BarleyNY

Tyler Matakevich only had 3 snaps on defense this season. WTF would he be included on Yahoo’s list? Also PFF grades are only worth something when comparing players at the same position. Even then you need some real context around what those players are asked to do.

I just hope he gets his full health back. I doubt many people would play again after going through what he did. I’m sure that many owners, GMs and coaches would not want to put someone who has been through all of that back on the field again either. I don’t know where he stands or where the Bills stand on that, but I expect an abundance of caution.

Yup. Rousseau is a good complimentary DE drafted to fill a need with a cost controlled contract for 4-5 seasons. Not a jersey I’d recommend someone buy.

https://www.mockdraftable.com/player/greg-rousseau This is really worth looking at. Rousseau has some very good attributes and can do some things very well, but he’s never going to have any bend or be good at change of direction.

I find it odd that Spotrac only uses the contract for the cost side of the value equation. They should include draft capital gains for players on their rookie deals.

Not exactly an impressive group as far as OCs. I was thinking more along the lines of a very successful offensive mind who was retired with no interest in a full time coaching gig. Bring that person in as a mentor to Dorsey with the understanding that improvement is needed and he is here to help him grow. My preference would be to see Dorsey replaced, but they doesn’t look like it’s happening this off-season.

Thank you for your insight. I agree that this can be as simple as Dorsey and Allen don’t mesh well. We’ve already seen Allen be successful with another OC and he’s not going anywhere anytime soon. So swapping out Dorsey would make a lot of sense to me. If not that, then some help/oversight from an experienced offensive mind in a consultant role should be part of the plan. It will be very disappointing if nothing like that happens.

That was a really good watch. Thanks.

I think Davis should be here for year four, but that the Bills should also put some resources into improving the WR position. That means either upgrading WR2 or at least bringing in real competition for it. Year 4 is the last of Davis’ rookie contract so next season will be the now or never year for him with the Bills.

I just listened to a discussion on a podcast about the Bengals - Chiefs game. They talked about the deep pass to Higgins that got deflected by the S to the CB for an interception. They said Higgins usually goes up for those balls, but didn’t on that one. That led to a discussion on WRs in general. They said that some always let the ball drop to them, which occasionally leads to plays like that. Also they said that it is something that is not easily changed. They also talked about other aspects of playing WR like tracking ability, etc. When watching Davis I haven’t looked for him high pointing on the run, but I will in the future. Anyone have any insights on that?

In Williamsville, house shook and the dogs went nuts.

I think the main issue with the defense was obviously the ineffectiveness of the DL to generate a pass rush. KC played a lot of Cover 2 and it worked because they got pressure on Burrow. They didn’t even have to blitz. The Bills had trouble even when they sent blitzers. The Von Miller injury was a big loss, but we got very little from the DL that was out there. A lot of that was on the players. The coaches made the situation worse by doing things like repeatedly blitzing Edmunds. Lotta blame to go around.

I definitely think the Bills should incorporate a 3 man front, but not in a traditional 3-4. There is no reason to go with 4 DBs against the offensive personnel KC and virtually every other NFL team trots out. I have not watched the All 22 yet, but I suspect Cincy was using a 3 man DL in a 3-2-6 Dime or 3-3-5 Nickel against KC. Those formations - and others - should be on the table. No argument here.

Leaks of his “outrageous” salary demands might be from the team. It makes sense for them to start the PR work now if their intent is to trade him this off-season as it would soften the blowback from the fans.

What players do you think would fit better in a 3-4? I’ve got two maybes in Oliver and Edmunds. Oliver is on his 5th year option and Edmunds is an FA. So right now we have 1 excellent LB under contract in Milano. But we don’t have another one that’s even starting level. Since we do not actually play a 4-3 - we play almost exclusively Nickel - why incorporate a 3-4 at all? when would we even want to put that on the field?

They need to pay Burrow and Chase. Higgins will get WR1 money somewhere. The smart move by the Bengals is probably to trade him for a first plus more picks and replace him in the draft. A team could stay ahead of the game like that. He was a second round pick.

It’s not. Just look at how few SBs have been won by QBs on their rookies deals since 2010: - Mahomes in 2019 - Russell Wilson in 2013 - Joe Flacco in 2012 That’s it. I used 2010 as the cut off since that was the last draft before the rookie salary cap was instituted. Early picks were getting paid well in 2010 and before. Wilson and Flacco were drafted prior to 2010, but were still on relatively cheap deals due to their draft position so I included them. Eli and Roethlisberger each got one on their rookie deals - and then each got a second while on big vet deals. But Eli was 1st overall and Roethlisberger was 11th and both were paid well at the time. (Both were drafted before 2010 and won their first before then too.) So, sure, it’s helpful to have a cheap QB contract when building a team, but it’s not the secret to hoisting the Lombardi. And guess what? A stud veteran QB can help bring in supporting players, often at a discount.

Agreed. I’ve been saying the same thing. Same focus on the same positions. Lots of players brought to Buffalo from Carolina and lots of similarities between other additions and what he had. For example, it didn’t take McD long to try to get his new Kuechly with Edmunds. Same zone concepts even if some have evolved a little. I don’t know how much McD is involved these days, but his finger prints are all over the defensive scheme and personnel.

I think most fans were looking for a sign that we weren’t just going to run it all back in 2023. We were looking for an acknowledgment that some changes needed to be made, but it doesn’t seem like we are going to get that. Sigh

Agree on all counts. A Bills fan board is the only place this would even be asked. Spot on regarding Allen’s contract. He got paid full market value at the time of signing. However I give both Beane and Allen credit for doing it a year early. Josh got a huge chunk of cash early and the Bills locked him in at that season’s rate. I’d take winning a SB or two with a Favre or Roethlisberger level career for Allen. What I don’t want to see is him have a Philip Rivers career. That was certainly not all on Rivers. HCs Norvell Turner, Mike McCarthy and Anthony Lynn (!) all had a hand in it. Unfortunately we still need to progress from the Rivers/Turner trajectory because where we sit today looks scarily similar.

No love for Bart Starr, Otto Graham, Johnny U, etc.?

Really depends on if they keep Hines. He seems like a cut due to salary or a pay cut candidate to me. They traded (not much) for him, then hardly used him on offense. $4.8M is his salary in 2023. That would put him 17th among RBs in average salary. I just don’t see that happening, but maybe we see an extension with some decent guaranteed money and lower AAV. He just turned 26 so it’s possible. But I think him getting cut is much more likely. If Hines is a cut then we just have Singletary and we’re looking at adding a FA, a draft pick and an UDFA to our 90. I would not use any consequential resources on one with one possible exception: Bijan Robinson. That’s not the direction I think they will go and it’s not my first choice, but if the team was to revamp its offense, he’s the one playmaker at RB we could afford and possibly acquire. I think they’ll go with low cost solutions.

I agree, but I was a little more concerned about the Miami playoff game. We just looked sloppy. I was worried, but thought that as long as they got all that out of the way and came in focused the rest of the way we’d be competitive. They did seem to clean up the sloppiness for Cincy, but the game plans on both sides of the ball were awful.

I can’t imagine that McDermott and Beane aren’t a package deal and I think their tenures will end on the same day - whether that’s one or twenty years from now. That’s probably for the best anyway. I did want a bit of a shake up in the coaching staff if only as a sign that McDermott understood that changes were needed. I think I’m sitting here thinking the same thing as most Bills fans - that next year will look a lot like the last 3. I just wanted some sign that the team was making some changes. My concern at OC is that Dorsey isn’t up for it. I really don’t want the Bills to be his on-the-job-training. My concern at DC is that Frazier is just helping McDermott run his scheme and any change would just result in another DC doing the same. At least a new DC might bring in some fresh ideas and aggressiveness come playoff time.

Thanks. That makes more sense.