Nihilarian

Nobody doubts the Bills need up front. They have to make that line better and turn over every stone to do so. But forcing yourself to pick an offensive lineman at #9 regardless of your board would be a huge error. If, for example, you believe Ed Oliver to be the second coming of Aaron Donald and a center to be the next Eric Wood then you'd be crazy to take Eric Wood over Aaron Donald. Yes the Bills need at C is greater than their need at DT but you don't pass on perennial all pros for a guy who is less than that unless that guy is a Quarterback. 3 C'mon man, which one of those Rams linemen was making 135 million with 87 million guaranteed? Not one of them made the pro bowl or was an all-pro like Donald is... The sole reason that Rams offense was as good as it was in 2018 in being the #2 offense was because of Goff and Gurley who both made the pro bowl and Gurley a first team all pro. Now Gurly was clearly injured late in the season and wasn't the same player in the playoffs. If you clicked the link I posted you would have read that Patriots backup QB Brian Hoyer recognized the offensive plays/playcalling Rams OC/HC Sean McVay was running because he was running Shanahan's offense that he ran in Cleveland, same nomenclature. "Rams head coach Sean McVay was a tight ends coach for Kyle Shanahan with the Redskins from 2010-2013. When Shanahan was the offensive coordinator for the Browns in 2014, Hoyer started 11 games for him. After watching Manning's episode, he realized McVay's offense was the same as Shanahan's offense he ran in Cleveland. Hoyer continued to give the Patriots' defenders tips in practice. If the safeties showed they were playing up, Hoyer told Devin McCourty the quarterback is just going to catch the snap and throw it deep. The biggest piece of knowledge he gave the Patriots defense centered around blitzes." From Hoyer: The biggest play in the Super Bowl was when Flores called a blitz in the fourth quarter with a 10-3 lead. The Rams were driving towards tying the game, but in the face of all-out pressure, Goff threw a bad pass and Stephon Gilmore easily intercepted.

The point I was attempting to make about Rams DT Arron Donald, that the second highest paid defensive player in the NFL who had 20.5 sacks in the regular season. Had only one solo tackle with 4 assists and one QB hit that entire SB. This player is a 4x first team all pro, pro bowler. The Rams defense only had three hits on Goff all game. A big a deal as this player is... he basically was invisible in that super bowl. He didn't change the outcome of the game. He wasn't the same force in the biggest game of his career as he was in the regular season. The reason is simply that the Patriots have a very good interior offensive line that double, triple teamed Donald. That last sentence is what leads me to hope that this new Bills regime doesn't follow the error of past regimes in thinking that they need to spend that first round pick on an interior defensive line player and instead look to build the very best offensive line they can. Find an offensive center as good or better than Eric Woods. Find a left guard as good or better than Richie Incognito. Upgrade that right tackle position and perhaps that left tackle position. Build a quality offensive line that will properly protect their new franchise QB. There are currently projected six offensive line players that could go in the first round this year. No reason not to build the very best line they can. On another note, as for the Patriots defense looking so good. They might have an inside as to what the Rams were doing on offense from their backup QB Brian Hoyer. https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/patriots/breer-brian-hoyer-recognized-rams-offensive-scheme-his-days-browns

So, because the Rams offense which was #2 overall in the NFL in 2018 fell on their face in the super bowl you are touting that Patriots defense that was 20th in yards allowed is a strong reason defense still wins? It was the Rams game to win and their offense went into the toilet as they forgot to run the ball which was their strong suit all season. Then being down by only three points the OC went pass happy. (sound familiar?) The Rams QB Goff with 4600 yards passing and 32 TDs choked about as badly as any QB I've ever seen in a Superbowl. I don't give the Patriots defense props for Goff's poor play. At least we agree that the Bills are desperate for offense and I'm hoping that most of those 10 draft picks go for offense.

I agree. The 2018 Bills defense was #2 in yards allowed and 18 in points allowed. Meanwhile, the offense was 30th in both yards, points. This franchise is desperate alright and that is for offensive players. The Bills need a #1 WR, #1 TE as they have told Clay he is no longer in their plans. The offensive line needs a complete makeover with at least four position upgrades. Offensive center being the most important, then LG, RT, RG. Dion Dawson might remain at LT but then again they might choose to upgrade that position and move Dawkins to RT, OG. If this franchise goes defense with that #1 pick at #9 the ONLY position I can see that need for is a pass rusher. On another note, the very best DT in the league was Aaron Donald with 20 sacks and how much impact did he have in the SB? The 2014 Buffalo Bills had the #4 overall defense and were the best sacking/pass rushing team in the NFL that year. Point being is, the defense isn't going to have that much impact if the offense is among the worst and the defense can't get off the field.

Looking at the contract numbers this is another Beane "steal" and well done. I don't see this player at center and in my view is a direct upgrade for Miller at RG. Which puts an actual warm body in that position as Miller will be gone as a UFA.

Awesome pic! DE, OC, LT, OLB, MLB, OLB...WR, QB, WR/ST, RB. This looks like the 1991 AFC PB. Kelly was the MVP Four defensive players, six offensive players. Who would have thunk that the WR/ST player would someday be a pro bowl MVP

The Jets also thought they were getting a decent starter from the Redskins, hence the reason they signed him. Then there was a real reason they cut him. So, obviously, they didn't want him at OG or center despite the injury. So, now the Buffalo Bills have a cast off scrub O linemen the Jets didn't want. Is he an upgrade at RG over Mills who they are certain to let leave, probably. Injury or no. I was simply hoping for better than below average though ...even as a backup.

The signing of a Jets starter that played so poorly last year that the new regime cut him tells me not much has changed since the Buddy Nix, Doug Whaley eras of bringing in scrubs and hoping that they can get the job done. Some Bills fans are upset at this signing and justifiably so when you hope to see high-quality upgrades on the line and now Beane signs a "maybe" player. Maybe it was an injury and maybe he is just another bum like all the rest they signed last year. I know this is not the way I was hoping this FO would replace Eric Woods, Richie Incognito! The only position he might be a decent upgrade at is at RG as Mills is hopefully gone and even then I was hoping for better. I want to see this franchise build a dominant offensive line. This!

Looking back at the 2018 draft and free agents Beane hit a home run many times with first just being patient enough to wait to #7 to get the player he wanted all along. And not going for what the majority of this board wanted him to do ...which was a trade up with the NY Giants and giving up the 2018 draft plus a 2019 draft pick to the #2 spot to draft Josh Rosen. I still recall the majority of this board talking like they were ''gutshot" when they announced Allen over Rosen. Not only did Beane get his franchise QB, but he also stepped up and found the new, young, MLBer in the first at #16. Now, look at two other players the Buffalo Bills picked up in CB Levi Wallace, WR Robert Foster who have been drafted in the first round in many redraft posts. It's like Buffalo got four first rounders in 2018. Sure, both Beane and McD have made mistakes but it's how you recover from those mistakes and correct them. Going forward I'm hoping that the offensive line gets fixed, the receiver corps gets some quality upgrades at WR, TE. For McD to show he is worthy he needs to beat the Patriots with Brady and if he manages that he will be here to stay.

It's kinda funny how many WRs the Steelers have let walk over the years and they keep finding new, better guys that step up. From Plaxico Burress, Hines Ward (retired), Santonio Holmes, Mike Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders, Antonio Brown and now Juju Smith-Schuster. I'd rather steal the Pittsburgh WR scout and draft my own new, young players to develop with Allen. I'd rather not have a deva in the locker room...didn't the Bills learn a lesson from Sammy?

It's not so impressive when you have so many weak links in the chain like the 2018 Buffalo Bills had on that line. Literally, every position looked like a liability at some point...even Dion Dawkins. https://www.wkbw.com/sports/bills/2018-buffalo-bills-all-22-in-review-interior-offensive-line

Scheme fit? You can run block, pass block or you can't and this kid outright stinks at this point. He might look a bit better with upgrades at RT, OC but he would still be the weakest link. The entire 2018 Buffalo Bills starting line needs to be revamped with maybe keeping the one decent player in Dawkins as an OG, RT.

Hey, I agree that Kelly was part of the reason for that loss. All through those "hurry up" offensive years, Thurman Thomas was 75% of the offense. The Bills actually ran the ball more then they threw it most of those glory years. Another problem as I see it was that this team was so used to dominating by putting up quick scores and then siccing Bruce Smith on the opposing QB. So what we all saw was what happens when that opponent decides to run the ball down your throat to keep your offense on the sidelines? NT Jeff Wright, 6'2'' 274lbs...can that be right? LDE Leon Seals 6'5'' 265lbs. RDE Bruce Smith 6'4'' 262lbs. Talk about smaller, faster...it's no wonder they could rush the passer and couldn't stop the run! Funny thing is the Bills beat the NYG at their stadium 17-13 in week 13 with both starting QBs getting injured and knocked out of the game. Giants starting RB Rodney Hampton rushed 21 times for 105 yards in that game. Soooo, in that SB it was the Giants backup RB too.

The Bills D just couldn't stop OJ Anderson in the third quarter and they went from the NY Giants 25 to the Bills end zone in 13 plays that ate up most of that quarter. Thurman had the better game but Anderson got the MVP nod. Walt Corey... The biggest play of the game in my view was when Bruce Smith had his hand on Hostetler's wrist in the end zone and the ball was in that hand. Sacked -7 yards for a safety. Somehow, he managed not to fumble it...the NY Giants backup QB.

This! Plus, how does anyone have a clue about the upcoming season while not looking at free agent, draft, walk on acquisitions? Waaaaaay early for any predictions for this years outcomes.

I don't know if that's a ringing endorsement to have McD on the Browns radar...

My take on the Ralph Wilson era from Wade Phillips onward is that Wilson was a very shrew business man and his team needed to make a profit, period! He was the team president for a reason. The man had expensive hobbies like collecting fine art and owing race horses. He did not want to end up like Art Modell who was forced to move, sell his team or like his good friend Al Davis who needed to sell part ownership. As it was he wanted to keep his name on the stadium too. The thing is, winning can get very expensive in so many ways as he found out during the SB years. Players becoming stars and needing to be compensated, coaches too. When a team wins all of a sudden everyone becomes important in the FO, coaching staff become more valuable, more expensive. Wilson didn't mind paying 100 million to DE Mario Williams because as expensive as he was he was only the 6th highest paid player in 2012 and he fell behind fast as salaries went up and up. Drew Brees made around 50 mill in 2013. I think there was a real reason as to why the team kept drafting DBs & RBs over the years and never drafted a QB in the top 10 before Josh Allen. Don't get this wrong as Ralph Wilson loved his fans and wanted to win games. He also wanted to keep ticket prices reasonable to allow all Bills fans to afford a season ticket. I also think that there was a real reason he kept hiring scrubs as coaches, GMs and promoted a marketing guy to team president at the end. Like JohnC noted, thankfully that era is behind us.

Thanks. It's honestly great to read that another poster that shares the same outlook on the offensive line. I've always found it to be perplexing to me that the majority of this board and most of the actual NFL world would rather see a top ten pick at defensive tackle, defensive end. But would abhor and even be repulsed by the idea of spending that high a pick on an interior offensive linemen. This really makes very little sense to me because as important as it is to stop the run or get to the QB. The absolute highest priority for the front office should be in protecting the most valuable position on the team, the quarterback. And another priority is being able to move the ball in the run game as teams need to be more then one dimensional. Ex-Bills GM Buddy Nix had a different outlook and had no problem in expending a #3 overall on a DT in the 2011 NFL draft. Later stated that any OT can play OG. In his view all O linemen needed to be a viable resource was be over 6ft tall, 300+ LBs. This mental error showed itself in 2010 when he stated that "you're going to think I'm crazy but we're not that far away". Meaning he though the 2010 Buffalo Bills were a serious contender for the division. Then the 2010 season started with Bills QB hurried, harried and running for their proverbial lives for the first eight games. Trent Edwards lasted two games before being outright cut and Fitz stepped in and ended up with a 6.7 YPC average in running for his life. Things started to settle down on the line after Nix picked Erik Pears, Kraig Urbik off the waiver wire to replace Mansfield Wrotto at RT, Wood at RG. Ex Raider Cornell Green 6'6'' 315lb OT started the season at RT on a 3 year 9 mill contract and he lasted a whole five games before quietly benched and cut. Needless to say the 2010 Buffalo Bills finished the season 4-12 and Buddy Nix in all his brilliance didn't draft an offensive linemen the next year until round four in OT Chris Hairston. The first pick was that #3 overall DT, then a DB, then a LBer, then another DB. Hairston was the second fourth round pick that year. It was more then clear that the mentality of any warm body filling a spot on the offensive line was good enough to get by with. What gets me is that the #3 overall in 2011 on a DT and the team was still very desperate for a pass rusher and didn't mind paying Mario Williams 100 million in 2012. The 2014 Buffalo Bills had the #4 overall defense and led the league in sacks with 54, the best pass rush in the league...that still wasn't good enough to shut down Tom Brady or beat the Patriots. You need an offense that can, run, pass and score too. Nix would later on spend a #2 draft pick on an OG in Cordy Glenn to play LT and Glenn managed to do a really good job at that position. Alas, although the Bills had Glenn, Incognito, Woods, a team needs five decent players as a line is only as good as it's weakest link. An example is the 2017 Chargers game as SD DE Joey Bosa stated that the Bills RT never touched him as he constantly harassed Bills QBs all game. Marv Levy is a great HC and in the HoF...a not so good GM. Tom Donahoe stuck as a Bills GM. Buddy Nix stunk as a Bills GM. Doug Whaley stunk as a Bills GM. The question now is how will Brandon Beane do going forward now that he has his franchise QB?

For me, it usually never went as far as an actual game. I could see the stupidity in offseason moves and preseason play to realize that this was a bad hire to begin with. The QB situations, the offensive lines it showed season after season. Gregg Williams in his second year had acquired QB Drew Bledsoe from a trade with the Patriots... who everyone in the world knew by this time that Drew needed supreme protection to win games. After a sack or two and Bledsoe was seeing/hearing phantom rushers and he could never get into a rhythm after that. New GM/team Tom Donahoe president screwed the pooch in the 2012 draft and drafted the wrong LT in Mike Williams at the #4 spot as he didn't even make a decent RT. Two spots later the Vikes draft McKinnie who is an all pro at LT. The Bills even had Kevin Gilbride as OC at that time. A man who would later go on to be the OC for the SB winning NY Giants. The thing is Donahoe must have known he needed a better line and attempted to up grade it with a new LT. When that failed he gave up on building a better line. Instead Bledsoe was instructed to get the ball out quicker. Sure, ask the QB who has been in the league 10 years, and had taken a team to the SB to change his play style. These defensive minded head coaches wanting to draft and build a defense first... somehow they forget to fully build the offense. Gregg Williams, Dick Jauron, Rex Ryan. Then the offensive minded head coaches in Mike Mularkey, Chan Gailey, Doug Marrone and even those guys didn't think to build better offensive lines to protect the QBs they had. Now this past year the franchise finally drafts a QB in the top 10 for the first time in their storied 50+ year history and put that rookie behind one of the very worst offensive lines in the history of the Buffalo Bills. If this regime fails to build a top quality offensive line to protect that young QB and build a better ground game, then this regime will also fail just like all the rest of them. Most Bills fans saw the writing on the wall before the 2018 season started and knew it would be a down year when the FO didn't properly replace Woods, Incognito. The 64-65 AFL Championship years this franchise had one of the best offensive lines in the league. Same with those late 80s, early 90's Jim Kelly years as they had one of the best O lines year after year. All pro, pro bowl players at C, OG, LT. Those years the Bills defense was very good and the offense was even better.

There was a real reason why Castillo was fired and it should have happened after the 2017 season! I don't know how McD put up with such a bad outcome for so long as he did. 2016 saw the Bills run game #2 in rush attempts, #1 in rush yards, #1 in rush TDs, #1 in yards per carry average. To 2017 #4 in rush attempts, #6 in rush yards, #15 in rush TDs, #14 in yards per carry average. The Bills did lose Cordy Glenn for most of the season and yet Dion Dawkins filled in very well. How well you ask? PFF graded Dawkins as one of the top five best LTs over the second half of the season. It was at RG that Miller fell into a hole and was replaced by Vlad Ducasse. LG Richie Incognito was the lines best player as he only allowed 3 pressures and no sacks or hits. RBs averaged 1.92 yards before contact. Without Incognito, Woods it was glaring how bad the line was in 2018 they went from the top ten to #26 with Wyatt Teller only allowed 8 pressures in 8 games. The problem is that while not bad at pass blocking... he stunk at run blocking. Even Dawkins play fell off without the lines best player in Incognito no longer next to him. The entire line could be revamped with Dawkins moving to OG or RT. Although, when you look at the stats week by week the 2018 Buffalo Bills only seemed determined to run the ball when they had the lead and McCoy was hardly being utilized in the run game or pass game for a lot of the season.

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!