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Hard Count Episode 18-7: Bills Caleb Benenoch Jersey , Penalties and Unicorns I know the NFL is built for parity and is designed for every team to go 8-8, but this is ridiculous.At this point, I’m scared to look at our weekly game picks update. The Browns finally won (I think I picked that one), the Bills - gasp - beat the Vikings (more on this in a minute), the Redskins nearly doubled-up the Packers, Dolphins beat the Raiders, Lions beat the Patriots, and I lost my first fantasy football game of the year.If there’s anything I do know, it’s my opinions on these three topics.FALSE START: The NFL has a rules problem - shockerRemember the off-season and the pre-season? There was a rules controversy. It was going to doom football. Turn it into flag football basically. The leading with the helmet rule was going to ruin everything.Alas, it hasn’t. No, that distinction goes to the new edition of the roughing the passer penalty. You know the one, it’s the one where someone hits a quarterback in the pocket....and that’s illegal now.It’s basically the NFL’s version of home base in tag.In episode 18-5 of this here column - Look! A link! - I addressed this very rule:When a rule is being bashed by the very player it was created for - Aaron Rodgers - you know it’s bad. Three weeks into the 2017 season, there were 16 roughing the passer penalties. There are more than double that after three weeks this season. Roughly half of those have been levied on Clay Matthews it would seem (not really). This penalty is bad. Like, change it in-season and don’t wait for the off-season, bad.OFFSIDES: Josh Allen is better at his job than Sean McDermott is at hisPhoto by Brett Carlsen/Getty ImagesAnytime I openly bash a player or coach, I basically expect said player or coach to then make me eat my words that week.Such was the case with Josh Allen. Except, I didn’t bash him. He just came to the aid of his head coach, Sean McDermott.By defeating the Minnesota Vikings in rather impressive form, my previous comments about McDermott’s handling of the quarterback situation in Buffalo are in danger of ageing worse than Macaulay Culkin. Now we wait for a Culkin blockbuster in the summer of 2019.To make matters worse, Tyrod Taylor decided to take my support of him and get benched during primetime.Maybe I was wrong. But, maybe I wasn’t. I don’t think it was McDermott’s coaching genius which led his rookie quarterback to hurdling Anthony Barr.Still though, it’s enough to make me wonder if I jumped the gun - get it Beau Allen Jersey , offsides - on McDermott.FREE PLAY: Bashing the UnicornPhoto by Julio Aguilar/Getty ImagesIf Chris Conte actually had a horn on his head Vance McDonald would have ripped it off and forged it into the finest sword in all of Westeros. He doesn’t though, because ‘White Unicorn’ is a nickname, not a literal description of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety.It was a rough play. Embarrassing. More so for him than anyone else. The still photos of Cameron Heyward’s reaction will likely haunt Conte for the rest of his days.It was a solid football play by McDonald, and one which rightfully deserved the reaction it got in the immediate aftermath.But that was all in the moment. Afterwards, some people felt it was ok to then make fun of Conte’s knee injury which subsequently landed him on injured reserve.I don’t know guys, something about enjoying physical injury to another human being just doesn’t sit right with me. Tampa Bay’s GM has it drawn, but where is it?"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections 2016 NFL DraftInjuriesFree AgencyGame FilmWhere’s the Line Drawn for the Bucs?New,23commentsTampa Bay’s GM has it drawn, but where is it?EDTShareTweetShareShareWhere’s the Line Drawn for the Bucs?Kim Klement-USA TODAY SportsIn a recent press conference Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht was asked about the potential of trading down versus taking a player with the fifth overall pick, to which he responded,So, the question we have now is: Where is the line?Really, this depends on valuation of players so I can only answer this question for myself, just like all of you can only answer it for yourselves, while we all spend the next week wondering just where this imaginary line is for the real guys in the room.I’ll show you mine first, then you can show me yours in the comments.THE ‘PICKING-LINE’Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY SportsThis line is drawn squarely behind two players. If any of them are on the board when pick five comes around, and I’m Jason Licht (which I’m not), then I’m taking one of them.The names in front of this line are edge rusher Nick Bosa (Ohio State) and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (Alabama).We’ve all been discussing these guys thoroughly throughout the off-season, so let’s save the ink for the trade lines, which are a little more detailed.THE ‘WHITE-LINE’Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY SportsMoving back is always tricky. Of course you have your guy you really want to land in the trade back. Like Licht mentioned, this line is drawn where you feel comfortable moving back while maintaining your ability to grab one of the players you evaluate as being on the right side of the talent gap.This group starts with LSU linebacker Devin White. So, I’m drawing my first line at the deepest part of the draft I feel like I still have a shot at my future inside linebacker. I’ll call it: The ‘White-Line’.The New York Giants figure to go quarterback with the sixth pick. Jacksonville might be the shock of the entire draft if they went with one of our players listed above. So we’re probably safe with the first two picks.At seven Kendell Beckwith Jersey , the Lions could certainly go with an EDGE rusher to replace Ezekiel Ansah. However, neither White or Bush will be the target in Detroit.Buffalo would be wise to give quarterback, Josh Allen some help on offense, but they could also look for a running mate to go with Tre’Davious White. Nine is a little high for any of the corners in this year’s class, but T.J. Hockenson getting past Jacksonville would be an interesting target here. Still, we feel pretty good the Bills are a 50% or less chance of drafting White.Denver holds the tenth pick, and are a definite threat to take Devin White. In fact, I don’t see White getting past the Broncos which means our ‘White-Line’ is pick nine with the Buffalo Bills.I’m not necessarily saying I think the Bills would be interested in a trade-up. But they represent the furthest I’d be willing to move back with confidence I could still have a reasonable shot at nabbing Devin White.THE ‘PRICE-LINE’Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY SportsThere are other names I would be happy netting in a trade as well, but getting past the ‘White-Line’ would take some swaying and make a trade beyond that point more expensive for the team trying to move up. Because of this fact, I’m titling this line: ‘The Price-Line’. To get a trade here, the other team is going to have to pay a hefty price to get there.The prospect group I’m targeting here includes (again, for me) Ed Oliver (Houston, DL), Devin Bush (Michigan, LB), Brian Burns (Florida State, EDGE) and Montez Sweat (Mississippi State). More or less in that order.After this group, there’s a drop in talent (like Licht mentioned), and given the state of the team I’m just not comfortable going further without confidence we can get one of them. But how far is too far?Worst case scenario, the Giants, Lions, Bills and Broncos all went defense. Rashan Gary (Michigan Ryan Jensen Jersey , EDGE) is likely to be one of those names meaning two of our names should still be available. I’m thinking Bush and Burns.Each of the next two picks (Bengals at eleven and the Packers at twelve) could use Bush, leaving just Burns remaining from my target list.Cincinnati gets first crack at drafting one of our targets, so if they do it’s likely to be Bush, so the question then is: Would Green Bay draft Burns? And the short answer is, yes.So, this means we can’t let the Packers pick unless they are our trade back partner and they aren’t drafting one of our target players.Which means my line is being drawn at eleven with the Cincinnati Bengals with a special consideration for the Packers if they’re trading up for T.J. Hockenson (not happening). Trading back to eleven in this scenario is going to cost the Bengals two day-two picks. A 2019 and 2020 second would be reasonable, but I’m looking for both of Cincinnati’s day-two picks and would be willing to add in a day-three pick swap or two to make it happen.Again, the price to move past Denver would be high. Moving up to get a quarterback is always high. But if we’re basically forfeiting our ability to get our top interior linebacker, one of our top-two interior defensive linemen, and settling for our third-best edge rusher, then it’s going have to be worth it.So, would the Bengals be willing to spend what’s needed to make this happen? Maybe. Zac Taylor is a new coach, and teams with new coaches often look for a keystone piece to start off their reign. Getting a new quarterback is always a good idea, especially when the incumbent has played his entire eight-year career under the old guy.Check out James Yarcho’s part of the conversation, and get the Locked On Bucs reaction to the 2019 schedule release!Licht has drawn some lines on his draft board. Now, I’ve drawn mine. To recap, my line to stay at five is drawn behind three players, my second line is named after a player, and my final line is an expensive one which would then draw me away from the likelihood of getting my primary target.Where are your lines?