Shaw66

I like this team. Penalties were a mess. Beasley fumble was unfortunate, but otherwise I'm happy. I liked two minute drill. I liked run game. I liked passing game, which wasn't used until Josh got his rest. I love the defense. Really really good. I really loved Edmunds. Speed and smarts on display. I loved the winning attitude that generated yhe takeaway the third down run to win the game. Very nice, all around.

Congratulations! Great stuff. This country has a lot of great people. Great job!

I think this was obvious. This was the game to get Shady and Gore work. And they got it. I hope no one has any more questions about whether Shady has lost a step. Gore was great. Once the two stars were on the bench, it was time to give the second tier receivers work. I liked the offense. Penalties aside, it looked crisp and efficient. I love the short passing game.

I'm fine with Allen last night. Still looks like a winner tome. The INT? I'm fine with it, especially in pre season. The only way to learn how to throw over the middle is to do it and to make some mistakes along the way. The only way to learn to see the field is to look and throw. He will continue to make mistakes that young qbs make. Two or three years from now he will have mastered it.

Yes. Reward isn't worth the risk. How much better will Allen be against the Jets if he gets 30 snaps in a preseason game? Not much better at all. He won't get hurt in practice, give him more reps in practice, let the UB kid take the hits in the game.

I'm not arguing that the 2017 Bills were good. They were average. But luck isn how the ball bounces. It isn't luck when you make plays your opponent doesn't. Von Miller being a jerk isn't luck. If your opponent is a jerk and you aren't, you're going to win more than your share. Matt Ryan fumbling isn't luck. It's bad football. When your opponent plays bad football, you're likely to win. Raiders turning it over isn't luck. It just means the Bills beat a weak opponent. Saying beating the Colts was lucky because Shady is good is like saying the Pats winning six Super Bowls is lucky because Brady is good. When your good players make plays it isn't luck.

Oh, my. I was disappointed when the Bills let him walk. Sweet number 2.

I think he probably does. Other teams wanted him, and he was good enough to make the Bills before they got Beasley and Brown. If the Bills traded for a UDFA center who never played center in college, someone will trade for five-star recruit who started at Auburn and led the CFL in receiving.

I think there are very few guys who DON'T have to earn their spots. As I've said, I think Beasley and Brown are locks on talent, Roberts as a kick returner. No one else is a lock. I think Foster, Duke and Zay may be tradeable. I think its wide open. I think it does NOT come down to who is the best. I think it also depends on special teams play and potential. I think Zay's problem is he played for two years and didn't stand out. His potential may be limited.

Well, certainly he isn't a sure thing. But when I look around the league for young elite QBs, there are only a few oi like long term as much as Allen. Probably Mahomes, but I want to see him another year. Ditto Mayfield. Darnold. I have doubts about Murray. Goff and Wentz don't thrill me. I think Allen is right near the top of the list of guys who can be the next great ones. He has the body, the brains, the attitude, the coach and the owner. He is in a perfect situation.

I think it's already clear he will get there. He will be a star in the league next season, if not this. He is smart and he is coachable. He has the physical tools. One of the most encouraging things I've seen as a Bills fan was watching the Pegulas recognize the Rex blunder and recover from it. They demonstrated that they were learning what it takes to be successful owners.

I agree with you. It's one reason I think they're a year away. They need one more year of talent infusion. What I meant was that coaching is so important that however much talent you may think the Bills had in 2015, it really didn't matter. They didn't have a coach. I think the best teams in the league don't always have the best talent. They have at least good talent. What the best teams in the league always have is good coaching.

If Zay makes it it won't be for these reasons. It's all about competition and the future. Where he was drafted or what Kim Pegula may have thought about him won't matter. No one "gets" anything. They have to earn it.

Gunner, for me it's not about 2019. It's about the run, which I think begins this year, but the real winning doesn't begin until 2020. And it's for the reason you give. It's the coach and the QB. It's clear to me that what McDermott is doing works. This team will continue to get better because it will learn more and more. And I've been sold on Allen since last season. Physically, he is superb. But he also is smart, hard working and competitive. That is, he is like Brady but with a body and an arm. I had no doubt he'd master the short passing game and the ball possession game, because she is smart and he has the tools. We've begun to see the development of this mastery this preseason. As for talent, it's overrated. I have no ideas if the Bills had better talent in 2015, but it doesn't matter. They didn't have McD and they didn't have Allen.

Right again. It's about the coach and the process and the GM and the competitive fire and the QB and the work ethic and the talent and the owners. It just all seems to be falling together

Welcome to the party. I've been here for a couple of months.

No. The reports were, I think, that several teams, like 4 or 5, were interested, and I think one or two were named. It was clear he had choices. At the time it seemed like he picked the team with the weakest receiving corps. It was January, I think. Then the Bills signed Beasley and Brown and suddenly he was in a battle. Still, I think he is a special talent. I hope he sticks.

I will admit that I often think of it this way, too, but I'm not sure it's correct. Speed guys, definitely. Brown, Foster. Roberts. McKenzie could be there, maybe McCloud. Beyond speed, I don't this think there are categories. I think you take your best receivers and make them work. Almost all of them can play the slot, if necessary and if they can run routes. Foster probably not. But all the others can. After speed, I think it's route running, hands and blocking. Special teams is a consideration. That's why I've always suspected it's Duke over Zay. Same category of guy, but I think Duke is likely better. Also, as I've been saying, I think Zay can be traded. Another factor: the more Roberts emerges as a receivee, the less you want to use him as a punt returner. That makes McKenzie more valuable to the team. If McKenzie has good enough deep speed, then Foster is at risk. Foster might also be tradeable. Finally, I think this week is a showcase game. The guy who gets a lot of targets and catches may be the guy who gets traded. I'd say Foster, Jones and Williams are the trade bait. I doubt the Bills can keep all of them, and getting a pick for one would be good.

At the time he signed with Buffalo there were reports that several teams wanted him. Why? Because for the last couple of years he caughtt virtually every ball that came his way. Like the touchdown the other night. That's what he does.

Saimes was great. I do think that the combination of talent and coaching in the current back 4 is special. So was the 65 group.

Maybe I do overestimate them. But suppose you're a Gm and your team is only four deep at receiver. Suppose you liked Zay in the draft. Suppose Zay could be your number 2 or your slot guy. There are people on this board who were saying a month ago that Zay was a lock as the number 2, so why wouldn't some GM want him as a number 2 or 3? If you're that gm, would you give a fifth or 6th for him? I don't thin that's far-fetched. It looks like the Bills have a lot of receiver talent. Why not trade one? Why not trade Yeldon? Some team that is weak at rb might want him. If you're a gm you can wait for cuts, but then you have to compete with other teams. We will see, but you know Beane likes to deal. I'm expecting the Bills to trade someone.

That's the point. You don't trade your 8th best receiver. You trade your fifth best receiver fora pick because your 6th and Th best receivers are good enough now and have good potential. You have to give up something to get something. As other people have said, how important, really, is your fifth best receiver? If your starters are, say, Beasley, Brown and Jones, and Roberts is locked, how important is Foster? Or if Foster is your starter, how important is Jones? If you can get a pick for one of them, and if you like McKenzie and Williams, why not pick up the pick? What you have to look for is a trade, not a cut. I agree Foster and Jones aren't likely to get cut. I think its possible one of them gets traded.

No he doesn't have the same value. But there is some receivee on the Bills roster right now who probably will be on another team's roster week one. The Bills can cut that guy or get a fifth, sixth or seventh for him. Why not get the pick? The question is who? Foster, Jones and Williams are the most likely answers.

It's the reality of a system driven by relentless competition. There's always someone trying to take your job, and once you let him the field in your place, your job is at risk. By week 5 a half dozen teams will be looking for corners. He will be back somewhere.

Well, we're on the outside, so we don't really know. Maybe Foster is a lock so they don't need to see him. But as I said above, this is about team building. McBeane have to be thinking simultaneously about what makes the team better in September, in December and in 2020. If they have someone on board who isn't as valuable as Foster now, but likely will be as valuable as Foster in December, then the team may be better off trading Foster now for a pick in 2020. And "as valuable as Foster" doesn't mean that he has the same characteristics as Foster - he could be valuable in different ways. The point is that right now the Bills seem to have 7 or 8 receiving assets with some current and some future value. The question is how to manage those to have the most value from all of them over time. That probably means trading someone. Trading a receiver today may mean the Bills have a better backup safety next year without materially reducing the strength of the receiving corps. It's like the Eagles trading Bradford or the Chiefs tradio Alex Smith. So even though Foster was a starter and looked liked like a comer doesn't mean he won't be dealt.