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I'm glad to see Miller back in the lineup. He played very well in 2016 but the system didn't suit him last season. From what I've read, Ducasse is better on the left side than the right so I guess that's a positive. The Groy/Bodine battle will be interesting. I know they've held onto Groy because he can play all three interior OL spots so he has a lot of value in that respect. But, if he beats out Bodine then I can see them designating Bodine to that spot. And if a guard gets injured, I can see them shifting Groy to G and bringing Bodine in at C. Newhouse will be the swing tackle, I think. I've read that Wyatt Teller is impressive in a physical sense but right now he's having some difficulty grasping the different schemes and protections.

Despite the thoughts of some, I don't see many scenarios where this team cuts Zay Jones. Maybe they trade him if a really good offer comes across the table but I don't see that happening. They're already thin at the position and Zay knows he needs to step up which I think he'll do once he's ready to go. I think Reilly has a solid chance to make the 53. They took him off the practice squad late last season and added him to the active roster. I don't think he ever saw the field but to get bumped from the PS to the active roster that late in the season shows that McBeane can see him playing a bigger role this season, granted, if he continues to develop the way he has. Other than that, I think Robert Foster is a near-lock for the practice squad and *maybe* the active roster if he has a super impressive pre-season. I also like Dupre and hope he can step up as he was viewed as a top WR prospect for a hot minute back in late 2016. LSU didn't have a QB in 2017 so on paper his stats aren't great but there's talent there and sometimes it takes a season or two before a guy reaches his full potential. Jeremy Kerley probably makes it for his veteran presence. Andre Holmes is on the bubble, despite his special teams play. They've got younger, less expensive options to take over for him if they want. McCloud is destined for a special teams role and I think Proehl is also practice squad material.

I'm just psyched to see that they've finally brought in an OC who understands how to play to the strengths of his players. More and more over the last few years, teams have adopted that method over the ol' "Here's my offense, learn it and that's that" type of coordinators. Far too often teams are hamstrung by a coordinator who *has* to run his system (i.e. Rex) despite not having the best personnel for it. I've always felt like it shouldn't be as difficult as some coordinators make it. Some of them put scheme over talent. I've always thought that any decent coach thoroughly evaluates his personnel, discovers what they have a natural knack for and designs a system based around those things. That's a big reason why Wentz has had success out in Philly. They've placed him in schemes that he's familiar with and they play to his strengths. Gotta be the same with Allen here. And, it's gonna take a while, but once they get things down, it'll be interesting to see how well they adjust from week to week as Daboll plans on having a "multiple" type of offense that does the Pats thing where they change it up based on who they play.

Dang. Stupid Jets.

Jets should be a good read. Darnold isn't even in camp yet. Hasn't signed his contract. Evidently because there's language in it that would nix guaranteed money in the event of a fine, which is kind of anal on the Jets part. The language in most rookie deals states that guaranteed money can be removed/altered in the case of a suspension, not a fine. So I can totally see why Darnold is holding out. He could incur a fine on a fluke play and then zap, there go his guarantees. That's kinda crap.

Those are questions I absolutely take into account. I was just commenting that it's encouraging to see that he hasn't tried to change what he already does well. I think, at best, Allen can be a hell of a QB but also a guy that's going to throw some picks and frustrate you a little bit. I know that after the first camp practice, a lot of people wanted to point out how poorly he missed on a dump off on his last throw of the day. He was on One Bills Live the next day and said that it was a play he had never run before and he got caught thinking too much. He said since the back was so close to him he wasn't sure if he should just kinda underhand pitch it to him or actually try to throw it. His arm didn't really get the message, hence the ball floated on him and it looked bad, but stuff like that's gonna happen. And yes, it was easy to become frustrated with Taylor. He certainly could hit the deep ball, but his issue was that he simply couldn't see the field well (partially because of his height) and that he's a "see it, throw it" passer as opposed to an anticipatory passer. Doesn't throw guys open, has to see them come open before he throws it. I saw a Browns camp highlight of him on Saturday. Landry ran a hell of a deep route, completely burned his guy, but had to slow up to catch the pass from Taylor because Taylor waits too long to throw it and then when he does, he doesn't always put it out in front. As for Fitz, ah, bless ol' Fitz, great dude, smart as hell... not the best arm, and that's his main drawback. He can make all the reads and adjustments you need but when it comes down to it he just doesn't have the juice to hit a 15-yard out to the opposite side of the field or hit a man in stride on a deep ball. A lot of his picks happen because he just doesn't have a lot of speed and velocity on his throws, that gives DBs more time/chances to break on his throws. And yes, he would toss picks at the worst possible time. I always felt like that was happening because he was simply trying to do too much. I think he has a bit of the gunslinger mentality and when it's late and his team is down, he's gonna try to take shots with the hopes that something good happens.

Nah, as a kid I wanted to see them at least win one, didn't care how many they went to and lost, I felt like, as long as they win one, it's worth it. vs. the Giants they never adjusted and took advantage of the fact that the Giants D was putting only three, sometimes two, DL on the line which was an invitation to run and Thurman was on that game. Had they kept handing him the ball he would've chewed them up and then when they went to adjust to stop the run, that's when Kelly could've shifted it into overdrive with the no-huddle and start slinging it. Instead, they stuck to their guns and it just didn't fall their way. And while Norwood had a good season, the Bills special teams coach at that time said that Scott had two other FG attempts (just under 40 yards) on grass during the regular season that he missed. His 47-yard attempt was his longest try on grass for that season. vs. Washington they came in unfocused and unprepared and got outplayed in the first half. They got things rolling in the second half but ran out of time. vs. Dallas they actually led early on after a great opening drive but then they gave up a fumble return for a TD, Michael Irvin went ham in the 2nd quarter and Kelly got knocked clear out of the game. They gave up another fumble return for a TD later in the game but even though it was 31-17 at the start of the fourth, they still were only down by two scores and had a chance. They just completely imploded in the fourth. vs. Dallas again they led at halftime and then came out and Thurman had that fumble and after that they were shot. It's like as soon as one bad play and a little adversity hit them, they all collectively felt like, "Here we go again" and just couldn't get their heads straight. For whatever reason, it just didn't happen for them. I've always joked that the four-straight run in the 90s was the good karma we got as fans and the 17-year drought was the payback kind of karma.

I think the confusion around the new rule is what's going to be detrimental to the game. I've seen a number of reports stating that teams are very unclear on how the rule will be imposed and how coaches can teach players how to adjust with the new rule in mind. And I think it's going to be difficult for officials to get right during games. Plays happen so fast, we see it all the time, a penalty is called but after seeing the replay, it's clear that it wasn't a penalty and the official had a bad angle to view it from and made a bad call. I can see that happening a lot here. A ball-carrier hits the seam and gets hit by a linebacker who drops his head past the ball-carrier's right hip and drives his shoulder into his midsection for a typical form tackle. The official on the right side sees that the helmet avoided contact but the official on the left side just sees a player who dropped his helmet to make a tackle, so does he throw a flag because he's uncertain if the helmet was involved or not? And then the zebras convene for a 3-hour conference (seems like it, anyway) to try and get the call right and still get it wrong. I think early on it's going to be rough and they're going to get it wrong quite a bit. As the season goes on, the hope would be that they get better at recognizing it and don't need to hold up the game with their little meetings and whatnot. It works both ways too, an offensive player can't drop their helmet and drive into another player, but, as someone already pointed out, when a ball-carrier has defenders closing in on him, what's he going to do? He's going to (usually) wrap both arms around the ball and get low, and there's going to be incidental contact with his helmet. That's the thing with this rule. How can they define when it's just part of the play or when it's intentional? That's why this rule sucks and that's why it's not going to go well, at least early on.

Wouldn't be surprised if he wound up winning the job. The fact that I see multiple reporters tweeting things like, "Allen is out here throwing passes the other two QBs wouldn't even think of trying" is pretty encouraging. If he does end up the starter, just be prepared for some bumps in the road. And unless he gets hurt, I wouldn't bench him for anything. I don't care if he has a game where he goes 7 for 25 for 84 yards and two picks, just let him take his lumps and come back the next week refocused and ready to go. Don't give him the Losman treatment where they tell him he's the undisputed starter but every time he had a rough series he was benched for Holcomb and eventually Edwards. Allen doesn't need to be looking over his shoulder every time he throws a pick or has a bad series or two, that doesn't help his development at all.

Maybe I'm one of the few but I think Lawson is firmly in their plans for this season. He missed important practice time in his rookie season due to the shoulder surgery and when he came back he was playing out of position in a scheme that didn't fit him or most of the defensive players. Last season there was plenty of turnover on defense and another whole new scheme to learn plus he missed five games with injury. He still had the same sack total as Hughes (4.0) despite Hughes starting all 16 games. The entire DL last season had a hard time finding their footing. They started great against the rush but that slowly deteriorated and overall they couldn't get enough pressure on the QB. Lawson is said to have followed the off-season diet/training program very well and has come in more focused than ever and probably as healthy as he's ever been during his time in the league. I think they'll want to see how he does with those things factoring in before giving up on him. I don't think mid-late round guys added a week into camp are a threat to his roster spot. Hughes, Murphy and Lawson are the top pass rushers they have, unless some kind of "too good to pass up" trade offer comes along, Lawson is a Bill for 2018.

He didn't start playing football until his sophomore or junior year of high school so he wasn't on any major college recruiter's radar. UB and maybe one or two other schools were the only ones to offer him coming out of high school. I believe he chose UB because they were Division I.

I read some of those "anonymous scout" quotes that fly around during draft time and the one knock on him that seemed to pop up fairly consistently was the fact that a lot of scouts weren't sure what they'd do with him as they feel he has limitations along the DL. They weren't sure what spot on the line would suit him best and some felt he looked more like a guard than a DT, one quote even said they'd consider flipping him to OL. With that in mind, I assume most teams viewed him as a prospect full of potential but not one that would be able to contribute from an early standpoint. Guys with potential that need fine-tuning and some moderate development usually end up as mid-round picks.

B-b-b-b-bingo!

I'mma call him Darkwa Duck if he gets signed. Let's get dangerous.

Whoops! Good catch. I'll fix that.

Heading into 2018 training camp, I decided to take a look at the Bills roster to see how the current group came together. Total Overall Players as of 7/26: 89 Total Overall Draft Picks: 44 Total Bills Draft Picks: 19 Players Acquired Via Trade: 3 -J. Hughes (2013), L. McCoy (2015), K. Benjamin (2017) Total Overall Undrafted Players: 45 (This includes players added via waivers or signed from practice squads) Total Undrafted Players Originally Signed by Bills: 19 Total Players Who Began Career w/Bills (i.e. "Homegrown Talent"): 38 Total Players Who Began Career w/Different Team: 51 Total 1st Round Picks: 8 (* = drafted by Bills) -K. Benjamin, J. Allen*, V. Davis, T. White*, T. Edmunds*, J. Hughes, S. Lawson*, S. Lotulelei Total 2nd Round Picks: 5 -Z. Jones*, L. McCoy, V. Ducasse, D. Dawkins*, T. Murphy Total 3rd Round Picks: 5 -P. Gaines, O. Odighizuwa, J. Miller*, A. Washington*, H. Phillips* Total 4th Round Picks: 5 -T. Johnson*, T. Jones, R. Bodine, L. Thomas, K. Robinson Total 5th Round Picks: 10 -N. Peterman*, A. McCarron, J. Kerley, M. Hyde, S. Neal*, M. Milano*, M. Newhouse, W. Teller*, J. Mills, K. Williams* Total 6th Round Picks: 6 -R. McCloud*, K. Clay, T. Vallejo*, C. McDermott, N. O'Leary*, C. Clay Total 7th Round Picks: 4 -M. Dupre, J. Poyer, M. Murphy, A. Proehl* Total Undrafted Players: 45 -S. Hauschka, C. Phillips*, C. Schmidt, C. Carter, R. Foster*, T. Davis*, A. Holmes, Q. Bray, R. Bush, L. Pitts, D. Marlowe, C. Ivory, K. Ford*, K. McCray, L. McCray, T. Cadet, B. Borders*, P. DiMarco, M. Boesen*, D. Lacey, R. Carter*, Z. Olstead*, R. Humber, J. Stanford, C. Thompson*, X. Woodson-Luster, E. Yarbrough, M. Love*, L. Alexander, A. Redmond, J. James, I. Boettger*, G. de Beer*, R. Ferguson*, R. Groy, D. Wesley, M. Porter*, J. Croom*, R. Streater, K. Towbridge*, K. Lee, B. Reilly*, R. Hatley, T. Fede, M. Lewis*

Man, good stuff as usual, sir. The article in the OP feels like a hot take for the sake of a hot take. I'll admit, I was weary about Allen. But out of all the QBs that came out this year, he's the one with the best set of natural skills. Anyone see that Sport Science show on him? Here's the link for those that haven't seen it, it provides some more empirical evidence. The dude has a lightning-fast release to go with the rocket attached to his right shoulder. Watching him at Wyoming I got the feeling that the kid was doing everything he possibly could to win games. If that meant he had to sacrifice sound mechanics/footwork or deviate from the play-call and improvise, then so be it, that's what he was going to do in order to win. And we know he wasn't surrounded by a whole lot of talent there. What gives me hope is what Beane recently said about seeing him at the Senior Bowl. Beane had seen him live a couple of times at Wyoming and noted that his footwork wasn't great and that affected his accuracy. But then, when he saw him at the Senior Bowl, Beane saw improved footwork, which remained consistent throughout the practices and the game. That's a huge plus for Allen. It's difficult to retrain your body to do things a certain way that's different from what's already committed to muscle memory for all the years he'd been playing QB. To see that Allen was able to rearrange parts of his mechanics and not revert back to his previous methods is a positive sign. It shows that he has the ability to not only make corrections, but to make those corrections stick. If they can continue to build him up in such a way, I feel like he has a pretty good shot to be a quality starter.

You bite your tongue, sir!! I will NOT tolerate any negativity toward the masterpiece that is Norbit. Good day!

To your point of the Bills possibly calling around to smear the name of Good Saint Doug... yeah, I can see that. Probably more like leaking stuff out "anonymously" and whatnot. He was a rookie HC in 2013, BTW, went 6-10 that year. And it was amusing to me that Jacksonville hired him as their OL coach because his OL in Buffalo had issues during his time here. He ran zone stuff with mammoth lineman (and he can't always whine that Whaley didn't provide him with the kinds of players he wanted because in 2014 Whaley drafted Kouandjio, Richardson and Henderson, all monster-sized OL, and none of them really worked out in Buffalo. I felt like Henderson had a chance to become a full-time starter had he not been sidelined with his illness and subsequent suspension. He's currently in Houston where he's penciled in as their starting RT right now, Kouandjio is a backup in Denver and Richardson is out of the league) and when certain OL (Richardson) weren't performing up to par, he wouldn't budge on changing the line-up. He let Richardson take his lumps for four or five straight weeks until finally putting Kraig Urbik back in at LG, where he was the starter for the previous few seasons and had outplayed Richardson all during pre-season but Marrone wanted to roll with Richardson because it was one of "his guys." As for Lynch, dude was straight up never really happy with playing in Buffalo. When he was drafted, he admitted he had no idea where Buffalo was and just the type of cat he is, he was going to struggle off the field no matter where he was drafted unless he was drafted by a west coast or California team. He's a bit of an odd duck, as we've seen, doesn't trust many people, doesn't like speaking to the media, etc. etc. I remember one of his first post-game interviews here and the dude just looked so uncomfortable, and that was a game they won where he had like a 60 yard TD run. Aside from the hit-and-run and the gun charges, I also remember him causing some kinda ruckus at an Applebee's, where he grabbed some lady's purse or grabbed money out of it. He would also come into bars/restaurants in the area with his own liquor and just order plain soda so he could mix. Just knucklehead stuff. I ran into him at the Hamburg Walmart in 2009, the week after Dick Jauron was let go and I asked him what he felt about the coaching change, he said hopefully it's for the best and that I should be a Raiders fan anyway, lol. He then told me that Poz (Paul Posluszny) and Kyle were also somewhere in the store but I didn't see them. At the time I was working for a group home and he gave an autograph to one of my guys which was cool because we didn't ask for one, he actually offered it, saying something, "Yo man, if you got a pen or something, I'd be happy to sign somethin' for your guy here." Made that guys whole year, haha, that's all we heard at the group home for the next few weeks was, "Have you guys seen my Marshawn Lynch autograph?" and then he'd go into his room, strap on his full-size replica Bills helmet and proudly show off the autograph. He'd keep the helmet on all during Bills games too. Bah, I'm rambling, either way, I think Lynch just had a rough go while he was here. Did he do himself any favors? Not really. But after all the incidents that went down, it was inevitable that he was going to be traded or cut to provide the ol' "fresh start somewhere else" for him. My bad on the wall of text.

Marrone had an amendment put in his contract once RCW passed away because he wanted to have his own "out" in case new ownership wanted to come in and clean house. He's tried to make himself look like a martyr in saying that the reason he walked was because he demanded raises for everyone on his staff, which was denied. It's also been rumored that he asked for a contract extension, which was also denied. The Pegulas planned on keeping him but didn't have any plans to mess with his current contract or any of his assistant's current contracts. At the time he quit, he had his agent in his ear telling him he was "guaranteed" the Jets HC job. But then he went to interview with them and evidently gave a horrible interview. Rumors I read were that when asked why he left the Bills, he talked in circles and really just didn't have a convincing reason. On top of that, the dude is straight up moody as hell and players would say they'd come off a win and come back to practice the next week and Marrone would be sulking around as if they just got blown out 58-3. Teams usually adapt/adopt the attitude/persona of their leadership and if the leadership is kickin' rocks all day because he couldn't handle a press conference then it's not gonna be a really conducive work environment. I'll give him some credit for the 9-7 2014 season but I'll give more credit to Jim Schwartz and that defense. And many of the veteran players were over his "old school" style from pretty early on. The dude wanted to run the show like a college program but that stuff doesn't fly with guys who've been around the league for a while. On top of that, he was rigid to his game plans/schemes and either refused to adjust or just couldn't. Someone else mentioned how his boss is now Coughlin and that Marrone should be careful but Coughlin is one of Marrone's idols. I'm sure he's more than happy to let Coughlin run the personnel and follow whatever instruction he wants. Either way, to me, the guy is always gonna be an L-7 Weenie.

I remember an article posted on the Bills website before the 2014 season. It was all about EJ and his preparation for the upcoming season. It had some interesting bits about his upbringing, though. During middle and high school, he struggled with academics to the point of where he worked with a tutor. Not to pick on the guy, but when I read that, it definitely lended validity to the fact that he always had trouble processing things after the snap. And the way he'd compensate for that would be to try and take it upon himself to be the only player he trusted on the field. Explains his hesitancy to throw it down field and give his receivers a chance. Doesn't help that Marrone and Hackett were coaching him to take off and run anytime his first read wasn't there. But clearly, any human being who's worked their entire life for a certain position is going to feel down when they're being demoted. He handled it professionally and continued on as a supportive teammate for the rest of his time here, which is all you can ask for. Dude just can't seem to flip the switch from "thinking too much" to "just go out and play."

I'm sure there are a number of reasons for his lack of productivity... here are a couple: -Injuries. He's appeared in only 14 games over the last two seasons. -He's not a very versatile back. He's not gonna run away from anyone and he's almost strictly a between the tackles guy. -Seattle's offensive line. Whether it's the type of scheme they run, the OL coach, how they coordinate the run game... or, the players they have starting on the OL just aren't very good, which is the most likely scenario. Russell Wilson has only enjoyed one season (his rookie year) where he hasn't been sacked 40+ times. In his six seasons, he averages 41.3 sacks per season. I'm not sure where that ranks in the league but if I had to guess I'd say "pretty close to last." Also, Tom Cable as their OL coach didn't do them many favors, he used schemes that really didn't suit his players. After they lost Lynch, Seattle's running game has been less than stellar and has featured a rotating cast of different backs. Thomas Rawls was really good for them in 2015, but injuries led to him getting cut. They had Christine Michael on two different occasions and he could never get going. They rolled with CJ Prosise and Chris Carson last season, both went on IR before like, week six. So, over the last couple of seasons, it's pretty evident that Seattle just hasn't had a very good ground game. They drafted Rashaad Penny and expect both Carson and Prosise to be 100% for 2018 so they may improve this year. I'm not endorsing they go out and sign Lacy. My train of thought is that if things get really f'd with the RB group then Lacy, to me, would be a guy worth calling in for a tryout because it's clear that McBeane like having a bigger, north-south/power runner on their roster. With all that said... he won't be a member of the Buffalo Bills, like.... ever.

While I think he'd be worth a look if they had to scramble for someone, I don't think he's a McDermott type of guy. He's stated before that the main reason he plays is so he can provide for his family. Nothing wrong with that, really, but McDermott wants guys who play for more than just the paycheck. Weight-wise, I believe when he was in Seattle they loaded his contract with incentives if he was able to keep his weight at or under a certain number. And as far as I know, he worked pretty hard with their trainers to get to the weight they wanted him at and was able to maintain it for the season or two he was there. I remember his rookie year when he was solid, I busted open a box of cards and got an autographed Lacy rookie card. At that time, his signed RC's were going for $50-$60 on eBay but I was like, meh, I like this one, I'll hang onto it... now it probably would get $10 tops haha.

That's something I always found kinda baffling... keeping a guy on the bench because of his "positional versatility" (which allows them to dress one or two less OL than normal and use those slots somewhere else) even when he's a better option than the guy starting. That's why I think if Groy edges Bodine for the starting center job, they can still use him as a backup at guard in case of injury, just slide him right or left and have Bodine take over at C. Who remembers 2014 when Marrone insisted on starting Cyril Richardson over Kraig Urbik because he felt it was more important for Urbik to serve as the backup OL who could cover either guard spot? That was a debacle, week after week watching Richardson getting his lunch eaten, sometimes not even getting a hand on his guy, and Kyle Orton dropping to the turf like a sack of potatoes before a defender could hit him. It was like halfway through the season before Marrone finally started Urbik over Richardson... and if anyone is wondering (and I know you're all dying to know) Richardson was cut and then on the practice squad for 2015, and then cut completely in 2016. Chicago picked him up but he didn't make it past the practice squad. Funny how things sometimes work out like that. Richardson was an All-American at Baylor and many draft analysts felt he was one of the better OG options in the 2014 draft. To me, the kid just looked too slow to hang in the NFL. Beyond that, I had heard he had a lot of difficulty with the mental side of the game once he got to the NFL. If they roll with Groy at C, they'll dress Bodine as the backup and if either the RG or LG goes down with an injury, Groy will slide over whichever way and Bodine will take over at center. Still getting Groy's positional versatility while not having to dress an extra OL.

We know they really value Groy's versatility and they can still utilize that even if he out-plays Bodine and wins the job at center. If one of the OG's gets hurt, Groy slides into either spot and Bodine comes in at center. This way they're still able to use Groy's versatility and keep themselves from having to dress an additional backup OL for games. I'm with everyone else that's mentioned that they hope Wyatt Teller turns into a late-round steal but if I had to guess right now, I'd bet that he finds himself on the inactive list for most of, if not the entire season. Of course, that's only if the injury bug doesn't decimate the OL. I think the starting 5 will be, Dawkins-Ducasse-Groy-Miller-Mills with Bodine the backup C (and Groy still the backup OG who would shift right or left in case of an injury) and probably Marshall Newhouse as the backup swing tackle. Saw someone mention Andy Levitre and it reminded me of how the old BBMB lost their marbles when the Bills didn't re-sign him. His first year in ATL, he was rough, he's since gotten a lot better but one thing some people forget about ol' Chan Gailey and his Island of Misfit Offensive Players is that one thing Ryan Fitzpatrick does really well is unload the ball quickly. And Gailey ran a west-coast style offense with a lot of short drops and short routes. Fitz getting rid of it so quickly really made that OL in front of him look better than they really were. This is why a team like the Patriots gets away with having a bunch of late-round or undrafted guys starting on their OL. Brady can get rid of it in a snap. Well, there was the 2014 & 2015 seasons (I think?) where NE's OL was allowing Timmy to get hit constantly, which prompted old Bellychecks to call up Dante Scarnecchia who had retired after the 2013 season. Either way, a QB that can get rid of it quick can mask a shaky OL.