BillsFanForever19

Holy crap Van Demark looks terrible today.

That's not all the post says.

He diagnosed it and got there, but that was bad ball placement by Josh that made that pick happen. Can't win 'em all (the throw that is).

I keep seeing posts like this and other posts saying we need to manage his load so he doesn't get hurt. And it cracks me up bc so many of them (not you necessarily) were saying he shouldn't be paid bc he's not a 3 Down Back. Now he's being used that way and it's like "don't do that, we have to keep him healthy".

Oh, I understand. I just think you seem to be underestimating the importance of key things Hall of Fame voters require. Especially for the QB Position. And overestimating the importance of things like that. Add a Ring and (or at least) a long storied career to that, he's in. Just that alone? Nope. And if he did, it would be a long wait. I don't know if you know this, but there is only a grand total of 25 QB's who have played in the NFL post AFL merger that have made the Hall of Fame. Of those just 25 QB's, practically all of them have a Super Bowl ring. If they don't, they've at least won a Conference Championship and appeared in a Super Bowl. As I said, the number of QB's who have gotten a Gold Jacket who didn't at least play in a Super Bowl is just 2. And each of them played 15+ years in the league. On top of that, they were inducted 19 (Moon) and 32 (Fouts) years ago - when voters were more liberal. Meaning the number of QB's who don't have a Conference Championship and didn't have a long career is ZERO. It's never happened before. To think that Josh would buck that totality stat bc he's Josh is a bit of a homer take. Again, I do think Josh will be a Hall of Fame player when it's all said and done (so long as something catastrophic doesn't happen). But that's not the conversation we're having. You're saying he's a sure fire Hall of Famer if he retired after this year. As much as he's done, it wouldn't overcome not having a Super Bowl Ring or so much as a Conference Championship AND having only an Andrew Luck length career. Truth be told, as much as I feel he's the best in the game today and wouldn't trade him for anyone, I think he's the 3rd most likely to get voted in if Allen, Mahomes, and Jackson were to all retire today - due to Mahomes rings and Jackson's larger accolades.

Is the 2027 WR Draft Class considered an all time great class bc it's deep or just because of Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams at the top? Because if it's just because of them, that really doesn't matter for us. Unless something catastrophic were to happen to us, it would play out just like the 2024 Draft. Those guys are going in an area that will not be feasible for us to get to. Even if we were able to put together a deal that was fair to get there, no shot that a team wouldn't just stay pat and select the player (like they did with MHJ and Nabers in 2024) or be willing to move that far down the board. Teams willing to move out for someone to select that level of a prospect require a kind of trade that eclipses to greatly eclipses the value chart and also involves them not moving too far from where they are. See Travis Hunter this year and some of the reported offers to the Cardinals and Giants that were turned down in 2024.

Not going to be a popular opinion, but an accurate one. Either way, I think a QB with only an 8 year career with neither a Super Bowl or even a Conference Championship would be a tough sell to voters.

Sterling Sharpe got in.... as a "Seniors" finalist, 30 years after he retired. In large part bc his brother kept his name relevant by pushing for it in the media for 20 years. I don't agree with that opinion about Josh making the Hall of Fame if he retired after this season. There are a grand total of 2 Quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame that played in the Super Bowl era and didn't play in a Super Bowl. Dan Fouts and Warren Moon - and each of them played 15+ years in the NFL. No bigger fan of Josh than me. And again, I think if he continues on the trajectory he's on and he plays for a long time - he'll make it. But after just 8 seasons and no Conference or Super Bowl Championship? I don't see it. If he did, it would probably be a long wait like Sharpe.

I think McDermott is just trying to get people to slow their rolls on Hairston. There are fans that have been calling for and even expecting he was going to see the field Week 5. I think the plan has always been to bring him back after the Bye. Looking at the videos of him working out, that doesn't look like someone that's going to be shut down for the year. I'd bet he is brought back to practice with the team in Week 6. He'll then get those practices, the ones during the Bye, and the practices leading up to Week 8. I think Week 8 is the soonest we'll see him. Week 10 is the latest.

I know exactly what you mean. I replied to a post titled with confusing wording and gave the OP the benefit of the doubt that they simply misspoke - but spoke on both potential possibilities regardless. Even pointing to the positive of what I assumed they were saying. They ended up angrily replying and said I was wasting site bandwidth. Then they went to another thread and found a way to bring it up again in a demeaning manner, to another poster, unprompted. Step carefully, indeed.

Like others have said, you're thinking of the 2018 Draft. Even still, as good as Josh and Lamar are - I don't look at Baker and Darnold as Superstars. They've certainly improved from Busts and Baker has improved greatly into an above average QB. But neither are in Josh's and Lamar's league. All this to say, at the moment, I don't think it tops the 1983 QB Class of John Elway, Jim Kelly, and Dan Marino. That's 3 Hall of Fame, all time legend QB's in the same Draft. I'd even say to this point that Ken O'Brien is equal to or greater than Sam Darnold. And I think it's too soon to call Josh and Lamar sure fire Hall of Famers. It's definitely trending that way. But if something catastrophic were to happen to either, I'm not sure it's a given they'd get into the Hall of Fame just based on what they've done so far.

Do they? Bc there's posts taking it to mean acquisition as a separate developmental league and posts talking about Canadian teams in the NFL - whether that be expansion teams or taking on CFL teams in a straight up merger. There's even someone at the top of this page saying almost verbatim what I did in my "useless" post. But please, continue to gatekeep the precious public "board space" for replies you don't like on your posts.

I think the word you're looking for is an NFL 'acquisition' of the CFL, not merger. A merger would imply the NFL and CFL are on fairly equal standing.and coming together as one organization. Like the AFL/NFL merger. And that's not even remotely the case. The CFL is filled with players who couldn't get signed to an NFL Practice Squad. So a merger would be ridiculous. It would be like MLB teams playing AA teams. But an NFL acquisition of the CFL wherein they become a sort of version of the old NFL Europe developmental league could be intriguing. Would be especially helpful for Pathway Program players like Travis Clayton or guys like KJ Hamler and Andy Isabella whose NFL opportunities have dried up, but would like to stay in the NFL system in some way.

If they're as Generational and Elite as @DJB says, we could give up our 1st in 2026 to get 2 1sts in 2027 - and we still wouldn't get one of them. We pick at the bottom of the Round every year. And any team that would theoretically give up their 1st in 2027 for our 1st in 2026, isn't going to be the kind of team that could be picking early in '27. It would be another team that like us will be picking at the bottom of the Round. So for example, let's say we end up with something like Pick 25 and Pick 30 in 2027 - that only gets us to about Pick 9 on the Trade Chart. That's not getting you a Generational or Elite talent. The "Generational Talent" WR Prospects, your Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Marvin Harrison Jr., Sammy Watkins, Travis Hunter, AJ Green types go in the Top 4 Picks - often in the Top 2 or 3. Even Elite type talents, like Malik Nabers of recent memory, go before where we'd be able to Trade Up to with 2 Bottom of the 1st picks.

Yes, I read your post. Saying "better than most" and than creating a list of just the "bad" and omitting the good is misleading. And as I said, I don't think a number of those players listed are fair to be deemed poor usage of a 2nd. It's *way* too soon to judge TJ Sanders. He's played a total of 3 games. Cole Bishop has had 3 games as a full time starter. And again, with Epenesa we've gotten pretty decent return for the kind of Defensive End that you're going to find with a pick at the bottom of Round 2. If you take a look at the list of DE's active in the NFL who were taken in Round 2, you're going to be hard pressed to find something more than what he's been for us. Which is a decent 3rd in the rotation. When you take into account Dion Dawkins, James Cook, O'Cyrus Torrence, and Keon Coleman in conjunction with guys like Sanders and Bishop who it's too early to rule on and Epenesa who you got decent return on investment for the position where he was picked - our 2nd Round selections haven't been the albatross people like to make it out to be. In fact, it's probably better than a lot of teams track records there over a 9 year period. We bring in other teams 2nd year busts at WR on a yearly basis (Hamler, Isabella, Shenault). Hell, we just signed the Commanders 2nd Round Pick from 2022 to our Practice Squad.

Love how you left out Dion Dawkins, James Cook, O'Cyrus Torrence, and Keon Coleman to fit your narrative 🙄 And if Sanders still has the potential to be good, which goes without saying bc judging a player as a Rookie, let alone one that's only 3 games into their NFL career is crazy - why include them in your list along guys like Basham and Ford? I don't even think it's fair to call Bishop a Bust yet. He's just getting his first starts as a full time starter now. And AJ Epenesa hasn't been terrible return for the caliber of Defensive End you would find at the bottom of Round 2. You're not likely to find a Superstar at DE with Pick 54 - the 6th End off the board.

A 2nd Round Pick.... for a Kicker?

I agree with this. But if we're sitting him again, do we use up our 3rd and final call up (before the Playoff exemption) of Zion Logue or do we save that and give Phillips a call up this week?

We've got 1 DE that we signed to a 3 year deal that is sitting on suspension that we haven't dressed yet. We have another DE we spent a 3rd Round Pick on that we haven't dressed yet. As it is, if they all stay healthy - we're going to have a tough decision to make roster wise and/or keep SIX DE's. We brought in 3 new Ends in this offseason. Again, two of which we haven't seen yet. We gave Bosa 12.7m for a year. We signed Groot to an 80m deal. And you want them to bring in ANOTHER DE? It's not going to happen.

I can't find myself on that post. But that's not bc I was on the right side of history, but because I was so upset by the pick, I didn't even want to talk about it. Glad I was so wrong. Though to those that were upset by the pick like me, I still maintain that Allen is a unicorn. The exception, not the rule. If we found ourselves in the same situation in the future, I'd still be against the Allen like prospect. Bc 9.5 times out of 10, you're ending up with Trey Lance or Anthony Richardson instead of Josh Allen.

Yes, you were quoted incorrectly. It was meant for someone else. My apologies. I meant to quote NeverOutNick. Sorry for the incoming long reply, but you have a knack for making me go all analytical lol Right now, we're carrying the bare minimum at DT. We were initially going to carry 5 DT for a total of 10 DL, but Carter got injured right before the year. I think they believed that they could get by with having the minimum 4 we have active for a number of weeks and then bring Logue or Phillips up, if necessary. And they temporarily decided to boost ST's with Franklin for the time being. I think ultimately when it comes to the numbers game and where we carry extra, it's more of a sticking point coming out of the Pre-Season than it is mid season. Mid season, it's more about fitting the best players you can on when and where you can, depending on injuries. Obviously, there's limits to that. You need to make sure you have at least 2 QB, 3 RB, 1 FB, 5 WR, 3 TE, 9 OL, 8 DL, 5 LB, 5 CB, 4 S, and 3 Specialists. But those 5 extra spots are more liberal as the year goes on. 11 DL isn't an insane number. In fact, we finished the season last year with that exact number - DE: Greg Rousseau AJ Epenesa Von Miller Dawuane Smoot Javon Solomon DT: Ed Oliver Daquan Jones Austin Johnson Dewayne Carter Jordan Phillips Quinton Jefferson I mean, right now, we're carrying an unheard of 12 in the Secondary. Granted, Codrington and Franklin are DB's in name only. But the same can be sort of said of Solomon, who's way more ST's than DL. The problem with cutting from the DL, and you touched on it a bit, is who do you let go? The most obvious at DE is the aforementioned Solomon. But he's a key ST player, which is why he's active over Jackson. So it probably won't be him. Obviously, Rousseau, Bosa, Hoecht, and Jackson aren't going anywhere. So that really only leaves AJE. I did mention the off chance possibility that, if everyone stays healthy there, he could be dealt. But if we can't get anything for him, I'm not sure they'd outright cut him. Daquan won't be cut. I don't see them thinking he's the unquestioned starter at 1T to thinking he provides nothing in the rotation. I suppose, like AJE, there's an off chance that if someone were interested they'd Trade him. But that would only happen if they felt Walker was ready to be their starter AND that Ogunjobi would play 1T. But idk how likely that is as Ogunjobi was brought in to be a 3T and that's where he spent Camp and the Pre-Season. Though he has played that spot before. When it comes to DT with Ogunjobi, as I said, we always meant to carry 5 there to begin with. So that's a pretty simple move of erasing the pencil Franklin was etched in with Carter's spot and activating Ogunjobi. And Hairston is as simple as erasing the pencil Ingram was etched in with - as I feel the only reason he made it was bc Hairston was out. Same goes for Lundt penciled into Grable's spot and Prater in Bass' spot (if they decide to activate either). Ultimately, it's all pretty simple - save for Hoecht's spot. I think the easiest thing that can happen there is that there's an injury along the WR, DL, or Secondary rooms where someone is IR'ed at one of those spots. Though that's not something I'm wishing for, that would make it the simplest move. Maybe Landon Jackson pops up with a mysterious injury and he's IR'ed for a time. But I imagine they'd want him to develop in Practice. Outside of that, maybe they shop around AJE, Samuel, or Daquan and they can get something done with one of them.

@NeverOutNick Hamlin and Codrington aren't going anywhere. If anyone was being moved to make room for Hancock to see the field, it would be Cam Lewis before Damar Hamlin. But I don't think he's going anywhere either. But regardless of what you and other fans think about Hamlin - McDermott values him too much. Outside of Rapp and Bishop, he's the only Safety to be active and gotten snaps at Safety. And Codrington is our entire Return game. They aren't going to risk putting someone important back there and it's too important of a job this year to go with just anybody. The odds that we get through Week 6 without a single player to put on IR is pretty slim. At least one player is going to get dinged up, if not more. And then it will come down to who's 52 and/or 53 between Sam Franklin and Ja'Marcus Ingram. Off chance if our DE's are all healthy they can move AJE or if all our WR's stay healthy we can move Samuel - otherwise i'd expect them to be here.

My mistake. I thought the message of being able to wait for Grable but not for Hairston and the wording of "week 5 prep" implied prepping to play for Week 5.

If you're referring to whether the weight loss has adversely effected his game, you're right - the sample size is small. But it hasn't looked good in that small sample size. But if you're referring to whether or not he's the unquestioned RB3, I'd say that your argument is more of an argument for why he is. The fact that he's gotten a quarter of the reps that Cook has and more importantly, half the reps that Ty Johnson has, and that his number seems to go down on a weekly basis - says that he is.