Niagara Gazette

‘Hyde and Poyer are coach Sean McDermott’s most beloved players and not just because they’ve been with him since he arrived in Buffalo in 2017 nor because the Bills have played without both just four times since then. The duo has the instincts, intelligence and toughness McDermott covets in safeties.’

‘Ulofoshio is part of a growing trend of players remaining in school instead of jumping to the NFL early. Players in college when COVID-19 hit now have six years to play four seasons instead of five to play four and there is likely to be two more crops of draft pools with similar numbers as the COVID rules expire in 2026.’

‘Bills strength and conditioning coach Eric Ciano and the team’s weight room received the highest marks. Ciano was voted the second-best strength coach in the league, while the team’s weight room was ranked third and garnered the only A-plus vote.’

‘The selection of Kincaid and the constant mixing and matching of personnel packages shows the Bills value matchups more than a specific trait. The Bills had four receivers play at least 30% of the snaps, two tight ends played at least 40%, while a third tight end — Quintin Morris — played more than 15% and most of guard David Edwards’s 148 offensive snaps came as a tackle eligible.’

‘“When I leave here, our guys will really start working the next few weeks on putting all the medical information together as well,” Beane said. “Sometimes I get some medical grades back and you’re like, ‘Holy cow, I got three guys in the first round right now that we’ve got D or F medical grades on.’”’

‘“These these new ideas, these fresh ideas and kind of a new set of eyes a little bit, at least from a different angle, I think that’s important,” McDermott said. “But also trying to develop them, sharing some things, some mistakes that I’ve made over the years as a coordinator and some areas that I think are important to developing as a coordinator. So it’s all part of developing staff, developing, in this case, our play-callers.”’

‘Many NFL teams had been budgeting for the cap to be in the mid-240s next season, but the significant jump benefits teams like the Bills. With the new cap number, the Bills are still projected to be $43.701 million over, but that number is now down from roughly $56 million and could be the difference in keeping a few players or signing a few new ones in free agency.’

‘This time around, the Bills must be more judicious with their handling of the position. A.J. Epenesa started to come around the last two seasons, but he spent his first two changing his body shape after shaving 10-15 pounds since college, while Boogie Basham was never a true fit for the defense and was dealt for a seventh-round pick prior to the season.’

‘Marvin Harrison Jr. (Ohio State), Malik Nabers (LSU) and Rome Odunze (Washington) are considered to be top-notch receiver prospects entering the NFL draft and are so highly thought of that the Bills likely won’t sniff any of them when they hit the clock with the 28th pick. And even the ultra-aggressive Brandon Beane (who has traded up in the first round two years in a row) likely won’t want to pay the price to move up this year.’

‘Over the last two seasons, 64 backups — not counting rookies who took over after the season started — have started 217 games, winning 42.4% of them. The Bills, meanwhile, have spent $9.803 million on backup quarterbacks since 2020 — with no starts — and they have accumulated nearly as many end-of-game kneel-downs (35) as passing attempts (36).’

‘Mangas was officially announced during the bye week, two weeks after Brady was promoted to offensive coordinator. The two were teammates at William and Mary and then overlapped as assistant coaches there in 2014.’

‘The Chiefs are constantly attacking, constantly putting pressure on opponents and sometimes it creates whacky circumstances. And in the biggest moments of games, the Chiefs know how to pounce on those miscues through aggression and the ability of coaches and players to execute in step.’

‘Of the 22 Hall of Fame quarterbacks who played during the Super Bowl era (since 1966), 19 reached the Super Bowl at least once and 15 won a championship. There are also 15 Hall of Fame quarterbacks who played their entire careers during the Super Bowl era and only Dan Fouts and Warren didn’t reach one.’

‘The Buffalo Bills had a lot of players who have more years behind them than had left last season. They were the sixth-oldest playoff team this season. Four players over 30 when the season began started at least 10 games, while three more played at least 30% of the snaps when healthy.’

‘Additionally, the Bills added Jahmile Addae as the cornerbacks coach, leaving the University of Miami, where he coached the secondary for the last two seasons. The 39-year-old has coached exclusively in college since 2007, with stops at Arizona, Cincinnati, Georgia, Miami, Michigan, Minnesota and West Virginia.’