DCofNC

This was my point, I’m FAR from an athlete of their level and I struggled to just get back to “normal”. Covid is real, regardless of your views about it, ideas on the vax etc. , it is miserable crap. I couldn’t believe it took some of these athletes so long to return to action, then I got it and yeah, I get it now. It’s not as simple as the flu, it can linger for what seems like forever.

Anybody laughing at this hasn’t dealt w Covid. It took me 3 weeks to be able to get my normal lung capacity back after the rest of the symptoms went away. I had a mild symptom case, but it was a slow road to full recovery. I was just trying to get back to my normal gym routine, not compete against the most elite athletes in the world.

I can’t quite agree on win total, but I see your point. The thing is, you can tell people what’s coming and they still have to stop it. They brought in some good talent and they are getting a LOT back on D, so don’t discount that in the W column. I see them as a real contender for the playoffs, but I do believe that hinges on either Cam is back to a competent QB or Jones has one of those semi-special rookie years. The issue is, neither is going to be asked to do much and if the Ravens have proven anything, it’s you don’t need a great thrower to make it work. Regardless of who is closer here, I think we can both agree , the Bills SHOULD, beat them, but the Pats aren’t going to be a great match up if they can execute their game plan.

Totally agree.

I’m not deriving much of anything from a preseason game. Look at what they added and what they are bringing back and the plan looks pretty clear to me. They are going to be a tough team this year.

I expect Lawrence to be fine. Wilson is a wild card, but the odds are against him, so I’d call bust there if I had to. Lance, I’m just not sure. I think Shanny can make him look ok, but didn’t see a lot of passing from him, so this is tough. Heaps of potential, but I’d still say more likely bust than boom. Jones, I think will be a solid Andy Dalton+ type. Fields, I don’t know why, but I think has a chance to be above average. I look for him to be a mid-level starter in the NFL, similar to Tannehill.

Jones looked solid, didn’t seem to get rattled, put the ball where he should in most cases. They are going to play power football this season and if Jones gets in, I don’t see a real drop off from Cam, outside of running ability. If Cam does somehow regain his old form, they could be a real tough match up to deal with. The Pats D is what is going to be the story this year, they added Judon and are getting some guys back, I think you are looking at a top 5 D again, if not top of the league. It sounds odd to say this, but they built themselves to beat the Bills. They are strong at everything the Bills are weakest against. Not surprisingly, the Bills built a team that emulates the most successful teams in the last few years, the Pats tried to get ahead of the league cycle again by constructing a team to stop those teams. They are going to look to control the clock, pound the rock and rush the passer, with some good talent in the secondary. They are not going to be fun to play. I think there is a very real chance they are a 10+ win team this year and back in real playoff contention. If and it’s always a big IF, they can finish drives and get in the end zone early in games, that smash mouth type of game is going to be hard to deal with for a lot of teams who have built the lighter, faster D to slow down the high flying pass games. They will be tough for the Bills with their emphasis on running and using the TEs a lot, it’s the 2 areas this team is not great at.

That’s not an option, you don’t cut a 1st or 2nd round pick and hope they clear waivers to stash them on the PS.

Get him 100 reps before the start of the season and call it good. He’s been around plenty long enough to know his role and the fresher he is, the better. I hope one of the young guys can actually take a good portion of his snaps away without a meaningful fall off in assignment and he can be fresh and ready to terrorize when he is in.

I think, in context, it was accurate to say Josh didn’t belong in the top 100 after that season. Now after last year.. there’s just no arguing he’s one of the best at the biggest position of impact. To me, if I were building a team, purely on performance, he would be my #2 choice as things stand right now. Now if I were building a team and I had to coach it or just generally be around it, he’s my number 1 pick. Maholmes is the better performer thus far, but JA is close and his attitude/work ethic/general likability, it’s great to be a fan of.

If I were a single man, I would hunt her down and put a 💍 on it.

Well, you fail to understand the key element in it all, Jackson is “different” in a very special way from Allen. With one season of great play, you are forever the QB who can “change” everything.

I think IF, they commit to letting the 3tech eat this year and disrupt from the inside, meaning they are pass rushers, both Oliver and Zimmer have a place, not only on the roster, but to make an impact. The thing about that is, Star has to step up to his name. Somebody HAS to clog the lanes. I like Zimmer and I hope he makes it impossible for them to cut him, but I do think Butler has more of an inside track on the roster spot for a number of reasons. First and foremost, he’s got the right pedigree, like it or not, it matters and he’s 30lbs heavier = perception of better against the run. Second, it saves next to nothing (5.3m cap hit vs 3.5M dead cap) to cut him AND it looks bad on the GM to hand a guy that much guaranteed money, only to cut him. Third, Carolina connection 🤮. 4th Zimmer might get past waivers to the PS, Butler won’t bc of his former play. Zimmer basically needs to show he can be Ed Oliver 2.0 to get a spot IMO. The DEs they drafted this year are making the squad and both have a lot of collegiate success at rushing the passer from the interior, that alone may end his journey, just on numbers. Basham might actually be his biggest problem, he’s not a lot different in terms of size and what he does well, but he just had a 2nd round pick spent on him, he’s making the team. If he’s not ready for DE, he can be that pass rusher in the middle. It’s almost a lock (it seems) for Hughes, Epp, Boogie, Grootzilla, O’bada and Addison, does Johnson make it? If so, is he in over Zim bc Boogie can slide inside?

I was envious of the Maholmes deal for KC honestly, yes Allen got the better deal. 10 years to manipulate the money and not have to negotiate a new deal is amazing for the Chefs. Maholmes gave up way too much bargaining time IMO. Josh looks to hit the market again in his prime, good for at least one more similar deal. Maholmes will be 34(?) or so when he is due, meaning he’s getting a shorter deal on the backside or one that will be all for show with outs for the club to get rid of a gray beard. Allen locked in a lifetime of money in his deal AND gets to go back in his prime for more, he signed the better deal for himself. The sweet spot is about 3-4 year deals for the players, they get paid too of the market with a ton of guaranteed money and then get to reset the market again as its climbing, assuming your bet on yourself is a good one.

You are 100% right, but homer’s gonna homer. The Bills F*d up, they trade away the pick who is already on pace to be the greatest QB we have ever seen for a pick that turned into a good CB and a 1st rounder that’s not useful until packaged with others to get up to take a QB nobody was looking at in the year they traded away the pick that took the best QB in the league. It was a bad trade, end of story. To try to glorify it after the next GM saved it through a lot of hustling is absolute bs.

It sure looks like there are going to be some talented guys looking for new jobs. I think a few of them have some trade value. Touch Down Jesus may garner a 1st round pick from Aaron Rodgers, so he could be on the block. I hate to see It, but there’s a log jame at DE, somebody has got to go. Outside looking in, it’s Addison that’s gotta go. You have Hughes who seems untouchable (maybe not?), 3 guys you drafted in the last 2 years in the top 2 rounds, Obada who looks the part.. I’m not seeing room for much more.

I would argue that there is no real reason for the majority of the skill players to be out there until game 3. I certainly wouldn’t risk my best players for meaningless games. I’d roll the starting OL for 2 series or 7-8 minutes of time in game 1 and build them to just over a half for game 3, Diggs and Allen would be in the owners suite until game 3 and I’d sprinkle in Beasley and Sanders just to give MT a fair chance, but not much. The rest of the guys are competing, so let them go out there and show it.

Sounds like they need to send Engram out of town, can’t have those retaliatory type of actions, send him to WNY for a 5th, we’ll rehab him. He’s a classic example of an over drafted player with “Potential”. He is exactly what I was afraid we got when we drafted JA. Most end up more like Jones than reaching their potential. I hope the kid finds it this year and does well. The odds are against him, hope it works out for him.

I’d take McCaffrey off the Panther’s hands. They can have Addison back and a 5th rounder next year 😂

Uh oh, if McKenzie can actually run routes, this just got REAL. I’m really hoping he breaks out this year, there’s going to be less in the pot for Diggs this year, hope he’s good with it. Gotta think Diggs is looking for 100 catches and 1200+ yards, Beasley wants his 1k, Sanders and Toe Dragvis, need their 600, if McKenzie is running sharp routes, whooo boy, could be a 7-800 all purpose yards type of guy too. Allen better be ready to throw up a few 500 yard games this year to keep the boys happy. Only thing I have against the D, was the choice to sign Obada to a one year deal, really didn’t like that decision when they signed him. At least lock him in for a couple years, even as a rotational guy, there’s so much potential, I would have tried to lock him down. Love it.

Those were the best days, you just had to stand on the sideline area and hope for the a foul ball to come your way, much more exciting than baseball. Would a dime not imply hitting a guy in stride? Just saying.

I don’t see the rush, he’s going to get PAID either way. He’s getting a Maholmes-ish deal. I’d take another year on the cheap, but whatever. If they get the deal done, cool, but a lot more extensions after year 3 have been looked at as stupid than successful.

Man, I could not agree more. I will put it out there, I said Hurts was undraftable as a QB. I would not have him on the board and so many “experts” we all up on his junk. I stand by my assessment, the guy is basically Tebow 2.0 without the prayers. He seems likable, hard working, good football player, but your limit is college level. He can’t make the throes required to be an NFL QB on a consistent basis. He may improve, but I don’t see him sticking. I think Roseman is a horrible GM and it’s just starting to prove itself. They caught lightning in a bottle with Foles and still managed to screw up that good fortune by not taking advantage of trading him at the peak value. They got lucky finding a sucker for Wentz, but still are suffering for that contract. I can’t 100% blame them for the contract in the first place, he did take the league by storm, but he looks off the rails after the injuries, they rolled the dice and lost. This is about the equivalent of everything Bills fans endured pre-Doug Whaley. I know I’m not in the majority, but I don’t blame him for the ***** storm here, he put together a good roster, having the old man force his hand screwed him. I have to tell you, I think had he been given the reins on his last draft, this team would be as good or better than they are now. We would have had Maholmes or Watson with that 1st round pick and nobody would be upset with him. Personally, I think it would have been Watson, who is a great QB although appears to be knocking on the career suicide door pretty hard. The roster he built, did make the playoffs with a backup QB as a starter. Beane has done a good job reshaping the team in the image of the new staff, he also got pretty darn lucky to be able to land JA. He gave up a lot to do it and took a HUGE risk, but it paid off. That along with the move for Diggs have been some serious signature moves, hopefully someone else he drafted can step up big because right now, his history isn’t great, but that’s another conversation.

The guy is a real good ST player, I think that alone gives him an edge to be on the roster. If he contributes at Wr it’s cool, but not overly expected.

Would love a good Vet TE on the roster.. just saying.. also saying no way in hell I would give up more than a 5th and take that contract.