GunnerBill

But you can't have basically 4 rookies as your backups. I am with you that Collins is washed. But they might well keep him then cut him and sign a different vet.

Meh. He is average. And he is another possession receiver. Overrated.

The linebacker is my clubhouse leader for a rookie IR stash.

They won't, and shouldn't, go with 4 backup OL with zero NFL starts under their belts though. So it kinda comes down to Collins or Clapp and they are well stocked with centers. My hope is that there is a vet lineman on the eventual 53 who is currently on another roster. But that remains to be seen and wouldn't happen until after the original cut downs.

It is the same as mine earlier this week except he is waiving Mike Edwards injured and keeping Tylan Gable as a 10th OL. 52 of 53 he and I are in lock step on.

The Saffold decision was at the request of their (at the time) new OL coach who personally vouched for him. I think there is some truth to what you say about the philosophy being confused but I don't think it is confused as a result of being inherently risk averse. That is the bit I can't get myself to when I look at what the history of the eight years tells us.

I am more sold on the long term viability of Hurts than I am the long term viability of Sirianni.

Yea I don't think the proper analysis of what they have done supports that though. We know there were times with Daboll where there was friction because McDermott felt they couldn't/wouldn't run the ball even when they needed to but overall he has overseen offenses that have passed it and passed it deep under Daboll and then even more so under Dorsey and even under Brady tbh the issue at the backend of last season was the inability to complete the shot play more than a reluctance to call it.

Can I just add to this that neither you or I in the various arguments we have made in this thread have sought to argue that Ken Dorsey was, throughout his time here, a bad offensive coordinator. So the numbers that look at his season and a half as a whole are not the argument. The argument is purely about that "skid" as you refer to it and the fact he really did not seem to have any answers. Was that lack of willingness to adjust or could he just not see alternative solutions? The alternative argument, which is legitimate is "well his work in 2022 and some of the early games of 2023 he deserved more time to find a fix." I think you can legitimately take that view and then we just get to a pure difference of opinion on how likely he was to be able to turn it around. And I go back to where I started. He reminds me a lot of the persona I observed of coaches I have come across in my life as a player and coach and guys I've observed as a fan - across multiple sports. The best coaches are the best coaches because they are able to cope with and coach through adversity. Dorsey felt more like a when it's good keep it rolling guy and when the adversity hit he didn't seem to have a response. Stefanski is calling the plays.

I agree with your (2). It just isn't what we have seen with McDermott here. Everyone wails on about him being a defensive guy but he has let his OCs run some of the most pass heavy offenses in football. If he really believed philosophically in small ball the last 6/7 years would have looked very different. My concern is I am not sure I agree with your (1). Stretching the field isn't just about team speed. It isn't a 100m race. You have to have guys who can win and separate 1v1 down the field consistently. That is about release, it's about speed, it's about footwork, body control, route running... that is a bit my worry.

No I think managing to hold Jax as long as they did was pretty remarkable in the circumstances. The offense gave them no shot in that game. Had they got even a little bit of help who knows.

No but your point was the D shoulda been able to hold them and on that day with that personnel that isn't a fair or realistic expectation I'm sorry. They actually did remarkably well to hold them as long as they did.

And the defense was down to the bare bones. Kendal Vickers, a practice squad defensive tackle, ended up playing 52% of the defensive snaps at defensive end. And they kept the game in hand until the final 8 minutes. Jacksonville scored 11 points in the previous 52 minutes against an injury ravanged defense. In that time the offense managed 7 points and basically one drive. Our drive lengths to that point: 3 plays 3 plays 6 plays 4 plays 11 plays and a TD 4 plays 4 plays 4 plays We had been out time of possessioned 35 minutes to 17 at that point. Yea. That isn't a good game to make your point.

True but you were picking that game specifically. And I don't think it isna great example. The offense sucked that day until the game was outta hand.

The Jags loss though we did score a TD when the game was done. In Cleveland it isn't his offense and he isn't calling plays. Not the place to judge him IMO.

I am not sure I agree on the competition point firstly. Secondly it stems from teams were still playing the Bills last year to try and take away the explosives. In 2022 under Dorsey we were top 2 in explosive plays. So to an extent at the end of the season when we decided we wanted to play small ball it was there for us because that is what teams wanted us to do. Not taking all credit from Brady or Shakir and Kincaid who stepped up at all but the Bills were playing with a favourable hand. Teams watch film. And if they don't think the Bills are the same explosive threat you better believe they will come up and play closer to the line. They will stack the box on Cook, they will flood the intermediate zones for Shakir and they will come up on Coleman and ask him to make every catch as a contested catch. That is the sustainability concern. And that style has a lower ceiling. It has less room for error. I don't think it will cause the Bills to fall of a cliff or anything but if they want to contend for a championship? Yea I doubt it is a sustainable way for them to play offense.

Nor will I if it proves sustainable against the better teams in the NFL. That is where my concern is.

The move to shifty guys in the middle of 2018 was Daboll driven. Who knows what the shift the other way has been driven by this time. Does Brady have that influence? Is it Beane and McDermott? Or is there a scheme / talent mismatch which you know, seems odd give how close the GM and HC are, but then Kaiir Elam was a classic mismatch for this scheme and they did that sooooo...

That is the fear, but let's see. I do worry they don't have a guy that can separate and win going downfield 1v1 on the outside with any regularity.

You mean inflated.....

I agree there is accountability upstream too. I have been on the "they are undervaluing wide receiver" since before it was cool. Indeed I was on the "I'm worried Brandon Beane will undervalue receiver" pretty much the moment he was hired. Because he came from an organisation with a history of doing it where they had some relative success (two Superbowl appearances in a 10/11 year span) despite it.

Yea cut for Kareem Jackson.

My point is their track record on getting those calls right has been pretty good. If Coleman doesn't ge a starter's share of the snaps straight away then I am sure he will be getting very clear direction from the staff as to why and what he needs to do differently in order that it changes.

Surprising. Don't love Josh playing. Unless this is his one appearance and they wanna do it at home?

Beane drafts the players. That is a fact. Is McDermott involved in the process, yes. But the calls on personnel are taken by Brandon Beane. As for "just throw them out there." I am generally in favour of playing guys early and exposing them to things. And so are the Bills. But there are circumstances where you have to say "hang on this guy isn't ready" and you can do damage either to them or to your team asking too much to soon. Elam is the classic example of that. On Keon, I think he will play a ton week 1. I am not going to get into does he start or not... Rex Ryan started Matt Cassel week 1. Who lines up where on the first offensive snap isn't that important. But I think he will be one of the three highest snap counts among receivers in week 1. If he isn't, however, I will trust that it is because he isn't ready to be. The only two times they have got that decision wrong were Josh (and he arguably wasn't really ready but was still way better than the alternatives) and Ed Oliver and they corrected both by week 2.