Jump to content

mjt328

Community Member
  • Posts

    2,921
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by mjt328

  1. For the millionth time, there is absolutely no evidence that Brandon Beane or Sean McDermott are emphasizing character over talent. NONE. All of the players who were traded away (outside of possibly Marcel Dareus), were shipped off to obtain draft picks, clear cap space or because they just didn't fit the defensive scheme we wanted to run. Not because of character reasons. Dareus was getting paid $16 million per year, and hadn't played well for us... pretty much since the day he signed the contract. One more off-field problem, and he was likely getting suspended for an entire NFL season. That's a guy taking up the salary of 3-4 starting players, contributing virtually nothing to this team. His character issues were the icing on the cake, but not the primary reason for us getting rid of him. Our front office stood by Zay Jones during his incident this offseason. They have stood by Shady during his ex-girlfriend's accusations, and likely bypassed opportunities to trade him last week. Until he retired, they had no problem keeping Ritchie Incognito on the roster - and he's one of the craziest players the NFL has seen in the last decade.
  2. Tanking implies the coaches/players are losing on purpose, in order to get a high draft pick. If the Bills were tanking, this would have certainly happened last year. Instead, they had their most successful season in 15 years. The Bills have simply undergone the loss of too many veteran players at once. Part of this was by design (Taylor). Part of this caught us off guard (Wood, Incognito). And they either haven't had the resources to replace them yet, or the young replacements are still developing and struggling through growing pains.
  3. I think you missed the point of my post. The goal for any front office should be to add (or retain) 5-6 strong starting players per season. Do the math. That means about a quarter of the roster each year. Anything more than that would be totally unrealistic. Beane/McDermott have only gotten a chance to address "approximately" 50% of the roster at this point. And out of that group, a significant number are rookies or 2nd-year players who are still developing. I definitely agree that Benjamin has been a bust of a pickup for us. But that's one player. I think we can agree that Tre'Davious White, Dion Dawkins, Matt Milano, Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer were successful adds. That's 5 of 22 starting positions that the new regime addressed well in Year 1. In Year 2 (keep in mind we are only 8 games in), I think most of us have been pleased with the additions of Star Lotulelei and Trent Murphy in Free Agency. Both have been solid pickups for the defense. The signs are also pointing up for Tremaine Edmunds, Harrison Phillips and Taron Johnson as rookies. It's very early, but that's another 5 positions we can "optimistically" say were addressed well in Year 2. So yes. When you do the math, the Bills are realistically on-pace for a successful rebuild. Obviously, we have a long way to go. And there are some big questions: a) Will the young players like Edmunds, Dawkins and Phillips continue to trend up, or eventually hit a wall? b) Will the young struggling players like Zay Jones or (especially) Josh Allen develop into good starters? c) Will another player like Wyatt Teller step up into a starting role eventually? d) Will our front office keep up the pace of 5-6 players per season... especially now that they are forced to focus on the offense. Nobody knows the answers to these questions. And all of them are key to the Bills future.
  4. Bottom line. You cannot judge whether this rebuild is successful, UNTIL it has been completed. The argument I keep seeing is that a poor O-Line and lack of WR talent is going to damage Josh Allen's long-term development. But I don't necessarily think that is true. The top drafted QBs in 2016 and 2017 - Jared Goff and Mitch Trubisky - both had terrible offensive players around them as rookies. And both struggled horribly in their initial seasons. But it didn't stunt their long-term development. Both guys took massive steps forward in their sophomore seasons. Despite what some people may believe, I think the Bills are very much on track to be competitive within the 3rd Year of the rebuild. If you were to look around the league, you would find that a GM can address approximately 25% percent of the roster per year. In the two Beane/McDermott offseasons, they have addressed QB (Allen), WR1 (Benjamin), WR2 (Jones), LT (Dawkins), DE (Murphy), DT1 (Lotulelei), DT2 (Phillips), WLB (Milano), MLB (Edmunds), CB (White), SS (Hyde) and FS (Poyer) with Day 1-2 Picks or significant Free Agent contracts. That's 12 of the 22 starting spots (4 on offense, 8 on defense). Even if you consider the WR selections busts, we are right on track. The focus on the defense has clearly worked, and that side of the ball looks very good. The offense has barely been touched, and it's hard to judge whether Benjamin or Jones were good additions, because they are getting dragged down by a rookie QB. Which should ABSOLUTELY be expected. But next offseason, Beane will have plenty of picks and cap space to add another 3-4 linemen, 1-2 receivers, a tight end and maybe even a future replacement for Shady. If we do that and Allen takes a step forward, you will be surprised how many games the Bills can win.
  5. AJ McCarron was dealing with a fractured collarbone. And he was outplayed by Nathan Peterman during both training camp and the preseason. And at the time, many Bills fans were calling for him to get cut. And most in the media felt Beane got a steal landing a 5th Round Pick.
  6. There are basically three different ways to get separation: Speed - This obviously cannot be taught. Scheme - This has more to do with the coordinator/playcaller than the receiver. Route Running - This is a combination of physical skill and technique, which can certainly be taught and improved. The Bills don't really have much speed at the WR position, and the few guys who are fast... can't catch. Daboll's scheme is very bland/generic and doesn't do anything special to get players open. Zay Jones seems to be improving on his route running, but he needs his QB to throw with better anticipation. Kelvin Benjamin gets very little separation and basically just uses his size. He needs his QB to have better placement, so he can win jump balls and box out defenders. So while lack of WR talent is certainly an issue, I have no doubts that our receivers would be looking much better with improved QB play.
  7. Eric Wood retired because of a neck injury, two months before the trade. It had absolutely nothing to do with Tyrod Taylor. Ritchie Incognito is mentally unstable, so who really knows what the guy is thinking. But he never remotely suggested that Taylor was the reason. It's easy to look back now and see what Beane's individual trades ended up netting. But he didn't have the benefit of hindsight at the time. Up until draft night, we had no idea how far we needed to move up or how much draft capitol would be needed. When all the chips had fallen, maybe we could have kept Ronald Darby. But you really can't blame Beane for jumping at the chance to get another 3rd Round Pick, in addition to a veteran receiver (in Jordan Matthews) who was a pretty solid player on the Eagles. I understand the frustrations of watching the Bills look awful. But most of this is just nitpicking. "We should have signed players on the O-Line instead of Star." "We should have drafted Calvin Ridley instead of Tremaine Edmunds." WHY? Going into the offseason, we knew the Bills needed upgrades all over the roster. QB, WR, OL, DL, LB, CB. They couldn't possibly do it all at once. We weren't going to be a playoff team in 2018. So why does it matter WHICH position they addressed first? Some GMs would do a little bit on both sides of the ball every year. Beane decided to go mostly defense this year and mostly offense next year. I don't understand why this makes him incompetent at his job (like so many are saying). Your above scenario doesn't give us a better record OR make us a better team. It just makes the offense a little better, at the expense of the defense. In my opinion, the only thing Beane could have done differently to make us better THIS YEAR would have been keeping Taylor for another season. Maybe we compete for a wild card spot again. But what does that do for us long-term? We don't get the 3rd Round Pick that helped get us Edmunds. And we end up with higher draft picks in 2019.
  8. They did keep some players. LeSean McCoy, Jerry Hughes, Kyle Williams and Lorenzo Alexander were all valuable veterans who the front office decided to keep around. And I'm sure that Eric Wood and Ritchie Incognito would still be on this roster, if not for both unexpectedly retiring. To your point about Charles Clay - his contract (and the dead cap associated) is absolutely the reason the front office has not moved him yet. His dead cap figure the last two seasons was $18 million and $13.5 million respectively, which is more than his cap hit for staying on the roster. So cutting him wasn't an option, and I doubt he would field any trade offers. I always liked Robert Woods. But if he was on this passing offense, his stats would probably be about the same as Kelvin Benjamin or Zay Jones. If the Bills paid him $7 million per season, the fans would be talking about how terrible his contract was. Blowing up the roster had EVERYTHING to do with getting a QB. Our main reason for trading Sammy Watkins, Ronald Darby, Cordy Glenn and Tyrod Taylor was to get enough draft picks to trade up.
  9. I really don't see why fans consider this "reckless" or "risky." When Beane/McDermott started their tenure, this franchise hadn't made the playoffs in 17 years. Every General Manager and Head Coach that has walked into these doors KNEW the only answer to fixing the Buffalo Bills was getting a franchise quarterback. Very few were willing to make the moves necessary to get one. You just can't sit back and wait for someone to fall into your lap. Marv Levy passed on QBs and never picked one before the 3rd Round. Buddy Nix sat on his hands for three years before he was willing to draft one. Doug Whaley took over and complained about being in "QB purgatory." For all the crap Tom Donahoe gets from the fans - at least he tried to land us a quarterback. He traded a 1st Round Pick for Drew Bledsoe. A few years later, he traded into the 1st Round to get JP Losman. At the same time, he DIDN'T pull the trigger to trade up for Ben Roethlisberger... and I'm sure it's something he will regret that move forever. In just two offseasons, Beane/McDermott have built the defense back to where it was before Rex Ryan destroyed it. They cleared out the bad contracts. And most importantly, they drafted one of the top QB prospects available in the draft. Because of limited resources, they have barely touched the offense... SO FAR. But it's crystal clear that offense will be the primary focus in 2019. It's maddening that fans can't see past 2018 and how we are playing on offense right now. If Allen develops into a solid starter and they continue to draft well, by 2020 the Bills will be better than when Beane/McDermott originally took over. Isn't that what we all want to see happen?
  10. According to Bills ownership, both Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane report directly to the Pegulas. So technically, neither can be considered the others "boss" or on a higher level in the organization. They are equals. With that said, McDermott was the one specifically targeted and hired first by the Pegulas. They later went after Beane and took him from Carolina, based on McDermott's recommendation (not the other way around). McDermott also pretty much got to control the roster moves during 2017 offseason by himself - or at least with a lame-duck GM behind the scenes. So it's easy to see why public perception has McDermott as the more powerful of the two. In response to the rest of your post... there still seems to be a fundamental lack of understanding about what the Bills are trying to accomplish. Some think Beane/McDermott are trying to build a defense-heavy team with a conservative offense. They are not. They just focused on rebuilding the defense first, and the offense will follow in 2019. Some think Beane/McDermott are scrambling in a frustrated panic, wondering why they are 2-6 with a bad offense. They are not. They are perfectly aware how most of their resources were dedicated over the last two years, and knew how this season was going to turn out.
  11. Defense is at least Top 5 in the NFL right now. Offense is easily the worst in the NFL right now. Special Teams is pretty bad, outside of our Field Goal Kicker. Overall, I think our record accurately reflects where the team is at. Considering the team overall, I think we are in the bottom quarter of the league.... roughly the same tier as the Jets, Browns, Colts, Raiders, Giants, Cardinals and 49ers (without Garoppolo). I don't necessarily think we are the worst team in the NFL, but it's hard to win ANY games if you can't score points.
  12. "One of the Highest-Producing Offenses in Franchise History..." You can't be serious? This team barely cracked the Top 10 in 2016 in PPG, and it was done almost entirely through the running game. The passing game was bottom five in virtually every category. It's completely revisionist history to suggest this team had a powerhouse offense. We had a below-average QB and an rapidly aging Pro-Bowl RB. We needed to take a step backwards to move forwards. Beane traded away Sammy Watkins and Tyrod Taylor. That's it. The other big losses were retirements, which he had absolutely no control over. The only offensive player Brandon Beane even TRIED DRAFTING in the first 4 rounds was Josh Allen. The rest were on defense. They had limited resources. Only so many draft picks. Only so much cap space. Instead of spreading it equally, they focused mostly on the defense. Next year, they can work on getting the offense up to par. How did "lack of talent" result in Allen getting hurt? Are you suggesting QBs with more talent never get hit or injured? Tanking would suggest purposely losing. No, they are not doing that. The proper term would be "rebuilding." And lots of teams are still early into a rebuild the season after drafting a franchise QB. They inherited the cap problems, and it's ridiculous to think otherwise. The majority of Dead Cap money came from Marcel Dareus (traded), Eric Wood (retired), Cordy Glenn (traded) and Tyrod Taylor (traded). Those four players ALONE account for literally 70% of the Dead Cap. Throw in Aaron Williams, Vontae Davis and Ritchie Incognito (also retired), you can bump that number to 82% of the Dead Cap. - There is nothing they could have done about the retirements. - The Glenn and Taylor trades were significant in our moves to get Josh Allen and Tremaine Edmunds. - They preferred taking a one-year hit for Dareus, rather than letting him be a salary cap drain for the next 4 years. Yes. They could have allocated more resources to the offense. But then the defense wouldn't be as good. The offense might be slightly better... but probably not, because we are undergoing the growing pains of playing a rookie quarterback. Honestly. What free agent WRs do you think would have significantly improved this offense? Allen Robinson? Michael Crabtree? Jordy Nelson? Paul Richardson? Maybe we could have given Watkins $48 million or traded for Jarvis Landry? Take away Star Lotuleilei or Trent Murphy and give us the above -- I still think we are struggling to score points. Many All-22 reviews are suggesting that Zay Jones is playing much better (still his second year mind you) and getting open consistently. But it doesn't matter right now, because our QB just can't get him the ball. This regime hasn't dedicated a lot of resources towards the WR position. YET. And honestly, I really can't blame them. Weapons are going to be wasted until our QB develops. Kelvin Benjamin was an accomplished WR before coming here. So was Jordan Matthews. Neither guy looked like they belonged on an NFL roster after playing in Buffalo. One of the reasons the SAME TEAMS continue to be good and the SAME TEAMS continue to struggle? Continuity. The bad teams can never catch up, because they get impatient after 2-3 seasons and blow everything up. Then a new guy comes in and the cycle restarts. This was Beane's plan. He was not going to play around for 3 seasons with Tyrod Taylor or some mediocre veteran at the helm, hoping a top QB prospect somehow dropped in his lap. He wasn't going to let himself be burdened for the next 3 seasons with bloated under-performing contracts, weighing down his ability to make free agent decisions. So he purged the bad contracts for picks, then aggressively traded up to get himself a QB - knowing FULL WELL it was going to hurt this team's chances in 2018. He believed that sacrificing a season would give us the best chance at taking the next step (towards a championship). He's been here for ONE offseason!!!!!!!!!! Give him a chance to see if his plan can work!!!!!
  13. "The Bills front office is totally incompetent. They have failed to provide any kind of offensive weapons to their rookie Quarterback, to help aid in his development." (A FEW WEEKS LATER....) "The Bills front office is totally incompetent. They haven't traded away their only remaining offensive weapons for additional draft picks."
  14. Sean McDermott has never (and will never) answer this question, but I've always assumed he was not comfortable making the most important decision of his coaching career without his General Manager and scouting staff in place to help. The quarterback his regime ultimately drafted was going to determine the success or failure of his team for the next 3-4 years, and whether he would still have a job after that amount of time. Terry Pegula has explained that he didn't want to let Doug Whaley and his staff go before the draft, because he felt they were losing valuable time/information compiled on college prospects over the previous 9 months. And a new staff would basically have only 3 months to make that up. It was certainly an odd decision at the time. NFL teams always fire/hire GMs in January or February. I recall that some thought Pegula was doing something groundbreaking, which if successful would be copied by other franchises. But looking back with the advantage of hindsight, it was probably a big mistake. Beane had been working with the Panthers the entire year prior, and had plenty of time to compile a draft board. Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes were not "slam-dunk" prospects coming out of college. But most had them as solid 1st-Round prospects. It's unclear whether Beane would have liked either. But at this point, it's hard to imagine Josh Allen developing into the player that either of these two has already become.
  15. There are several different aspects of the "culture" goals Sean McDermott talks about, and I think it's easy for fans to get confused. In my opinion, "Winning Culture" is just another term for confidence. Watch a team like the Patriots. Even if they find themselves down 2 touchdowns, they always believe they will (not can) come back and win it. There is no doubt. In contrast, another team may be playing well - but then someone makes a mistake, there is momentum shift and everything instantly spirals downward. Some teams have it. Others don't. And it's not something that just comes with a change in coach or a change in attitude. I think this is something that builds gradually over time, and comes with players growing to trust each other. This seems to get mixed up with McDermott's belief in getting "high character" players, and building a culture of hard work. Unlike what some Bills fans think, this isn't about filling the team with boy-scouts and born-again Christians. It's all about finding football players who are willing to put the team first. Guys like Marcel Dareus couldn't get on-board with this. Not just because of his ridiculous behavior off the field, but mostly because of his selfish attitude that put himself about his teammates. It's a delicate balance trying to determine what talent-level is worth dealing with the character concerns.
  16. Defenses loading the box. Failing to sustain drives. Not being able to take advantage of his receiving skills.
  17. So the common theme I keep reading is that Brandon Beane/Sean McDermott either: a) Don't want their team to be good on offense, and want to win games by low scores, OR b) Are totally clueless on how to find offensive talent. The first theory is totally ridiculous. If Beane/McDermott were not interested in the offensive side of the ball, they wouldn't have spent nearly 12 months acquiring draft capitol for the sole-purpose of trading up to get the riskiest QB in the draft, simply because he had the highest ceiling. This was not a conservative or remotely safe decision. Whether Beane/McDermott are clueless about the offensive side of the ball has yet to be determined. Yes, the offense is terrible. Maybe the worst we've seen in Buffalo since Jim Kelly retired (and that's really saying something). But I'm 100% convinced that our struggles on offense are MOSTLY related to the play of our quarterbacks. They are dragging everything down. Anybody who reviews All-22 film will readily admit that our O-Line is actually playing decent. They struggled badly the first two weeks, but have really settled in since Minnesota. Most of the sacks are because of our QB leaving the pocket or holding the ball too long. The two best blockers this season are easily Dion Dawkins and Vlad Ducasse, who were both pickups of this regime. The worst breakdowns each week are coming from the right side of the line with John Miller and Jordan Mills, both hold-overs from Doug Whaley. On the Wide Receivers, complain about Kelvin Benjamin, and how terrible of a decision it was to get him. They complain that Zay Jones is a huge bust. But how are we supposed to make a true judgment about Benjamin or Jones, when our QBs cannot find open receivers with any consistency AND then cannot get the ball to them accurately? Before Benjamin came to Buffalo, he put up 1008 and 941 yards, then was on pace for 950 yards in his third season. He wasn't setting the world on fire, but he was a good NFL starter. Since the trade, he's got a whopping 434 yards in 13 games. Is it just possible that our problem is not Benjamin, but the people throwing him the ball? With no threat passing the ball, even LeSean McCoy is having the worst season of his career. It all comes back to Quarterback. I truly believe we could trade for AJ Green and Antonio Brown in the offseason, and our passing game would still be in shambles without Josh Allen taking a significant step forward. Even if we dedicate 100% of our draft/free agent resources on upgrading that side of the ball, we need our QB to step forward - or it's all going to be pointless. It all falls on Allen's shoulders. Of course I realize that our current front office owns this QB situation. And it's fair to question whether they provided the best situation for him to develop in. But at the end of the day, we all SHOULD have expected these kind of struggles with a rookie quarterback. Especially one who was considered a big project by even his biggest supporters. Whether Allen becomes a Hall of Famer or the next Jamarcus Russell, this was the way his first season was always going to look. This was the journey we all agreed to when we advocated for a 1st Round QB. And we won't know for another year or two whether Beane/McDermott made a massive mistake, or a brilliant decision in drafting him.
  18. Amari Cooper would have been a (more expensive) repeat of Kelvin Benjamin. All the fans screaming about upgrading the WR talent just don't get it. A receiver cannot be successful in this league without a decent Quarterback throwing him the ball. Benjamin had 1008 yards as a rookie, 941 in his second year and was on pace for 950 yards in his third. Then he got traded to Buffalo. In 13 games with us, he's got a grand-total of 434 yards. The problem is not him. It's the guy throwing the ball to him. We are not going to see this offense turn things around without Josh Allen developing.
  19. I absolutely agree that BUSTS are way more common than success stories. I absolutely agree that we can/should question whether this coaching staff can develop a rookie Quarterback. I absolutely have tons of concerns of my own, and I would be lying if I claimed to be confident in our future success. But regardless of whether Josh Allen is going to be a Hall of Famer or the next Jamarcus Russell, what we are experiencing right now was an inevitable part of the journey. It could not be avoided. The only people who have any reason to complain, are those who argued against a rebuild and wanted to build around Tyrod Taylor. Anyone who wanted us to draft a QB in the first round should have been smart enough to know what was coming. That's why it's maddening to read the garbage constantly being posted on here.
  20. I'm not trying to "prove" the Bills will be good. I can't tell the future any more than you can. The point I'm trying to make, is that the vast majority of rookie quarterbacks are bad, especially when it comes to running an NFL level passing game. It's a huge jump that only select few are prepared for. And when your QB is struggling, it drags down everyone and everything (receivers, linemen, running backs, coordinators) around them. Considering the small school he attended, and the issues with his mechanics/accuracy - it was clear to even Josh Allen's biggest supporters that he was way behind the curve when compared to the others in this draft class (Mayfield, Darnold and Rosen specifically). He was going to struggle and it was going to take time to mold him. We were warned about this long before the Bills were even on the clock. We were warned by the Bills front office in the press conference after they picked him. We were warned in training camp and preseason. Despite this, tons of Bills fans want to see results NOW. They want to see progress on offense NOW. They want the team to win NOW. And since it's not happening NOW, then it's clearly because Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott have no idea what they are doing and need to be fired immediately. This is why GMs like Buddy Nix and Doug Whaley were too chicken-$#!+ to go aggressively after a quarterback in the draft. It immediately put their jobs on the line. They would rather stick with the mediocre-safe option (Ryan Fitzpatrick, Kyle Orton, Tyrod Taylor) that maxes out at 9 wins and gets you an early wild card exit. Because the fans have exactly ZERO patience to stick through a rebuild. It's quite possible that Allen busts and becomes the next in line after JP Losman and EJ Manuel. But it's possible that he develops into the franchise savior we've all been waiting for.
  21. If the Bills hired a football czar, the fans would give him until the second quarter of Preseason Week 1 before they started screaming to fire him.
  22. 1. The Bills are not trying to build a low-scoring/defensive-based team. That's why they traded away talent and used the draft capitol to pick the quarterback with the biggest ceiling. 2. Rookie quarterbacks almost always result in struggling offenses, which finish near the bottom of the league. 3. Our rookie quarterback was especially raw, and even less prepared than others in his draft class. We knew this when we drafted him. 4. The front office invested in some weapons, particularly Kelvin Benjamin and Zay Jones. But receivers are always going to look terrible when the quarterback is struggling.
  23. As was stated in my previous post (I know I'm probably wasting my time here)... THE BILLS TRADED UP TO DRAFT A QUARTERBACK IN THE TOP 10, BECAUSE THEY WANT TO HAVE AN ELITE PLAYER AT THE POSITION, SO THEY CAN POSSIBLY BECOME AN OFFENSE CAPABLE OF SCORING 40 POINTS PER GAME. If the "master plan" was to build a defensive-based team and win games 10-7, I'm sure they would have been perfectly happy keeping Tyrod Taylor on the roster. Instead of using all those valuable draft picks to move up and select a quarterback, they could have used them on more defensive players. They could have gotten another pass rusher or another cornerback. I swear. Some of the people on this board are the most clueless and impatient people sports fans I've ever had the displeasure of listening to. Everything has to happen NOW, NOW, NOW. And if it's not happening NOW, then they will whine and complain that ownership hasn't fired everyone yet. It's no coincidence that Buffalo and Arizona have the two worst offenses in the NFL. Or that teams with rookie QBs have a combined record of 8-19-1 this season. It's incredibly rare for a team with a rookie quarterback to have offensive success in that first year. Last year, Deshaun Watson was the outlier. Mitchell Trubisky was the norm. If you go back to 2016, the Rams were dead-last in virtually every offensive category, and the Eagles were in the bottom-half.
  24. "Defense doesn't matter." That statement is absolutely ridiculous. Now I definitely agree the top teams in the NFL are those with Franchise Quarterbacks. It's been that way for 50 years. Not just 20. But that's why Brandon Beane/Sean McDermott purged the roster for Draft Picks, so they could guarantee themselves a chance at one of the top QB prospects! Just because the Bills decided to (gasp) draft and sign players on the defensive side of the ball, doesn't mean they are trying to win games 10-7. They swung for the fences with their QB pick, precisely because they wanted a high-scoring offense. But it's going to take TIME!
  25. Of course this scenario is possible. But it's also possible that our rebuild plan works. Even the most optimistic Bills fans (who are very pleased with the direction of this franchise) totally expected this kind of result for 2018. The team is exactly where most of us expected them to be near the midpoint of the season.
×
×
  • Create New...