Richard Noggin

Spent two years in Dallas a while back. The first summer had over 30 consecutive days with 100+ temps, and the first winter had a cold and stormy snap that allowed my neighbor's patio snowman to survive two full weeks. Kind of dug the city overall, to be honest. Really diverse and cosmopolitan and full of transplants. Just have to get past the affluent Okies and SMU brats lol.

Reads like Twitter after a loss. The toxicity spikes.

Was hoping this would be a poll. Was gonna vote no.

Lots of posters in this thread just assuming the Jets passing offense will be excellent as is. Why is the Jets offense so scary to many? Who is behind G. Wilson (especially at the start of the season) to provide high end secondary WR options? I get that they present some explosiveness in the rushing game. But passing? Not much danger there imho. They will be a REALLY tough out for the Bills again in 2024, I'll bet, but I don't see a dynamic array of receiving weapons beyond Wilson and Hall. Williams is still recovering, isn't he? And behind that, who is there? The rookie, Corley, right? Who else? They're stronger than the Bills at the very top of their WR room, for sure, which matters, for sure...but their depth is similar to or worse than Buffalo's (unless I'm just overlooking some glaringly obvious complimentary WR outside an injured Williams and a rookie Corley).

The main question that is still unanswered for me, at least, is: IS Aiyuk that "star weapon (who) creates space for everyone else"? I don't necessarily trust his ability to fully translate and thrive in a different system, away from Shanny (and that STACKED offensive depth chart). Definitely don't trust it enough to justify the two-pronged price he'll cost (both trade and cap). That's my main objection. So really I'm not satisfied that Aiyuk is a sure enough bet on the field to justify his trade value and long term salary cap impact. Pretty much everyone else DOES think Aiyuk's expensive juice is worth the squeeze (sorry)?

Never said they were obligated. Said I disagree with the practice of buying ST with intent to resell majority of them for profit. And by disagree, that doesn't mean I think they don't have the right to do so, just that I think it's crappy and contributes to inflation. Just one guy's opinion.

Utica is better than Syracuse with respect to food and culture. Both cities are admittedly depressed. But one has a more diverse range of cultures and cuisines that call it home, so there is at least some reason to visit outside of fairs or festivals. Most of the Italian restaurants in Utica, staffed by Bosnian and Ukrainian refugees, are worth the visit.

Hey, you do you. If my criticism seems not to apply, or unreasonable, then disregard and/or criticize me in turn. I have plenty of faults. I understand the myriad reasons why season ticket holders would resell tickets. It's perfectly legal. But buying them with the intent to resell the majority of them for profit is kind of a poopy thing to do. Sounds like that might not be you anyways.

Exactly. Go to the games as a fan, or eat the risk of treating them as commodities when demand tanks.

Solid bit of perspective here. Thank you. However, when buyers claim season tickets with the intent of reselling the majority of them, it contributes greatly to ticket inflation. That's a GREAT point, to be honest. I have no intention to sell, as I bought my house to live in it, but 100% agree that reselling houses as an investment strategy is a major contributor to supply scarcity and price inflation. Take advantage of the systems in place as it is your right. But I can judge those systems and your complicity in the consequences. As for the Bills, Pegula is finally getting to milk the market with taxpayer funding and taxpayers paying exponentially increased ticket prices.

Not if longevity and consistency weigh heavily, as they appear to with Marino's criteria. Smith was not the same reliable, steadying presence that Kelso was IIRC. I was youngish at the time, though. I remember Smith being flashier, both good and bad. Kinda like Nate Odoms in that way. (Smith was more of a SS though, wasn't he? Very different position from Kelso's FS back then.)

TBH I'm not at all a fan of reselling for profit. That's part of how consumers get squeezed as well. You have the right to do it, but I think it's a crappy thing to do. Moving on.

Corporate sports entertainment. Proper service/hospitality aren't cost effective when you boil it all down. More demand than supply means they can squeeze the consumer.

Of course that is where Kincaid and Samuel and Coleman and MVS (and others) would ideally come into play... No one is expecting Shakir to suddenly line up on the boundary, across from Sauce Gardner, every play, like some alpha-X target and have the passing offense run through him. But when he does line up and draw coverage, then there are built-in concepts and progressions designed to take advantage of other quadrants of the field.

What in heck is extending plays "with his arm?" Plays are extended with his LEGS, innit? I mean, having a big arm allows for extended plays to be explosive, I suppose.

Would be super helpful to know what kind of production we've seen out of them previously to have some kind of statistical frame of reference. Seems like an attainable number, but now I have to google a couple things and like, do work. Thanks.

We can't keep getting things wrong on McGovern. The dude views himself as a natural center. Performed really well at LG last season, and feels even better about sliding inside to the pivot. Obviously Beach Chairs agrees. And that's really the measure for me: is the team (coaches and management) making moves it WANTS to make? If so, we as fans should reasonably defer to their collective expertise. This was a sober, deliberate move to move on from Morse and replace him with McGovern. A little more beef up the middle. Plus, McGovern's spot at LG is relatively easy to fill as far as OL positions go. The Bills saw an opportunity to get bigger, younger, and cheaper at OC and went for it. McGovern is at least 13 pounds BIGGER than the guy he's replacing. How is he then considered "smaller"? He's 3 lbs above the NFL average of 315 lbs for guards, and even bigger than that compared to centers.

I'm just here for the free financial advice.

That "If" is doing a lot of work. We liked to imagine that Diggs was drawing all kinds of brackets and doubles, but most of his playoff disappearances, for example, seemed to coincide with physical man coverage to disrupt him early and get Josh's eyes off him, with the defensive hope that the pass rush speeds up the processing. Sure, he faced some extra attention at times, but mostly he got locked up by #1 corners. Diggs was elite Tier 1 for the first 6 games. Like silly production. Then he fell off HARD. Happened each of the last two seasons, as we all well know. So why was he a guy NOT to subtract at his suddenly bloated salary (I know how much they're eating this year)? (Not even delving into the sideline/locker room/social media stuff, or the prevailing subtext that Diggs finally, directly asked to be moved.)

Was there a "starting X" at all in the draft this year at the back end of the 1st round? Obviously Beane didn't think so, exactly, or he would have stayed put and pulled the trigger. Is Worthy that guy in year one? That seems like a reach tbh. (Nevermind how much I wanted the Bills to draft him at 28.) Lamenting the loss of the 5th year option in that 2nd trade back is kinda silly innit? If Coleman actually turns out to be 5th year option-worthy, then the additional trade-back into the 2nd rd will look even smarter. By that point, there is no current WR in the pipeline preventing the Bills from signing Coleman before and/or after year four. It's a "good problem" to have.

But the so-called elite #1 outside WR is not commonly found on SB winners in recent history. You're absolutely right that teams who win the big game have talented receiving options, but the obsession with this narrow definition of a certain type of alpha WR with length and deep speed isn't actually supported by the results.

Reasonable work here. Mostly agree. The majority who crave that undisputed #1 boundary WR also seem to ignore the history of recent Super Bowl winners, the majority of whom did NOT have one of these perceived unicorn #1s. I get the desire to have an attention-drawing beast on the outside, but what if that isn't the answer? What if fantasy football and fan perception don't really matter on the field? What if receiving depth and distribution is the real cheat code?

Can't speak for you, of course, but it seems like most Bills fans and NFL commentators, in general, felt like the Bills in the draft needed a magical blue-chip boundary DEEP threat, and instead they traded those two most realistic, sought-after targets to the Chiefs (Worthy) and then the Panthers (Legette), before selecting Coleman. Feels like if they'd nabbed either Worthy or Legette that the vibes would be much more positive overall. Or even if they'd traded SO many 1st and 2nd day picks for the rights to Brian Thomas, Jr. The public sentiment called for a rigid, even reckless, pursuit of prospects based on 40 times, to be reductive. That, and Yards per Route Run, really influenced/narrowed everyone's WR draft expectations. I'll admit to buying into it. Allen has previously thrived with supposed deep threats on the outside like John Brown and Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis (and even Robert Foster to a flawed extent). So Worthy and Franklin and Legette seemed like legitimate threats. Then again, Allen has also NOT thrived with those same supposed deep threats on the outside like Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis. So who knows what is most important. Beasley was more valuable in his first 2 seasons than many of us typically admit. Allen absolutely COOKED with a reliable, chain-moving slot guy. So who really knows. Why can't Kincaid be a better Beasley, and why can't the rest of the no-name WR crew do their jobs well and help Josh Allen excel? (Because of past performance, I guess. But even that isn't super damning.)

Turns out (should have remembered, but life) Mike Williams and Malachi Corley are definitely additions of note, but one is injured and the other is a rookie.

So, without checking first, what is the depth of their offensive weapons beyond Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson? I'm remembering they drafted a WR I liked, just not sure who without looking it up. Who are the secondary threats that will need to step up when defenses dial it up against Hall and Wilson? (Obviously I will now take a minute or two to get caught up, but who else feels similarly about their offense? Maybe I'm missing something?)