GunnerBill

Brazil. 1982. The best pure soccer team the world has ever produced.

I think Maye has the highest ceiling too. But his floor is out of the NFL by the end of year 3. It is boom and bust a projection as you can get.

The Bills definitely need it, no doubt.

Yea, that's not what happens.

And they are particularly not supposed to half ass it in the meantime.

I hope you are right.

They don't have much behind their top two but that top two are pretty awesome.

No of course he is not. That wasn't the point. I have been as critical as anyone of him for his failure to adequately address receiver. In fact I was saying it before it was cool.

Yea I thought the same. Does it mean he has really shone, or is it an indictment on others? We know Keon has had some struggles, which is probably to be expected, but Shakir? Samuel?

I think he is here for 2024 and then will be gone personally. If it was just about reducing cap hit an extension was the move to make rather than the restructure. He will turn 30 before the season starts. I dunno if the Bills want to be tied into him long term.

He is the general manager. His background isn't as a scout though. He entered the Carolina front office as a football ops guy under Marty Hurney, Dave Gettleman taught him scouting. It is why Beane always surrounds himself with really good, experienced, talent evaluators. Brian Gaine has been a scout in this league 25 years. Terrence Gray has been scouting in the NFL since the mid 00s. Joe Schoen had 15 years experience as a scout when Beane brought him here originally as his assistant in 2017 and even Dan Morgan had 8 years experience as an NFL talent evaluator before joining the Bills (originally to replace Gaine when he got the Texans GM job) in 2018. Beane strengths are as a leader and a strategist. He has always leant heavily on his scouts. There is nothing wrong with that - Howie Roseman is arguably the best GM in football and came from the football ops side of the business before he became a General Manager. Mickey Loomis is a Superbowl winning GM with the Saints too and came from the football ops side. John Lynch is a former player, turned broadcaster, turned GM in San Fran. You don't have to have a scouting background to be a good GM. Why the WR strategy lies at Beane's door has been explained to you many times, you just don't like the explanation. He is in charge of personnel, he makes the calls. And the build of this team VERY closely reflects the build of the Panthers teams under Hurney and Gettlemen when he was earning his chops in that fornt office. They chronically under valued WRs too, while spending significant resources on defensive front seven. Just like Beane has.

To be clear I don't know what the relationship was like in 2023. My take on 2023 is all my reading based on how it looked. My take on 2022 is verified from inside the building and by the end of that season the relationship was in a really bad place.

Yea there was definitely a rift. At the end of 2022 they were barely on speaking terms, they had no communication at all over that offseason. They obviously managed to patch something together to play during 2023 and I don't know what the relationship was like coming out of that season, but I did find it interesting no mention at all of Josh in his exit message. In comparison on his way out of Minnesota he said "Kirk will always be my guy" of Cousins. I think the Bills concluded whatever was broken between them was unfixable.

Their designated UK "home" stadium is Wembley. When they play at Tottenham it is a road game.

I think walk. Davis will have 2 years in the system and can take over, draft another mid round RB that year and keep cycling through. The ONLY thing that changes the equation is if he becomes a real receiving threat. That could make them re-consider. I don't just mean a decent check down option. I mean Kamara or McCaffrey who teams design pass plays for. I don't see Cook ever being that but if he were then it might tip the balance for them. Never draft one day 1 either.

I'm coming if it happens.

But I'm not sure McDermott being in a make-or-break season is a reality. Nothing that the Bills have done or said this off-season leads me to believe that is the case. I still think they'd have to miss the playoffs for there to be a change.

Yea he was elite but for a shorter period. He was considered something of a 1st round bust in Chicago but he had a solid 5 year period there with the Panthers where he was right at that elite level and was a bona fide #1 weapon on that team. As you say he isn't in the Gronk, Kelce, Gonzalez tier but he had a solid period of elite play in his career.

Thats still around a 2am finish though London time. And I don't know how you get all those people out and home from Wembley or Tottenham at that time. The night time infrastructure just isn't in place to do it. And I know people will say "ah but for one night surely they will find a way" well take it from someone who was at the Euro 2020 (in 2021) final at Wembley with England in it.... those ad hoc one off arrangements don't work. And that game finished much earlier. The problem is our biggest stadia are not in very accessible spots. The Olympic Stadium might work a little bit better. But still not easy.

I am not here to tell you that Epenesa is a stud. Or even that is truly a full time starting defensive end (I don't think he is). But it is wrong to say he hasn't developed since he has been here. He was just a pure bull rusher in college whose stock in trade was running tackles over and cleaning up the Quarterback. Almost all of his sacks the past two seasons have been on outside speed rushes where he has definitely learned to dip his shoulder and square offensive tackles up before exploding past them. He didn't have that ability when he came out of college so he has definitely developed. He is also arguably the Bills' best finisher when he gets pressue. When AJ is in range of the QB he usually gets him down whereas Groot, Ed, Floyd all at times in the last couple of seasons have been guilty of letting their guy get away. I think his role remains essentially just a situational pass rusher. His all round skillset still isn't there to be your go to defensive end IMO. Doesn't play with enough eye discipline, doesn't set the edge, doesn't play with patience and isn't a master of his hand usage. I don't hate the contract at what it is... 1yr 7m or 2yrs 12m. But equally I am not telling you our pass rush is solved because we have AJ Epensea.

Hasn't been first team all pro since 2020. He was a 2nd team all pro in 2022.

That is exactly why the teams with rookie QBs value those mid tier WR2s. Because you need certainty. It doesn't stop you drafting one as well. Indeed that is how the Bills got Gabe. John Brown was their #2 for their 3rd year QB and they took a shot at a drafted guy too. I don't see that market changing. Teams with QBs on rookie deals will continue to sign established vet WR2s to mid tier deals unless something drastic happens to disrupt the model (CBA changes and/or modifications to the way the cap / free agency works).

Yea they'd sell out even at SB prices. And there are plenty of suites at Wembley that wouldn't be an issue. I agree the Superbowl in London is not going to happen. But it isn't because they'd struggle to sell tickets. I promise you that would not be an issue.

What, if anything, this process has taught us is I should talk more about Ryan Tannehill.

I hated the pick. And in 2019 after the Browns game I was like "he needs to step it the ***** up." Indeed @Beck Water in a former life gave me a ban for it.... I was critical of his 2023 season as well. I think it was the worst year since he broke out properly in 2020. But only by his standard not by standard of the league. I don't shy away from the times I have criticised Josh. Nor do I think he should be beyond criticism (which he often is here). But the poster is talking about something that demonstrably never happened.