Mango

Not to pile on, but Dane Jackson played well in ‘21 when he came in for Tre. I thought be was much better than Wallace. The for the first half of this year he was lights out. If I remember correctly he was allowing something like 48% completion percentage, minimal YAC. He was playing like a legit starting corner. Then somehow the wheels just fell off. It was weird. I was really high on Jackson, and now he’s just a head scratcher. The entire team just started to come apart at the seems just after the bye. He played really well in the 4 games after Hyde went down. And Von didn’t go out until Thanksgiving. I just don’t get it.

A quick google of the S2 cognition test is that it’s a private test developed by a private company. They market themselves as being able to help HS students get recruited and college athletes to increase their draft status. They may very well be helpful. (They might not be either). But I’d be hesitant to put much water in any of their results as some sort of comparable metric. Purdy may or may not be good. But I don’t think this company has anything to do with anything. They basically got a bunch of good QB’s and were like “look, we have a special test. Good QB’s do well on our special test.” There’s likely a mix of actual results and sponsored article. Their website gives me a little pause. It’s basically full of “Give us money and we’ll make you great!” There isn’t much substance. https://www.s2cognition.com/next-gen-recruiting Edit: Further review of their socials and things. It’s weird they don’t have one single google or yelp review. They’re not a whole lot different than any other “performance house”. We can fix your baseball swing, change your slap shot, etc. kind of high end athletic facility. I think they likely paid for the Athletic article. No different than brands paying for reviews on big time tech websites etc.

Elam is fine. I’m not down on the guy. But the Bills have gotten strong production out of young DB’s since well before McD. It’s hard for me to be “Elam is awesome” excited about his rookie year by comparison.

I believe that Poyer comes up to Buffalo alone for the season. His wife and kid stay in Miami full time. He has been a consummate professional and one of my favorite Bills at all time. That’s a major sacrifice. I can’t blame the guy for wanting to play in the city his family lives in. Miami is on the up swing as well. I wouldn’t be shocked (or blame him) if he chose Miami if they were the cheaper offer but still able to be in the same ball park based on family alone.

Like I said, when teams get really really good, burn super hot, and fall short, sometimes the decision to move on makes itself. It’s why tenured like Tomlin and Harbaugh are remarkable. My frustration and criticism of Beane are partially based on not going down that road.

I get why you would “allow it”. Although a lot of times you just don’t have a choice. When you get so close to a championship and the bar gets raised so high, emotions run hot. Everybody in an org is red lining I. Every way to make it happen. When you fall short it can be debilitating. We saw it happen with the Sabres and Ruff. Any franchise would be lucky to have the run we had under Lindy and Darcy. It is why guys like Harbaugh and Tomlin are so impressive. It takes a remarkably talented leader to not lose a locker room over that period of time. Sometimes great coaches run their course in an organization. That said, I always come back to the Pegula owned Sabres and how bad the Bills are capable of being under them. I am super frustrated with McBeane at the moment. Highly critical of the FO in particular. But I’m not sure I have the testicular fortitude to call for their head.

If the McBeane doesn’t take any steps this offseason I can see Allen’s career going similar to Stafford, Rivers, and a couple others.

He is included and leading the vote.

A big part of what you’re saying is why I think we almost have to keep Edmunds. 2018 is likely our best overall draft by a wide margin. If we don’t re-sign Edmunds, we will have only kept 1 player (Allen) from our best draft class in last 5 offseason. That to me is so unfathomable. I can barely wrap my head around it. You’re almost guaranteed to suck for years 6,7,8 when your 2,3,4, and 5th drafts are mediocre to bad. Then on top of that you somehow don’t have enough money to keep anybody from your first and best draft?

If Allen was taking shots deep so he didn’t feel pain. Ok I can accept that. But based on Allen’s playing style I don’t fully buy into it because he plays this way a lot. But if this is a continuation of the “he was less accurate because of his arm” conversation this is pointless. Sure we’d like him to go back to being a 70% (‘20) passer instead of 63.3% (‘21 and ‘22). But the gripe with Allen this season (for me) hasn’t really been tossing around uncatchable balls or completion percentage. It’s been decision making. I will post it for the 100th time. I run through the all-22 after every game. There are guys underneath. There are open receivers. The very best example is the link below. Tough throw and tough catch to Davis in the end zone. But Allen doesn’t even bother to look to an embarrassingly wide open Shakir to his right. None of that has to do with Allen’s elbow. And plays like this happen every single week over and over again. Allen bid a freak, but he needs to learn to play the game like he has less arm talent. https://imgur.com/a/PG2vZc7

This. I don’t think they got fancy. Or Bernard was a luxury pick. I think they thought he would be a player. Which I think is actually worse. If they were getting cute that’s a much easier fix than being that wrong.

I think they need to reset into being a normal football team for a minute. They’ve continued to trade draft picks for vets for forever. They need to reload.

Beane inherited the 10th most expensive line in the NFL. He then made it the most expensive in 2019, 2020. 2nd most expensive in 2021. They did drop to 17th this year. But are currently the 3rd most expensive DL in cap dollars for 2023. All the while spending a 1, 1, 2, 2, and 3rd round picks on the DL alone. That same unit has regularly been a top 5 paid unit across the league. You can break it down however you want. But our spend vs return has been abysmal.

We know we haven’t invested much in the draft on OL. We’ve largely used FA. In terms of cost, Beane inherited the 30th most expensive (2nd cheapest) OL in 2018. He then went out and spent the 12th, 3rd, 5th, and 20th most in pure cap dollars. None of that bothers me…except for the fact that we’ve never had the 3rd or 5th best line in football. In fact I don’t find any of them remarkably better or worse than any of the others. And this paired drafting RB’s we either don’t like or use over and over again in the 2nd, 3rd, and 3rd rounds is why we’re talking about what this 2023 Buffalo Bills team might or might not be. If we do the same on DL, Beane inherited the 10th most expensive line in 2018. Then went on to make it the most expensive 2 years in a row, followed by the 2nd most in 21. It was 17th this year. But 2023 we currently have the 3rd most expensive DL. Then add in AJE, Basham, Rousseau, Philips, Oliver. It’s insane. I think part of being a good leader is providing enough support and freedom to fail. The Pegulas have certainly done that here. Beane has been allowed to allocate as many resources in draft and cash as he wants to both units. He’s allocated more than most if not all of his counterparts around the league. If I invested as much time and capital in a project as Beane has into both lines and this was the return I got, I’d be on a very very short leash. Likely put on a PIP.

For poops and laughs I was curious what the GAA and Point Differential of that 99 team would be if they just had average goal tending. Average Save Percentage league wide was .905 in 98-99. The team saw 2461 shots. Adjusted for average goal tending the Sabres GAA 2.85. Hasek was averaging 1.87. Nearly a goal a game less. An average goaltender would move the Sabres from 2nd over all to 22nd in a league of 27. Their goal differential was +32, it moves to -32 and down to 20th in the league. Rolosons S% .909. So pretty similar to the above. The only other similar swing I can think of in pro sports in my lifetime are the 2011 Colts without Manning. But even that isn't the same. That Colts team is probably average with anybody better than Curtis Painter and Dan Orlovsky behind center...and actually trying to win games...

I don't think Florio's take is that far off. But I think the outcomes have more depth than his flippancy in regards to results. The Bills are talent deficient at a number of positions outside of QB. Even positions where they have allocated tons of resources. They also have some (Diggs) players who are vocally unhappy with the organization. Either McBeane will prove us wrong that he has been very good at identifying, drafting, signing, and playing young players and the Bills will win 10-12 games this year and a playoff game. Or they have done a bad job in consecutive years and this year will be the result where they win 8-10 games, lose the division, and lose in the wild card or not make it at all. If it is the ladder I think one of, if not both of McBeane will be gone in 2024. It won't be AFCCG/Super Bowl or bust. It will be a competent NFL roster or it won't be. I think that is the tipping point, the results will follow.

I honestly think that voters got Hasek fatigue and that is why he didn't win the Hart a 3rd time. I wasn't sure about adding a second season for Hasek. The 98 Olympics are kind, sorta, maybe, but not really related to the 98-99 season. They really belong in 97-98. Hasek individually may have actually been better in 97-98. Then you add in the Olympics, Vezina, and the Hart trophy. It was stunning. Ultimately I erred on the side of the 4x OT game against NJ, and dragging that mediocre (on their best day) team 6 games against the two greatest goal scorers in league history (5 and 24). And the two best American goal scorers of all time. Those 5-7 years of Haseks peak are the greatest stretch of goaltending in league history. If you put him on the 95-96 Redwings, 18-19 Lightening, or even this years Bruins team, they set an untouchable record for best NHL regular season of all time. Heck, you put prime Hasek on this roster, and they likely skyrocket to Stanley Cup favorites. They would have beat TB 6-1 last night. It is telling that the Sabres have made it to the Stanley cup twice in 50+ years. The only player from the 98-99 roster in the rafters is 39. The 74-75 team has 4. 5 from that era overall. Tim Horton retired the year before they made the Stanley Cup.

This is where I am. I won’t strongly argue against OJ even though I’m team Hasek on this. Those two were pay per view special in those 2-3 seasons. The rest were just really really good. They don’t give you chills.

I would love to include the Bandits. They are the most under rated event in town. An absolute blast to attend. But I honestly don't know anything about lacrosse and I don't follow it, so I have zero point of reference other that Tavares is a HoF and he played/coaches for my team. I just like going to the games. drinking beer, and cheering. If somebody can name a season with any authority where Tavares was actually historically great, I would be happy to include it.

I fully agree. I don't think there is another player in Buffalo sports history that has a permanent bust on the Mount Rushmore of absolute all time best at their position. Bruce is likely the closest, and I think he is still a bit further back from Hasek. That 1998-99 team so was incredibly flawed. They simply were not good. Hasek on the current team would sky rocket the current Sabres roster to the very top of the standings. Oh I definitely wasn't. I meant to put in the OG post that I really didn't come of age until in Buffalo sports until the 90's.

Right, but nobody is calling OJ's 74 season the greatest season by an individual in Buffalo sports history. It is either 73 or 75.

I thought about that. But that’s a group over time.

OJ deserves to be part of the conversation. But as impressive as that feat was, he didn’t even make the playoffs. Hasek single handily dragged the team 6 games in the Stanley Cup. Advantage Hasek.

I think we’d be fine with Davis if Knox was targeted more consistently and/or we had a real NFL slot receiver. Diggs targets are fine. I wouldn’t move those up or down significantly. But I would be much more equitable behind him. In that environment, I don’t think fans are so down on Davis. He’ll be considered a weapon not a liability. The Bills have 1 player over 50 catches, KC has 3. We need to do a better job of making defenses cover everybody. That will help the OL, Diggs, our RB’s, and Allen. There’s some blame to go around on why that doesn’t happen including OC, QB, and the WR themselves. I won’t miss Beasley or Kumerow at all. They were both useless in the pass game. We barely knew Crowder.

I don’t know that Woods has the juice to play outside anymore. At least not in the way this board wants. He’s a savvy vet and good route runner. He could certainly have a home in the slot. I’d be open to that and keeping Davis outside at the right price. That said, we drafted Shakir who does play the slot. At some point we have to let our young guys play full time. We keep the training wheel on some of our rookies waaaay too long. I really liked what Andy Reid said in his post game after the SB re: all the rookies who started and saw playing time. He told them something like “Don’t worry about me sitting you. I don’t have anybody else. Just try hard and get better every week, that’s all you can do. If you can do that we’ll be fine” (paraphrasing)