Alphadawg7

I think its a combo of a couple things. Allens arm strength. He just naturally has a much lower trajectory because he can deliver a strike 25 yards down field the same way other QB's throw 7 yard crossing passes. He is tall - I know this sounds counterintuitive to the point, but I can tell you as someone who is also tall (I am 6'4") that when you can see over the tops of things, it definitely gives you more confidence that you can get it there unimpeded. You don't feel this need to get over something when you are looking right at it. Allen isn't afraid to get hit - He is not afraid to stand tall in a collapsing pocket and take a hit while trying to deliver a pass. And all these defensive lineman are taught to get their hands up when closing in on the QB like that. I've noticed several of these passes get knocked down when the pocket is closing in on him. And when you factor the 2 points above into the equation in these moments, its just allowing some guys to get there hands on some passes.

Chase Claypool has the ability to be a stud in the right situation. I don't know if he is a fit character wise for our locker room, nor do I expect we would even pursue him. I don't see us needing to trade a draft asset for a WR. But Claypool in GB could be dangerous. Rodgers will get him the ball, and with his speed and size, he could be very DK Metcalf like in that offense. If he goes to the Giants, meh, Jones just isn't a great passer and I am sure Claypool would have a few big games just based on his size and speed, but I think he would be very inconsistent in that weak passing offense.

There are a multitude of reasons for that though...and McCaffrey and Ekeler are making big contributions as a receiver and arguably the most effective parts of both offenses right now. But...this discussion is getting a bit sidetracked. I am not in any way advocating for a run first team, emphasize the run game, etc. I am one of Devin's biggest defenders. I am just saying, adding an elite RB who is also an elite receiver to this offense is certainly an upgrade, even though I really like Devin and just think he needs to be given more carries. But I was correcting the poster who claimed in the last 25 years no team wins in the playoffs with a run game led offense, and it wasn't true. It's totally irrelevant to the Bills, we are a dominant passing team and will remain that way no matter who is running the ball, as it should be when you have the best QB in the league.

Except that’s just not true. In the last 25 years…a team with a great D and run game as the strength of their teams won the SB 11 times. To name some: Manning won his last ring on a run game and defense as the worst passer in the NFL that year and worst QB performance in a Super Bowl win in NFL history. Russel Wilson won a SB as a game manager before he became a great QB behind a dominant run game and dominant defense. And would have won back to back had they run instead of pass at end of the game. Big Ben won a SB on the back of a dominant run game and defense before he became a great passer later in his career. New England won their first 3 Super Bowls as a great defense and running team with squat at WR before Brady became a high production QB. Ravens won the SB with Trent Dilfer and a dominant run game and dominant defense. Giants won multiple SBs this way. None of this matters. I’m not saying let’s become a run team or even to trade for CMC. Heck I’m one of Devin’s biggest defenders and supporters here. I’m just correcting this inaccurate claim you just made that it’s never happened in the last 25 years.

Im not talking about paying an elite RB. I said there is no denying it would boost our offense even higher. CMC would also only cost us $600k or so this year. And can be cut with no cap hit next year if Beane didn’t want to pay him. Again, I don’t think it’s gonna happen, but money isn’t really an issue here if the intention is to elevate chances for just this year.

I would be curious to know that too actually. But I do think all time greats find ways to dig deeper though. On paper this team should be better than it is, so the point is, they can turn it on at any point, don't take them lightly is the moral of the story. Yeah, the Washington game is an easy get right game for them. I should have clarified that. Not to mention, lots of talk of them making a trade for a WR too here soon.

I'm a better option than McKenzie and I am 46 and slow AF. I think we will see Shakir gradually take more and more snaps from McKenzie the way Devin did with Moss. I bet it's at least a 50-50 split this next game, and it wouldn't surprise me to see Shakir take even more than 50% of the snaps.

I expect to sack Rodgers 6 times and win this game by at least 3 scores. At the same time, it's still Aaron Rodgers who is pissed off coming off an embarrassing loss against the Jets. On paper, that D should be better than its been playing. Moral of the story: THE BILLS BETTER NOT TAKE THIS GAME LIGHTLY.

In terms of capital investment, those numbers will always be highest for QB, Tackle, and DE. No doubt about it. But you can't sit here and diminish the value of a RB while Saquan Barkley is turning Daniel Jones into a winning QB and playoff QB despite him be average at best. Saquan is carrying that offense and is a big reason why they are 5-1. Had they traded Saquan in the offseason they would probably be 1-5 right now instead. An elite RB can absolutely move the needle for a team. I mean if you put CMC on the Bills, all the betting odds on us get even better and we are already the favorite. Put him on KC, and they will close the gap or even become the betting favorite over us. Put him on SF and they suddenly look like the team to beat in the NFC. Should a team build around a RB, of course not, that is a much harder way to win in the modern NFL. It's possible, but you are going to need a great OL and a great Defense and a solid QB just to have a chance. But anyone devaluing what CMC would bring to this offense is kidding themselves I am a fan of Devin, and I have defended him many times against the over exaggerated crap he gets around here. But even I know CMC potentially makes our offense historically good and damn near unstoppable. And for the record...the guy you responded to wasn't comparing a DE to a RB. He was comparing the situations. Going from a good to great player significantly moved the needle on defense in upgrading from Hughes to Von. He was saying upgrading from Devin to CMC could have the same significant impact for the offense. And for the record: I do not think we trade for McCaffrey. I think Beane called, found the price to be too rich, and that was that. They will most likely find another suitor willing to give more than Beane is. And I am totally fine with Devin, but also fine and would be excited if we surprised and did land CMC.

While I don't disagree with you really on this premise...Antonio Brown says hi

I honestly could care less. If they are cleared to play, they are cleared to play. Why should anyone care otherwise?

Yeah, I think Micah is a generational talent too. But I don't really like the LT comparisons he keeps getting, just don't think that is really who he accurately compares to. I think Derrick Thomas is more suitable, because like Derrick was when he played, he is the best pure pass rusher in the NFL right now. But Micah is still weak against the run, and LT was a more complete player and total game wrecker. Either way, Micah is going to be one of the betting favorites for DPOY to start each season much like Darnold, Garrett, and Watt are. Guy is a definitely a beast.

CMC doesn’t make sense. They didn’t need to restructure Kelce to fit CMC contract in this year and they definitely can’t afford CMC next few seasons. And they love the rookie they have in Pacheco who they are very high on. And I doubt it’s OBJ, especially after OBJ made it about the money. He said he wants to go to Rams but they didn’t offer what he is worth. So if his heart is in LA but is prioritizing money over his preference, then I doubt KC is gonna pay him what he wants.

It is definitely Parsons, but the gap maybe just got closer. Micah was exposed and Eagles showed how to handle the defense of the cowboys which is run right at Micah who is god awful against the run. He is literally ranked like a hundred and something against the run. Von Miller could creep in there. If he keeps piling up sacks, and meaningful ones, he could be in the conversation. Especially if he ends up between 15-20 sacks, which he is on pace for. And with our offense, teams are gonna have to throw a lot creating plenty of snaps where he can go get the QB. Scary thing is Von said he is still learning the system, they basically just tell him go get the QB right now. He could be even better as the season goes on. Another name to keep an eye on who I think is dark horse is Judon in NE. He’s playing lights out for them right now as Pats are starting to put together some wins led by the D. But like I said, it’s definitely currently Micah Parsons. Just saying it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season goes for him and cowboys. I have a feeling they are going to lose some more games once Dak is back. I have seen guys look like shoe ins for MVP, DPOY, etc at this point in the season and then teams figure out how to scheme against them and slow them down.

You know when will be a good time to revisit this? When I am bored because Josh Allen and the starters were pulled for the 4th quarter with us up 5 scores when we are playing the Jets.

And this is why a case can be made for either. But IMHO, Allen is still capable of doing all of those things. One might say Mahomes maybe does it more consistently, but Allen can also make all those throws too now and doing it more frequently/. But there are still things Allen can do with his running that Mahomes simply can’t physically do.

Ah my bad, sorry didn’t see that it was. Well let me correctly say then the article is cherry picking. I was just stating it’s an inconsistent way to get to a conclusion even though I happen to agree with this specific conclusion that Allen is the best. I amended my original reply to be directed at the article

First: I agree. I think Allen is the best QB in football. Him and Mahomes though are interchangeable IMHO on who is better. A case can be made for either. I go with Allen because he can do things not even Mahomes can do with his legs, but there is nothing Mahomes can do that Allen can't. Second: I need to stay consistent...and that is pointing out this article is cherry picking stats. The article chose an odd slate of games...they conveniently only start counting his stats after the Bills got out of a slump last year to make Allens stats look better. Again, I agree with the conclusion that Allen is the top guy, but I find the articles cherry picking of information as just an inconsistent way to prove any conclusion.

Make no mistake about it, Allen was going to be this Allen no matter what. People keep forgetting, the person TRULY responsible for Allens progress is Jordan Palmer and all the offseason work Allen puts in to get better. Allen has a Kobe like mentality where he wants to outwork everyone else and a tireless drive to be the best version of himself he can be. Allen made huge leaps between walking off the football field for the last time at Wyoming to the draft. All from work he did with Palmer. Every off season, Allen has committed himself with Palmer to improve an area of his game. Early on it was mechanics...then accuracy...then ball placement and deep ball accuracy...now this last offseason it was YAC. And Bills went from near last in YAC last year to the top of the NFL this year. Daboll did great things with him and the offense while he was here, but Allens development and improvement was a combo of Allens drive and commitment along with Palmers offseason programs. What Daboll is proving to be though is a great coach. Having a great coach for Allen was also a great value, and one of the most important parts of Daboll's coaching style is the legitimate close bond he forms with his players. So not taking anything away from Daboll, but Allen was gonna be Allen no matter who the OC was. Hats off to him in NY, he is off to a great start. And they have a soft schedule coming up and could legitimately be 9-1 come week 10. They still are not a "great" football team as in a real contender IMHO, but they are a motivated and scrappy team, and that credit all belongs to the new staff and front office on how they came in to change the culture. Just like how McD's first year...we were not a great football team, but we were tough and scrappy and McD got the most out of the guys out there every week.

Agree, very well said. Love how you just put that, it’s spot on and that is 100% the makings of a great coach.

This. This is what I have been pounding the table for all season. RB’s need rhythm, and so do the OL as different backs have different running styles. To see Devin keep being effective early in games and then see Moss get in and play a while was maddening. You just can not run the ball if you don’t call run plays. And you definitely can’t run the ball consistently if that when you do run the ball you aren’t running with your best RB. We saw it last year, the moment (halftime adjustment in Bucs game) they featured Devin and committed to getting the run game involved, everything changed. We didn’t lose again until the 13 seconds debacle and Devin’s production during that stretch would have been 1400 yards and 17 TDs projected over a full season. Not saying CMC for example isn’t an upgrade, but I am saying we are capable of having an effective run game when we truly commit to getting it going and utilize our best runner in Devin.

Called this in camp and preseason. McKenzie is NOT a starter. Period. Shakir will be the starter come playoff time, and probably will over take McKenzie in snaps sometime after the bye, if not the first game after the bye.

He got a “conservative” label by default for being a defensive coach. People wanted him fired before his first game. He came in and played to the strengths of the team and masked its weakness as best he could to take a miserably average roster into the playoffs. During that season, while the 6th seed, he sat his 2 time pro bowl QB for a lowly drafted noodle arm QB. That’s a bold move and aggressive move to try and improve the team rather than stick with what was working at that moment. Fans would never punt, never kick a FG, never do any smart football decisions. But McD with a weak roster was winning us games compared to losing us games like all the previous regimes. Yet because he was a defensive coach, they said he is conservative because this bias was already there and over looked what McD was working with. As soon as Josh Allen came the next season, the aggressive nature of McD was easily spotted. We were a team with a raw rookie QB and terrible receivers and yet still going for it on fourth down, still trying to throw deep. And he has never looked back. We have been one of the most aggressive teams on fourth down since Allen came on to the scene. In Allens 2nd season, the first 10-12 games Allen was the worst deep ball thrower in the NFL. At one point he was like 1 out of 50 on completions deep or something like that. But we kept throwing deep anyway, he didn’t care, he still was aggressive in our approach. I was on here arguing and defending McD against conservative criticisms almost his entire tenure here. The problem is, when you start off with a bias view of an assumption he must be conservative if he was a defensive coach then all you do is look for confirmation bias to support that until it’s decisively proven wrong. and that’s what a LOT of people did with him. Then you get people just repeating this inaccurate narrative that he’s too conservative and others start to believe it too if it keeps getting repeated. But if you come in with no bias either way, it’s easier to take what you see on the field (and understand the “why” on what you are seeing) and form a thesis or opinion based on what he is showing you week to week. And he has just not ever been a “conservative” coach IMHO. But if you were paying attention those first three years it’s pretty easy to see he wasn't conservative.

Good post until you’d said this. This notion that gets posted around here that McD was previously conservative is just totally inaccurate. He has been aggressive his entire tenure here. But this conservative myth started his first year here just because he was a “defensive” coach before he even coached a single game. Then it was falsely painted on him when he was working with a totally inept offensive roster. He has never been conservative…there are no conservative tendencies to fall back on. This false myth just needs to go away. And this isn’t aimed at you, it’s a general post to the people who keep still bringing this myth up. It’s an unfair criticism of McD given he’s easily been the most aggressive HC in Bills history, and it’s not even close. He also has been one of the most aggressive coaches in the NFL since becoming a HC.

I told you so. Said all off season and preseason that he is not an every down starter and wouldn’t finish the season as the starter. Got so much flack for it too. Shakir > McKenzie. I really like McKenzie…he is a lot of fun and a good person. But he’s just not a starter level player and his role is best suited as a gadget guy.