hondo in seattle

I love the Zhamar Jamar part!

I agree. I didn't register any negativity about the Bills. He's just doing what he's supposed to be doing: talking up his new team. The truth, of course, may be a little different. He's made it clear in the past that he's a mercenary and will play for the highest bidder. I assume that's the true reason why he chose the 9ers.

Another tidbit... His first name isn't actually Ray. His full name is: Re’Mahn Walter Zhamar Jamar Davis.

I was ignoring that and looking at how much each team spends on their current wideouts. Sadly, we spend more on a receiver who plays for another team than all the receivers in Bills unis combined.

Great way of saying it. The NFL is a hard mistress. Ty was a star in college (3rd most all-purpose yards in Maryland history) and now he's fighting just for a roster spot. Despite his success in college, he wasn't invited to the combine. And yet he reportedly benched 27 reps at 225 lbs - more than any of the backs who were invited to the combine that year. And one scout timed him at 4.26 in the 40 - also better than any of the backs at the combine. Other scouts had him between 4.3 and 4.4. The guy is an elite athlete by many measures, yet barely good enough for the NFL and has already been released by two NFL teams.

I think in the past Beane has underspent on the OL. And this year, he's underspending on the WR group (5th lowest in the NFL?). But I like his approach toward the RB room. With our offense revolving around Josh, he's trying to man the RB position with low-cost draft picks on rookie contracts. Cook is already a bargain and Davis looks to be one. Johnson has a modest cap number of about 1.1m. You can't spend everywhere so Beane has decided not to spend heavily on the backfield. But he's getting us some talent there regardless.

It's good to see a former NFL QB being even more optimistic about our receivers than a homer Bill fan like me. But it's easier to get open when you have a good OC scheming up good plays and calling them at the right time. I don't know yet if Brady is that guy.

Agreed. I think the waters will be a little clearer next year, allowing Beane to make some focused additions. While there's some uncertainty on the OL, I'm thinking especially of the WR room. Who will step up? Who won't? Do we actually need another starting caliber wideout? And this will be the first year to truly see Brady's offense in action. That might also help clarify 2025 needs.

I read somewhere that we have the 5th cheapest WR room in the NFL. I have to admit, that's concerning. When you have a great QB, wouldn't you want to give him great folks to throw to? But a bunch of these guys have upside. And I think there's enough talent here that Brady - if he's good at his job - can scheme guys open.

I think Claypool, MVS, Hollins, and even Coleman to certain extent, all get side-eyed by a certain segment of the mafia because of Diggs's departure. "What? This guy is supposed to replace Diggs?" I don't expect any of them to replace Diggs. I do hope they play up to their potential and become important role players.

As a homer optimist, I'm projecting 6.

I've heard Kurt Warner and others suggest that Josh gets frustrated by 2 high shells and other defensive schemes that take away the long ball. According to the narrative, Josh doesn't like to dink and dunk down the field. Yet, we didn't hear this story a lot when Beasley was with the team. Maybe folks are right and Allen will throw to a covered deep guy before an open short guy just because he likes to air it out - film certainly shows instances of that. But maybe Josh doesn't trust his recent short threats the way he once trusted Bease. I'm not sure what's going on but whatever it is, it needs to be fixed because teams are frequently using 2 high shells to slow down QBs like Allen, Mahomes, etc. Our offense needs to become proficient at moving the ball, regardless of the defensive scheme. And Brady has talked about making defenses 'defend every blade of grass.' We need to get better at that. The encouraging thing is Brady was adept at using short crossers at Carolina. But guys open short won't matter if Allen inappropriately chooses the guy running the intermediate or deep pattern. Schematically, Brady needs to find ways to get guys open at all levels of the defense. But he also needs to persuade Josh to choose the guy with the greatest separation, even if that guy is James Cook or Dalton Kincaid, only 5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

Thanks for the recommendation. My wife was underwhelmed in Clarence, but I've convinced her we need to give East Aurora a try next. I think I recall going somewhere on Genesee with a friend. Don't recall the name. Or a char pit - so maybe not. I'll add Macy's to the list. You guys are making me hungry! I currently live south of San Jose, CA. There are some fantastic Latin and Asian restaurants around here representing all sorts of regional cuisines. But I have yet to find good pizza. And I'd love to be proven wrong when I say that the world has caught up to Buffalo's wings.

PBF81, you insist you don't care yet you keep pounding the table. I already told you why I like Weisman's opinion: because I want him to be right because I'm a Bills fan. I get some reassurance that Weisman might be right because Buffalo716 (former scout), Josh Allen, Brandon Beane, and some other folks I respect generally agree with him. But opinions are like *elbows* - everybody has them. And the draft is a game of chance. Even good GMs/scouts are often wrong. Even bad GMs/scouts are sometimes right. The good GMs/scouts simply have a better batting percentage, though that's a metric that's hard to measure precisely. Scouting is a very inexact, predictive science. A scout needs to guess who's going to get bigger, stronger, faster. Who's going to fully dedicate themselves to their craft and resist the temptations that come with fame and money. Who's going to set their ego aside and be receptive to the coaching and take it to heart. Who's not going to sustain a career-ending injury. And so on. Weisman, Allen, and Beane may all be wrong, and you may be right. I don't know. But I know this: I have no way of knowing. So I choose to maintain hope that Coleman turns out to be a great pick. Given some of the people who believe in the kid, and my own observations, it's not an unreasonable hope.

La Nova is a place that's been on my Buffalo list for a long while for both pizza and wings. I've never been to Nine-eleven or Desi's but maybe they get added to the list. And I'll give Bar Bill another chance whenever I visit Buffalo next. Both my brothers are Duff's guys and I do like Duff's. While Duff's hottest wings aren't as spicy as Wing Dome's in Seattle, Duff's is better overall. I don't recall any great Buffalo-style wings when I lived in Seattle, but I did have many good Asian-style.

Of course, flavor is more important than spice level. But I'm not a traditionalist. I'll make or otherwise eat classic Buffalo Wings made with Frank's Redhot from time to time. But I really enjoy more inventive, "new fangled" recipes with better (IMHO) flavor profiles. And this is where some non-Buffalo restaurants occasionally shine. I suppose it's a weird tradition, but I eat wings virtually every week during the football season when I sit down to watch the Bills. Sometimes the wife either makes them or orders them. When I make them myself, gochujang (fermented spicy Korean chili paste) is almost always an ingredient.

Thanks for the explanation. Somewhere I read examples of actual NFL scouting reports, but I was vague on the mechanics of the process. There are something like 900 college football programs in the US - counting all levels. To boil thousands of players down to a manageable and accurate draft board seems like a daunting challenge.

I haven't visited any cities that I find especially good at wings, just particular restaurants here and there. For example, I visited my daughter in Bellingham, WA once when she was going to school there. We had wings for an appetizer at a Thai restaurant that were so good we had to order another serving. The following day, we had wings at a Brazilian place that specialized in wings/chicken. The wings themselves were unexceptional except that they came with a variety of tasty & interesting dipping sauces. A week later, we were in Buffalo (Clarence) at Bar Bill. My son, wife, and I all agreed the wings at those two restaurants in Bellingham were better than any of the three flavors we got at Bar Bill. As a Buffalo native, it was disappointing. I want Buffalo to be the superlative in all things wings. But I went to Duff's once on a visit back home and ordered the Death Wings. They were hot but I ate them. On the other hand, I once ordered the 7-Alarm wings at the Wing Dome in Seattle. I barely finished one and swore - with tears in my eyes - that I'd never consume anything with hot sauce ever again. Whenever I'm back in Buffalo, there are a few things I try to hit: pizza, wings, beef-on-weck, and Parkside Candy (I love the store itself more than the offerings but I do love chocolate). The pizza is probably my biggest pleasure of the four.

Let me ask you something about the mechanics of the scouting process. Let's say an NFL scout sees a kid that he likes. He'll make his evaluation, write up a report, and submit it. Does he then call the GM or Director of College Scouting to advocate for the kid? Do the various scouts compare notes in meetings? How do the area/regional scouts influence the draft board & process besides filling out scouting reports?

Claypool is my choice for a hit. Obviously, looking at his first two years in the league, he has enough talent to be a successful NFL wideout. His next two years were, however, huge disappointments. This may be faulty logic, but I don't think Beane would have signed him unless he thought there was a good chance that Claypool could turn things back around. I'm betting on Beane being right. And just yesterday, McD had heaped some heavy praise on the young man: "Very impressed with Chase, really just starting with his approach. Here's a veteran receiver, former high pick that has been on a journey, right, through the course of his, recently, his career. I applaud Chase for coming here to see where things go. He's very focused... You don't find that a lot around the NFL, where a player has been at a certain level and then is on a mission, right now, to reclaim what he once was in that regard... Very impressed with his day-to-day approach, true pro, high character, smart player and been a good addition to the team."

I hate to be nosy but I gotta ask... What kind of job has you scouting both high school and college players? If I'm prying where I don't belong, just let me know and I'll move on.

I remember reading an article about pizza from a highly travelled pizza connoisseur. He mentioned that NYC and Chicago are the two cities most famous for pizza but thought Buffalo was just as good. He also said Detroit was woefully underrated. (If I recall correctly, he said he would rank Detroit #2). I don't recall him mentioning New Haven and I'm surprised to see it on your list. I read a different article about pizza, written by two chefs who rated San Francisco and Seattle in the Top 5 or 10 but not Buffalo (or Detroit, as I recall). Having lived in San Fran and Seattle, I concluded these guys didn't know what they were talking about and obviously hadn't researched the subject very deeply. I know that this is not a popular opinion, but I believe that Buffalo pizza is better than Buffalo wings. I've had a lot of great wings outside of Buffalo - better than Bar Bill, Duffs, or Anchor. But Buffalo pizza shines. The average pizza joint in Buffalo is better than the average pizza joint in the majority of other cities. And on a per capita basis, Buffalo is one of the most pizza dense places in North America.

PBF81, you've made it clear here and elsewhere that you don't think much of Keon. But let me offer another view by Brentley Weisman, "Coleman has everything you want to be a team’s No. 1 option and will likely be a difference-maker early on in his NFL career... Prospect Projection: Day 1 — Pro Bowl Talent" You're a knowledgeable poster. But Weisman is a former NFL scout with the Chargers, Raiders, and Pats. It would be hard for you to convince me that you're right and the NFL scout is wrong. Especially when I want the scout to be right. 🙂 You can read Weisman's full profile on Coleman here: thedraftnetwork.com/2023/12/20/keon-coleman-scouting-report-nfl-draft-2024

McD's first playoff loss wasn't much of a disappointment to me because it was so expected. That roster just wasn't good. Since then, I've had some higher expectations. But at the beginning of the playoffs, I never thought, "This is our year." The landscape was never particularly favorable. Every year, there were teams that were healthier, or better, or both. So overall, I think McD's playoff record is about what I'd expect given the strength of the roster at the start of the playoffs. And I suppose that, in itself, is disappointing. You want the coach to elevate the team and squeak out some victories against better squads. McD hasn't done that - not in the playoffs. Though, any statistician will tell you about the importance of sample size. Coaches don't coach enough in the playoffs for their performance there to become a meaningful sample. But they do coach a lot of regular-season games. And the Bills' success is well known... Since 2020: KC 51-16 Bills 48-18 Packers 43-24 Cowboys 42-25 49ers 41-16 When pitted against other NFL coaches, McD usually comes out on top. It doesn't happen as often in the playoffs because (1) tougher opponents, (2) injuries, and (3) bad luck. It's not because McD suddenly turns into a coaching moron. Anyway, the small sample size makes the record an almost meaningless metric. Reid went 6-5 in his first 11 playoff games. McD's 5-6. I'm hoping things coalesce and McD, like Reid, ends up with 3 rings.

This is a cogent argument and not only do I get your point, but I sincerely hope you're right. But let's say, for the sake of argument, that you graduated law school when you were 35. Needless to say, you'd be a much smarter, better attorney at age 40. The first few years are the ones when the learning is most intense. McD became the Bills HC at age 43. He was a first-time head coach but he had been around football nearly his entire life, including 16 years in the NFL. You'd think by then, he'd have a good idea of who would be a good OC. After some time, the learning curve flattens. Your grandson went from 4 out of 100 free throws to 93 out of 100. (Congrats!) But now that he's been at it for some years, he's not likely to get much better. I think I recall McD using the expression, "growth mindset" in the past but I have to wonder how much he's learning and growing anymore. A little, for sure, but maybe not a lot. In retrospect, promoting Dorsey was a mistake. After the Dorsey misfire, did McD experience some tremendous epiphany and suddenly uncover the secret attributes of a great OC? Or is he still operating under his same old paradigms? I don't know. Brady's lackluster tryout doesn't help my confidence. The offense wasn't prolific when he called the shots last year. But, man, I really want you to be right.