Beck Water

The thing is, he apparently had a career year last season....AFTER recovering from the torn Achilles.

I can't hate on the notion of the Bills using sound draft resources at OL. That said, I think Beane has some kind of positional value metric he bakes into the Bills draft board, and C in Rd 1 ain't it. Do you mean Zach Frazier, C from WV?

I wouldn't say coyotes are that numerous here. But we do see them. The other day I saw one trotting along the railway embankment 3 blocks south of here. I had my dog with me (and no stick). I was surprised how big it was - I read that they're 20-50 lbs and 24" at the shoulder but I would have said this one was easily 30", it was bigger than my 22" 50 lb dog for real. I kept my dog at heel and shushed her when she wanted to bark at it. It was minding its own business and I wanted to keep it that way. Of course, it could have been a coy dog or a coy wolf. Hair sticking out could just mean a feral dog, we have a couple packs of them too. They're much more of a menace than wildlife IMO because usually wildlife are timid and wary (at least coyotes) but dogs usually have no fear of people at all. Someone reported 4 domestic rabbits in a particular area a week ago and then on Friday was all "I can't find a trace of them" well durrr. If not coyotes we have hawks and barred owls, too.

Can someone who is a Betting Savant please translate that for me? It kind of looks to me like they're saying you have to bet $230 to get your stake + $100 back if Diggs is on the Bills? (What Process means by "free money"?) On the other hand, if you bet $100 and Diggs goes to the Cowboys, you get $400 + $100 which I think means oddsmakers don't think it likely. Everyone else is higher odds yet. But I don't bet, and I really don't understand betting lines.

Do Not Blaspheme the Fitness of Cougar Biker Chicks by calling them a "bunch of old ladies on bike". You have no idea. Those mountain trails around those parts - they would drop you like a lead balloon. You would be "chick'd", for reals.

"As a species, cougars are not considered endangered" Two subspecies, the Florida Panther and the Costa Rican Puma, are endangered. The ordinary Western variety? Nah. They can be pretty hot, No Cap.

That's what the post-June 1 release of Tre' White is suppose to handle - another $10.2M of cap space, with $4.1M dead cap pushed into next year.

There are arguments to be made both ways. You can have a guy who looks all-world on scouting and film and is putting up great numbers, because he's playing against a lower level of competition (think Zay Jones playing for East Carolina). Maybe that will translate to a higher level of competition (think Stefon Diggs playing for Maryland) or maybe it won't. Or you can have a guy who comes across fabulous in interviews with off-the-charts attitude, maturity, and work ethic (think Nathan Peterman), but who doesn't have the athletic chops to cash the checks his brain can write when he's on the clock. And some guys just interview poorly. IMO you need both, though it's fair to ask if the Combine tests are still the best available metrics for players in this day and age.

Hollins played for the Dolphins during Covid year, yes. I'm puzzled, because I think it was a preseason game - I don't believe the Dolphins played the Saints during the regular season in 2020 - but my vague memory is that the preseason games were cancelled that year. Maybe the final one took place?

I got no comment on the tape, other than that a release at the college level ain't cuttin it in the NFL. But if a man has the security to play football dressed like a Banana Slug, or like an unholy cross between a Persian Lime and a Banana Slug, he's all right by me.

I look at it as sort of the standardized college admission test equivalent (ACT/SAT) - though those are falling out of favor due to flaws. But in theory, the idea of them was to provide college admissions offices with an apples-to-apples way to compare a kid from a huge highschool who was in the top 1/4 of his class, with a top-5 kid from a class of 100. I mean, we have fantastic athletes at all levels of competition, with all levels of quality in their teammates. The combine (in theory) is a chance to see them all together performing the same tests under the same conditions of altitude, field, etc. and provide an apples-to-apples metric. So in theory, it has value. In practice, it has flaws too.

Why?

What I can't get over is the persistence of those women. 15 minutes the thing had its jaws around their friend McDermott needs this story for one of his little pre-game speeches on working together and never giving up. "If 4 older ladies can take out an actual predatory cougar that's trying to actually kill and eat one of their friends, I KNOW you actual grown ass men can lace your cleats up and take care of 53 guys wearing stripes and calling themselves tigers."

Well....if people stop breeding pitbulls and pitbull mixes, it seems logical that the current breed individuals will age and pass on eventually then there will be no more No killing (except mercy euthenasia of geriatric sufferers) need be involved.

I would need to see that evidence. Do Not Believe. I mean, if it's not illegal to breed or own a pit or a pit mix, you can't arrest the breeders, they've broken no law.

Strap this story on with your breakfast coffee. 5 women, average age 59, were cycling near Seattle when they saw 2 cougars. One of the cougars leaped, grabbed the jaw of one cyclist, and dragged her off her bike by the head. (Cougars kill prey by crushing their heads and necks). The 4 other cyclists jumped off their bikes and ran to the rescue, hitting the cougar with rocks and sticks and trying to choke it and stab it with a pocket knife for fifteen (15) minutes, until it loosened its grip and the attacked cyclist got away. They then pinned the cougar to the ground with a bicycle and a large rock for 30 minutes until help arrived. That's the cougar, on the bottom there, covered with bikes, a rock, and three bad-ass women. OK, they didn't actually kill the cougar - a Fish and Wildlife officer responded to the 911 call and shot it. But from the photo, that was a 'mercy shot' Memo to Mack Hollins: I'd take your diet advice from these ladies, 'cuz, Savage. If they eat soup, Drink Up.

I'm just here for the title juxtaposition of "Beane's Soup" and "Mack Hollins Hates Soup". Are you Mack Hollins?

Dude. Just because AJ Klein got a start, doesn't make him a starter. Dodson, Same.

As soon as Beane perfects his crystal ball so he's 100% solid on which players he re-signs early will continue to ascend, and which will stumble, I'm sure he'll get right on that. At the point where Beane extended Knox very early in the 2022 season, Knox had just done everything the team asked him to do in 2021. Doubled his receptions, doubled his receiving yards, catch % up 14.5% with no increase in drops, better blocker downfield AND inline. So Beane has to make a decision: do I extend him now? If I don't, and he continues to equal or better that performance, he could price himself out of our market. If I do, and it turns out to be "regression to the mean" this season, it's a premature move. In fairness to Knox, his receiving use fell off in 2022 through no particular fault of his own - he was asked to block and chip because Spencer Brown wasn't cutting it, AND he had ligament repair surgery mid-season last year.

So, I have a theory here. Rapp played a LOT of ST snaps for us last season - 49%. The Bills are moving on from a ton of their ST core - ST captains Tyler Matakevich, Siran Neal, Tyrell Dodson, Trent Sherfield etc. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/2023-snap-counts.htm Not counting the kicker, that's 4 of their top 10 I think Rapp is getting a little bit of a *bump* over what he deserves as a depth safety, because the Bills liked his ST play but also feel he can contribute on D. It's a balancing act where Beane realizes he can no longer carry guys like Matakevich and Dodson (who play teams but really can't hold down a start on D). As a depth player behind Poyer and Hyde, he also played a LOT of defensive snaps last season once we lost Milano, so I think Beane also sees Rapp as a hedge for a hybrid role in case Milano can't come back or needs more recovery time (the injury he reportedly suffered is not one it's a sure bet to return from). IOW, Beane sees Rapp as having a combination of skills and scheme knowledge he can't just pick up out of the bargain bin. My theory will not please those who regularly rant against the Bills prioritizing ST, but that seems to me to be a priority in a number of these early signings - Rapp, Mack Hollins, Nicholas Morrow - all guys who have laid down substantial starting snaps at their roles on offense or defense, but who have also played ST. I think that's Beane's motivation in some of these early signings, to maintain or restock the ST corps but with guys who are better at their O or D positions than the guys they're replacing proved to be.

Whoaoa, That's Some Haircut!

So playing a bit of devil's advocate here: a trade after 6/1 can theoretically make sense if a team has their draft fall exactly the way they want, likes the longer look they saw of their rookie in training camp, perhaps has an injury which leaves them understocked at one position and overstocked at another OR has a veteran who is making "unhappy" ripples because they read the tea leaves and see their role as reduced. Teams also make moves to free up cap space after 6/1 as one cap management strategy, to sign rookies or any FA who have been playing the "wait and see" game. Right now though - is there even a position at which the Bills are going into the season over-stocked with talent? At the end of the season, I might have said "CB", but Tre White has been designated a post-June-1 cut and Dane Jackson has signed elsewhere, so we're "right-sized" at CB now. And we have Tre' White designated as a post-June-1 cut, freeing up $10M of cap which will give us extra space to sign rookies and perhaps a mid-tier DL. So I don't think either of the reasons why teams make post-6/1 trades apply to the Bills.

We take that into account, but we also take into account video of Diggs with his arms raised in "WTF?" position, yelling at Allen on the sideline while Allen studies his Surface tablet and ignores him. We also take into account Cover1 (who have some connections with players) saying "the Bromance is definitely over". We take into account Diggs ghosting on the team and media after the last two losses. To some people it's the behavior of a passionate competitor who hates to lose and understandably can't stand to stay in the building after a frustrating loss, and maybe better dip before he says something he'll regret. To others, it's the behavior of an immature and petulant guy who isn't committed to his brothers on the team when times are bad, thus showing poor leadership. Since none of us are in the clubhouse or on the practice field with him daily, it's impossible to say which perspective is more accurate and to what degree I support this strategy. I also support the strategy of taking a shot or two this year, and a shot or two next year, as necessary to "get it right".

You aren't alone, believe me. I think I understand pretty well and I can count on being called out for at least 2 or 3 gaffes per off-season. Bank on it, there will be a lot of posts in the next 2 1/2 months which show less understanding and less interest in learning.

I think there's room for some rational disagreement on whether it would move the success of our offense and our odds of getting to the playoffs next year. Vegas odds, I Got Nuthin', Don't bet, don't follow Vegas That's probably legit, he may well have been asked to take a pay cut or something and said. 'Um, let me think....Nah" but then worried about what that meant Dude, Please Stop. The Bills could pick up part of his salary. It would get added on to the $31M dead cap hit from all his bonuses accelerating into this season. We simply don't have the cap space for those kind of shenanigans. Sooner or later, everyone (and I include you in this category) have to see how absurd this has become.