Ethan in Cleveland

My top 4 in order are: Rice Brady LT Brown Montana, Manning, Reggie White, Deion Sanders, Munoz, and Ronnie Lott would be my top 10 off the top of my head.

It's DT. And it's not even close. Let me present my case. I have two arguments. The first - how many truly elite players are a each position? The second - time to development? Who is the top QB in the NFL? Mahomes, Rodgers, Wilson, Allen, Brady? You could make a case for any of them and that leaves out future HOF'r Roethlisberger. Who is the top DT in the league - Aaron Donald. No argument. Some rookie QBs can play well from day 1. Routine high draft pick CBs routinely start right away. Defensive tackles often take years to develop and very few ever achieve elite status. Rookie DT's even in the SEC are playing against far inferior talent on the opposing OL. That's not the case in the NFL. In college they could physically dominate many if not all their opponents. In the NFL they are playing against real men, much bigger, faster, and more agile than anything they would routinely face in college. Their 21 year old bodies aren't yet used to the physicality of the competition.

Generally agree. I would add however it is very difficult for assault victims to come forward so I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt. That said you are presumed innocent until the proof and facts come out.

Last season game was close with the Steelers WRs dropping many passes early that killed their drives. Allen didn't look good in the first half. Everything changed on the Taron Johnson pick. It will be about the pass rush. Can we stop theirs and can we get to Ben. Should be a good test for Edmunds too. Steelers will want to run more and Ben likes to throw a lot of crossing routes.

It's a good question to ask. My thought is that Brown was injured so much last year that defenses were not overly concerned about his speed over the top. I don't think it will be an issue. The Bills offense is very unique because of Allen. Allen is elite with the intermediate depth throw. Those throws are dependent on an extra second of pass blocking which the O-line does very well and WR's that run great routes. That is what the WR group does well.

They do, but 3 drops on only 44 targets (6.8%) is far higher than league average. Diggs for comparison had 5 drops on 166 targets for only a 3% drop rate. So while the total numbers are not alarming, the data does support the narrative that drops are an area he needs to work on.

Agree. Good take

Agree with that list with Baltimore, WFT, New Orleans, Denver, Seattle and maybe even the Giants in the discussion too. Don't know about teams like Tenn and even the Bears these days.

Well that is an interesting list and might make one evaluate the data differently. There are quite a few excellent QBs on BB list. Even Vince Young was good his rookie year. Roethlisberger not so much as guys like Wilson and Luck. Outside of Herbert the McD list are all terrible and Herbert played well against Buffalo. I've never thought in the moment "oh wow McD is really messing with the rookie". That's not a criticism though. McD and Frazier have a consistent defensive game plan and I'd honestly prefer they use the surprises and wrinkles against the better QBs.

Hamlin made the roster because there are were few other credible back up safeties on the roster. I would agree Stevenson's performance made the decision to keep 7 WRs easier. I could argue though 6 vs 7 WR really came down to Kumerow's performance in camp. Given there were three games to play I agree McD did a fine job in how he managed playing time. I would not have played any starters the whole time but I understand and see how McD approached it. Like someone else posted add another regular season game and cut back to 1 preseason game would be perfect.

Another training camp and preseason in the books and it proves yet again there is zero need for preseason games. There is not a poster on this board that could not have guessed 50 or maybe even 52 of the 53 players on this roster. People were posting how the Bills would cut good players this year. So far only one has been picked up by another organization. Preseason is an absolute waste of time and only risks injury. Three games and they didn't learn anything more than the casual fan already knew. NFLPA is nuts to agree to any more than 1 preseason game and should fight for none.

The current roster can play better and they added guys. Epenesa can play better. Star is back. Edmunds might fulfill his potential. Phillips might play better if he returns(I don't think he will but others on this board do). At WR sanders could/should give more production than Brown did and Davis looks like he will produce even more. RB is a quesoitn makr but both guys have the potential to be better if the line is better. And for the OL, the starting 5 is together for the first time and healthy. I agree free agency didn't do much other than swap Sanders for Brown. But the draft bought talent. They added a first round DE that looks good. Basham looks like a guy that will get treated how Epenesa did last year. I suspect he is a healthy scratch the first month or so and then is brought along slowly. So yes, they didn't make any splash moves, but they are a better team. And none of that matters if Allen gets hurt or regresses.

It's less about Hollister love for me than it is at least he has produced in the past. What has Sweeny done to earn a roster spot? He can't block worth a dam. Maybe the organization sees them as interchangeable and that Sweeney may have more potential than what we have seen on the field. Again fringe decisions that in the end won't really matter.

I like Anderson as a long term project at center. I liked Beane drafting him late. I still think an upgrade at center in next year's draft is likely.

Not a single ProBowl TE in franchise history. I still like Knox but keeping Sweeny over Hollister makes no sense.

Again these are marginal decisions that I'm fine with. I'd prefer an extra safety who likely would make those same 7 tackles as a gunner and give us more depth in the DB group. But all in all I'm good with the roster. I'm going to assume Hollister comes back and they place McKenzie on IR or release Sweeney. I like the 7 WR's, I like the fact they moved Johnson and kept Obada, I like they cut Fromm, and I like the LB group. The reverse is if we punt so few times and most Kickoffs are touchbacks, then why do we care so much about the gunner position? No argument on skill level. He's a good player. I'd just go with a another DB and I think you can find someone to fill the gunner role.

He had 7 special team tackles last season. That tied him for 69th in special teams tackles. I would have kept an extra CB or safety over Jones. But honestly none of the DBs they cut deserve to make the team either. Hope so. Zimmer seems like a coach favorite so that would only leave Butler as the odd man out at DT. But like others said, just give it time and see who gets dinged up in the first few weeks

Phillips might not come back. I had him making the roster and not Zimmer. But Phillips just has not been good. My guess is they injury settlement him in a few weeks.

When healthy he is a top 5 CB. You can say he didn't play hard in Buffalo. You can say he wanted to leave or whatever you want but he won a MVP and he is a highly regarded DB. But I agree he does seem to attract drama.

He's in the final year of his deal and according to one site I saw he is the 13th highest paid CB in the league. He was pre-injury regarded as a top 3 CB in the league. Now I agree, he is 30 years old and his best days are probably past, but when healthy he is worth closer to 17M a year than the 13M he is getting for 2021. For perspective Ronald Darby is getting 10M this year. These are always incredibly hard choices for a GM to make. There are some players that can still excel even past age 30 at CB but it is rare. Replacing a CB of his quality in the draft will be hard and they probably overpay in FA for a lesser quality player. New England burned a ton of cap space on marginal players this past off-season and but they still have $14M they could use to pay Gilmore more for this year and next. It's a really tough situaiotn for a GM.

Why isn't depth at safety discussed more? That is the position group that I feel has the worst depth. We have two solid veterans. I don't know how good Hamlin is but he is alate round rookie. I'd like to see them add a more experienced third safety. Maybe Neal plays some safety in a pinch?

Yeah if it's not an injury it's him winning defensive MVP. Always something

It never was in the window

I 99.9% agree with you. But has he really done much in camp to be certain of a roster spot? I had him on my 53. But Ertz is still a possibility. I never had Sweeney on my final 53. Will be interesting to see how this all shakes out

If you are another GM, what do you give up for Fromm? He was drafted in the fifth round. By all reports he does not have a NFL caliber arm. A seventh? At best he is a 3rd string QB. I'd have no issue giving up a 7th round pick for a QB project. Not sure I would go much higher than that and I would instead take my chnaces he gets released.