corta765

There are very few bell cow RB's like Shady, Bell, or Zeke who take 90% of the carries. Teams do RB by committee and don't pay the position like they use to because a RB's shelf life is usually so short now. The other thing is not only with the league moving to be a passing league, but teams running 3, 4, even 5 WR formations teams have 2 to even 3 good-great WR's that share the ball there. I mean heck Brandin Cooks whose a pretty dang good WR himself with considered expendable enough to be traded twice and I think he is better the Michael Thomas. But with how WR's get paid and the fact you can get guys cheaper in the draft I would say even the WR position outside of your elite guys like ODB, Brown, AJ Green etc.. teams are only willing to pay a certain price. Basically with QB's now being valued more highly then ever teams are very budget conscious and forcing hard decisions on which players to spend on.

Much cheaper is a relative thing. The cost is around $500 million for Reno vs a new which could be the same potentially or in the $600-700 million range. Neither situation is cheap straight up. It's going to be a massive investment in either scenario and for the team, region, politicians, etc.. its a valid question to ask whether to rebuild or go new when the costs are massively different. The studies have been done on locations a few years ago. I get that your one of the fans which things are perfect and if for eternity things never changed for Bills stadium you would be fine with that. There however are many who are not that way and wayy more forces then just us fans at play that will dictate will the Bills play. If you don't think the city of Buffalo would love to take in the tax revenue that Orchard Park gets plus the general aura/prestige of having the team downtown your dead wrong. Doesn't mean there going back either, but the grand picture is massive.

I covered this in my thread a few months ago the link is here: The cost for a new stadium vs a renovation of the Ralph is very similar with the renovation cost nearing $500 million off recent estimates. For that price your pretty close to a new stadium if they choose to want one and its a valid thing to consider when that time especially considering how much the Pegula's have invested in downtown. What I said in no way reflects my personal opinion for or against a stadium it just simply is the numbers and what has been reported.

I prefer 2018 for RB, WR and 2017 for O-line. TE is a wash same group. QB is unknown at this point but I think they should have a bit more success now with Coleman and the scheme they are running. Zay Jones is frankly where he should've been before in the WR4 spot assuming he even makes the team. Cam Phillips has been sensational in camp and I'd put him over Zay at this point.

Sgt Pepper (Although I highly respect your inclusion of Abbey Road that would be 2nd for me) Nevermind (As a 90s kid this blew our doors off) Zeppelin I My Dark Beautiful Twisted Fantasy 59 Sound

Oh I have nooooo problem picking against the Bills in a pick-em pool I say keep them in. And this is an excellent idea

haha these are my fav football piece to read pre season starting My favorite thing I ever read is someone compared a Bills tailgate to the battle of carthage lol

Exactly. He is a solid enough starter that with some pieces your offense can be pretty decent for the most part but he won't win you the game with his arm. If you have a 3-5 year period where your defense is really good he certainly can manage your team to some 10-6/11-5 years. But he isn't a guy like some media make it that will single handidly carry you to 9-10 wins just by himself the way Brees, Rodgers, Brady, Ben, and even lesser QBs like Wilson, Stafford, Ryan, and Rivers have. And that's what leads to the fighting between people because he is serviceable enough and with help can be pretty decent. But if Josh McCown was the Bills QB who is another good serviceable enough starter last year they probably beat Jax because he can pass better.

If their 3-5 the season is going better then I expect and the idea of 8-8 9-7 doesn't seem wild in the least to me

This morning was awful and I did email the guy Jeremy White said to contact. Such a joke that corporate forces a switch from a perfectly fine service to one that is terrible and literally makes it impossible to listen.

Once again I posted a thread weeks ago explaining GB has renovated the stadium for a combined $500 million, Chicago built a new stadium on the old one for $383 back in 2002, and KC did a $375 million dollar renovation. So no our stadium is not newer then any of those and the question which will be posed is a Ralph renovation is estimated just under $500 million. For that price tag is it worth rebuilding or just moving new to downtown. If you honestly think that the owners in the NFL who are some of the richest and greediest people you will find aren't putting significant pressure on the Pegula's for a new stadium and that the Pegula's themselves don't at least want to consider a stadium by all of their investment downtown then your a fool.

Don't disagree with anything you have to say. The whole thing will be fascinating and the real world will be harsh on both sides. People need to be ready for fake threats of moving or government making too big of promises at points etc.. It won't be pretty but its going to have to go down. Also even if just comes down to tax breaks or increases on taxes on things like soda, beer, hotel etc.. like other cities have done that is money which could be used for more valuable projects.

I wrote an thread weeks ago that dove into the entire cost breakdown of a new stadium with research and numbers backing it up etc.. The Bills can get $200 million from NFL in loan type fund, they pledge $200 million, state 100 million, and city/county $100 million there's your new stadium. It will be a split job if its a new stadium that looks something like that. Breaking down the city/county piece lets just say the city of Buffalo offers $100 million which is paid back over 10 years. There are 250k residents currently its breaks down to about $40 more in taxes per year. Now your absolutely right to question if that is the best use of funds but that is the breakdown. OR the government does a Sin Tax on alcohol or hotel occupancy etc..

NYS commuted $130 million to a damn renovation. Stop saying people won't pay for it, if this team ever hinted leaving people would be up in arms.

Like it or not the long term future will require a future stadium whether at the Ralph or a new stadium to be updated and it will have some elements that cater to a richer and more family based crowd. The cost to renovate the Ralph is estimated right around $500 million so its a good serious question do you rebuild or relocate new? I get you and every other fan who will talk the tailgate environment and culture blah blah blah. They don't entirely care about that and if they can make a stadium downtown near everything else they own that will make more money while still maintaining some tailgate culture they will do so.

To this day probably one of the single funniest moments in training camp history

I'm pretty sure the RW statue gets more coverage from fans then a Bills WR downfield

Yep and actually not just the last 4 seasons but you have to go back to 2010 being the last time the Bills were hot garbage at midway point: 2010: 0-8 2011: 5-3 2012: 3-5 2013: 3-5 2014: 5-3 2015: 4-4 2016: 4-4 2017: 5-3 The only season were mid point they really were toast was 2010. The rest of the years they actually in a playoff spot, right on the brink, or at least close enough prompting our "in the hunt" jokes. The Bills have only started 0-2 once since 2010 and that was 2016 which they got to 4-2 pretty quick right after. The middle to end of the season has always been the issue. The thing I think that hurts is the lack of home games in Sept/Oct. The team has usually played pretty well at home since 2010, but we only get two games until the MNF vs NE. Kinda sucks and is super unfair in my opinion when you typically are only given about a 40% chance to win on the road as is before factoring in matchup.

I would say go BPA and rank the positions like this as currently constructed: QB: INC won't know until Allen gets a few seasons to see RB: B- Shady is going to age or leave at some point, with him your have a great player but you need to insulate with youth which we don't have WR: D- After Benjamin it is just soo many question marks and teams these days use 3 WR's formations regularly. OL: C But like I said so hard to know until Groy, Teller, Bodine play and we see what we have. LT hopefully is set with Dawkins DL: C+ The Bills really could use a guy that is a true disrupter off the edge. Even if Hughes, Lawson, & Murphy do well they could use a blue chip edge rusher to really solidify the edge. The middle is fine and I am high on Harrison Phillips, but we need another guy drafted there to help for depth. LB: B I buy the Milano & Edmunds combo hard and this grade could elevate if both play to the potential we've seen/said to have in each player. Just need a guy long term on the other OLB spot but still like this a lot. CB/SAF: A Need depth and at some point another true starter but they have a lot of great pieces to work with. So I would focus WR/OL/DL next draft pretty heavy.

If this game was in Buffalo I would favor the Bills, but being in Baltimore I do think they have the advantage. That said if the Bills win it looks something like this: 17-13 type game. Buffalo has to get two touchdowns and the defense needs to force a turnover to help out will limiting the Ravens from getting inside the 40 so Tucker can't hit like you said because the dude is a Cyborg haha. The rest of the game needs to be ball control/field position type game. The last time we played Baltimore the killer play was the deep pass Flacco to Mike Wallace and they have a similar guy now with John Brown. If the Bills defense doesn't allow any big plays Buffalo should win IMO.

Hahahaha yea that is gonna be a fun day

It's funny how people can't take criticism and respond without picking facts or throwing out absolute arguments without giving any reason to the other side. If you want a powder puff commentary on the Bills then you might as well leave the internet period.

First two weeks especially are incredibly difficult to read where a team is. As long as you are 1-1 everyone generally feels OK 0-2 is the death sign though.

Here are the things I am looking forward to with pre season games how about you: QB: I am very excited to see Allen against some real NFL talent and see how he is going. While I won't say its a good thing, uncertainty at QB always makes pre-season games far more interesting to watch. I am hoping to see better mechanics foot wise and of course how strong his arm is. I am also curious to see if Peterman has progressed and what McCarron can do. Offense in general: Yes O coordinators never show their full hand, but you can still get an idea of some of the concepts and things they are focusing on. I would love to see the Bills attack deep a bit more. I felt like we have drifted away from that the last two seasons. Defensive Chemistry: The defense has talent in a lot of spots how will they work together? Will this thing gel quick or will it take time? Can Edmunds show some of the potential he has when he runs 1st team and make some plays? Jeremy Kerley: I always liked him as a WR and he has went quiet throughout the off season IMO despite being a decent sized piece to this offense. I want to see what his athleticness does or doesn't look like and in general see how much tread he has on his tires. Football Itself: To me there are two seasons, football season and no football season. I am excited to finally have some games played again and to get my hopes up for better or worse. If Allen shows the potential we want, the defense shows some nice ability to be difficult, and the team in general looks as competent as it did at points last year it will feel good heading into September.