upon returning to the blocking scheme with which he's most comfortable. This exact scenario seems to be playing out with Zack Moss right now. Nice year one, down year two behind new blocking scheme...why can't year three with a zone running scheme see the same type of bounce-back from him that Singletary enjoyed? I'm not saying he's ever gonna be a top five back or light the league on fire, but so many Bills fans seem completely ready to ship him off for a late round pick or cut him outright, and certainly aren't counting on him to contribute meaningfully in 2022, and I can't quite figure out why that is. It's not as if he has NEVER shown that he can be effective in this league. Bring up the 2020 game highlights and you see plenty of really nice plays and both the running and passing game from Moss. Does everyone just assume he completely forgot how to play football? If you're one of those who have given up on Zack Moss, I'm curious to know your reasoning. I'm also curious to know: if you don't believe he can rebound behind better OL personnel, with a better o-line coach and a blocking scheme better suited to his skills, WHY don't you believe it?

Just get Isiah Pacheco and Max Borghi in UDFA and profit. To hell with early round running back picks.

@Shaw66 has been saying this for a while now. At this point, why spend on a free agent corner until after the draft? Their prices will all come done and there will be a game of musical chairs, where the last few standing will have to either take cheapie one year deals or not play at all. See what you get in the draft and, at the very worst, get a cheap vet after the fact.

The Pats fans trying to refute the video in the comments on Twitter are a hoot. Trying to claim that arm strength isn’t important, that Mac is the better QB because “his decision making is better”, people legitimately saying they’d take Mac over Josh if given the choice. Like…homerism is a hell of a drug.

Isn’t it a rule that teams with new head coaches get to start earlier?

A wise man once told me “brevity is the soul…”, oh never mind. Your post ignores the human element of football. You say Diggs had two more years, and therefore no leverage. This ignores the fact that in seeing other WRs get paid across the league, and recognizing that he was now underpaid, there was every possibility that Diggs would become disgruntled. Still under contract? Sure. But he could have skipped camp, skipped games, taken to social media to complain…in short, he could’ve created a huge distraction in a crucial year for the Bills. Rewarding a guy who has done everything the right way, produced at a high level, and been a team leader is also the right thing to do from a team building and culture perspective. Now, instead of other players on the team saying “if HE can’t get paid, what hope do I have?”, they’ll be saying “do things the right way, produce, and I’ll get paid”. This stuff matters. The human element. Culture. One of the big reasons players now WANT to play in Buffalo. You then use the rest of your post to more or less complain about a GM who has built a team with the leading Super Bowl odds, a tremendous roster, a franchise QB, and a string of three playoff appearances after 17 years without one. No GM is perfect. Not one. And no one on this forum likes to litigate the mistakes Beane has made more than you. It’s tiresome. Your generally arrogant demeanor of winking smileys and always, ALWAYS thinking you’re right are tiresome, too. Remember the T.O. quote “I love me some me”? That’s you!

I've somewhat come around on the idea of drafting a running back either in the late 1st or early 2nd. I'd prefer it be in the 2nd, and I still don't think the value is particularly good compared to other positions. That said, it can be reasonably argued that a dynamic running back helps the offense overall -- including the passing game -- more than a 1st round WR. Adding a dynamic, legitimate threat to the backfield for five seasons likely takes this offense up a notch because the Bills would truly be able to punish defenses for selling out to stop the pass. Singletary finished 2021 on a high note, but make no mistake, defensive coordinators aren't staying up at night trying to figure out how to stop him. The thing that has me thinking this may be a reasonable pick is that, as others have pointed out, there may be a run on WRs and CBs in round 1. If it gets to pick 25, and you're choosing between the 6th best WR, 5th best CB, or a dynamic RB1...again, it can be reasonably argued that that dynamic RB helps your offense more than WR6 would, and maybe helps your team overall more than CB5 would. Still not my top choice, but I'm not gonna throw my TV out the window if it happens.

Give me Oliver and Knox. 3T is critical to our defensive scheme. Knox has “top five in the league” upside. I like Edmunds, but he hadn’t played well enough or been enough of a difference maker to spend the kind of money on him that he’ll be seeking. Draft his replacement this year or next. I love Poyer, but he’s about to be 32 soon, and you simply can’t pay everyone. Furthermore, McDermott has shown conclusively that he can coach up safeties to high levels of production.

People keep saying that every contract move we make is because “a signing is coming!”. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, but either way… Does anyone out there honestly still believe that Beane ISN’T gonna sign a cornerback at some point? I think there’s just about ZERO chance that they go into the season with just Dane Jackson and a rookie as serious outside corner candidates.