FilthyBeast

I see another poster shared the link to the article I was was referencing about Jones possibly being in the MVP conversation. Obviously the difference between Jones being a 'dark horse' MVP and our own stud QB being an MVP is that the former would be unexpected compared to a more proven commodity like JA17/Mahomes/Rogers/Brady/etc. But when you look at Mac Jones specifically relevant to the Pats roster (specifically on offense) it's already very impressive what he did as a rookie so if he were to truly carry the team this year similar to his predecessor in years past it's definitely not out of the realm of feasibility for him to win MVP.

I would honestly be surprised if neither Tua or Jones amount to much in this league. I get the Tua criticism given how his first few years have panned out and all the other outside noise around him (i.e. trying to trade for Watson last year) but still think he's already shown he's good enough to be a 'low end' type of franchise QB so to speak given his precision accuracy. Jones is the guy I'd watch more closely this year given how impressive his rookie season was and there are already rumblings about him being a dark horse MVP candidate this year with similar hype in NE right now about his offseason so far. Just not as impressed with the Pats offseason on the surface compared to Miami (and NYJ for that matter).

Or people just realize he has nothing much to do with an offense in which Patrick Mahomes is your QB and Reid is the real OC and brains behind the operation.

Davis was a true monster in the playoff game against the Chiefs but still think a lot of that had to do with all the attention shifted towards Diggs and Beasely as KC was pretty determined to take a page out of the Belichik playbook and erase both of them. So I think Davis production this year will be center around whether or not he can take advantage of teams doing the same to Diggs (and know likely Knox) or if someone else emerges in this offense. Deep down I fear not having another veteran WR could hurt this team but still plenty of time to address and options out there.

I don't know that I agree with all this. I do believe the Ravens may opt to let him walk and not give him a massive deal if they think he's not truly worth it and/or too much of a long term liability as a 'running QB'. But on the flipside I thought Jackson acquitted himself quite well as an elite passer and truly evolved going way back to when Dobbins was lost for the year in training camp. He proved he could beat teams with his arms which was always a criticism going back to his postseason performances.

OJ Howard was a somewhat sneaky under the radar signing and will probably be TE1 here in 2023 assuming Knox becomes too expensive to keep. He had decent numbers in TB before Gronk came there to play with Brady. Obviously can draft another one next year too. Just one of many reasons this team needs to do whatever it takes to win a championship this year before this roster stats to look very different.

Not sure this is a valid comparison because Tua has actually looked more than serviceable at times and started a good chunk of games the last few years where Peterman looked like a trainwreck in most of his in game action as a rookie (i.e. the chargers game) before his 'summer of hype' in 2018 before being named the starter for the Ravens opener which was another ugly outing and pretty much made him one and done as the starter in Buffalo that year. I don't necessarily agree with the comparisons, but I think a lot of Miami fans and other media are looking at Tua's first 2 seasons and comparing them to JA17's first 2 years and believe a similar jump is going to happen, especially sinces Tua's first two years were actually better than JA17. At the end of the day though JA17 is truly an exception to the norm and most folks would be lying if they said they saw his breakout year coming. I don't think Tua needs to break out so to speak as much has he needs to make marginal improvement across the board for him to be viewed as a viable franchise QB and long term option in Miami.

Maybe but the Jets would truly have to be a cinderella type of team IMO to leapfrog anyone else in the division this year. But again, they probably had the best draft of any team in the division and right up there with the Chiefs in terms of best draft in the conference/NFL.

Love hearing about Basham looking good, albeit just in OTA play. A lot of folks thought he might be the better player in the short term between him and Groot and could be poised for a breakout season. Also Doyle is an intriguing name to watch as he seems to fare well last year in spot duty as a utility type of player. At the end of the day there is going to be some very tough cuts on this final roster.

Patriots fans never thought their reign would end either. Yes the Bills have enjoyed a current stretch of dominance over the Dolphins but they've been on the brink the last few years both in terms of winning the division/making the playoffs and beating the Bills a few times. I've been a vocal critic of McD but he is 12-1 in division games the last few years including the playoffs (only loss was that weird wind game last year when the Bills were in a funk). But still think it's a bit misleading because the Pats didn't have Brady, Jets were terrible and aforementioned Dolphins were in transition rebuilding. Things could come full circle this year in terms of the division being a much more difficult task to win which is why it will be a real accomplishment to win a 3rd straight division title.

JA17 is a thick boy too so can see why Jets fans are probably giddy about this news. Wilson did seem to play better last year after coming back from injury and it mirrored JA17's rookie season to a certain degree.

With all due respect I don't even understand this vitriol and response. It's the offseason and was just posting news relevant to a division rival. Personally I could care less about the Dolphins and what's happening down there but it's somewhat foolish to be so arrogant and assume the Bills are going to cruise to another division title this year when everyone is gunning for the Bills and have taken necessary steps to close the gap in the division which is not as wide as some think especially after last year when we barely won the division. Dolphins have a ridiculously stacked roster on paper, stud players on both sides of the ball but obviously they are only going to go as far as their QB play takes them this year. Jets also had a great offseason and will be primed for a big step if Wilson develops. And there are some already calling Mac Jones a darkhorse MVP candidate in New England even if their offseason has not been as flashy as the rest of the division. Bottom line....Bills will truly need to earn every win they get this year and AFC East may look a lot like the AFC West as soon as this year.

It says a lot that we decided to match the Vikings offer sheet (although you can argue we should have known he'd cost more to begin with). If Bates does become an above average NFL starter it helps take the stench off the Wyatt Teller situation. Still don't understand how you can let an all pro elite talent like that go though.

A lot of experts insist Tua would have been the #1 overall pick in 2020 if not for the injury he suffered in college. He definitely was elite in Alabama playing on a powerhouse program and was still a top 5 pick regardless. Whether or not he truly takes the next step in the NFL remains to be seen but I think he's been a lot better than people have given him credit for these last few years and all young QB's take time to develop as we are all aware with JA17's trajectory thus far.

I've also pounded this drum for a while because I feel a lot of fans have White penciled in as the starter on day one come September and/or don't understand the nature of his injury relevant to the demands of his position. I think realistically he's not going to be ready until midseason best case assuming no setback and given this teams overcautious nature in terms of how they handle injured players I would be surprised to see anything different even if White insists he's ready. This is also why I remain perplexed with Beane/McD's current thought process of not bringing in a viable veteran option. Yes we drafted another talented player with our 1st pick but it's silly to put that kind of pressure on him and expect him to be a true starter out of the gate when so many DB's typically struggle early. White himself was somewhat of anomaly in terms of how solid he was his rookie year. Still time to add to the roster but as we get closer to training camp the concern will go stronger that DB may still be a glaring hole on this team.

Lots of offseason hype right now outside of Buffalo in regards to our other AFC East rivals. I will be extremely impressed if McDermott continues his dominance over the division the this year given how much better the rest of these teams look on paper right now, especially the Dolphins and Jets whose offseasons rival the Bills in terms of the quality of players added via FA and draft. Also if the other 3 QB's in the division turn out to be franchise guys it makes the Bills path the SB even more perilous going forward.

Lot of hype coming out of Miami these days....if Tua does in fact take off this year like JA17 did in year 3 the dolphins are going to be a big problem.

I do understand who he is but remember this team was teetering on the brink last year going 3-5 over a 2 month stretch and sitting at 7-6 before lucking out playing the Panthers, Jets, Falcons and Pats team (who had peaked early december) to close the season and then the same Pats team again in the first round of the playoffs. Again, I don't believe McDermott is a horrible coach and he apparently has great leadership qualities among other strong traits. But is it enough to say he should be the coach in the next 3 -5 years even if he never gets to a SB or wins one? No pro sports owner is going to hang on to a coach like that unless they simply have no interest in winning a championship. And another thing that is lost in this topic is Buffalo is now a desirable place with a franchise QB so coaches we probably had zero chance of landing in years past would make this their prime destination now should we need to upgrade. Bottom line, I think we all hope that McDermott is THAT GUY, but as of right now he's not until proven otherwise.

You may be right, obviously just speculation on my part because of a couple things: 1) The way last year ended obviously has left a bad taste in the fanbases and entire bills organizations mouth. 2) We have one of the highest paid rosters in the NFL 3) We went out and signed a big name FA which is somewhat out of character for Beane Again nobody is disputing that McDermott has been a good coach and seems to be a man of tremendous character, but I just have a hard time believing that the Pegulas have infinite money to throw around and are going to be content with just being a playoff team every year and nothing more.

Harsh reality is that there are probably at least a dozen NFL fanbases that believe their team is going to get to/win the SB this year but obviously only one of them is left standing in Feb while the rest will fail to live up to expectations, in some cases not even come close to what the fans/media thought. I expect this team to be very good this year and at worse on par with the teams from the last two seasons but there's still a better chance of this team making the playoffs and getting bounced in their first game vs getting to/winning a SB because that's just how this league works at there's always going to be unexpected things that happen to contenders (i.e. BAL last year) and teams that come out of nowhere (i.e. CIN last year).

I'm not debating regular season record here. And if regular season record is all that mattered you could obviously put McD in Canton as we speak. What is relevant is that it took 3 years for Taylor to rebuild one of the worst organizations in the NFL and get them back to a SB including the aforementioned road playoff wins against the #1 and #2 seeds in the conference last year. You can disagree with my takes all you like just because I don't pound Bills flavored koolaid and objective and nonbiased in my takes which again are based in factual relevance. There's always the possibility for a bad season for a number of reasons but I agree it's more unlikely than likely, just not zero chance so to speak. Again main reason in this belief would be McDermott collapsing under the immense pressure to deliver a championship and losing the lockerroom if the season gets off the rails early especially given how last season ended.

This thread comes from the following fact based information: - in his first 5 years here McDermott is 3-4 in the playoffs including 0-4 on the road (for perspective Zac Taylor took the Bengals to the SB in his first postseason appearance including 2-0 on the road in the AFC playoffs) - His overall record during the regular season against teams with a winning record/playoff teams is well below .500 - JA17 and Gabe Davis had historic performances in the playoffs and it was still squandered because of poor coaching and the 13 seconds debacle. - Defensive scheme has proven over and over it's not effective against physical teams and/or teams with top QB's/offenses despite misleading overall rankings like last year. Last year we faced one of the worst schedules ever in terms of opposing QB's and still only managed 11 wins. But again, the main talking point here is whether or not McDermott is just a good head coach vs. a championship HC and the latter is where many including myself have serious doubts based largely on the items listed above. Also in regards to the Ravens last year, they were ravaged by injury and Harbaugh a proven SB winning HC so why would anybody question what happened there. Speaking of injuries, what is very telling about McD is that his teams have been relatively healthy most years but have still not been able to reach a championship/win one. So the evidence is there that this teams success is more about talent vs actual coaching. I wish McD well and hope this season reaches lofty expectations, but deep down I'd be lying if I didn't have serious concerns about an 'owned and exposed' type of year especially given the schedule difficulty on paper and types of QBs/teams were playing this year. Division itself is also going to be brutal compared to last year.

Whether it's Groot or someone else, it's going to say a lot about the rest of the talent on this Dline if nobody else can step up given the attention that both Miller and Oliver should garner each week. Don't need to see another guy explode for 10-15 sacks, but definitely have to get out of this Jerry Hughes type of production from our DE's year in and year out (i.e. 5 sacks)

You can't really count 2017 as it was truly a fluke and pure luck on the arm of Andy Dalton's 4th and 15 pass. Yes it was great to end the drought but again you have to look at what has driven the Bills most recently and that's Allen's development into a top NFL starter in spite of McDermott's questionable coaching. And even with a historic performance it wasn't enough in the playoffs last year to overcome said coaching problems.

I really don't like all this offseason hype and expectations being bestowed upon this team. Obviously the players, coaches, etc knows it's meaningless but all the ingredients are there for Bills mafia to be seriously humbled this year with anything less than a SB appearance/win. Also why Is still believe there should be serious pressure on Beane and McDermott to deliver this year from the Pegulas behind closed doors (I expect that is already the case).