Florida Bills Fanatic

Although I wouldn't bet money on this, I wouldn't be completely shocked if Frank pulls it off this season. All it will take is an injury or two and he will be right there to get the carries to make it happen. I thought he was all done when he signed in Indianapolis and then again in Miami. Obviously, I was wrong. He has proven to be a tough guy that works hard and he isn't a quitter. He's an easy player to like.

For a guy who has one foot out of the league, putting yourself in a questionable situation isn't very wise (if it actually happened). He may be completely innocent in this situation but given his other problems, many won't give him any benefit of the doubt.

I agree with you. Pegulas don't have exclusive rights on dumb comments by an owner. I lived in Indianapolis for a while and I believe Irsay may be the gold standard in dumb owner commentary and behavior. We should all be thankful that Buffalo isn't dealing with something like that.

I think you are correct in your assessment. An injury or two may change the situation. A late cut from another team could also change the status quo. At this point, we'll just have to watch it play out. In any event, I'm just glad that the team has options that are much improved over 2018.

I agree with you. When you take into account the frequency of injuries in the league, having four guys that can play is more of a necessity than a luxury. In this case, it is a good deal when Foster has a cheap contract.

When it comes to the evaluation of talent, real football people like Polian, Parcells, Bellicheat, and countless others are clearly more qualified to assess talent than some journalism major that writes sports stories. If you think all of the football coaches and executives are phys. ed. majors, it would serve you well to do some background research. If football people are literally wrong all the time, the best players available wouldn't be on teams. I would accept that there are frequent errors and that is due to the inexact nature of their business. Fortunately, it is a self correcting system. GM's, personnel executives, and coaches that get more things wrong than they get right find themselves out of a job. Sports writers are seldom dismissed for the accuracy of their predictions. Like I said before, if you want to place your confidence in sports writers, that's your right.

It was a moment of insanity. I'll strive not to let it happen again.

Injuries are part of the game, no doubt. When you look at his play, he was very good. He was the best option available and was being courted by other teams. Putting a rookie center in front of Allen was not an option that the team was ready to accept. The Bills paid what was necessary to make the signing, unless you feel that the Bills just threw extra money at him out of the goodness of their heart. As far as not being able to develop their own, we should not forget that this is all the result of a rather unexpected career ending injury. Front loading the money when the team had a lot of cap space was probably a decent strategic decision and it was likely necessary to close the deal. High profile free agents, that have multiple options, are going to have a higher price and more favorable terms. Time will tell whether or not he is worth the money. I put more faith in the real football people that evaluate players and make these decisions instead of sports writers who base their opinions more subjectively. If you want to place more credence on the sports writers, that is your right.

Great post! You nailed it in a great summary. Thanks

I agree with you for this season. I believe that Yeldon will be the third down back next season with Singletary being the lead back. It won't surprise me if McCoy, Gore, Yeldon, and Singletary are all on the final roster this year. It is rare that teams don't have running backs injured and missing games. Last year, the Bills experienced this with questionable depth talent. I believe that Yeldon and Singletary were brought in to improve the reserve talent this year and to be the main guys for next year. McCoy has absolutely no trade value with his age, contract cost, and last year's performance. I don't expect him to be cut either. Given the struggles of the o-line last year, McCoy's poor season isn't completely on him and McD knows that.

I agree with you. It's hard to identify a good offensive team that does not have a good center. This will prove to be money well spent. I have trouble with many ESPN evaluations of teams and individual players.

I doubt that ownership will be willing to move on from McD at this juncture. I think the Pegulas understood the roster train wreck that McD and Beane inherited from Rex and Whaley. Fixing the cap situation, adding decent talent in the draft, and making smart moves in free agency are indications that the organization is moving in the right direction. Both Pegulas and Beane have spoken about building the team to be competitive for the long term. Even though the record was not good in 2018, the team played hard and seemed to be as prepared as their weak roster could be. With all of this, it doesn't make me think that they will be making any knee jerk reactions now.

This study is a load of crap. I've been to games in many stadiums with many different fan bases. I've been to see the Bills in London. Bills fans have always been represented in very significant numbers, regardless of the team's record. Living in Florida, I've been to a number of games in Miami. They don't sell out their games and maybe up to a third of the attendance is from opposing teams. It may even be higher than that when the Cheatriots or one of the New York ( Jersey ) teams are there. Trying to quantify support from a fan base is illusive at best. As someone stated earlier, attendance during bad years and support on the road is part of it. Enthusiasm; before, during and after the games is the intangible that really tells the story about a fan base.

Lotulolei hasn't been a pass rusher throughout his career. His game is to tie up two blockers on running plays and create space for the linebackers to make plays. He is difficult to move off a spot. He isn't and hasn't been a guy that has commanded a double team in the passing game. He isn't a guy that can generate quick penetration into the pocket and disrupt the timing of a play. Quite often, he comes off the field on obvious passing downs. I'm expecting that Oliver is that quick penetrating DT that is impossible to handle with a one on one block. I believe his style of play will be similar to Gerald McCoy or John Randle. Time will tell whether Oliver can do that. If he can't, it will likely have been a bad selection at pick number 9. I believe that he will deliver the results that the Bills want and turn out to be a great draft pick. If Hughes, Murphy, and Lawson can't take advantage of their opportunities, the Bills should move on from them.

The sacks from DT would be great but there may be more benefit in forcing opponents to alter their pass blocking scheme to the benefit of Hughes, Murphy, and Lawson. I'm also hoping for the inside pressure to force premature throws and some interceptions. I don't know how it will play out but I can't wait to see Oliver in real game action.

Can you say pre-nup ?

not at all but I would like you to cite an example so that I know better where you are coming from

News media people that think the rest of the country wants to continuously hear about the Giants, Jets, and Cowboys. Domestic violence purps being permitted to return to the league and earn millions of dollars. Players with legally binding contracts deciding that they will breach those contracts by holding out until an owner gives them more money. TV timeouts when I'm sitting in the stadium in single digit temperatures. $6.00 hot dogs and $10.00 beers! 410

Tragic and inexcusable. Nothing else to say

It's hard to argue that on paper the training camp roster isn't significantly improved from last year. A year ago, the team didn't have five offensive linemen worthy of a roster spot, much less be starters. Although there are plenty of questions with the o-line, finding five capable starters and their backups should not be a problem. Even the receiver group is a much better than last year. Whether they perform or not will become readily evident in camp and in preseason games. I don't believe that they have a long term difference maker like an Andre Reed or Eric Moulds but there should be enough talent to be decent for a couple of years. Based on this, I'm mildly optimistic for a better season.

By most accounts, Guden is not expected to survive this season in Washington unless they make a big run in the playoffs. Few people outside of their fan base expect that to happen. Given all of that, what kind of coaching candidate do any of us really expect to be interested in a Washington job? Ryan was a bottom of the barrel candidate and was probably thinking any job was better than no job. I'd be interested in knowing how many coaches turned them down before they had to reach low for Ryan. I'm just glad that Buffalo isn't in that kind of situation anymore.

These draft results confirm what many of us thought at the time of that 2016 draft. Whaley rightly deserves the blame that he has received but so does Wrex and the scouting/personnel department. It was no mystery to me why there was a house cleaning in the scouting department and the front office was cleared out as well. Is anybody surprised that neither Whaley nor Wrex have been given another chance by an NFL team? When the 2017 draft occurred, we were lucky that Whaley wasn't even allowed to pick out the donuts for the draft room.

Me either! We just need to see how the free agent additions and the 2019 draftees play. If they work out, maybe some of the naysayers will come around. Based on some of Beane's comments from earlier in the year, I expect him to concentrate 2020 spending on contract extensions to retain key talent already on the team. He has made it clear that building through the draft and retaining talent is how he wants to build the team. I don't expect another free agent off season like we had this year. It will probably be filling selective needs or upgrades. It's nice to have cap flexibility and ownership willing to spend when required.

I also think 7 wide receivers is probably a stretch but I've been surprised by the team over the years. Until I see them in pads, I don't have a strong opinion about any of the potential bubble players. Sometimes flexible players that can fill multiple roles, cause an unexpected cut. For instance, if Duke Williams can run the deep seam routes, work the short zones, and be a capable run blocker, maybe he is kept and a TE is cut. At this point, who really knows?

I was in agreement with you on the relative importance of right tackle. That changed for me when I watched Denver crush the Carolina o-line in the Super Bowl. Most of the damage came over the right tackle. Good edge duos are more prevalent now than they were several years ago. Teams can't hide a weak player at right tackle any more.