Mikie2times

It's very hard to put a value on a bonified insurance policy for the most important position when you're making a run at the Super Bowl. We have been fortunate with Josh so far. Call me crazy, but to us, right now, this season, I wouldn't take a first round pick for him.

Another interesting tidbit on Rousseau, he has the 13th biggest hands ever recorded for a DE. It goes back to 1987. So he has elite extension and hand size that you see once about every 3 years. I think he uses both to maintain control over his opponent.

Wingspan has to be part of "the process" the Bills use at DE. Rousseau was 9th among DE's in this years class with 34.75 inch arms, that would have been good for 3rd last year. Instead, last year Epenesa was 3rd in 2020's class with 34.50 inch arms. Reach allows ends to keep separation from lineman. It's a fundamental advantage if you have it. Doesn't mean you will be successful, but it helps if the other skills are present. Rousseau also shows closing ability, leverage, and power. He's also not exactly a poor athlete. He ran Sub 4.7. I think Esenesa will be much improved this year, but Rousseau eventually taking more snaps. He's just more talented. We will rotate a lot anyway. Good problems to have.

We still make the playoffs with Mitch. That's how good I think this team is as a whole. We need Allen to go the distance but Mitch can weather the storm if needed. He was just in a bad situation in Chicago. This is perfect for him to reinvent himself. He's a good fit for our offense.

Ya, I was not sober when I wrote that, not my best work 🤣

I agree 100%, ESPN and NFL network have much more accurate coverage 🤔

We knew the names, but to see it stacked on paper, we are loaded on both sides.

He can give every American about $500 bucks.

But how does it look without Peyton? Thurman was a trend setter. He redefined what a RB can do giving people like James a new path. The rest that followed, specifically if they had an elite QB, I don't trust the numbers. It starts to become who were you drafted by? James was an excellent player, but I still think the Peyton led Colts don't skip a beat without him and if he was drafted by the Bengals we aren't talking about this. HOF players have to be capable of taking over a game or be responsible for a shift in play. I said Thurman earlier because like Thurman, James was applauded for his dual skill set. That said, Thurman allowed James to be James. So you can speak in similar terms with both but only one of them was a trend setter. James was never a guy that could simply take over and dominate and that should be the HOF standard. Stats are meaningless in this conversation. Could James take over a game without Peyton? I don't see it.

I think the OP is getting a little too much flack on a what seems to at least be potential situation. Just because other leagues have had fans doesn't mean it will be the same in College and Pro Football all season. Vaccination immunity is likely going to reduce in conjunction with Delta growing. The state of NY is going to act more defensively than other states. If Cuomo puts similar language in effect on gatherings as he did last year would it be that big of a shock? It doesn't matter what any of us think of Covid, it matters what the Federal government and State of New York think of it. In that context it's plausible.

Just based on the timing the vaccine was released, when the Delta strain is supposed to really hit hard, then a low probability of a vaccinated/infected person even going for testing, then the frequency of testing done in the NFL (less for vaccinated players, but still will be done). The NFL might have one of the better environments we will find in the coming months to understand rates of breakthrough infections against variants as well as decreased immunity as whole.

Randy Moss is a good example of a WR that made QB's. We also saw what that looked like when he was partnered with Brady. So you can get sort of a back and forth in these types of comparisons. Was Moss great before Brady? Sure. Was he better with him? Unquestionably. The same can be said for both Allen and Diggs. Neither need each other to be good/great NFL players. Partner them together and it's something special. It also shouldn't be discounted that they have great chemistry and truly seem to enjoy playing together. I would imagine they would laugh at this thread where a lot of other combos over the years, at least internally, think they have an answer to the question.

Probably my favorite Bills WR of all time. https://www.buffalobills.com/video/video-eric-moulds-career-highlights-14186613

Deacon Jones, just wow. How neat seeing this. Congrats Bruce, the all time spot is the all time spot. Just floored by Jones. I always knew it would be high, but averaging more than a sack per game started with 3 seasons at 20+ in 14 game seasons.

Some really good responses. I understand the polarizing nature of all of it. Some of you just know more about Ralph and the story than I do. All I know, even not being a WNY native, if the team ever left Buffalo it would be over for me. I'm just very thankful that we have our team.

You got it!

As I sit here in what I consider to be the arm pit of Ohio, Toledo, a city of 276k, packed with probably as many restaurants as it has citizens. Median household income of 37k. How is that even possible? Then I look at Buffalo and go figure, exact same population and exact same median income. I also understand like any city outlying suburbs have more money. About double the median income, again, no different than Toledo. I also understand the impacts of Buffalo having Rochester, Syracuse, and Toronto close by. Toledo is blocked by the Lions about an hour north, Cleveland an hour and half east, but you aren't getting near a pro football team anywhere inside an hours drive. Again, not all that different on distance compared to the outside populations that support the Bills. This is probably the biggest edge Buffalo has in a debate of why they should have a pro football team vs a city like Toledo that is so similar. I'm 30 years into this, like Ralph, from the Detroit area. I understand Ralph was a cheap and meddling owner and he drove us bat crazy. That said, I don't think I have read one positive post about Ralph Wilson since Terry grabbed the torch. I don't see Bills fans as thankful for what Ralph gave us and that's not what I have come to associate myself with in being a Bills fan. We are a die hard, loyal, appreciative group. Can we start appreciating Ralph for what he did and not the things he failed at doing? If the NFL picked a location for each team starting anew, Buffalo isn't on the list. They aren't even on the 2nd list. Ralph put Buffalo on the list and he kept us there. I don't care about the ways he failed. What he did for WNY is special and it should always be considered special.

Really good post. I expect Daboll will compensate with balance. Not balence in a traditional sense, it will come in waves similar to what you see with the Chiefs. Some games the Chiefs will run an inordinate amount of times almost completely giving up on the passing game. Other games they barely run at all. The Patriots did the same for a long time. At this point we likely don't even need a very good running game to be good at it as a result of what we did last year. I feel last year, even towards the end, teams just never respected how good our passing game was. I don't expect that happens again in 2021. Which also doesn't mean we have to have a great run game either. We just can't treat it like our first Super Bowl.

I forget the member of Kiss that played TE during that time. I believe he was cut and converted back to being straight when he no longer did the eye shadow and nails

Just watch the games then. Not trying to come off as a jerk either. You get some BS with just games, not much, but some. That said this is a message board during the offseason. Just about anything and everything will be discussed. I often find myself taking several month long breaks especially in the offseason. It's your choice.

In a historical sense, it's a real threat. That said, how can you defend a guy that doesn't know what he will do from play to play? Run the play, take off running, bail on everything and make throws nobody else can. Allen isn't like anybody to come out in god knows how long. That doesn't mean he is the best but his game is the definition of exotic. If teams get ahead of Daboll it could slow Josh down, but I'm confident if that happens the Bills will adjust. I expect Allen to improve despite knowing most would recede.

It shouldn't but it does. It also becomes relevant in a similar way it was in the services. If the most macho organizations in our society can accept somebody in the ways you suggest, it would show a lot of progress for society as a whole. The fact that this thread exists shows us we are not at that point yet.

We can talk about this without including our own feelings and strictly looking at it from a business standpoint. We are very deep at WR and yes, losing Cole would certainly hurt. That said if the NFLPA doesn't change it's stance on this topic I don't know how we can proceed forward with him on the roster. If you separate all the BS around this topic it really isn't that different than when companies bring in new management. If you don't want to get on board that's your right, but it's also the companies right to then decide if your presence, regardless of talent, could serve as a distraction or impact the whole in a negative way. I certainly think Cole would have a risk of doing so if we did retain him and he refused to comply to the NFLPA guidelines. I hope this gets resolved as it Cole seems like a pretty popular guy in the locker room. I respect anybody's stance to take a stance on what they feel is right regardless of how I feel. I think the Bills feel the same, but they don't have the luxury of running a business that way. For the NFLPA to really get serious about amending this they will need some big names to stand up. Quarterbacks, stars, and several of them.

I see many of the same concerns, but at the same time, he seems to close very quickly putting it into a gear he doesn't look like he has. Then once he's near you, with that frame, it's over. Really not all that different than Epenesa in the sense that I don't we see him as ready at the start of the year, but by middle, late, he very well could be contributing.

I don’t think he’s worth a 1st but he would be an improvement on 50% of the teams. Wasn’t far from a Super Bowl a few years ago, even if It was more of a defensive team.