BillsFanForever19

Football intelligence doesn't matter if he's the guy we saw in 2024 going forward. Things like Intelligence and Being a Good Locker Room guy shouldn't supercede on field performance. I don't care how smart a player is if their performance doesn't match their smarts. The league is and has been filled with players who have a really high Football IQ that couldn't see the field or ended up busting out of the league because what they showed on field didn't match up to that intelligence. Some of the best coaches in the league are guys who have great Football IQ that didn't translate to on field success. The difference between Rousseau and Bernard in my list of those 5 extension candidates comes down to the position they play. Edge Rusher is a Premium Position. Middle Linebacker is not. Middle LB is much easier to replace than Edge Rusher. If you want a Top Tier Edge Rusher, you're going to have to pay 9 figures or have a Top 5 Pick in the Draft. Even average to slightly above average DE's around his age get swooped up within the first couple days of FA and paid a fortune. If you're taking an Edge Rusher at 30, you'll be fortunate to get a Greg Rousseau. If you take a Middle Linebacker where we pick in Round 1, you should be landing a Top 10 MLB. Thus the level of vitriol towards Edmunds. Edmunds wasn't as terrible as he was made out to be on the Board. It was just magnified a hundred fold bc of where we Drafted him and at the position he played. Drafting a MLB who can be a good starter in Rounds 2-4 is infinitely more likely than being able to find an Edge Rusher around those points in the Draft that can be Rousseau. Especially if we're okay with the kind of performance Bernard put in last season.

I keep seeing people post this. Teams don't have to literally wait until June 1st to make a Post June 1st cut. They could designate up to 2 players as a Post June 1st cut prior to June 1st and they haven't made any of those moves so far. So if that was the plan, they could have done that at literally any point this offseason. There's no difference between doing It after 6/1 and doing it before then and assigning the designation of a "Post 6/1 Cut". Also, looking at the roster, there's really no candidates to cut to create space that wouldn't create a hole. Again, if there were someone they had in mind, they'd have just done it by now. There are a number of other ways they could come up with cap though: - a Dion Dawkins restructure could save up to 9.8m - a Dawson Knox restructure could save up to 6.3m - a Connor McGovern extension could save up to 4.2m And those are just the obvious ones that were suggested by different analysts prior to FA that we didn't do. There may be others that I'm not privy to. My guess is one or more of those things are going to happen.

I mean, I'm not going to call you stupid - but I think it's pretty ridiculous to judge how tough or how good of a Safety he could be based on the fact that he's pretty. There's plenty of "snot flying, drool dripping" dudes who are straight up trash on the field. If you look at when we had Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde, Poyer was a pretty boy (bagging a literal super model) and Hyde was a pretty unassuming every day looking kind of guy with an easy going demeanor himself. Neither one of them were scary looking cavemen. And in their prime, they were incredible. We'll see what becomes of Cole Bishop. He missed pretty much all of his Rookie Training Camp and Pre-Season, which had him behind the 8 ball and on roller skates trying to catch up all season. On top of that because he missed that very important time for a Rookie, it made McDermott much more conservative with him - when he's pretty conservative with Rookies as is. I'm pretty much giving him a clean slate this season. And him looking like a New York Yankee under George Steinbrenner shouldn't weigh an ounce on your mind. Good Football players come in all shapes, sizes, and looks.

He definitely should be above a number of guys at the bottom. But this kind of highlights my feeling that we shouldn't have been in a rush to extend Bernard. He took a pretty sizable step back between 2023 and 2024. Between his performance last season and his penchant for getting dinged up (and at a position that isn't a premium one) - I wouldn't have locked in the kind of long term deal he was given until I saw him return to his 2023 form this season. If he doesn't, I'd have put that money elsewhere and Drafted a replacement. Bernard was easily #5 on the list of guys to allocate cap to retain between him, Benford, Rousseau, Shakir, and Cook.

I don't think it's a total given that Strong makes the roster. That's why I put him in that field of 3 with White and Jackson for 1 or 2 (if Ingram is cut) Boundary CB roster spots, instead of as a lock. But I do think it's def more likely than not he sticks. General rule of thumb is that anyone taken after Round 5 isn't safe. But Dorian Strong was the first pick in Round 6 and considered a steal there. Jordan Hancock, who most consider close to a lock, was taken at Pick 170. Dorian Strong was taken only 7 picks later at Pick 177. And I think Pre-Draft, most Draft analysts considered Strong the better prospect. I think unless he shows to be completely lost in Training Camp, they're going to prefer the talent level and upside of Strong over guys like Jackson and Ingram, potentially even White if he continues to look toast through the offseason. I see it as close to a 0% chance Daequan Hardy makes the 53. If they thought he was either an NFL level Nickel CB or Returner, they wouldn't have a.) Outright cut him instead of "Redshirting" him (as Beane often does with Late Round picks he likes) or b.) Traded for and rostered Brandon Codrington for the Return job for the season, with zero time with the team. Now not only would he have to beat out a Codrington and/or a Lewis at either spot, which he failed to do last year - we also added Jordan Hancock at Backup Nickel as well as Laviska Shenault at Returner. And that's not to mention the rest of the crowded field at DB, which will see us cutting some players that are clearly above Hardy on the depth chart. Oh, for sure. We're pretty deep as for as depth DB's go. There's going to be at least a couple guys they'd liked to have on the team as depth that will fall prey to the numbers game that they will assuredly try to bring back on the Practice Squad. It wouldn't shock me if they cut all of those guys if they brought them all back there.

The odds of White and Jackson both making the roster is slim to none. If White makes it, that means Jackson doesn't and if Jackson makes it that means White doesn't, IMO. We lost 2 Boundary CB's (Rasul Douglas and Kaiir Elam) and brought in 4 (Maxwell Hairston, Tre White, Dorian Strong, and Dane Jackson). Of those 2 Roster Spots that opened up, Maxwell Hairston is a lock. Even if they cut Ja'Marcus Ingram (which is not a given), there's still only 2 spots for Tre White, Dorian Strong (who I don't see being cut), and Dane Jackson. And I know some people are high on Forrest, but I still think when push comes to shove - he's a long shot to make it. We're bringing back all 4 Safeties from last year. And while the board is low on Damar Hamlin, I don't think the brass is. I think there's a bigger disconnect between fans and the Front Office when it comes to Hamlin as any player i've ever seen. Even if they cut Cam Lewis for Jordan Hancock as the Backup Nickel CB/Safety (which like Ingram, I don't think is a given. I could see both Hancock and Lewis sticking) - it will still come down to Hamlin or Forrest. And I'll believe it when I see it that they'd cut Hamlin (who they started all year last year) for Forrest. On my 53 projection, I have both Dane Jackson and Darrick Forrest as cuts. And that includes Ja'Marcus Ingram and Cam Lewis being cut too, both of which I could easily see the team preferring over Jackson and Forrest, if push came to shove.

A Grade 1 Calf Pull recovers in 1-3 weeks. A Grade 2 in 3-6. We've got about 8 weeks before Training Camp starts. He'll be good to go by then. With his history, it wouldn't even shock me if it was just Bosa saying "my calf is bothering me a little bit, but I'm fine" and they were like "screw it, we'll just say you have a pull and shut you down until Camp". But this is why when people talk about trading Epenesa before the season starts, I say absolutely not. Bosa's injury prone and we don't get Hoecht until Week 8. If the season started tomorrow and we had traded Epenesa - we'd be down to Rousseau, Jackson, and Solomon. That's it. Beyond being undermanned at the position, we'd be relying on two complete unknowns at that point.

HBO and HBO Max. Which was previously HBO Go, then rebranded to HBO Max, then rebranded to just Max, but they then realized the shortened version sucked, so they rebranded BACK to HBO Max. Corporations, amirite?

Yeah, I'm sorry, but I'm going to need more than a blip in an article mainly about Kaden Prather saying he was "catching passes everywhere" from Will Rogers and Paxton DeLaurent, in a Rookie Mini Camp filled with UDFA's and unsigned tryout players (like the guys he was catching passes from) before I start thinking he might become a "TD catching machine" during live action. With the role he has combined with what he was in College and where he was Drafted, it's a pretty unrealistic expectation. I'd be here for it, but I see it as a pretty hot take. He's probably not going to get many reps and when he does, his role 9.5 times out of 10 will be that of a blocker and probably won't get much of a look unless a play breaks down (like Morris before him)

It pretty much lives on from the occasional poster coming in and saying "hey, why don't we bring him back?" and a million posters rightfully throwing tomatoes at them.

Not to be a jerk - but what leads you to believe he has "actual receiving upside"? More than Lee Smith, sure. But that's not saying much of anything. There were probably Offensive Lineman that had more Receiving upside than Lee Smith. And considering Butch Rolle's highest career totals were 13 catches (1992), 67 yards (1993), and 3 TD's (1990) - that's also not saying much. And I don't think anyone called Lee Smith or Butch Rolle "a force". Through 4 years in College at Yale and Georgia Tech, Hawes averaged 12 catches for 141 yards and 1.5 TD's a year. His career highs in College were 16 catches (2024), 195 yards (2024), and 4 TD's (2022). Quintin Morris' stats coming out of College at Bowling Green were an average of 10 catches, 382 yards, and 3.25 TD's a year. His career highs in College were 12 catches (2018 and 2019), 649 yards (2019), and 7 TD's (2018). Hawes will be replacing Quintin Morris' role on the team. Coming out of College, Morris had shown more ability as a Receiver than Hawes did. And we saw what he brought to the table as a Receiving option for the Bills. I think if you're saying Hawes be a force as a Blocker and a better Blocker than Morris was - that's fair. And i'd love for him to exceed expectations, just like any Bills player. But I'm just not seeing the Receiving upside that you and others have said he has or much more of a Receiving role than Morris had with us. Even his biggest supporters in the Draft said he's a great "Blocking TE". If teams thought he had real upside as a Receiver while being as good as he is as a Blocker from the TE position, he wouldn't have lasted to the bottom of the 5th Round.

Yeah, I think the "distraction" thing is overblown. Today's NFL has cameras literally everywhere at all times. They have any number of networks coming and going from practices. Team media recording things in the locker room, hell, even on field with weekly mic'd up segments. They're constantly having to do interviews and things for all sorts of different media outlets. I really don't think more camera men and the occasional set interview during their down time is going to have any effect on anything. It's probably more of an annoyance for people like McDermott and Beane who have to give access to what goes on behind their closed doors than anything.

He's the replacement for Quintin Morris. A Blocking TE like Morris before him and like Lee Smith before that. If you're saying "a force" as in like they were, sure. But I wouldn't be expecting much on the stats sheet. I'm guessing he believes the people who are outraged over people using Ranch instead of Blue Cheese say they are mostly in jest. I generally hope that's the case too. Like who legitimately judges people based on their choice of dipping sauce for Chicken? City of Good Neighbors but we draw the line at someone preferring a different sauce? 😄

Hard Knocks is no longer just a Training Camp thing. There's the Hard Knocks Training Camp team, the Hard Knocks In Season Division (this year it's the NFC East), and the Hard Knocks Playoffs team (last season it was the Baltimore Ravens). It's now an unavoidable thing. They've removed the old rules regarding being able to turn it down. Everyone is going to end up doing it, one way or another. Honestly, it's better to sign up to be the Training Camp team so we're not an In Season team or the team with HBO following them around during the Playoffs.

I'm quite thankful for Bills Reddit. While this place has it's fair share of ridiculous comments and takes - it's nothing like the Reddit. If the Reddit didn't exist and the people in it flocked here, i'd probably be out.

If you're implying after Week 6 when we have Hoecht and in the scenario that everyone has stayed healthy along the DE position over the first 6 weeks, maybe. But before then, it would be risky to do so and while it could be an upgrade - it could just as easily not move the needle or be a downgrade. Bosa isn't going to play more than 50% of snaps and probably shouldn't be overused bc he's historically a walking injury waiting to happen. So you're asking a 3rd Round Rookie to take on a pretty big role right out of the gate before his sea legs are under him. And with Bosa being an injury risk, if he were injured (or Groot) - we'd be asking Jackson to start before Hoecht got here, as we'd be down to only 4 DE's. We'd also be leaning on Solomon a bunch too. We have no idea what Jackson is right now as an NFL player (or really Solomon either). Generally, we don't generally rush Rookies after Round 2 into big roles. McDermott is usually pretty conservative when it comes to Rookies. Epenesa might not be more than a slightly below average starter, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have value in a rotation. We know what his ceiling is and what his floor is. Right now, I think you roll with a 4 rotation of Groot, Bosa, AJE, and Jackson. I think we need him after Week 6 where we know where we're at with Jackson (and Solomon for that matter), evaluate what the health of the room is, and have Hoecht in the lineup.

The long bomb is just not his strong suit. He hits one every now and then. But more often than not, he just misses over or under. He can throw it a mile, but he's never really gotten down being able to throw it long accurately with any sort of regularity. Luckily, he makes up for that by being an absolute beast in practically every other facet of his game. It's not dialed up often by Brady because of that fact. They're low percentage throws.

4.45, 4.46, 4.50, 4.52 while not being slow, isn't what i'd consider "fast" either. If 4.61 is turtle show, a tenth of a second faster isn't blazing. Hairston - that's fast. You think he didn't know his timed speed was 4.61 when he Drafted him? Like Beane's a GM that had to Draft someone at 4.61 to determine whether or not it would work? If Beane knows "he blew the pick" and was sure Keon Coleman is incapable of taking a step in Year 2, he'd have done something more than just replacing Amari Cooper and Mack Hollins with Josh Palmer and Elijah Moore and not Drafting a WR until UDFA Camp Body territory in the 7th. Honestly, I wish he did think he blew the pick as you imply. Maybe he would have tried to get Metcalf.

So it would be "truly stupid" to say after just 1 year that he's a bust but saying he's overhyped after just 1 year is not only perfectly fine, but a hill you're ready to die on?

The Official Bills Reddit is the modern day Bills message board. People also use Twitter and Instagram.

How many of them were future first ballot Hall of Famers, coming off back to back 100m+ contracts, at 36 years old?

I don't think Von Miller is going to sign on for a Practice Squad role. I think he'd sooner sit at home and wait for a phone call from someone mid season when injuries strike or Retire.

As long as these guys live up to expectations, idgaf if they dip their wings in ketchup.