GunnerBill

Promoting Babich means nothing unless they are giving him playcalling. He would still be nickable. Congrats coach Washington. Although I wouldn't be delighted by this if I was a Bears fan.

He isn't mediocre. Or a bust. If he strikes you as that, that is a you problem.

Thinking of of you @whorlnut. My grandfather suffered the same fate in his mid 50s and it looked bleak for 48 hours but he pulled through and lived to the grand old age of 89. So don't lose hope. Wishing her the best.

And just our luck he is out for tomorrow. Typical.

Possibly. Spotrac has him at $15.3m AAV. That is too rich for me I think. But if I could get him at $12m AAV or thereabouts and keep the cap hit down into single figures for the first couple of years I'd be in on that.

I will be watching. Baltimore are the team I have always thought I'd have ended up following had I come to the NFL my own route - them or the Saints. So if the Bills are out in the AFC they are generally my rooting interest. Of the teams left them or Detroit are the ones I'd like to see lift a Lombardi. But my pre-season prediction was the 49ers so I would sorta be smug if that ends up happening too.

Evaluating Hyde and Poyer was all McDermott. Beane wasn't here yet. My view on safety is you sign one decent mid-range free agent. You keep Poyer for his final year (kick a bit of money into a void year if you need to) and you draft a guy round 3 or 4. Ideally Poyer plus FA play and you can get draft pick on the field a bit in dime to get his feet wet with the idea he takes over as the starter in 2025. Kamren Curl is the guy for this team. I think he is severely underrated and would be an all pro calibre player on this defense.

The guys who are good start early. Tre White. Tremaine Edmunds. Josh Allen. Ed Oliver. Greg Rousseau. Taron Johnson. Dawson Knox. Dalton Kincaid. O'Cyrus Torrence. Christian Benford. Then the likes of James Cook, Dion Dawkind and Matt Milano came on late in their rookie years. The guys that don't play early are the guys who are not ready to play.

Two counters to this: 1. They ran more because that was their best way of moving the ball. Dorsey had stuck with the desire to pass downfield and be explosive and it was very inefficient with the players we have. Our most reliable offensive weapons second half of the year were Cook (running back), Kincaid (tight end) and Shakir (shifty slot). Relying on those guys will make you a small ball offense but they were our best chance to move the sticks. 2. They ALWAYS run Josh more later in the year. That is a pattern over 3 years and 3 coordinators now. They put a lid on Josh's running the first 10 games. But when the season is on the line down the stretch his carries rachet up again. I crunched the numbers on that at Christmas.

Hendriksen wasn't that FA class he was the year prior. Reddick was a FA both years but is a more questionable scheme fit here. Though having said that there was some similarity in the Philly defense last year under Gannon and he played better than I'd have expected in that. Generally I agree over old players though. Beane loves them.

I agree most people are but I think this is slightly ironic given I think it is largely what people are doing re. the Head Coach.

He'd be a slam dunk hire for Green Bay.

Yea I don't want the Bills to go rookie OC route either. I think that logic is sound for where Buffalo is right now. But if we were, for example, the Commanders or the Titans with a first time Head Coach and question mark at QB likely not able to attract a top experienced name then Thad Lewis would absolutely be someone on my list of potential first time OCs I'd like to speak to... with Tee Martin and Jason Vrabel. That Saints game is the only Bills game I have missed since 2007. I was at Wembley watching the 49ers.

Demeco Ryans. Byran Leftwich. There are other examples too. It is not as rare these days as I think you might think it is.

He is on my list as guys to watch for future OCs. I mentioned him earlier in the season.

From memory Thad was out. I think Matt Flynn was brought in to back up and Tuel started. It was 10 and a bit years ago though so memory might be hazy.

Sean McVay had the same experience as an NFL position coach. Unless you think his one year coaching receivers for 6 games in the UFL made him uniquely more qualified? Because otherwise his experience on becoming an OC was the same as Thad's - two years as analyst / assistant; three years as a position coach.

Don't think they benched Thad. Think he got hurt too. EJ and Thad were both out.

I mean he is the obvious leader in the clubhouse. Might lead to the misspeaking. But Beane is a pretty straight shooter. He is telling you there that his expectations was Joe is the OC. I haven't watched Brandon's presser yet. Seen Sean's but it's been a busy week. And Brandon's is always an hour to savour because he pretty much tells you what is coming next in terms of moves. I'll settle down with a coffee tomorrow and enjoy it.

Demeco Ryans became a coordinator after 3 years as a position coach and then a Head Coach after two years as a coordinator. Sean McVay had three years as a position coach before getting his OC gig too. Bryon Leftwich had one and a half seasons as a position coach before he became an OC. I don't think it is that rare now. Especially on the offensive side because the pool depletes so quickly.

To be clear I am not arguing for them hire Thad. I think, as you do, thst the Bills should be looking for playcalling experience. But there will be first time OCs hired in this cycle without playcalling experience. And of the names in that hat Thad is a credible name.

I'd pick Brady because he has called plays for us and done okay. But if we had fired Dorsey just, as in this week after the season, and I was comparing like for like in terms of who, as a QB coach, had got their QB playing with the best fundamentals of their career and maximised their talents then I think there would be a legit case for taking Thad over Joe.

But his dad is a coach sooooo.......

Sure. But then how does any coach ever step up through the ranks? You look at QB coaches who have got the most out of their Quarterback. I tend to think Thad did better at that than Joe Brady this year.

Fair. But then his work with Baker is impressive. And we know former NFL QBs (even mediocre ones) tend to get a leg up when it comes to QB and OC coaching. Witness Ken Dorsey for instance.