Hapless Bills Fan

That wasn't clear. You said "hire a guy with coaching experience". That's why I asked if you meant "head coaching experience"

I would most certainly prefer not to see our coordinators in the AFC and most certainly not in our division. Daboll probably knows how Allen dreams. ? Judge had coaching experience. He was the Pats ST coordinator for what, 8 years? Do you mean "experience as a HC"?

Neither was anyone else here, or at least the stuff in the post you're responding to was seriously distorted from any point anyone here ade. There are times when it's clear that no logic or facts will penetrate. The key "tell" is when the ad hominums come out "sorry if that hurts the feelings...." There they are, and I'm outta here.

I could be wrong, but I think the guy you're talking to meant "put the 2-3M above what you need to re-up McKenzie, towards signing someone else, not that we'd sign someone else as a FA for $2-3M.

I think that might be reading into the tea leaves a bit much. Beasley has had an average of 61% of the snaps, but excluding the two outliers (eg 1st game when we played a ton of 4 and 5 wr sets, and when he got hurt), he plays between 30% and 87% of the snaps. The 47% of the snaps he played were on the low end, but I think his usage has varied on an opponent-specific basis, and it's more than the 39% of the snaps he played against KC Week 5. If KC's DBs are allowed to be "sticky" in their press man coverage, I think Beasley has a tougher time separating from them, than the bigger, stronger guys. He also is not an effective blocker, unlike the similar-size McKenzie who has shown he can level a guy. But it's the type of coverage and the need for blocking that drove usage, hence Knox and the best-blocking WR (Davis) saw the most snaps along with Diggs, and the rest of the guys rotated.

What? Dude, that was Whaley

"Look At My Post" ====> LAMP

I don't think we're going to see a big OG signing. I think the pickin's are pretty slim, and the price is steep. For example, Austin Corbett from the Rams is projected to have an $8M AAV. Bates can be the backup C while playing LG, just as Feliciano was last year while playing RG. But that simply shifts the chain - then you need to make sure you've got a workable alternative at backup G

Oh, I didn't realize Bates was an RFA. But, he was an UDFA so that's pretty limited in its utility, right? We could offer him a 1st round tender for ~$5.5M, a 2nd round tender for ~$3.9M, or a 1st refusal tender for $2.4M. Whether Bates is the answer to the question "who are the above average, proven able to play in the NFL centers who can play either side at guard?" depends upon how the team sees him. Beane said some pretty positive things that some of the improvement in Dawkins' play in the last part of the season being a credit to Bates. If the team sees him as having earned the starting LG job for next season and anyone else having to beat him out, then by definition he's not the backup center. I hope we plan to draft a C/G, and with a high pick. But Ford is living walking proof that it's not safe to put all your eggs in the "rookie pick" basket.

OK. Who are the above average, proven-able-to-play-in-the-NFL centers who can also play on either side as G, who you will be able to sign for $3.5M or less? OK. Who are the backup LB who know McDermott's system and are versatile enough to play any LB position and also play ST well, who you can sign for less? And what is your definition of "barely plays"? Klein played 30% of the defensive snaps this season, and 43% of the ST snaps; but last season, when we had more injuries, he played 61% of the defensive snaps. I'm not saying that we're going to keep Klein - we may not, just as we may not keep Feliciano or Ford. I'm just saying that before the Armchair GM cuts all the players he doesn't like, he needs to understand what role they actually play and have a feel for what it would take to sign a suitable replacement.

He did not, but Spencer Brown drank one that wound up costing him $5,000. I believe ordinary ticketholders can anticipate to pay less. I don't agree with this at all. See post above.

I'm not going into roster decisions here. I was just talking the minimum of players that Beane needs to re-sign, or sign/draft replacements for. I would expect Beane to be busy looking for upgrades at several positions on IOL - including potentially cutting Feliciano and Ford in favor of those upgrades - but they're both under contract, so I don't expect to see them go until/unless a clear upgrade is in place. If Morse retires and Bates becomes our starting center or if he remains our starting LG, then Feliciano becomes our backup C and an IOL who can play both sides. I don't see how having a quality backup C/IOL "dooms us to repeat this season". Feliciano would cost $1.5M in dead money while freeing up $3.5M. So Beane has to feel comfortable he can sign a guy who can really play center and really play both sides as G for $3.5M or less, or he's not improving the team, he's degrading it. As far as "underachievers like Klein", what exactly do you think Klein's role is and what is your evidence he fails to achieve it?

I thought Hyde was out on the last 2 plays? Or are you talking about the last 2 plays of regulation?

I don't think Beane is gonna be tearing up the roster for no good reason. But he's going to have to either re-sign, or draft/sign replacements for a lot of the roster. This may help define the problem. I bolded the FA: Offense WR Emmanuel Sanders Gabriel Davis LT Dion Dawkins Spencer Brown LG Ryan Bates Jon Feliciano Ike Boettger C Mitch Morse Ryan Bates RG Daryl Williams Cody Ford RT Spencer Brown Tommy Doyle TE Dawson Knox Tommy Sweeney QB Josh Allen Mitchell Trubisky RB Devin Singletary Zack Moss Matt Breida Taiwan Jones FB Reggie Gilliam WR Cole Beasley Isaiah McKenzie (ST KR) WR Stefon Diggs Jake Kumerow (?ST Gunner) LDE Greg Rousseau A.J. Epenesa Efe Obada DT Ed Oliver Vernon Butler DT Star Lotulelei Harrison Phillips Justin Zimmer RDE Jerry Hughes Mario Addison Boogie Basham MLB Tremaine Edmunds Tyrel Dodson Tyler Matakevich WLB Matt Milano A.J. Klein Andre Smith NCB Taron Johnson Siran Neal (ST Gunner) CB Tre'Davious White Dane Jackson CB Levi Wallace Dane Jackson S Jordan Poyer Damar Hamlin S Micah Hyde Jaquan Johnson Going from the bottom to the top: CB: Need to re-sign or replace Wallace, and for the start of the year need to replace Tre White who is likely to be PUP/IR through training camp We were also very thin, as shown by a depth chart where the backup to both CB positions was playing Need: 2 players (at least 1 starter) LB: Like it or don't, I think we're set. DT: Pretty sure Beane wants both Phillips and Zimmer back, plus an additional player. Phillips had taken over as starter for Lotulelei. Need: 3 players (at least 1 starter) DE: Need at least 1 player. IMHO need an upgrade, badly. Overall on defense: Need to draft, re-sign, or sign 6 players, at least 3 starters LG/backup: Need to re-sign or replace Bates and Boettger (1 starter) C : if there's truth to the rumors Morse will retire, need a true starting-quality C (1 starter) T: may need an upgrade to Doyle as ST, unclear QB: need a backup QB WR: need a replacement to Isaiah if we let him walk - that fast guy who can do all the gadget plays, block as well as anyone in the league on a per-pound basis, and run routes Overall on offense: Need to draft, re-sign, or sign 2 starters and 3 backups ST: KR/PR and potentially replacements for 2 gunners (Neal and Jones) Punter: 'cuz Beane didn't sound happy! HTH

I thought that whole section of the press conference about Beasley was kind of weird, to be honest. He said he hadn't spoken to Beasley himself to know what was on his mind, like he was bracing to be hit with some information Beasley put out there on social media. He started off with "he can still play, he'll continue to play in this league" and then later said "he's still under contract as far as I know, we expect him back next season" He sounded like he was making excuses, either for Beasley, or from the Bills *to* Beasley, or both - "we had more WR" "we ran more of these plays that use McKenzie" "Isaiah really helped us in the running game" The bottom line is that he said he expects Beasley back and he defended Beasley's production, but he didn't sound enthused. Edit: and when else has Beane said something like "I would expect to see him back, he's under contract"? Now I'm reading the tea leaves here, but I'm kind of thinking Beasley has had several gripe sessions with Beane during the season.

Fun fact: Rams are 0-6 in their last 6 games against the 49ers. Since McVay became coach of the Rams and Shanahan became coach of the 49ers in 2017, they are 3-7 So while past record does not predict future performance, one does kind of wonder why you think that?

We have your prediction. You will be scored on its accuracy. We will remember.

This is probably going to sound snarkier than I intend it, but it always amazes me how all these TBDers with "inside scoop" connections come out of the woodwork after the season. Morse will retire, the Giants will hire Flores, etc etc. Beane seems unaware of this intention. If Morse retires, the Bills can ask him to return $2.75M of his signing bonus and foregoing $8.5M of salary and bonus. That's a pretty big chunk of change to walk away from. I don't know how you can distinguish a "guy who was leaving it out there for his final ride" from a guy who is trying with all his might to help his brothers on the team advance to the AFCCG and the Superbowl

My guess is that Beane did due diligence by watching Haack punt in unfriendlier climes and thought he could do the job. But, he couldn't.

Thanks I also didn't catch it, did he say anything about Harry (Phillips) that I might have missed?

There are a couple of points here. 1) The Bills actually had a top 10 rushing attack - #5 in Y/A, #13 for attempts but #6 for yards. Guess who was tied for #7 in Y/A? Kansas City. Just perhaps it's less out of touch with what matters than you think 2) "If the line protects Josh like they did in the last month" .....Guess what changed in the last month? We started jamming down on the run game. We didn't become a top rushing team, or a run-first team, but def. committed to it more and to my eyes, started to return to the pin-and-pull blocking concepts that worked in 2019. Starting with the Carolina game, we began using Tommy Doyle as a 2nd TE blocking on those plays. We also ran more designed runs for Josh and started using McKenzie in the running game. The reason this is important to protecting Josh, is that if there is uncertainty in the minds of the defense as to what we will do, they can't just "sell out" to stop the pass by blanketing the field and using exotic pass rush schemes to overload one half of the line while leaving vast turf unprotected for a run they have no fear of. Hopefully that is what Beane says as well, and I think it is - he talked about the current state of the OL as "something to build on", he said "it all starts with protecting Josh" and said "part of protecting Josh is the run game"

I responded earlier about "fireable offense". I'd like to loop back and addresss this. I think it's true that at the higher levels of sport, coaches don't necessarily teach core skills. Hell, I learned that was true at the Jr High/HS level. I think that's a mistake when it's true. I think it's a McDermott 'secret weapon' that he in fact, does expect his coaches to drill fundamentals and teach and reteach core skills. Funny that you mention WR, I have seen big improvement in the sideline catching abilities and route running abilities of all our WR over the last couple years. I think that if a fundamental skill is lacking, McDermott expects his coaching assistants to work with the players and help develop it, and in fact after Edmunds was injured last season there were even video clips of press conferences where MCDERMOTT could be seen drilling some fundamental technique with Edmunds. Likewise some clips where Bobby Johnson was working on a basic drill with Mitch Morse after practice. That said, there can be issues that need to go way beyond the time available during the season while installing a game plan, and need to be worked on in the off-season, like Knox working with his eye-hand specialist.

The questions about the DL was, IMHO, one of the more interesting parts of the press conference. Beane was asked, considering the resources that have been put into the DL and the pass rush essentially did he feel that he'd gotten a good ROI? He pretty much said "not really". Said "some games and not others"; said consistently not as much as he wanted. Then said he'll always put resources into DL because he believes in building up front. I would have loved to hear some follow-up questions about if you put so many resources into it and didn't get the return you expected, how will you change that? Also, did anyone hear any questions about AJ Epenesa? I would have loved to hear some questions about him.

I'm sure that's what his mindset and his agent's mindset is, but the fact is, the Bills were not really "looking every which way" to replace Wallace the past two years. They took a flier on an aging corner who played great in McD's system when in his prime for $6M (which seems to be some kind of sweet spot Beane is willing to pay for a 1 yr FA). They drafted a CB in the 7th round last year who made the team, and a CB in the 6th round this past year who didn't. Absolutely Wallace outplayed all those guys, but it's not exactly leaping over a star-studded heap. Leslie Frazier FWIW gave Wallace a strong endorsement saying "I don't think he's reached his peak yet" Spotrac sets Wallace's "market value" at 3 years, $17M or $5.7M/yr.

Original live link from Buffalobills.com not working Link I found on Bills Facebook site that seems working: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=343520150765212 You may need a Facebook account to access this