BillsFanForever19

He's a great insurance policy. He may make the 53 as the 4th RB. But as I said, he's this year's TJ Yeldon, Matt Breida, or Duke Johnson. Break Glass in Case of Emergency Veteran RB, who can be relied upon if there's an injury. And like you said, here's hoping we'll never have to break the glass and he gets a ring.

Guaranteed he won't if Cook, Harris, and Hines all stay healthy. Like I said, Beane dresses 3 RB's. And Murray will not play in place of Cook, Harris, or Hines. Murray was a Practice Squad RB all of last season. He only saw the field because of injuries. It will be the same thing here. If there's an injury to any of the 3 - he'll be dressed and playing. Barring an injury, he will not.

Latavius isn't going to see the field unless there's an injury. All this talk about what he can do paired with whomever is moot. He's good for depth in case of an injury. But he will not dress on Sunday's unless that happens. He's this year's TJ Yeldon, Matt Breida, or Duke Johnson. He'll be at best our 4th RB on the 53 who doesn't see the field and at worst our Practice Squad RB. McDermott has only ever dressed 3 RB's on Sundays. 2 True RB's and one who plays ST's (was Taiwan Jones and Senorise Perry the one year Jones wasn't here). Cook and Harris will dress with Hines providing more offensive capability than previous ST's backs (while still providing ST Return capability).

Gotcha. I mean, by and large UDFA's aren't expected to make the roster. Especially a roster as strong as ours. If they make the Practice Squad here, they've done well. That's why ours sometimes get poached by teams that have weaker rosters. So, yeah, I don't think any UDFA WR is going to make it. Barring an injury, we've got 6 WR's etched in stone already with Diggs, Davis, Harty, Shakir, Sherfield, and Shorter.

Yeah, that confused me. He's not listed as a sought after UDFA on any list I've seen. But I'm not a scout and presumably neither are the people making these lists. Yeah, no. Maybe a UDFA could beat out a 7th Round Pick. But Shorter will be on the 53 being a 5th Round Pick. Beane's already said he Drafted him because he sees him having "a jersey". Shavers is playing for a Practice Squad spot. He's not making the squad over Shorter, no matter what he does in Pre-Season garbage time. Only way he's making the 53 is if they determine they want to keep 7 WR's or someone gets hurt. Even then, I like Jalen Wayne's chances more. He's a universally higher regarded prospect than Shavers.

Pretty cool to see many of our UDFA class ranked in the top 10 on best available by position on NFL.com. A lot of years our group is made up of guys predominantly not ranked on the NFL.com list at all: DT DJ Dale - #2 Ranked DT OT Richard Gouriage - #5 Ranked OT OT Noah Henderson - #9 Ranked OT RB Jordan Mims - #8 Ranked RB WR Jalen Wayne - #15 Ranked WR - QB Logan Bonner (Tryout) - #7 Ranked QB DT Taron Vincent (Tryout) - #9 Ranked DT RB Isaiah Bowser (Tryout) - #24 Ranked RB Just WR Braydon Johnson and WR Tyrell Shavers of our signings and LB James Patterson of our tryouts who didn't make the list. https://www.nfl.com/news/top-undrafted-rookie-free-agents-following-the-2023-nfl-draft

Damn. That's a blast from the past, "if you know, you know" kinda comment. Can't see Josh Allen showboating it up extra yardage on a bootleg against a vested vet. Or that vested vet deciding Josh needs to be brought down a peg or two for being an overly cocky youngster.

Well we're at 83 now between the roster we had prior to the Draft, the Draft picks we made, the addition of Murray, and the 7 (yet to be announced officially) UDFA signings. So I think it will probably be closer to 90 than that, unless some cuts are made or we're only signing 1 more player.

This is like saying any player drafted in the 1st Round to fill a role is meaningless. Whether he has "played a down" or not is meaningless. He was by many the top pass catcher in the entire Draft. We traded up to get him to fill the role as one of the top 2 options for Josh split out wide. Teams don't look at 1st Round picks and say "I can't rely on this, better get a vet too". Kincaid and Harty will make Davis have less on his plate than last season. There is no #2 problem, outside of a few fans like yourself. Davis isn't Higgins. But 90% of the teams in the league don't have 2 Elite WR's on the field at the same time. Davis is high on the list of WR2 productivity. And Kincaid makes him option 2B or 3 now. And Harty may take Davis off the field in certain packages as well.

Davis is technically the #2. But we didn't Draft Kincaid for him to put his hand on the ground. Kincaid was selected to be Josh's 2nd option, split out wide. And Harty will spell Davis at times in packages. Davis isn't Tee Higgins. But most teams don't have 2 Elite WR's on the field at the same time. Who did KC have last year? MVS? Kelce and Schuster (before him Hill) were there primary pass catchers. Kincaid was drafted to be that for us.

And it doesn't matter how much you write about wanting someone else with more experience. Beane chose 3 WR's between FA and the Draft who will all be on the 53 and a "TE" in the first, who's actually a Big Slot WR. The position has been covered en masse. You can agree with his moves or disagree. But that's not going to unmake the moves he's made. We're done there. Now we focus on spots we need to fill that weren't addressed in the Draft like another OT, a 4th RB (which we did), DT, and DE - if anything. As far as Davis not being "cut out" for the #2 spot, that's why we brought in help with Kincaid and Harty so it's not all falling on his shoulders. Davis may technically be the #2, but that doesn't mean he's really the 2nd option on the field. Kincaid split out wide will become Josh's 2nd option. And Harty will take Davis off the field at times in packages.

Murray replaces Duke Johnson. His ceiling is that Matt Breida, TJ Yeldon role. 4th RB on the 53 who is inactive on Game Day unless there's an injury to Cook, Harris, or Hines. His floor is he's on the Practice Squad. Which was what he was doing last season. But make no mistake about it, he's inactive unless there's an injury. McDermott doesn't dress 4 RB's. And he won't dress over Cook, Harris, or Hines.

Zach Ertz, Odell Beckham Jr, DeAndre Hopkins. If I've learned anything from the 3 it's that hanging on long term massive page threads is fruitless. If Beane is going to strike, he does it fast. Often without warning. If we're waiting, we're waiting on teams or a player to come back around to his offer in defeat. Not impossible, but also not likely. He sets his price, doesn't budge, and doesn't sit on his hands waiting and hoping the player or team will come around to address the position.

Like I said earlier - just because he was interested in being traded to a contender and was playing around with the rumors doesn't mean he'd become a public malcontent and force his way off the team when he and the world were told it wasn't going to happen. It's one thing to have fun with rumors and be open to being traded to the top teams in the league. It's another entirely to go full meltdown and force your way off the team. I'm sure he's more than happy taking the full amount of his massive deal in Arizona. This one's been over for a long time. This is the final nail.

I don't think we're desperate for another Outside WR. Given Beane's comments after signing Harty and then Drafting Dalton Kincaid, who's really a big slot - it appears to me Harty is the #3 X WR. Between Diggs and Davis on the Outside with Kincaid in the Slot and Dawson Knox at TE. The starting lineup is solid. Behind Diggs and Davis on the outside will be Deonte Harty as WR3, Trent Sherfield (playing as the 4th or 5th Outside WR following a solid year as Miami's WR3), and Justin Shorter behind him. Khalil Shakir will play in the Slot in some packages and behind Kincaid. And as you mentioned, Cook can also split out wide. I think when it comes to Pass Catchers as a whole - we're very solid. WR is in good shape. Desperate is a strong word.

Kincaid will get more than a lot of snaps as the "big slot". I expect pretty much all of his snaps to be there. He's a Travis Kelce type - TE in name only. Even Beane said he's not expecting to line him up on the Edge all that much. Will probably be our primary option out of the Slot. I agree with this. I think Hopkins people heard the rumors and tried to make the rumors reality. I think Arizona was never interested in moving him. Now that the Draft is over, pretty much everyone who would be interested in him have gotten pass catchers, and Arizona has made it clear they aren't moving him - he and his people are probably of the mind "get your bag this year and we'll see what happens next year".

Except we're not though. Dalton Kincaid is a TE in name only. He's going to be spread out wide in the vast majority, if not all of snaps. He was considered the best pass catcher in the entire Draft by many. Deonte Harty proved to be a very intriguing deep threat in 2021. Enough for us to have to compete with other teams and pay him a substantial contract. He has elite speed and playmaking ability. Sherfield put up solid numbers holding down Miami's WR3 spot last year and is expected to be our 5th or 6th pass catching option. Justin Shorter has prototypical measurables for an X WR and you never know how quickly he will be developed. All of this with Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis, and Khalil Shakir at WR and Dawson Knox at TE already in the fold. Saying we're going into this season just like last season is just factually wrong. We are in a much better position. Just because you personally feel our additions "haven't proven anything on Sunday's" doesn't mean the moves haven't been made and the roles haven't been filled. Beane's not going to say "BananaB's not impressed, I have to keep adding and forget what I've already done". Arizona from the word go never seemed interested in moving him, unless there were an offer they absolutely couldn't refuse. They appear to be more than comfortable keeping him. They more than have the money to do so. Hopkins seemed open to being moved to a contender and embraced the rumors. But that doesn't mean he's going to become a malcontent and force his way off the team. He could very well just be like "it's not happening? Okay, I'll just take the giant bag Arizona has me under contract for". Even if he were to, at this point with what we did in the Draft and what we already had in place, our financial situation, the positions we didn't address in the Draft that we now have to address with cap space we have to come up with, and Beane consistently saying he's not interested - this idea is as dead as a doornail.

I expect us to sign Latavius Murray and then between him and Mims - one will be the 4th RB on the 53, who's inactive on Game Days unless there's an injury and one will be on the Practice Squad. But yes, I fully expect him to be this year's Raheem Blackshear and for people to lose their minds if he gets poached from the Practice Squad. As if these guys aren't a dime a dozen and come along every year.

Ed Oliver being traded was only ever a thing amongst the same type of fans who wanted Edmunds traded last year. He was never going anywhere. Now that the Draft's over, he's even more so not going to be Traded. There's some decent depth options and fringe starters out there. A lot of them pretty long in the tooth. But nothing the caliber of Ed Oliver to replace him with. I almost expect him to be extended at this point. Beane has talked up wanting to keep him every time his name has been brought up. And I know he hasn't lived up to his lofty expectations following his College career and being a Top 10 Pick - but he's at times dominant (especially when Miller was in the lineup) and we could do a lot worse.

Shell would be solid. As for a big name DE and them commanding bigger contracts, there's so many of them and if they could all command bigger contracts - they'd have gotten them by now. 1 or 2 of them are going to have to settle for what they can get. Frank Clark is a no go though. He's great on the field but an absolute trash human being. Leonard Floyd would be my ideal choice.

DJ Fluker hasn't played a game since 2020. I don't care how good he looks lifting weights. 3 years removed from NFL ball and being a marginal talent when he was playing then (including being suspended 6 games in 2021 when he was last in the league not on an active roster), he's a bring them into camp to see if there's anything there, bottom of the roster with no expectations type of pickup at this point. I'd be looking at George Fant at OT. You can bring Fluker into camp, but he's not something you rely on and we need a sure thing to go along with Dawkins, Brown, and Quessenberry. I'd expect an extension to Jones and/or Oliver to come in the near future to give us some more space. I see no way Beane goes into this season with his entire depth chart of DT's on the last year of their deals.

There's a 266 page thread for Hopkins talk.

Just like the guy who posted he's been dying for Beane to Draft a "big tub of goo" DT for years - positions like these are a thing of the past. The game has gotten much more complex and the players are much more athletic.

I mean, maybe. Or maybe he was just seeing the rumors and hoping he'd go to a winning team and now that the GM has made it clear it's not going to happen, he's fine getting the full amount of his massive contract. It's one thing to go along with rumors and embrace them. It's another to become a public malcontent, hold out, and try and force yourself off the team. That may not be in his DNA.