BillsFanForever19

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.

I don't think it would be something that would be covered... except for that WGR interview. Because of that, it's definitely something that will be brought up when they're highlighting Beane and talking to him. Actually, now that I think about it, myself and a couple others thought at the time that it felt like a planned thing by Beane as a publicity stunt. Highlighting it on the Draft Embedded made me think that further. Now I'm starting to wonder if Beane didn't know this was coming down the pipeline and did it in part bc he thought it might make good TV for Hard Knocks. I put the likelihood that the WGR clip is shown and they discuss the discourse over WR at like 95%

We have Khalil Shakir in the Slot. We've got Curtis Samuel, who was out of the Slot on 42% of his snaps last season (may increase this year with Palmer and if Keon stays healthy). We've got Dalton Kincaid, who was out of the Slot on 46% of his snaps last season. Why on earth would we bring in a 33 year old predominantly Slot WR? If we were interested in Keenan Allen as our 5th WR, we'd have signed him after the Draft. They wanted an Outside guy with Speed, which is why they went with Elijah Moore instead.

That combined with Signing Hoecht and spending the 74th Pick in the Draft on Jackson. We had 2 DE's going out in Von and Smoot and have 3 DE's coming in with Bosa, Hoecht, and Jackson. Our moves at Defensive End (outside of Camp Body Practice Squad candidates) are completed for the Offseason.

I really can't. Unless you want to cut Solomon, which I wouldn't do for Von. And kinda defeats the purpose of mentoring the younger players. We have a full stack of 5 at DE with Groot, Bosa, AJE, Jackson, and Solomon. Bosa is going to be our situational Pass Rusher that really won't exceed 50% of snaps and will probably be under that. I don't see us handing Jackson essentially a Starting role out of the gate. I see him rotating in on both sides of the line when needed to get his sea legs under him as a Rookie. In Groot, Bosa, AJE, and Jackson tho - we have a talented person cycling in on each side of the line at all times. Removing Epenesa for Von is a downgrade. And removing Solomon, of which we don't know what he could or couldn't develop into, for Von which we do at this point in his career - would be a mistake in my eyes. As it is, we'll need to find a place for Hoecht after Week 6. It's likely he'll just be slid on to the roster from an injury that occurs over the first 6 weeks. But long story short, we've got 5 guys now. Potentially 6 when Hoecht returns (if everyone remains healthy). We really don't have a place for a 6th now or potentially a 7th then. If we hadn't Drafted Jackson and signed Bosa or Hoecht - I could see a reunion. But since we did all 3 of those things, I think the Von reunion ship has sailed. Save for multiple injuries occuring mid season and him still being without a team then. Which is not something we want to have happen.

It was his ROOKIE SEASON. You're acting like 885 yards and 8 TD's in Year 1 makes him a bust. Did you Draft the guy in Fantasy in Round 1 or something?

I think we have a philosophical difference of opinion. And one that requires hindsight after a number of years. It's like when people say the Bills were stupid for Drafting Sammy Watkins instead of Mike Evans. With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that Evans easily turned into the better NFL WR. But during the Draft, was it considered dumb to take Watkins instead of Evans? No - on the contrary, it would have been shocking as Watkins was considered far and away the better prospect. Just like even though BTJ had the better Rookie campaign, people would have thought Arizona lost their minds if they took him over MHJ.

Personally, when I hear "overhyped" when it comes to a Prospect, to me that implies that the level of talent evaluated from College was blown out of proportion. That's definitely not the case with MHJ. I think Draft "hype" and what the player becomes at the next level are two separate things. The NCAA and the NFL are different animals. There's any number of reasons on and off the field that a guy might not translate to the next level. For example, Sammy Watkins was a bust. But do I think he was overhyped as a Prospect coming into the NFL? No, I don't.

I don't think he's aware of the recent rules for Hard Knocks changing and is assuming based upon the old rules. But it wouldn't surprise me if people other than McDermott wanted it. Specifically the Owners. I don't think it's fair to say that they volunteered. I also don't think it's fair to say that they were forced. Right now, we don't really know. Unless Eisen knows something we don't.