MJS

In a perfect world, yes. But it's a long shot to find a good corner. Good corners usually make their respective rosters. That means we would need to trade for one, which I don't see happening. If injuries happen, the Bills will go dumpster diving and find someone serviceable to take a few snaps. I think that's the best we can hope for at this point.

The paper tigers who went to two straight Superbowls?

Maybe listen to the interview where Dawkins outlined his entire situation quite clearly and answered every single question from the media. Then tell me if you think there are any conspiracy theories.

Wow. What a fall.

That's why I would love to move on from Addison, or even, to a lesser extent, Hughes (not both of them, though). Both of them are old. I'd rather keep the young guys to develop. But we'll see.

Only 5 DE's got significant playing time and Johnson was one of those. So if you aren't a top 5 DE on the team, you need to be really good at special teams. People are advocating to keep 7 DE's. That means two might not play hardly at all if we do keep that many. BTW, I voted for Johnson to be the odd man out. I have not been talking about Johnson at all. I've been responding to people saying that McDermott has an addiction to special teamers that he needs to overcome. Never did I say we need to keep Johnson.

That entire thread was a bunch of speculative nonsense and people thinking they were just really, really smart. Turns out they were all dead wrong.

I would assume it is far less than 20% for the last guy on the depth chart, but I'd have to look it up.

And that won't happen because those bottom of the roster guys don't play. Special teamers actually do play. Any time your starters leave the field, you are at a disadvantage. If your backups leave the field for 3rd stringers, you are at an even greater disadvantage, etc. The Bills like to rotate their defensive line, yes, but they still want the best possible players on the field for whatever that situation is. A 6th or 7th DE, for example, is not ever going to be the best player for a given situation unless you have a ton of injuries. Just look at snap counts from previous years. There are guys who get virtually no snaps on offense or defense because you want the guys who are better to take all of those snaps or the majority. So, you actually gain an advantage when those guys who get no snaps on offense or defense are actually really good at special teams, because then they are contributing and you don't have to put your better players at risk playing on special teams.

Bad take. The bottom roster guys do not get playing time on offense or defense, so guys who are actually good at special teams are far more valuable with guys who are those bottom roster guys. Should we keep a guy who will get like 10 snaps on offense or defense and sucks at special teams, or a guy who gets slightly worse 10 snaps on offense or defense but rocks at special teams? This is just simple value logic. The potential value for your team is significantly higher for the guys who are good at special teams, because their snaps on offense and defense will be extremely limited regardless. And, btw, every team takes this approach. Not just McDermott.

I'd like to say Addison, but I think they'll keep him for veteran leadership. So I guess that's Johnson, but he is a special teams ace. So it's really a tough call. Maybe the Bills will trade Addison? His contract is pretty restrictive, though. I would not be against moving on from Hughes, but I don't see the coaches doing that to him.

Last year it wasn't complete protection, though, if I remember correctly. I think they were unprotected for like a day or something, then you could designate protections. Anyone remember the exact rules?

Probably Hyde. He has done it in the past. He isn't amazing, but he is sure handed.

This one is a lot better. But I think Taiwan Jones is a lock, personally. And I can't see us only going with 5 WR's, but it's very difficult to find where those two positions slot in. It's going to be hard for Beane and crew to make these cuts.

I actually kind of hope we lose to KC again in the regular season. Keep them complacent so that we can take them by surprise in the playoffs. Obviously, a win in the regular season against them would be huge, though.

Most NON-Bills fans are saying the same thing.

He is usually available on the waiver wire. Maybe this year he will get drafted late.

Cam sucks anyway. He can blame COVID if he wants, though. He usually has others to blame for his own failures. He still thinks he is a starting caliber QB. He just isn't.

Nobody is taking it too seriously. They are just discussing it. Everybody knows it is inconsequential. Heck, football is pretty inconsequential as it is.

I expected White to be in like the 50's. I think that's low for him. Oh well. Can Bills fans remark about anything without having comments like these made EVERY time? What exactly are we allowed to comment on? And I take it if we disagree with something we just need to keep it to ourselves rather than discuss it, because otherwise we're just "caring way too much".

And none of that necessarily applies to Dawkins. Using three or four examples is far from statistically significant. They are just anecdotes. For every one of those there are others who had mild symptoms and were able to get back to football quickly. Or who were completely asymptomatic. We don't know the situation with Dawkins. McDermott could have been speaking purely from a football and conditioning standpoint, not a health standpoint. He cited examples of a few players who had a tough time coming back. How does that specifically relate to Dawkins? It's a possibility for sure, but nobody knows. Everyone is guessing.

I am a little surprised he got in there, but he was borderline for me.

It strikes me as coach speak, honestly. He is trying to motivate him and others. That's my opinion. If Dawkins was really struggling with his health, I don't see McDermott putting that out there to the media. I don't think he would do that. I think Dawkins is ready to get at it and has some work ahead of him to get into game shape. If he was still struggling with COVID I don't know if he would have been activated.

We don't know how sick he was or wasn't. It's all conjecture to this point. Having symptoms could mean a lot of different things.

He's a professional. He knows what it takes to get ready. There's no reason to believe he will miss week 1. It's not like he's a rookie. Can be, but often isn't. Kind of a roll of the dice, but most players last year got back within normal time frames. No reason yet to believe that he won't.