Sierra Foothills

@SirAndrew Sorry if my grumpiness targeted you. It's a MAJOR pet peeve of mine that people will simply read something and then parrot it without question. But moreso, all of these posts refuting his "poor hands" came BEFORE you posted in this topic: I always admonish people here (whether or not I should) to read more and post less... and to read through topics to avoid posting redundantly, especially when it's bad information. Another example in this topic is that one person mistakenly mentioned that Chad Hall is the Bills WR Coach... and then he's corrected 6 times... Of course the corrections were made with good intentions but still... read first, write second. I realize I should let it go but like everyone else, I'm a work in progress... which is to say, I'm trying.

I have a Vontae jersey and will consider the trade. Mine is actually autographed but strangely he only signed his first name, then rushed off.

Are we sure he's slow? The consensus among most talent evaluators are that his celebration skills are indeed elite. However NFL.com had him 73rd in trash talking for a cornerback so you might want to reconsider that statement. Too often people here assume someone with celebration skills are also great trash talkers. That belief is just an oversimplification by those (and it seems to be a growing number) who view the world through a binary lens and can't differentiate the complexity in our world.

Kiper had him as the 9th most likable interior O-lineman in this draft. No DTs under contract for 2024 but yes, they're not getting executed or even assassinated. We'll be fine. One re-signing, one free agent, one draft pick... They love Bates too. I don't think either of them get traded any time soon. In the SEC, no less. Agreed! Technician for sure. Mean streak. Tenacious. I like his wide base and his hand placement is excellent. He also seems to have a good sense of his surroundings and understands leverages and angles. It looks like Beane really meant all the nice things he said earlier in the week about Spencer Brown. Apparently they really have faith in him. I could see this guy playing in the NFL.

Who did you have in mind as BPA? Arnold Palmer, like Wayne Shorter, is no longer with us. Willie Nelson turns 90 years old today... doctors forced him to quit smoking so he's gone to the chewies. Any relation to Rachad Wildgoose? Agreed. With Taiwan Jones gone there's an opening for him on teams. Yes, in spite of about 10 or so posts showing various statistics proving that his drop rate is very low. It gives sad insight into why this country is in its current state of being. That reminds me, did you no that the word "Gullible" is not in the dictionary? James Hardy was taken with the 41st pick. Shorter was taken with the 150th pick. Forget about it. It's futile. Incidentally, "that LB" (Dorian Williams) has 10.5" hands, 33.75" arms, and an 80.75" wingspan. These all exceed Jack Campbell's measurements... and Williams is about .2 seconds faster in the 40. He's gonna be fine. People say a lot of things around here... and then they repeat it. And then others repeat it. Even after they've been shown to be wrong. The disregard for truth (or is it "only" gross ignorance?) has never been more prevalent than in today's world. And unfortunately this forum is not a haven from such idiocy. GO BILLS!!!

But, but, he has a "bad body!!!" (which btw is not true) Watching extensive video, while he doesn't have elite lateral movement it's not bad at all and when combined with his wingspan/arm length/jaws of life hands it's obvious why he didn't give up any sacks. Not you specifically but I'm seeing a lot of posters (again as with Dorian) looking at measurables and drawing incorrect conclusions. There are plenty of examples of mauling guards playing next to athletic tackles. Richie Incognito wasn't a ballerina. Landon Dickerson has average lateral movement. If you're dominating the person lined up opposite you, that's all that matters. We rarely get to see this side of you! Also especially early thread there were many allegations of him not being a fit athlete. These are simply untrue and lazy takes based on height/weight. From "The Beast:" ... weighed over 420 pounds when he started high school and completely changed his nutrition and life habits to carry a comfortable weight... A massive but lean-muscled blocker, Torrence has above-average inline power and physicality in the run game to quickly gain control and drive defenders from their spot. In pass protection, he sets wide, strikes with authority and plays with the reactive quickness to recover and reposition his hands vs. quick pass rushers (zero sacks allowed in 1,501 career pass-blocking snaps). I doubt they're going to want their starting guard also playing as an extra blocking tight end.

I watched the Cotton Bowl condensed version (about 20 minutes). Dorian Williams was flying out there. If we can build a strong front line he is gonna be laying the wood on guys. I noticed that he likes to hit people at full speed. Odd thing about that game, I didn't see Jordan Addison... assuming he was injured. But the other USC receiver Brenden Rice was a stud.

And they started for which teams? Rhetorical question, no need to go looking for answers. My point is that it's easier for a 3rd rounder to start on a poor or rebuilding team than a perennial playoff team like the Bills. Lots of people are saying the pick doesn't fill a need but I'm not sure that's the case. The Bills base defense the last few years has been the 4-2-5 nickel with Tremaine and Milano essentially splitting the field. What if the plan is for Williams and Milano to continue that arrangement? AND/OR, what if the plan is to run a 4-3-4 with 2 speedy outside linebackers and Klein in the middle on "running downs?" Without knowing the Bills plans we can't say that Williams doesn't fill a need. Also, see above. In the base 4-2-5 we've been running, could you actually call Tremaine a MLB? See above. And a Stooge not named, Curly, Larry, or Moe. Just playing.

Comic gold! He jumps off the video for sure! On the other hand so many detractors are saying that Williams doesn't fill a need (MLB) so actually, isn't it possible that the Bills viewed him as BPA? I don't agree... but I laughed. To add to Beck Water, Williams and Bernard look like completely different players on video. Not at all alike. Also Williams is faster, has longer arms, greater wingspan, bigger hands (10.25")... a guy who can probably add some weight without losing much speed. I love how he plays downhill and tries to hit with force on every play. I love his speed and commitment to each play. After initially thinking to myself "Who?" and reading scouting reports (from reputable scouts) and watching game video, this pick is growing on me. Off topic and not your point but the fact of Campbell going at 18 proves nothing to me. As they say, it only takes one team... and that team was the one that traded up to draft Jahmyr Gibbs. That move, whether right or wrong doesn't allow anyone to give them the benefit of the doubt on Campbell, IMO. Exactly. Beane said: 1) "He won't start at MLB." This immediately caused cognitive meltdown among Bills fans. It led to "if he's not a MLB candidate, why did we draft him?" which led to "He's a reach and not the BPA." Logically if he doesn't fill a need doesn't that make it more likely that he was BPA in their eyes? 2) "He'll start on special teams." This was admittedly a stupid thing for Beane to say. It's like a politician saying "Default the Porpoises." People are going to have the wrong take away from the message. Beane did not mean to say that they drafted a player only for special teams but that's how many of you are choosing to take it. Williams looks like an excellent football player. I'll withhold any further judgement until I actually see him play.

I love this pick unequivocally. Day One Starter.

To the OP, from The Athletic and addressing our earlier speculation as to whether Beane might break from previous ground rules: Kincaid bucks a pretty big trend with the Bills’ first-round pick "Since Beane’s first draft in 2018, the Bills have followed a similar path on all their first-round picks. They primarily swing for the fences on a high-potential player and usually veer young to match up the player’s prime with having ample acclimation time to the speed and strength of the NFL. With all Beane’s first-round picks, including Josh Allen, Tremaine Edmunds, Ed Oliver, Greg Rousseau and Kaiir Elam, their average age at the draft was just under 21 years old. However, that is very much not Kincaid. He’s over halfway from 23 to 24 years old, hitting that birthday in mid-October, and a full 2 1/2 years older than the Bills’ usual lean with their top selection under Beane. It’s not necessarily a damning factor to the Bills if Kincaid has the talent worthy of the first-round pick, but Kincaid’s journey to the NFL took a lot longer than most of his peers in the 2023 draft. It reduces the long-term nature of the selection and means Kincaid will be in his “prime” pretty quickly into his NFL career. However, tight end is one of the weirdest positions in the NFL to scout and get right in a big way, so the usual age considerations at other spots may not carry as much weight. At the very least, it’s a trend-busting move by Beane. Kincaid will enter his age-28 season when Knox’s contract extension expires in the 2027 offseason."

Beast. It seems completely implausible to believe that the last rookie tight end to make "an impact" is someone who was a rookie 17 years ago. I guess I'm sensitive to misinformation and how it spreads... more of a political thing than a sports thing but all the same too. Sorry to jump on you.

Well the bolded is a very interesting point that hasn't been addressed in 50+ pages until you brought it up. Aside from the QB and the O-linemen, offensive skill position players rarely play every snap. But a relevant fact is that Travis Kelce played 79.60% of Kansas City's offensive snaps last year. It'll be super interesting to see how many snaps Kincaid gets. I feel he'll get more than Dawson Knox and I won't be surprised if he gets more than Gabriel Davis. Out of curiosity do you just post stuff without looking it up? To set the record straight, Kyle Pitts had over 1000 yards receiving in 2021... his rookie year. And as a rookie your guy Marcedes Lewis had 126 yards receiving. Pretty epic fail right here, Beast. Have you watched any video of Kincaid yet? If so do you have an opinion on what you saw? FWIW, since 2017 4 have over 500 yards and Pat Freiermuth had 497 yards as a rookie. As for TJ Hockenson Minnesota gave up a 2nd and a 3rd round pick for Hockenson and 2 4th rounders... plus the remainder of his contract which is $9.4 million for 2023. He cost too much. 51 posts and counting... way more than any other poster in this topic. I see that repeating your opinions is very important to you. Exactly. Again, too many people looking at measurables and either not watching the video or not understanding what they're seeing on the video. True. 57 pages of repeating the same points over and over. The bright side is that every 10 posts or so you come across something you were glad you read by one of our many knowledgeable posters... Interesting that the good posters get in and get out. Meanwhile crap posters keep repeating the same crappy crap that you have to slog through to get to the good stuff. I think it's pathological.

The Bills are one of the clubs that are a member of BLESTO. There are other "scouting organizations" which share basic information about players including measurables and medical information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_Scouting_Combine#Scouting_organizations Looking at Kincaid he's definitely not Pitts (who is?) but he's not Gesicki either. Gesicki is more that long-bodied athlete who's more of an oversized receiver than a tight end... a bit more towards Darren Waller. Kincaid, while not an "inline tight end" is a bit more compact and thick than Gesicki. Hunter Henry's name came up as a comparable. Kincaid is much more of a fluid athlete than Henry. Henry looks more like a Mayer-type tight end. Kincaid reminds me a great deal of Dallas Clark while others compare him to Zach Ertz. I think both are good comparisons as far as athletic profile. Andy, I would say to watch the video. A lot of people get misinformed by measurables. They look at the numbers and start having weird ideas such as "Dalton Kincaid is a duplicate of Dawson Knox." One would only come to that conclusion if they looked at measurables and not video. I depise Skip Bayless but he wrote for the Dallas Morning News for a long time and is very wired into the Cowboys organization. If he says that the Cowboys wanted Kincaid, that leaves very little doubt.

Actually as a youth I worked at Sorrentino's and Santora's in Williamsville. Later on I worked at a pizzeria called Angelina's (no longer there) in the Elmwood Village... Stuyvesant Plaza. It's common in Buffalo pizzerias to use Crisco shortening to hold the dough stretched onto the pan until it starts baking and then the shortening acts as a release agent so the dough doesn't stick to the pan. It's common with artisan pizzas to use the "dry method" of semolina or corn meal to prevent the dough from sticking to the pan. In this case, because you don't have the Crisco holding the dough in the stretched position you really have to stretch the dough so it doesn't automatically shrink on the pan.

Daniel Jeremiah had him ranked 9th overall. Disagree. He looks sub 4.6 for sure. Also it looks like his 10 yard split would be excellent. Very good suddenness and burst but also fluid and not herky jerky. To the bolded, I've posted this numerous times. Josh was not taking the layups that Daboll had him taking previously. I think there are many reasons for Dorsey Optimism. The personnel will be better for his schemes, we should reasonably expect fewer injuries, and another year in the helm will help. But he has to show that he has the ability to maximize Josh's talents and minimize the hero ball stuff that only hurts the team. The funny thing is the write up addressed all the facets of the pick. In other words the writer understood most of the Bills context but made the wrong conclusion. Like many people on this board he couldn't process how Kincaid fits with Knox. I think of it this way: Kincaid will probably be second on the Bills in receptions and receiving yards. He also might lead the team in TD receptions. Another way of looking at is that people on this board have been trying to point out that Kelce is KCs WR1. Call him Weapon1 if that's helpful. Kincaid is Weapon2 for the Bills. Or as another poster adroitly pointed out upthread, the NBA has become a league without positions... you have stretch 3s and stretch 4s and "wing players." You have "shoot first point guards." In football they're getting away from DE vs LB and grouping them as "Edge" players. Same thing with Kincaid. To understand the fit you have to be more flexible in your thinking.

My takeaway from the movie: Every time I see Russ Brandon's face I want to punch it. Other than that the movie was like a cheese fondue served with cornbread.

The biggest tips I can give first-time pizza makers is: 1) Make sure the oven rack the pizza tray is placed on is in the center of the oven. Pizzas are supposed to cook from the top down AND the bottom up. 2) Use semolina or cornmeal (little dry ball bearings) OR Crisco shortening on the bottom of the dough to make it easier to separate from the pan. 3) When you are "playing" with the pizza (i.e.- trying to get it unstuck, moving it around) take it out of the oven, close the oven door and do all the manipulating on the countertop, not in the oven. Good luck. Willie Nelson turns 90 years old in a few days. Under doctor's advice he quit smoking the weed but maintains his THC intake via gummies. He also now sits down through most of his concerts. Me and my buddies were early fantasy football pioneers and published FF authors. Had we put as much time into finance/investing as we did fantasy football we'd be much wealthier!

While I'm not enthused about the idea of taking him at #27, these are high value posts. Thank you.

THAT IS SO WEIRD!!!! That's exactly what my tea leaves (green tea with roasted rice) said!!!

"Here’s our one and only mock draft. I have no pride of authorship because I didn’t do it. I’ve got someone I trust who isn’t currently working for any team who puts it together. It’s ultimately as good a collection of guesses as anyone’s. As always, I don’t care if any of the picks are right. As always, I don’t care if you call it the “worst mock draft ever.” (As always, one or more of my past mock drafts will be happy to lose that crown.) As always, I’ve thought about tinkering with my outsourced source’s selections. But then I reminded myself once again that I just don’t care. If any of these picks are right, I don’t want the credit. For all that are wrong, I’ll gladly take the blame. So, once again, here goes nothing. Literally. With 31 picks, because the Dolphins lost theirs for tampering with Tom Brady and Sean Payton last season, and a bonus at the bottom for No. 32." 1. Panthers (from Bears): Bryce Young, quarterback, Alabama. 2. Texans: Will Anderson, Jr., edge, Alabama. 3. Cardinals: Jalen Carter, defensive tackle, Georgia. 4. Colts: Will Levis, quarterback, Kentucky. 5. Seahawks (from Broncos): Anthony Richardson, quarterback, Florida. 6. Lions (from Rams): Devon Witherspoon, cornerback, Illinois. 7. Raiders: Christian Gonzalez, cornerback, Oregon. 8. Falcons: C.J. Stroud, quarterback, Ohio State. 9. Bears (from Panthers): Peter Skoronski, tackle, Northwestern. 10. Eagles (from Saints): Paris Johnson Jr., tackle, Ohio State. 11. Titans: Hendon Hooker, quarterback, Tennessee. 12. Texans (from Browns): Jaxon Smith-Njigba, receiver, Ohio State. 13. Packers (from Jets): Zay Flowers, receiver, Boston College. 14. Patriots: Nolan Smith, outside linebacker, Georgia. 15. Jets (from Packers): Tyree Wilson, edge, Texas Tech. 16. Commanders: Anton Harrison, tackle, Oklahoma. 17. Steelers: Brian Branch, Alabama, defensive back. 18. Lions: Deonte Banks, cornerback, Maryland. 19. Buccaneers: Bijan Robinson, running back, Texas. 20. Seahawks: Myles Murphy, edge, Clemson. 21. Chargers: Michael Mayer, tight end, Notre Dame. 22. Ravens: Lukas Van Ness, defensive line, Iowa. 23. Vikings: Jordan Addison, receiver, USC. 24. Jaguars: Emmanuel Forbes, cornerback, Mississippi State. 25. Giants: Isaiah Foskey, edge, Notre Dame. 26. Cowboys: Dalton Kincaid, tight end, Utah. 27. Bills: Quentin Johnston, receiver, TCU. 28. Bengals: Bryan Bresee, defensive tackle, Clemson. 29. Saints (from 49ers through the Dolphins and Saints): Darnell Wright, tackle, Tennessee. 30. Eagles: Calijah Kancey, defensive tackle, Pitt. 31. Chiefs: Will McDonald, edge, Iowa State. (The 32nd pick will be the Steelers taking Penn State cornerback Joey Porter, Jr.) https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/04/25/pfts-one-and-only-2023-mock-draft/

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxAn-oObwNlst0jdIBUCj1KYfSMDUOMQIf

Reminds me of the old joke about why all those big oak trees were planted along the champs elysees... Also, this:

On the weekends we like to get away from civilization and head for the hills... something we haven't been able to do in a few weekends. So to make up for lost time, we're heading up on Thursday. The Bills pick will be around 8-8:30 pm and by then I'll be howling at the moon. We might grill up some Sahlen's dogs or deep fry some chicken fingers (by the way, the ones made in Buffalo such as at Jim's Steakout are strictly the Tyson 2429, described by Tyson as "breaded marinated chicken tenderloins"): https://www.foodservicedirect.com/tyson-breaded-marinated-chicken-tenderloin-3-pound-4-per-case-142165.html?gclid=CjwKCAjw9J2iBhBPEiwAErwpecs3SqO4lBRoScmT7tuvASmmajOdJGKG-08NdO_c5e12QDHbwA30MxoCh0sQAvD_BwE I plan to work remotely on Thursday and Friday... on Friday I'll be working remotely and possibly hung over. It's a pretty good combination. 😀