GunnerBill

Nah it pre-dated the Bengals. The Bengals game was in a period where they were barely speaking. One of the reasons I think you still see ex team mates speak relatively warmly of Stef is from what I was told it was not a split the locker room situation or anything like that. Most of their teammates didn't (and possibly still don't) know what it was that caused the fall out. I was told Dawson Knox knew but a lot of the others were in the dark. They just know somewhere in the middle of that season the relationship went sideways. Most of the coaches didn't know why either. I presume Sean and Brandon did but it wasn't something that was widely known. My suspicion (and I repeat this bit is speculation on my part and not based on anything anyone told me) is that the fallout did not originate on the football field. I think it was something off field that then spilled over onto the field.

I think the "conventional" combination is a bit of a holdover from the Daboll era. He liked that balance. Brady is gonna run some more spread and we saw some of that last year. But I am not sure I buy that that this group will separate better. I think the opposite.

I was out on Jax last year (indeed I said Houston could win that division). I am not out on Houston this year. They are built on stronger foundations than the Jags were.

Josh being Josh is baked into the calculation. But he will have an even harder job this year based on talent. If he can do it again and have them as a top 5 offense then Brady will have played a significant part in that IMO.

I am cheering for his return to form too, make no mistake. But he has a questionable association with the truth and my honest view is he is done. I'd be delighted to be wrong. Remember when even after the ACL scan he was telling fans he would be back within a couple of weeks. When he knew and the team knew the ligament was torn.

Whereas he was telling the team this time last year he would be good for week 1. Basically I don't believe a word Von says. All he has done since he got here ia spin bull####.

I trust my source 100%. The issues with Diggs way pre-date Brady. If he played a part it is a small part. As for the rest you are arguing things I have never said or believed.

I have more confidence in Brady than the talent. That said I sort of agree with you in that I think the varience is higher with Brady than with the talent. They are, other than Coleman and to an extent Shakir, total known quantities. But I think if the Bills O is really good it will more than likely because Brady has been really good.

Yes. And it is fair to say Matt Canada was a bust. I like the Arthur Smith hire though.

Okay he played in the slot more last year than I realised. His 1,000 yard season he played 70% outside. On the ESPN analytics don't they counter your point that Samuel is a good separator? He is valued at 36/99 and 136th best in the NFL at being open. I admit I don't fully follow what the metrics are alleging to show.

My offseason realistic WR target list was also: 1. Mooney 2. Samuel I think they are closer as players than you do. It is 6 of one and half a dozen of the other talent wise IMO. But Mooney is a proper outside receiver and Samuel is a move receiver. Outside was our need and is generally the more valuable spot which might also be reflected in the contracts they each got.

Well I was on here last offseason saying things were not hunky dory and relationships were strained and between Josh and Stef at that point non-existent. I don't really care what the narrative was or wasn't. I am telling you what I was told as a fact by someone in a position to know. And I was not the only one. Other reputable long term posters on this site had versions of the same story about the relationship. I don't know for certain that the new offense wasn't a part, that is true. But I do know for certain that the issues between Diggs and individuals in the organisation date back to the middle of 2022. That isn't opinion. That is fact. It just appears to me based on what I know to be true that the issues that led to his departure are related to that and not Joe Brady or his offense.

I am not insisting anything will work out. The lack of talent at WR is still what it is. But I can tell you for a fact Diggs issues long predate Brady becoming OC and I don't believe his departure and this "new" offensive approach are in any way linked.

The reason he was traded was he wanted out, didn't want to be here and his relationship with Josh had been bad to non-existent at times from the middle of 2022. Having a checked out player and that constant tension between your QB and top WR isn't healthy.

He was. Then he took it as coaching to Barcelona and influenced a young catalan midfielder called Pep Guardiola. But it all started with Michels.

Slight correction, Cruyff played in the Dutch teams of the 70s. The great sides of the 70s and 80s were coached by Rinus Michels who was the godfather of modern football. I often think of him as a bit like Don Coryell in the NFL. His influence is still all over the place but he rarely gets talked about as an all time great in the way he should.

The difference between the two is Daboll did things to give his guys an advantage. Dorsey's ethos was just "run the play and execute better than the defense."

Tomlin does not have personnel control in Pittsburgh. It isn't on him.

I hope so.

And we have nobody who has even proven to be that. Curtis Samuel has one year of that type of production in his seven year career (reason to be optimistic it was with this OC). Shakir might still be ascending but hasn't proven to be that yet and MVS is clearly proven to be a #3. If we get low end #2 type production - say 700-750 yards and 4 or 5 TDs - that would be a reasonable outcome given prior production.

Not by me they weren't.

Safety is, and remains, my biggest question mark with this team. If Bishop isn't up to speed early they don't have an NFL calibre starter at the position..

Yea there are reasons to have optimism. In terms of his track recored, as you say, he got career years out of Chose and Samuel and while when we look now at 2020 LSU and go "wow all that talent" the year before he arrived Joe Burrow threw for 16 touchdowns and Justin Jefferson was a middling outside receiver who under Brady dominated college football as a big slot. Now it is possible he just got lucky and benefitted from breakouts at the right time. But it is possible he played a part too. In terms of what he did last year he made the offense look like a modern NFL offense again with motion, route combinations designed to create leverage and mixing up their use of pistol, shotgun and under centre better. Which compared to the mid 00s redux offense Ken Dorsey was selling was encouraging. Now there are reasons to doubt him as well, and those are also legitimate, but I think there are grounds for optimism in terms of what we have at OC. I certainly think Joe Brady's potential ceiling is high. Much more so than I think the ceiling of the WR room is high.

No. I don't and I didn't.

He was responsible for basically everything except the blocking assignments at LSU. The point about his talent is well made and it may well prove that was his high point and it was entirely a product of the talent. That is of course possible. I am not telling you Joe Brady is great but I think there are grounds for optimism with him.