GASabresIUFan

Steve Young. Those pesky MVPs and a Super Bowl win.

Actually the original Taco Mac, when it was owned by a couple from Buffalo, was great. It was in the Virginia Highlands part of Atlanta, right near my first home here. Now it's just another franchise place. Oh well.

It's not going to matter. They have plenty of space to cut him. Despite a couple of clutch catches last year, he still not good. His catch% is 50% for his career. On 42 targets last year he only had 315 yards or about half of Shakir's production with a similar about of targets. Personally, I think this is Beane's worst signing on the off-season.

MVS. Hamler and Claypool both outperform him in camp.

Proven depth and that’s about it. 1 QB - check 2 Deep and talented RB room - check 3 excellent TE room - check 4 talented and deep OL - check, people can worry about center all they want, but McGovern played center in HS and College. He’ll be fine and has a stud rookie backing him up. If SVP beats out McGovern at center, McGovern goes back to guard and Edwards to the bench strengthening our OL. 5 Deep WR room with significant upside - We aren’t going to miss Diggs at all. 6 Solid DL starters - Oliver, Jones, Rousseau, and Epenesa are all good to excellent. Miller and the rest of the depth are an unknown but guys like Williams, Johnson and Smoot all have significant NFL experience. 7 LB room - maybe the best we’ve had with Milano, Benard, Williams, and other strong depth (Morrow & Jones). Like the rookie to make it even better. Excellent starters at CB - Douglas, T Johnson, and Benford are all very good to excellent. Elam and depth are the questions. Safety - Edwards played well as an injury starter in KC, Rapp did the same here. Bishop could easily beat out one, but that would be a good problem. It would be a great bonus if Hamlin gets back to the player he was before his injury. The Bills, especially on defense, would benefit from staying healthy for a change. However McD knows defense and we weathered Jones, Miller, Milano, White and Hyde’s injuries on defense last season and honestly, I think our depth on defense is more talented than last year even if some are very young. Draftees, Carter and Ulofoshio will strengthen already strong groups. If Solomon proves he can rush the passer in the NFL then all the better. People need to chill. We bring back 8 starters on offense and 9 starters on defense. We have added Samuel and Coleman to the WR group, and brought back Epenesa and Jones. This is a really good football team with the potential to be great.

Under. We drafted Davis to take away some of the short yard punishment from Josh.

I honestly don’t care if Samuel or anyone else has a career year this year. I care that our top 3 WRs, Kincaid and Cook all have solid seasons giving defenses too many dangerous targets to cover. If Knox, Hollins, Davis and Claypool all play well all the better. PS - I don’t think MVS is making the team. Mr Drop-o-matic is just a lesser version of Gabe Davis. Claypool gives us similar size, better speed, and upside potential.

The only answer.

They had 95 last season with Knox out 5 weeks and Kincaid inactive for a week. That works out to 115 catches if both played every week last season. Over! Kincaid might have 100+ on his own.

Lacks difference makers? Seriously? You mean besides Josh Allen (Pro Bowl -3), James Cook (all pro 2023), Kincaid, Oliver, Taron Johnson (all pro 2023), and soon to be added to the list Benard, Benford, Torrence and possibly Shakir. I also think Rousseau will be a difference maker this season since he returns to his natural position. Didn't he also acquire some guy named Diggs in a trade? You know the only guy in the NFL to have 1000+ yards each of the last 5 seasons! He also drafted Wyatt Teller (2 All pros - 3 pro bowls) Chiefs and Bills have the two highest win % in the NFL for the last 5 years. Had we been in the NFC, we'd probably would have been to 2-3 Super Bowls already. Sorry Gunner, you are better poster than that comment.

What hit piece?

B+/A- He has built a consistent winning team. He has drafted well at points and better recently. He has also consistently found gems late in the draft. He has added quality bargain FAs. Has missed on some bigger ticket players (see Miller), but at least the swing for Miller was done for the right reasons. He has also made a few lousy contracts like Miller and Knox. His trades have mostly worked such as Douglas and Diggs. I am also impressed with his ability to retool and create a youth movement for the Bills while fixing the cap issues (he created) on the fly. I also like his commitment to finally developing our own top end skill players with the additions of Cook, Kincaid and Coleman. The only real criticism of the Beane era is that we haven't reached the Super Bowl, much less win one. Had we made a Super Bowl, I'd give him an easy A.

Ok you are wrong. This thread is about the best Bills running backs and where Cook fits in that pantheon. I said he doesn’t yet because he’s only been in Buffalo 2 years. As to is he a difference maker already , he is! No one finishes in the top 3 in yards from scrimmage and didn’t make his team better. He single-handedly demolished Dallas last season. He did wear down late in the year and that is why they drafted Davis. Davis will help limit the punishment Cook and Josh take each week.

He became important last year when he put up 1500 from scrimmage. He doesn't really become relevant to this discussion until he earns a new contract. Outside of Thurmon, OJ, Jackson and Cribbs, none contributed beyond 3 or 4 years. The same goes for the WRs. Outside of Reed, Moulds and Diggs, who else made a significant contribution beyond a few years. Elbert Dubenion was great for his era with 1 1000 yard season and 1 for 950+ and he did it getting thrown to just a few times a game averaging less then 3 receptions per game. Lee Evans is probably next on the list after those 4, and he had a grand total of 2 1000 yard seasons. Stevie Johnson had 3 1000 yard season and then was done. Frank Lewis had 2 1000 yard seasons as well.

1. Thomas - Leads all Bills players in scrimmage yards 2. OJ - He truly was a killer RB. 3. Joe Cribbs - 3 1000 yard season plus nearly 1800 yard in receptions 4. Fred Jackson - Thy name is longevity, but only 1 1000 yard season 5. Travis Henry - 2 huge seasons seasons (1438 & 1356), but then was gone much to soon HM - Marshawn Lynch & McCoy Top FB 1. Jim Braxton 2. Cookie Gilchrist Did you know that Josh Allen is 7th in career rushing yards for the Bills. It's much much to early to label Cook as anything but a potentially excellent player for the Bills. Cook's Rushing stats were our 21st best rush season (we have had 31 1000 yard rushing seasons) and he currently its 20th on our all-time list. OJ had 5 1000+ yard seasons (in only 14 games) Thurman had 8 (16 games seasons). Truthfully the Bills have had only 2 great RBs plus Lynch who they moved on from much to soon.

UGA’s last two National Championship teams. 15 players drafted off the first one (a NCAA record). They then would win it again and then lose another 10 to the draft. This past draft another 8 off a 13-1 team would go plus transfers Burton and Mitchell who played for Georgia on the 2021 and or 2022 Championships teams. Of those 35 players, 9 were 1st rd picks and 7 were 2nd rd picks.

Samuel, Coleman and Shakir are set in stone Hollins, because of this special teams skills is probably a lock for a job. That leaves Shorter, MVS and Claypool fighting for one or 2 jobs. If I had to guess right now they keep six and Shorter is sent to the practice squad. In this scenario. Claypool and MVS make the team.

I just about to say the same thing. That said, he is the only center on the roster PFF has a draft on. McGovern, the presumptive center, has a grade as a guard. They graded McGovern at 55.4 last season.

The only thing I'd add here is that there is value in keeping your own players. This is not always an over-riding consideration, but it can tip the scales.

More proof that the NFL stand for Not For Long.

I’m a Cook fan. I had the pleasure of watching him for 4 years at UGA. However, I am fully on board with the Beane/Brady plan to create good RB group to help preserve Josh and Cook. I would not be surprised if this past season would be the pinnacle of Cook’s scrimmage yards for his career. Not because he isn’t capable of giving us even better numbers, but because Brady and the Bills will want to spread the ball around so that no WR, TE or RB is the whole offense (like Diggs was). They want interchangeable parts (or at least high quality backups) and this is good for the team, and probably for the long-term health of the players. I’m going to use UGA as a illustration of the plan. At UGA, Smart utilizes a 3/4 RB committee and a 4/5 WR committee. I think the last UGA receiver over 1000 yard was AJ Greene. It’s one of the reasons guys like Burton and Mitchell left. However, UGA’s depth allows the team to continue to excel despite injuries. The plan seems to be working, as they have only lost 2 games over the last 3 years and won 2 championships, yet have not had a 1000 rusher or receiver (although Bowers got close twice). I think this is the direction Beane is heading. The RB room now features Cook, Davis and Johnson. Cook is the starter, but Davis and Johnson will see plenty of action. This will limit Cook’s numbers, but should extend his career. If I had to guess, Cook will look more and more like Kamara as the years progress and he should earn a 2nd deal, but it won’t be a blockbuster. I’m more curious if Davis gets a 2nd deal. I also think this is something Beane has always wanted. He drafted Singletary and then Moss the next year, but it didn’t work out. Now he has Cook and Davis. I like this tandem better. By the way, which was the more surprising stat; that Cook only had 230 carries in college (and was a 2nd rd pick) or the Davis had 746?

I agree with the first part and not the second. This discussion is way premature. Injuries, cap, production, other positions of need, talent in the draft etc… will all play into the decision 2 years from now. However all the arguments against Cook so far aren’t supported by facts. The only real argument against Cook, assuming he stays at or near this level of production, is that RBs have a short shelf life. That said, RBs that are as good as Cook catching out of the backfield tend to last longer. As to the second part, Davis and Cook are the same age. Davis also took significantly more pounding in college as he was the featured back most of his college career. Cook played in a 3 back platoon at GA, was only the featured back one season. In fact, Davis had 746 carries in college while Cook has had only 556 between college and the pros (230 at UGA & 326 in Buffalo). If anyone has more tread left, it’s Cook.

Cook was 7th in the NFL in yards receiving by a RB last season (while only 20th in targets) His 10.1 yards per catch was second only to Brian Robinson Jr. 10.2 for the 48 RBs with over 20 catches. His 4 receiving TDs was 3rd overall behind McCaffery with 7 and Jerome Ford with 5. He also caught 81.5% of his targets. His 4.7 yards per carry was 6th of the 35 players with 150 or more carries last season. Seems to me that it's up to Josh and Brady to get him the ball more in the passing game. Bottom line: Cook was 4th in the NFL in rushing yards, 7th in the NFL in receiving yards and 3rd in the NFL in yards from scrimmage. Enough people. We have an elite RB and if he continues to play at the this level, he will be getting a 2nd contract with the Bills.

That is stupid money even for a great WR.

The guy finished 3rd in yards from scrimmage for all RBs in the NFL in his second year. How is that average?