blacklabel

Durability issues? Hahaha. He's one of the toughest players on this team. In a nine year career he has played in 133 out of 144 regular season games. He's never missed more than four games in one season. His position involves a higher injury rate than other positions and while he's had to deal with injuries he's played through them and still been effective. Dude sprains his ankle in the final regular season game of 2017 but still found a way to come back and play in the WC game against Jacksonville. This Bills Fanatics IG has never hit on any big news and they've never had any of their speculations or rumors picked up by larger outlets. It's been reported that Philly evidently called around the trade deadline hoping to reacquire McCoy but it seems like McBeane told them where to go with their offer. I presume that's where the "source" of their latest dookie-tossing comes from. Aside from being the best player on the team, he's a solid character guy and personifies a lot of what McDermott wants from his players. 30 years old or not, you can't question his ability, toughness and desire. He's embraced this city after the trade nearly shocked him out of playing football and he's been their MVP the last two seasons.

The outrage displayed by some fans over not gaining comp picks has been a bit ridiculous. Comp picks aren't as valuable or important as some would like to believe. I think some people just wanna see them head into the draft with 12 picks. Know who else heads into the draft with 10 or 12 picks every year? Cleveland. How's that working out for them... And yes, I'm well aware that the comp picks can be used in a trade. Other than that, the odds of finding a starter any time after rounds three or four are pretty low. So what's the better option? Sign a few mid/lower tier vets with experience or take a few rookies who will need a season or two to even reach the level of said vets? At the end of the day, the argument for comp picks over signing suitable free agents to fill some spots doesn't hold that much weight.

It's "throw crap at the wall and see what sticks" time of year. This Allbright dude gets quoted a lot but I've yet to see any of his "scoops" turn out to be true or even in the same ballpark as true. And I'm pretty sure the Bills have scouted just about every draft eligible QB for this year, Allen included. They were in on him earlier than most teams just like they were the first pro team to send scouts to go see Wentz while he was still at ND State. All sorts of things are gonna be thrown around between now and the draft. I still maintain that in order for them to make a massive leap up the board it's gonna have to be a ridiculously good deal. They aren't gonna sell out all of their draft capital and pull a Ditka. And they aren't gonna go ham in free agency and sign a ton of top tier free agents, they don't have the cap space. I just feel like it's going to be pretty tough for them to pull off a major trade to get their guy. It could happen, I mean, they have been stockpiling picks but if the cost of moving up equals both first round picks, one the twos, something from next year, when you factor in the players they traded to acquire said picks, the deal could potentially look like four or five picks, some which were gained via trading Watkins, Darby and Dareus, and while they got Gaines and Matthews in return, let's say those dudes don't re-sign here, so if you string it out like that it could look like, "Bills give up two first round picks, two second round picks and a sixth (players lost to gain picks equal Watkins, Darby, Dareus, Gaines and Matthews) for unknown QB commodity who might be good...someday." Kind of an oddball way to look at it but if they do make a trade, someone will figure it all out and find out just exactly what was lost versus what's being gained.

Great player, but most scouts (both the online community and pro scouts) feel like Zeke and Gurley were both better backs coming out of college. As talented as he or those other two guys are, teams don't sell the farm to jump up and grab a running back. Especially not with how the game is played today.

Last I read/saw, Richardson and Seattle were both said to have a fair amount of mutual interest in getting a deal done. I doubt Richardson fits the character mold they want here. And Gil Brandt may have 60+ years of experience in football but some of his claims in recent years make me question his opinions quite a bit. When he ranked Johnny Manziel his number one overall prospect (not number one overall QB, mind you, but in his opinion the best football player out of every 2014 prospect) I really started disregarding much of his stuff.

Where's Ferguson out of? And wasn't there some hype on the NC State kid? Ryan Finley or something... or did he choose to go back to school? Admittedly I am a bit out of the draft loop at the moment.

Ya, this here is something I noticed as well. It didn't help that he didn't have much of an OL in front of him or any real weapons to throw to but even when he has clean pockets he seems to get happy feet. The key word with Allen is potential. Clearly he has the physical assets and seems to have a decent mind for the game. His success is gonna depend heavily on the type of coaches and system he ends up with. A lot of people in the scouting community see him in the same way they saw Wentz. We'll see if those comparisons hold up. And as you said, it wouldn't be surprising if he went top 5/top 10 or slid down toward the end of the first. Either way, at this point there is just way too much hype for him not to go somewhere in the first.

From everything I've read/seen on Daboll he appears to be the type of OC I believe all teams should have, which is a guy who can analyze and identify the natural skill sets of his players and build a scheme/playbook around that. I've never really understood why so many coaches wanna force players to learn/execute a scheme that isn't a good fit for them. Why make them play in a system that doesn't highlight what they do well? Just like Rex for example... why take guys like Dareus and Kyle Williams and throw a check to them at the line that changes their assignment from pass rush to dropping into coverage? Clearly, neither player is suited to be covering any WR/TE/RB yet we saw plenty of it with ol' Rex. Sometimes these coaches/coordinators get a little too fancypants for their own good. A good coach/coordinator finds out what his guys do well and bases things around that. An underrated/less discussed aspect of schemes and playbooks is the importance of coaches/coordinators discovering what type of learners their players are and how best to engage them. Now some can say, "Bah, these players are paid bajillions, they should figure it out." Well, if you want success and a solid locker room, you're gonna wanna find out if your players are tactical (hands on/on the field) or visual/audio (watching film, listening to coaches) that way you can best apply your plans to them and put them in a position to succeed. It clearly doesn't work when you waltz in with a playbook the size of an encyclopedia and tell your defense, "OK, so on any given play we could have four checks, depending on what the offense does. If the QB farts, the mike needs to take two steps left. If the RB sneezes, I need the left end to put his right foot in and shake it all about..." Again, that's a knock on Rex. Overall, it seems like Daboll has a good reputation based on what players that worked with him have said and his mindset of coaching to his players skill sets and devising ways to be a multi-faceted offense so they're prepared to beat any defense they face is all encouraging stuff.

I'm sure they've had plenty of discussions about Cousins and what it'd take to bring him here. I wouldn't doubt that they're interested, I'm sure every team in need of a QB is interested but they're gonna put a value on him and likely won't be willing to go past that. Beane has made it pretty clear that he wants to clear up as much cap space as possible, plus he's expressed his philosophy on team building is through the draft. I've said it before in other threads, in order for them to trade up I think they'd have to hit on a remarkable deal that would be too good to pass up. They could go after one of the free agent QBs, and if they go after someone like Cousins, that allows them to focus their efforts in the draft elsewhere and likely allows them to keep all their picks. But, they're gonna be careful not to back themselves into a corner in terms of money and cap space by breaking the bank for a QB. It'd be great to be a fly on the wall over there. They do that GM For a Day thing where a kid gets to hang out with the GM and team executives all day. One of these years I'mma enter. "Yes sir, I swear I'm 12, I just passed 7th grade, lots of kids my age have full beards these days..."

Things will really start to ramp up the week of the Combine. That's when coaches, scouts, team executives from all 32 teams convene alongside 250+ potential pro players and their agents.

Whatever they think is the solution to their QB problem, I'll support it. If that means backing up the Brinks truck for Cousins, fine. If it means trading a bunch of picks to get inside the top five of the first round, that's fine too. If they stay put and wait to see which QBs are on the board at 21 and 22 and go that route, so be it. It's a "wait and see" approach I have with this regime but so far I'm encouraged by what I hear and seeing how well the trades they made last year worked out is also a positive sign. The one thing I will say that I don't think is very likely is the trading of Cordy Glenn. Not in the way that some people think. He's damaged goods at the moment so his value probably isn't very high. Foot injuries on any player are bad news but they're especially rough on a 6'6" 340 lb. left tackle. I do think they'll end up moving on from him due to Beane wanting to open up as much cap space as possible but I don't think they'll score anything more than a 4th or 5th round pick at best just because whichever team is interested is gonna have to make sure their doctors clear him. They also value their draft picks. I think something pretty special is gonna have to come across their table in order for them to give up a number of picks to move up. Could go a lot of different ways, it'll be interesting (and hopefully exciting) to see how it all shakes out.

Last summer on the JM Show, Donald Jones, who was with the Patriots for a minute, discussed how he advised Stevie Johnson against signing there when Johnson was a free agent. We all know Stevie does what he does and Jones said he wouldn't have liked it or been able to be himself there. Just all business all the time. It works but it's also nice to see a team like the Iggles who seem to be a tight group that has a lot of fun and wins.

Barron could be in play because of his versatility and we know how much McD values that. Barron can play that hybrid safety/linebacker role that has come into fashion in recent years.

Eh, if it happens, it happens. It's McDermott's defense so whoever he'd hire to replace Frazier (if he leaves) would be running McD's system.

I truthfully don't think Butler is as good as he or other people think he is... he's a decent player but he's not all-world. If he's bummed out about getting low-balled or not even getting an offer then that's just business as usual for the Pats. They've traded or let walk much more talented players than him and they won't miss a beat without him. That said, his replacement, Eric Rowe, isn't an upgrade. So who knows what Belichick was thinking. Maybe Butler was still recovering from his illness or perhaps Belichick/Patricia felt that Butler was a mismatch against any of Philly's receivers.

I think their number two back is already on the roster, just on IR. Travaris Cadet. They went after him in free agency last year but he re-signed with the Saints and then signed here after the Saints released him like 8 or 10 weeks into the season. And, although it was very limited action, I can't say I didn't like what Marcus Murphy did, he may have an outside shot to be the third guy. But also, this draft class is stacked for running backs. Barkley is the top guy but the distance between him and the next tier of back isn't very big. There will be some solid backs available in rounds 2-4 if they wanna go that route.

They don't have the money to even think about making an offer for Cousins. Even if they did I don't know that this regime would pony up the huge deal he's going to get, likely from Denver. If they were to trade up I think the following things would have to fall in place: -They're very active in free agency and add/replace to the positions of need on this team (pick any one, they could use reinforcements everywhere). -A "too good to say no" type of trade offer comes across their table. We know they value draft picks and we know they'd prefer to build this team through the draft. So, I think it'd have to be a real specific situation for them to make a big move up the board in the first round. I could be wrong though, I mean, I don't think any of us expected them to trade away Watkins and Darby last year, so, as always, anything can happen but IMO I believe that they're gonna need some kind of "stars aligned" situation in order to make a move up the board.

If you ever want to learn more about Rex behind the scenes, read "Collision Low Crossers." It was written during the 2011 season after he had just come off back to back AFC Championship games. The book is super well written and very interesting. It portrays Rex as a worker but mainly for the defense. He had Brian Schottenheimer as his OC and he really just let him do his thing without Rex interfering. I can understand what NRC is saying about the lack of halftime adjustments. In the book there are several instances where it was explained that they had certain plays in the game plan and it always seemed like Rex was waiting for the perfect time to call them but a lot of times just never did. Don't know if he coached scared or wasn't confident in the game plan or plays but he was always working with Mike Pettine and the defensive staff. Evidently, he would come barrelling into Pettine's office with what he felt was a perfect defensive play. He'd draw it up on the board and then Pettine was his counterbalance. Pettine would point out the flaws and Rex would keep changing it until they felt they had something they could actually implement. The book also said at times, when Rex and his coordinators would be pulling all-nighters during the week, Rex would often play as if he was leaving the facility. Around 10 or 11 PM he'd leave, drive his truck around the block a few times and then come back. He did this so other assistants would see it say, "OK, the head coach left, time for us to leave too." But then he ends up in Buffalo and we've heard from plenty Buffalo media members that Rex seemed to be mailing it in. He was out the door early everyday, and now we know he was lacking a connection to his players. With all that, it seems to me like Rex has to have a certain set of circumstances and be surrounded by his type of people in order to succeed. Once Pettine and him had a falling out, things went south for the Jets. But yeah, if anything these comments show how much Rex outsmarted himself. Three or four checks off of one offensive motion? That's whacky. Extremely difficult to have cohesion across the board when you're trying to make a ton of changes at the line. There's a reason a guy like Wade Phillips keeps getting coordinator jobs and excelling at them. He keeps it simple, he finds out what his players do best and builds his scheme around that. I think McDermott has the same philosophy. Coaches always say, "Once Player A has the playbook down, he'll be fine because he'll be able to play fast and not think so much." Well, it's clear now that when you have your players thinking way too much that limits their ability to play fast because they become unsure of what their role is on any given play. The old KISS method, keep it simple, stupid. Rex couldn't do that.

For the most part, I like what I've seen from Rudolph. However, he plays in the same system that made Brandon Weeden a first rounder. It's a simplified scheme that often gives QBs wide open targets. So I don't think he's had to make a lot of tight window throws. But if he tests well on the white board and shows how well he takes to coaching, I wouldn't count him out for the Bills.

I had last summer off work and would flip on the JM Show on MSG for background noise while doing stuff around the house. Thought DJ got better with experience and it was interesting to hear things from a recent players perspective. He shared some fun stories about some of the guys he played with here. But yeah, commuting back and forth from Jersey every weekend sounds like a grind. Especially during winter. Sal C would be a great co-host if he doesn't already have enough on his plate. Have him and Murph with former players stepping in as a third host every now and then.

This is probably the likeliest scenario. That's how Zay Jones's labrum injury was found. Bummer for Wood, man. Team leader and an all around good dude. My cousin did PR with the Bills during Wood's rookie year and said Wood would always take people out to dinner after an appearance or event. Said he is just a really easygoing guy with no ego at all.

Guys, he has high level business meetings to attend to. We should be so lucky he grace us with his insider presence and knowledge of his western scouts abuzz!

He's a huge reason why the team set season ticket sales records and still managed to sell out most games during the drought. He's a wiz of a businessman but shoulda never been allowed near football ops.

I've seen Mike White's name linked with the Bills as far back as October. I believe a Rotoworld piece said White would be a darkhorse QB that would climb up boards. I haven't looked at the dude whatsoever but in reading up on him he certainly seems to fit the off-field and character stuff McBeane like. I know it'd take a lot to get into the top 5 picks and this team has plenty of spots to fill... all depends on what they do in free agency, if they free up enough space and fill, maybe half their needs in FA, maybe that'll allow them to deal some picks to get their franchise guy. Whatever happens, I expect a pretty busy off-season for this team. I think more trades are coming, they're gonna try to stockpile some more picks and have enough ammo to try to trade up... or they can meddle around another season and try to get an Alex Smith or something. But... if they got a guy that they truly believe in, it's way past high time for them to work some magic and come out of the draft with one of these top QBs. I remember that '04 draft. It was like the second or third draft where I really started digging into prospects and whatnot. Bills were high on Rivers and Ben for that draft. They reportedly were trying to make a play to get just inside the top 10 where they thought Rivers might be, but then he picked up all sorts of steam and went 4th overall. After that, you're correct, they did try to work their way up the board from 13 to at least 7, 8 or 9. Donahoe probably tried to lowball any team they talked to because it's no secret that they've had a reputation for doing that. Pittsburgh stood pat and ended up with a Hall of Famer. Bills jumped back in the first for Losman and promptly ruined his career. Them schmucks should've kept Bledsoe for one more season after 2004 to let Losman get up to speed but instead they said, "Well, Bledsoe just lead this team to one of the best six game win streaks in their history (they were crushing teams in the second half of the season) but let's ditch him for the kid and see what happens." Bums! If anything, I'm excited that the current brass at OBD seems to have a much better handle on things and a much clearer vision of what they wanna do. Sure mistakes will be made along the way but that's how we learn. It's gonna shake out one way or the other.

Uh... yeah. Backups prepare like they're starting week in and week out. If this kid is as "cerebral" and "pro ready" as people make him out to be, he should've seen on film study that the Jags secondary is fast as hell, Ramsey especially. We can take a little of the blame off Peterman and throw Dennison under the bus for calling a crap game and not being able to adjust and find ways to beat their defense. But again, they know Ramsey goes all over the field, he's a ball hawk and a playmaker. And Peterman oughta know his own arm because if you're gonna throw that out-route on Ramsey you better let it fly the moment you hit your final step in your dropback and an accurate ball hits the receiver right in the numbers as soon as he breaks his route and turns around. Instead Peterman waited at the top of his dropback, threw a weak ball, Ramsey covered a bunch of field in a split second and picked him off. And he was in the game because Taylor got his bell rung and this current regime felt comfortable with a 5th round rookie as their primary backup.