FilthyBeast

Hughes is somewhat of an outlier though and outside of his two peak years under Marrone where he got 10 sack each season, he's never had a double digit sack year and still think he's a bit overrated overall by some Bills fans. As for some of our other younger guys on the dline I think Oliver has definitely made the right type of progress even if he never ends up being a truly elite player in this league. Both Groot and Basham flashed last year and are expected to contribute in 2022. I think the only guy that's truly a bust is Epenesa and I don't see him on the final roster at the start of the season unless he can prove he's not just a practice warrior like he seemed to be last year but fizzled once the regular season began.

I agree with this and hopes it's the case. Because as I said many times leading up to the playoff rematch last year, the early season win in KC last year was a red herring and meant nothing in the grand scheme of things if anything because of the Chiefs doing their best impression of the Patriots struggling early and figuring things out before being near invincible in the 2nd half of the season every year. And the Chiefs were pretty much that type of team starting 3-4 and finishing 9-1 in their last 10 games. So for me I would like to see the Bills/Chiefs somewhere in the week 10 - 17 range when we have a pretty good idea exactly who both teams are in 2022.

It's probably a case of Tomlin trusting McDermott's judgement since they know eachother well. At the end of the day though Wallace is what he is and that's a woefully average NFL starter on his best days. The pressure packages are more the point, they are a blitz heavy team that trust guys more in man to man matchups vs zone overall. And just think it's a recipe for disaster when Wallace is matched up against even the most average NFL starting WR's, let alone the elite ones.

As much as I hate to admit it, the Chiefs and Ravens organizations are still the class of the NFL with Veach and DeCosta respectively leading their front offices and killing it on the regular. The Chiefs in particular probably had the best draft overall on paper and I think both McDuffie and Karlaftis are going to end up being perrenial probowl type of players. Karlaftis in particular could be a big time steal and projects similarly to Jared Allen who chiefs drafted way back when, but looks like an even better prospect since Allen was a mere 4th round pick. Overall though, you still need to way a good 3 years down the road to know who truly nailed this draft and who didn't but the aforementioned teams are always going to get benefit of the doubt given their track records and SB trophies in the last decade.

I won't be surprised if he struggles big time in Pittsburgh since they run a much more aggressive 3-4 scheme and don't rely on the zone/bend but don't break stuff. Tomlin won't keep him on the field long if that's the case. He's going to be facing much better QB's twice a year in the that division alone too between Burrow/Jackson/Watson. Either way not the Bills problem anymore.

My stance on Edmunds is probably well know but here's the problem I see with Edmunds magically breaking out in year 5.....there would be zero chance of resigning him because of what he'll command as an UFA coming off a contract year. And if we do resign him to big money there's also a chance he regresses back to 2018 - 2021 Edmunds which would not be a good thing either. I still think this is his last season in Buffalo either way but who really knows especially since we just drafted a guy that is more of a Milano clone which means we could choose to move on from him and keep Edmunds.

Most pundits and experts said this was draft was top heavy in the first round with not many true 1st round prospects compared to recent years so this seems to be in line with that and most those names went in the top 20. Also if the Elam rankings are true that gives validity to the idea we didn't need to move ahead of the Cowboys unless Bean knew another team was specifically trying to trade with them (or BAL) to also get Elam.

It's hard to even picture JA17 on another team, but if he was drafted by the Patriots or Dolphins pretty sure any fan that says they would still like him would be rethinking that stance....

Because every player is different. Elam might end up being a great player but could struggle mightily as a rookie like some DB's do. But if there is any chance to land Bradberry on a one year deal, a team with SB aspirations should pull the trigger especially not know when White is going to be ready to play and if he's even going to be the same guy again.

Rousseau or Oliver is my bet. The latter kind of already has broke out but I think playing with a true force like Miller is really going to open things up for other guys on the DL overall and Oliver would be my guess to explode for a career year in terms of sack/pressure/etc.

Probably, but I still think McD and Beane are to blame for latching on to players like this for so long when Wallace has already proven what a liability he is especially against any WR that's better than average.

It seems a lot of folks are making a big deal about Tannenhill's comments when what he said is no different than many other players have said in similar situations. Also I don't agree he sucks, he's definitely turned his career around with the Titans and I would certainly consider him in the '2nd tier' of NFL starters behind the truly elite franchise guys like Brady/Mahomes/Rogers/etc. And he must be doing something right against the Bills since we have not beat the Titans since he's been the starter there. With that said, obviously he knows he needs to perform at a high level this year to keep his job especially if Willis shows something in camp/practice.

I would counter with: Steelers have never had a sub .500 season in all the years Tomlin has been at the help and everyone knows that Big Ben retired a year or two late and no way Trubisky/Pickett will be a downgrade from what they had at QB last year. As long as Lamar is healthy the Ravens will be not just in the AFCN title picture, but SB contender picture. Browns already have a viable SB contending roster without Watson, if he does play they should be much better since they at least have a QB that can throw the ball to a WR. But again, I do believe the Bengals are extremely legit and can also come out of the AFCN again despite these other teams current status.

Not saying it will happen but it just seems like his skill set is overly redundant especially with adding Shakir as a 5th round pick who is pretty much a lock to make the team based on that alone. And after being benched last year, and then with Daboll out the door seemed like a foregone conclusion that McKenzie was long gone from Buffalo. In the end though McKenzie always finds a way to stick around on this roster like Wallace did on the defensive side until this year.

It's my understanding that you need to have amazon prime service (which I believe is at least $100+ per year) to watch these TNF games going forward and they aren't being shown on any other network. So yes anyone can pony up the cash for this I guess. Personally I'm a DTV and Amazon Prime paying customer so it doesn't impact me, but not everyone is going to be keen on paying extra money for streaming games on Amazon if they don't currently use that service and already paying enough on their monthly cable/satellite bills.

A lot of fans and NFL media thinks they were a fluke so that's definitely motivation. Same thing was send about Allen and the Bills after the 2020 Covid season as well. Personally I don't see the Bengals as a one hit wonder because they have a stud QB who was a #1 overall draft pick who quite frankly wasn't even the main catalyst during the playoff run. I think their path for repeat success will be much more difficult this year though since they won't be able to sneak up on anybody and their division is right up there with the AFCW as one of the most brutal in the NFL.

Agree - seems silly that the NFL would agree to exclusivity to a streaming service when millions of people still use traditional cable/dish service and will be left in the cold. What concerns me is the idea that NFL Sunday ticket may also go that route after years of being available on DTV, albeit typically as a premium service unless you play the year game with them in terms of haggling for a discount or threaten to cancel service.

Bills are a hot primetime ticket so neither of these expected games against the Rams and Lions surprise me. I also expect to see 3 more combined SNF/MNF games on the schedule with lots of intriguing options (Bengals/Chiefs/Titans/Packers/Pats/Ravens/etc)

boettger will likely be on PUP/IR most of the year and I don't think Kromer is going to fix Ford and make him look even serviceable at this point. He simply looks like a bust that we likely move on from this summer. Obviously still a lot of time to address the situation, even into the regular season/trade deadline but we somewhat lucked out last year when Boettger/Bates performed well above expectations and stabilized the line towards the end of the year.

Overall point was that McD/Frazier run a similar scheme and philosophy as our old friend Jauron. (i.e Tampa2 roots, bend but don't break, tweener type utility players). I've just personally been a fan of more physical defenses with players that fit a traditional size prototype on defense. Especially when you look at what Cincy was able to do last year against the Chiefs and Rams offenses in the playoffs vs how our unit has performed in similar high stakes PO games under this regime. But again, if Bernard ends up being a real difference maker and not just another 'system guy' out there so be it. Just feel there was better options on the board too that we may regret down the road especially if depth at other crucial positions is an issue again this year.

It would be big mistake for Beane to not bring in another veteran IOL and DB between now and the start of the season. Not necessarily looking for flashy names but some sort of proven commodity that can step in should the injury bug hit hard.

I agree with the theory that had the Bills won the Chiefs game they may not have added Miller or had a busy offseason and tried the 'run it back' stuff again for a 2nd straight year. But I don't necessarily agree that the way last season ended is going to propel this team to new heights for a number of reasons: 1) McDermott is still the head coach and will be facing tremendous pressure to produce and lead this team to another AFCE division title and top seed in the AFC overall with the talent on hand. No matter your opinion on McDermott (and yes he's the best coach since Levy), he failed when it matter most last year and has a bad history when it comes to facing the better teams/HC's in this league. So until that changes it's not unreasonable to expect more of the same failures. 2) Aside from coaching, injuries can derail a championship contender's hopes and dreams real quick (See BAL last year and SF in 2020). 3) Division and AFC are going to be vastly improved this year. While I don't see a scenario that the Bills miss the playoffs altogether this year (barring injuries mentioned above), there's just no guarantees they are going to get any further than last year and there's always teams that do much better than expected (see CIN last year) and others that fail to live up to the hype and expectations. In the end we are at a true crossroads with this organization in 2022 that it's really championship or bust. And if this team doesn't get to a SB or win it this year the current window may start to erode slowly (or very quickly) like what is expected to happen in KC this year given their roster turnover and strength of division around them.

They could surprise this year and be better than expected but probably zero chance of being a playoff team given how loaded the AFC is as a whole.

If the defensive line finally produce a real pass rush (not just pressures but actually finishes) then there's no argument this defense will be much better in 2022 regardless of the overall yards numbers which were always misleading last year despite finishing #1 overall. I still worry about the secondary overall though and feel a lot of fans aren't understanding that White is likely not going to play until midseason and may not have the same impact again until 2023 given the nature of his injury and historical data that show you typically need at least one full season to regain form.

KC has made a lot of under the radar 'buy low' type of moves this offseason that could pay huge dividends and keep them atop the AFC throne unfortunately. A lot of pundits feel they had the best draft in the entire NFL too. Still think it's going to be much tougher task for them to win their division and/or make it to a 5th straight AFCCG this year though given the insane arms race in the AFCW this offseason.