KOKBILLS

It just keeps getting better... And if that's the case why wait?

Incredible...

As an NC resident who lived in Charlotte for 20 years and follows the Panthers pretty closely...I have to say... Hearing the local Charlotte radio guy on WGR this morning say fairly confidently that he thinks the Panthers can win this game shows me how far and quickly the Bills have fallen this year...at least in how they are perceived nationally. I'm not saying the Panthers are a bad team... But they just came off a poor effort barely beating the hapless Jets 13-6 and they lost their starting QB... For anyone to sound that confident they have a chance to beat a team that is still considered by some a SB contender... Well...For me it's proof positive that no matter what happens from this point on...The first 6 games were nowhere near where the Bills were expected to be... They better beat the Panthers by infinity... I'll never hear the end of it...

Agreed... He's been my #1 guy all along... I just think it fits like a glove...

Well... He'll fit right in...

I mean... I guess it all depends on the team and the need... But just going on my gut that seems steep... For what it's worth, and just for fun, I asked Grok and Chatgpt... I got a total range of $7.5 - 14M AAV...

I don't know? He'll be 28 next year. Any expanded role for him is purely projection. I know WR's are getting bank now, and anything is possible, but a deal that would get the Saints a 3rd Rd Comp back would be almost shocking to me based on all factors. But I guess it could happen. In 2025 the average AAV was $18.375 million for a 3rd Rd Comp pick not counting QB's in the equation. That number figures to go up next year. I just don't see Shaheed that way yet because he has not shown it yet. But maybe some team does. I do think for what the Bills need though, as an everybody eats guy, he's a perfect fit.

That whole lesson on how to give up 335 yards in one half of football really seemed to hit home!

I think the biggest problem with Hoecht and Ogunjobi is neither play MLB, S, or CB... Otherwise I don't see how they can't help somewhat...

It depends... Bryce is streaky... And so is their O-Line... If the Bills can somehow limit their running game that will go a long way... Though I do think Dalton has an advantage over Bryce when pressured. Bryce just has these games where it seems like he gets rattled and even though he's a decent athlete he just sees the rush and turtles. I watch a lot of Panthers down here and they are my Nephews favorite team so I hear about them constantly. I know from OG to OG they are much better in the run game then they are in pass pro... They are a weird team. They can look terrible at times, and they can look really solid.

I think the Bills and Beane should be laser focused on Rashid Shaheed. He's as good a fit for what they need as they are going to find out there, he's a UFA after this season so that should keep the asking price reasonable, and they should be able to fit him under the cap without too much maneuvering... He's returned both kicks and punts in his career but should be able to serve as the primary PR immediately which saves a roster spot. It just makes the most sense to me...

I was always in the "just get Josh a decent running game and we'll be unstoppable" group. But I hade these visions of a great running game, similar to what we have now, and this crazy play-action and attack-style passing game that just gave teams fits because no matter what you guess you're always wrong... I thought Brady would get there, but now... I don't think he's interested in all that. This is all general philosophy and strategy comments...But I feel like they are being dictated by the Defense more often than not. I feel like they go into games and don't take advantage of what teams give them. In the NE game he runs into base Defense 12 out of 14 times...In the Atlanta game... If he dials up one or two plays specifically to burn their blitz...and that's his job vs the team that blitzes most in the NFL...that takes Atlanta out of everything they want to do. But instead they looked surprised and unprepared. No sneaky screen plays with Cook or Ty... The TD pass to Davis showed how easy it was to get that D on a well designed play... there's just not enough of it... I don't know...

Good grief... And here I was trying to battle with the realization of Bernard and Rapp falling off the face of the earth, Tre being a major liability, all the injuries, and now this? OK fine... But ya... There has been a lot of talk about the fact that it seems like McBeane have been caught in the trap of...every young player will improve, and every vet player will at least stay at their level of play... That's just not reality. Reality is the average lifespan of an NFL career is 3.3 years...

You and I agree on this point for sure... But honestly I think it's worse... Watch that Boutte TD in the NE/Tenn game yesterday... That's a 4.50 WR blowing by 2 DB's because NE dares to run him deep basically... It's not even play action. Just a straight shotgun snap. And both DB's are so ridiculously slow to react Boutte runs by them like he's Xavier Worthy... Keep in mind he runs right by the CB and a S... I don't think the Bills even have that in their playbook anymore... Go back to the Dabol days and we did it all the time. When Brown and then Sanders were here we mostly did it with Gabe Davis... We don't attack anymore... We don't have the mindset... And that has really taken it's toll.

I love Pickens as a player... You don't have to sell me on the idea... I'm just telling you... As far as Beane and McD will see it, Diggs is Mother Teresa compared to Pickens...

Purely as a football player, I saw Pickens as a top half of the 1st Rd talent. You can go back and read what I had to say about him leading up to that Draft. He's the guy I wanted. They took Elam... In my defense I don't have access to all the off-the-field stuff the NFL teams have. All that being said the Bills as they are run now will never consider Pickens IMHO... George is...well...a little nuts... Now... He has teammates, both in Pittsburgh and now in Dallas that love the guy. They really do... He's also super unpredictable, super immature if things are going bad and he's not getting the ball, late to meetings, late to a game once... But then in interviews teammates have said he's not a bad guy as far as general attitude... Some say he's misunderstood, generally a happy guy... Then some Steelers players came out anonymously after the trade and said some pretty negative things about him in general... So far in Dallas, outside of the unsportsmanlike penalties early, it seems to be OK... But again... No way McBeane touch Pickens... Not a chance...

I 100% agree... But I'd rather have them if I'm picking...

Agreed... 2018 - 6th Rd - Ray-Ray McCloud, 7th Rd - Austin Proehl 2019 - Nothing 2020 - 4th Rd - Gabe Davis, 6th Isaiah Hodgins 2021 - 6th Rd - Marquez Stevenson 2022 - 5th Rd - Khalil Shakir 2023 - 5th Rd - Justin Shorter 2024 - 2nd Rd - Keon Coleman 2025 - 7th Rd - Kaden Prather 8 Drafts in Josh Allen's career... 9 WR's Drafted... He did trade the one 1st Rd pick for Diggs, but we only get 4 years out of that... Sure...It's 4 good years, but Minnesota's going to get a LOT more from Jefferson... One 2nd Rd pick in Coleman... No 3rd Rd picks... One 4th, two 5th's including Shakir, three 6th's, and two 7th's... You're welcome Josh...

I actually do think Coleman works really hard and I think he wants to be great. I like the kid... But one thing it seems like he's never going to be able to overcome, and this was apparent in College as well, is the fact that the guy looks like he's running in quicksand at times... It's not all the time, but man at times it looks like he has lead cleats on... It's just really apparent...

He's always been crazy... Even in College... He most definitely flies close to the sun regularly... There's no question... He's also an elite talent... If he did not have all the other issues he would have been a top 10 pick and he would never be available... So... You have to weigh it all... But no doubt the Bills would never touch Pickens...

Yep... And the areas he perceives as strengths turn into major needs with just one injury to a vet player... Or someone ages out a year or two earlier than he expects... And he passed on a higher graded prospect because he HAD to have that need he was laser focused on...

We could have had him for free if Beane would have just hired me... Instead I got a restraining order and we all got Kaiir Elam...

Josh himself has laughed off those reports and explained them more than once in interviews. He said he's interested and involved, but more like a fan is. So it's more like... They come to him with the guys they have scouted and really like with their plan and he watches them, or remembers seeing them in College, and gives his input. But since when has anybody every heard Josh say anything negative about anybody except maybe Christian Wilkins? If Beane was truly drafting players because Josh wanted them...then I would absolutely want him fired today... I just don't think that's the case because I've heard Josh explain his role in those picks...

I know you can't control injuries... But these last 2 Drafts have been underwhelming so far. We all have to consider the Bills purged all those vet contracts and loaded up on Draft picks specifically to boost the depth on this roster through the 2024 and 2025 Drafts. Here's what we are getting on the field right now from the past 2 Drafts...19 picks total... 1. Deone Walker - DT - 4th Rd 2025 - Pretty clearly the best player from either Draft so far with the biggest upside 2. Cole Bishop - S - 2nd Rd 2024 - Starting S but pretty clearly up and down at this point. 3. Max Hairston - CB - 1st Rd 2025 - He's this high because he's a 1st Round Pick and injury or not he is the Bills plan A right now to improve at CB. Just depends on when he'll be able to play. 4. Keon Coleman - WR - 2nd Rd 2024 - Starting WR but no where near the player they Drafted him to be at this point. 5. Jackson Hawes - TE - 5th Rd 2025 - 3rd TE but a strong start for a Rookie. Has contributed more in the passing game already than most thought he would. Should only get better. 6. Ray Davis - RB - 4th Rd 2024 - 3rd RB who has shown some real good flashes but has also been inconsistent at times. 7. TJ Sanders - DT - 2nd Rd 2025 - Played a lot the 1st 4 games before getting hurt. Showed some flashes but was nothing special. Typical rookie stuff though. It can be argued he would have looked a lot better by the end of the year if he did not get hurt...But he did... 8. Dorian Strong - CB - 6th Rd 2025 - Started week 1 and was probably the least of the Bills problems on Defense outside of Ed Oliver. Was starting to get more reps and I think the plan was going to see him replace Tre as the starter soon. But like Sanders he got hurt and his injury seems to be more serious. This was a huge depth loss. 9. Tylan Grable - OT - 6th Rd 2024 - He won the swing OT role in 2024 and really looked good. Had concussion issues in camp and it seems like, due to numbers and the fact that the Bills already have quality depth at OT and IOL the Bills have decided to just keep him on ice till they need him. If the concussion issues are not really serious Grable is a very nice piece moving forward. 10. Sedrick Van Pran-Granger - C - 5th Rd 2024 - By all reports he was taking the #2 C snaps in mini camp. Then he got hurt, missed the entire training camp, and now has been passed by Anderson again for the primary backup role at C. Still... I think he's the odds on favorite to be the starting C if McGovern leaves in Free Agency next year. 11. Landon Jackson - DE - 3rd Rd 2025 - Has been active the last two games but has nothing really to show for it. Coming along much slower than most, including myself, expected. Still he has real good upside. May not be much of anything till 2026 and beyond though. 12. Javon Solomon - DE - 5th Rd 2024 - Last DE in the rotation and ST's player. 13. Jordan Hancock - S - 5th Rd 2025 - Got injured late in Camp when he seemed to really be coming on. At this point though, with how terrible our Safety play has been, you have to wonder how he has not managed to get on the field. 14. Chase Lundt - OT - If it were not for the injuries he would likely be on the PS right now. Dewayne Carter is on IR and out for the year. But if he showed anything in 2024 no way the Bills sign Ogunjobi and Draft 2 DT's...International sensation OT Travis Cayton is on the PS for the 2nd consecutive year... Edefuan Ulofoshio, Daequan Hardy, Kaden Prather all cut and gone.. Walker is not technically a starter yet... But he's playing well enough that he can be categorized as a solid starter I think... But that's it... Bishop and Keon are not there yet...The rest are role players, back-ups, or injured... I think numbers wise, as far as who is still around it's actually not bad... But impact wise it's brutal. Injuries have effected or stunted the progress of 8 different Draft picks over the past two years... But we also have to look at the picks themselves. As a Draft junkie...I have issues...lol...Coleman over McConkey would be the most obvious... Look...we can get into slot over X and all that stuff... I think on this board we all know McConkey played outside on 70% of his downs in his last year in GA, and he's played outside on about 40% of his downs in the NFL... But the thing is... The Bills went against their normal philosophy here and it cost them dearly. They have always preferred separators for Josh since we went out and got Brown and Beasley. McConkey should have been the pick there... In the late 3rd the Bills took an average sized DT with a 4th Rd Grade (#118 overall on the consensus board) in DeWayne Carter. The problem there for me was that WR Troy Franklin was still available. And especially considering that they took Coleman, it seemed to me doubling up with Franklin was even more necessary at that point. Now, I'm not trying to say Franklin was an elite prospect... But the Bills want to have this everybody eats philosophy and that means you have to have players who specialize somewhat. And Franklin can stretch the field. He was a high quality College #1 WR... And right now Franklin would be the Bills #2 WR in receptions and yards. He's starting this year in Denver. 24 Receptions for 250 yards and a TD... The Bills could have had Franklin with a 3rd Rd pick...#95 overall... That's a bargain... It's WAY too early to tell about the 2025 class... And I had Max right at #30 overall on my board...So it was a decent value pick... The thing is there was one guy...one guy that I had rated #11 overall and he was still available... And I definitely felt he was a legit difference-maker-type prospect. That prospect was LB Jihaad Campbell from Alabama. The guy just stood out... His RAS was incomplete... But a 9.88 incomplete...And he had game breaking skills as a pass rusher at LB that were still just developing. I realize some teams had concerns with the shoulders and the knees, but Howie Roseman said none of those were long term concerns... He had surgery for the torn labrum in his left shoulder and has been fine so far this year. He's played and started every game. 40 TT's, 20 solo, a FF, an INT, and 2 PD's...And I know the Bills wanted a CB... Fine... I get that... But the thing that drives me nuts is this... The constant...we took the player that was highest rated on our board stuff... Like... OK... If I take you at face value on that Mr Beane then...you need new scouts... Because if y'all had Max higher than Campbell on your big board you should not be doing what you are doing in the NFL... If you had DeWayne Carter higher than Troy Franklin... You're nuts! Anyway... I can go on and on...

I think it just came down to the fact that they lost the smartest Offensive guy in the room... And then they just settled for less because that's all they had.