BigBuff423

However in this case I think it might be more a matter of the depth in the Draft

This tells me Beane and Co believe the FA market for DT / DE and depth at WR / OL will be stronger than the OLB position. Moreover, the Draft appears deep at the OT position.

After reviewing some of the information from the Pro Day, I think I'm now in the camp that says if Bills go Etienne, I would prefer it be a 3rd Round or later pick. I know that he most likely won't last that long, but if the Bills were to take a RB at 30, it would seem that RB would need to be of the Jonathon Taylor variety. Taylor ran a 4.39 and had a 36" Vertical, although a shorter Broad Jump. Etienne looks the part but since there isn't the elite physical traits to pair with collegiate production at the RB position, I think I'd rather the Bills either go with a different RB or simply wait until the 2nd / 3rd Round again.

AND, let's remember Edmunds has been in the league 3 years AND HE'S ONLY 22 FREAKIN' YEAS OLD!! He turns 23 in a couple months....that's just absurd. To that end, like with Josh, I think the Bills Drafted Edmunds not for who he was, or even is, but for who he will become - seeing the raw, uncultivated talent he had in college and what they could do to get him to be an elite MLB. He played with an injured shoulder, we all know that, and he does need to get better - but thinking about how young he is and how he still has so much potential, despite playing well periodically, shows that he could be a terrific to all-time great Bills LBer if he makes some strong gains.

It's the highlighted portion I disagree with. The "nothing to do with" part of that statement. Of course the players and plays dictated the ultimate outcome of the game, but it was impacted by Daboll's fractured focus due to the interview process, IMHO. Frazier did fairly well until KC but that was exacerbated by an inept Offense. The front 4 not getting pressure is definitely a factor, but the Offense had an opportunity several times early to put KC on their heels and didn't execute to build on those opportunities. Again, JMO.

I'll respectfully disagree with your first point, as the Bills played the hardest schedule in the NFL across the span of the season and absorbed some tough injuries from beginning to end and STILL had the second best record in the league. I don't think any of the things you said were the "reasons" for the losses, while certainly they contributed to them. To me, the Bills the demonstrated all season they had the coaching to overcome those challenges - until the playoffs as the teams got better and competition intensified. JMO

And I agree that Offensive Line was an issue, but the notion of Drafting a dynamic RB in the 1st, e.g. Etienne, does not exclude the upgrade at Offensive Line through both FA and the Draft. Wyatt Teller was a 5th round pick by the Bills that just had one of the best years in the league last year for the Browns. I think you can do both is my point.

Yup, and as we've seen with McDermott and his growth mindset, when he fails at something, he makes it a point to get better at it...so, let's hope that happens here and he learns and matures as a coach to be better.

I understand (I think) your point, but are you saying you legitimately wouldn't take McCaffrey in the Buffalo backfield? Because, Etienne might be that player...

I remember when I (and others) brought up the notion that it appeared the Offense in particular was struggling once the playoffs were happening and that it could be tied to Daboll trying to balance interviews with game planning / preparation. Several (if not more, I can't recall) were verbally stripped down to the posts essentially saying, "You don't understand how professionals handle themselves", to "That's ridiculous, if they can't get motivated for the playoffs they're not good coaches". Yet, ignored the human element which is intrinsic to all of us: we can only multi-task so many things and presume our focus and performance will remain unimpeded. It can't. In the playoffs especially, it takes all of your energy, all of your focus, all of your creativity, and all of your mental acumen to achieve the intended result. AND, you need that from EVERYONE. I like the change and hope they implement it immediately because if the Bills have another banner year, we'll be back to this issue in January 2022. I'm not going to disagree, because "owning it" is exactly what needs to happen. But we would be naïve if we were to assume that there isn't a natural impact on a coach trying to give the opportunity to his subordinates to encourage a healthy culture while also asking them to make their own choices to stay focused on the task at hand. That said, if you remove that option, then the coach doesn't have to make that choice and everyone stays focused until such time as the two week break or later, when they can be formally courted for a promotion. JMO

For point of reference, I just want to remind us all that Beane Drafted Wyatt Teller that in his second or third season after being traded to the Browns had arguably one of the best Offensive Line / Guard seasons in 2020. He was Drafted in the 5th Round. So, I completely agree that drafting at least one Offensive Lineman should be a priority - for a variety of reasons - I also don't want us to discount the value in those mid to late rounds. For years the previous Bills' GMs could not Draft to save their life but this regime has the chops to know specifically how and when to Draft talent and the coaching staff to maximize those players' abilities and impact for the good of the team.

I'll disagree because when you start with Allen, you've already lost me. If you can't see how QB is an outlier in any given year and the fact that unless you have an Allen, Mahomes, Rodgers, etc. that it is ALWAYS an area where you're looking to upgrade then there's nothing anyone can say with regard to logic. As for Edmunds, Beane said he didn't think he'd be there at 16 so he went up and got him. Oliver some argued that year could have gone in the top 5 and that he might have been the most talented defensive player in the entire Draft making his value pretty obvious. Singletary you've already conceded that one, Moss led the FBS in broken tackles and some projected him to be a low 2nd Rd pick and dropped because of his 40 time at the Combine - which he ran with a hamstring injury. Epenesa was being mocked IN THE FIRST ROUND and again, Beane called him and said he had no idea what other teams were thinking but were glad to get him and Knox, again was similar to a Singletary pick. The Bills had Clay, who did almost nothing for the team despite a huge contract handed out by the incompetent Doug Whaley, Jason Croom, and Keith Towbridge - all in a year when Beane said they were dumping salary and eating Dead Cap money and hitting the reset button. Of course the team "needed" a TE, but it's not like he over-spent on Draft value for Knox. As for Ford, did you forget that Beane went and spent a bunch of money and assets on the Offensive Line following the 2018 season? Mongo, Morse, etc. were all FAs because Beane and the team knew Offensive Line was an issue and mixing in a Rookie on a line of Vets makes huge sense especially when Beane really believed(s) Ford is a long-term solution somewhere on the line and said after the Draft Ford was graded higher than where he was Drafted and were holding their breath when Carolina traded in front of them to take a different lineman. Can Beane be exaggerating? Of course he can, but it's up to you and all of us to determine IF we believe him. Given his forthright answers to the media thus far and handling some tough questions since he's arrived, I choose to believe him. You may not and that's certainly your prerogative but given the information presented, I'm going to say that he primarily attacks needs in FA and uses BPA overall. I did say in my post that it generally applies and if you're going to make an argument that it doesn't, I'd say you have a valid point in Knox and that's about it IMO. We're talking about Draft, but also if you look at the team deficiencies in 2017, '18, & 2019 and then followed the Free Agency signings, I think it's clear and obvious what Beane is doing: he's taking as many needs as possible off the table to pursue their best player at each Draft position. However, you've also conveniently left off the fact that the team had Cordy Glenn but Drafted Dawkins and that was AFTER Whaley gave Glenn a huge contract, Drafted Fromm merely from a value perspective, Drafted Bass based on value in the 6th Round despite having Hauschka (sp?), and Drafting Dane Jackson again based on value. When you consider Phillips, T. Johnson, Darryl Williams, Siran Neal, Tommy Sweeney (who missed this year but showed promise at the end of 2019) and others not to mention Wyatt Teller who had a monster season for the Browns, I'd say Beane has shown he can draft well and "generally" uses value to determine his pick as opposed to reaching for a need.

Well, if you believe Elon Musk - the Starlink satellite internet service will be quite fast and available for folks in your predicament.

Unfortunately, this is hard to answer until Free Agency has had some time to percolate. Beane has embraced the philosophy of addressing a team's needs in FA and using the Draft as BPA (for the most part). I love this strategy and think it's the best way to utilize the two ends of the talent acquisition spectrum. However, given the uncertainty of the Cap and the unknown with a shortened and stunted college season, this question - IMO- is even harder to answer until FA settles a bit. My thought, without knowing the information I just said was necessary, would be for Beane to either trade way up for an impact player (unlikely due to future assets being required) or to trade back, given their 30th Draft position and desire to bring depth at multiple positions.

In addition to Dupree and Judon, Barrett is a 3-4 OLB type so all of the guys you either quoted or named are in a very different type of Defense than what the Bills run on Defense. I'm not picking at saying the Bills don't need to get better on Defense, but I don't know that any of those three aforementioned names will fit within what the Bills are trying to accomplish on Defense. JMO

You and your logic....pffft….I mean, what's next? Reasoned discourse with cogent arguments??!!! I mean....c'mon man.

I’m all for Milano getting whatever the market bears and I’m also good with the Bills doing what’s best for the team. Keeping that in mind, let’s remember Milano was Drafted by this very group of personnel in the 5th Round. This staff found, coached, and maximized his skills - they can and will do it again.

Not getting into a specific player or players for Wish List, but one thing Beane has done consistently and outwardly stated is that he uses the FA period to fill their "needs" and then the Draft to BPA, which is why Fromm was chosen - because he was highest on their board at the time. So, that means if Beane stays true to his history and his philosophy as he's stated, we'll see exactly how he and McDermott view the team's greatest "need" based on who they target with their money.

It's debatable about whether I fully agree with McD's assertion that comparing the Chiefs' team development and the Bills' team development, but you are way off base. Your assessment is plain ludicrous when you say they've missed on too many high Draft picks. By comparison here are the Chiefs' Draft picks - and see 2013 forward, the one in which the Chiefs took Fisher high in the 1st round and then Drafted Kelce in the 3rd Round....people forget that all too often. Point being, that IMHO you're inaccurate of the Bills' Draft pick quality and to set that against the Chiefs where presumably you're giving them a lot of credit for their Drafts, you can see there are plenty of picks that have not fully yielded their intended return. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/kan/draft.htm

The Dolphins were a well-rounded team this last year, and if I were Flores I would have wanted the same thing. However, something the Bills learned in the worst way possible, is that if you have an elite QB, every other component is complementary. I don't know that Tua is the answer for the team at QB and while the Dolphins really did play well as a team, what we saw was that if the team couldn't support each other in every phase, Offense-Defense-AND Special Teams, they couldn't beat a team with an elite QB. An elite QB overcomes nearly everything most weeks and when the team puts pieces in place to augment that elite QB, which includes playing sound Defense, that team becomes nearly unstoppable - see the Chiefs and Bucs unfortunately. So while the Dolphins have Draft picks and FA money to spend, until they solve the QB puzzle with an elite QB, they will remain a "good" team, but probably always on the fringe. The 2000 Ravens are the aberration, outlier and exception to the standard and to me, I think Flores is building the team in a similar model. I understand why building the team that way makes sense right now, but the QB is absolutely still undecided for their future IMHO.

My question is why must it be a Round 1-3 player? Hyde himself was Drafted in the 5th round. Doesn't it stand to reason that as good as Beane et. al. have been at Drafting good players, that the FO can find as good a talent as Hyde in the 4th or 5th Round? Also, don't forget Neal and Johnson which IMO, the team has been grooming since they were Drafted for this very reason. I'm not saying the Bills should or shouldn't Draft a Safety, I merely saying let's not jump to the conclusion that his replacement doesn't already play for the Bills.

Hard decisions will be made and before we dismiss out of hand that the Bills are guaranteed to keep Hyde because of what he’s meant to the team or the difficulty in locating his replacement. However, this is the same staff that unearthed Hyde - meaning if they found him, they can find others. If the Bills decide to bring him back, let’s not presume it’s due to being unable to find and recruit a replacement level player.

I'm not saying I agree or disagree, but according to Spotrac, it quite literally costs just as much to cut Morse as it does to keep him at this point (for 2021). So, keeping him but Drafting a 1st / 2nd Round Center or getting another FA would make more sense, IMHO. Having a quality back-up Center, presumably Morse, is key in sustaining the winning week to week, as we've witnessed this year. Edit: Morse would save ~$5.5 next season https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/mitch-morse-16773/

Difficult decisions will need to be made across the board and I think Beane is the right man to make them. I also think there will be a head-scratcher or two with people questioning their decisions. But keep in mind Beane is the guy who moved Darby and Watkins before it was popular and ate a terrible year of Dead Cap in order to free up the money for guys like Mongo, Morse, Brown and Beasley. Now, Beane will have more difficult decisions to make about whom to retain and whom to send packing. Brown seems like a good guy and speed for days, but this Offense needs more. So, we'll see if Beane thinks the open market will give him more value than what Brown brings. For example, JuJu is likely to be a FA and while I'm not saying the Bills *should* or will sign JuJu if he makes it to market, but right Spotrac is projecting JuJu at ~$16 million / AAV and when Brown is at $8, it causes you to ponder the "value" between Brown and JuJu.

That was fantastic, and we’ll balanced IMO. He provided some nice X and O analysis while also speaking in basic terminology to make it enjoyable to watch. I think it was also fair assessing the issues with both Josh and the team. It was quite interesting to see how Josh was learning how to pick the Chiefs’ Defense apart through the game.