BillsFanForever19

That's something we'll have to wait and see on. I do think the Defense is definitely improved, on paper. That doesn't doesn't guarantee a better performance though, especially when it comes to things like Turnovers which are often entirely situational. But when it comes to this discussion, I didn't say "he'll make the Super Bowl this season". Just that I'm confident that unless something unforeseen occurs, he'll make a Super Bowl before he retires.

If he stays healthy and plays until the age most elite QB's like him play, I have very little doubt that he'll win at least a Championship game. He's come within inches (or 13 seconds) and was still in the game late with a poor roster just last season. Of course, I can't see the future. But I am very confident that he will at least make a Super Bowl before he retires, save for unforeseen injuries or an earlier than expected exit from the league.

I remember going into the Draft thinking we'd end up taking Michael Huff or Haloti Ngata. When Huff went 7, I was like "alright, it's gonna be Ngata then". When the pick came in as Donte Whitner, my jaw about hit the floor. I couldn't believe it. I liked the pick of John McCargo at the time of the Trade Up. Same for Ashton Youboty in Round 3 and Ko Simpson in Round 4. Little did I know the real victory would be in Round 5 in the form of Kyle Williams.

There probably wasn't a time when I more actively followed College Football as it were happening and was more invested in a Draft than the 2006 NFL Draft. It was wild then to later see most of the College Superstars from that Draft end up wearing a Bills jersey at different points in time, even if incredibly briefly in some instances, in Mario Williams, Reggie Bush, Vince Young, and Matt Leinart.

That's hilarious. What do you want? Them not to cover you?

In what's sure to be a hot take: James Cook. His speed, vision, and elusiveness is so fun to watch.

I think it's a moot point, as if he plays a long career and isn't hampered by a serious injury, he'll at least make a Super Bowl. But I disagree. If he plays for a long time and doesn't fall off a cliff early, I think he's already Hall of Fame bound. His accolades, numbers, records, and performances in games that are considered perhaps the greatest of all time alone will get him in. It's silly to say, "well Warren Moon was the last person to get in without a Super Bowl appearance so Josh can't do it without one". His career (again, without a major injury derailing things) will easily surpass that of Warren Moon. Dan Marino appeared in a single Super Bowl, but had he not, he'd have still gotten in. And Josh is a modern day Dan Marino level QB. I also feel pretty safe in saying Philip Rivers will make the Pro Football Hall of Fame without a Super Bowl appearance. Maybe not 1st Ballot bc of that, but he will make it in the coming years and reset the clock on that supposed qualification. We're obviously putting the cart before the horse here and I don't like talking about such things bc I'm slightly superstitious. But, in my opinion, Josh Allen is a Future HOF'er right now with or without a Super Bowl appearance so long as he doesn't fall apart before his mid 30's.

Robbins was possibly the worst Punter in the League in 2023. Camarda was picked in Round 4 of 2022 (which is like the Punter equivelant of going 1st overall). He was very good in 2022 and 2023, winning Special Teams Player of the Week honors as a Rookie and Special Teams Player of the Month in 2023. He was cut in 2024 after a new Special Teams coordinator came in and after a little bit of a slump. Most fans felt it was an odd release as after 2 solid years, they booted him after a bad month and a half. I think Camarda is the clear favorite and the more talented Punter. His performance that led to his release was still better than Robbins' 2023. Robbins' might have a better story, but Camarda has thus far proven to be the better Punter.

Mahomes at 4 is crazy talk.

I don't know. I think everyone's *interested* in how Coleman's looking and has hopes that he'll take step forwards. But I think if there's people on this board who are expecting him to be great this year or are over hyping him, they're the minority around here. There's way more negativity surrounding Coleman than positivity. Me, personally, I'm just in wait and see mode. I wouldn't be surprised if he took steps forward. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't.

That may be so. It still makes essentially calling it a Pipe Dream that either can be anything more than we've seen from them in Year 1 or Year 2 of their development kind of ridiculous.

That's awkward bc we did just pay Joshua Palmer a 3 yr, 29m deal, with 18m guaranteed at signing...

I completely agree with this. All things equal, it should go to the Rookie. Especially in this scenario where your Rookie is a Round 1 investment. If you're looking at one guy who has reached their ceiling vs. another who hasn't and they're equal in a competition - you're delaying development by going with the vet.

Considering they paid more than a million more for Howard than White, at a position considered non-premium (as opposed to White), his release was more surprising than a White cut would be. Regardless of how many reps with the 1's he had. You keep going back to these June reps with the 1's. I think, or at least hope, there's a communication breakdown in our discussion. If you're saying as long as he continues running with the 1's, he's safe - I'd agree. But that's not the verbage you've been using. Your implication is that it doesn't matter how he looks, he ran with the 1's in June so he's safe. My stance is that his run with the 1's in June were at least partly circumstantial. And given his mostly negative reports combined with Hairston getting up to speed, it's possible, if not likely, that time with the 1's will reduce if not come to an end in Training Camp. As opposed to OTA's, Training Camp is when they start positional battles and really start giving the Rookies heavy play. If he continues on the path he was on in OTA's, him running with the 1's in June will not matter as heavily as you're weighing it. First off, Dane Jackson is only part of the equation. I personally don't believe he'll make the Roster. I think Dorian Strong will be one of those two open Roster spots outside of Benford, Hairston, and Taron. I believe Hancock, being trained as a Cam Lewis clone, will fall under the Safety roster like Lewis did as a Backup Nickel/Safety. However, there's a scenario where they could feel he needs to focus solely on Nickel in Year 1. Which would complicate things on the CB roster as he's almost assuredly going to be here (we've never outright cut a Rookie before Round 6). My discussion on Jackson comes down to your idea that if he looks better than Tre, it doesn't matter bc you can just put him in the Practice Squad and play Tre White. My point was if Jackson looks better than Tre, sticking him on the Practice Squad for a couple elevations doesn't help the team as we'd be only getting 2 elevations out of him while playing someone who looked worse. I'd also add that I think Tre White could be brought back on the Practice Squad. No one was beating down the door for him this offseason. We got him for a small 2.2m guarantee. He didn't look great last season. If we were to cut him bc he didn't look great for us, I don't think anyone's going to be chomping at the bit to put him on their 53 for Week 1 cold. There's much more at play here than Dane Jackson. There's the other Rookies, as I've discussed. There's also Ja'Marcus Ingram, who had a helluva game for us in Miami when we had to start him and is also a core Special Teamer. If Tre continues to performs poorly, any number of those players could take his place. I don't think Jackson is making it. But if Tre doesn't step up and earn his spot, I don't think it's crazy to think they feel Jackson is a safer bet as one of the last CB's. This was kind of a surprising post to read from you. As we've discussed CB post-Draft and I thought we agreed that White is likely to make the roster, but not a lock. Saying it's Hairston or White to Start and no other options would imply to me that he's a lock. I don't believe it's just Hairston or White. I think it's very much more likely than not that's the case. But if Hairston isn't ready and White's struggles continue through Training Camp, I could see a scenario where something unexpected happens. In 2022, no one thought Christian Benford would start for us Week 1 over our 1st Round Pick and Dane Jackson. But that's just what happened. Just like in 2022, we took Strong in Round 6 after taking Hairston in Round 1. If it played out the same way where our vet options didn't wow and our Round 1 Pick wasn't ready, but our Round 6 Pick wowed - I could see history repeating itself. I don't think it's likely. But it happened in 2022. I could also foresee a scenario (again, albeit not likely) that if White and Hairston looked bad and especially if there were injuries and Jaiire Alexander was still floating out there that they may hop on the phone. And yes, although I don't see it as likely, there is a scenario where I could see them thinking Jackson looks better than Tre at this stage and he gets the spot over him and is a bridge starter, as we've used him in the past. But only if Hairston and Strong aren't ready and Tre looks bad. All this to say, Hairston or White is almost definitely the plan. But any number of unexpected things could happen where it's neither. Yes, I completely agree. The basis of this entire discussion stems from my original post that if Tre continues on the path that the reports from OTA's have said, he may not be safe. Of course it's early. And that's been the crux of the discussion. The guy I'm going back and forth with wants to say that since he ran with the 1's in June, it means he's safe come September. My stance is that if things were to continue looking negative for Tre through July and August - it doesn't matter where he ran in June. And again, I want him to make the team. I want him to look better. But I think people are in their feels when it comes to Tre and want to vehemently argue anyone who even points at the possibility that they may not be a lock. If reports were coming in that he was looking good or if we didn't have such a logjam at CB, I wouldn't even be discussing it.

I think it was more of not putting too much on Hairston too soon and also to truly test where he's at after not looking very good last season, but returning to a scheme better suited to him than LA and Baltimore.

And we guaranteed OJ Howard 3.2m. Didn't save him when he didn't perform well in the Offseason either... I get it. We all love Tre. We all want to see him here. But he's not guaranteed a roster spot just bc he's Tre and we love him. Even if he runs with the 1's in June, if he continues to have consistently negative days like he did in OTA's, he's not safe. He has to earn it. There's too much depth. There's only 2, maybe 3 roster spots if they carry an extra this year. In addition to Tre, there's 2 Draft Picks (beyond Hairston), Ja'Marcus Ingram (who is a core Special Teamer), and Dane Jackson. They're not going to cut someone who is outperforming him with all the guys we have just out of love and respect. 2.2m isn't a safe guarantee number. And with a presumed Rookie starter (and likely at least 1, if not 2 Rookies underneath if Hancock isn't considered a Safety) - we need a vet we can count on. If it isn't Tre, Dane being on the Practice Squad doesn't help, if he's the better player.

It had nothing to do with Bernard being hurt. They were giving everyone a shot with the 1's in a completely open competition. My stance is, like Gunner said, they most likely want Hairston to be that #2 CB. But they don't want to overwhelm him and the other Rookies, who just got the Playbook. So they're starting Hairston out slow and putting White out there for the time being. So his being with 1's now seems more circumstantial. There's lots of guys running with 1's in June that aren't going to be Starter's. Forrest, through circumstance, ran with 1's at times and I think he's a longshot to make the team. I also think, given how he looked last season, they also wanted to test where White is at by putting him against the toughest competition. And the results didn't seem great. I think Training Camp and the Pre-Season are a different animal than Non-Contact June OTA's. I believe even if Tre responded better than he did in OTA's that Hairston is going to run with the 1's in August. I doubly think that given the reports of Tre's performance. And I think when Training Camp is in full swing, it's a very real possibility that they think guys like Dorian Strong, Ja'Marcus Ingram, and/or Dane Jackson is performing better than he is for those last 2 spots on the 53 for CB. I don't want to make it seem like I'm bashing Tre. I am rooting for him and would like to see my penciling him in on the 53 turn to ink. But yesterday didn't seem like he was all that much better. He was in position to make a tip drill pick. But he still was getting beat. All of this to say that I think OP's take that running with the 1's in June secures his spot on the Roster is putting the cart before the horse.

Yes and it's funny because you mentioned him in your earlier post... In 2023, before Terrel Bernard was formally given the job, there was an open competition for Starter at Middle Linebacker. Famously, McDermott still hadn't named a starting Middle Linebacker deep into Training Camp and openly told the press someone had to step up. Everyone from Bernard to Dodson to Spector and Klein was given opportunities with the 1's as they searched for their starter. A.J. Klein ran with 1's in Training Camp and didn't make the roster. It isn't uncommon anytime a position is up in the air or a Rookie is being eased in (in this case Hairston) that a veteran will run with the 1's, when the job likely won't be theirs. I think you're putting too much stock in that right now. Especially since we haven't even gotten to Training Camp yet. If he were looking great, I'd say "yes, that's a good sign he'll make it". But that's not what's reportedly happening. If he continues to consistently have reports of "another bad day for Tre", he won't be running with the 1's for long and it's not far off from there to being lost in the numbers game. I'm not guaranteeing he won't make it. But if things don't turn around, his running with the 1's in June isn't going to supercede his poor performance - as you suggest.

I think it's fair to question whether Coleman will take a step in Year 2 or Kincaid in Year 3. But to declare the idea that they could an unreal "dream", especially Coleman after a single season, is a little much. We've seen a number of players on this team take steps or bounds forward unexpectedly. It's a little early (again, especially in Coleman's case) to be telling people they're dreaming when it comes to them taking a leap forward. Some players come out of the gate swinging. Some are late bloomers that take a couple years of development before the game slows down for them. Declaring a Round 1 pick is definitively who they are after 2 seasons and especially after their Rookie year is foolish.

But if he's lost more than a step and that's looking like a real possibility, he may not be able to execute the Defense flawlessly. At this point, he may not even be Prime Levi Wallace or Dane Jackson. I can't remember a time when Levi (or any other CB really) had it reported that "it wasn't a good day for them" by every reporter on a consistent, every day basis. If he's struggling that badly and it continues through Training Camp, I don't think you can say "he knows the Defense and that will get him by". We only lost 2 CB's and brought in 5 between the Draft (Hairston, Hancock (who may or may not fall under the Safety chart), and Strong) and FA (White and Jackson). Of those 2 spots, it's an absolute given that Hairston is taking one. At no point have I thought White was "nearly a lock". At most, I had him penciled in. But he has to prove to not be a liability and also beat out a number of guys. And from what's been being said lately combined with the number of guys he'll have to beat - I don't know how anyone could be so confident that he's going to be here. But time will tell....

I wouldn't, personally. It's June OTA's. They could easily be trying him there just to test him and see where he's at. I also don't think he's been exclusively running with the 1's. A good percentage of the negative reports have come from him being owned by Elijah Moore. They could easily see him looking bad with 1's and he is no longer out there in Training Camp. There's been a number of guys throughout the years, especially when there's a positional battle, that have gotten time with the 1's at one point or another and not made the team. Again, I hope he makes it. But I wouldn't look at overwhelmingly negative reports of a player and think "well, he's running with the 1's in June so it doesn't matter how bad he reportedly looks - he's safe".

I think I'd need more information on the theoretical deal. When the question is asked "money or your team winning the Super Bowl?" - what are we talking about? Like are they saying for that year that they would win or are they asking "money or your team never wins the Super Bowl?" With the QB we have, I think we'll have a lot of chances to win a Super Bowl. So there is a dollar amount (definitely more than 500) I would accept to give up a Super Bowl we'd potentially win in a single given year. But if the deal means that it won't ever happen? That's a horse of a completely different color.

Hilarious timing....

His music and composition helped shape my life. God only knows what i'd be without him.

With Hoecht suspended, it still makes Solomon 5th in the pecking order to me. With Bosa being a walking injury waiting to happen (he's already been dinged up before Training Camp) and him not going to take so much as 50% of snaps, Jackson being a 3rd Rounder that has never played a down in the league, and Hoecht suspended - I don't see AJ being moved until Hoecht is in the lineup (if at all). We've only got the minimum 5 we keep at DE for Week 1-8 as it is. If we have an injury and we've moved on from AJE, we'd be short handed and relying on Jackson and Solomon. I don't see that happening. So, yeah, long story short - with Hoecht in the lineup or not, Solomon is looking at 5th in the pecking order at best in my eyes. Which is the role he had last season. Jackson will be in Smoot's role.