SoTier

Isn't that like claiming Miami has a better team than the Bills while ignoring the most important position, QB? It would be much easier for the Bills to hit on their first and second round draft picks if they regularly drafted in the top ten spot in both rounds, but I don't miss all the years of the season being over by mid-October ... or even late September. Another Nostradamus! I'm shocked that you haven't already pronounced Kincaid and Torrence doomed to be busts.

It's hard to miss with 2 picks in the top ten (#4 and #10) in 2022, although the Jests have a tradition of doing so, especially when drafting QBs. They missed on 2 of their 3 top ten picks since 2018: Sam Darnold in 2018 and Zach Wilson in 2021. I think it's very unfair, Nostradamus, that you already know the results of the 2023 NFL season and haven't shared them with your fellow Bills fans on TSW. I would like to see the Bills try to improve their scouting/collegiate player evaluation staff(s). I think that would probably improve the Bills drafts somewhat. As long as the Bills are winning double digit games and drafting in slots #21-32 in the first round regularly, though, they're not going to match the draft successes of teams regularly drafting in the top 5-10 positions.

For most OTs, it's significantly harder for them to move to the other side of the line than to simply move inside to OG on the same side. I think that Dawkins has a better chance of making an awesome LG than making a competent RT.

Exactly this. Too many posters apparently cannot or will not accept the fact that not all first round picks are going to develop into All Pros at their positions. I don't know what the percentage of all first round draft picks become good or better players over the course of their careers but my guess is that it's south of 50% (< 16 players), with most of the best coming from the top of the first round in each draft. Beane and McDermott gambled that a very young MLB would grow into greatness, and they lost. OTOH, they gambled that a very raw QB with a big arm but poor mechanics could develop into an elite QB. They won that one.

Since the Bills had several bottom 10 (maybe bottom 3) LTs after they traded away Peters, those of us who remember those bad old days understand that the LT position could be significantly worse than these Dawkins haters can imagine. IMO, playing next to an improved LG, McGovern, will improve Dawkins' play when the games count for real.

No, I'm not. I'm simply making the observation that the 49ers since 2017 under Lynch and Shanahan just can't seem to keep QBs on the field because of in- game injuries. If it was just Garoppolo, it could just be dismissed as one injury-prone player but every single QB who plays for them ends up hurt. Last year they went through Lance, Garoppolo, Purdy, and Johnson. In 2018 or 2019, they used three QBs because of injuries. It's not like the Niners have a crappy OL or that their QBs are running like Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson. The injuries aren't similar so it's unlikely that they stem from training regimens. Do they tend to pick QBs who are more slightly built than the average NFL QB and thus more injury prone? Is it possible that Shanahan's offensive schemes somehow expose his QBs to injury more than other coaches' schemes? I can't give Lynch and Shanahan kudos for being successful despite an unsettled QB situation when their QBs can't stay healthy for more than a few games at a time.

Purdy's been serviceable for 6-8 games. So was UDFA Nick Mullens, who's currently Cousins' backup in Minnesota I think. There's been dozens of late round QBs who have been "serviceable" for half a season or so over the years. It's not all that rare. What's a rarity is a late round/UDFA QB become a real franchise QB for several years at least. How is Josh Allen being "squandered"? "Squandering" a QB was Matthew Stafford playing most of his career in Detroit. 2018 - The 49ers could have taken Lamar Jackson, who eventually went #32. 2020 - Jalen Hurts went in the second round. 2021 - Mac Jones went #15. Jackson and Hurts are bonafide franchise QBs. Jones is, at minimum, a serviceable NFL starter.

You might want to reconsider your praise for Shanahan. Maybe it's just a curse, or maybe Lynch and Shanahan aren't particularly astute in picking QBs who can stay on the field -- or maybe it's not the QBs but something in Shanahan's offense. I can't think of any other playoff caliber team in the last decade or more that has repeatedly lost multiple QBs to game time injuries. In 2022, even the backup (Josh Johnson) to the backup promoted from 3rd string (Purdy) was hurt in the same game. - John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan both came on board in 2017. - They passed on Mahomes in the 2017 even though their QBs during the season were to be Brian Hoyer and CJ Beathard after they released Colin Kaepernick. - In October, they traded for Jimmy Garoppolo, who played in only 3 games in 2018 because of injury and only 6 games in 2020 because of 2 separate injuries. In 2021, Garoppolo suffered three separate injuries, one early in the season, another in Week 16, and finally a third in the playoffs. - In 2018, after losing Garoppolo's backup, CJ Beathard, to injury, the 49ers brought in UDFA QB Nick Mullens who seemed to be really good for a few games ... until he wasn't. In 2020, Mullens was injured late in the season when playing in place of Garoppolo - 2021, Lynch and Shanahan sent 4 picks, including 3 first rounders, to Miami in order to draft Trey Lance, who barely played in college, and at a small college at that. Lance played in 2 games as a rookie. - Lance was named the starter to begin 2022 but only played two games before being injured and out for the season. - Garoppolo managed to start 10 games in 2022 before being sidelined with a broken foot in early December, opening the door for 7th round pick Brock Purdy. - Purdy lasted until he was injured in the NFC Conference Championship game and was replaced by veteran Josh Johnson, who also was injured in the game, necessitating Purdy returning even though he couldn't throw effectively.

I wasn't knocking Purdy but Lynch and Shanahan. Very few college QBs, including those drafted in the first round, actually become top NFL QBs no matter where they were drafted, much less from day 3 of the draft. Since 2000, you can count on the fingers of one hand the ones from Day 3 who've become top NFL QB and have a couple of digits left over: Tom Brady (2000 - 6th round), Dak Prescott (2016 - 4th round), and Kirk Cousins (2012 - 4th round). There have been several notable late rounders like Ryan Fitzpatrick, Matt Cassel and Gardner Minshew but none of them would be considered "top NFL QBs". I think it's incredibly arrogant of Lynch and Shanahan to bank on Purdy joining Brady, Prescott and Cousins after only 8 starts, especially since they haven't demonstrated that they actually can evaluate QBs, given that they felt they whiffed on Lance after giving up 3 first round picks to get him.

I would ROFLMAO at the supposed geniuses Lynch and Shanahan if Purdy went the way of about 99% of the QBs drafted in the 7th round.

Acquiring a backup OLer better than any of the backups currently on the roster would raise the ceiling of this team significantly more than acquiring a QB without NFL experience as a backup QB. Other than being the #3 draft pick a couple of years ago, what about Lance makes you think that he can be more effective coming in for Josh Allen than Barkley or even Kyle Allen? Lance hasn't played enough in the NFL for anybody outside of the 49ers organization to have real insight into his potential as an NFL QB -- and SF's actions suggest they don't think he has much.

I'm not sold on McDaniel. Much like rookies who sparkle in their first seasons and then tail off in succeeding seasons, some new HCs never develop into good HCs. Unfortunately for you and all these "experts and pundits" so in love with the Fish, having a supposed "clear cut top 5 roster" is meaningless. An elite QB working with a top HC makes up for most talent deficients most of the time. The Pats and Chiefs have demonstrated this pretty regularly over the last 2 decades. Tua isn't an elite QB and McDaniel isn't a top HC.

The mishandling of high draft picks and sending their best players off to other teams were hallmarks of the end of the Wilson era, but so was signing big name FAs like Mario Williams and Terrell Owens to put butts in the seats rather than to make the team better. It's why I don't whine about Beane like so many others on this board. I'll take honest -- if sometimes unsuccessful -- attempts to build a winning team any day over the crap show Bills fans suffered through prior to 2018. There is nobody ever associated with the NFL I loathe more than Russ Brandon.

If anybody wants evidence that the Bills under Ralph Wilson put profits over winning in his last fifteen years as owner, compare the players the Bills drafted and/or developed that they traded away or allowed to walk in free agency and those that they kept. The list of ex-Bills who went on to star for other teams is far longer than the players the Bills kept who became more than JAGs. Jason Peters, Marshawn Lynch, and Stephon Gilmore all became All Pros for other teams after the Bills sent them packing -- and won SB rings, too. Antoine Winfield, Sr made the Pro Bowl three times and was also named 2nd team All Pro. Willis McGahee made the Pro Bowl twice for two different teams (Baltimore and Denver). There were many more. Kyle Williams was one of the few good home-grown players the Bills kept. They were much more likely to keep players like Chris Kelsay, Lee Evans, and Leodis McKelvin. IMO, the only way the Bills can hope to improve their OT situation via other teams' castoffs is if they find a very raw rookie/2nd year player that another team tries to stash on their practice squad. That player would be unlikely to be of much help this season though.

Actually, the Bills were paying Peters low-end RT money -- and wanted to continue to do that -- even though Peters made the Pro Bowl and 2nd team All Pro at LT. The LT whom Peters replaced left in free agency the next season and signed for more than the Bills were paying Peters IIRC.

When, exactly, was Country music "really country music"? My late step-mother loved the country music of the 1950s and 1960s. I'm more of an Alabama, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson and Reba McEntire fan myself but I like more recent music by Kelsea Ballerini, Eric Church, and Florida Georgia Line. America in 2023 isn't the same America as in 1933 or 1953 or 1973 or even 1993, and country music, like most popular music genres, reflects that.

I think Peters would be a great insurance policy at OT but some people hold grudges long after the parties they think did them wrong are totally out of the picture.

Given that Ralph Wilson and Russ Brandon refused to renegotiate his very unfair contract after he was named to the Pro Bowl and 2nd Team All Pro twice, I'm not sure how Peters feels about the Bills.

Try Googling "adult adoption in Tennessee". All that's required is for the biological parents to be notified. They don't need to agree to it nor do they have to be present in court. FYI, according to Touhey, Oher's mother was, in fact, in court. In one of the articles cited in this thread, Sexton was identified as a close family friend of Touhey as well as the lawyer who set up the conservatorship. His status and reputation doesn't exempt his actions from scrutiny in regards to the ethics of his being involved in giving his friend financial control of someone who became his client.

The Touheys lied to Oher because a conservatorship is not an adoption. The law in Tennessee allows for adult adoptions. They chose to use a conservatorship rather than a simple adult adoption.

According to the court filing, Oher's new lawyer discovered the conservatorship in February, 2023. My guess is that the Touheys didn't exercise as much control over Oher as they could have, so he didn't question anything until after he retired. Oher's agent when he signed his first NFL contract (and maybe his subsequent contract(s)) was described in one of the articles quoted upthread as a close personal friend of the Touheys. This same lawyer set up the conservatorship, which was set up when Oher was just 18. Oher claims in court papers that he thought he was being adopted by the Touheys when he signed the conservatorship agreement, and the Touheys have represented the legal proceeding as adoption for years. Sean Touhey has also claimed that they couldn't adopt Oher because he was over 18, so they had to do the conservatorship, but Tennessee allows adult adoption so that statement by Touhey is untrue. I think that Oher trusted the Touheys and his agent (the Touheys' friend) to take care of his interests because he thought he was truly part of their family so he never questioned much. I think that he feels betrayed and exploited by the Touheys, and that's what has prompted the lawsuit.

I would think that Luke Combs tix will definitely be in demand since he's a major country music star with a long string of recent hits. He's a 2 time CMA Entertainer of the Year. I do wonder about having an outdoor concert in Highmark in April ... although I once stood in line for 2 hours in 10 degree temps to get an armband that enabled me to buy tix to a Garth Brooks concert back in the day.

Since 2000, Allen is just about the only "project" QB taken in the first round who has become a top QB. Tom Brady was a sixth rounder and Tony Romo an UDFA. Those are the only QBs I can think of who underwent "complete make-overs" as pros and turned into top NFL passers. It seems to me that Allen's problems with decision making and mechanics were rooted in lack of good coaching. He went to a small rural HS. He went to a junior college and then a lower echelon college program, which is not exactly the best path to the NFL. Even his first year with the Bills, his QB coach wasn't very experienced, and Allen struggled. I believe that Allen worked with Jordan Palmer before his second season, which helped. Under Daboll and Dorsey, you could see Allen improve over the course of his second season, and he's continued to hone his skills as he's matured.

I'm not sure if you are being sarcastic or if you are naieve about human nature. Financial success doesn't necessarily mean a person has "morals and values". In fact, many successful businessmen have built their success by exploiting their employees or ruining their competitors, and numerous very wealthy people have been convicted of fraud, embezzlement, etc for a relatively small amount of money. Sadly, I'm not surprised at all. I think too many fans don't see NFL players as people but as Madden game pieces. There's a lot of resentment, too, that successful NFLers make a lot of money over their careers, at least some of which is based on racism from some posters. I have real issues with Sean Touhey's statement above. It's simply untrue that they couldn't adopt Oher over the age of 18 in Tennessee: Adult Adoption in Tennessee. All it would require would be Oher's consent. Adoption would not have given the Touheys control of Oher's finances but it would give Oher legal rights to the Touhey estate if Sean or his wife died. The conservatorship enabled the Touhey's to control Oher's fiances and profit from it indefinitely. The conservatorship is still in effect, so the Touhey's still have control over some of his finances. I imagine that this will all come out in the court case.

How much did they make? And how much did he make? Did everyone sign off on this? Did someone fail to perform according to the agreement in any way? There is a lot of moral outrage here. If someone could give us the Cliff Notes on the facts and the contracts, that would be helpful. According to the ESPN article, the conservatorship is still in effect, and ending it is the primary reason for the lawsuit. If Oher is broke -- as several posters on this thread have claimed -- that seems to be the Touheys' fault since they have been in charge of his finances for nearly 20 years. The court filing also claims that the Touheys not only profited from the movie, but they have continued to profit from claiming that they adopted Oher, from foundations that they ran to books to motivational speaking tours, etc. Moreover, Oher's sports agent was a close friend of the Touhey's, and the same lawyer who filed the conservatorship papers. This entire situation stinks to high heaven. As a former grad student at a large Midwestern university that was a football powerhouse (ie, National Champion) in the 1970s when I attended, I will attest to this. Grad students without scruples could earn big bucks by "tutoring" football players so they could maintain their eligibility. The New York Times article quoted by Syhuang in his/her post suggests that the Touheys were hardly altruistic in helping Oher. It seems that they viewed helping him get NCAA acceptance as an "investment" in getting him to the NFL which lead them to help him skirt the intent of the NCAA rules. If Oher's GPA was too low, he could have attended a junior college for a couple of years where he could have improved his grades in order to transfer to a NCAA school. That was both Cam Newton's and Josh Allen's route to the NFL (although not necessarily for poor HS GPAs).