Sierra Foothills

Just looking at him, 317 seems to not be accurate... he looks a lot bigger than that to me.

Put it this way... last year Cook averaged 15 touches per game. This year he's averaging 21. While to some that might not seem like a lot, it's a 40% increase in workload and for a running back, that's a lot. Obviously we can't rest all of them and obviously we can't play all of them. Just like the discussion of who we cut when Ogunjobi and Hoecht return from suspension, this is a situation that's gonna take care of itself. Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet, Bucky Irving and Rachaad White, Rico Dowdle and Chubba Hubbard... There's always gonna be a drop-off when you have someone of the caliber of James Cook but one way or another we still need much better play from our 2nd running back. Is that according to the Thigh Doctor?

Particularly at that position group. This reminds me that Elijah Pitts, the former Packer running back and father of former Orchard Park HS star and Bills player Ronnie Pitts, went to a small school called Philander Smith College. Apparently it took Lombardi a few months before he was certain that it was Elijah Pitts from Philander Smith College, and not Philander Smith from Elijah Pitts College.

Yeah, Reid wanted Mahomes to be physically abused in unprecedented fashion (15 QB hits) and for the Chiefs to drop to 5-4 and 3rd place in the division because he wants to keep things under wraps until the playoffs. There's no way that Reid was holding anything back for "later." 1) Cook is on the Practice Participation report as Did Not Practice due to an ankle injury. 2) The Bills are 9.5 point favorites. 3) Last year Cook averaged 14.94 touches per game. This year he's averaging 20.75 touches per game. 4) Aside from Josh, Cook's the most important player on the team. I don't think there's any question the Bills need to get another running back going for the good of the team and for the good of Cook.

Yes, that's been mentioned.

Stefon Diggs. Hopefully a Zach Wilson/Mac Jones repeat. Tua also was a fairly recent top. pick in our division. It's great having Josh. And then Pittsburgh happened. Three INTs and 2 fumbles... oof! Nyheim Hines, Rasul Douglas, and Amari Cooper were all trade deadline acquisitions.... 3 years in a row. I haven't seen Indy play this year so I can't say how close I think they are. I guess we'll see soon enough. Again it's weird timing that Irsay checked out this year of all years. I saw where his famous rock memorabilia collection is going up for auction.

Speaking of Hairston... how about Xavier Worthy's stat line... 7 targets, 3 receptions, 23 yards...

That was a good laugh! Agreed. Nothing worse than persistent, chronic whining on a message board... or anywhere else. True... unless you consider Mike Pennel to be a major addition which I'm sure you don't. The Patriots did stockpile draft picks though so they benefited from the trade deadline in a reverse sort of way... they now have 10 draft picks in 2026. Clearly the Jets and Dolphins were not going to deal with us unless we dramatically overpaid. Yes. Also I feel like the kid who didn't have a very good Christmas. It's too early to say but it looks like the 2025 draft could go down as another 2022 draft which is to say, pretty darn good. Ineptitude? Is that what you call a .647 winning percentage and 7 playoff appearances in 8 years... on the heels of a 17 year drought? As you point out, it's hard to judge Beane today because we don't know what was on the table... we don't know what he turned down. We can only judge Beane on the trades that other teams made. For instance he didn't give up a 3rd rounder for Shaheed. Some GMs might have. It'll be interesting to see how Shaheed does in Seattle though that wouldn't apply to the Bills anyways. We could possibly have outbid Dallas for Logan Wilson, provided Cinci would trade him to an "enemy." He cost Dallas a 7th rounder. For the sake of a better discussion, who are the traded players we should have outbid teams for? George Allen's Over-the-Hill gang never won a Super Bowl so not the greatest example. The Rams and Eagles are arguably examples of teams which have made bold moves that have paid off... but the exception is not the rule. Most big swings are misses... how are the Packers doing with Parsons? This is mostly fair although Beane did make big, bold moves for Stefon Diggs and Von Miller. Since then he's said more than once, "you're never just one player away." I'm a bit disappointed that the Bills ended up standing pat but I also admire the discipline and the conviction that they have in their valuations. This is not a team that's going to throw money around simply to appease their fans... and I respect that.

FWIW, the most recent Bills 4th and 5th rounders... Deone Walker Jordan Hancock Jackson Hawes

It's actually incredible that some would need an emoji to understand that this was not a serious statement...

I can't vouch for the process but NFL officials are graded per game and per season. I know that 3 officials were relegated back to NCAA football after the 2024 season.

I don't know what their prospects are for returning to good health but their offense has been decimated by injuries.

Officials are graded for each game and the poorly graded ones are often terminated at. the end of the season so there is accountability. I've said all season that the defense would need time to gel and would eventually be fine. Regarding the defensive time outs, McDermott has mentioned in the recent past that the home field crowd noise makes it difficult to get the defensive play calls communicated to everyone on the field and you saw that yesterday,

Waddle has played 71 of 76 games in his career. The problem with replacing Hoecht is not necessarily his talent level... it's that he's been with the team since March and clearly understands the system well. It's gonna be challenging finding a player who can come close to his understanding of this defense. Good name and one not going around the rumor carousel. And Parsons is a better pass rusher.

Okay then...