hondo in seattle

Breer's SI article didn't leave me feeling enthused. If this has been posted before, apologies... Here's what Breer's heard from NFL execs: I asked one veteran team executive what’s still there, and he answered, via text, “Not much. He can’t run anymore.” Another answer was pretty different—“He’s still a good player. Good route runner, big, physical target that can play a ball in the air. He’s still a threat.” And a third played both sides of it. “Still great hands, he is not going to separate, not much of a deep threat, but very strong, and makes contested catches as well as anyone in the NFL,” the AFC exec said. “Does not love to practice—I can’t imagine that’ll get any better. And when things don’t go well, you’re always gonna be leery, All right, what kind of drama are we gonna get from this guy? When things are great, he’s great. When things go south, his true colors show a little bit. “But he always shows up on game day. He’s gonna have to go to a team that knows what they’re getting. You cannot expect a perfect-attendance type of worker.” www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/inside-deandre-hopkins-s-release-why-he-had-no-value-to-teams/ar-AA1bT9cK?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=3a7b4480e80e426a827b9155715181a8&ei=32

I want DHop but I’m not sure how much. Restructuring contracts to make cap space is like using a credit card. You get your new shiny thing but you have to pay for it later.

Typical Beane OL signing... He's better in passpro than run blocking.

I never took the DHop flirtation seriously. Between the need to give up a pick, and the cost of his contract (versus our cap resources), it just seemed like a fantasy. But then DHop listed Josh first among QBs he wants to play for. And then he got released and became a FA able to choose his next team. Cost remains problematic but I'm starting to think this might, maybe, possibly happen. I do like our current receiving corps more than last year's group. But DHop certainly would add to the stress we could impose on enemy defenses.

YPC isn't a good barometer of RB talent. If it was, we'd have to conclude that Motor was a better back than Joe Cribbs, Fred Jackson, Cookie Gilchrist, Shady McCoy, Thurman Thomas, and any other RB who suited up for the Bills over the past sixty-something years other than OJ. He wasn't. The Bills O had only one cannon in Motor's years and that was Josh Allen. And defenses lined up to stop that one cannon. How many yards did Motor get against Nickel and Dime defenses? How many times did linebackers start dropping into zone coverage on plays where Josh ended up handing off to Motor? When you line up as RB for the Josh Allen-led Buffalo Bills, you're an afterthought. Defenses don't care about you. Motor wasn't even our most fearsome runner. When Josh and Motor set up in the backfield together, defenses were more worried about Josh running than Motor. For the past three years, Harris played in a far more balanced offense. Defenses actually respected the Pats run game. They didn't much respect NE's passing attack. So Harris didn't run against the same defenses that Motor did. Not even close. Furthermore, Harris is a different kind of back than Motor. Harris is strong up the middle and that's something we've needed. And he's got some speed, too, and a bit of elusiveness. Harris was a great signing.

I hope you're right about both Edwards and Boogie having better-than-expected years. But let me play Scrooge... PFF typically ranks Edwards in the 60s - a solid backup. (Yeah, I know, it's only PFF).

I'm going with Trent Sherfield who's been kind of an under-the-radar signing. After seeing him play in Miami, reading Tyler Dunne's piece on his backstory, and listening to Josh talk him up, I think this kid is ready to contribute.

Huh? The guy with the best winning percentage in Bills' history is a below-average head coach? That's just dumb. McD's first two seasons were great in the sense that he outperformed the talent on the roster. In 2018, when we finished 6-10, we had the lowest cap spending on active players in the NFL and arguably the worst roster. Getting 6 wins from that squad was an impressive accomplishment. Over the past few years, I keep seeing pundits ranking our roster anywhere from 3rd to 8th best. That's a playoff roster but not a Super Bowl roster. And we've been getting to the playoffs. McD may not be over-achieving but, lately, he's getting out of this roster about what you'd expect given the talent. In fact, while the Cinci game was a huge disappointment, getting 13 regular season wins last season with all the challenges we faced was the accomplishment of a good coach. Anyone who thinks he's underperforming is rating the roster he's working with much higher than I do.

There are, according to the ranking, two AFC teams with better rosters than ours. Yet some fans will want McD's head on a platter if we don't get to the SB and win it.

In the interest of safety, next season the NFL will allow receivers to call for a fair catch.

Here's what Peterson said: "I was on Gabe Davis, and I could show you in my notes the routes that Gabe Davis runs: posts, digs, slants occasionally. ... Buffalo's concept in the red zone is laser, meaning they use the No. 2 receiver as a clear-out guy running to the opposite pylon and the No. 1 receiver is running a dig. They also love to run a double-post, that's quarters-beater, and that's what we were in. Going back to my film study, I knew he was an in-breaking receiver, he showed that all game. ..." When I read the entire Petersen interview after the game, fairly or unfairly, I thought two things: (1) Dorsey is too predictable, and (2) defending Davis is too easy because he can't - or isn't asked to - run the entire route tree. www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/vikings-patrick-peterson-called-his-game-winning-ot-interception-of-josh-allen-i-am-going-to-go-pick-this/

I wonder if Gabe's route-running limitations mean we might see Sherfield on the field in his place in some situations/packages?

McD trusting a rookie to protect his multimillion-dollar QB, I think, might be a bit of a stretch. I think Bates starts at RG at the beginning of the season. But Torrence will get some reps and eventually take over as the starter. Bates will then be the interior backup and not a tackle. That puts me in the minority because I chose Dawkins-McGovern-Morse-Bates-Brown as our opening-day OL. I worry about Mitch and his concussions. I thought Edwards might get some love, considering that he started for the Rams for three years, including their SB victory. Then again, he wasn't a particularly good starter. From 2019-2021 (I'm disregarding 2022 because of his own concussion problems), he averaged something like 66 on PFF's scoring system which rates him as a good backup.

This is where my anxiety lies: IF Hyde, Poyer, and Tre all return to peak form and IF Elam takes the next step...

I gotta admit, I was disappointed with Elam's play at the beginning of 2022. But he seemed to progress as the season unfolded. And now PFF has named Elam their Bills "breakout candidate" for 2023. Despite being a first-round pick in 2022, Elam failed to become a starting cornerback by the start of the season and had an inconsistent rookie year. However, as a former first-round pick, he should have plenty of opportunities to win that position battle. He also finished the season strong, flipping his 56.7 PFF grade in the regular season to 87.1 in two playoff games, a mark that would have ranked second among cornerbacks in the regular season. Thoughts? Do you agree? Disagree? Why? www.pff.com/news/nfl-breakout-candidates-all-16-afc-teams-chiefs-kadarius-toney-steelers-kenny-pickett#BUF

This is what Lil Dirty said about the Cinci game... “The Bengals ran basic routes, maybe we should’ve did that, ran basic routes. Like out routes, go balls, you know, instead of running routes that you have to be going lateral or coming back to the football, or turning and running curls and things like that. If we were in a dome it would have been a totally different game.” Doesn't speak highly of Dorsey's game-planning and play-calling.

Sadly, neither Miller's nor Crippen's book is currently available on Amazon. I suppose it wouldn't have a big audience, but I'd personally love to read a book that covers Buffalo football from its shadowy beginnings in the 19th century all the way to the creation of the modern Bills. Miller's and Crippen's works probably have a lot of that information. I didn't know the great depression played a role in the demise of Buffalo professional football. But I wouldn't call Buffalo a small market team back then, even if its trajectory wasn't a good one. In 1900, Buffalo was the 8th biggest city in the States. In 1920, we were the 11th. In 1940, we were the 14th. Here's an interesting article on the Washington Glee Club: www.nhregister.com/news/article/NEW-HAVEN-200-Jim-Thorpe-and-Co-battle-11499619.php By accident, I found out Tommy Hughitt was the (unofficial) third leading scorer in 1920. We had 3 of the top five. americanfootballdatabase.fandom.com/wiki/1920_NFL_season City populations: www.infoplease.com/us/cities/population-20-largest-us-cities-1900-2012

No inside sources, just a Sorry Wild Ass Guess (SWAG)... McD told Frazier he wanted to take back playcalling next season or make some other change that Frazier didn't like. So they talked it over and Frazier decided to step away rather than continue in a diminished role. Frazier believes he deserves another opportunity to be a HC. And maybe he does. So feeling like a DC in name only, with McD actually in charge, can't be good for his professional self-esteem. If he can't get a HC job somewhere, he should probably find a DC position for an offensive HC. He needs to be in a position where he'll get credit for the successes of the defensive unit, not the HC.

I know we're not PFF fans here, but PFF ranks the Bills roster as the fifth best in the NFL: 5. BUFFALO BILLS Biggest strength in 2023: QB Josh Allen There isn’t a more do-it-all quarterback in the league right now than Josh Allen. In 2022, he accounted for 46 total touchdowns (38 in the air and eight on the ground) while also putting up the third-highest passing grade (85.8) and highest rushing grade (92.8) among quarterbacks. Biggest weakness in 2023: Receiver depth Outside of Stefon Diggs, there aren’t too many pass catchers on the roster that strike fear into the hearts of defensive coordinators. Gabriel Davis will have the occasional big game, but he isn’t much of a volume guy, as his single-game high for receptions in 2022 was six, which he accomplished twice. X-Factor for 2023: QB Josh Allen While Allen is as explosive as they come at quarterback, his play style can be a rollercoaster, as his 33 turnover-worthy plays were the most in the NFL. If Allen can bring that number down a bit, we’re looking at one of the most dangerous offenses in football. Rookie to watch: TE Dalton Kincaid Despite not drafting a receiver until the fifth round, the Bills managed to snag arguably the 2023 draft’s best pass catcher — regardless of position — in former Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid with the 25th overall pick. Buffalo may run more 12 personnel with Kincaid alongside the incumbent Dawson Knox in order to get the best group of pass catchers on the field. Over/Under 10.5 win total: Over It’s going to be difficult to repeat in the competitive AFC East, but Buffalo has come out on top in this division three years in a row. As long as Josh Allen is under center, the Bills should remain the favorites in 2023. www.pff.com/news/nfl-2023-roster-rankings-strengths-weaknesses-x-factors-rookies-to-watch#BUF

This was what Beane said when Frazier's departure was announced... "It's tough. It's a hard business as we know. There's a lot of scrutiny on it, and there's a lot of hours, a lot of time put in and, and, again, not speaking for Leslie, but sometimes you may just want to take a breath for a minute. Again, that would be for him to say, but he was very adamant that he's not going to retire. My two cents, just wanted to take a step back this season." This sounds like it was Frazier's decision and not a soft termination. Very mysterious!

Von had the same concern... "Immediately, my question was, ‘Is he all right?'" www.si.com/nfl/bills/news/buffalo-bills-von-miller-leslie-frazier-coach-absence-sean-mcdermott-nfl-combine

Here's a business idea... Somebody should open special teams academies in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. It would be difficult to teach a kid from a third world to be a good QB, DB, etc. in a place where organized football doesn't exist or does exist but at some primitive level. But you could take the right athlete and train him to be a good enough kicker or punter (or long snapper) that he'd win a scholarship at an American university and then maybe later pursue a professional career.

I partially disagree. The Bills D was not a paper tiger. It was a good defense that offenses often struggled against. It did seem to have problems, though, with highly efficient passing, and power-running, attacks.

Absolutely correct. Look at the way Tom Brady's career was ruined by a defensive-minded head coach. Great QBs need offensive head coaches to succeed in the NFL. Oh, wait a second. Maybe argument by anecdote doesn't work. And maybe, just maybe, QBs can thrive under defensive head coaches.

I wish we had a better peak behind the curtain and knew more precisely what Frazier contributed. I also acknowledge the possibility we might miss him. But I'm not convinced we will. This has always been McD's defense. Schematically it's not going to change. The way we run our offseason, do film study, hold position meetings, gameplan - all that stuff will remain the same. I'm guessing Eric Washington, who's been a DC before, will mostly organize all that now instead of Frazier. But it'll be the same routine based on the same defensive philosophy. And on game day, McD will call the plays instead of Frazier. As a fan with limited insight into the behind-the-scenes operations of the team, it doesn't seem like there ought to be a drop-off. In fact, with McD calling plays, we should see improvement.