CookieG

And the Lancaster reference made me think of how the draft used to be. We found out the Bills drafted Jerry Butler from a friend who had a transistor radio and an earphone in English class at LCHS. *a moment of silence for the late Joe Foyle. RIP Crane.

I really like this draft. In a way, its an All-RAS team, lol. Using assets from the Diggs trade to nab Thomas is something that just fits. There is always the argument of waiting for others to come to you, but I'd be more than fine with it. Puni is versatile, or trying to be, they had him at every OL position in the Senior Bowl. He will play inside, but can move to OT if needed. Lil bro McAffrey is actually a step faster than his older brother. But he isn't a high school QB who converted to WR, he's a college Qb who moved to WR. Lots of talent who might just need more time at the position. Guerrendo, a 221 lb RB who runs a 4.3, might be a better blocker than Cook right now, and you don't lose speed when he's in the game. McCormick is a beast of a specimen and a 3 year starter. Hunt, Cole and Gabe Hall, it depends how they are used and having the right coach to use their talents. A converted safety at edge, a 275 lb guy who was playing LB and a strong, quick 295 lb guy who was playing enough of a 2 gap, 5 tech, but might excel as in inside pass rusher (I liked him at the Senior Bowl). Based on where you drafted them, if one of them works out, you are ahead of the game. Nice job.

BUF 29. Adonai Mitchell WR Texas -the no brainer of no brainers. 73. Kris Jenkins DT Michigan - the DT corps begins its rebuild. 83. Dadrion Taylor-Demerson S Texas Tech Good athlete and smart. 99. Brandon Coleman OG TCU - 3 year left tackle but will play guard. I thought he looked good at the Senior Bowl. Long arms and big hands. He can always fill in at tackle in a pinch. 128. Javon Baker WR UCF - a good addition to the WR corps, not as fast as Mitchell but can get open deep and over the middle. Would go higher in most other years. 133. Mohamed Kamara EDGE Colorado State A fire plug who works angles, runs a 4.5 and had great production in college. 144. Gabe Hall DT Baylor - I just like the way he was getting around people in Senior Bowl practices. I see him moving to DT in passing situations. Or.. He could be a tweener We'll find out 160. Khristian Boyd DT Nothern Iowa - The Bills have had visits with him About the size of Daquan Jones 163. Trey Taylor S Air Force My true sleeper. Jim Thorpe award winner, 3 year starter, did pretty good at his pro day Smart 204. Myles Cole EDGE Texas Tech a true project, someone just needs to figure out how to use him *traded down one pick to the Lions and gave them 200 in. They gave me 29 and 73. No idea why they did, but Ill take it. **traded 60 and neext year's 6th for 83 and 99,

Again, not "the greatest" but too cool not to share. Mick Jagger and the Stones join Muddy Waters in a small place. It was about 2 years before Muddy went on to join the greatest band in the sky.

There are so many. This isn't "the best", but it was definitely unique, especially if you like piano players. Jerry Lee Lewis Little Richard Ray Charles Fats Domino With BB King and Bo Diddly on guitar.

Damn we have enough 6th and 7th round picks.. but whatever, it leaves room to take enough sleepers. 28. Xavier Legette- WR Gamecocks. A tough choice between him, Brian Thomas and Troy Franklin. But he's big, explosive, fast, can jump and can make the contested catch. He comes with some risk, the big one in that he only had one year of production. There may be legit reasons. He needed a QB, a revolving door of OC's, and didn't play WR until college. Taking the risk that he blossoms into a DJ Metcalf or Mike Evans. We need a deep threat...and he is a deep threat. 60. Sedrik Van Pran C- Goergia. The successor to Morse, who we got lucky with this year, as he didn't have an injury for the first time in forever. Van Pran is as solid as they come. Im not waiting to take someone in the later rounds. 99. Malik Mustapha - S Wake Forest. Another risky pick..but he is fast, and plays fast. Short at 5'9" but stout at 210. He's aggressive, but that is a 2 edged sword for him. Here's hoping he can be coached up a bit. Strong as hell too. 128 Javon Solomon -Edge/olb Troy. Small school, 250lb Edge rusher who runs a 4.5 40. 17 sacks last year and 45 pressures. 158 Jha'Quon Jackson - WR Tulane. With all of these picks...I was planning on taking another WR. Watching the Senior Bowl 1 on 1 reps I really liked what I saw. It reminded me of watching reps 2 years ago...and watching Shakir win all of his 1 on 1's, or watching Tank Dell last year. Although he wasn't leaving DB jock straps all over the field like Dell did last year... he was getting by people and getting open regularly. 161 Jordan Jefferson DT LSU. Another athletic freak. 325 lbs. has a 34 inch vertical, supposedly ran a 4.5 40 and is as strong as a bull. At minimum he can be a run stuffer...but he can also be more, much more. 197 Jay Stanley S Southern Miss. Not the athletic freak that Mustapha is..but maybe more solid of a pass defender. Worth a pick at this stage of the draft. 201 Nehmiah Pritchett CB Auburn. One thing that stands out with him...his QB rating when targeted. 2019 85.4 2020 48.6 2021 83.4 2022 72.0 2023 54.8 205. KT Leveston OT Kansas St. Big as a house, at 337, could probably stand to lose a few pounds. BUt moves people in the run game and has gotten better in pass pro. 245. Devin Leary QB Kentucky. A near Mr. Irrelevant. Time for Borkc Purdy II.

The Lions did what was right for the Lions. They followed the old Bill Walsh maxim in drafting.."I don't want to hear where you have the guy slotted, I want to know how he helps our team". They already built their Oline into a very good one. They wanted a RB who could turn a 5 yard gain into a 20 or 30 yard gain; They got that. They knew they couldn't overhaul their entire defense in one season or one draft so they concentrated on their run D. They went from 29th in run D in 2002 to 2nd in 2023; They got an early start in building their defensive secondary; They absolutely nailed their choice in a TE. The results aren't even arguable. This is a team that hasn't been in the playoffs in forever, 2 years ago they won 3 games. This year, they were within a whisker and a 2nd half meltdown of making it to the dance. Few expected them to win their division..much less be in the NFC championship game. Damned, there are about 25 teams that can be criticized for their draft choices...the Lions aren't one of them. Rather than worry about whether they can afford Gibbs 5 or 6 years from now...maybe they should pay attention to what the Lions got right...because they got an awful lot right... I can guarantee that other GMs are going to revisiting the Lions draft history for the past few years, to figure out how they did it.

I programmed my oldest son well enough to be a life long Bills fan..lol. With my youngest, I had a different problem. He has no interest in football whatsoever. When we were in Buffalo 2 years ago, we took him with us to a Bills game. He sat next to my sister, she said he barely talked during the game. Odd too. When he was toddler, and in elementary school, I called him my LB in training. He was always the fastest kid in his class, and loved physical contact (I won't get into the times when he beat the hell out of bullies in the higher grades). When I coached my oldest in flag football, I'd put him on the defense if I needed to even out the sides. I'd just tell him to go after the guy with the ball and grab the flag. He was chasing down kids who were 3 years older than him..the problem is he'd tackle them. But he never had any interest in playing the game. Coaches in Jr. High and high school always tried to recruit him. I didn't push it. My oldest, the shy one, ended up playing through high school, ended up a pretty good player on a pretty bad team. I wouldn't have expected him to end up as a pretty good O lineman. (but 240 lbs isn't big enough to play college ball, obviously). The point is...you don't know what interests they develop. Which team they root for is a minor thing. Now if, when he is older, he wants to experiment with crack, or join a gang..or something like that...then you have real problems. But which team to root for...nah...don't make too much of it.

I don't trust my gut. My gut can tell me, "that fried chicken smells really good." The next day my gut tells me "why the hell did you eat that fried chicken?!" On paper, this is a really, really, close match up. The Chiefs have 57 sacks, the Bills lead the league in fewest sacks allowed. I have some confidence the Bills coaching staff figures out how to protect better than the regular season game and/or gives Josh more quick outlet passes. And Josh is going to run more when protection breaks down. Getting a few people back on D is going to be vital, Dodson and Douglas coming back, if they play, will be huge. I'm not as worried about Kelsey getting some passes, he's going to get his catches, its the others, esp. Pacheco and RIce who worry me more. Bad Josh needs to stay home...last week's Josh needs to continue. Find his play makers, let them do their thing. Lock him in the film room the rest of the week and force him to watch Chiefs games. Let him figure out where the blitzes are coming from. He'll find a ***** in their D. Don't force a bad decision.

mhmm. And the past 2 they put MIchigan inthe CFP, ranked no. 2 both times. 2 years ago they were crushed by Georgia. Last year, they gave up 51 points to a TCU team that couldn't muster more than 7 points vs. Georgia. And here they are..in the CFP for the 3rd consecutive year, and given the top ranking. To each his own, but I'll take the occasional dark horse over, say, throwing Notre Dame in the mix, only to watch them get crushed. Expanded playoffs can't get here soon enough

idk. In 2022, the SEC was 7-4 against the ACC and in 2021 they were 8-3. In the CFP, they are 5-1 in those two years. The only loss was Alabama's loss to fellow SEC team Georgia in the NC game.

Nah. The SEC's record in the CFP is like 16-5, with 2 of those losses coming against fellow SEC teams. If you go back to the old BCS, after the Texas-USC epic game, the SEC rattled off something like 7 of 8 of the next national championships. Compare other conferences...(cough Big 10 cough), the record is like 3-7 in the CFP. For a long time, its like an old WWE handicap match...Andre the Giant vs Big John Studd and Ken Patera or something. Its SEC vs the best of the other conferences. And the SEC has been winning. But it is also why the "oh no, Florida St. plays in the ACC" logic is pretty much asinine. Who cares? Who really cares? How do you explain Michigan getting in the CFP for the 3rd consecutive year?

Ha, yeah, there is that. That's why the non-SEC strength of schedule/strength of conference is ludicrous. Should Michigan actually win a game in the playoffs, it will be the first non-Ohio St. Big10 team to actually win a playoff game, much less a national championship. In fact it could be argued it would be the first non-Ohio St. Big Ten team to actually put up a decent game. I dont recall a more overrated conference/division for so long, in any sport.

It was a good pick, but to me, it was also an obvious pick. -The BIlls needed serious help on the OL. You have a stud, franchise QB who was getting pressured on more than 1/3 of his passes in 2002; - A guy fell to late in the 2nd round who was arguably the best interior blocker in the draft, or at most the top 2-3; - it was a guy who dominated at Louisiana, so he moved to the SEC and dominated there. He went to the Senior Bowl and dominated there; - towards the end of the 2nd when he was drafted most of the top interior OL were already gone, Avila, Tippman, Schmitz, etc; - there was a serious drop off in talent after those guys were picked; - this team's ability to find a "late round gem" on the OL is spotty at best. The one real one they found was traded. So he fell to the Bills. It was more of a no brainer pick than anything. I seriously doubt Beane was saying, "don't worry, Torrance will be there when we pick in the 2nd". He dropped, he was there, the pick became easy. It was the right choice.

eh, this is always fun, comparing all time greats. The greatest boxer, Jordan vs Lebron, Ruth vs whomever, etc. OJ's first few years were wasted, being underutilized and playing on a sub par offense. But when Lou Saban came back, he made a big effort to change that. The Bills drafted Reggie Mckenzie in the 2nd round of the 1972 draft. in 1973 they drafted both Joe D and Paul Seymour in the 1st. Seymour was an offensive tackle in college and Saban made him a TE. He brought in a 250 lb fullback in JIm Braxton, who was essentially another OL. They were running jumbo sets as their standard offense. All of that was for OJ. And for the most part, it worked. Barry was drafted by Wayne Fontes and ran out of a run and shoot offense. In those days, the run and shoot was what Buddy Ryan said it was, the "chuck and duck". No fullback, no TE, not much blocking. When Barry started his career, he did have Lomas Brown at LT, Kevin Glover at center and some players on the interior of the Oline. But guard Mike Utely was paralyzed in 1991 and their other guard was killed in an offseason tragic accident around the same time. I think they ended up getting BIll Fralic fro a year in 1994 or 1995. Its true, Barry had more negative yards than OJ. In fact, he had more than anyone. But he also averaged 5 yards per carry. On many of his highlight reel runs, he's having to duck people in the backfield. The Lions weren't built for running the football. It was "chuck and duck" in the the running game as much as it was in the passing game. As you say, OJ looked like a man among boys when he ran. Barry was the little kid in a pee wee game, the running back that no one can tackle. Except he was doing it in the NFL. And he was often doing it against pro bowl players. In these convos, Barry gets my vote as the GOAT. He could do things with the football no one else could. Even Walter Payton admitted that. Barry Switzer has a famous quote about that. Before the Oklahoma St. game, he claims to have said "whatever you do, don't let Thurman Thomas hurt. You don't want to face this Sanders guy."

They still have Nathaniel Hackett running the offense...so..

Except for 1 or 2 games, the Oline has been very good i pass pro. And the Jets game, though he was sacked often, the Oline was actually pretty good in pass pro. Which is why I don't agree with the statement, "fix those and the offense will shine again"...and it makes me cringe a little. Because I see pass pro far better than say, last year, but the turnovers haven't decreased. They actually increased. He's still not seeing wide open receivers, and on nearly every INT...there was someone open elsewhere. I know, I think the OP was hinting at personnel decisions Josh might have affected, but he needs to be held accountable for his field vision lapses. How? Idk. But turnovers area huge factor on how the O is playing, and he is the major contributor to the turnovers.

Yeah, the 2nd int was on Josh. So was the fumbled exchange with Cook. That's one INT and one fumble. He also had a throw that should have been an INT where the DB couldn't stay inbounds. As far as running the ball more, Cook had a 2nd fumble that miraculously bounced back into his hands after it hit the turf. In a way, the Bills received 2 big gifts that could have made it actually worse. The thing is, you've got a QB who has had a history this year of turning the ball over, with this year being no different. You have a RB who gave the ball up on the first play of the game. You have an offense that had turned the ball over twice in the 1st Q. You'd think that ball security would be a higher priority. The 2nd INT was inexcusable, as was the botched handoff to Cook. As was the 2nd Cook fumble. Both Allen and Cook contributed more than their fair share of the comedy of errors that was the offense last night.

Except for the last 2 runs by Murray, nearly every successful run play on the 2 TD drives has been right behind Torrance, with Dawkins on the wham block.

My favorite Bobby Knight story came from a local sportswriter in Kansas. Bob Hentzen, was a local writer for a small newspaper in a small Kansas city. Hentzen said his interaction with Bobby Knight no more than asking him a question once or twice during a press conference. Later, when Hentzen was battling throat cancer, in the mail one day, a multi page, hand written letter full of inspiration and encouragement. The letter was written by Bobby Knight, and was written at a time when Knight was still coaching at Indiana. Its a side to Bobby Knight that isn't usually mentioned, but as Hentzen said, the idea that he would take the time and effort to send words of encouragement to someone he had met, only in passing, was touching.

When my time on earth is gone, and my activities here are passed, I want they bury me upside down, and my critics can kiss my ass! ~Bobby Knight

You have to neutralize The Cheetah. SO you take a page out of the Mash movie playbook. Someone carries a needle in his pants on the field. The first time he's down...shoot him up. "Im ready for the broad jump coach!"

Oe of the benefits of 12 personnel is the ability to give help to the OT's. Last week against Crosby, Brown received help from a TE on at least a dozen occasions. (Someone broke it down on Youtube last week). It was usually just a chip, to keep the pass rusher from blowing by him. But then ,that's all that is usually needed. Im sure he received similar help this week. And I certainly don't have a problem with that. Few things are as frustrating as watching an edge rusher blow by an OT, who can clearly not keep up...but then the OC refuses to give the OT help. A bump, a chip, a rub, its usually all that's needed. And it usually gives the TE enough time to go out in some type of pattern. Washington had 7 sacks last week against Denver. Today...none. Like most, I was coenrned about the OT's this year. But they have played surprisingly well.

I think you can. In the multiview, It highlights the game where you are getting sound with a white border. To get the sound from another game in the multiview, just move the highlighted game with the up/down/side to sid e arrows and wait about 10 seconds. The announcers for the new highlighted game come on. To put a multiview game on full screen, click the OK button. To go back to multiview, click the back button. Games shown on local channels and NOT on ST, they were still in the multiview screen. In my case, Niners-Steelers and Browns-Bengals were on local stations but still in Multiview. For games that were NOT in the 4 multiview games, you might have to click back a time more or two, but you get a menu of all games available. Click on the game you want and you should get an option to join live or watch on multiview. I have YTTV and use a Roku. I don't know how it comes up on the ST app. I don't know if hte multiview function is more of a YTTV feature or ST feature, but on Sat, I was getting multiview options for the college games. All in all, I thought it was pretty simple. I kinda figured it out by myself, so it can't be hard.

Does Purdy = a Trent Edwards who actually throws the ball more than 5 yards past the LOS? Ha...couldn't resist.