GunnerBill

McConkey is a decent route runner but he isn't Stef Diggs level elite as a route runner. Few people are. He also isn't the "the same size if not bigger" he is and inch shorter, 10 lbs lighter and has an inch shorter arms. All of which matters to get off press coverage outside. You can keep banging this drum but the NFL always tells you what the truth is. And it is telling us on McConkey. He is a really good slot receiver. He might even be an elite slot receiver. He could be in that St Brown, prime Cooper Kupp territory. But that is where he is going to be used in the NFL and that is where he will produce. As a 65-80% slot guy who you can use split out in some packages but can't expect to be a sustainable long term option there. I also agree he is better than Shakir btw. I haven't ever disputed that. But the difference between an elite slot and a good slot is just not as significant in the NFL as the difference between an elite outside guy and a good outside guy. It's a tier two position not a premium position. Same as nickel corner isn't as valuable as boundary corner. I am also not saying McConkey can't get deep. I explicitly said above he can. But he is gonna do it largely from the slot against off coverage with a free release. I'm sure he'd be doing that here for Josh as you say. But the upgrade from Shakir to McConkey in terms of impact on the offense isn't as significant as the impact of going from whatever we had outside... I dunno... MVS? Claypool? To Coleman (and I am not even Coleman's biggest fan... I had McConkey graded above him).

In fairness the 31 points to Skylar Thompson was mainly because the offense kept throwing up on itself. The Fins had two drives over 30 yards all day. They could not move the ball. Lucky for them our O and STs kept doing the hard work for them and giving it to them in our territory.

I am not debating the how hot should McDermott's seat be based on his record that has been done to death elsewhere a million times and unless we win it all will be all the board talks about for the next 3 months. But I do again just want to challenge the above becaue I think it is really flawed thinking. Good coaches are not ten a penny. They are easier to find than elite Quarterbacks, granted, but not by much. If you believe you have one firing them because they go five years without making the Superbowl because you have set that as an objective standard without really evaluating the reasons for why and how they have fallen short is just illogical.

This is 100% right IMO. He is a good receiver but has at no point been a great one. I was pro the trade and he was my guy to target even before the Bills did it with the comibation of cost and skillset required, but he has kinda been who he always is. The flip side of everyone loving his down to earth "I just love being here and I don't mind not getting the ball if we win" vibe is that he lacks that dog in him that the top receivers all have... and need. I'm still open to the Bills bringing Amari back next year - mainly because having spent the 33rd pick on one last year I'd be stunned if Beane spends one of his first 3 picks on another this year even though a boundary separator remains a need, it just isn't his MO - but it has to be in that 2 year $20-26m type territory for me. Any more than that and I am waving goodbye.

In his run fits, yes. He was slow to read and react in his coverage responisbilities multiple times. One of the 3rd down conversions early was an example of Bishop being slow reading the play and consequently late to his spot. He is improving. But it is still a slow process. Looks like he will play again today and the chances are he gets time next week as well if its a dead rubber. But for Cole now it is about getting him ready to compete fully to start in 2025. And I keep coming back to my biggest concern there.... he plays the same position as Rapp. I think the Bills bigger need is an upgrade at free safety for someone who can play as the single high.

True. Forgot the Ravens still have a shot at #2. If Baltimore ended up the #2 seed and the Bills are 12-5 then I think Lamar is properly in play. It would also need Allen to be well short of his best the last two games.

I am sorry I just think this is the classic logical fallacy. We have to try something, this is something, ergo we have to try this. The Bills should fire McDermott if they believe he deserves to be fired based on decisions he has made and the impact he has had. Not just because they don't know what else to try. And I'd apply that same logic to the 90s teams even with the benefit of hindsight too. That isn't settling. It is rational decision making.

So the 7th seed scenarios are: - Denver win (possibly v KC backups) and they're in - Denver lose and Indy beat NYG and JAX and Indy are in - Denver lose and Indy lose at least once and Miami beat NYJ and CLE and Miami are in - Denver lose and both Indy and Miami lose at least once and Cincy beat PIT and Cincy are in

Only if I thought the reason they lost them all was definitely Marv Levy. Because if it wasn't then firing him is messing with what gets you there. Firing coaches just to "try something else" is bad strategy.

I have never said anything other than Ladd McConkey is a really good football player. I even said it in the run up to the draft that I thought he could be a very good slot receiver. But the way I grade, and you are entitled to disagree with it as a methodology, that's up to you... slot only receivers are not in the premium position category and therefore they have to be elite prospects for me to consider them 1st round talents. McConkey wasn't an elite prospect to me, though he was a very good one. It isn't about being wrong or being right. He is a very good player. But I do think he is slot only and I always have and always will value guys who win outside in the NFL - whether that is on edges of the line or on the boundary - higher than guys who win inside. Because the former is just harder to compensate for with scheme than the latter. The difference between Shakir and McConkey in the slot is not as great as the difference between a top end outside receiver and a middling one. I can find me a Khalil Shakir on day 3 of the draft.

I know he is more of a deep threat than Shakir. I said as much. But he is still a slot receiver and no, the Bills could not "use him like they used Stefon Diggs with probably better results." McConkey cannot be a down in and down out boundary receiver. He doesn't have the skillset to do it. I know you hate that but it is the truth.

We have barely had a linebacker cover anyone all season.....

@Einstein this does look like a real triumph as a piece of work. How does one access it? Or do we need to wait until its uploaded onto a domain? Tech is definitely not my bag if you can't tell

I don't think "the skillset" is the same. It is similar but I think McConkey is a route runner whereas Shakir is a space finder and Ladd has a bit more pop to get vertical which is why he generally catches the ball further down the field than Khalil. However, they both have to be deployed primarily from the slot. Does McConkey give you a bit more split wide than Shakir? I think so. But he isn't a viable down in and down out outside receiver. Going into the draft the Bills had Shakir and Samuel (both guys who really need to be deployed from the slot) as the consensus top two receivers on their depth chart with their primary outside receiver being Mack Hollins. Drafting another slot guy would have been difficult to fathom, let alone spending a 1st round pick on one (and yes, I know, we picked 33rd in the end).

Worth adding 3rd down % to those numbers. That is where the big meaningful difference is. Leslie got opponents off the field on 3rd down. McDermott less so and Babich is bottom 4 or 5 in the league at it. The other interesting thing in those numbers above is how consistent the Bills are at taking the ball away. Between 17 and 19 INTs and between 10 and 11 fumble recoveries. We are slightly down on INTs this year but slightly up on fumble recoveries. That should be slightly concerning too because while I have seen the Bills raking at balls this year as a point of emphasis more than I can ever remember and that plays a part in forcing fumbles there is still an element of luck with recoveries and the bounce of the ball. Essentially where they are perfoming best in turnovers is where the level of randomness is highest.

Yea they'd shut you down pretty quick I reckon even though you are not trying to monetise it.

He probably doesn't play the following week. For Josh it comes down to don't lay an egg vs the Jets. Play better than last week, don't turn it over, win the game. That is probably enough.

I remember hating on that 2022 Commanders draft at the time. An overdrafted slot receiver in the 1st. An overdrafted 1T in the 2nd and then an overdrafted running back in the 3rd. In fairness Brian Robinson Jnr has been steady for them but is a low impact, volume rusher.

Which makes zero difference to him being cash poor. He could borrow against the value of an asset... sure. But he'd have to do that because he doesn't have the cash to just write that cheque otherwise.

Nah. He is cash poor.

This was entirely predictable. It is the result of having a cash poor owner by the standards of the modern NFL. It happened to Palmer, it happened to Dalton, no idea why people thought it wouldn't happen to Burrow just because he was the best of those three. They don't pay people to stay and they don't restructure contracts each year to create space to strengthen a roster in a window. It is who the Bengals are.

Milano only played 4 games last year too. It is not the impact of Jones or Milano that is different. I just think teams have a year of film on Bernard, know what he does well and know how to explot his weaknesses. We should also just slow the roll a little bit. He hasn't played as well in 2024 as he did in 2023. But he hasn't been a liability or anything. If I was going to start a list of positions where the Bills could stand to upgrade in priority order MLB would be pretty far down it. Bernard is fine. I think last year he flashed potential that we might have thought he was better than fine and he has just regressed to the mean a bit.

Confess I've only seen a bit of him but my worry is he has the Tremaine Edmunds weakness - he has never seen a play action or a misdirection he didn't want to bite on.

Probably only 5 now in the first 4. Two 2nds and one in every other round and then two 5th round comps (Gabe's was originally projected a 4th but the lack of playing time - injury - means the projections have been adjusted and most expect us only to get a 5th for him now).

100% this.