hondo in seattle

Catalana can't report it but he is dropping hints.

Josh has proven he can effectively dink-and-dunk when that's available. But I get the feeling that both Josh and Dorsey would rather air it out. I'd like to see the Bills use more underneath stuff with outlet receivers this year. And I'd like to see both Cook and Hines in that role. In fact, I'd like to see a more diversified passing attack utilizing the strengths of all the guys we have, Kincaid too.

Andy Reid. Some Bills fans want to fire McD and I'm against that. Unless we could replace him with Andy Reid. I wouldn't, like Gregg, fire McD for Belichick only because I think BB is getting close to retirement.

I didn't buy into the Super Bowl hype last offseason. One of my biggest concerns was our OL. So, at the beginning of the year, I thought Dorsey was a genius when I saw our offense moving the ball at will despite a weak OL. But there were games after the bye when I wondered what the hell Dorsey was doing. He didn't seem to be rolling with what was working. He didn't seem to be attacking the opponent's weakness. He almost seemed to be calling plays randomly. Also, we heard a couple of times late last year from opposing players that our O was predictable. Defenses seemed to have figured Dorsey out. One other thing that bugged me was his hissy fit in the box - it made me wonder if he had the emotional maturity to be a leader. I don't hate Dorsey, but I do wonder if he's the right guy to lead this offensive roster to its full potential. Hopefully, like other young OCs before him, he gets better in Year #2.

I don't get Super-Bowl-or-Bust. I've seen supposed gurus rank our roster anywhere from 3rd the 8th best this year. It's not Super Bowl quality according to most. But the club with the best roster doesn't necessarily win the SB. I'd give the Bills maybe a 10% chance. I wouldn't fire the head coach for not turning a 10% probability into a reality. If you did fire McD, who would you hire? The coaches demonstrably better than him are either employed or retired. I'll take our chances with McD over our chances with an unproven coordinator.

And, of course, everyone has a friend who has a brother who knows something and says Steph is mad at Josh because he's the center of attention, or slept with Steph's ex, or stole his clown shoes.

Sometimes fires die out. Sometimes they get bigger and become destructive... Are we worried yet?

FWIW, in another thread, @HappyDays says this: This is correct. More specifically, the blow up was Diggs saying to Josh "what's your excuse now?" (I have actually heard the audio, it was picked up by whoever was wearing the mic'd up microphone for that game) because Josh missed a throw in the game that he had also missed in practice. Their relationship has frayed. www.twobillsdrive.com/community/topic/247932-diggs-not-at-mandatory-minicamp-mcdermott-very-concerned/page/29/

Maybe no damning, conclusive evidence. But some suggestive stuff: The blow-up at the end of last season... some of the odd commentary from Josh... the lack of any news of them hanging out during the offseason... Diggs' absence at the start of minicamp... These guys were best friends - joined at the hip - but, since Diggs' outburst, there's been no public evidence of that friendship. Players don't need to be great friends but there does need to be some rapport. As a long-suffering Bills fan who's endured 4 SB losses, the Home Run Throwback, 13 seconds, and a host of other disappointments, I tend to assume the worst even as I continue to hope for the best.

I was worried in April. I'm more worried now that Diggs didn't report. Hopefully, it'll all be good by the time we play the Jets.

A rift with Dorsey? Or Josh? Or both?

Well, Diggs isn't at mandatory minicamp. Maybe the relationship is in decline after all?

Ourlads also have Harty starting ahead of Shakir and Rousseau starting ahead of Floyd. Maybe all that comes to pass. Camp will be fun this year.

I think Josh has more viable targets this season. He'll also - cross my fingers - have more time to throw. I expect him to spread it around a little more.

The Rule of Four... 44 catches 444 yards 4 TDs

I'm both nervous and excited about the passing game in 2023. I'm nervous because I do worry about the lack of a true #2 and I'm not sure Gabe will be any better this year than last. But I do think that we have a solid group overall and Dorsey has some weapons for his offense. I don't think Kincaid will be an immediate force, but I do think he adds something to our offense that we hadn't had before. He's a big, sure-handed, and a fluid route runner who's both skilled and comfortable working the middle of the field. I think Harty and Sherfield are better than the inconsistent McKenzie and injured Crowder who they replace. Shakir should be better with a full season under his belt. Both Cook and Hines can catch out of the backfield and I'm hoping Dorsey integrates the backs into the passing game better this year, particularly as outlet receivers. An improved OL will give a chance for plays to develop and time for Josh to go through his progressions. If Dorsey does his job, and players (Josh, especially) stay healthy, this should be a dynamic passing attack.

I think you were just joshing but... Cheap? The most expensive stadiums in the world are: 1. SoFi ($5.5bn) 2. Allegiant ($1.9bn) 3. MetLife ($1.7bn) 4. Wembley ($1.5bn) (tied with some others) Coming in at $1.55bn, the Bills stadium will move ahead of Wembley as the 4th most expensive stadium ever on Planet Earth. Even adjusted for inflation, it still comes in at the 10th most expensive. Buffalo is not getting a Yugo! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_stadiums

While we don't have a Lombardi to show for our efforts, we have been one of the best teams in the NFL for a few years now - both on offense and defense. You can nitpick Beane and McD but overall, they've been very successful in a competitive field. Let's not get too carried away with our criticisms. But the goal is the SB, so we do need to get better. And offensively Beane added depth to the receiving corps as well as a new kind of weapon in Kincaid, bolstered the OL, and added power and talent to the backfield. The cap forces GMs to prioritize and I think Beane has been guilty of under-prioritizing the OL. But he addressed that this offseason.

Finally got around to watching the video. While I didn't learn anything new, I was impressed how knowledgeable the guy was and how professionally he presented his material.

I'm not convinced by the supposed evidence that we weren't severely impacted by injury. We have three great DBs: Poyer, Hyde and White: all were injured. Our only good pass rusher was knocked out for the season. The ability of the rest of the DL to generate pressure crashed when Miller went out. The defense was gutted by injury. The offense was healthier but the one player who means the most had a UCL problem. It didn't keep him out of games but certainly affected his strength and accuracy - as well as Dorsey's play-calling. The analytic geeks can't measure the impact, but all knowledgeable observers saw it clearly.

Beane is good but I don't know if he's elite. Other than Josh, Beane's drafting has been just okay. Beane's been better in free agency. But McD helps there. McD turned this team into a winner and Buffalo into a place where players want to play. Even so, I've seen football publications rate our roster anywhere from 3rd to 8th best. In other words, it's not championship caliber. Not this season. Not any season. Yet people want to fire McD for not bringing home a Lombardi. I find it odd.

Hines is already a proven NFL commodity. Cook is not. It'll be interesting to see how Dorsey uses his backs this year. They all bring something to the table. But, given this is a passing team, somebody's bound to be underutilized. I won't be shocked if it's Hines but I do expect him to get some targets out of the backfield.

I remember once, many years ago, reading an article about an upcoming season that included projections for every team. Of course, at first, all I cared about was the Bills and the author had an optimistic take on the upcoming season which I was glad to learn. But then I noticed, the expert was pretty optimistic about a lot of teams. So, I did the math. He had the NFL collectively going .622 or something like that. Somehow, NFL teams were going to win more games that season than they lost. That was the moment I first realized that NFL media gurus don't actually know what they're talking about.

I'm just saying leaders need to rise to the occasion and have their teams ready. McD certainly had a unique set of circumstances working against him. I'm empathetic. But it's undeniable that he did not rise to the occasion against the Bengals. His team wasn't ready. But I also look at the bigger picture: usually McD does have the Bills ready to play. I think, since he's been here, he's achieved more wins than should have been expected given the roster (and injuries). Cinci just wasn't his shining moment.

Saying "without Allen" is awfully vague. If the Bill were without Allen but had Jim Kelly instead, they would not finish 7-10. They'd still be a playoff team. If the Bills had this squad with EJ Manuel under center, then yeah, they'd finish something like 7-10. And if Josh played on the 1984 to 1985 Bills under Coach Stephenson, the Bills would have sucked regardless. Good QBs need good HCs. Good HCs need good QBs. And both need good overall rosters.