GASabresIUFan

Zero chance. Only an injury to one of the top 3 could open the door for Evans or Gore. Evans is probably fighting Gore for a PS gig. The Bills like what they got from Johnson last season and he’ll probably take over the kickoff returner duties in the regular season. He played only a few snaps against Pit as he is coming back from injury.

Preseason game 2 is in the books. There was some good play by a few bubble players that helped their cause. Ingram and Hardy probably solidified their roster spots. There was also some mediocre play by some known vets (or in Trubisky’s case terrible play) that hurt their cause. Trubisky also got hurt. QB (2) - Allen - Bubble Trubisky and DiNucci RB (3) - Cook, Davis, Johnson PS - Gore and maybe Evans FB (1) - Gilliam WR (5) - Shakir, Samuel, Coleman, Hollins, MVS (injured) - PS Shavers, Hamler or Shorter TE (3) - Kincaid, Knox, Morris. PS - Davidson OL (9) - Starters - Brown, Torrence, Edwards, McGovern, Dawkins; Backups - Van Denmark, Anderson, Grable, SVPG. Cut - Collins. PS - Clapp? Specialists (4) - Bass, Martin, Ferguson and Hardy (KR/CB) DE (6) - Rousseau, Miller, Epenesa, Smoot, Solomon. Bubble Jonathan if they keep only 5. PS Cline. Cut - Toohill DT (4) - Oliver, Jones, A Johnson, Carter. Bubble - D. Williams (if someone gets hurt or they keep 5). PS - Ankou LB (5) - Benard, Williams, Jones. Bubble - Spector, Ulofoshio, Andreessen, Morrow. Morrow and Spector have injuries. Milano may have to start the year on the 53 man roster if he might come back this season. Right now I see Andreessen to the PS and Morrow cut. CB (5) - Douglas, Benford, Johnson, Elam, Ingram. (Hardy is CB 6 but is already accounted for). S (5) - Rapp, Hamlin, Bishop, Lewis. There is a job here for someone, probably K Jackson. IR - Edwards There is one job “open”. Does it go to WR6, OL10, DT5, or S6? Milano’s status may cause a temporary LB6. Injuries may also cause a S6.

Stock Up: (Rousseau and Oliver were in mid-season form today) Here are some guys who I thought helped their cause today 1) Ray Davis 2) Frank Gore Jr. 3) Hardy 4) Ingram 5) Andreessen 6) Q. Morris 7) Z Davidson 8.) Bass - 3 for 3 baby! 9) Jonathan 10) Martin - 6 punts - 52.8 yard average Stock down: 1) Trubisky - at least 2 of the sacks were his fault for not getting the ball out quick enough. 2) Hamler 3) Shavers 4) Shorter 5) Edwards (OL) 6) Collins (OL) He looks done. I think Jonathan, Ingram, and Hardy did a great deal today to help earn jobs on the 53 man roster. Andreessen may have played his way onto the practice squad. I'm bullish on Shakir, Samuel and Kincaid, but Hollins, MVS and Coleman have not impressed so far. Coleman has an "excuse," but Hollins and MVS don't. The good news for them is Hamler, Shorter and Shavers haven’t done much either. Granted Trubisky is throwing the ball to them, but I'm not really seeing them get open much. I hate to say this but Davidson looks better than any of the depth WRs.

I think he already won the KR job. McD is working at CB to see how valuable he can be besides returning kicks. I thought Jonathan played well tonight. Wilson and Fields are terrible. That said, I'd take Fields over what I saw from Trubisky. Fields can at least make something happen with his legs. Give him to Brady for a couple of years and he'll turn him into a QB.

The kid did a great job of playing himself on to the practice squad.

Just finished watching the pre-season game. 1. The defense looked much much better. 2. All the o-lines created running lanes 3. Mitch Trubisky is just awful. It looked like he can't read defenses, has no idea how to get the ball out quickly and has happy feet in the pocket.

I disagree. They traded a guy who is past his prime, who started dropping too many balls, became a problem in the locker-room and had the about same amount of yards as Shakir on 3 times the number of targets after the first 6 games. It was time to move on. We also have no idea if the offense is going to worse because of it. Elway said the other day, that Josh is going to be even better this season because he no longer has to force feed Diggs the ball. In addition, Kincaid and Shakir are ready for even bigger roles in the offense. There is a good chance that the offense will be just as good if not better than last season. I am worried about the safeties, but I think the quality of the entire team is about the same as last year, but could be better if all the 2nd years starters (Torrence, Shakir, Cook, Kincaid, Benford and Benard) continue to improve.

Anybody who says that the Jets have the 2nd best roster in the NFL has zero credibility.

Fair question, but the injuries continued to mount. Against KC Klein started for Benard, and Dane Jackson started for Benford. Losing those two young starters really made things tough. The D still held KC to 27 points, and the Bills didn't score in the 4th qtr. In fact, the offense had 3 possessions in the 4th qtr after KC took the lead. The first 2 possession resulted in 5 net yards. They then moved 54 yards, but missed the game tying 44 yard FG. After KC took the lead, the D allowed only 47 yards to the KC offense on 3 possession. So was it the defense or offense that lost the game?

I know people are freaking out about the defense, but how different is the D this season from the one that finished last season playing very well? Last season - DL - Rousseau, Oliver, with a rotation of Floyd, Epenesa, Miller, Settle, Joseph, P Ford and S Lawson This season - DL - Rousseau, Oliver, D Jones with a rotation of Miller, Epenesa, A Johnson, Smoot, Carter, Solomon, and Jonathan. This year's group is much stronger. Last season - LB - Dodson & Benard - with depth of AJ Klein, Williams & Spector This season - LB - Williams & Benard - with depth of D Jones, Morrow & Spector (or Jones & Benard - with depth of Morrow, Williams & Spector Honestly, I don't see much difference. When Milano went down last year, they tried Williams and when he failed, the inserted Dodson. This season it's a battle between Williams and D Jones to replace Milano. I really don't see much difference at all, except Williams and Jones have the potential to be better than Dodson. Benard should also be better as a 2nd year starter. Last Season - CB - Douglas, Johnson & Benford with Elam and Lewis for depth This season - CB - Douglas, Johnson & Benford with Elam, Lewis, Ingram and Hardy for depth Benford should be even better as a 2nd year starter and Elam looks vastly improved Last season - S Rapp & Poyer - This season - S Rapp & Hamlin - with Bishop and maybe Edwards as depth. This is the only area that looks like a problem, but Bishop is back to practicing and Hamlin has looked good in camp. He has starter experience of 13 games in 2022 including 91 tackles before his injury.

Which is the hot take, mine or his?

He has Jets with the 2nd best roster after going 7-10 last year and they are starting a 40 year old QB who lasted one play last season.

Let’s remind people of what happened last season. They got waxed by the Steelers in preseason. They lost to the Jets in week1 after knocking out Rodgers for the season in the first series. They lost Jones, White, Milano and Hyde on defense for some or most of the season. Diggs’ production fell off a cliff before mid-season and we fired the OC after 10 weeks. They still won the division and a playoff game. PS : I forgot we got nothing from Miller and had Rousseau playing out of position all year. We were also starting rookies at TE and guard.

Shoulder injury.

First thing first. Losing Milano is a huge loss, but unlike in years past, the Bills are in better shape to survive the loss. Beane invested at LB in the draft the last 3 years by drafting Benard, Williams, Spector and Ulofoshio, plus signing two vets with good track records in Jones and Morrow. Remember the Bills did pretty well without Milano in 14 games last season and Benard will be even better this season in his second year as a starter. Ultimately, Williams gets the first shot at winning Milano’s job. Williams flashed in two starts, but was ultimately benched because of poor zone pass coverage. If this improves, he could win the job permanently. If he doesn’t, I think Deion Jones takes the job. He is perfectly capable of giving us what Dobson gave us last year. I live in Atlanta and I’ve seen Deion Jones at his best, and if he stays healthy, he is very capable of becoming the starter and giving us good play. I think the Bills like Spector as well, but he just can’t stay healthy and is again banged up. He did play pretty well late last season when forced in the lineup.

It’s a good thing Beane has drafted a pile of linebackers the last 3 years in Benard, Williams, Spector, and Ulofoshio. Adding Morrow and Jones in the off-season doesn’t hurt either. Despite losing Milano, the Bills are still surprisingly deep at LB if a little inexperienced. Don’t forget that the Bills played without Milano for 14 weeks last season, (weeks 6-17 plus 2 playoffs games), and the LBs played well in general. The biggest risk here is if Williams becomes the starter, he will need to be much more consistent than he was when he became the starter last year. He also needs to better in zone coverage. McD said he is the next man up. I think the biggest beneficiary of this injury, besides Williams, is Deion Jones. Right now Spector, Morrow and Ulofoshio are also banged up.

Milano, the new Tre White?

https://static.www.nfl.com/image/upload/league/events/draft/2024/NFL-Draft-Map-2024-v2.pdf Here is the map for the Detroit draft locations.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/buffalo-bills/news/bills-offense-worst-league-very-important-statistical-category-josh-allen-jalen-hurts-2024/fef0bf786841941785788c52 I don’t think this comes as much of a surprise to Bills fans. The Bills red zone passing attack the last few years has been lacking and if memory serves the red zone is where Josh seems to make his most egregious interceptions. I think this issue is quietly behind why Beane completely revamped the receivers, including Kincaid, the last 2 off-seasons. Look at who Beane has brought in; Coleman (6’3” 213), Hollins (6’4” 221), Kincaid (6’3” 246), Claypool (6’4” 238 - sadly on IR), MVS (6’4” 206). Even Shavers is 6’4” 211 and Shorter is 6’4 229. Add these guys to a healthy Knox and Josh should have an array of bigger targets, most with good hands, to throw to. The only exceptions the signings of Samuel and Hamler. Hamler was signed to compete as a KR, while Samuel was signed as a Swiss army knife for Brady’s offense. After all you still have the move the chains to get to the red zone.

I'm not sure I agree with this 100%. 1st rd picks, especially in the NHL and NFL, certainly get the benefit of the doubt and multiple opportunities (especially QBs) even if the crap out at their 1st team. However, once they hit the practice field, coaches and GMs want to put the best team on the field. It's why Cousins beat out RG3. It's why Benford beat our Elam here in Buffalo. There are plenty of other examples. Certainly $ invested in a player matter. Dead cap is a serious issue in the NFL and teams try to avoid it. Would the Bills had kept Elam around to develop if he was a 6th rd pick vs a 1st rd pick. Maybe not. Will MVS make the team because of his dead cap hit if released? Probably, but Beane has been more aggressive in dumping players regardless of cost. (See Diggs and White). In fact the Bills dead cap this season is over 61 million, the 2nd largest in the league.

Can you say Ryan Tannehill.

One other note on NFL QB's, almost all the good one are high draft picks, but not necessarily the 1st over pick. Stafford is the only 1st overall pick to win a Super Bowl in recent years, although Burrow made it to the Super Bowl. If you had to make a list of the top 10 QBs in the NFL + HOFers still playing (excluding players drafted in 2023 or 2024), your list would likely include Mahomes (10th overall), Allen (7th overall), Tua (5th overall), Love (26th overall), Herbert (6th overall), Goff (1st overall), Stafford (1st overall), Burrow (1st overall), Rodgers (24th overall), and Jackson (32nd overall). The only guys outside the 1st round are Purdy (262nd), Prescott (135th) and maybe Hurts (53rd). Even the next layer are mostly 1st rounders; Mayfield (1st overall), Lawrence (1st overall), Watson (when mentally stable -12th overall), Murray (1st overall). Only Geno Smith (39th overall) is in this tier and he's a surprise. PS I'd add Stroud to these lists (2nd overall), but one year is not enough to establish a trend, but he's off to a great start. So why do guys like Trubisky get drafted high? Well GM's are desperate for a franchise QB and will do almost anything to get one.

Ryan Leaf, Rick Mirer, JaMarcus Russell, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields, Daniel Jones, Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota, Blake Bortles, RG3, Jake Locker, Sam Bradford, Mark Sanchez, Blaine Gabbert, Akili Smith, and Tim Couch. Here is a long list of the top 10 (and mostly top 5) QBs drafted high that you seriously ask what the heck were those teams thinking.

Better 1. TE - same players, but Kincaid in his 2nd year will take a major step forward. 90 catches with 1000 yards+. Also a fully healthy Knox should contribute more than he did last season. Brady will be calling a large number of 12 personnel plays 2. LBs - a healthy Milano, coupled with an improving Benard added to excellent depth in Williams, Spector and any of Morrow, Jones or Ulofoshio. 3. RBs - Cook will continue to develop plus the addition of Davis. Add a more run oriented offense Brady at the helm Same, but could be better 1. DE - Lost Floyd, but gained a healthy Miller coupled with a return of Rousseau to his natural position. May have better depth with the development of Jonathan, the addition of Smoot, return of Epenesa plus draft pick Solomon 2. CB - Douglas, T Johnson and Benford return. Elam looks improved. If Elam and Benford continue to improve, the could become a huge strength of the D. Same 1. DT - Oliver and Jones return. Like the addition of Austin Johnson. Will Carter and D Williams provide adequate depth? 2. QB - Allen is Allen and could actually have a great season without having to force feed Diggs. No depth behind him, just like in years past. 3. Kickers - Martin and Bass. Talk about hit or miss here. Let's hope Bass can return to being Bass-o-Matic. Same, but could be worse 1. OL - 4/5 of the Oline return, with key depth David Edwards stepping in the lineup. Morse and Bates are gone taking significant experience with them. Van Denmark, Anderson, SVP and Grable have zero NFL game experience. Worse 1. Safety - Rapp and Edwards, the pre-camp penciled in starters, are a downgrade from Hyde and Poyer. Now add that Edwards is hurt and high draft pick Bishop is hurt. Lewis is more CB than safety. That leaves the returning Hamlin as a de facto starter. Hamlin played in only 5 games last season and mostly on special teams. He did start 13 games at FS before his injury in 2022. NFL vets K Jackson and Burgess were signed as injury insurance. This position is currently a mess. Complete Unknown 1. WR - Out with Diggs, Davis, Harty and Sherfield. In with Shakir (as a focal point), Samuel, rookie Coleman, Hollins, and maybe MVS or rookie Shavers. Diggs was the only WR in the NFL to catch 1000+ that last 5 seasons. However, Shakir has more effective than Diggs from week 7 forwards catching about the same number of yards on 1/3 the targets and had significantly more chunk plays per target (17 on 45 targets). A significant piece of Diggs' 160 targets with be going to Kincaid at TE, thus possibly limiting the number of opportunities for the receivers. Our top 3 WRs accounted for 2540 yards on 191 catches (286 targets) with 17 TDs. Can Samuel, Shakir and Coleman give us 2500 yards? I doubt it. I'm projecting 2200 yards for the trio.

I don't think you have to worry. Unless he plays like a pro-bowl caliber player this season, the Bills will let him go to free agency. I think they really like Van Denmark.