GunnerBill

He is not our best offensive weapon but he has developed this year into the guy I thought he could be coming out. I had a 3rd round grade on him and thought he was a steal in the 5th. But he came from a really gimmicky offense at Boise and my prediction at the start of last season was it'd take some time and he'd start to come on late last year. He didn't, he struggled all year to separate and to catch the ball and then he had a poor camp this past summer and there was a point where I thought it might not happen. But 611 yards in his second season... 363 of them since Brady took over. Lots of encouragement that he can really be a part of this team the next couple of years.

FWIW the Ravens are 3-8 without Lamar the past 3 years compared to 28-12 with him. Hard to know what the Bills would be without Allen because he always plays. But in 2021 Baltimore were in the #1 seed spot when Lamar got hurt and missed the playoffs. Last year they were the #2 seed when he got hurt and ended up as a wildcard who was 1 and done. Lamar is pretty critical to the Ravens results. I am not sure there would be much difference between them without him and the Bills without Josh tbh... I can. Jets. Eagles. Chargers. And that is just from the top of my head.

I don't. It is a paint by numbers scheme. You have to execute the reads perfectly and play in structure. It is not a scheme friendly to out of structure players. He wouldn't suck in it, he is too good, but it wouldn't show him to best effect.

Dorian was a particularly bad fit against the Dolphins. Because misdirection is his worst enemy at the moment. His head is still spinning at the best of times. Good physical attributes but too raw. I thought Spector played really well. I have gone from the start of the year thinking the LB room was a mess to now thinking we have some young talent in there and if we can get Captain Cookie back to his best next year it could be very good.

You are fooling nobody. You are a Dolphins fan.

I was not a fan of him doing both jobs and at mid-season I was firmly, he gives up DC or you fire him at the end of the season. But he did appear to find a better balance down the stretch and I don't think the team looked as rudderless. A really good journo would find a way to ask a question at the end of season presser, whenever that comes, as to what changes he made to the way he combined the duties as the season went on and ask it in a way that elicits an answer from Sean. But I am noy holding out much hope from our lot. Yes

That is my bet. But even if not there someone else will hire him.

Mike Vrabel will be a Head Coach within weeks.

Tee Martin who the Bills interviewed before hiring Ken Dorsey two years ago. Was then the Baltimore WR coach, moved this year to QB coach and respected for his work with Lamar. Expect him to get a ton of OC interest. Klint Kubiak son of Gary, called plays a bit in Denver last year, been on the 49ers staff this year. Eric Bieniemy, probably not a HC candidate this year but did a decent job with Sam Howell all the same and the Commanders are clearing house. Jason Vrable, no relation to Mike, done a hell of a job with that young receiver corps in Green Bay this year. Also passing game coordinator, said to really be able to relate to players. They are the other names I'd expect to see. But you are right. Joe Brady won't be anyone's QB coach next year. He will be an OC in Buffalo or elsewhere.

He doesn't. And that team starts behind. But he takes over the Monday after the Superbowl and he starts right away. Not allowing any interviews until after the Superbowl means you are at best 10 days or so behind even that timetable.

Hiring a staff? Reviewing your current roster? The coaches are heavily responsible for that. Once you get into the outside evaluation yes, it is the GM often who leads that but in most places the coaching staff is involved in the process too. I don't think you are punishing the good teams first off, there is no evidence to me that is the case. The Eagles had both coordinators in hiring cycles last year and made the Superbowl. The Patriots won a Superbowl with Patricia and McDaniels being hired away (in the end McDaniels reneged on Indy but still). I don't think the evidence supports your supposition. But even if it does.... the NFL is trying to establish parity. So delaying it to further disadvantage the bad teams doesn't seem to achieve that objective

I am stunned Vrabel is gone. I suspect it is about relationships in the building as much as anything. He fell out with John Robinson and then has allegedly not been getting on with the new GM. He will be hired in New England. Book it.

Yea I have always been in the camp that believes the Philly Special has given him a reputation he doesn't deserve.

The Athletic thinks it is full court press for Harbaugh. Pierce is the fall back.

Which is why if I was a betting man - Raiders!

I don't think he should be safe. But didn't the Bears sniff around Harbaugh two years ago....

So find me the time then. Where does it come? If you move the hiring season back to the second half of Feb what are you losing to made the calendar work? Or are you just truncating the four weeks that these guys get off a year? These guys who work every holiday away from their families? I see two options: 1) you scrap rookie camps altogether and the first time the rookies ever meet their teammates or get taught the playbook is camp. That is the way it used to work years ago when FA wasn't a thing and so you almost never needed your rookies to start. In the modern NFL I see no way that improves the product. 2) you scrap pre-season, thereby you can move camps back to start the first week or so of August and give teams 4 weeks to assess their roster and cut down to 53 and then a week to prep for game 1. I'm not necessarily against this but it hurts the guys who are UDFAs or late round picks (without pre-season the covid year about 20 fewer UDFAs than normal made rosters). And the reality is the NFL isn't going to do this. To the bolded - excellent point. Hadn't considered that. On your final line conclusion - totally agree. It would mean losing something else and I don't see any evidence that it would deliver significant benefit.

Not fired his boy Press Taylor though. He was allegedly one of the staff Lurie wanted him to fire in Philadelphia and he refused (which in part led to his own firing). Now he is sticking his neck out for him again.

Because Superbowl is 4 weeks before free agency opens. That isn't enough time to interview, shortlist and hire a coach. Then hire a staff. Then assess the entire roster. Then try and extend our own FAs. Then try and assess the FA market and work out who you want to target. You would have to put FA back at LEAST two weeks. Then you probably need to move the draft back into mid-May. The one year we went to early May the feeling was it squeezed rookie mini-camps and ate into the one month of true break that coaches and personnel guys get mid-June to mid-July. The schedule doesn't work unless the league is willing to lose something totally. If it agreed to totally lose pre-season you could fit it all in and move camp back to start of August. But they are not going to do that.

There isn't enough room in the schedule. It would put teams who are hiring waaaaay behind the 8 ball in terms of FA and behind in terms of the draft.

Hmm. Maybe. But only Ron and Marty Hurney were folks Beane had prior relationships with particularly. I thought it was a veiled dig a them.

He is coming back this year. No doubt about it.

Yep, very true. Interestingly Brady's history is as a spread guy really. If anyone had more background in under centre / traditional pro-style concepts it was Dorsey. Yet Brady has used a bit more under centre than Dorsey did. I feel like he has also used more empty backfield than Dorsey though and when Josh was humming with Dabes back in 2020 I always felt like he really revelled in that empty backfield, 5 wide type set. The Bills were forced to go away from that in 2021 and 2022 because their oline was sooo bad. Now they are back to a 2020 like, pretty steady, offensive line I would think there is more scope for the empty stuff to come back in.

Huh. Mixed bag. I think my non-Bills ones were pretty good. I was slightly too punchy on Green Bay, but was much higher on them than the consensus and IMO them winning a playoff game isn't out of the realm of possibility. I was too punchy on the Saints but that is mainly because I was wrong on the Buccaneers who I had as a top 5 pick team, credit to them for getting to 9 wins. I didn't foresee that. Nailed the other two, AFC North all winning records and Wilson benched. Davis only trailed Diggs by 1 frustratingly..... and Phillips is not on the Bills ACTIVE roster (but that wasn't really what I meant). The other two were miles off.

We will get them at home the next 3 years subject to us finishing in the same position in our divisions next year. Otherwise it will be home 2 of the next 3 and no game vs them the middle year.