ChronicAndKnuckles

I’ve never done a mock draft, but I appreciate the people that do. It makes for good discussion and always really cool when someone from here hits on a pick.

Potential. Beane sees something in this guy. Maybe he was underutilized? That’s really the only thing I can think of, but if any QB can maximize his talent it’s going to be Josh.

Their situations are so similar it’s scary. DO NOT cave, Beane. This is not what this front office has been about. Players earn their contracts and honor their current deal unless they grossly outplay it like a Jason Peter’s or Josh Allen situation. It will set a bad precedent for younger players to hold out too. Follow the Terrell Bernard model and they will get paid. If not by Buffalo then by somebody else. Simple as that. I don’t think he’s getting 15 million per year ANYWHERE. Cook had good numbers, but not enough receiving yards or exceptional pass blocking to warrant a deal better than Saquon Barkley’s. Someone made a good point. His numbers only seem so amazing because of Buffalo’s total lack of run game in recent memory. I think Joe Brady’s scheme is good enough to plug & play any decent back and get close to the same production. Ray Davis/ Ty Johnson/ Rookie would be adequate enough to not put any damper on my SB aspirations.

Johnson already surpassed Moss in Buffalo IMO.

He had some decent production backing up Jonathan Taylor in Indy. Especially when Taylor got injured. I scooped him up fast in my FF league b/c the guy who had Taylor was too dumb to not handcuff Moss. He won me some games. 930 all-purpose yards & 7 TDs. He just signed for 2 yr/8 mil in Cinci. I always respect when a guy can bounce back and carve out a career for himself. Especially at RB where teams tend to just draft a new one when their rookie contract expires. It proves to me that he is a smart player who can do everything asked of him and had the discipline to improve. I have respect for Singletary too who is going into his 7th year. I never said he was Wall of Fame worthy, but he was definitely underrated during his time here. Actually reminds me of James Cook with the way he glided through the hole and seemed to fall forward for an extra 2-3 yards on every run.

Yes, I know Fred was 26. I am saying he was almost 30 before he got a chance to be a starter. Before that he contended with both Lynch and Spiller. And he absolutely did bounce around playing on 2 arena teams and NFL Europe before getting signed here. And again I keep saying this. Why are some people not reading my OP? I am not advocating for Johnson to be the #1 back. I am advocating a 1-2 punch of Davis/Johnson. I certainly would want Cook starting over anyone else, but not at 15 million.

Ok, I get it. But has he really had the opportunity?? I haven’t seen anything showing he can’t take a 50/50 split with Ray Davis. He’s built much thicker than Cook (that sounded suspect) but it’s true. And I don’t recall any injury history. Why is this narrative going around? And Fred Jackson went to a division 3 college and bounced around in the arena league. He didn’t get his chance until he was damn near 30. Ty Johnson has great hands/route running, compact build, and good speed (4.4 forty.) Plenty of guys bounced around on practice squads before finally making their mark. Josh Allen seemed to respect his skills.

I didn’t mean Ty Johnson should be an every down back in the mold of Saquon or Henry. I was only showing his numbers which are very good for the amount of touches he gets. What I was implying was a 1-2 punch of TJ/Ray Davis wouldn’t be much of a drop off from James Cook especially at 15 mill a year. The Bills would get much more bang for their buck in money vs production. IDK if people are understanding my post properly.

Why? Has he really ever had a chance? All I see is a player that takes advantage of every opportunity given and one that is explosive in the pass game.

I’m gonna go out on a HUGE limb here and probably get some negative reactions/comments, but I really don’t care. We don’t NEED James Cook. Why? Because Ty Johnson is the modern day Fred Jackson of the Buffalo Bills. 2024 Season TJ = 59 touches, 8.4 yards a touch. Cook = 239 touches with a 5.6 yard average. Cook has 1267 scrimmage yards which is very respectable. Now give TJ the same amount of touches as Cook and it projects to 2007.6 scrimmage yards. TJ is a significantly better receiver. He had 1/5 the amount of pass targets as Cook and still has a higher yard & TD total. TJ also has a higher YPC at 5.2 and Cook at a 4.9, but I will still give the slight edge to Cook as he had a much bigger workload. Johnson has 20 lbs on Cook and I think would give Buffalo the edge in the red zone. As far as run blocking, it is obvious that TJ is superior. Our own Josh Allen said he was the best 3rd down back in the NFL. Probably because of his elite outlet receiver skills and ability to pick up rushers. I’ve never seen him whiff on one block. There’s a reason he was the least sacked QB last year and TJ played a big role in that. The last point I’ll make it Ty Johnson is still relatively young at 27 and with very little wear & tear. Buffalo could easily get 3-4 more seasons out of him. We saw the same arguments with Fred Jackson that his pedigree wasn’t good enough, that he is too old, that the guy starting ahead of him was simply better. Fans who had a keen eye for talent knew that Jackson was the real deal. Why? Because every time he had the ball, he was a monster. The numbers didn’t lie either as I remember him averaging well over 5 ypc. Still the dumb ass coaching staff drafted CJ Spiller when they already had a star on the roster. This thread isn’t about putting down Cook who is an excellent back. It’s more about money vs production. I think we could get much more value rolling with Ty Johnson/Ray Davis vs James Cook @ 15 million a year. The drop off in rushing yards would be very minimal if there even is a drop off? RB involvement in the pass game would increase drastically as Ray Davis is a very good receiver in his own right. It just seems like every time Ty Johnson touched the ball, it was a first down. I would roll the dice and try to trade Cook possibly a player for player. The Bills don’t need this type of distraction while they have championship aspirations. Hopefully the FO has learned from the whole Diggs debacle and nips this thing ASAP.

Allen had absolutely no weaknesses this year. There would’ve been no Lamar MVP debate if he didn’t routinely getting pulled out of the game halfway through the 4th quarter

Andy Reid’s retirement

Agreed. It’s pretty hard to get an MVP without help. What Buffalo lacks in WRs, they make up for with an explosive run game and a well-rounded line. WRs aren’t exactly bad, they are just lacking a true prototypical #1. They are currently about middle of the pack in that area. I am higher on Keon Coleman than most. I think he’s going to be nasty once he hits year 3. I am reserving judgment on Kincaid until this year which is make or break for him. Knox to me is the better TE and should’ve been utilized more in the playoffs.

It was a garbage display of officiating in an extremely close game. Makes me sick. NFL wanted a 3 peat, but even the officials couldn’t stop the ass beating the Eagles gave them. Sucks because I really think Buffalo could’ve been a worthy opponent.

Is he really though ? Dan Marino made one SB in his 2nd year and never went back. It’s not always a given. I agree with OP to an extent. If someone they feel is elite at a position of need falls out of the top 10, they need to see what it might cost. Buffalo has 10 draft picks. What’s the point of all that ammo if you aren’t going to wheel & deal ? I feel Iike the FO has the same mindset as you. Josh is good enough to get it done. Maybe so ? But I don’t want to luck out into just one SB. Allen is good enough to be part of a dynasty IF he has the support to do so.

I actually like it more on this forum during the offseason. Great football 101 discussion and less fair weather fans. Only the true die hards come here around this time. Plus the draft and training camp are great

That would be extremely short- sighted. I’m as angry as anybody about Kincaid’s regression this year, but he’s still learning the position. Year 3 is massive for WRs and TEs. And TE is a MUCH harder position because Kincaid has to learn NFL route running, develop chemistry w/ Allen who is constantly going off-script, AND be a 6th O-Lineman when called upon. People say CB is the hardest to learn, but I am in disagreement. TEs have to learn 2 different positions. How many elite CBs have there been the past 10 years? How many TEs? It’s not even close. If Kincaid can develop into a Greg Olsen type (which I think is Buffalo’s realistic goal) then I think it is a huge W for the front office. Asking him to be the 2nd coming of Antonio Gates is a little too much. All in all, trading him would be stupid & rash at this point. I don’t think he should’ve been drafted in the first place, Dawson Knox was more than capable and Morris was a decent #2, but here we are.

Yeah, the PED suspensions really put a damper on an acceptable FA class. All in all, I don’t think it will affect the Bills much as they usually cruise through the first half of the season. Hopefully those suspended players are practicing hard and memorizing the playbook during their little vacations. For me (and probably most people) the biggest signing was Joey Bosa. If he can stay relatively healthy, it will transform this defense into something fierce.

Coleman certainly has the physical skills to be great. He’s slow, but so was Moulds, Fitzgerald, Boldin, and Rice. The 2 things he showed that really gave me hope were the contested catches he made and the way he adjusted/ contorted his body to make said catches. The athleticism is there very clearly. Sheesh, that is a heck of a class.

Thank you! And I agree. Moulds is easily the best of the dark times. And he put up with crappy QB play like a man. No complaining, no airing his issues to the media, no arrests. He was the opposite of a diva.

The deep threat we sorely need right now.

IDK why I never knew this or heard it brought up before on this forum, but Eric Moulds has the all-time receiving yard record in the playoffs. He put up 240 yards during 98 wildcard against the Dolphins. Absolutely insane. I knew Moulds was very very good during his heyday, but I have done a deep dive into his career (I tend to spend the offseasons watching old Bills games and also specific Buffalo legends) and I didn’t realize the sheer dominance he had when given decent QB play. By no means was he a slouch, he’s 5 yards short of a 10k career, but this guy really could’ve been up there with Reed/ Largent/ Reggie Wayne/ Holt. Those guys all had HOF passers. Are there any other examples of players like Moulds who had atrocious QBs and never achieved their full potential? Or players with crappy supporting casts in general that were much better than fans give them credit for ? Then on the other end we have Gabe Davis with the most receiving Touchdowns in a playoff game (who can forget that?) Too bad he couldn’t stop dropping the ball. Gabe Davis could’ve been a Wayne Chrebet/Ed McCaffrey type legend in Western NY. Not insane stats, but some legendary plays and a long-tenured career & go-to target for Josh Allen. His toe-tap catches in a VERY close game against the Phillip Rivers-led Colts were instrumental in the Bills first playoff win in 25 years. A very important player that helped spark the Bills as a major force in the NFL.

They were classy because it would’ve been a PR nightmare for them. Let’s keep it real.

Hollins really gave the Bills some swagger. He had some clutch plays last year. Sad to see him go. I really thought he would be a high priority in the offseason. Really sucks he went to the Pats. Now I can’t root for him. Yeah, Massachusetts sucks. The most arrogant people I’ve ever met and the food is terrible.

Weakest FA signing. I hope Beane knows something we don’t. 1 TD with a stat padder like Herbert is pretty underwhelming.