jahnyc

Maybe, more Importantly, we can all agree that Josh Allen seems to be making progress in his overall development? Whether this means that he is the starter on opening day, who knows, but at least there is support for the optimism that he really has the potential to develop into a quality starting QB (or better) for the Bills.

I have a feeling that part of the FO's thinking has been that next year they will have the cap space to improve the o-line with free agent additions, so if McCarron or Peterman can play adequately, having Allen sit for the year would make sense for multiple reasons. Because Allen has been better than expected (at least so far) combined with the injury to McCarron, they may not have this luxury. The o-line is worrisome. I doubt there are many quick fixes here, but Groy should be starting and maybe Teller can take one of the guard spots at some point.

Very worried. Groin injuries are tough, and often seem to involve something else, such as a sports hernia.

Crummy question and apologies in advance if already discussed/answered, but what are the cap ramifications if McCoy is released? It is after June 1st, so does that matter?

I think the NFL will be difficult about the stadium. I have no idea what kind of leverage they have in this situation, but Goodell has raised the stadium issue a number of times and I think NFL may do something to force the issue at some point in the future if no progress is made towards a new stadium or significant upgrade of the current stadium.

The roster is being completely remade and they are only about half-way through that process. The defense appears upgraded and the offense seems to have lost talent overall without finding equivalent or better replacements. I assume the plan next offseason will be to upgrade the offense with free agent acquisition and draft picks. I think our offense will be our weak spot this season (and it may be very weak).

Not an unfair post. Our OC and QB coach may very well have the necessary collective abilities to develop Allen, but you can't say there is a track record of prior success in that regard. I do think that the Bills will quickly get additional resources if there is concern that Allen is not developing at the desired rate. Clearly, Allen is a major and priority investment for this franchise.

Russ never should have been the GM of the Bills, but I appreciate his contributions and efforts in keeping the Bills in Buffalo. I do not know much of a role he really had in the sale process of the Bills, but he clearly was effective in marketing the Bills during some difficult times and poor teams. I am in no way defending or mitigating his actions, but I do think he was good at the primary responsibility of his job (marketing the Bills).

I have no idea what is going on with RI, but I really hope he comes back. Without him, I agree that the o-line is in shambles. I don't think it will be so easy to find a starting guard in the middle rounds of the draft. We certainly have not been able to over the last number of years. We have a lot of needs on offense. You can make an argument that we need a new starting caliber center, starting quality guards (2), starting caliber right tackle, quality number 2, 3 and 4 wide receivers, number 2 TE and another back-up running back. No way that we adequately fill these needs with our remaining draft picks, underrated free agents or what is left on the free agent market.

Current realities are that teams have been loading up on multiple, quality WRs. One example is the Falcons selecting Ridley in Round 1 even though they already had Jones and Sanu. I hope Jones can develop this year, but if not, we likely will have the worst overall group of WRs in the NFL.

Whether you focus on Allen's ability to process (feel for the game) or the ability of our coaching staff to mold Allen, there is a lot to be concerned about here. Unfortunately, I am not optimistic.

I generally was impressed with McD's coaching last year, even if there is room for improvement in some areas. I like the way Beane has cleaned up our salary cap situation in one season, but he will be judged on this draft, including, in particular, his selection of Allen. He likely will have many more drafts, so there will be more to assess over time. He also will have an opportunity to improve the team significantly in free agency next offseason. We will need to see the results of all of these efforts before we can say they have earned anything.

Reminds me of when we picked Losman.

Sure seems like we overpaid to move up for Allen compared to what Arizona paid to move up to Oakland's spot (a 3rd and a 5th). I feel like there was a bit of panic in making this trade up at this point of the draft considering that neither Miami nor Arizona had the draft capital that we had to move up. I am very disappointed that we do not have a pick in the second round because of moving up for Allen. We have too many holes and this was not good value. Not a fan of this move or the pick.

The Bills may really like Mayfield, but they also may really like some of the others in the top group. We will see.

Interesting guy. I do like his competitiveness. Injuries and lack of real mobility worry me a bit more than the other stuff.

I don't like the trade of picks to the Colts from the Bills that King lays out. I would hope we could do the trade for less.

Sorry, I was referring to AJ McCarron (our new QB).

Some thoughts below: 1. I hope the Bills are not going to trade their first round pick for 2019. I am not doom and gloom about this season, but the reality is that there has been significant turnover in our roster this offseason and we will have a new starting QB with little or no prior NFL starting experience. Combine this with an o-line that has lost two strong starters from last year and we may take a step back in terms of our final record in 2018. It is not out of the realm of the possible that we could have a top five pick in next year's draft. 2. If our FO moves up in the draft and picks one of the top four QBs, I think our fan base will be more forgiving of a mediocre or poor record in 2018 than if the team plays poorly and did not draft their QB of the future. 3. The NFL showed no respect for what this team accomplished last year in making the playoffs in formulating the schedule for nationally televised games on Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights. Is this because the NFL is not confident that the Bills will be competitive this season? 4. After the draft and in the coming years, we will need to asses our draft in the context of our picks and the trades that were made to be in a position to make these picks. For example, trading Glenn to the Bengals to move up in the draft may have made sense if we get a great player as a result of the trade up and/or Glenn continues to have injury issues. If Glenn is healthy and plays well for a number of years at LT for the Bengals, this trade may not look very good in hindsight. 5. The Bills must be targeting a few players for MLB in the draft. This is a glaring need and they have not signed a veteran ( at least not yet). Of course they could be waiting until after the draft to see how things go with the draft before signing a vet, but you have to think that this will be one of our first picks no matter where we end up drafting. 6. I really want to know what is going on with Incognito. It has been quiet for the last week or so, and if he wants to un-retire, does he really need approval from the NFL/Commissioner? Is this perfunctory or would there be a question as to whether he would receive approval to come back? Based on his prior issues, recent behavior and age, I don't think we could trade him, but I would be fine if his head gets straight and he wants to come back. 7. I am kind of excited to see how AJ plays this year. I have no idea what to expect, but it should be interesting. 8. If we have the opportunity to draft one of the top four QBs in this draft, I have no idea which one we should select. Having said that, I do think the analyses that I have read suggesting that Rosen has the ability to process the game, make reads, go through progressions, and throw accurately should be critical factors in the decision making process. Over the years, I have seen too much of our QBs like Taylor, Manuel and Losman that had wild physical skills but seemed to lack these abilities.

The o-line looks bad right now and likely is one of the worst, if not the worst, in the NFL. We will see what the draft brings. One can argue that we need upgrades at four of the five spots on the o-line.

Of course this group of QBs is over-hyped. The NFL and all of the pundits need to create buzz around the draft to increase the level of attention and interest. Another factor is the belief that next year's crop of QBs in the draft will not be as strong. I do think this is a talented group, but three of the four (Allen, Rosen and Darnold) had at best mediocre final college seasons. I think this has created some uncertainty around their potential as franchise quarterbacks (at least compared to how they were thought of at the beginning of the college season). I would not make anything out of the lack of trades to move up in the draft to the top five (other than the Jets). Teams that have interest in doing so want to be strategic and move up only to the extent necessary. Plus no team wants to show their hand too early such that another team knows in advance exactly what they will need to do to get the player they want in the draft.

I have been wondering the same thing about Smith. If so, the Bills still may need to get into the top 10 to have a chance to draft him. Smith has been linked to the Raiders and the 49ers in many of the mock drafts that are out there (to the extent that means anything).

May depend on how much draft capital they need to trade if they move up for a QB that ultimately is a bust. The current regime also would look bad if they trade up for a bust and some of the other QBs they could have drafted become stars. As noted above, way too many variables. What will help is the available cap space next year. That can certainly mitigate the impact of making a poor QB selection in this draft. I give the front office credit for cleaning up our cap situation.

So what is the deal here? Unless I am misinterpreting some of the posts, did Richie do something such that he will not be welcomed back? If so, what was it? The reduction in his compensation this year did not make sense to me when it happened. Yes, he is now an older, veteran player, but he still graded out as one of the top guards and was a pro-bowl selection this past year. His compensation was not particularly high compared to other quality guards. I had been wondering whether the Bills extracted a price for their support during the season for the incident involving the defensive lineman from the Jags. I am sure the Bills were not happy about that incident after taking a chance on RI after his situation with the Dolphins. After these incidents and his recent outbursts, I doubt there is any team that would offer a draft pick for RI. I hope the Bills and RI can work things out, although the vibe seems to be that bridges have been burned. His loss would be significant, particularly in light of Wood's unanticipated retirement.

What I hope does not happen is that the Bills can't find a trading partner in the top 5, Darnold, Rosen, Allen and Mayfield are all selected early (top five or so), and then the Bills, desperate for a QB, select Rudolph or Jackson at 12, or worse, trade up for one of them. At that point, unless the Bills really do have first round, top 12 overall grades on either or both of Rudolph and Jackson, I would want the Bills to take Roquan Smith (LB) (if available). I really hope that we end up with one of the top four QBs in the draft. We have the draft capital to move up if necessary and possible, and we should if McBeane thinks there is a QB worth taking.