GASabresIUFan

For a while there in the pre-season the Bills had David Edwards, Mike Edwards and Mike Edwards. Fortunately, only David Edwards remains on the active roster.

You guys are going to make the Cook haters really mad!

There was much discussion before the season on this board that the Bills had no elite players on the roster except Josh and maybe Milano if healthy. I think that argument is over. There are plenty of elite players on the Bills. The question for this thread is who is the 2nd best player on the Bills? Personally, I think there are 6 other truly elite players on the Bills besides Josh, a few others working toward that goal.

Say it isn't so. We dump Toohill just to get back the Clapp.

I didn't mention this in the OP, but I wonder is the original off-season plan was to have Samuel play the slot and move Shakir to Diggs' job. Shakir has developed into a great slot, but his combine numbers and physical traits are nearly identical to Diggs including height weight with Shakir being slightly faster. However, once MVS, Claypool and Samuel got hurt in camp, the plan changed and Shakir moved back into the slot to give Josh a go to safety net.

Maybe Brady is saving the "Samuel" game for the playoffs like he did with Ty Johnson against Detroit. He will probably get more looks than he has all season as the coaching staff works to keep the starters healthy.

Deebo?

On paper this had the hallmarks of a really good value signing. Samuel was productive even in bad offenses and he had a prior positive relationship with Brady. He has also proven productive in Wash and Car in the slot, occasionally outside or in the backfield. Kind of like a poor man's Deebo Samuel. He also has the kind of straight speed the Bills needed. So why hasn't it worked. Obviously the pre-season injury set him back, but is now week 16 and we have seen next to nothing from Samuel. You would think given Brady's experience with Samuel that he'd scheme to get him the ball at least 4-5 times a game and that hasn't been the case. I have a bit of a theory. I think he has a redundant skill set and Josh prefers Shakir and Kincaid (for obvious reasons) on the inside and despite his speed Samuel doesn't get separation when lined up on the boundary. He also doesn't give us anything in the backfield that Cook, Davis and Johnson don't already bring as well. Once he got healthy, the acquisition of Cooper and improved play by Coleman relegated Samuel to the 6th or 7th target behind Shakir, Kincaid, the RBs, Cooper, Coleman and probably Hollins.

I was listening to Marino's All-22 review podcast and he said something I've posted about earlier in this thread. He thinks that the Bills defense is better with Williams on the field vs Milano. I agree. The next 3 weeks in some respects are like the pre-season all over again for many guys on defense. The Bills need to continue to win in order to solidify a top 2 seed, but they also need to try to keep (or get) key starters healthy in order to go deep in the playoffs. Given that backdrop, for Milano, Williams, Lewis, Elam, Ingram, Jefferson, Phillips, Solomon, Carter and others these next 3 games about solidifying your place on the defense. I suspect Babich and McD will be rotating players more than ever to get the depth PT and to hopefully avoid more injuries. I'd like to see McD create a serious competition between Williams and Milano to determine the playoff starter.

I think the 4 most dangerous teams in the playoffs will be the Bills, Chiefs, Ravens and Packers. These are the 4 teams with the most dangerous QBs. Seriously, do we really trust Hurts, Goff, Wilson, Darnold, Stroud, or Herbert to take a team deep into the playoffs? I’ll put the odds of the Bills making the Super Bowl at 33% and winning 25%

Like OJ. Bruce Smith - In his 15 years with the Bills he was 1st or 2nd team All-pro 11 times (8 1st team). He was D Poy twice and finished in the top 5 6 other times. He also finished 4th in the MVP voting in 1990. He had 171 sacks and 1054 tackles in his 15 years in Buffalo. Think about that, he was a DE who regularly had 80-100 tackles in a season during his prime. OJ - 5 time AP 1st team, 1 MVP, 1 OPoy. He also had 4 other top 5 Poy and 3 other top 5 MVP votes. Bruce is the most decorated Bills player of all-time and OJ is 2nd. Other highly decorated Bills (stats from time in Buffalo) Billy Shaw - 8 Time Pro-Bowler, 6 time All-pro (5 times 1st team) - HOF Joe D - 5 time PB, 5 time all-pro (3 time 1st team) - HOF Reed - 7 time PB, 2- time 2nd team all pro - HOF Thomas - 5 Time PB, 5 Time All-pro (2 time 1st team), MVP & OPoy in 1991 - HOF Kelly - 5 time PB, 2 time AP (1st team) 2 top 5 MVP and 3 top 6 Opoy - HOF Diggs - 4 time PB, 2 time AP (1st team) ALLEN - 2 time PB, 1 2nd team AP, 3 top 5 MVP, 1 top 5 OPoy (plus whatever happens this season) Bennett - 5 time PB, 1 1st team AP, 2 top 6 DPoy

Praise Joshus!

We are going to see Bishop and Elam play often over the next 3 weeks as McBeane will want to see what these guys can do to help evaluate them for next season. That said, McD and Babich will want the best players out there until the seeds in the playoffs are set. Hamlin and Douglas are the best options if available.

I'm surprised the Bills PR team hasn't posted a retort.

Still doesn't explain the terrible play calling near the goal line right before the half. It's 3rd and goal near the one. Josh Allen is your QB and you can salt the game away and you put Josh in the shotgun. Dumb! It was a OC out-smarting himself. If you wanted to get creative, lineup for the tush push and have Josh bootleg. Better yet go big, and let Davis or Josh run behind Anderson and Knox.

I know, but there are people here willing to due on the dome hill.

Actually it would have since the players weren’t able to leave their homes because of the snow. Last I looked they have an indoor practice facility.

Do not rest the starters. Just rotate more players. For example for reps for Davis and Johnson at RB. More Knox and Morris and less Kincaid. Admittedly, McD will rest some guys with nagging injuries. Getting backup reps with most of the 1st strings is great experience and can only help short and long term. However keeping the starters engaged and sharp for the playoffs. The only exception is week 18, where, assuming everything is clinched, I'd start Mitch at QB, but playing with the majority of the starting offense. He needs reps with the 1st team and we need to keep Josh healthy.

Hollins best attributes are size and effort. He has carved out a nice career by working harder then most everyone and doing the little things to endear him to staff, teammates and fans. I would be shocked if he isn't re-signed.

Sure. I remember a Chandler catch as he was falling out of bounds but managed to keep the tips of his toes inbounds. I searched for a video of the catch on youtube, but couldn't find it. This isn't the catch I remember but it's pretty close.

How many players are even in the running? Our HOFers who were primarily Bills are: Billy Shaw, OJ, Joe D, Kelly, Reed, Thomas, and Bruce. The modern Bills are Diggs and Josh. Ultimately it’s Josh, Bruce or OJ. These are the three most dominate players in Bills history. My first Bills game was at the Rockpile OJ‘s rookie year and that 2000 yards season was something to behold. He is still arguably the best RB in NFL history and was virtually a one man offense. Bruce is the best defender in Bills history, but he was also part of defense with other excellent players like Talley, Biscuit, Conlan among others. That leaves Josh. He does things on the field we have never seen, especially the last two weeks. He is setting NFL QB records by the week and carrying this team on his shoulders. He is also far and away the best player on arguably the longest era of sustained success in Bills history with 5 straight division championships and 7 playoffs in 8 years under McD. The only things missing from his resume are an MVP and a Super Bowl appearance. So my vote is Bruce for now, given his records and the quality of the Bills teams he played on. Another couple of seasons like this one for Josh and Josh will be the clear leader and there won’t even be a debate.

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/sports/football/nfl/bills/2024/06/03/best-bills-players-of-all-time-we-rank-buffalos-top-100/72586456007/

Last season the D essentially collapsed in the playoffs under the weight of so many injuries. History seems to be repeating itself as 3/4 of the starters in the defensive backfield are now out and the Bills surrendering 86 points over the last two weeks. Remember this is a D that has held 5 teams to 10 points earlier in the year. Josh’s heroics not withstanding, the Bills are only going as far as the defense allows them to go. This team can’t win in the playoffs with a defense playing at its current level. The good news, I think, is that we now have 3 weeks of winnable games against bad teams that we can beat without rushing anyone back into the lineup. Of the injuries, Douglas and Milano are the most concerning. Douglas missed the Lions game, and Milano left with a groin injury. Even though Douglas hasn’t been great this season, Elam and Ingram aren’t up to the task of replacing him. Williams is good enough to replace Milano, but he too is playing through an injury. Spector is 3rd string for a reason. Hamlin and Rapp aren’t “out” longterm but nursing injuries that hopefully will be healed by the playoffs, if not sooner. Bishop is improving, but he also got injured against the Lions. Cam Lewis is good depth, but not a starter.

Yes. They had to do a zoom meeting instead.