BigAl2526

Ravens. I'm actually in two survivor leagues. In the other one I took a slight chance and picked the Bengals over the Browns. I think the Bengals will handle the Browns, but the Browns do have some weapons and division games have a higher chance of defying the odds.

Any strong opponent will make me a bit nervous. The includes the current edition of the Jets.

Absolutely. I don't know what the laws in boating are, but I would hope most states would require some sort of insurance for boat owner/operators. Unless the guy is either wealthy or carries some sort of liability coverage in might be tough for Hines to collect any meaningful compensation, but as they say, it's the principle of the matter.

Legitimate year to year comparisons are impossible before the season starts. I am hoping that Josh keeps learning from his mistakes and becomes the best version of himself, but we can't be sure that will be the case. I think the running back room is stronger than it's been, but Damien Harris does have that worrisome injury history and Cook is awfully small to take the pounding if he has to be on the field too much. I think there is untapped potential in the receiver room, that we still haven't seen the best of Gabe Davis. Trent Sherfield also might be really good. Harty can be an explosive gadget player, not to mention returner, but he also has an injury history. If they all play to their potential this could be the best Bills receiver group ever. Unfortunately, it's rare that best case scenarios work out for every player. The tight end group is highly likely to be among the best ever for the Bills. The offensive line should be the strongest of the past several years, but as we just learned Dion Dawkins had to lose 40 lbs over the last five months because he got really heavy by the end of March. Significant weight loss and improvement in strength and technique are usually mutually exclusive. Hopefully, Torrence is the real deal and is as solid in the regular season as he seemed to be in pre-season. Hopefully, Brown can rediscover his earlier promise and McGovern is as solid as we hope. None of those outcomes are guaranteed. I think on defense, the line should be solid to start the year and great when Von Miller returns. That's pretty close to a sure thing. Von is obviously on the back end of his career though and that could mean he'll be more prone to injury going forward. That is the main fly in the ointment. Linebacker is the obvious choice for the position group that took the biggest off season hit. Terrel Bernard won the starting middle linebacker position without taking a preseason snap. That says a lot more about the Bills lack of trust in Dodson than it does about Bernard having been great. The Bills have to hope he is a huge surprise to the upside. I suspect they'll also be hoping that Kirksey can get comfortable with McDermott's defensive system with all its intricacies. I think the secondary is really good. I don't see Benford starting as a problem at all. The depth is solid at both CB and safety. The primary question mark with the secondary is the durability of Hyde and Poyer since both are over 30 now and coming of a year where they dealt with injuries. Put it all together, and I think the Bills are potentially better, but there are so many ifs on the roster, it's possible we'll look back in five months and wonder what happened.

Given that Buffalo is playing the media darling Jets in the first game, those two hopes are probably mutually exclusive. If Buffalo beats the Jets, they automatically put the league on notice that they will be a significant factor in the playoff race.

Stefon means they all need to shower.

I hope he's learned his lesson. I also hope that he can be in good form this season. It will be better for him if he can maintain some dietary discipline early in the offseason so he can focus on getting stronger and sharpening his technique instead of losing large amounts of weight. It's hard to maintain strength or even get stronger if you're having to lose weight at the same time.

I think that for pass defense Bernard is the better choice. He might, however, get manhandled by offensive linemen blocking for runners at the second level. I hope our defensive front four is strong enough against the run to compensate for the lack of brawn at the linebacking.

I'm expecting to see an updated depth chart with some changes.

Sure would be nice.

I had reached the same conclusion about a short passing game. It is absolutely essential versus the Jets.

Interesting. He's a big bodied TE who should be able to block. Prior to the combine he was thought to be fast for a big guy and to run the 40 in the 4.6 range. At the combine, however, he ran a very disappointing 4.95. I have no idea why the expectations different from the results, but at least he gave the indication thaty he might be a receiving threat as a pro.

I think the short passing game is going to be key for the Bills on offense. They won't be able to protect Josh for a lot of downfield shots.

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.