All I Need is Hope

Rousseau, Basham and Epenesa need to take pretty big jumps. The tough part is that we don't know if they can/will. I don't want to spend another high pick/more money on edge rushers. I'd like us to get a top IDL, IOL, CB.

I'd offer him a fair restructure proposal, considering that he's been unavailable/not a difference maker for most of his time here... maybe 2M with performance and availability incentives that could get him to 4-ishM. If he wants to play, this makes sense for both sides. If he declines, it's a solid indication that he doesn't want to play and they should release him.

One playmaker on offense (elite speed/shiftiness - could be a RB or WR) and one playmaker on defense (edge, CB, big/disruptive DT) would be my dream off-season. Agree with poster who said that we continue to get beat by Hill, Kelce and Mahomes. We're damn near even with the Chiefs across the board, talent-wise, but not playmaker-wise.

Thanks for the clarification!

I read that if a minority position coach is hired by another team as their head coach, that the team receiving the minority coach has to give up 2 third round picks for the next two years. Is this accurate and still the rule? Sorry if already covered in the Frazier to Chicago thread.

Appreciate you laying out the timeline and his "reasons" for missing so much time. I agree completely that he's checked out, but still gets is paycheck. I wonder how he's perceived in the locker room and by the coaching staff? Cutting him would send a strong message.

Nope... not going to overreact to 1.5 games of good play. This team has shown that they are wildly inconsistent and I'm not sure who we're going to get, week to week. I'll keep watching and cheering, but I'm not going to read anything into their recent play.

Wow, the condescending nature of this response aside, this game is one of the biggest in memory. Especially considering the Bills under-delivering this year compared to expectations (they were sky-high). If the Bills lose, this thing PROBABLY unravels and this season takes on a completely different tone.

Offer them Epenesa and 2 firsts for Watt 😉

I know we extended Darryl Williams this year, however, with especially Spencer Brown, it will be interesting to see if he lights it up at RT... maybe Williams goes to swing or guard. Watching Brown's tape now. He is fluid, can bend and just engulfs people. Good problems to have

It’s not just KC, Cleveland is building a strong front 7, and have one of the best olines. They have a pretty complete roster now

I agree that if there's a run on edge rushers or CB's and there's one that Beane likes, he'll trade up. Someone like Paye, Ojulari, Horn or Surtain get to 20 or so, I could see a trade up. We don't need a lot of developmental players or depth, we need high end contributors this year.

If Paye or Ojulari fall to us, I'd grab them over Oweh, no question. Watch the tape... Ojulari is twitchy, has inside and outside pass rush moves, anticipates plays and hits like a truck. He's put waaaay more on tape than Oweh. Same with Paye. He's a football player and much less risk than Oweh.

The summary is much appreciated... as always trying to do actual work while keeping up with the Bills.

I think I read that as part of Addison's pay cut they also voided the last year of his contract. So, he and Hughes are both free agents after this year. So, this signing makes sense from that perspective as well. I wouldn't be surprised either; if they add another EDGE and go EDGE, CB2, DT in the first three rounds of the draft.

I don’t believe that Beane goes into the season with essentially the same team as last year. I know it’s been discussed many times, but our best window to win it all is now and next 2023, so, I won’t stop believing that we’ll get another offensive weapon and defensive playmaker. If not, it will be a bit of a buzzkill regarding hope levels for next season.

Agree... Mahomes had the neck/head injury, the dislocated kneecap (last year?), now the toe surgery. We'll see if it affects his longevity. It was good to see Josh's development and patience to stay in the pocket, roll out or throw it away (and slide much more!)

We need our high picks (Oliver, Ford, Edmunds, Phillips) to get better and draft athletes that we can coach up

We played a really good qb today, and a talented team in all three phases. This wasn’t Tua or Cam or old Ben or Drew Lock. Good, disciplined, well coached team; and we played good enough to win

Has there ever been a year that every play-off team from a conference has at least 11 wins... this should be a great play-off!!!

Appreciate the perspectives. I think the turnover +/- is a good surrogate metric for aggressiveness and maybe violence. I agree that some players just have it, like some that have been mentioned. I would say that the Bills that play with violence are Milano and Hughes... maybe Oliver.

I’m a three decade Bills fan, but I was also raised in Pittsburgh and always admired the way they play defense. Regardless of year, talent level, record; they play defense with a violence level that seems slightly above the rest of the league. They aren’t dirty, but they deliver hit/blows that sometimes other teams might not attempt. They also seem to always swarm to the ball carrier with consistently high intensity. It’s kind a a hardwired element of their approach. I appreciate watching it. With all of the sophistication in analytics, I wonder if/wish there was a way to measure “violence”. Anyone agree or have other teams that play with consistent violence levels (Ravens?).

If we all expected to go deep into the play-offs this year (I did), I think we need to downgrade our expectations... based upon what we've seen on the field. Our current situation doesn't align with what Beane and the organization set as their expectations either, so, that kinda sucks. Hopefully, Beane and crew keep learning and improving, and we are actually positioned for a SB run next year.

I'm always comparing our progress to teams that are currently competitive to win the Super Bowl, and it seems like we could become stuck in the "we're a play-off team with limiting flaws" I agree that Beane is better than previous regimes, top to bottom, and heck, by Buffalo standards, he might be great... however, I want us to make the next jump and I'm skeptical regarding his ability to get us there.

We're 6-2 because we've played mostly lousy teams. We got pushed around by legitimate contenders, on both sides of the ball. At some point, we need more talent on defense.