BarleyNY

Yeah. I’m certainly expecting a whole lot better from the OL as a whole. Hopefully they get the line set quickly so they can gel a little.

Pretty thorough job of rating all of the OLmen currently under contract with the Bills. There seems to be a huge emphasis on pass blocking over run blocking. https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-examining-the-buffalo-bills-offensive-line-ahead-of-the-2019-nfl-season

I just looked it up. A player has to fail three tests for recreational drugs to get the four game suspension Lee got. Ugh.

Thanks. That is probably it. I see he did have a 4 game suspension for that, but I had forgotten about it.

I hear that

I have heard that there were off the field issues with Lee that have not become public yet. NFL teams are aware and that hurt his trade value. I do not specifically know what they were.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-pff-data-study-coverage-vs-pass-rush This may have been posted previously on this board, but it is worth alt least skimming and reading the conclusion. TL/DR: Coverage is more important than pass rush in pass defense, but is less predictable year to year. One example cited is Pats vs. KC. The Pats have a much better secondary and lesser pass rush while KC was the opposite. We saw the results, much of which was due to Brady’s ability to get the ball out quickly. The conclusions do bode well for the Bills who are definitely building the right way per the article. It also alleviates some of my concerns about the DEs other than Hughes.

Who was saying that the Browns were a playoff team before last season? Even Browns homers weren’t saying that - especially with Hue remaining HC. There was hope that with Dorsey there’d be a turnaround starting, but there were still a lot of questions. Hue and Gregg were two big ones. Even Mayfield was unproven and a controversial pick. Things started picking up after he got in his first game and led the comeback against the Jest. Then excitement grew when Hue and Haley were canned and Kitchens took over the offense. Now Gregg and his ridiculous defensive scheme is gone too. Dorsey has added a lot of talent and a much better coaching staff to a team that went 5-2 over their last 7 games. Sorry, but there’s very good reason for the hype. Expecting the Browns to be in the playoffs this season is pretty reasonable. Saying that they are “premature” makes no sense. If you’re going to make a prediction, then it should be what you expect. Right? By your rules I guess I can’t predict playoffs for the Bills either since they only had 6 wins last season. But based on what they’ve added I think they’ve got a real shot at playoffs too. Why hold back that prediction because they didn’t do it last season? Or because they’ve been poor for so many preceding seasons that have little to do with this one?

It is doable, but there is a lot that needs done and the clock is ticking on some of it. Hughes in particular. If we don’t work something out before the season I expect him to want to hit free agency. Then we are stuck with either tagging him or probably watching him walk. Shaq almost certainly isn’t coming back. Since the 5th year option came into existence only one player who had his option declined has re-signed with the team that drafted him. That was Mark Ingram with the Saints. There obviously were players who were extended before or at the option deadline so I don’t count them. Murphy coming back to form would be great, but here’s my issue with him: He hasn’t looked all that great since his positive PED test. My worry is that he was only as good as he was because he was juicing and now that he (presumably) isn’t, he will be nothing more than average. Maybe it was his injury that was the issue and I’m being harsh, but I will not expect him to be able to return to form until I see it. It’d be great if he did though. So so those are my worries. Hughes walks, Murphy doesn’t come back to form and Shaq is out. Ugh. I’ll relax if/when we re-sign Hughes and Murphy steps it back up. I’ve completely written off Shaq after this season. Things can be worked out, but until I see something positive happen I’m going to be nervous.

There is an excellent argument against this. Simply put, it’s that there is so much money bet by professional gamblers who look to exploit mistakes that even if the lines are initially inaccurate they quickly become accurate due to those large, unbiased bets.

Yeah. Until the team is 100% on Allen we can’t give up 1s or 2s in moves like that. The DE position on this team is definitely in need of attention though. I do not know what up with the Bills and Hughes. Not a peep about an extension, which worries me. Hopefully it’s happening quietly. No Shaq next season which leaves us with nothing at DE except a middling, very well paid Murphy. So for 2019 we’ve got one difference maker and two very average players. For 2020 right now all we have is Murphy. Ugh. The DE position is going to cost some cap space and/or draft capital to fix. Two difference makers would be preferable to one if we are serious about the playoffs. We also need at least one good depth player and, again, two would be better. Murphy could be a guy who can continue to start while a rookie is brought along. If we are confident in Allen, then making a big draft or trade move for such a player would be reasonable. If Hughes also can be extended we are well on our way. To round out the front 7 we will have to replace or re-sign Lorax. Also Milano will be entering his fourth season in 2020 so it’ll be proper time to give him a long term deal. We seem set for a 3 DT rotation with Oliver, H. Phillips and Star so nothing to do there except look for our #4. That’ll be J. Phillips this season but we will be looking for a cheaper alternative next.

Yeah. I think it depends on that veteran’s roll with the team too. A backup who has been around and knows that he’s there to be the backup and also mentor the highly drafted rookie is one thing. A veteran who is brought in to be the starter or to compete to be the starter is another thing entirely. His job is to prepare and win games, not help a rookie take his job.

I don’t have any issue with a fan adopting a “show me” attitude. That’s where I stand. But you can’t blame the failures of past regimes on this one. You can question their moves, including the salary cap/player purge, their selections, etc. but only the ones they’re actually responsible for - and it’s only fair to take into consideration the circumstances they inherited. Personally I haven’t loved all of their moves (but I have loved some of them), but there does seem to be a plan being executed (even if I haven’t liked parts of it). How about starting with giving them credit for the moves you think are good?

My first thoughts were: big gambling debt or drugs. Some real money on the line for that kind of message to be sent.

I think he means “Bichon”. You know how they get......

Agreed. An angle that doesn’t ever get discussed regarding this type of thing is what the coaches want. If I were the QB coach, OC or HC, then I’d probably want the rookie listening to us and asking us questions rather than asking the guy whose job he’s trying to take.

I think our OL will be in the middle of the pack this season - and that will be a massive improvement over last year. I’ll (probably attempt) to do backflips if we get to above average. That is possible if everything falls into place and would reflect some excellent coaching. If we’d have had an OL ranking in that 13-18 range and had even an average WR corps last season I believe we’d have been over .500. Hoping for that this season.

That was fair though. He should have been employed before Peterman. Still, I don’t have any feelings at all toward him. He’s just another person in the world to me.

I guess he makes sense if they think they need an extra pass blocker in for deep throws. Except that this is an option. I wholeheartedly agree with this post. TEs who are viable blockers as well as receivers help an offense tremendously.

Can someone link that? I have two PFF links for 2018 TEs. 5 best blocking and 10 best red zone, but he shows up on neither. https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-ranking-the-nfls-top-five-blocking-tight-ends-in-2018 https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-the-nfls-best-red-zone-tight-ends-in-2018

Front loaded deals are player friendly, not team friendly. That is because they pay out money more quickly than back loaded deals of the same total contract value. That means that if released before the end of the deal, the player will make more money per season than the average across the whole deal. Star has a deal like this. So did Clay. Lee Smith’s contract is not huge, so it isn’t THAT big of a deal. But we still are overpaying for a 31 year old TE who is only good at run blocking - even if he is very good at it. I just don’t see much value in TEs who aren’t productive receivers, which is what I’m really having an issue with here. 8 seasons, 392 yards and 7 TDs. Those are totals, people, not yearly averages. Ugh.

He was not on PFF’s list of top 5 run blocking TEs last season. https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-ranking-the-nfls-top-five-blocking-tight-ends-in-2018

That is ridiculous. WTF?!

Yeah. If he isn’t going to get paid that &7.5M salary this season, then he’s going to hit the market and see what kind of signing bonus/contract he can score. Minny has no choice but to release him. They can’t sign their 1st round pick until they do.

Yes. He is definitely one of the uninspiring names. He could be a situational/depth DT in the league. I wouldn’t want to depend on him to be a starter though.