GunnerBill

As a rookie he was legit exceptional. He was good last year but was noticeably less physical too. He hasn't been great this season. Wonder a bit if he is done with Saleh and taking minimal risks with his body.

Breer is pretty reliable he isn't a throw ***** to the wall guy. I'm a) surprised the Bills are even in to the point of enquiring; and b) encouraged that they are at least open to the idea of bringing a receiver in here who can help us outside.

I thought if the top guys were gone he was the best fit for our defense too. I had him graded over McDuffie and while he has come along more slowly since the middle of last season he has been playing really good football. That corner duo of Gordon and Johnson in Chicago is very, very good.

That top list reads like a bunch of my former draft crushes..... Gordon, Fulton, Jones, Surtain, Williams, Taylor. A bit like reading that all your exes are now making millions as city traders.

Whereas to me it almost always looks like a lack of top end talent beyond Josh.

I was worried about the Jets going into the year. It isn't that I am cocky about where they are now. I just think they look one of the worst coached teams in football and Im not sure 40 year old Aaron overcomes bad coaching the way 30 year old Aaron does. The next two are big for them. Beat Minnesota and Buffalo and they could make a run. Lose both and this think will be done well before Christmas and a house cleaning will be coming.

Agree Grier sucks.

I largely agree with this. I have said the same about Keon. He is a potential Gabe upgrade as the #2.

And despite all that - which is true - he has more yards than our guys. That isn't disputable. That is my point - a guy who we all agree the Bills were right to give up on has better stats than our guys. So it is hard to argue we got better. Even given the context. As for robbing the Texans.... looks much more like that pick will almost be a third rounder than almost a first rounder at this point. Is a late 2nd in a draft one year removed still a Bills win? I think so. But it isn't quite robbery.

I am not implying what you think I am implying. I say in the very next sentence it isn't an argument for Diggs being here and that he is diminished. I am simply stating a fact. But all the context in the world doesn't change that reality. And the Bills have not yet proved that they have got better at receiver. Quietly or otherwise.

You don't have to be an old school leader to be a leader.

It isn't about being a dictator. It is about having clear control over your team. Reid has always had that, despite being a relaxed players coach. If you think Stefanski has always had that I don't know what to tell you.

Ha. We are increasingly trending that way for sure.

Reid is an excellent leader. Yes. He isn't a disciplinarian. You don't need to be to be a great leader. He is a players coach. But you can be a great leader that way too. No I don't particularly think Stefanski or Taylor are particularly good Head Coaches. I'd hire Stefanski as an OC tomorrow though. And I would McDaniel too. I think McDaniel is a really good offensive mind. The best unique mind off the Shanhan tree IMO. But I think OC is where his skillset is best suited.

Yea I think the five DL front would have been an interesting look but it is something you generally use against outside zone. In the end the Ravens did more outside zone that you'd typically expect but I suspect that is why the Bills didn't have it in the plan. They had some 43 in there clearly which is what you'd usually go to against a up the gut type rushing attack which is what they were likely expecting more of from them, the problem is they don't have the personnel to win playing a 43 when they are down their normal entire second level. I think if we'd spent the whole game in the 43 we ran on drives 2 and 3 we might have held them to only 70 or 80 yards after that first big run.... but we'd have given up 200 yards in running back pass game. Justice Hill had a career high 78 receiving yards. I'm willing to listen to the five man DL look but just switching up to something you rarely do and likely rarely practice mid game would likely have failed. Do I think the Bills got outcoached, yes, obviously. But I think you sometimes just have to hold your hands up and say the opposition had a fantastic plan, executed brilliantly and had the superior talent and when all three are true you are going to struggle.

Yea by playing defense and running the ball. Look what he is doing with Justin Herbert (who isn't Allen but is pretty talented) - he is playing defense and running the ball. That's what he'd do with Josh Allen. It's what he'd do with anyone. 1970s dinosaur.

No it's still about leadership first and foremost. Xs and Os matter. But the ability to hold a locker room together through adversity matters more. Because it's the rare NFL season that you go through without it. Just because you can't be an old school hard ass, rah-rah leader these days doesn't mean leadership is secondary. It remains the most important quality of a head coach.

It was getting out of nickel alignment that was part of our problem on Sunday.

I provided the context that I wasn't arguing for them to have retained Diggs in the very next line that you failed to quote. There was no false sense of reality. There was actual reality. Diggs has more yards than any of our receivers. That is the actual reality. That doesn't mean "the Bills should have kept Diggs" or "Diggs is better than anyone we have" and the rest of my post was pretty clear about that. But the statistic is the statistic. What has actually happened. the very definition of reality.

Yea you are on your own there. I don't think he demonstrates any leadership skill.

Sure. If you want 1970s football hire Jim.

Err... only quoting half of my post is the epitome of missing context to be intentionally misleading.

Yea you are entitled to take a different philosophical view from them on how they approached it defensively. Personally I'd have run my normal defense, trusted that I wasn't going to be beaten in every assignment the way I was on the first play from scrimmage all day long and give my defense a chance to settle in. The changes they made were through panic and made the Ravens job easier IMO.

The big factor in the Diggs departure was his relationship with Josh had totally broken down. I'm not defending how the Bills have handled the WR position, I have been critical of it for 3 years now. They put themselves in this position by neglecting it in 2020 and 2021 when they were considered to be in a relative position of strength at the spot and then have been chasing their tail ever since. But they did show with Diggs they were willing to integrate a non-choir boy. I'm just not sure they will be at this time with a younger leadership group.

I haven't been back and looked through yet, but my guess is that it was largely that 2nd and 3rd drive. That was when they were in 43 base. They went back to nickel after that but just changed the way the linebackers were playing.