Shaw66

I was wrong. Thanks.

I agree. There will be a few more deals. There always are with Beane. He will add some veterans, some of whom will make the team, some of whom will get cut. And he will surprise us with the positions. Just like the Trubisky surprise.

I agree. Not quite as impossible as many people think.

Nice, Yolo. Thanks. Troubles me that he's so willing to take hits. Keeping him on the field will be important. From this perspective, it's all about route runners. Have a good scheme and guys who can execute it, and Allen will have a field day. Toward the end, there was an interesting comment. One of the reasons Sanders is an upgrade is that Brown tended to play at one speed, and multiple changes of direction are not keep to his game. Sanders, on the other hand, looks much more like Diggs and Beasley coming off the line. There were a lot of plays last season where Allen needed to get the ball off quickly, and his throws usually went to Diggs or Beasley, not Brown, because those two were able to make the quick moves and create the little openings that Allen need. Sanders will be the third guy on the field, giving Allen another option on every play. Interesting breakdown. Thanks. Right. The zone numbers are eye-opening. In man, Sanders can't threaten downfield like Brown could, but Sanders catches the ball in traffic better. He's more like one of those guys who's open when he's covered. One other thought. If the Bills are fielding three good zone busters, it forces teams to play more man-to-man. Once they're in man-to-man, the running lanes for Allen open up, and he becomes more of a threat to leave the pocket and head upfield than he was last season. Those 20 and 30 yarders every game or two make a big difference in the offense.

I don't think that's McD's style. He wants to do the right thing, and if the league wants to promote this sort of experiment - or public relations gimmick, take your pick - that McD won't pull the plug early. After all, the guy doesn't get in the way - he's just an extra body in the meeting rooms. And, as it turned out, he came in useful running the scout team as the Lamar Jackson stand in, and probably at other times when the team was down a running back or two and needed a body to fill in.

He wasn't occupying a PS spot. He is part of a special NFL program to introduce athletes to football. Bills essentially had an extra PS spot for him, but the Bills couldn't activate him like other guys on the practice squad. He was more like an intern, following the players around and trying to play the game.

Thanks to you and Freddie for the rugby comments. I didn't think a rugby wing caught those kicked balls. Wade has commented that it's tougher to catch a football than a rugby ball, but that's something he should have mastered by now. THe flight of the rugby ball should be easier to track, because it's rounder, but he can learn that, too. The decision making in traffic is hard to replicate in practice. It will be interesting to see what happens. If he gets cut at the end of preseason, as I expect he will, it will be interesting to see if the Bills or any other team adds him their practice squad.

Well, his best opportunity for experience was his second year of preseason football, and he didn't get that. But he has had two years of something. I agree about it being speculative. I started this just to see what kind of thoughts people had about it.

I agree. Just think about punt returns. Just learning to judge the flight of the ball requires a lot of work, doing it from scratch. Remember, this isn't a guy who grew up shagging fly balls like most American kids. So, he has to learn the flight of the ball, how it curves, how to read the spin, all of that. He has to learn to look away from the ball to gauge where the coverage is, then find the ball. Then catch the ball under pressure, learn when to take the fair catch, learn how to play the ball close to the sideline. Then he has to not fumble when he gets hit two seconds after catching it. A team can tolerate maybe one mistake in any of that process a season; the rest of the time, all of that has to be done right. I don't think that's something you just practice and learn to do without having done it under live fire.

I disagree about his abilities, but that's just a difference of opinion. I get it. We agree he doesn't make it; I just think it's because there's no way he can learn to play the game at a level that is good enough. The objective is mistake-free football; I don't see how he can play mistake-free football We'll see.

I didn't know that. That pretty much closes that door for Wade, and I'm not surprised.

I think you underestimate the level of his talent. When the Bills were preparing for the Ravens, Wade was the guy who played Lamar Jackson on the scout team, because he was the only guy the Bills had with that combination of quickness and speed. The guy is really talented. It's only a question of whether he can learn enough to play the game.

I just don't see it. I don't see any way that he can challenge for a spot in the top 3. Then there's Davis, who I assume is in the Bills' mid-range plans. So, I can't see Sammy getting a lot of snaps. On top of that, there'll be a rookie or free agent who the Bills will want to develop. Finally, I'm not sure I would want Sammy over McKenzie straight up. Then there's the whole attitude question. I'm not convinced that he's really changed. What has he done since leaving Buffalo to make McD want him back? KC was a great opportunity for him to shine - what receiver wouldn't want to play with Mahomes? - and he still was little more than an after-thought. I'm wrong a lot, but I don't see Sammy being a guy who looks like a fit to McD.

I keep coming back to Wade. We saw the flashes of his talent in the 2019 preseason - he has NFL speed and escapability. Obviously, he has zero football experience. His talents would be a great addition in the Bills' backfield, but does his inexperience make him a liability? He has said that the hardest thing for him to learn has been blocking. I'm sure Josh Allen loves to hear that. Bills need a punt returner and kick returner, and his skills fit there, too. But are the Bills really going to trust him to make the right decisions on those plays? Missing the 2020 preseason really hurt him. As much as I like the idea, I think he's less than 25%.

When he was a rookie the Bills put him back there a few times, in practice or preseason. I don't think he has anything like the shiftiness he had in his early days.

This says it. Just loved having this guy on the team. Thanks, Matt.

I wondered whether it's possible they're talking to him about returning kicks. He's showed some ability as a receiver, and if he could return kicks, he'd be a better choice than McKenzie, Watkins being the better receiver. Still, I find it hard to believe. If the Bills sign him, i wouldn't be surprised to find he gets cut before the season starts.

Thanks for this great summary. Really fills in the picture. They stay true to their philosophy - build for the long term, don't mortgage the future. Signing Milano, Williams, Feliciano, Wallace says it all. When they get good players at positions, guys who fit the culture, they're going to count more on individual and team improvement than on chasing after better talent. So, at TE and DE, they didn't go chasing just anyone because he is better than what the Bills have - they went after Watt because he is a special player, but other than Watt, Bills weren't chasing players. Opportunities for Knox and Epenesa. Good for Roberts. He may be the best in the game, and he doesn't have a lot of time to get paid. Bills will add three talented players in the first three rounds of the draft, and will sign usual collection of vets later in the spring, some of whom will be contributors in the coming season. We've said it here for a couple of years now - the off-season is a lot more boring under this regime. A couple of big surprises every year - Diggs and Trubisky, for example, but no major overhauls.

I didn't want to post until I'd threw the entire thread, but the posts are coming faster that I can read them! Great move. Beane really has his eyes on the prize. Only downside is that it's a one-year deal, and Mitch will be looking to move on as soon as starting jobs open up when the season ends. Still, nice, nice move. I was discussing backup QB with someone here a few months ago. My view was Barkley was good enough, you just pick up one back up or another off the scrap heap as you need one. His view was you want a backup who looks and feels like a real starter, because if you lose Allen for multiple gains, you want to be able still to compete. I agreed, but where do you find one of those guys? Well, Beane just found one. I find it amazing that Beane seems always to zig when we expect him to zag. Sanders came out of the blue, now Trubisky.

I think all the teams are strapped for cash, so the big paydays that players ordinarily look for aren't there this year. The result is that the differential between what others are offering and what the Bills offer isn't so large, so there's no reason for a guy to leave a team where he's had success to go to a new team and an uncertain future.

As I think about it, Allen now has three receivers, each of whom Allen can depend on to be where he's supposed to be when he's supposed to be there, and three guys who are good at fighting for the ball. With Allen's escapability, I think the Bills have a better threesome than they had last season. Plus Davis with a season under his belt. Very nice. Only have them for a year, two years tops, but enjoy it while it lasts.

Lee Smith is one of those guys coaches want on their team. A late round 2022 pick is not worth much at all, so giving up only a little to be sure you get him is something meaningful for a coach who likes him. Beane being smart. Quite incredible to create serious cap room and get a pick. Just solid roster management.

Sanders is better, technically. Smoke healthy is physically better in some ways, but Sanders is the better route runner and has better hands.

This is exactly what I think. The last couple of seasons when I've seen Sanders, I've been impressed by how savvy he is. He's the kind of guy a QB can rely to run the route he's supposed to run, to find the seem, to make the smart improvised route decision. He can still get deep, but not with the blazing speed he showed earlier in his career. I think he's a little less flashy than Brown, but a better route runner - a dependable guy. Like others, I still would like to see some true deep speed added to the roster.

I saw something that said he's been paid $54 million. He had a $90 million deal with the Bills, but only $9.5 guaranteed. Whatever, he's earned enough to have really comfortable life. Good for him. Please, please don't tell me Watson is going to New England.