dave mcbride

LaDainian Tomlinson: https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=1858275. His production from 2004-2009 (the extension covered these 6 years) suggests he was absolutely worth it: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/T/TomlLa00.htm. He was all-pro four times and won an MVP. The only down year was the last one. The other five were all good to great.

Re: the bolded, that's an interesting question. One could argue that Antowain Smith on the Pats was a better, more reliable player than the fumble-prone Henry, but Smith (along with all the other Bills backs from that era - Linton, Bryson, etc.) was a solid 3..7 ypc guy for the Bills. Plus he had turf toe in 2000 and looked like he was running in quicksand as a consequence that year. More generally, I think a lot of the poor RB production in that era was the line, which wasn't very talented at all. Regardless, with NE Smith had two very good Super Bowls, and I value postseason play. He rushed for over 200 yards in the postseason in 2001 and 2003 with zero fumbles. Against TN for the Bills in 1999, he had 14 carries for 79 yards and 2 TDs. He was a postseason gamer for the most part. Marshawn Lynch is going the HOF, but it could be argued that Jackson achieved the same production. Lynch was the better player, to be sure, but maybe it just wasn't ever going to happen in Buffalo for him. But generally speaking, you're right. Hell, the last good year OJ ever had was in Buffalo.

He played decently the second half of last season (albeit not in the Bills game): https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6409964/2025/06/09/aaron-rodgers-film-review-pittsburgh-steelers/

I forgot that he started all 16 games for Washington in 2020, when they won the division with a 7-9 record and finished second overall on defense. They had no QB.

Hoecht can certainly read: https://brownbears.com/sports/football/roster/michael-hoecht/9698

Keep on believin’. Also, check out @BADOLBILZ ‘s post above.

Look, if you believe that HGH use isn't rampant in the NFL, that's fine. It obviously is and no one really talks about (players or league) because it's in no one's interest to do so. But both the league and the players need it to keep the multi-billion dollar entertainment machine up and running.

The NFL is completely lax on testing for HGH because they know if they were strict about it and players stopped taking it, a very large number of players on every team would be listed as "out/doubtful" every week. HGH quickly heals soft muscle tears, which players at this level get ALL of the time given how fast, big, and violent the people lining up against them are.

My daughter went to Geneseo!

I saw calf injury and immediately thought, thar's an achilles tear a-brewin', mateys.

I'm upset for entirely superstitious reasons.

If you call yourself a Bills fan but aren't superstitious after all these decades, then I hold your Bills fandom in suspicion!

Good post. More importantly, we now have ~24 years of evidence, and being on Hard Knocks appears to correlate with a 99 percent plus rate of stasis/mediocrity/decline. The Bills agreeing to this is flabbergasting to me.

Yeah, it's boring though because it always succeeds. That's why you can go to the fridge.

Does the play remaining legal help the Bills? Of course it does. The Bills are only second to the Eagles in using it, and are almost as effective as them at the play. It gives the Bills an advantage, so I am all for keeping it. The reason people want it banned isn't because it's not a football play or leads to more injuries (it doesn't); it's because it's basically unstoppable if you have the personnel. A play should be able to be schemed against, and the Eagles' version of the play is basically unschemable, defensively. It can't be stopped. That's why it's problematic. There should always be a defensive answer to a particular type of play.

He actually has gotten over 1,000 yards five times in six seasons, and the one time he didn't he missed 3+ games due to injury (he still finished with nearly 900 yards). But I take your point about "elite" debates.

If you look at AJ Brown's stats with the Eagles, in what world is Drake London more productive than him? He put up nearly 1500 yards in both 2022 and 2023, and last year was skewed by the fact that the Eagles had a 2,000 yard running back and had the fewest pass attempts in the league. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BrowAJ00.htm

This is not true. Forget his 40 time at the combine after an injury plagued career at Maryland. He literally was one of the fastest players measured in an actual game in the past decade. https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/who-10-fastest-players-nfl-next-gen-stats-era

Anyone who thinks AJ Brown isn’t elite doesn’t watch much football.

Wow, this is a great breakdown by Steve Smith. Love it. He’s clearly on the same wavelength as @Kirby Jackson and @GunnerBill! “Street Route” Coleman!

I remember that hit Boldin took - I watched it live. It was BRUTAL: I have long said that if Boldin was the target instead of Lee Evans on that fateful play vs the Pats in the 2011-season afc championship game, there was no way that leigh bodden was gonna knock it out of his hands. Boldin is a first ballot HOFer in my book and was arguably the MVP of the Ravens-Niners SB..

Nope. Roland Hooks has him beat with these two catches.

As they should. Lost yardage due to sacks IS part of the passing game yardage. You can’t factor that out and call yourself honest.

The cheap shot on Coleman is the reason the Bills won that game in regulation. And again, that hit helped the Bills win.

They were 4-7 with Johnson, though.