SoTier

Exactly right. McGahee, Whitner, and Spiller weren't busts. They got bad raps among Buffalo fans because the Bills drafted them instead of other players still on the board who had better careers. Watkins wouldn't have been a bad pick if the Bills hadn't given up so much to get him. In the case of Maybin, though, he was both a bad pick and a bust. His physical shortcomings to be a modern NFL edge rusher were apparent well before the draft -- he was a "one trick pony" who depended on a clear line to the QB and speed for sacks -- which Dick Jauron and Russ Brandon ignored because they saw him bulked up at the Combine.

Both Willis McGahee and Donte Whitner were both good players, both for the Bills and for other teams during their NFL careers, including Pro Bowl selections, so they hardly qualify for a list of "the worst players we ever drafted". CJ Spiller also had a decent NFL career, so he doesn't belong on your list, either. Moreover, Trent Edwards was a third round pick who wasn't even the worst third round QB the Bills ever drafted -- see Gary Marangi (1974) -- and even among the third rounders drafted since 1999/2000, there were some outright busts who never even saw the field. You need to have some valid criteria beside your personal dislike of a particular player.

Most teams also don't make the playoffs. If a team doesn't have quality backups throughout most of the roster, then they are aren't really Super Bowl contenders. Consider that both KC and New Orleans lost their starting QBs for several weeks early in the season. Seattle went through all their RBs but still made the playoffs and Philly went through their entire WR corps and still made the playoffs. A team can't play "next man up" if the "next man" isn't good enough.

Exactly this. The Bills are at the point where they can afford to look to the future. WRs taken after the first round tend to need a couple of years to come into their own, so if the Bills can grab a talented youngster who needs a season or two to adjust to the pro game, that would provide them with upgraded depth now (2nd or 3rd round picks tend to be more talented than 6th or 7th round players) and possibly a quality starter in a season or two. That's how winning teams are built -- always looking to upgrade the talent on the team -- rather than creating roster holes with short-sighted personnel decisions, using the draft to fill those holes, and depending upon bottom feeder FAs and UDFA rookies for depth, which was how the Bills operated pretty much since Polian left until the Beane regime.

We use bottled water at the camp because while we have running water for the toilet and bathroom sink, none of us want to drink or cook with it since it comes from an ancient spring cistern that's at least 80 years old. We also have a large trash barrel to collect the damn water bottles ... and we still find some that escape. PITA. I never use bottled water at home but occasionally I'll buy a bottle while traveling or at an event.

When have I used the "B word" about Josh Allen??? What I've complained about -- repeatedly -- was how poorly the Bills managed their QB situation in 2018 -- including not bothering to have an experienced QB coach which could no way be blamed on the team being in their self-imposed "cap hell" -- resulting in Allen literally being "thrown to the wolves" as a rookie -- poorly prepared and lacking both protection and weapons. That all changed dramatically in 2019 and continued into the 2020 FA period so far which suggests that the firing of Russ Brandon as head honcho of the Bills and Sabres in May 2018 brought a shift in the Bills' corporate philosophy that enabled Beane to demonstrate his competency as an NFL GM in acquiring talent to put around Allen, which he's done. Now it's up to Allen to step up and perform better on the field than he did in 2019.

Maybe, maybe not. It all depends on the the QB. I seriously doubt that there was any mushroom cloud over the Titans' decision to replace Mariota with Tannehill or with the Bucs' decision to send Jameis packing even before TB12 became a real options. Nobody in KC is likely to quibble over what the Chiefs eventually pay Mahomes. There might very well be a mushroom cloud over Houston if the Texans somehow fail to secure Watson long term.

I think you need to reread my post for comprehension. My criticism was aimed specifically at the OP who was complaining about other posters not embracing Allen as a bonafide "franchise QB" after his second season. Brady, Wilson, Mahomes, Watson, and Jackson cemented themselves as their teams' "franchise QBs" in their sophomore seasons. Allen's claim to the "franchise QB" tag is much more tenuous because he simply didn't play as well. That doesn't mean -- and I never claimed -- that he can't continue to improve and become a franchise QB, but in reality he's not one now, and arguing he's a "franchise QB" simply because he's better than the trash that the Bills have started at QB for the past twenty years is disingenuously setting the bar at 2 inches off the ground and cheering that he clears it. The OP needs to aim higher --- and maybe you do, too.

You don't "get the hate that Josh Allen gets around here" because you want everybody else to be a cheerleader for Allen like you are. Excusing Allen's performance deficiencies by comparing him to many of the duds that the Bills have put on the field over the last twenty years is simply cheerleading. Realistic criticism of how a player performs his job is not "hate". The last time I looked, Josh Allen would never be confused with Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, Russell Wilson or Tom Brady after their second NFL seasons, so wanting Allen to improve his QB skills or discussing the Bills acquiring a better QB is hardly "hate". His peers are the other "franchise QBs" currently in the NFL, and compared to them, his play comes up short. He's had some valid excuses in his first two seasons, but he needs to demonstrate significant improvement if he wants to be considered one. If Allen wasn't the Bills starting QB, I am sure you would not be calling him a "franchise QB" at this point in his career. As for speculation about or comparison to Deshaun Watson or Patrick Mahomes, that's always going to be there for Allen thanks to the Bills trade of the #10 pick in 2017 with both Mahomes and Watson still on the board. The only way that is mitigated is if Allen becomes a great NFL QB in his own right. Mahomes already is a great QB, and Watson is only a notch below him. At this point in their careers, $30 million for Watson would be a steal but Allen isn't worth half that. He needs to prove he is.

Homeward Bound and Homewoard Bound II

RIP Joe Diffie ... Third Rock from the Sun always makes me smile when I hear it.

Totally agree. A team can't have too many weapons because guys get hurt. The Chiefs are the perfect example.

That the Chargers let Rivers walk says to me that they're looking to build a winning team rather than simply selling tix. Rivers just hasn't been good enough for them. They will only bring in Cam if he's healthy ... and they think he can not only be a better starter than Taylor but that they don't like any of the QBs likely to be available when they pick in the first round.

I think that Rosen will be cut before he's traded to NE. i think that Flores and the Fins really like Fitzpatrick as a tutor for Tua because he's absolutely the best bridge QB a team could have: a knowledgeable, competent veteran without illusions about being the long term starter. I don't think the Saints will invest their limited cap space in a high profile backup QB. They might be a landing spot for Rosen for a mid/late draft pick however.

I think this might be why NE passes on Cam. FAMOUS. LAST. WORDS. Belichick has demonstrated over and over again that he doesn't care about off-field flamboyance if the player does his job. Randy Moss and Gronk come to mind. I wouldn't factor this into whether Cam goes to NE or elsewhere.

If the Bills are serious about being a perennial playoff team and a realistic Super Bowl contender, then they need to upgrade their RB corps. Singletary is a nice RB but he's not a Gurley or Gordon or Lynch in their primes. He needs another starting caliber RB to share carries. The other RB can be a change up type back or a complementary back but the Bills definitely need the RB1a and RB1b tandem plus they need to upgrade their backup RBs. I would not be opposed to keep Yeldon as an RB3 with a better veteran ahead of him and a rookie on the 55 man roster. The two big needs the Bills had after last season were a real #1 WR and an RB1b. They filled the WR1 need with Diggs. Now they need to add that FA RB as well. I don't think they can afford to bank on a rookie RB adapting to the NFL and contributing from the season opener, especially this season when it looks like a lot of the conditioning regimens and OTAs are going to be restricted.

Did anybody really think that Brady would be playing for any team other than the Patriots in 2020 when the possibility was first raised last year? Would Houston ownership actually approve trading Watson? He/she/they not only fired the previous GM and named BOB the new GM but then approved trading Hopkins for next to nothing, so why wouldn't he/she/they approve trading Watson for next to nothing plus 1? Nothing that's transpired since BOB was named GM suggests that the Houston owner(s) are competent to decide what he/she/they want for dinner much less have any idea of how an NFL football team is supposed to run.

If anybody would be stupid enough to trade away a proven franchise QB still on his rookie deal, it would be O'Brien. Of course, with O'Brien sending so many key players off to other teams for the equivalent of well used athletic equipment, maybe Watson has informed the team that he wants out, too, although Watson doesn't strike me as that kind of player. He seems to be a "team guy" but then, even "team guys" can reach their limits.

I started watching "The Plot Against America" on Spectrum Originals. I didn't realize it was one of those "alternative history" tales until episode 2 when somehow Lindbergh, portrayed as openly pro-Nazi, traded on his image as a hero to not only be the Republican presidential candidate in 1940 but actually winning the election over FDR by running on the platform of "Lindbergh or war" while Roosevelt acted "statesman like" and several southern states voted Republican. The absurdity of that scenario just killed it for me. Everything about that is just so implausible in terms what the American political scene was like in 1940 -- the only things that were true was that there was a war in Europe and that there was a strong isolationist sentiment (but not necessarily pro-Nazi or anti-Semitic) -- that it's ludicrous. Apparently, this series is based on a novel that was published in 2004. I'll not be watching the rest of this series. PS. FDR won the 1940 election over Wendell Wilkie by carrying 38 of 48 states, 449 of 531 electoral votes, and nearly 55% of the popular vote.

I can't stress enough the need for the Bills to significantly upgrade the bottom of their roster if they are serious about becoming a bonafide SB contender. There were too many street FA caliber players on the team last season, especially on offense. Both SB teams last season were loaded with talent beyond their starters, so that when one guy got hurt, they could fill his slot with another decent NFL caliber player, not a guy who ought to have been bagging groceries or selling insurance.

Even Derrick Henry needs a breather, and any RB can get hurt. Two starting RBs is better than 1, and the Bills can afford somebody like Carlos Hyde. The combo of Kamara and Ingram in NO in 2018 propelled the Saints into the playoffs by allowing them to be the best ball control team in the fouth quarter. They lost Ingram and weren't nearly as effective late in games in 2019. The Bills lack of a better RB than Frank Goe to spell Singletary certainly made it harder to run the ball effectively late in games, including in the playoff loss to Houston.

If Allen does not show significant improvement in his general QBing skills, then he should be on a short leash going forward, just like Trubisky in Chicago will be in 2020 and Mariota in Tennessee was in 2019. Trubisky showed great promise, too, in 2018, but he failed to take the next step in his third year. There always seemed to be an excuse for why Mariota could never get that Titans team rolling, so the Titans brought in Tannehill in 2019. QBs continue to improve as they gain experience until they reach their ceiling, and after that they don't get much better, and that usually takes 2 or 3 years of being a starter to achieve. A team with a QB who's been a starter for three seasons and is still not playing well enough for a team to seriously consider giving him a big pay raise in the form of an extension should seriously be considering a Plan B. A GOAT QB falling into team's lap in FA doesn't happen every day.

I think that Allen has to improve his decision making. There is probably no more important trait that separates great QBs from mediocre ones than learning what to do ... when and when not to do it. A lot of a QB's decision making ability stems from how fast he can process what he sees in front of him and acting accordingly. when the game "slows down" for a QB and he starts understanding what he sees, his decision making should improve. Allen started doing that last season. He should become better this season with more experience as well as having more options. We need to see less "hero ball".

Actually Pennington was not a bust. He was an excellent QB until an arm/shoulder injury short circuited his career. I think he led the Jets to the playoffs in 2002, 2004, and 2006 and then led the Fins to the playoffs in 2008 after they went 1-15 the season before.

Kirk Cousins, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Ryan Tannehill were all far better than "average" or "above average" in 2019. Cousins has been a very good QB for most of his career. Tannehill had a career year in 2019. Garoppolo, in his first full year as a starter, played excellently although he wasn't asked to carry the team very often and failed in his biggest test.