Logic

She's awesome, and I'm just being an (admittedly smarmy) idiot. Probably part of the reason I crush so hard on her is BECAUSE she's so smart, so funny, such a talented human being in so many respects. In truth, if I was to have the honor of meeting her, I'd probably turn from a roaring lion into a meek little lamb pretty quickly due to shyness.

C'mon man... The speed with which you would ditch your family, job, and obligations to spend a week doing jigsaw puzzles with Kay Adams in a cottage in Montpelier could not be measured by mortal instruments.

The thing that stands out for me is that in every previous camp I can remember for the past five+ years, two things were true: The defense usually led the way early and was further along than the offense, and even once the offense caught up, the two units tended to trade days back and forth in terms of who "won the day". This year, it seems to me that the offense is being reported as crisp and efficient day after day. It seems the offense is moving the ball and scoring, day after day. Now, I suppose one could look at that and be concerned about the defense, but...we can't rule out the possibility that the offense is just humming right now. It also seems that the ball is being spread around. It's not just "X player is having a dominant camp". One day it's Samuel moving all over the formation and making catches, the next day its Coleman with a highlight reel catch, the next day Kincaid or Shakir (or Knox or Shavers) are drawing praise for their route running and hands. Lastly, and most importantly: Similar to the offense as a whole, most years, Josh has some really good days and a few bad or mediocre days. This year, I have yet to hear of any bad or mediocre days for Josh. All indications are that he is playing in rhythm, making good decisions, distributing the ball to everyone, and that his passes themselves are spinning off his hand with precision and velocity. Some have even said they think this is Josh Allen's best training camp as a pro. That's SAYING something! For me, the optimism is due to a combination of: specific reports of the way the offensive personnel is being deployed (formations, shifts, motions, etc), the effective distribution of the ball to different players, Josh Allen apparently being on an absolute heater, and lastly: there is an intangible element of renewed fun/freshness/opportunity that I didn't feel last year. The Bills have felt...tight...to me for a couple years now. Like the weight of expectation (and the unspoken behind-the-scenes weirdness between certain players) was crushing them. This year? Breath of fresh air. Smiles. Fun. Turning the page. Opportunity. I feel the optimism. I didn't a few weeks ago, but I do now. I'm excited to see this Bills team take the field in September.

I'm just gonna say it. With full recognition of the fact that Kay Adams is a talented and likeable reporter, podcaster, and TV personality and that her physical attractiveness likely should not enter the conversation, lest it show small-minded and caveman-ish misogyny on my part... ...I would like to buy that woman a plate of spaghetti and then lie with her in the adult fashion.

Davidson was a tight end/punter in college. Positional versatility, babaayyy!!

Reminds me of how excited I was when the Bills took Cardale Jones, solely based on his absolute cannon of an arm. Jones was more or less out of the NFL after just one season. Not the same players, of course, but...if arm strength was all it took to be a good NFL quarterback, then Jeff George and Jamarcus Russell would be the GOATs.

Not enough murder or Angela Lansbury for my liking.

Jinx, buy me some coke.

I'm gonna turn that game on and be so excited about it for like...6 minutes. Then I'll remember it's the worst game the NFL presents every year and I'll switch to old Murder She Wrote episodes.

Yeah I have to say that the camp reports of highly effective offense -- and specifically Josh Allen looking the best he's ever looked in camp -- have me more optimistic than I've been all offseason. If 2020 Josh is back, the ceiling for this team is a Lombardi trophy. When THAT Josh is playing, it's hard to beat the Bills.

Yeah I agree. I'm glad they're looking at this. McDaniel and the Dolphins last year, with their "cheat motion" stuff, basically dared the league to call their bluff by -- as you mention -- often having players who sure LOOKED like they were moving forward before the snap. The league does indeed appear to be calling their bluff. Good.

I suppose the reason I was somewhat persuaded by the "character concern" color coding is that they have it on Jermaine Burton and Javon Baker, both of whom multiple draft analysts mentioned as having potential character concerns. It could just be coincidence, of course.

Ah, I read the report wrong. I thought Jackson was the one in the car that was speeding and in which alcohol use was suspected, rather than being in the car which was struck by a speeding and possibly impaired person. My mistake. I take back what I said.

I mean yeah, that's true... ...but he also perished in a high speed automobile accident in which alcohol was suspected, before he was even able to take a single snap. Not to cast aspersions, but the manner of his death suggests that perhaps the character concern designation was not entirely unfounded.

OH MY GOD I HAD BLOCKED THAT OUT OF MY MEMORY. I can't believe that really happened. Good God.

But more than that, it's the idea of moving a good player from a high value position like corner or left tackle to a lower value position like safety or guard. After QB, the next most important positions in football are arguably OT, DE, and CB. Safety and guard are considerably further down the list. So if you have a very good corner, why move him to safety? If you have a very good tackle, why move him to guard? Moving an aging corner to safety or an aging tackle to guard sometimes makes sense. See Troy Vincent or Rod Woodson. Rasul Douglas is 29 and was the Bills' best corner last year. Moving him does not make sense.

The desire of some Bills fans to move good players from premium positions to less premium positions never ceases to amaze me. Let's call it the "Move Cordy Glenn to Guard" Effect.

I've gotta be honest... Last year, for the first time in 20 years, I didn't buy Madden. It sucked to finally have a Buffalo Bill on the cover and then to not want to buy the game, but I just couldn't take it any more. The quality of the game had been dipping for too many consecutive years, and I couldn't just continue to hand my money to EA for a wildly subpar product. After a year off of video game football, I bought College Football 25 this year. Granted, it's still made by EA and it still has its similarities to Madden, but so far, I have found it to be vastly superior. Not only do I find the gameplay, presentation, and online experience more enjoyable, but the wide variety of playbooks and styles of offense available in college football make for a much more diverse and re-playable experience. I don't begrudge anyone that still wants to play Madden, but if -- like me -- you've grown tired of it, I suggest giving College Football 25 a try. I'm not even a particularly big college football fan, I just wanted a good, fun, playable football video game. I have found it to be just that so far. Give it a shot.

I found it interesting -- though tragic -- that now-deceased Vikings rookie Khyree Jackson is listed as a character concern.

I could see either Edwards (hamstring) or Bishop (arm) starting the season on PUP or IR (returning after four weeks), clearing the way for Jackson to make the roster.

Really, the Browns, Giants, Jets, and Broncos can/should all be saying that their biggest regret is not drafting Josh Allen. But out of these teams, the Broncos are the ones whose failure to draft Allen was most inexcusable. Playing at Wyoming, he was right in the Broncos scouting staff's back yard. They had the chance to watch him in person most often and follow him most closely of any team in the league. Furthermore, you'd think that John Elway of all people would recognize the talent and potential of of a mobile, big armed gun slinger who, quite frankly, reminded some people of a young John Elway. Likely, the failure of fellow "big-armed but raw" QB prospects Brock Osweiler and Paxton Lynch under John Elway's watch as GM led to their being gun-shy on Allen. Whatever the case may be, their failure to recognize and draft the extremely talented QB in their own back yard is and was startling and inexcusable, and all Bills fans ought to send Elway a case of Labatt Blue to thank him.

Agreed. I don't think they would have made this signing if Edwards wasn't expected to miss weeks of camp due to injury. I think it's as simple as Kareem Jackson being next up on their list of available/affordable free agents at the position, so he got the call. For those asking "why not Justin Simmons?", I presume the answer is either: A) Not looking to spend what Simmons is asking for - or - B) Not looking to promise a starting role to a guy like Simmons Whereas Justin Simmons is likely looking to sign somewhere that he can start at safety, I suspect they view Jackson as a guy who is willing to come in and compete and, if he doesn't win a starting job, they can either cut with little financial pain involved or count on as veteran depth. It won't surprise me if Jackson ends up starting, and it won't surprise me if he ends up not making the 53 man roster. Hopefully Bishop/Hamlin and Rapp step up and we don't have to count on a head-hunting 36 year old to start at safety, but at the end of the day....may the best man win.

Fun Fact: Jeff Chimenti has been playing keyboards with Bob Weir (Ratdog, Other Ones, The Dead, Further, Dead and Co, Wolf Bros) for 27 years, which is as long as the combined Grateful Dead keyboard tenures of Pigpen, Keith Godchaux, and Brent Mydland. Pretty wild to think about. For what it's worth, I'm a Keith guy myself. His playing from 72-74 pushed the band to its jazziest, most exploratory and interesting heights ever. I appreciate and love what Brent brought to the band, but I'll always be a Keith guy.

I felt like towards the end of his rookie year, he was starting to come on, including making a big play or two in the playoffs. He had all of us hopeful for a big leap in year two. Then, as we've since learned, he injured his foot (ankle?) early in camp and it hampered him all year. This is year three, and you have to think Elam knows that it's make or break time. It would not surprise me if a guy with his physical talent, work ethic, will to be great, and now -- one would assume -- a big chip on his shoulder, is leaving it all out on the field and finally starting to live up to his draft billing. It is hard to think of a development that would be more positive for this defense than having Kaiir Elam look like a 1st round, playmaking cornerback. It would be HUGE for this young secondary.

Respectfully, I don't buy this notion. The Chiefs, for instance, have been bombs away in camp. They talked in the offseason about bringing the deep ball back to their offense, and true to their word, they've been winging it all camp long to Hollywood, Worthy, et al. On the contrary, I think the Bills have very purposefully been trying to make life easier for Josh Allen (who leads the NFL the past four years in TD passes of 10+ yards) and give him easier answers. I think that in year one of Joe Brady, the emphasis will be on getting his more horizontal, matchup based offense installed and getting the offense ready to combat the heavy dose of two-deep coverage shells they'll be seeing. I suspect that after this season, we'll see an emphasis on bringing more of a deep element back to the offense, and the offseason moves will reflect this desire. To put it simply, I think -- between the exodus of our star WR, the youth movement and diversification of the WR corps, the move to a bigger OL, and the emphasis on horizontal ball movement -- that the Bills are once again a year behind the Chiefs. I don't expect to see a particularly robust downfield element to the Bills passing game this year, at least compared to what we've seen in recent years. That's not to say they can't/won't be a good offense, but simply that I think they're more concerned with making their short and intermediate passing game more lethal, and that it may come at the expense of more frequent and effective downfield passing.