dave mcbride

Yes, 0-3 because he really sucks. The QB is the most important position on the team by far.

https://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/marlon-humphrey-foot-injury-ramifications

The last time Beane traded a sixth round pick entering his second season, it didn't work out too well for the Bills. I think Benford might simply be the starter. We'll see.

And that's exactly what I said! I agree with you. Kyle Allen gets you to 0-3 over a three-game stretch, pretty much, unless the Bills get lucky with ST plays and defensive TDs.

It actually doesn't matter for season ending injuries on a team like Buffalo. It matters for SF, which isn't so dependent on QB1. For a four-week separated shoulder or MCL sprain, it absolutely matters. But if Allen tears his ACL in week three, then the best thing that could happen would be for the Bills to Bengalize the season and get next year's version of Chase (Harrison). The entire offense revolves around Allen, just like Indy's offense revolved around Payton.

“The linebacker mob” — love it!

But Edmunds was actually very good last season. Is that even arguable? I mean, come on. Opposing QBs had a rating of 69.9 against him and his missed tackle rate was a minuscule 1 percent. This is one of the dumber narratives in Bills fandom, in my opinion. Time to let it go.

I see your point, but if you look at the long arc of teams led by great quarterbacks for long periods of time, there are almost always some down seasons: 7-9 a couple of times for Brees, 6-9-1 and 8-7-1 for Rogers, 8-8 for Roethlisberger in his prime, 9-7 for Brady after winning a SB, 9-7 for Russell Wilson while in his prime, etc., 8-8 (with Shanahan) and 7-9 for Elway, 8-8 for Favre in his prime in GB, etc. I'm not saying that the Bills will suffer a dip this season, but they most likely WILL suffer one at some point during Allen's prime. This year makes a certain amount of sense given the schedule, the division, and the cap situation (which prevented them from signing higher-level FAs). But they have the potential to win 13 games again too.

To be fair to SI, the gimmick generated major mainstream media coverage! https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/15/style/martha-stewart-sports-illustrated-cover.html and https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/05/16/martha-stewart-sports-illustrated-swimsuit/

Yes, and Martha Stewart is literally one of the models this year. Tracks with their demographic! https://swimsuit.si.com/model-years/2023

CJ Moseley is a helluva player.

Might not be so bad. It's a hamstring, apparently.

I do think you should factor in draft-related trades too. It's tough to do this correctly without the trades for Garappolo (huge hit for SF; he was a GOOD player for them -- 38-17 as a starter for them and a career 99.2 rating for SF; when he didn't start, they almost always lost until Purdy came along - https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/G/GaroJi00.htm) and Diggs (another huge hit). SF traded a second for Jimmy G and the Bills a first for Diggs. I also think they made a great trade for McCaffrey, partly because they had so many picks going into the 2023 draft.

Riddick has been pretty complimentary of Allen in the past few years. He's a Bills fan because of his brother.

TB and Atlanta. Atlanta is sneakily loaded on offense except for QB.

If you're going to taunt Riddick, you should taunt Shanahan too. He's the guy who traded a fortune in picks to move up to number 2 to get him. When one does that, one has visions of MVP for that player too.

Atlanta and Tampa Bay have talent on offense with big question marks at QB. They strike me as his best options.

He is a far better option than what the Bills currently have. And given his arm, he could actually operate in the Bills system, which pushes the ball down the field a lot. He just needs experience.

Agree 100 percent with all of this. Lance just hasn't played. Maybe he's a bust given his draft slot, but he's also very gifted and would be a huge upgrade for the Bills at backup. If I'm Tampa Bay, though, I'm looking hard at him.

That’s not a McDermott problem, it’s an NFL defense problem. Because of where they’re situated on the field, MLBs are typically the players making the calls out there. They don’t have to be rocket surgeons, but they do have to have a command of the defensive schemes. For that reason, I agree with Greg Cosell, who argues that because McDermott trusts him, Klein will be the starting MLB but that Dorian Williams will take over at some point once he finally gets situated. He’s more talented than all of the others. Klein is a mediocre player with physical liabilities, but he at least can line people up properly and also put himself in the right position.

I don't honestly know who is better. Allen looks bad, but he's had a handful of decent games over his career. I don't know enough about Skylar other than the fact that he's looked pretty ineffective throwing to a loaded WR corps. But he's also really young.

Greg Cosell thinks Williams will be starting at MLB before too long because he's more talented: .

Thompson was 18-45 for 220 yards, took four sacks for 31 yards, and threw one TD and two INTs. The Dolphins had 189 passing yards on 49 dropbacks, and 31 of those dropbacks resulted in incompletions, sacks, or INTs. Also, 3.86 yards per passing play is absolutely dreadful. So no, he did not prove he can play in Buffalo in Winter. Most of Miami's points came off of Bills' turnovers.

Hey, Josh needs his street ball practice reps too!

Good graph.