Einstein's Dog

I hope this year the Bills can get credit for winning the games we should win, because we have 11 of them on the schedule (according to Vegas). As for QBs, you will be able to make a list next year (and every year): R Fitz x2 (or Tua) Stidham x2 S Darnold (insert excuse here, but he is just mediocre at best) x2 The corpse of P Rivers The corpse of B Roth D Lock D Carr (similar to A Dalton) As for the AFC East comment w the Bills having a better team but a worse record, please remember the Bills only went 3-3 in the division last year. And while you claim the other teams have gotten better, what you really mean is the Jets and Miami have added new players. It looks like the Jets have just recycled mediocre parts - Perriman and the like while Miami has added a ton of what could be better pieces. But Miami has a long way to go and has too many new pieces. And you certainly can't be including New England who no one thinks is better this year. The Bills have made incremental concrete improvements on offense- Diggs as WR1 and Moss>Gore. Plus a year for the majority of the group to grow and gell - in particular J Allen, the O Cordinator, the Oline, and Knox. The Bills will be better. So yes, the Bills will have a better roster, but finish with a worse AFC East record? Worse than 3-3, so 2-4? Come on now, no way.

I think the Pats are in for a big decline. BB can only do so much. The Bills weren't too far behind last year and the Bills got a lot better (Diggs) and the Pats look to be a lot worse (Brady). I think people downplay the loss of T Brady. Sure he didn't put up the stats as before but his understanding of the offense made that oline so much better. And his delivery of the offensive philosophy made the coaching easier. Personally I think TB will put up huge numbers in Tampa. A big reason he chose to go there IMO is the offensive potential. I will be targeting TB in FF.

And prior to the trade I was incredibly worried about the WR1 pick. Not only is the league wide hit rate around 50% but this front office seems below average. And with the recent wounds of Zay Jones and K Benjamin who wasn't worried?

Clowney would be a DE. Theoretically the Bills would cut Murphy to make the room. Seems highly unlikely at this point however. The Bills already have a large percentage of cost invested in the DL and just put draft capital into the position. But for me, the idea of adding an elite player like Clowney to this D is just so appealing. I know his stats weren't there, but from what I saw he passes the eye test with flying colors. He would add a dimension of speeding up the time clock for apposing QBs that is so valuable. He just fits what our defense could use.

Bill -glad to read your excitement. I would have to think you would be in agreement with me on the unusual joy that New England has helped us achieve. NE unable to come to grips with TB now has the Bills as frontrunners for the AFCE. And to add to that NE took Duggar, and there are strong rumors that the Bills would have taken him over Epenesa. I value Epenesa over Duggar and am pleased things broke the way they did in that regard. The slight differences I have with your thoughts: I am ecstatic over the Diggs trade, to me that was the biggest need and they addressed it big time (much better than trying to gamble on a rookie). Secondly, the Fromm pick doesn't do much for me. Like you said the backup QB can be important, and IMO Fromm won't be useful for years if ever. I look forward to the time when J Allen is so secure in the position that a real QB can be positioned there - kind of like the New Orleans model. This team would be much better positioned for a great season if it could have handled Cam as a backup. If Josh goes down, the expectations for the season go down a cliff, and Fromm IMO does nothing to stop that bleak scenario.

Might not go 6-0, but what I'm saying is the Bills should be favored in all of the division games. Someone posted the early Vegas odds and I believe that is already the case. And if the Bills go 5-1 division they would just need 6-4 out of division. Still doable (AZ, Pitt, LAR, LAC, Denver, Seattle).

Yes, of course the Bills should be better. The on paper improvements to the offense alone - Diggs/Moss, continuity of oline and OC, and experience for Josh. The Bills should have improved more than most teams. As for tough schedule - outside the division- yes. But the division, namely the Patriots has softened incredibly. The Bills went 3-3 in the division last year, this year the Bills should be favored in every divisional game. Miami is in the first year of a rebuild, the Bills improved more than the Jets and were better than them last year, and the Pats are in tank mode. So if the Bills are projected at 6-0 in the division, they only need to go 5-5 outside of the division to hit the 11-5 mark. Very doable.

Sorry, I can't let this Knox hate go unchallenged. Like if Knox pancaked the guy, the flagged play would have ended differently? There was a penalty on the play for god's sake (and the penalty was not on Knox). The play was coming back. As to the OP, yes they are both under pressure to improve. A key to this improvement is the development of Josh. I think Josh has improved significantly and Daboll is a big reason why. It needs to continue and improve though. This coming season when the Bills have the ball, 2 or more timeouts, and around a minute to go in the half at around the 30, I do not want to see them sit on it. Saw that at least twice last year, kind of pathetic.

Not from a defensive point of view, Carolina and Atlanta stink. Plus he now has Evans/Godwin + Gronk along with the Arians mindset of letting it fly. Certainly beats the grind it out New England of last year for stats.

I think in a small way it's possible. I think TB did a superbowl/stats combo analysis for a place to play. New England probably was a ways down the list - and in part due to the Bills. They already weren't putting up the stats with the Bills and New England is a team on the down slope right now. San Fran offered superbowl hopes, Tampa offers pinball type number possibilities. I'm going to seriously consider TB in FF this year.

Are you seriously trying to compare Alex Smith to Aaron Rodgers? Come on man. Then you follow that up trying to compare Love to Mahomes? My god. For KC to get over the hump they needed to improve at QB and they did. Green Bay needs some WRs, and what did they do?

I was thinking that too. That Beane got some value from players that looked to have been severely downgraded due to one bad day.

No, they weren't going to be a lock, but what they could have had was hope. They don't have that now, a backup QB as your top pick is painful. And the idea that Love is going to stop Packer fans from crying in the future seems pretty far-fetched to me.

Yes, the Packers had a good season last year, over-acheived IMO. And while you may not think a rookie WR would get them over the hump, no one thinks a backup QB will. I, along with most people (and probably Vegas), think the Pack will have a worse season next year. And if I were a fan I would not like it.

Seems to me like Beane has been finding value in pro day drops. Espensa fell, poor Fromm got crushed for his one bad day. Last year Singletary took a hit, and this year I think Moss got hurt a little. Beane keeps the body of work in mind and seems to find some value in over reactions on one poor day.

I agree with you. IMO the better use of the draft picks would have been on Hopkins.

Of course this pick is different. And even if Love works out it won't be for 2020. Horrible draft and I believe people will pay down the road for it.

A little harshly stated, but I understand your point. It's a good group but not with much upper echelon players. But as can be seen by the depth and investment it looks quite unlikely that they would add Clowney.

The pick is controversial because they are a contending team that could have done improvements for next season and been a contender. Instead they went with a backup QB and backup RB. Most people consider them draft losers for a reason. It has to frustrate the fans and Rodgers not to see the FO improve that receiving core.

And I contend they drafted for need this year (and it worked out great). Round one was going to be WR. They even said they couldn't get one (and went so far as to discuss the possibility of moving up to 18). Round 2 they were leaning DE, the best one on their board. And yes, they were always going to claim it was BPA. IMO, they got lucky Epenesa dropped, but if not they would have taken the highest on their board, Urche/T Lewis/Weaver types. IMO, round 3 had options. If a prime WR - Claypool or Mims had dropped I think they would have pulled the trigger and then moved up with their next pick to get an RB. Since a desired WR didn't drop they took the best RB on their board and took the best WR on their board in round 4. After round 4 it's a crapshoot but Beane said he went more for need in those rounds (but once again that's really just coachspeak since he went need all along).

Well, yes, the draft wasn't as captivating this year, we didn't have our first round pick. If the move for Diggs had been delayed to draft day this place would be going crazy! And rightfully so. It would be viewed as the best draft day in years. WR1, good Edge addition, RB1b. Wow. So, IMO, the offseason has been tremendous. Especially viewed in that the Bills were pretty good last season. It's just that the biggest addition happened a month ago and is kind of old news now.

I totally disagree. This BPA talk has boiled down to coach speak. Round 1 - WR. They were going WR but since it looked to them they weren't going to like the choice there they traded it for Diggs. Great move but obviously they used round 1 for a need and not taking BPA. Round 2 - DE. Going to get a DE which will allow them to jettison someone like Murphy or replace Hughes/Addison. Epensa fell into their lap but I bet T Lewis /Weaver/Urche would have filled that same void. Not really BPA but best DE available. Round 3 - RB. They knew an RB would be there in round 3, a non-prima donna RB like Singletary. If Moss wasn't there then Evans/McFarland/maybe Dillon would have probably fit the bill. Round 4 -WR. This is supposed to be a historic year for WRs. Take 2 in later rounds to see if you can hit with one as an eventual WR replacement. I never heard of the guy they took, but I imagine best WR on their board. After that it is a crapshoot. But there had been talk about needing a backup QB, and a CB. Great draft, but IMO, they had it in their minds pre-draft to go DE, RB, WR.

The Bills are probably set at TE this year. As others have said the FO has not neglected the position, they drafted 2 last year. It seems a purposeful strategy to identify winning draft picks and allow to develop. If successful the Bills will be good for an extended period of time. If the draft picks work you slowly release the veterans and maintain the home grown studs (usually slowly but can be quick like with RBs). Knox is one of those developing players that will be a stud (w Allen, T White, Edmunds, Singletary). You should start marinating your crow now, because it looks like it will happen this season. I would have liked to see an addition though. They missed on Olsen. I don't think OJ Howard is the answer. Time for Knox to be the man IMO.

I had been of the opinion/hope the Bills were going Edge in the 2nd. Didn't think they would be able to get Epenesa, what a break, thought more in the line of T Lewis. Give the new DC his choice. It is a long/intermediate winning strategy. These guys are close to 10 mill a year, a good RB like Fournette is a 4 million player. Need to jettison/replace Murphy/Hughes and probably pretty Addison within the next 2-3 years. Need to make cash room for the hopeful budgeting of the franchise QB Allen and some others. Getting a non prima donna RB like Moss will keep the RB room young, hungry, developing w Josh, and cost contained. Now they can get their developing CB. This guy will be in line to move out one of the underperforming expensive vets, whoever that is Gaines/Norman or maybe Wallace (hopefully not but he really needs to improve a lot, not all draft picks work out). Great draft IMO. Great value at positions that the team can use young players.

Even if he just becomes a quality rotational DE, that is still a great pickup in the long term - excellent strategy. Look at how much good DEs cost, they are in the 8-10 million range. How long do you think it will take before he is better than Murphy. End of this year I would say. Helps for succession planning for the moving out of Hughes and Addison. Great intermediate to long term team planning.