Richard Noggin

Ugh with the "way too long to read" comment. The full context, tone, and nuance of a text matters. It informs every point made within. Wait until you have time to read it before commenting. But that's just, like, my opinion, man.

Or...the timeline is not as innocent as he claims it to be, and his retirement announcement came AFTER his badly timed test. Then, upon later learning that teams (especially New England) were interested in him despite his looming suspension, he decides to sign and then "come clean" with his story. That's just as believable, if not more so. For the record, I actually believe the player enough not to judge him either way, in this instance. Just saying. His story IS mighty believable. Except that I'm not sure 38 is a common or advisable age to begin testosterone supplementation. Meh, rich folks get access to a different world of healthcare...

I wonder how it will affect LAMAR Jackson and HIS team? (Smiley face emoji?)

That's the point, right? He did the thing he had to do, despite the personal conflict of interest. Canning Castillo might wind up being a pivotal move in franchise history, if the optimists are correct about Buffalo's trajectory...

Underrated aspect of his tenure here. It's been a pleasant surprise for this Bills fan to watch the head coach apparently agree with our assessments of which coaches need to go, and to move on from them decisively: (but without the insecure and bridge-burning midseason firings) Dennison, Crossman, Castillo, and a full cast of offensive position coaches. Let's not forget McD's handling of Leslie Frazier and the defense early last season; he intervened decisively and effectively, and without alienating or badly undercutting his D Coordinator. In fact, I'm fairly certain (without looking it up) that he shared the duties the following weekend, at Minnesota, and awarded Frazier the game ball following an upset win and defensive masterpiece. THAT's head coaching. That's putting your best people in position to succeed.

Does anyone else think it's POSSIBLE that McDermott's understanding of what it takes to field an effective, modern NFL defense: speed, instincts, and undersized playmaking... ...is actually a VERY convincing argument for building a heavy, mauling o-line and a run-first, play-action offense that exploits the intrinsic weaknesses of such a defense? Is it possible he's building a modern defense AND simultaneously fielding a (less-modern) offense designed to beat it?

Adam Gase is not an effective leader. He is too ego-driven. Too self-interested. Strong leaders maintain integrity and accountability even during (or ESPECIALLY during) challenging or dysfunctional moments. Gase is too busy politicking and saving face. His draft behavior was petty and pathetic. And the Jets organization just fully endorsed that brand of tantrum. Now I expect Gase to unsympathetically demand more integrity and accountability from his roster than he is willing to exhibit himself. Recipe for discord, if you ask me.

These mega-threads present challenges for me as i am often late to the party (two full-time jobs), attempting nonetheless to read through them diligently and chronologically, then sniping at posters like yourself who make silly missteps with their native (I presume) language. I think i was an entire day late with my post. That IS unforgivable, isn't it?

You're right. It means before "Modanna." Also, a hint (spelling of Madonna aside): you're literally, semantically wrong. "Pre-" as a prefix does mean "previous to; before."

Tossing you a like for following this semantic stream to its source.

I've been here all along...

Zay WAS complete shite his rookie season. No doubt. Discombobulated is the word that comes to mind. But he has shown flashes now of actual playmaking ability. Like he could be an excellent #3 or #4 option, which is what he could/should be this year.

I've learned to trust Joe B's QB observations. He was always more critical on our QBs than others, and he has thus turned out to be right (EJ comes to mind most prominently). Here he is not nearly as kind to Jackson as Parrino and Brown. And I trust it.

I strongly disagree with the OP. The Bills want to be able to pass more effectively, no doubt. It's difficult to do it much worse. But I really think their ideal approach is a steady running game that sets up play action passing, at least for this year. Their linemen are big maulers, and they've invested some money and now a pick into the RB stable. I'm not sure what leads one to believe that the passing game is their chosen identity. That doesn't really jibe with what I've seen from this coach, and this off-season. Eventually they'd love for Allen to become an elite passer, sure. Eventually.

That's a great post. Numbers can really eff up narratives. Like mine. (Sort of.) It's also possible to look at your grid there and interpret that to mean Zay Jones isn't the steaming pile of dung many want him to be because McD traded up for him or some other such unfair preconception. I like them both, for the record. Two solid contributors who are NOT #1s but can both be productive cogs in an offensive machine.

A HEALTHY John Brown IS actually a solid #2 on a good team; look at this numbers last year before the QB switch, and in his second season. Healthy stretches with average (above average for a 2015 Carson Palmer) QBs and he put up solid numbers. Bruce Arians has compared him to Marvin Harrison, for what it's worth. But he had difficulty staying healthy in Zona, and then last year his production was interrupted by the Lamar Jackson show.

Couldn't happen to a better team/coach. Eff the Jags and Saint Doug.

Second mention of David Tyree in this thread, and I'm only on page four. Do better, Bills fans.

Love me some Frank Reich.

But he's not a TE. TEs have to line up in-line at least on occasion, and have blocking duties against o-linemen and LBs. He's a big WR. What you're talking about is a big WR. No offense, but being the most productive receiver in a league does sort of imply something like domination. Semantics might suggest a different word, but your argument isn't helped by last year's stats. Your argument IS helped by his college stats, however.

We probably don't know the exact timing/context of when those comments (about Knox, in particular, were uttered...although I only watched it once). Even subtle editing can create the impression of a narrative-friendly timeline. But that's a cynical take that I don't care to pursue further. Beane and his team are prepared and poised. I like watching them work.

It's also possible to completely separate McBeane's team-building process (pardon my use of the term) from the on-field results; we can evaluate roster decisions independent of how they ultimately pan out. That probably is an unpopular take, but players and teams ultimately succeed and fail for myriad reasons, and management can only make decisions based on the information available at any given time. I think we can say, right now, that the decisions made in building the roster back up (after a moderate tear-down that can be viewed more than one way), have been well-conceived and well-executed. I'm pretty sure that's JW's point, and I completely agree. Whether it results in winning football over the short- and longer-terms will be the result of so many factors, many of which are not fully under McBeane's control.

I hope we're closer than that. Year TWO of the rookie QB deal is a good time to make the jump. Not necessarily to championship contention (I don't think the Bills are there at all), but to the playoffs (or else we're behind schedule). Next year is all-or-nothing. Once a team has to pay its QB, IF he pans out as a franchise guy, the windows aren't so wide open (unless the team consistently drafts well). So year three is still the perfect opportunity to make a run with well-paid talent throughout the roster. A FA splash or two, a resigned draftee or two, etc. The Bills pay almost nothing for QB and OL and CB right now. They should be able to field a deep roster because of that.

If we believe any of what Beane tells us, the best five will play. That means Dawkins is not a lock at LT. Nsekhe will challenge there. And Ford is who they hope will win the RT spot. There really isn't a good alternative on the right side. Can Spain slide over to RG? That's my number one question. Because if so, we have a nasty o-line in the making...

Pump the brakes a little here... McShay's literal job is to act as a foil for Kiper. He is supposed to needle Mel and challenge his assertions. Sometimes it's even funny. But they both do their homework on hundreds of prospects. Neither is an idiot, although of course McShay's role has him being quite smug at times next to Kiper's sincere, sometimes flawed, evaluations.