Dr. Who

I am both optimistic and concerned. I don't feel schizophrenic, but does a crazy person know they're crazy? And I'll listen to knuckleheads all day when they are rational and literate.

Yes, that's true. I am looking at Bortles where he is now. It does go to show it's a marathon, not a sprint.

Yeah, this is how I feel. Maybe some folks can be more objective about it.

Hey, I gave you cred up thread. Don't worry.

Yep. It's been a long wait. I didn't even realize I was young back then and thought for sure we'd have a fair number of playoff appearances and hopefully a shot or two at the Super Bowl in the future. Now I'm looking at the hour glass and praying Allen is the answer.

There's definitely enough ambiguity to make it a call that could be argued either way. Let's just put it this way, if Allen turns out to be Blake Bortles (as some of his critics today assert,) I will be very disappointed.

Is "bust" criteria objective level of play or is it also dictated by when a fella was drafted? I surmise most folks would judge Bortles a decent backup level of player. If you drafted him in the mid-rounds, that would make him a moderate success. If you drafted him third overall, that feels like a bust. That doesn't mean Bortles would have to have become a top five qb in order to avoid being a bust. I think Andy Dalton level average does that, though even that indicates a miss in terms of where he was drafted.

That's how I recollect it. I think there may also have been some bad actors who trolled him. It's really too bad.

716 has been defending Culley for quite a while on these boards. I think resigning Barkely and Anderson, along with Allen's endorsement of Culley is an encouraging sign. McD and Beane believe Allen is on track to be the qb they were hoping for and don't want to upset the situation that is promoting development. They kinda lucked into it, but great that they recognize it. Keep what works, move on from what doesn't.

I think it's reasonable to expect a significant leap forward given an off-season where Allen now has the experience to know specifically what he needs to give a priority to working on in order to elevate his game, first team reps from the start of training camp, and hopefully some really good adds via draft and free agency. Expecting 2019 MVP is clearly excessive and technically I agree with you, but after decades of bad qb play, I am willing to forgive folks being giddy with actual hope.

Honestly, I think that fella is just dim.

If you give the same benefit of the doubt to the folks who are enthusiastic about Allen as you do to Elite Poster, there really isn't a basis for anyone being upset. A lot of folks feel the need to add the caveat about Allen having to continue to develop just to placate folks who actually seem irritated that others are now really happy Allen is the Buffalo Bills qb. You probably wouldn't have the same level of emotional optimism if many hadn't been persuaded by the massive negative reaction to the fella when he was first drafted that we had made a highly risk choice likely to be a bust. It's as much relief that Allen's floor is evidently not a "bust" as joy that he appears to have a legitimate shot at hitting his ceiling that is motivating the good vibes.

I really like Josh Jacobs at Alabama, but he's likely gone before Bills would consider drafting a rb.

So, I surmise you are thinking trade for AJ Green or Julio? I'd be surprised if this regime would be interested in Antonio Brown given his locker room antics.

Metcalf and Golden Tate work for me.

I don't think I could, but I'll feel a whole lot better about it if we sign at least one good tackle and veteran center in free agency.

Given the huge dead money regarding this year's roster and the minimal talent on offense, this was never likely to be a successful year in terms of record. This year was about development of the young players, especially at qb and mlb. If you have a potential franchise qb with arrow up, you have hope. Lot of folks thought Allen was two years away from even seeing the field. Turns out the fella can play a little. Next year, folks will wants wins, but for this year, we did about as well as one could rationally hope for.

This has been talked about before, but evaluation on offense is generally a problem. Wr, te, rb, oline -- I don't have a lot of confidence in these fellas. Daboll appears to have been right about Foster. Maybe he will have a good sense of the value of Jonah Williams. Anyway, I think they know more investment has to be made in offensive personnel, so hopefully they hit more than they miss.

Now the Allen is not good and analytics prove it crowd is going to have to deal with optimism and folks liking Allen for a whole off-season. Life is just so unfair . . .

I like Metcalf. As of right now, you could probably trade down and get him later in the first.

Buddo is always worth the read. Love your response Shaw. Only caveat is I recall Dawkins struggling early at RT last year. Seems he is best on the left. I'd like a really good LT and move Dawkins to LG. Vet center, Teller at RG, new RT. We need three new pieces, imo. Not sure if the really good LT is there or not. I am reading conflicting reports on Jonah Williams.

One draft where franchise qb was the main target is not a lot of sample size. Then, Edmunds fell to a place where Beane felt it was worth moving up again. Trade ups this year would more strongly indicate a penchant, but I wouldn't rule out a trade down.

You didn't miss anything. When I was a wee lad and there was no internet, had to walk for miles just to get to the little school house with a wood fire, I had the utterly naive belief that fellow Bills' fans were hearty, intelligent, decent folk -- and lots of them are, but like the rest of the human race, there are plenty of dopes.

I was recapitulating analyses I have read and heard from other members here. I certainly don't know. If Williams is truly an elite LT, he should be the first option in the draft.

I keep hearing that Jonah Williams is better suited to play guard. I think that might be true of Dawkins as well. Greg Little is supposedly the most talented LT, but folks question his desire to play football. What happens in free agency will obviously dictate a lot. The oline absolutely has to be a priority, but the value is defense at the top of the draft. I'd take a Josh Allen for the defense if he is there, but he probably won't be. I like DK Metcalf at wr, but #9 is too early.