Simon

I have no idea what may have gone on behind the scenes; just that the difference between the guy they drafted and the guy they traded is genuinely stunning.

I'm not saying he was great, or even a natural. But one thing that he wasn't was scared. After 4 years of being repeatedly castrated by McDermott, he was absolutely terrified of his own shadow by the time he left here. Maybe it was a poor pick as a result of failed scouting, but the Bills coaches did nothing but make the whole situation worse.

Even a blind nut finds a squirrel every once in a while

You hating something the Bills did? Perish the thought

If you're ever in the area you can go in during the day and walk around and check the place out; it's worth it whether there is a band playing or not. Weird story: A few years ago I was passing through and wanted to show my wife what it was like to see the Dead from the front row on a stage that is only like 2' high. We go in but they have the front 4-5 rows blocked off because they were setting up for a show that night. I asked a guy that was working who was playing tonight and he said "I don't know him but some guy name Bill Kreutzmann" Talk about coming full circle!

I wouldn't respect you if you didn't try

That's fair and could be true, but the difference between 2022 Elam and the mess that was tiptoeing around out there in 2025 was so stark that I can't absolve the staff for being a part of it.

I don't want to do anything that might kill the poor kid

When you go from looking competent and unafraid as a rookie with upside to looking like a terrified train wreck 4 years later, that is not on just the player, imo.

Good grief, we're running out of pins for topics!

It turns out Charlton Heston was actually dead the whole time!

This debacle is one of the few examples where I think our coaching staff absolutely screwed up a player's development. In his last game he was an utterly scared, confused mess, which he wasn't as a rookie. He was a worse player when he left here than he was when we drafted him.

It was actually just a few days after I had inadvertently ended up front row center (the only time ever) at Red Rocks wearing a kimono stolen from a Japanese hotel That was a good week; wish I remembered more of it!

I've snuck into a couple Dead shows (my favorite was strapping on a pack and hiking into Telluride over the ski area to bypass the roadblocks;-) but I've never smashed up stuff to do it. Those youngsters lacked guile and subtlety

I remember being outside a show at Giants Stadium watching people tearing fences down trying to get in and this laconic old Head walked by me and said "Jesus, I hate the East coast"

Nope, that was August 3rd

Wow, good homework. I hadn't thought of it from that perspective. I think the Bills are doing it the right way by finding guys to play the position that have already shown some chops instead of using draft picks. This just reinforces that opinion. 👍

Neither is that

Is that when Skynet became self-aware?

Forrest has only had one actual injury in his last 8 years of football, that was the cracked shoulder two years ago.

You know who actually got really good at it toward the end of the year? Cole Bishop

They didn't even use any late round picks for depth at the position. And it's worth noting that neither of those starters were drafted either. The Bills seem to have a philosophy of using draft picks on cost-controlled impact position and Safety doesn't qualify, imo.

In the 8 years of the McBeane era, the Bills have used a draft pick on exactly one safety. In 8 years. Anybody that thinks they are going to use another high pick on a safety for the second year in a row isn't paying attention.

This is one of the most out of touch statements you will ever witness in this forum.