GreggTX

Don't kow, but I do know that Mr. Beane is set up for a spectacular draft. To me, the real question is whether or not he and all of our new scouts are going to knock it out of the park or will this be another draft like Buddy Nix's first draft as our new GM. I think we have a solid coaching staff, but that's not enough. Our roster lacks talent at WR, OL, LB and we need help at RB, CB and the DL.

Worst WR corps ever? I guess you aren't old enough to remember those back to back 1-13 seasons, huh? I too am disappointed that Jones isn't doing better, but in his defense, we know he can catch a football because he did it hundreds of times in college. Also, a very high percentage of the passes thrown to him have been far off target. He'll get the opportunity to turn this around, I hope.

Marcell could be one of the top 5 defenders in the NFL. They just need to get into his head. Unfortunately, Kyle just can't play at a high level any more. Lawson has yet to show why he was a 1st round pick. I see some changes coming for our DL next offseason.

Glen has certainly been very good at LT, but this foot injury is clearly limiting his mobility. If there is any chance that he can get back to 100%, he's not going anywhere. There is a league wide shortage of quality OL.

Poor WR quality. Poor pass protection. Oh and the defense is playing much better. We've been 10th and 11th in scoring these past 2 seasons. Maybe we do need a better QB, but it would be nice if he had someone to throw to.

Is it Tyrod's fault that we have no quality receivers on our roster? Clay is OK, but he'll be MIA for weeks and missed most of the last game. Our best WR is also out for several weeks and he's average. Our OL is below average. I'm not saying Tyrod is good enough to carry the team by any stretch of the imagination, but what if he had something to work with? Let's also remember that we've played against excellent defenses in all but 1 of our games so far. We have 6 high picks in the next draft. Whether Tyrod, Nate or some new arrival starts for us in '18, they should be surrounded by better talent next year. That said, it would not surprise me if the new staff went after 'their' QB after the season.

Not really. I'm still in wait and see mode. If we beat the Raiders and Chiefs and notch a win vs the Pats, then I'm sold. I know that's a lot to ask, but I just keep reminding myself that there will be a lot of new faces here next year.

You should have started with "I'm surprised he didn't trade Shady so we would have seen right away that you were only joking. Trade Shady. Now that's funny. I was very surprised that Williams didn't make the roster too, but he even admitted that he didn't have a sense of urgency as a rookie and clearly, McDermott doesn't want any slackers on his team. Maybe he was still lagging a bit.

Cincinnati's OL is even worse than ours with Glenn hobbled by this nagging foot injury. If Shaq can go and Dareus '17 plays like Dareus '15, Daltry could be in for a very long afternoon. I'm predicting another 6 sack performance. Make your best guess.

Let's all overreact, shall we? He's got a bum ankle. He can still play at probowl level when it heals. Besides, we have only 2 good DT's on the roster. Let's get real. After Kyle and Marcel, the other DT's on this roster are terrible! We have enough holes to fill at LB, C, G, WR, CB and OT ( if Dawkins flops) without adding DT to that list. Also, Lorenzo, Richie and Kyle are near retirement age. And then there's the question of QB. Unless Mr. Beane can do magic, I can't see all those holes getting filled even with all our picks in the next draft and no one is going to trade for him. If he is released, we will be wearing that dead money like an anchor around our necks for far too long. We're stuck with Marcell. The good news is that he played lights out before Rex arrived. I expect McDermott will use either the carrot or the stick to try to motivate him. If that doesn't work, we are in trouble. Let's hope it does. I'm not buying the notion that our defense has arrived just yet. We're still only 4 games into the season and our run D hasn't looked very good these past 2 weeks. We still have some tough games ahead too.

Obviously Brown isn't a great player, but i think he's as good a replacement as you could want under the circumstances. I was mildly surprised that he didn't make the opening day roster. He's as good as Holmes, isn't he?

I believe we'll still need an upgrade at QB to win our 1st SB, but Tyrod is playing very welll. I'm leaning a little bit towards wait and see because he has taken his game up a notch and he's doing it with very little talent at WR or on the OL. We have no deep threat either and teams are just loading up to stop Shady's ground game. I care far less about yards than I do about points and even that is an imperfect measure. If you have a lead, for example, you will try to slow the game down and play conservatively rather than piling on the points (usually, if you have a good D). It looks like no QB in college has established himself as a sure bet, so Mr. Beane may decide to keep all those picks and just take best available to sit behind Tyrod while developing and let's not forget about Peterman. We still don't know where his ceiling is. This will be fun to watch. I feel better about this team than I have in a long time. Kudos to the coaching staff on this as well. I'd like to see more TD's vs FG's, but with the D playing so well (especially in the red zone) we can still win enough games to finally get to the playoffs. Let's just hope it lasts.

This is 2 weeks in a row that I've been eating crow. YUM! Heck, I didn't see this team winning more than 5 games and we're almost there already. Kudos to the coaches, Tyrod and Frazier in particular.

Among other positives, I love his tackling. He's been solid stopping RAC yards as well as run support.

I'm more worried about the Raiders.

Passing yards are overrated. Teams are loading up to stop Shady because they think Taylor can't beat them. So far, he's been proving them wrong. I did not expect this, especially with such a weak WR corps and OL. He's doing this largely on his own. Also, his awareness has improved. I think the game has finally slowed down for him. It will be interesting to see what happens on draft day at the QB position. We'll have to see how the last 12 games play out for Tyrod.

McDermott obviously is doing a good job, though let's not undersell our coordinators here. Frazier, in particular, has been excellent. I really think the future is bright with all those high draft picks just ahead of us, but I will not judge Mr. Beane before he has run his first draft. He's done OK, but this next draft will define his reign. I hope he nails it.

It just amazes me that so many people are getting their panties all tied up in knots over this, but the corporate media is happy to fan the flames.

Lorenzo or Kyle. Hugher played well too. None of them were lights out, though. EJ Gaines was our best player.

Hogan and Gillislee? I suppose Hogan would start, but I can't imagine either would make that much difference. Let's be honest. Hogan was pretty average with Fitz and above average with Brady. That's the real difference.

Well, he used the same 2 hands to catch the ball in college a few hundred times. I think he'll be ok.

Yawn

Agreed. Let's go with 'in a VERY small elite group.' I'd add Derek Thomas and Mack as well.

... and 6 picks in the top 3 rounds of the next draft. The real issue becomes 'how well will Mr. Bean do in his first NFL draft?' Will he draft our next HOF QB or the next EJ or JP Losman? I am hoping to see Darnold or whoever they like in a Bills uniform soon. I suspect there will be some serious wheeling and dealing going on after this season. As a defense first guy, it is a huge relief to see us doing so well on that side of the ball. I am cautiously optimistic. I like Tyrod, but we need to aim higher if we want to win SB's. There are a few exceptions, but SB berths generally only go to teams with very good or elite QB's. We will also need to upgrade our WR corps and OL.

My feelings too, OP. Our defense is a very pleasant surprise, especially the secondary. I'm not worried too much any more. If Mr. Bean strikes gold with, say, 3-4 picks in the draft, we could be back on top very soon. I would also add that they might even keep Taylor around until either Peterman or whoever we might draft or trade for beats him out. I imagined that the Colts, in dire need of a roster overhaul, might consider drafting a new QB and trade Luck for a pair of 1st round picks or whatever the price might be. Yeah, I know. Luck has a better chance of getting hit by lightning, I suppose. I just wanted to share that crazy thought LOL.