yungmack

Though the video evidence shows the trade was all Whaley?

It is? How many times has he traded up? How many times has he traded down? What's the league-wide average?

I don't want any of those Cali QBs either. No way would I take a Brady, a Rodgers, a Carr, a Palmer. And the Bills better not have those Cali guys Darnold or Rosen on their board next draft. No sir, I want a QB who likes to get hit. A manly man, a Texas man like Osweiler or Manziel. And I wish we could erase our history so there were no California QBs in our past, like Kemp and LaMonica.

This is a serious question: how do you know this?

Are you saying the Bills passed on a franchise QB? I must have missed that.

You're preaching to the "alternative facts" people so good luck changing their minds with actual true facts.

Is 50% of the Pats roster players with character issues? Packers? Seahawks?

Stats say he was the toughest CB to complete a pass against in college. Intelligent, not mouthy or flashy, no character questions, and possibly the best CB the Bills have had in years. Some "reach."

I'm in full agreement. I think people are going to really take to this kid once they see him in action. This iteration of the franchise is not even 4 years old. How about we re-set the history with the Pegula's purchase?

Oh, most definitely top shelf.

Kind of old to be hanging around high school dances, aincha?

Could you lay out why you think he'd be special?

You seem to believe you have stumbled upon the secret to NFL success, one that has never occurred to anyone else in history: a great QB is the key to great success. Hate to burst your bubble but everybody knows that. Most of us also know that just wanting one doesn't mean you can just draft any old guy and - voila! - he magically becomes The Guy. I know many around here believe DW is an idiot who somehow goes out of his way to avoid signing one of the apparently hundreds of super talented franchise QBs wandering the campuses of America. Silly me, I think it might have something to do with franchise-level QBs being nearly as rare as unicorns and not because of any obtuseness on Whaley's part.

And I have no idea why they wouldn't. And Pegs. Maybe get rid of all the pre-Pegs fan base too, with its endless doom and gloom negativity.

I've defended the Pegs against those who believe them to be incompetent owners (largely based upon the Sabres experience), saying they just need time. If they were to fire Whaley, especially to satisfy a first time HC who's yet to coach a game, I'd have to admit that the anti-Pegs people are right.

Your point that the FO should pull the trigger IF they believe they've found The Franchise QB is well-taken. The problem around here is that OBD is regarded by a large portion of its fan base as incompetent, so that drafting a QB at 10 will prove that incompetence while to another group NOT drafting one is a sign of its incompetence. In other words, OBD is expected to believe what the fans believe or else they're morons who should be fired. Right now, there are committed factions supporting about every QB coming out of college. And it seems like OBD has scouted everyone of them. So if they don't jump on one at 10, many of the "fans" around here won't give them the benefit of the doubt but will instantly unleash thread after hateful thread about their incompetence. It's pretty much a "lose-lose" situation for OBD.

Well, BillsCuse, you expected some abuse and I don't want to disappoint you so here it is: your "new" thread is a variant on over a bazillion other thread that have been posted here. The generic category is, "Get a QB, any QB, because any QB the Bills don't have is a waaay better candidate for the legendary Franchise QB slot than any QB currently on the roster. And if 'Any QB' doesn't work out, keep on drafting 'Any QB' until one drops into your lap." This generic topic is based on a child-like belief that somewhere down in an always sunny dell, there is an orchard where Franchise QBs grow in abundance and all even a half-witted GM need do is show up and pick one. A corollary: because Whaley apparently doesn't know where this Franchise QB orchard is located, he must go. Welcome aboard, 'Cuse.

The real reason ESPN and others are cutting back is tanking revenue. And that's tanking because there is waning viewership. And there's waning viewership because the most passionate fans are "aging out" and not being replaced by passionate younger fans in large enough numbers. I believe the growth in fans, and with them the ever-increasing fees sports can charge broadcasters, has peaked. For the last 20 years or so, much of the growth has been lateral; that is, new purveyors trying to get a piece of live television for a long list of reasons, thus driving up fees through competition. New technological delivery methods have lent an air of growth in viewership though some of the figures I've seen indicate that is more of an illusion, that the total "pot" of viewers isn't really growing, merely the way they choose to consume it. The creation of NFLN, MLB, Golf channels, NBS, NHL, etc. further splits the pool of viewers that an ESPN and the old legacy broadcasters used to "own," making it more difficult to turn a profit (or at least the out-sized ones they used to be able to count on). It appears to me that the leagues have about squeezed the lemon dry and the next few re-negotiations will show a decline in the growth curve of those fees, followed by a contraction in the actual inflation-adjusted dollars paid for those rights. The Time-Warner/Dodgers contract was a harbinger of exactly that. In spite of not being in the World Series since 1988, the Dodgers remain wildly popular and extremely well-supported in the region (Up to 4 million annual attendance at gouging-level price) which is likely why T-W paid an exorbitant fee (8.25 billion) for the master broadcast rights believing, foolishly as it turns out, that all the other local outlets -- ATT, Charter, Directv, Dish, etc. -- would have no choice but to sign on and fork $5 a month for every subscriber. But they didn't and likely never will, having determined that the number of people who'd be willing to pay was smaller than the numbers who not only weren't willing to pay, but were mightly, vocally pissed about it. At this point, I'm not certain even something like an additional $2 a month would be acceptable to the majority of subscribers. Professional sports are not going away. But the day of the leagues being able to extract ever-increasing amounts of money based on a declining viewer base very will might be.

A healthy, available-all-season Dareus is a big time component for this D to have a stellar year. But it won't make or break it. That's a wee bit hysterical.

I look forward to your mock every year. Definitely better than most of the "pros." But I disagree with your Bills selection. The Bills already have an elite receiver that they can't get their "money's worth" out of, and I think Whaley'd be gun shy going for another one when there are other positions of greater need. Same reason I think he wouldn't pick anything less than a consensus "can't miss" QB this year in the first round.

Before Whaley found him on the scrap heap, did anyone on this board even know Gillisee's name? Was there a single post suggesting the Bills should sign him? Yet now he's the second coming of Jim Brown? Time for some to get their meds adjusted.

Now you've done it, and that extremely vocal minority of supposed Bills fans who hate Whaley will be after your scalp. And should they and their insufferable comrades in the Buff media succeed in getting him run out of town, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if BB and Kraft grabbed him immediately.

Did the Bills sign another guy named Johnathan Williams...because the one that drafted last year isn't much good.

Thanks for this. BTW, every one of them has been intelligently discussed around here for months. With lame and silly threads sometimes seeming to take over, it is a nice reminder that there are very knowledgeable people regularly contributing.

If they put a 2nd round tender, who would have taken him? By putting a 5th on him, the Bills were essentially dangling him for an additional pick.