NFL.com AFC East Training Camp Preview: Key Players to Watch

[26CornerBlitz]

AFC East Training Camp Preview: Key Players to Watch

 

Buffalo Bills

 

Training camp report date: rookies and veterans (July 25).

 

Location: St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York.

 

Most important position battle: The entire offense? Where to begin with Buffalo? The Bills celebrated their first postseason berth in nearly two decades this offseason by ... losing nearly every valuable offensive piece, willingly or not. Buffalo traded Cordy Glenn to Cincinnati for draft ammo, and two of the Bills' longest-tenured leaders on the offensive line, Eric Wood and Richie Incognito, retired -- or, in Incognito's case, retired. Tyrod Taylorwas shipped to Cleveland for a pick. Behind Kelvin Benjamin, the wide receiver room is a smorgasbord of unproven young'uns (Zay Jones, Brandon Reilly) and veteran journeymen (Jeremy Kerley, Andre Holmes). LeSean McCoy is the one true mainstay, and now he's not even assured to start the regular season on the active roster, as the league is reviewing information pertaining to an alleged domestic violence situation. Buffalo is potentially entering the 2018 season with the league's worst position group at three offensive positions (QB, WR, OL), and nearly every slot in the starting XI is up for grabs. Gulp.

 

Newcomer to watch: LB Tremaine Edmunds. Aside from Josh Allen (more on him in a sec), Edmunds is the most exciting fresh face in Buffalo's locker room. After moving up to snag Allen seventh overall in the draft, Buffalo used its bounty of picks to also trade up for Edmunds at No. 16 overall, a sign the front office was smitten with his talent during the draft process. Those good feelings have bled into the preseason. Early indications are that Edmunds will start at middle linebacker come Week 1, flanked by Lorenzo Alexander and Matt Milano. Edmunds will be replacing Preston Brown, who, after four fruitful seasons with Buffalo, joined Glenn with the Bengals. In replacing Brown, who never missed a game, Edmunds will have to establish himself quickly as a young leader and volume tackler in the middle of Sean McDermott's defense, akin to what the second-year coach had in Carolina with Luke Kuechly. According to one fellow defender, Edmunds is already there.

 

Looming camp question: Who is the starting quarterback in Week 1 -- and does it matter?Presenting: AJ McCarron, Nathan Peterman and Josh Allen, in the most lukewarm quarterback competition in recent NFL history! Angling to replace the departed Taylor, the members of the trio have six combined career starts (including the postseason), nine touchdowns and eight interceptions between them -- and no one has the upper hand heading into camp. With the most experience and a shiny new contract under his belt, McCarron was thought to be the favorite to win the job. But reports from OTAs and minicamp pegged Peterman -- he of five first-start-first-half interceptions -- to be the most serious contender to begin the season under center. Buffalo appears to be slow-playing Allen's development, but it's not out of the realm of possibility that the Bills give their first-round pick a shot to start early on, or, at the very least, a preseason game. But in what is likely a rebuilding year for the Bills, what does it mean for a quarterback to be named the Week 1 starter? Buffalo's long-term QB situation will likely remain unresolved even heading into September. Plus, the Bills aren't playing to win two months from now; given the structural state of their offense, they're playing to win two years from now. This battle could last all season, and then some.

[JP's Voice]

Just listened to the Bills Beat with Joe.B and Matthew Fairburn podcast for July 6 and they commented on the fact that the national media is predicting this Bills team to be one of worst in the league, competing for the top pick in the 2019 draft. They go on to predict that the Bills won't be anywhere near the bottom, but that we probably won't be 9-7 again this year. They predicted that we could still have a top 10 pick in next year's draft, but will likely be somewhat close to what we were last year due to our defense and coaching staff.

 

IMO, we will be somewhere in the 6-10, 9-7 range with many games being decided by one score. Defense will be top 10 in league, offense will be top 25 in league, and ST will be top 10 in league. Can't get any worst at QB/WR than we were last year so I am optimistic that this offense will work it out!

[eball]

I hope everyone remembers that last offseason the Bills were predicted by most to win no more than 3-4 games and be in the running for the #1 overall pick.  It appears that this season similar predictions are mostly based upon perception of the talent on the offensive side of the ball.  It's true, if no QB appears competent, no replacement on the OL plays well, and no WR besides Benjamin steps up the offense will be poor, but I'm curious as to why it seems to be the assumption that all of those will happen?

 

Edited July 17, 2018 by eball

[MiltonWaddams]

14 minutes ago, THE SLAMMER said:

I saw this yesterday, your slipping 26 ?

At least he cared enough to share. What's your excuse? ?

[HOUSE]

1 hour ago, MiltonWaddams said:

At least he cared enough to share. What's your excuse? ?

 

I keep the best threads to myself, locked in a safe

 

You got to pay me $ 2.95 for a look

Edited July 17, 2018 by THE SLAMMER

[MJS]

What a load of garbage. The Bills will be fine. Might not make the playoffs again this year, but there is no way they will be as bad as the national media is predicting.

 

Yeah, we rebuilt the offense. Our offense must have been so amazing last year, huh? No. It was one of the worst in the league.

Edited July 17, 2018 by MJS

[billsbackto81]

Edmunds will be replacing Preston Brown, who, after four fruitful seasons with Buffalo, joined Glenn with the Bengals. In replacing Brown, who never missed a game, Edmunds will have to establish himself quickly as a young leader and volume tackler in the middle of Sean McDermott's defense, akin to what the second-year coach had in Carolina with Luke Kuechly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fruitful? Did I miss something?

 

That fruit was either rotten or never ripened. The best word to describe Brown is "serviceable". Always in the line up. Never really

made you want to throw a brick at the TV but never made you say, "WOW! What a play!"

 

Can't wait to see Edmunds patrolling the middle and wrecking offenses. I'm sure we'll get plenty, WOW! What a play! from that guy.

 

 

 

 

[BillsFan17]

The funny part about this, how forgotten Edmunds seems to be at times. So much is wrapped up in Allen and the offense as a whole, but Edmunds is a massive addition as well. Yes, this article touches on Edmunds, and I enjoyed seeing it, just feel on the whole we need to give more attention to Edmunds.

[BillsFan17]

41 minutes ago, billsbackto81 said:

Edmunds will be replacing Preston Brown, who, after four fruitful seasons with Buffalo, joined Glenn with the Bengals. In replacing Brown, who never missed a game, Edmunds will have to establish himself quickly as a young leader and volume tackler in the middle of Sean McDermott's defense, akin to what the second-year coach had in Carolina with Luke Kuechly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fruitful? Did I miss something?

 

That fruit was either rotten or never ripened. The best word to describe Brown is "serviceable". Always in the line up. Never really

made you want to throw a brick at the TV but never made you say, "WOW! What a play!"

 

Can't wait to see Edmunds patrolling the middle and wrecking offenses. I'm sure we'll get plenty, WOW! What a play! from that guy.

 

 

 

 

It's a common case of not truly knowing the team or its players but looking at the numbers and projecting a false sense of enlightenment about the team/player.

 

Preston is a good player, durable and serviceable. Like you said, never made you jump out of your seat one way or the other.

 

Which, if Brown was a say, a guard that would be perfectly fine, but your Mike absolutely needs to be a game changer. Brown was far from that.

[Cornette's Commentary]

2 hours ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

AFC East Training Camp Preview: Key Players to Watch

 

Buffalo Bills

 

Training camp report date: rookies and veterans (July 25).

 

Location: St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York.

 

Most important position battle: The entire offense? Where to begin with Buffalo? The Bills celebrated their first postseason berth in nearly two decades this offseason by ... losing nearly every valuable offensive piece, willingly or not. Buffalo traded Cordy Glenn to Cincinnati for draft ammo, and two of the Bills' longest-tenured leaders on the offensive line, Eric Wood and Richie Incognito, retired -- or, in Incognito's case, retired. Tyrod Taylorwas shipped to Cleveland for a pick. Behind Kelvin Benjamin, the wide receiver room is a smorgasbord of unproven young'uns (Zay Jones, Brandon Reilly) and veteran journeymen (Jeremy Kerley, Andre Holmes). LeSean McCoy is the one true mainstay, and now he's not even assured to start the regular season on the active roster, as the league is reviewing information pertaining to an alleged domestic violence situation. Buffalo is potentially entering the 2018 season with the league's worst position group at three offensive positions (QB, WR, OL), and nearly every slot in the starting XI is up for grabs. Gulp.

 

Newcomer to watch: LB Tremaine Edmunds. Aside from Josh Allen (more on him in a sec), Edmunds is the most exciting fresh face in Buffalo's locker room. After moving up to snag Allen seventh overall in the draft, Buffalo used its bounty of picks to also trade up for Edmunds at No. 16 overall, a sign the front office was smitten with his talent during the draft process. Those good feelings have bled into the preseason. Early indications are that Edmunds will start at middle linebacker come Week 1, flanked by Lorenzo Alexander and Matt Milano. Edmunds will be replacing Preston Brown, who, after four fruitful seasons with Buffalo, joined Glenn with the Bengals. In replacing Brown, who never missed a game, Edmunds will have to establish himself quickly as a young leader and volume tackler in the middle of Sean McDermott's defense, akin to what the second-year coach had in Carolina with Luke Kuechly. According to one fellow defender, Edmunds is already there.

 

Looming camp question: Who is the starting quarterback in Week 1 -- and does it matter?Presenting: AJ McCarron, Nathan Peterman and Josh Allen, in the most lukewarm quarterback competition in recent NFL history! Angling to replace the departed Taylor, the members of the trio have six combined career starts (including the postseason), nine touchdowns and eight interceptions between them -- and no one has the upper hand heading into camp. With the most experience and a shiny new contract under his belt, McCarron was thought to be the favorite to win the job. But reports from OTAs and minicamp pegged Peterman -- he of five first-start-first-half interceptions -- to be the most serious contender to begin the season under center. Buffalo appears to be slow-playing Allen's development, but it's not out of the realm of possibility that the Bills give their first-round pick a shot to start early on, or, at the very least, a preseason game. But in what is likely a rebuilding year for the Bills, what does it mean for a quarterback to be named the Week 1 starter? Buffalo's long-term QB situation will likely remain unresolved even heading into September. Plus, the Bills aren't playing to win two months from now; given the structural state of their offense, they're playing to win two years from now. This battle could last all season, and then some.

Did ScottLaw write this article?

[MiltonWaddams]

3 minutes ago, Cornette's Commentary said:

Did ScottLaw write this article?

Jude Law might as well have. He is probably as educated on this team as the writer is

[26CornerBlitz]

47 minutes ago, MiltonWaddams said:

Jude Law might as well have. He is probably as educated on this team as the writer is

 

What part of the Bills' writeup do you take issue with?

[Punching Bag]

54 minutes ago, Cornette's Commentary said:

Did ScottLaw write this article?

No he would be more pessimistic.

[Drunken Pygmy Goat]

Honestly, it's hard to disagree with any of the points/suggestions made in this article, or other articles with similar points. I don't believe this team will be as bad as many are making them out to be, but it's certainly a "rebuilding/growing pains" type of year. They already showed that the pundits were VERY wrong last year, and the change in culture may lead to more overachieving over the years, but all things considered I would be surprised if they win 8 games. On paper, it looks more like a 5-7 win team to me, and I'm okay with that for this year, as long as we see glimpses of what's to come.

[GETTOTHE50]

lol the offense might actually be complete garbage though. 

[3rdand12]

16 minutes ago, GETTOTHE50 said:

lol the offense might actually be complete garbage though. 

Daboll is the X variable in the equation

[RoyBatty is alive]

" But reports from OTAs and minicamp pegged Peterman -- he of five first-start-first-half interceptions -- to be the most serious contender to begin the season under center."

 

ROFLMAO..wow, there might be some apoplectic posters here if that happens.

 

 

 

[NewEraBills]

1 hour ago, Drunken Pygmy Goat said:

Honestly, it's hard to disagree with any of the points/suggestions made in this article, or other articles with similar points. I don't believe this team will be as bad as many are making them out to be, but it's certainly a "rebuilding/growing pains" type of year. They already showed that the pundits were VERY wrong last year, and the change in culture may lead to more overachieving over the years, but all things considered I would be surprised if they win 8 games. On paper, it looks more like a 5-7 win team to me, and I'm okay with that for this year, as long as we see glimpses of what's to come.

 

I agree.  I just think if people here would look at this from the perspective of someone outside they would completely understand why they say what they say.  I mean, everything on offense is up for grabs.  When people think about NFL teams one of the first things they think about is offense and weapons.  Well the Bills have none established anywhere except for a WIDE END who cannot separate from coverage.  But no one knows who's going to be throwing him the football.  McCoy would give some national pundits something to write about but even he's up in the air at this point.  There is nothing that spells or smells points with the Bills offense and that's why people are saying what they say.  Defensively we should be fun to watch, but as it stands there is nothing to put faith in on offense yet, AT ALL.

[quinnearlysghost88]

If Shady plays all 16 games, we could go 6-10 to 9-7 this year. 

[MiltonWaddams]

8 hours ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

What part of the Bills' writeup do you take issue with?

My funny wasn't as funny as I thought. You are a very serious robot 26 ? 

[C.Biscuit97]

8 hours ago, 3rdand12 said:

Daboll is the X variable in the equation

And his resume kinda sucks. But he’s experienced I guess. 

7 hours ago, quinnearlysghost88 said:

If Shady plays all 16 games, we could go 6-10 to 9-7 this year. 

The Bills go 6-10 to 9-7 every year ? 

[26CornerBlitz]

37 minutes ago, MiltonWaddams said:

My funny wasn't as funny as I thought. You are a very serious robot 26 ? 

 

Seemed as if you were throwing shade on the writer's assessment.  I was looking for what parts you found disagreement with. 

[C.Biscuit97]

Just now, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

Seemed as if you were throwing shade on the writer's assessment.  I was looking for what parts you found disagreement with. 

As a reformer homer, instead of address the article, you act the author.  

 

We we all want the Bills to be good but on paper, this offense looks really bad.  Defense could be very good though.  

[3rdand12]

8 hours ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

And his resume kinda sucks. But he’s experienced I guess. 

The Bills go 6-10 to 9-7 every year ? 

With Daboll, you might need to get away from the stat sheet and look at his broad experiences under some great minds?

His last one under Saban is worth a study.

I remain hopeful.

[Chandler#81]

22 hours ago, eball said:

I hope everyone remembers that last offseason the Bills were predicted by most to win no more than 3-4 games and be in the running for the #1 overall pick.  It appears that this season similar predictions are mostly based upon perception of the talent on the offensive side of the ball.  It's true, if no QB appears competent, no replacement on the OL plays well, and no WR besides Benjamin steps up the offense will be poor, but I'm curious as to why it seems to be the assumption that all of those will happen?

 

My guess is all these preseason prediction fluff articles imply nearly every team will improve from last season. Ya can’t have 25 winning teams, so those with question marks through lost known players will have to go 2-14 or worse to level out their predictions.Thats how they sell and garner readers.

Btw, I agree with them. I think we’ll suck. But I’m hopeful for ‘19.

[billsredneck1]

21 hours ago, billsbackto81 said:

Edmunds will be replacing Preston Brown, who, after four fruitful seasons with Buffalo, joined Glenn with the Bengals. In replacing Brown, who never missed a game, Edmunds will have to establish himself quickly as a young leader and volume tackler in the middle of Sean McDermott's defense, akin to what the second-year coach had in Carolina with Luke Kuechly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fruitful? Did I miss something?

 

That fruit was either rotten or never ripened. The best word to describe Brown is "serviceable". Always in the line up. Never really

made you want to throw a brick at the TV but never made you say, "WOW! What a play!"

 

Can't wait to see Edmunds patrolling the middle and wrecking offenses. I'm sure we'll get plenty, WOW! What a play! from that guy.

 

 

 

 

fwiw   brown lead the league...LEAD THE ENTIRE NFL   in tackles last year.

[billsbackto81]

2 hours ago, billsredneck1 said:

fwiw   brown lead the league...LEAD THE ENTIRE NFL   in tackles last year.

Very misleading stat. Yes he led the league with 2 other no name LBs who were tied.

Preston was a sure tackler because he always waited for the action to come to him instead of attacking and using anticipation. If you wish to give him kudos for not letting plays get behind him, ok. I got enough of that when Poz was here. I want my MIKE at the point of attack making TFLs, allowing minimal gains with the occasional sack. Getting to the sidelines before the RB or WR turns up field. I feel Edmunds will bring that to the D hopefully. I like Preston,  we just need better in the middle.

 

Here's an article of what I'm trying to say:

https://www.si.com/nfl/2015/09/18/nfl-tackling-history-stat-leaders-lavonte-david

 

And the most telling paragraph:

 

The tackle, on its own, has debatable merit as a statistic. “The only thing a tackle tells you about the play is who ended it,” says Sam Monson, senior analyst at Pro Football Focus, a digital outfit that watches every NFL play and takes its time in recording dozens of facts about each one, including which player(s) made the tackle. “A tackle doesn't tell you where [it happened], how bad the damage was before the tackle was made, whether the eventual tackler missed three tackles [earlier in the play] or whether he made the tackle five yards in the backfield. There's nothing to suggest that a guy with 200 tackles played better than a guy with 100. He just made more tackles."

 

Whether you agree is your prerogative.

 

Edited July 18, 2018 by billsbackto81

[Heitz]

I like that the Dolphins are already trying to hurt Tanny:

 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/dave-hyde-blog/fl-sp-hyde5-dolphins-practice-20180801-story.html

 

And the Legend grows...

[SCBills]

On paper, our defense is Top 10. 

 

In terms of our offense, it seems some analysts and certain posters assume all of the following:

 

Daboll will be worse than Dennison

 

The OL will be in shambles

 

McCoy gets suspended for some reason

 

Kelvin Benjamin is hurt all year

 

Charles Clay is a figment of my imagination 

 

Allen/McCarron can’t crack 200 passing yards per game and throw multiple picks every outing 

 

Nobody steps up out of Kerley, Zay and Company

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 1, 2018 by SCBills

[Heitz]

^ Sounds about right to me - great summation...

 

 

15 Observations from Jets camp:  https://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2018/08/jets_camp_15_random_observations_takeaways_sam_dar.html

 

Innnnteresting:

 

Quote

HOW ARE JOSH MCCOWN, TEDDY BRIDGEWATER DOING?

Just OK. Both quarterbacks performed better Monday than they had in the first three practices, and both were definitely better than Darnold on Monday. Wednesday brings a fresh slate for the quarterback competition. Let's see how things shake out going forward. But both McCown and Bridgewater have been pedestrian so far. And Darnold could definitely jump over both guys and win the starting job, provided he plays well enough. 

 

[LABILLBACKER]

On 7/17/2018 at 8:19 AM, billsbackto81 said:

Edmunds will be replacing Preston Brown, who, after four fruitful seasons with Buffalo, joined Glenn with the Bengals. In replacing Brown, who never missed a game, Edmunds will have to establish himself quickly as a young leader and volume tackler in the middle of Sean McDermott's defense, akin to what the second-year coach had in Carolina with Luke Kuechly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fruitful? Did I miss something?

 

That fruit was either rotten or never ripened. The best word to describe Brown is "serviceable". Always in the line up. Never really

made you want to throw a brick at the TV but never made you say, "WOW! What a play!"

 

Can't wait to see Edmunds patrolling the middle and wrecking offenses. I'm sure we'll get plenty, WOW! What a play! from that guy.

 

 

 

 

I think the most accurate word to describe Preston is mediocre.  Edmund's will be the best LB to ever play in Buffalo. 

[Heitz]

A few notes on Darnold, fwiw:

 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000944104/article/sam-darnolds-arrival-objs-good-start-cowboys-new-toy

 

 

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

On 8/1/2018 at 6:55 PM, SCBills said:

On paper, our defense is Top 10. 

 

In terms of our offense, it seems some analysts and certain posters assume all of the following:

 

Daboll will be worse than Dennison

 

The OL will be in shambles

 

McCoy gets suspended for some reason

 

Kelvin Benjamin is hurt all year

 

Charles Clay is a figment of my imagination 

 

Allen/McCarron can’t crack 200 passing yards per game and throw multiple picks every outing 

 

Nobody steps up out of Kerley, Zay and Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

...so other than that, we should be competitive offensively....

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

On 8/1/2018 at 6:32 PM, Heitz said:

I like that the Dolphins are already trying to hurt Tanny:

It's nice to see after years of missteps at the QB position in Buffalo, that the NY Jets and Miami Dolfins are vying for the title of official Keystone Kops of the AFC, QB division.