Nihilarian

The lack of hiring for WR, O line and ST coaches makes me think that the Bills are waiting until the playoffs are over for some reason I have pics from back then and the holes Thurman ran through you could drive a car through. He made his living off the cutback though. The Bills ran a run scheme called the "counter trey" which is an old Redskins idea that the linemen take one step one way and then make the play the other way. This would cause the defenders to freeze for a split second as they were unsure which way the play was going. Anyway, It's my hope that the Bills draft a quality center again like Eric Wood and perhaps a top OG or two too.

If you think about it from McD's perspective he is being an NFL head coach for the first time in Buffalo 2017. A defensive minded type of guy who inherited a QB which fits his scheme of things perfectly. He wants to build a power run offensive attack along with a stout defense. A QB like Tyrod Taylor who doesn't turn the ball over and can throw, run is basically a perfect QB for him! He probably wanted to keep Taylor to see what kind of performance he can get from him with his choice of coaches running the offense. Again, looking at the 2016 Buffalo Bills that McD inherited he saw that the defense was in worse shape then the offense. Bills 16th on offense with the #1 rushing attack. 19th on defense. What the new Bills HC did doesn't make much sense to me as that 2016 Bills secondary was pretty good with Gilmore and Darby at corner. The 2017 Buffalo Bills did make the playoffs at 9-7 and McD saw the limitations in Taylor first hand for himself in that Jags playoff game 17 of 37 for 134 yards passing. Taylor had to go and now he is looking at brining in a new QB. McD didn't know that this Buffalo Bills fan base has been elite QB starved since the Jim Kelly days of the 90's. Patrick Mahomes comes from only playing two full seasons at Texas Tech. In Mahomes first season he played in only 7 games and his team went 4-8 in 2014. His second season the team went 7-6 in 2015. In 2016 the Red Raiders went 5-7 with Kliff Kingsbury as their HC. Kingsbury is currently the new Arizona Cardinals head coach and Mahomes is probably why. If you ask me this is beyond stupid as the man went 35-40 at TT and was fired for it. So, now he is supposed to build the Cardinals into NFL powerhouse... Mahomes didn't fit into the scheme that McD wanted to run in Buffalo with an aggressive all out spread passing attack and as a defensive minded HC McD knows that when you throw the ball three things can happen and two of them are bad... https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/draft/2017/04/26/patrick-mahomes-nfl-draft-2017-quarterback-teams-texas-tech/100942974/ Anyone else think that the Bears would have traded up for Trubisky at the #2 spot if they knew Mahomes would be this good? The kid was a huge boom or bust project that only Andy Reid saw the true potential, then set it in motion.

Jeez guys if you want to wring your hands and cry over a player this team didn't draft we could all go back 20 years or more and do it each and every year. Revisionist whining. The Bills passed on Derek Carr, Dak Prescott, Russell Wilson...Tom Brady. Is the kid an amazing talent, YES! I think he also would have looked not so great in Buffalo with a vastly inferior surrounding cast. Especially not having Andy Reid to mentor him. Have other college "air raid" players looked good in college, yes! Have any of them found success besides Mahomes in the NFL, NO! The Browns, The Bears, The Jags, The Titans, The Jets, the Chargers, The Panthers, The Bengals all passed on the kid and if any of them had any idea he would be this good. Every single one of them would have drafted him. Some scouting reports had Mahomes as a second round prospect. But then, who would have developed him and what surrounding cast would he have on each of those teams? No other team had a surround cast like the Chiefs. One of the very best TEs in the game with Travis Kelce, a TE with 103 receptions, 1336 yards. a top speed WR Tyreek Hill 1479 yards, they had a great RB in Kareem Hunt. I like Josh Allen! I hope this FO gets him some of the talent like the Chiefs have on offense, line, WRs, TE.

Apparently you missed the Falcons 2013 season when Matt Ryan played all 16 games and they went 4-12... Julio Jones for only 5 games and he still had Tony Gonzalez for all season. This was after going 13-3 the previous season. Same HC, same OC. Looks to me like nobody in the Buffalo Bills scouting staff saw the talent in Mahomes (Whaley's and his staff that were all fired) Nor could have anyone in Buffalo developed Mahomes like Reid could, nor does Buffalo have anywhere near the talent on offense that the Chiefs have. I'm very happy that the 2018 Buffalo Bills drafted Josh Allen!!! Besides, I'm not interested in day dreaming about what ifs. No way Mahomes looks anywhere near as good in Buffalo this year. He might have ended up on IR attempting to throw for almost 5000 yards behind that craptastic Buffalo O line.

EJ had a better team around him along with a better offense. Look at the receivers EJ had, Robert Woods, Marquise Goodwin, Stevie Johnson, Scott Chandler to throw to. Not to mention that the Bills had the #2 rushing game in the league in 2013. Eric Wood at center to call protections and Glenn at LT. EJ went 4-6, JA went 5-6!

Pffft, Who would have developed Mahomes in Buffalo? So he sits 2017 and learns from Dennison who was fired?? Then starts this year with no veteran QB to learn from, a bad O line, bad receiver corps, no run game. I highly doubt any QB would have had great success in the 2018 Buffalo Bills offense.

Would you trust Doug Whaley to properly evaluate Patrick Mahomes after the EJ fiasco... I know I wouldn't! Don't forget that Beane wasn't there yet. I think McD did the right thing with Tre White in that he saw the talent and went and got it. Besides, previous to Mahomes those "air raid' QBs have failed in the NFL and let's not forget that he also got to sit for a season and learn under Andy Reid. Not to mention he also learned the NFL ropes on how to be an NFL QB by watching Alex Smith for a season. How many other rookie QBs would fail under those circumstances?Then look at the talent around him on offense, a star TE, a star RB, a star WR and a very good O line. What a great draft for McD in his first year with Tre White, Zay Jones, Dion Dawkins, Matt Milano who was a 5th round pick. If Josh Allen develops properly Bills fans should be very happy he is their QB. Now McD just needs to surround Allen with Talent like Mahomes has. Allen was supposed to sit this year and learn as he was a project QB.

As per the bolded. We don't know that yet as we haven't seen the senior bowl, the combine or the pro days and final grades won't be until April sometime. I take the opposite stance as you do because I don't want some old, tried linemen nearly ready to retire and who knows when they will hit that proverbial wall like we all saw with a few free agent linemen the team brought in the past. Looking at how Beane managed to find some great undrafted free agent talent like Levi Wallace, Robert Foster among others and later round draft picks like Wyatt Teller I'd rather see the team build the line through the draft and free agent walkons over those over priced O linemen. There will be other areas where the team can overspend on high priced free agents like Jadeveon Clowney, Antonio Brown as the team needs a star # 1 WR, pass rusher and others.

While BPA does make some sense I'm more inclined to believe that the late owner had some significant say on who the team drafted each year he was team president. Which was before he hired Tom Donahoe and allowed him to be the president and then reclaimed that position once he fired Donahoe. Before 2001 and after 2005. Probably kind of why the team drafted RBs, CBs so often. Then looking at all the defensive players taken in the draft since 2000 you would tend to think that the defense must have been great for many years. This simply didn't happen as each new regime change sought to draft defensive players that fit their scheme. Clearly looking over the last nearly 20 years drafting BPA didn't work. Now fast forward to this past draft and the Bills targeted particular positions and drafted for those. Quarterback was their first priority with LBer, DT right behind and no question this was a huge success. I only hope that Beane targets an offensive center in the first round as that position is just about as important as LT as that player calls line protections. I could also see a skill player taken here at WR if there is a Julio Jones, DeAndre Hopkins there. Shifting gears a bit here, what bothers me is when this franchise built a top offensive line that usually resulted in great success. The 60's AFL teams with two AFL Championships had great linemen with all five being pro bowlers and the center Billy Shaw as first team all pro. Those 90's super bowl teams saw some really good players on the lines. First team all pro Kent Hull at center, LT Will Wolford, LG Jim Ritcher among others. Ritcher who played in the NFL for 15 years was an OG first round pick of Chuck Knox in 1980 and the Bills already had a decent starter at center in Will Grant. Funny thing that Ritcher didn't start on the line for a few years. As good as those 90 offensive lines were I can recall at the end of the 1991 season the Bills line was so beaten up during the AFC championship game with Denver (they won 10-7) that TE Pete Metzelaars was forced to play OT because they had no one else heathy. Like I said, this years free agent linemen aren't that great as nobody is a 5 star and the top players available will probably be resigned by their teams. Not to mention that so many teams need quality line players. Some team is going to want to draft a QB in the top ten like buffalo did this year and that #9 spot could lead to a bunch more draft picks.

Thank you. Obviously so much depends on how good a teams scouting staff is and if they can properly evaluate a top 10 player at any position. When you draft an O lineman that early I would think that the front office would see that player as a prospective future HoFer or many time pro bowler/all pro. Nelson looks like he will fit that mold. Looking at the Saints O line they have two firsts, a second, two thirds. The Patriots earliest pick is a third rounder which says that they can find above average talent without going early in the draft. I have to think that they have one of the very best O line coaches and an excellent scouting staff to do what few teams are able to do. Although, Wynn was drafted in the first round and he is currently on IR. The Steelers have two first round picks at RG, OC and HoFer Mike Munchak is their line coach. I'm reading that Denver is looking at Munchak as their possible new head coach. The Chiefs have two firsts, two second round picks on their O line. LT Fisher was the first overall pick in 2013 and Andy Reid drafted him. The Ravens have a first and two thirds, LT Stanley was a 6th overall pick. The Bears have a first and two second round picks on their line. The Rams have three second round picks on their line. The Chargers have two firsts and a third on their line and LT Okung was a 6th overall pick. The bigger issue with the Buffalo Bills over the years as Bill from NYC pointed out that this team has been reluctant to spend a first round pick on O line players since Eric Wood (2009) and OG Ruben Brown (1995) who was a nine time pro bowler. ONE first round pick spent on the offensive line for Buffalo since 2009 and that was the second, second round pick at 28. Mike Williams drafted (2002) as a LT played at RT. Looking at the first three rounds in each draft since 2000. 2018, QB, ILB, DT. 2017 CB, WR, OG (Dion Dawkins 2nd round) 2016 DE, ILB, DT 2015 CB, OG (John Miller 3rd round) 2014 WR, OT, LB (Cyrus Kouandjio 2nd round) 2013 QB, WR, LB, WR. 2012 DB, OG, WR. (Cordy Glenn 2nd round) 2011 DT, DB, LB. 2010 RB, DT, DE 2009, DE, OC, DB, OG. (Eric Wood OC 2nd first round pick)(Andy Levitre OG 2nd second round pick)Levitre is still playing with Atlanta. 2008, DB, WR, DE. 2007, RB, LB, QB. 2006, DB, DT, DB. 2005, WR, TE. 2004, WR, QB, DT. 2003, RB, DE, LB. 2002, OT, WR, DE. (Mike Williams) 2001, DB, RB, DE, DT. 2000, DE, DB, LB. 7 of 56 for the line drafted in the first three rounds. Four OGs, one OC, and TWO OTs...both busts. Wood, Levitre were the best things Dick Jauron did for this team. Nix drafted Glenn. McD drafted Dawkins.

High priced free agents that managed to piss off the all pro LT Jason Peters in Derrick Dockery, Langston Walker! Then let's not forget a former 14th overall first round pick brought in by Whaley in OG Chris Williams On March 12, 2014, Williams signed a four-year, $13.5 million contract with the Buffalo Bills. The deal includes $5.5 million in guaranteed money. The guy lasted an entire 3 games before an injury, and the next year he was cut. Forgive me, but I don't want to see this team over pay for offensive line players and end up getting the wrong end of the deal like they have in the past. With so many teams needing O line players and so few quality free agents I'd rather see the Bills go big in the draft and not overpay! No real five star linemen this year from what I see. First thing, if this team is going to overpay for anything ...it's for a top quality line coach who can help choose the players in the draft and undrafted free agents. Next, we all saw what having a pro bowl OG can do in helping the players around him become better players. No reason not to do what the Colts did in the 2018 draft in going OG with the first pick and another OG with their second, second round pick and both offensive guards are starting this year. With two rookie offensive guards the Colts are currently fielding a top five O line and nobody sacks Andrew Luck as the Colts allowed the fewest sacks with only giving up 18 sacks all season. Look at the list of teams with the lowest amount of sacks and 9 of 11 are in the playoffs. A distinct correlation in my view and the majority are pocket QBs. Colts, 18 Saints, 20 Patriots, 21 Steelers, 24 Chiefs, 26 Ravens, 32 Panthers, 32 Bears, 33 Rams, 33 Broncos, 34 Chargers, 34

The problem here in Buffalo is that the majority of this fan base would want to throw themselves under a buss should this FO draft an offensive guard with the 6th overall pick like the Colts did this year. Also, given that this HC is a defensive minded guy I really doubt he will want to draft for offense despite needing big time help on the O line an receiver corps. Looking at what the Colts did this year is an excellent point in how to help that offense be all they can be with the building of a quality offensive line which is a big reason as to why that Colts offense is a top five unit. Look at the Colts over the last few years and they had Andrew Luck and he was getting beaten up and ultimately seriously injured because of bad lines. The Colts have three first found picks at LT, LG, OC and a #2 pick at RT. That vaunted Texans D line with JJ Watt, Reader, Dunn with LBers Jadeveon Clowney, Whitney Mercilus and they didn't sack Luck not even once. Although they did manage to get four hits on him. As much as I would love to see the Buffalo Bills put fourth the same effort the Colts did to build their offensive line. Sadly, after looking at what they went into this season with I just don't see this regime giving a hot damn about protecting Josh Allen because of his ability to scramble.

As bad as Castillo was I think Crossman should have gone first... These moves needed to be made if the team wanted to compete for a division title this year. Good to see McD is not sitting on his hands. Now to find some quality replacements who know what they are doing.

Reading Castillo's story from his perspective it wasn't his idea to go into the season with the players on the roster. (lack of talent) Losing Glenn, Woods, Incognito did hurt the line play badly and I kinda doubt any O line coach could have done that much better this season. Considering the play calling, the rookie QBs. I had the impression that Castillo had more input into the roster at the start of the season and from what he said, he didn't. Still the guy stinks with his overly complex run blocking schemes. The reason the guy is "hurt" by the firing is that he thought he was a fixture in Buffalo with McD and he sees the talent in Josh Allen. On another note in regards to Cordy Glenn. Beane was sitting at the #20 spot and knew he needed to move up into the top ten to draft one of the top four QBs. Trading away Glenn provided a big help in moving up to the #12 spot for a QB. The Bills hit the lottery with Josh Allen and played it perfectly to move up to draft him. Glenn, a guy who hadn't played a full season since 2015 and was injured again for the last three games this season. Clearly the Bills FO didn't think he was worth what he was being paid, like Sammy, Like Marcel. Shifting gears again... what about Crossman?

Also, when you look at what Glenn was being paid vs Dion Dawkins who did very well when Glenn went out with an injury it made the former expendable. Plus, Glenn started looking down before Incognito got there so was he really worth 12 mill per, a top ten paid LT and a guy who has never made the pro bowl? I didn't mind trading Glenn. What I did mind was not replacing Woods, Incognito adequately.

YES! The guy made mistake after mistake attempting to correct his first mistake. The guy was nothing more then Russ Brandon's yes man and a good quality defensive scout. Then consider two first round draft picks on a WR when the team didn't have their franchise QB yet. He drafted Watkins in an attempt to help his poor choice at QB. Buffalo Bills were at #4 they should have drafted Khalil Mack and Whaley being a decent defensive scout didn't see this... and didn't the talent in next ten plus players in that draft after Watkins who were all better choices. My favorite part of that 2014 draft was after the Bills drafted Watkins the FO stated that they were still looking for that big, tall red zone target receiver. Mike Evans, hello? So many mistakes, he drafted a rookie QB only to not have a QB coach, no veteran QB on the roster and put him behind a pretty bad O line with Legursky, Pears, Urbik. Actually Chris Williams was brought in for (Williams signed a four-year, $13.5 million contract with the Buffalo Bills. The deal includes $5.5 million in guaranteed money) to play LG and he lasted a whole 3 games after an injury, which was stated as an excuse because the guy couldn't block at all. BTW, a lot of the trades that Whaley was noted for were started by other teams. The Colts GM Ryan Grigson wanted Bill Polian's last first round draft pick off the team so he traded Jerry Hughes for Kelvin Shepard. Grigson initiated the call to Buffalo to offer that trade and at least Whaley was smart enough to take it. Same with LeSean McCoy as Chip Kelly wanted Shady out of Philly and traded him for Kiko Alonso. Also, it was Rex Ryan who wanted to bring in Tyrod Taylor, Richie Incognito. There is a real reason as to why Doug Whaley is no longer an NFL GM.

It is pretty tough to make plays as a RB when the defense greets you in the backfield... Even using Shady as a receiver more often would be a big help to the offense. The guy is still a force in the open field.

Actually, Anthony Lynn was good too. I just hope that McD/Beane now can see the effect of losing a pro bowl LG, OC and drafts quality replacements for Wood, Incognito. That right side also stinks with Mills, Miller. Mills was so bad it made Miller not look so terrible. Crossman next please!

Hell yeah! Only a year late, but nevertheless... w00t!!! He really sucked and the team needed this badly.

I agree that the NFL network lost their star draft guy. It stinks. Dunno how Mayock is going to win in this situation because Chuckie will have the final say on draft selections. That said Gruden looks like a total fool for allowing Mack, Cooper to leave. Those two helped propel the Boys and Bears to the playoffs.

Pretty good day? Allen was awesome in my view with 3 passing TDs, 2 rushing TDs, a QBR of 94.8, rating 114.9. Then 9 rushes for 95 yards a 10.6 YPC AVG with 2 rushing TDs. Last time I looked Allen was still a rookie who is learning, developing and pointing out the few bad things that happened makes it look like you have an agenda against him. Yes, he still has some throws where his mechanics aren't set and he throws an errant pass. It happens to all QBs. The bigger picture here is that the Bills got one of the best QBs in this years draft...if not the best when all is said and done. Allen didn't have the talent around him that Baker Mayfield had with line, receivers among other things. Allen was more of a project then Rosen, Mayfield, Darnold and he was supposed to sit and learn like Mahomes did for a season. With a better line, better receivers, better run game Allen might have taken this team to the playoffs this season. Me either! That bolded part cannot be overstated enough in that Brian Daboll for most of the season has called for far more mid to deep passes during a game. This game was defined by the Bills QB making plays despite no real ground game other then the Bills QB. Shady 10 carries for 26 yards a 2.6 YPC AVG. Chris Ivory 14 carries for 45 yards a 3.2 YPC AVG. Lastly, to me it looked like the Dolphins were intent on stopping the Buffalo Bills run game to force Josh Allen to throw it...and he burned them for it with his arm and legs. I think the Dolphins very much wanted to win this game and they were just smoked by a Bills QB who wanted it more.

I get the impression that you mistakenly quoted the wrong post as I didn't imply in any way, shape or form that EJ had any kind of potential. The only thing I implied was that he was drastically not developed properly in his first year.

Preaching to the choir my man as I agree with it all. Now imagine if this years OC had built a better run game from the start and actually utilized McCoy in the passing game along with more short throws instead of that mid to deep passing game with so many incompletions. Moving the chains should have been the priority over the big play with the deep ball. When the team needs five yards for a first down this OC calls for a mid to deep pass which usually resulted not getting a first down. The thing is, the run game actually worked in a few games when the team had the lead because the OC would actually call for more runs then pass plays. Usually most every game the Bills passed 2x as much as they attempted to run the ball. A better Buffalo run game would keep the defense on the sidelines and allow them to be fresher. IE, not worn out each game from being on the field for most of the game. This would allow for a better pass rush as the defensive line players would spend less time on the field. The 2018 Buffalo Bills defense was #1 for awhile and is still #2 in yards allowed, #1 in passing yards allowed. While currently 18th in points allowed. So many blowouts I feel were the result of a bad offensive scheme. The 2018 Buffalo Bills only completed 63 of 204 third down conversions because of a lack of a strong run game along with a lack of a short pass game that more or less excluded the teams best receiver in LeSean McCoy. Throwing those mid to deep passes to receivers like Kelvin Benjamin with a 37.1 catch percentage was nearly futile, 62 targets, 23 catches. Zay Jones was targeted 93 times and caught 50 balls with a 53.8 percent catch percentage. McCoy OTOH has a 74.4 catch percentage. This mid to deep passing scheme might have worked more often had the team a better offensive line that would give Josh Allen more time to throw those 3 to 5 to 7 step drop backs. This offensive scheme with almost no run game and a mid to deep passing philosophy that Allen was in this season wasn't really conducive in developing a rookie QB because as you pointed out "You can't expect the rookie to win the games by himself." Not with that O line, not with those receivers and not with that scheme.

What escapes most Bills fans and some NFL coaches it seems... is how a rookie QB is developed in his first year in the NFL. I can't overstate how important it is to a rookie QB to have a veteran NFL QB on the roster to help guide that rookie QB through his first season. To have a qualified NFL QB coach to help guide him in his first season. To have an NFL qualified offensive coordinator to help guild him in his first NFL season. EJ had none of those! No veteran QB on the roster No NFL QB coach with that 2013 Buffalo staff No NFL OC with previous NFL experience on the staff One of the worst offensive lines in the NFL that season EJ had some veteran QB help during the OTA's, pre season and that ended when Kevin Kolb met that rubber mat that ended his NFL career! Besides that who even then who knows how helpful Kolb was to any of the QBs on the roster that year. Bills fans need to understand that EJ was a rookie QB, Jeff Tuel was an undrafted free agent rookie QB that year and Thaddeus Lewis was basically a rookie with only one game in Cleveland (32 attempts) in 2012. So that 2013 Buffalo Bills opening day roster had 3 rookie QBs on it with no real starting experience. Three rookie QBs, no QB coach and Nathaniel Hackett as his OC who came straight from college and was never previously an NFL offensive coordinator. Is it any wonder why EJ failed? Kinda like this year with Nathaniel Peterman as the starter and one game under his belt from the year and Josh Allen as the only QB's on the roster for the first six games. The way I look at it 2014 was more like what his rookie season should been with veteran QB Kyle Orton on the roster, and an actual NFL QB coach. Then Marrone benching EJ after a bad performance against the Texans week 4. This after asking EJ to throw 44 times vs 23 runs. That season was a clusterfluck on offense with Fred Jackson missing games, CJ Spiller missing games and when the team did run it was 70% of the time right up the middle with Hackett calling plays. Just to give fans and idea how bad that Bills O line was that year. In week 16 against the Raiders with a playoff berth on the line at Oakland the Bills only ran 13 times for 13 yards with Orton throwing 49 times! This was against the 3-12 Raiders who were 32nd in points allowed. Each time the Bills ran the ball the Buffalo RB was met in the backfield almost every run. Anyway, EJ had stated he learned more from watching Kyle Orton prepare for a game then he ever learned from anyone else on the team. What does that tell you about his OC, his QB coach? The kid never had a chance to properly develop in Buffalo due to inept coaching. Josh Allen didn't have a veteran QB for the first quarter of the 2018 season and credits Anderson, Barkley with his improvement after his injury. Still, the scheme he has been playing in is not conducive in properly developing a rookie QB.

Daboll might have the New England Patriots play book... but he has no idea how to use it like they do. The Patriots QB Brady had one of the very worst games I've ever seen him play with only 13 of 24 for 126 yards passing, 2 INTs. So what does Pats OC McDaniel's do? He ran the ball down the Bills throat for 47 attempts for 273 yards. Michel rushed 18 times for 116 yards with a 6.7 YPC average. All they did was move the chains by running the ball with 15 first downs rushing, thus controlling the clock and ToP. The Bills meanwhile asked the rookie QB to carry the game in a stadium that rookie QBs never fair well in! And to the tune of 41 passing attempts vs only 18 rush attempts. Ford did okay with a 4.7 YPC average but was only asked to run 7 times. The Bills offense was a complete joke against NE by asking Allen to carry the team with a mid to deep passing scheme too. If the Bills needed 5 yards for a first down this OC wouldn't call a 6 yard out and instead called for a mid to deep pass play that takes time to develop. This with a bad O line and lousy receiving corps. McKenzie targeted 8 times in the passing game caught one ball. The Bills receivers were targeted 40 times and caught only 20 balls. The offensive players might be bad, but the run game coordinator/offensive coordinator are just as bad. Dunno why the special teams coach still has a job either.