Logic

Have you taken a look at ScottLaw's post history? I'm guessing not.

Opinions of professional NFL general manager and a head coach who is one of the top five defensive minds in the NFL, not to mention a long time pro like Lorenzo Alexander? Bupkus. Opinion of Two Bills Drive message board member ScottLaw? Gold. Unimpeachable.

This guy gets it.

The amount of ignorance surrounding COVID-19 right now is stunning and infuriating. If I hear "it's less deadly than the flu!" or "this is just media-created hype over nothing" ONE MORE TIME... ?" I get it: Its a frightening reality and in order to attempt to assuage their own fear -- which most of them won't even admit they're feeling -- many people downplay the seriousness and potential risk of the virus. If that's how you want to think of the thing in your own mind, fine. But please, PLEASE...don't go around spouting that factually incorrect, downright dangerous disinformation within earshot of other people who are foolish enough to actually believe it. I will refrain from saying the rest of what I'd like to say about this virus and our federal government's reaction to it or lack thereof, for there would be no way to avoid it become political.

Yeah! Jeez guys, can we all slow down on the notion that expert defensive coach Sean McDermott knows more about a player he coached for years and just had in for a workout than posters like Count dorkula?! Gosh!

This is incorrect.

What a silly comment. He's a former Pro Bowler as a zone corner who played on a team that suddenly started playing a lot of man-to-man and his play suffered because of it. He's 32 years old which, while a bit old, is certainly not "can't play anymore" old. To say that a former Pro Bowler who is now reuniting with the head coach under whom he had his most success has NO CHANCE of being very good is just plain silly.

It's been funny to see so many people in this thread pretend like they actually watched Redskins football last year and had their eyes on Josh Norman. People have no idea. They're just parroting what they've heard on TV. I'm in the "McDermott knows 6000% more about DB play than I do, and I trust his judgement" camp. As others have said, even if Norman stinks, so what? It's a 1 year deal. There's literally zero risk involved. My money's on him having a bounceback year and bringing some swag to the Bills secondary.

I agree with this so much. The more I watch of Higgins and the more I consider what our offense needs, the more this makes sense. People can talk about what Higgins can or can't do until they're blue in the face, but the fact is this: He is pretty much unmatched in this draft class in terms of making contested catches, snagging back shoulder throws, and making circus sideline catches. While Josh Allen isn't great at leading his receivers on deep balls, he is QUITE good at back shoulder throws. We also know how much he likes to roll out to his right and throw sideline lasers. Furthermore, when Allen goes into "run around and improvise" mode, I want a guy that he can just chuck it up to -- even if he's well covered -- and have a good shot at completing the pass. A bailout guy. Higgins looks like that guy, and then some. Wise football people have recently said "don't tell me what a guy CAN'T do, tell me what he CAN do and I'll find a use for those skills". Well...what Higgins CAN do seems to match up incredibly well with some of Allen's strengths and with what the Bills offense is currently in need of.

The "ram's horn" reminds me of something....I can't quite put my finger on it...

Fair enough. All things being equal, would you rather see Aiyuk or Ruggs in a Bills jersey come September?

@Hapless Bills Fan This was a response I gave in this thread to someone who already asked me the question you just asked. To begin with, I tend to think Spotrac's $/year valuation prediction for Phillips is pretty accurate, so the $9million number originally posited in the OP seems too high to me, and is more than I think the Bills should commit to a backup at a position that they just spent a 1st round pick on last year. As mentioned in the quoted portion above, I also believe that Phillips was not as good last year as his sack numbers alone would seem to indicate. As far as specific names of replacements? I don't have any for you, but I'm willing to bet Brandon Beane does. The Bills' pro personnel department found Jordan Phillips, and I'm willing to bet they can find someone else to fill that spot and produce at a high level. I just don't think it's logical to give a big contract to a guy to be a backup to a player that you just invested a 1st round pick in.

@DJB Is it your contention that Aiyuk is the best RAC receiver available in the draft?

Did you read my response above? First of all, I think the Bills would like a defensive tackle who plays BETTER than Phillips did last year. His sacks were great, sure, but his overall pressures percentage and play against the run often left much to be desired. Spotrac's valuation prediction of Phillips has him at $6.1 million a year, which backs up what I just said above. To say that getting him at $9million would be a "steal" doesn't make any sense to me.

It's weird to me that the Bills are 3rd in the league in available cap space and that our GM has stated that his top priority is keeping our team as in tact as possible from last year...and some people think we should probably just let Matt Milano walk. It seems to me that the Bills have the money to keep the defensive core in tact AND improve the offense, and STILL be able to afford a Josh Allen extension in a season or two. Maybe I'm crazy.

Well, first it's important to keep in mind that the entire picture of how Phillips played last year includes more than just sacks. Against the pass, how often did he push the pocket and pressure the QB? Against the run, how often did he have a positive instead of a negative play? The 9.5 sacks are lovely, but they sort of obscure the fact that, on the whole, Phillips wasn't always good last year. Taking the above in mind, I think that a drafted rookie or a free agent could represent an improvement. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/all/defensive-tackle/ Lots of guys to choose from there in the list above. Assuming the Bills DO keep Phillips, though, Spotrac has his market value prediction listed at $6.1million. THAT is a number I could live with for Phillips.

I second this sentiment. It's a moot point anyway. He's going to re-sign with the Cowboys, sure as God's got sandals.

I don't think you're wrong about the price tags, I just don't want the Bills to give Jordan Phillips $9million. I actually think they can UPGRADE the position and spend LESS money. I would like to see them re-sign Shaq, though.

The funny thing about draft season is that a bunch of people who've never watched these college players in their life suddenly become experts on them. Everyone watches a few Youtube highlight clips, reads a few scouting reports, and suddenly knows everything there is to know about a player and becomes very passionate about either defending or deriding him. I include myself in this. One minute I don't know a damn thing about a wide receiver prospect, the next minute I've spent a half hour watching clips and reading about him, and suddenly I've got a passionate position. "Can't separate". "Doesn't run the whole route tree". "I'll be FURIOUS if they take Higgins at 22!". "I'll be THRILLED if they take Higgins at 22!". Bunch of folks who know nothing, pretending like they know everything. God, I love draft season.

Yeah. I was reading about him last night, and I'm pretty intrigued by his skillset. If you look at the game today, it's not always the biggest or fastest guys that have the most success. It's often the route technicians, the guys that understand the finer details of the position, that succeed. I'm thinking about guys like Robert Woods, Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs, Jarvis Landry, Keenan Allen, AJ Brown. I wouldn't want Van Jefferson to be the only wideout they add in the draft, but I'm all for having him be one of two guys added through the draft at that position.

Treadwell averaged 11.8 yds/rec in his college career. Higgins averaged. 18.1 yds/rec in his college career. That's a significant difference. I didn't watch Treadwell in college, so I can't say with certainty that they aren't alike. A quick look at the above numbers certainly suggests that Higgins is more explosive, though.

If they're thinking he's an upgrade over Star, then sure. As it stands, they have Star and Phillips at 1T and Oliver at 3T. So they need another 3T, and Reader ain't that. I know that Phillips is coming off an ACL tear, but he was a 3rd round pick just two years ago, was starting to come on last year and eat into Star's snaps, and they're not going to roster thee 1-techs. Again, I do think Reader is a superior player to Star, so if they have replacing him in mind, then great. I just find it hard to believe that they'd have asked him to take a pay cut rather than cutting him outright.

DJ Reader is a very good player, but the fit seems odd to me.

Higgins is certainly not my favorite WR prospect in this draft. HOWEVER... It's hard to argue with an 18.1 yds career receiving average (better than Hopkins, Watkins, Williams), 27 TDs (tied with Hopkins and Watkins), and hard to argue with the size and deep ball ability, too. And one more thing to keep in mind: McDermott, when asked what is important to him in a wide receiver, said "let's start with being able to catch the football". Now with that quote in mind, go watch Higgins highlights. He's a great hands catcher. Given the total package of traits, Higgins' ability to catch any ball in his area code (which is where lots of Allen's passes tend to end up -- just in the area code), the way he would complement our existing WR corps, and the recent NFL production history of Clemson WRs...I can't really find any reason that the Bills SHOULDN'T draft Higgins. If they could trade down a few spots and still snag him, that would be even better.

89 yards from scrimmage and a TD against LSU. Not out of this world production, but not "invisible".