GunnerBill

The reason I am not sure that is true is I don't trust any of the 3 wildcards thar much. Particularly Steelers and Cleveland. They will both drop at least 1 they should win.

I am not on about best player available. I am on about positional value. As in position on the football field. As in "are the better?" I mean they went 8-2 the final 10 games of last season. They are 8-2 currently. I think the slow start to last season was more about their 2022 Draft class starting to get their feet underneath them. That was a transformational class.

I think this is fair - 2017 and 2018 (appreciate 2017 was not Beane) is EASILY the best two year drafting run of my Bills fandom. White, Dawkins, Milano, Allen, Edmunds, Johnson in the space of two drafts was the core of a football team for 5 years. 2019-2021 was much more average, but nowhere close to a disaster. 2022-2023 too early to make complete conclusions but certainly Cook, Kincaid and Bernard look like legit players and Benford and Torrence are at least starter level talents, Shakir might be getting there too. But my point remains Allen apart there is yet to be a "star" among them. And that is thing that stops me putting Beane in the top 5 General Manager type territory. I think back half of the top 10 feels about right.

It isn't about where mock drafters value a player. It is about the intrinsic value of certain poaitions in the modern NFL. And teams DO think about that. It is why the number of runnkng backs taken in round 1 has plummeted. In the 00s 32 round 1 running backs. In the 10s only 19. So far in the 20s (four drafts) only 5. The numbers are really clear teams overwhelmingly try and draft premium positions on day 1. That isn't coincidence. It is because those positions are the most expensive to pay. Whether in retaining your own or recruiting in FA. Fair point on Gibbs that he appears to have broken out a bit more as the season has gone on and FWIW I didn't question LaPorta in round 2 (or Brian Branch in round 2 who was the steal of the whole second round IMO). I questioned the positional value of spending 2 top 20 picks on a running back and an off the ball linebacker. I also think the Lions played the 2021 and 2022 drafts perfectly to end up with a generational offensive tackle and an excellent young edge rusher (plus a starting 1T, arguably the best slot receiver in football, a starting linebacker and a starting safety). That is without getting anything at all from Jameson Williams who was definitely a shot worth taking. And I think it is THOSE pieces that largely are responsible for their record this season. You get Sewell and Hutchinson that should be transformational for a franchise. No surprise to me that it has been. Still - taking an off the ball linebacker and a running back in round 1 was bad positional value and to pay off they need those players to be perennial all pro types at their positions.

Nope. I don't do that. I have never accused him of not putting in the off season work. I do, however, think that Josh's demenour all season has given the impression there are things off the football field going on. I thought that even after his best performance against the Dolphins when his presser was weird. I am not backing off it on the basis of one normal week. If that trend continues with Brady I will conclude something between he and Dorsey had broken down and it WAS a football thing.

That isn't an out of control reaction from Brady. I am not saying coaches can't show emotion. I am saying out of control is always a red flag. Dorsey's reaction at Miami was unhinged.

I really, really don't.

Yea they are bad looks. I have always said that about Daboll. He reigned it in most of his time here but I HATE seeing leaders in uncontrollable rages. It is just bad leadership.

Yep. It is ALWAYS the case.

I think they under used Cook last year. That is a fair criticisim. Stuck with Singlepurpose too long. Shakir wasn't ready last year. My take on him was always he had talent but he played in a gimmicky offense at Boise where spacing and route running wasn't really a priority and it would take him some time. I said I could see him establishing himself as their starting slot by the end of his rookie year. It took him a little longer, middle of year 2, and after a really worrying camp where he put himself closer to danger than he should have. But he was out there a 3rd of the offensive plays last year. He didn't get the ball because he wasn't open or in the right spot. They got the development curve right with him.

Positional value. A linebacker who struggles in coverage and a running back is bad value from two top 20 picks. I still dislike it. And neither of those players have been that good. Ed Oliver is this year. He has been elite this season.

At the time some of us were saying the booth outburst was not a good look for a leader. It was completely out of control. And out of control leadership isn't a good trait.

It is the same to me - good not great. Because my view on Beane has always been he drafts very few busts. Lots of guys who can play. His day 3 draft record is better than most of his peers and his day 1 record Kaiir Elam apart is solid despite often having late 1st round picks. The knock on Beane is that in six drafts he has found one star - Josh Allen. The next closest he has is Ed Oliver. If Kincaid, Bernard or Cook (the three best stories of the season for the Bills) can go on and reach star status it would be a sigificant step. There are 4 first team all pros on this roster who have earned that status as Bills. McDermott drafted two of them in one draft. McDermott signed one of them as an unheralded FA. Beane made a great trade for another. That remains the bit that is missing for me to go from good to "very good" or "great." Yes, the Bills being successful has meant late picks in most rounds. But the GMs in that conversation for the top tier just above Beane have managed to find 1 or 2 and not all of those have been top 10 pick types.

Cook has been really good all year. Our offense has rolled best this season when featuring James Cook.

Turnovers decide football games. The Bills in recent weeks haven't generated enough and have given too many. That switched last night and they won. I really think they have a chance to beat anyone on their schedule but the offense will have to play a clean game.

And the 'urgency'

To be fair he took the Jags to an AFCCG after that.

Milano was a McDermott pick, not a Beane one. I think Kincaid and Cook are really good. The positives of this season are those two and Bernard IMO.

Hmmm. I can't recall. We definitely beat the dysfunction brothers - the Browns and the Lions - but can't recall who our other 2 wins were.

I only remember rooting for the Bills to lose one time... in that 2010 season when it appeared like Luck and Newton might both come out and I thought a top 2 pick was a guarantee of a franchise QB. In the end Luck didn't come out but the Bills blew it anyway winning 4 games down the stretch to pick 3rd. Otherwise I am always in it for wins.

We will see. I'm not totally sold yet based on a good game against the Jets. He has been steady in the other games, was very good yesterday. And I did later clarify my backup comment in that I just don't see him as an upgrade on Jackson and Benford. He can start in the NFL but I think he is a similar level of player to them. But the Bills clearly have considered him as a start so far and, in any event have had injuries to Benford and Jackson that have forced Douglas into the lineup early whether that was the plan or not. Yep, and I did later clarify that was my point.

All season to me we have looked at our best on offense when we have featured James Cook. Brady leant into that without falling into the Ken Dorsey trap of one drive being - run, run, run and the next being pass, pass, pass.

He has played well. Kudos to him.

Renfrow not much for good reason. Kupp is an interesting question.

Hmm. Not sure that is fair. Rousseau is a good starter. And when you pick him where they picked him at the end of round 1 I don't think you can call that a burned pick. I do think it plays to a wider point that Beane is good at finding above average to good starters but less good at finding those special difference makers. If you look at the guys around that selection Tyson Campbell stands out (he was on my shortlist at the time) but Greg has pretty considerably outplayed the rest