BigAl2526

Whether good or bad, I can't say I contribute to that distinction. I'm a teatotaler. The last drink I had was 49 years ago.

Darnold has a better skill set with a live arm. I wouldn't mind Darnold as a backup once he learned the offense.

I cut the cable a couple years ago. I'll be fine with the local ABC affiliate. Later in the season, I'll be screwed when the Bills are on a game ESPN carries but they don't put on ABC. It'll be radio only for that game.

I have no problem with Beane's drafting. Teams do not hit on every draft pick. It just doesn't happen. I don't think Basham is a failed draft pick. Had the Bills kept Basham and cut or traded someone else, I expect Basham would have had a few sacks and the kind of stats you expect from a rotational player. The Bills traded him because it was a crowded room and they like what they see from Kingsley Jonathan, who costs them a lot less. I think Kaiir Elam is going to be fine. It's just taking him some time to adapt to zone defense. I think he would have been OK as a starter this year if the Bills had gone that route. The Bills got really lucky with Christian Benford. As far as this year's class is concerned, I'm generally not into making predictions. I expect that Kincaid and Torrence are going to have successful careers. I'm optimistic about Dorian Williams. I think Shorter is a coin flip. I think Broeker and Austin probably have backup potential. The Bills just happened to be fairly crowded at their positions. Van Demark and Anderson were better than the Bills expected. Broeker was never going to beat out McGovern or Edwards.

That's the main reason Kirksey was cut. I'm down for Kirksey, or Jones, or both.

I bombed out of survivor early last year. I don't recall if it was the first or second week of the season. I figured I'd take another crack at it this year.

If he goes to the Patriots, can he play QB?

I'm underwhelmed.

A reliable veteran backup would be a relief.

Just to remind everybody, Jason Peters is 41. There is a story on the web that he is interested in playing for the Jets. At 41, my guess is that he doesn't need the money and he will only play for the team he chooses. I' would be a bit surprised if that's the Bills.

I saw it on a site I can't find, but here's another story from the Giants' perspective that says they acquired Basham for "next to nothing." Giants add Basham If true, that's really disappointing.

Benford is not going anywhere. He's got nice size for a CB and better athleticism than Jackson. You have to give Jackson a lot of credit for sticking with the Bills and contributing, but his ceiling, like Levi Wallace's ceiling, is still limited by the lack of athleticism. Benford doesn't have Kaiir Elam's athleticism, but he has enough to be a quality starting CB in an NFL zone defense. His college background and football intelligence has kept him ahead of Elam. That's not going to change in the near term. Right now, Benford is the second best outside CB on the team. The Bills aren't so foolish as to get rid of that at the start of the season. I don't know what the future holds for Elam. I think he is a good CB. Whether or not he can become fully comfortable in a zone defense is impossible to predict. I think he sticks around this season. Next season, depending on what happens with the CBs, someone could be trade bait, but I don't see it happening in the near term.

I'd at least consider him as a developmental QB.

Kyle Allen leaves a lot to be desired as a backup QB. The Bills have clearly been trying to do backup QB on the cheap, journeymen whom they can sign for a little bit of nothing. The exception was Trubisky, but I think they even got him for a decent price since he was on the outs in Chicago. Unless they get lucky, I suspect the Bills are probably stuck with Kyle Allen this season. If he continues to disappoint in the regular season, the Bills will go looking again next off season. It's possible they could find a veteran backup who won't cost an arm and a leg, but they would need to be pretty lucky. More likely, they will have to put out a little more money. I think at the same time, they need to start looking for a young developmental QB. They have as much chance as finding a youngster with the talent to develop into a solid backup as they have of signing a veteran on the cheap who is a great backup.

I see that Van Demark is the #2 left tackle. There are just five tackles on the roster at this point with Shell retiring and Doyle going to IR. One question mark is Garrett McGhin. He's got versatility, being able to play guard and tackle and pro experience in the XFL where he played tackle and got some league honors for his play. It matters a great deal how high the Bills are on McGhin, especially playing left tackle. #3 at LT is Gouraige, another UDFA. Quessenberry is not so good that the Bills are going to rely on him to be the only backup OT. The question is whether or not the Bills are OK with what they have, or they are looking to swing a trade for a tackle with some experience. Acquiring a tackle via trade would probably be bad news for Van Demark. Barring that, Van Demark probably has a good shot at making the team. As far as another team picking him up off the PS is concerned, my guess is that most and perhaps all teams in the NFL probably have a veteran backup at LT, a draft pick or a UDFA like Van Demark and Gouraige. The only way they would pick a UDFA of a PS is if they have a reason to think he's better than what they have. Van Demark played at freaking UConn and had almost no prior football experience. It seems unlikely that another NFL team's GM would have a lot of intell to go on that would suggest Van Demark is better than what he's already got. Putting a player on the PS is always a risk,, but I think it is far from a certainty that Van Demark would be signed away from the Bills.

If Benford is as good as he seems to be, I think the Bills are fine at CB. IIn theory, you want a first round draft pick to be on the field, but in the grand scheme of things, this is a tiny problem for the Bills compared with a couple other issues the Bills are dealing with.

I agree that Van Demark is an intriguing prospect. He's pretty new to football, and the jump from UConn is huge, so it could be foolhardy for the Bills to put themselves in a position where they might have to depend on him this season. I have no idea if the Bills can manage to keep him on the 53 man roster given needs at other positions, but I think it would be relatively safe to keep him on the practice squad.

Is there a wheelchair league the Bills could join?

A player for play trade would be nice. They're tough to arrange in the NFL though not unheard of.

Maybe if Buffalo could get Indianapolis to include Zach Moss in a trade along with Jonathon Taylor they could bet Indianapolis to lower the price.

So, sweetness would be Buffalo mashing the Jets, winning the division championship and the Super Bowl, and Diggs winning the receiving crown with 120 receptions or so and a couple thousand yards and declaring that when he retires, he wants to retire as a Bill.

At this point Quessenberry is Brown's backup. It's not what the Bills were hoping for after the off season moves they made, but they're familiar with that scenario. Even with Quessenberry, they are an elite offense. If Torrence is as good as we're hoping, it might benefit whoever is at right tackle. I'm actually a bit more concerned about left tackle. Dawkins looked fat in the spring and played pretty poorly at Pittsburgh. I'm a little concerned that maybe he doesn't take off season strength and conditioning as seriously he should be. If he goes downhill, the line is in a lot worse shape. If right tackle play is similar to last season line could actually be a bit better with McGovern and Torrence at guard. I am kind of intrigued by Ryan Van Demark on the Bills roster. I don't know that I want him on the field this season, but he's got decent measurables (speed, length) but he came from the University of Connecticutt rather than even a lesser division one school. He hasn't even played football that long. The jump to the NFL might be too much to make in the time he's had with the big boys even though he showed pretty well against Pittsburgh's backups.

He was listed at 225 lbs in college. On the Bills roster, he's listed at 218 lbs. Still very small for a linebacker

The score in a preseason game has value only as one of many indicators of how individuals and the team as a whole played in the game. It can be a faulty indicator though. If one coach plays his starters for three quarters of the game while the other coach keeps his starters on the sideline, the score becomes meaningless.

A Buffalo Rumblings article is wondering if Rashaan Evans or Jarrad Davis, former first round picks, might be candidates to bring in and bolster the linebacking position. Evans played weak outside linebacker in the pros, but was a middle linebacker in college. Davis has played middle linebacker and SAM in the pros.