Inigo Montoya

I took the liberty of putting on my GM hat and went through the current roster and removed most of the back up players. The list below has 48 players on it. That leaves us room for five more players without having to cut a player listed below to stay at 53. It looks like a solid roster that should only get better after the draft. Hopefully we will be able to add at least two immediate starters in the draft. There are not too many players below who are an easy cut. It's not a bad problem to have. We are no longer looking to fill gaping holes in the roster, we are looking to strengthen already solid positions. I think we need one more TE, we went into the season last year with four on the roster. We could use some help at DE and LB. DT also has some room to grow. Do we draft a RB? It will be interesting to see which moves McBeane makes over the next two weeks. Offense / Special Teams; Free agents in bold 26 Total Josh Allen John Brown Matt Barkley Cole Beasley Derek Anderson Andre Roberts Zay Jones LeSean McCoy Robert Foster Frank Gore Duke Williams Senorise Perry Tyler Kroft Stephen Hauschka Jake Fisher Corey Bojorquez Jason Croom Reid Fergason Dion Dawkins Wyatt Teller Mitch Morse Spencer Long Ty Nsekhe Jon Feliciano LaAdrian Waddle Quinton Spain Defense; Free agents in Bold 22 Total Tre'Davious White Matt Milano Taron Johnson Tremaine Edmunds Levi Wallace Lorenzo Alexander Kevin Johnson Julian Stanford E.J. Gaines Trent Murphy Jordan Poyer Harrison Phillips Siran Neal Star Latulelei Micah hyde Jerry Hughes Rafael Bush Shaq Lawson Eli Harold Eddie Yarborough Mo Alexander Jordan Phillips

Great post Shaw. I couldn't agree more. It seems like the entire Bills organization is undergoing a renaissance. This franchise has been wandering in the desert for twenty years. I think it is finally our turn again. Wouldn't it be something for both the Bills and the Browns to make the playoffs this year? A little bit of redemption for two fans bases who have stayed loyal, weathered the dark days, paid their dues, and stoically endured all of the snide jokes and humiliation. This city and it's fans deserve a Super Bowl. I think we are entering our window of opportunity to contend for one.

I did, Thanks! He's kinda a big deal too... I'll jump back into the post and edit it.

Mitch Morse, C, Kansas City Ty Nsekhe, OT, Washington Cole Beasley, WR, Dallas Jon Feliciano, OG, Oakland Kevin Johnson, CB, Houston Frank Gore, RB, Miami Senorise Perry, RB, Miami Andre Roberts, WR/Return, N.Y. Jets Spencer Long, OG/C, N.Y. Jets Tyler Kroft, TE, Cincy Jake Fisher, TE, Cincy Eli Harold, DE, Detroit John Brown, WR, Baltimore E.J. Gaines, CB, Cleveland Mo Alexander, S, Seattle LaAdrian Waddle, OT, New England Quinton Spain, OG, Tennessee Duke Williams, WR, The Great White North (Is he technically a free agent signing?) Christian Wade, Rugby/ RB? England (I'm not even counting him in the numbers, but he would be #19 if I did) 18 Free agents. That is nuts. That is a third of the entire 53 man roster. I wouldn't be surprised to see Ansah in the next week or so if he passes his medical added to the list, and there are rumors out there about Frank Clark in Seattle too. Ansah would be a big signing, Clark would be seismic. Ten Observations; Offense 14 players (including 2 special teamers, Roberts WR and Perry RB) Defense 4 players 1.) It's easy to see where the emphasis was this off season in free agency. I was hoping Beane would be able to upgrade two O-line positions in free agency before the draft and it looks like he has upgraded four. The O-line was clearly the biggest weakness on this team last year. I think it means we are not going to have to use a high draft pick on an O-lineman this year. I was hoping for an OT in the 1st, but not anymore. The presence of Morse will be huge. I think he has all the intangibles of Eric Wood, and is probably a better Center. The lack of an effective center last year was crippling to the entire unit. We made Morse the highest paid Center in the league and I think it was worth every penny. It was a weakness that absolutely had to be addressed, if we paid a premium to get him here, so be it. I think Nsekhe is our starting LT this year. Can't wait to see all the camp battles on that O-line. 2.) I think of all the players on the list, the one who might have gone a bit below the radar in terms of his importance, is Andre Roberts from the Jets. Our return game last season was abysmal. I would be willing to bet that there will be at least one game this season where his returns will mean the difference between a win and a loss for this team. How much is an extra win worth in this league? The difference between 9-7 and 10-6? It's huge. Great signing by Beane that gets no love from the media pundits but I think it will be a difference maker. 3.) Adding Beasley and Brown will hopefully bring some much needed veteran leadership into the receiver's room. They should elevate the play of the other receivers already on the team. Duke Williams is a big red zone target (Basically a Kelvin Benjamin who gives a sh*t and can catch the ball) and I hope he will end up being a real diamond in the rough. The Duke might end up being Beane's best sneaky, looking under every rock, acquisition this off season. 4.) I brought this point up in a thread I started a few weeks ago, with 18 new free agent players we are not going to be able to bring in 10 draft picks who have any sort of chance to make this roster, even if we cut all of the dead wood from last year's roster. There are only 53 players to be carried into the regular season. Like many here, I can see Beane bundling picks to move up in the draft repeatedly. I can also see him trying to turn 2019 draft picks into 2020 picks. 5.) This is related to the #4 above, I think this year's draft is going to be crazy. I can see us climbing up and down that draft board like a spider monkey jacked up on Mountain Dew. I think Beane will be wheeling and dealing like a riverboat gambler. Don't think it is safe to go to the bathroom at any point during the draft just because the Bills aren't on the clock or you are going to miss something. God only knows where we are going to end up selecting players this year. This draft is going to be fun! 6.) Great coaching is going to be critical this season. I think it is reasonable to assume that after free agency, draft picks, and the one or two training camp surprises, we might be going into the season this year with 50% of the roster being comprised of first year Bills. McDermott and the coaches are going to have a big job continuing the tough but disciplined, team first culture they have been cultivating over the last couple of seasons. McDermott mentioned this point at the Owner's Meetings. Bringing in more capable players is only part of the process, getting them to buy into the teams philosophy and gel as a cohesive unit is another thing all together. This is going to be McDermott's toughest coaching job yet. I hope he is up to it. 7.) There are free agents from 14 different teams on this list. They are going to report for off season workouts this coming Monday. They are all going to walk into our brand new, state or the art, best in the league work out facilities and you can bet your ass they will be snap chatting photos of the facilities back to all of their buddies on their old teams and talking smack about how nice it is here in Buffalo. It's not just the training facilities either. The meeting rooms, the cafeterias, everything about the One Bills Drive facility that impacts the player's lives on a daily basis has been updated and is state of the art. There are going to be a lot of people in this league looking at Buffalo differently after next week. Money very well spent by the Pegulas. Each of these players will become an ambassador for the Bills around the league. 8.) Watching Antonio Brown throw JuJu under the bus for no reason this week makes me glad that AB did not end up on this team. I was excited when the rumors broke and I thought it would be incredible to get him to Buffalo. No one can dispute the man's ability, the guy is a baller, but he sure looks like a team cancer. I think we dodged a bullet on that one. 9.) Beane signed these players to team friendly contracts and didn't mortgage the team's future to do it. We should have the cap space next year to extend the players signed to short contracts who play hard this season. We should be able to build a real core of players on this team and not watch our talented players walk out the door to other teams. 10.) Lastly, this free agency surpassed any expectations that I had going into it. It is too early to see how these additions will pan out for the Bills, but I don't think you can objectively look at these signings and not be optimistic that Beane has upgraded the quality of our starters and added real depth to our roster. I am excited to see what Allen does this season with a real supporting cast. They got our franchise QB last year and this year they are building a team around him.

She looks like a dark haired Cersei Lannister in that photo. Winter is Coming!!!

If he wasn't the only player on the field with game he might not have to play Hero Ball so much. When the MLB is in the backfield one second after the ball is snapped, your receivers can't get a release and are dancing with the CB at the line of scrimmage or unable to get any separation down field, and the whole play is blown up before it even has a chance to develop, that is a recipe for Hero Ball. This year with a solid O-line and some real skill position players on the field to help him, hopefully it won't all be on Allen to make things happen, i.e. Hero Ball. Let's be real here, Josh Allen was the entire offense last year. As a rookie. If Allen didn't do it, it didn't happen.

I know we live in an instant gratification society, but do you think it's possible to give Edmunds at least a year to figure things out? What were you doing when you were his age? For God's sake the kid can't even buy a beer yet.

I disagree. Completely. Someone who brings WR1 offensive production and is an elite blocker bolstering the O-line and helping in the running game sounds like a value pick to me. He is a consensus top 10 pick in this draft. Is there some reason that you believe the consensus is wrong about him? This may all be moot anyways because there is a strong chance his is already gone by pick 9.

My son and I will be at the draft this year representing the Bills Mafia. We are only two hours from Nashville. We absolutely love Nashville. My wife and I spend a lot of weekends there. It’s a great town even when there isn’t an NFL draft. Can’t wait for the 25th!

Good stuff. The reason I continue to bang the drum for TEs is that some people on this board keep making the argument that drafting a TE at 9, even a top flight prospect like Hockenson, is simply not a wise use of that draft capital. They don’t value the position. I think that is a fundamentally flawed position. On nearly every mock draft I see, Hockenson is the first non-QB offensive skill player off the board. He is creeping up the board as time goes by. The mock you linked to has him gone at 8 to the Lions. I’m seeing more mocks with him going at 7 to the Jags. Your larger point that the NFL has become a passing league and that TEs have been feasting just like the WRs have because he ball is simply being thrown more is absolutely correct. What I think is new in football over just the past few years is that offensive coordinators are feeling comfortable building their entire offense around the TE position now. That is a big change in philosophy. You don’t need a WR1 on your teem if you have a TE like Ertz who can put up 116 catches for 1136 yards and 8 TDs in a season. In drafting Hockenson you are basically drafting a WR1 who’s also a fantastic blocker who will help keep your QB upright and help open up the running game. That to me seems to be an incredible amount of value for one draft pick. When the Bills entered this off season the two biggest weaknesses were the O-line and the WR corps. While Beane addressd them aggressively in FA, I don’t think anyone would contend we’re as strong in either of those units as we can be. Drafting Hockenson helps strengthen both of those units. I think if Hock is on the board at 9 he is the highest value player, the BPA, even over Oliver. That is even before you factor in that Allen still doesn’t have a real go-to guy on the offense to help him out. When you throw that consideration in, I think Hock at 9 becomes a no brainer.

I'm not projecting anything onto Hockenson. He is the best TE in a great TE class. He is a consensus top 10 draft pick for a reason and not just because Inigo Montoya says he is. (Though Inigo's opinion should carry substantially more weight than it does ? ) You say I'm seeing something about Hockenson that isn't there. I'd like to know what you believe that is. I think my reasoning for drafting him is clearly stated above. I don't think I'm reaching for anything. I think they are valid reasons. If you don't agree with one of those points I'd be happy to talk about it, maybe you would convince me I'm wrong. I have no problem changing my mind when someone convinces me I'm off base. Honestly, I don't know why a GM would draft any player with the #9 overall pick in the draft if he did not see that player becoming an All Pro player. No one drafts a player at 9 hoping they will be a solid player, they expect them to be an elite player. That's why they get drafted in the top ten. I think Hockenson can become an All Pro TE. Why do you think he couldn't? Have you seen a flaw in his game that has been overlooked? Sure we could win a Super Bowl with a historically good defense and a average QB, but that is certainly not the norm anymore. I think we are more likely to win the Super Bowl if we have a true franchise QB and a decent defense. To that end, as this team is built right now, we need to shore up the offense. That means putting an O-line in front of Allen and getting him some weapons. There is a reason that Hockenson is seen as a top ten prospect, it is because it is believed he has the tools to become an elite TE in this league. We all watched what Gronk did for years. lets look at the other three top TE in the league last season. George Kittle San Fran; 88 rec, 1,377 yards, 5 TD Zach Ertz Philly; 116 rec, 1163 yards, 8 TD Travis Kelce Chiefs; 103 rec, 1336 yards, 10 TD I think that kind of production will help Josh Allen's development and this offense become legit. Hockenson is the best blocking TE in the draft too. We are basically getting another O-lineman who can protect Allen and open up the running game at the point of attack, further helping Allen. I think T.J. Hockenson is the player in this draft most likely to help Josh Allen's game. Maybe the Bills draft Oliver at 9. I would be ok with that. If they trade up and take one of the EDGE guys I'd be ok with that too. If they draft an offensive player, I want it to be Hockenson for all the reasons I've stated. I think he has more value than DK Metcalf or any other TE/RB/WR in this year's draft.

The Patriots had Aaron Hernandez and Gronk together until Hernandez went off the deep end. They were tearing it up together those first three years. Can you imagine what the Pats would have been like with both Gronk and Hernandez all these years? I remember during that 2010 draft wondering what the hell Belichick was doing drafting a TE in the 2nd and 4th rounds. I guess he knows just a little bit more about this football stuff than I do...

I meant to say Iowa. Kittle, Hockenson, and Fant are all coming out of the same college program. Thanks for noticing, I'll go back and fix it.

Great article on the spectacular TE play over the last few seasons in the NFL. If we can add Hockenson and get similar production that would be an epic upgrade for our offense. I think Hockenson has that potential. One of the TE mentioned is George Kittle, an Iowa TE in his second year as a pro. Hockenson is from the same program. Kittle had 88 catches this season for 1,377 yards. There were only 7 players in the entire league with more receiving yards than Kittle. Julio, Hopkins, Evans, Hill, JuJu, Thomas and Adams. Kelsey came in 10th in total yards with 1,336 yards receiving. Ertz comes in at #16 on the list with 1,163 receiving yards. Ertz had 116 receptions this year which is crazy. A great TE can lead an offense in today's NFL. TE is now a premium position in the NFL. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001025559/article/marcedes-lewis-no-question-travis-kelce-is-best-te

I agree that hit doesn't define Allen's career, but I do think it changed the trajectory. Having a chance to pause and look back at your mistakes can be an invaluable thing. It's an old saw but its true, you learn more from your mistakes than you do from your successes. The trick is being honest with yourself and actually examining your mistakes and owning them. I think that break mid-season gave Allen an opportunity to do that, and to his credit, he embraced it. It basically gave Allen a fresh start, a second shot to do things differently. A mulligan. You see this happen all the time in all types of fields, not just football, but we can use a football example. The greatest coach in NFL history got fired from his first head coaching job with... the Cleveland Browns. Wrap your mind around that irony.

You're right, Anderson was signed five days before the Houston game. Thanks.

Does Anderson get signed if Mercilus doesn't knock Allen out?

No way to know who is right on this, but I think I'm right. Maybe it was having a chance to watch how Anderson ran things and prepared for a game. Maybe it was having more time for film study. Maybe it was being able to take a step back and look at the big picture instead of being caught up in the minutiae of weekly game preparation. Bottom line is that Josh Allen week 12 is a different QB than Josh Allen week 6. The mental part of the game slowed down for him during those six weeks. I don't know if that happens this season otherwise.

Sal Maiorana, Rochester Democrat and ChroniclePublished 3:28 p.m. ET Oct. 17, 2018 ORCHARD PARK – Sean McDermott made it pretty clear, without actually saying the words, that he felt the hit Josh Allen took on his right elbow from Houston linebacker Whitney Mercilus on Sunday was a cheap shot. “I’m not going to go into that,” McDermott said Wednesday, shortly after he announced that Derek Anderson would take over as the starting quarterback in Allen’s expected month long absence. “I’ve addressed that with the powers that be and I’m not going to go any further on that.” Watching the replay, it certainly looks like Mercilus lowered his helmet and aimed it right at Allen’s elbow, and in an age where protecting the quarterback seems to be more important than anything else, referee Craig Wrolstad did not throw a flag. Not that it would have mattered because the damage was already done. Allen took a direct shot, and after playing one more snap and realizing the pain was too great, he took a knee and called for the trainers, who then removed him from the game. I was furious watching Allen go down on what looked like a cheap shot and obvious Roughing penalty. Mercilus led with his helmet and hammered Allen's throwing arm. When Allen went out and didn't come back in I felt gut punched. When the initial reports said Allen might need season ending surgery on his throwing arm I was livid. As a lifelong Bills fan I though here was just another example of the black cloud that had seemed to settle in over our city and our football team. We just couldn't catch a break. Week 6 of the season and the season was already over. It's not that Allen was tearing it up, in fact he looked pretty shaky, but he flashed his ability enough like in the Minnesota game to make me optimistic that with some more playing experience there was a chance he could really be our franchise QB. Now that was gone and I was worried 2018 would simply be another wasted year for this team. Fortunately the news came back that Allen would not need surgery and would likely miss several weeks but he had a chance to return this season. Week 12 and Allen is back behind center, but this doesn't look like the Josh Allen we were watching before the injury. He was getting the ball out faster, taking less sacks. He was more poised and less apt to run at the first sign of trouble, hanging in the pocket more. He seemed to be reading the defense better. He was going to the right receivers more often (even if they dropped it), he was starting to look like a real franchise quarterback. It was really night and day, the way he played before the injury and how he played after. It looked like the game had finally slowed down for Allen. You hear that expression a lot but I have never seen a more stark example of it. Something clicked for Allen during those six weeks he was convalescing in the middle of the season that let him recalibrate his game. Maybe it was having the time to spend critically examining every snap he took and studying how the defenses were playing him. He didn't have to worry about preparing for this weeks opponent. Didn't have to worry about learning the game plan. He wasn't spending time working on the physical aspects of the game, he was forced to work on the mental aspect of his game and it seems to be exactly what he needed. Josh Allen after the injury was a different quarterback. Without that injury and that six week break in the middle of the season, I don't think Allen makes the jump he did this season. I think he would have continued to muddle through the rest of the season continuing to flash his raw ability but not evolving like he did. Every quarterback at this level can throw the ball. It is the ability to mentally process the game quickly, on the field, while bodies are flying around you, that separates the mediocre QBs from the true franchise QBs. It was that change in Allen's mental game after the injury that made all the difference. Without Mercilus's cheap shot on Allen in week 6, I think there is no way we see Allen's renaissance in the second half of the season. I don't think he heads into this off season with a head of steam and a lot of confidence. I think that six week mid-season sabbatical was the best thing that could have happened to Josh Allen. If Allen goes on to become a true franchise QB he might owe it all to Whitney Mercilus. Buffalo Bills 2018 season MVP... Whitney Mercilus.

I was initially hoping they would trade back but I think the value of the prospects around #9 is just too great. If they can grab Oliver or Hockenson or one of the elite EDGE rushers that drops for some reason, I think you have to pull the trigger there. One of the best things about the draft though is all the surprise moves and it seems that every year there are more trades and more moving around with teams jumping up and down the board. It should be a fun to watch. I really have a lot of faith in our current front office. I think they nailed free agency this year, I don't expect them to turn around and bungle the draft.

I wish! I'm going to be at the draft this year with my son. I've never been to an NFL draft before. We only live two hours from Nashville and we will be there for the first two days. If you see someone wearing a blue Kyle Williams jersey who looks just like Matthew McConaughey, except for being older, bald, heavier, and way less attractive, that will be me!!!

Sometimes you just need a chance...

Fair enough. Peace. ?

Yep, I'm a simpleton. You, YodaMan79, are an anonymous internet football message board genius. I get distracted by squirrels and shiny objects all the time. How dare I support the Bills selecting a TE, a player who is a consensus top 10 draft pick, on a team starved for offensive production? If Beane hadn't gone buck wild on the O-line in FA, I would say we should draft a O-lineman at 9. I don't think we need to do that anymore. If you read my posts you will see that I would also be fine with Oliver at 9, but I think this offense and Josh Allen needs help more than our defense does, and if Oliver and Hockenson have similar grades and they are both sitting there at 9, I think the tie goes to the offense and Allen. The fact that there were not many TEs drafted high previously means exactly nothing today as the game is changing. The TE position is undergoing a renaissance in the NFL and many teams are using them as the focal point of the offense, not a just supporting position. Look at Kittle, Gronk, Ertz, Kelce. Or maybe I'm just making their WR1 production up. The fact that at least two and probably three TEs are projected to go in the first round this year torpedoes your point completely don't ya think? Do you really want to play the "where someone got drafted game" like anyone can't throw out the names of a dozen players in a minute who were drafted too high or were a late round gem to try to make a point on either side of the argument? Using your logic I could hear you say, "Tom Brady was a sixth round draft pick and he's the GOAT so only a simpleton would draft a QB in the first round!" In the end YodaMan, you may be right. I've got no problem with anyone disagreeing with my position, because while I think I can back up my arguments well, I don't believe that I have some cosmic monopoly on the truth. If you want to disagree with me, fine, but drop the name calling BS. Act like a grown up not some #### sure teenager hurling insults on this message board. In short, quit being a jerk. I do not mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?

Hey GimmeSome I don't think Fant or Irv Smith will make it out of the first round. I think Hockenson goes in the top 12. He might not even make it to 9 rendering this whole discussion moot. I saw mocks with him going to the Jags at 7 and the Lions at 8 earlier in the week. Admittedly, I don't know much about Stenberger. Is he pretty solid? The draft is always a crap shoot. First round busts, late round gems. Kyle Williams 5th rounder. Travis Kelce 3rd rounder. Who knows?