schoolhouserock

Can you please name said coaches?

McDermott “hovers over” BB’s shoulder and then doesn’t play his apparently hand picked rookies? It’s teamwork like anything else.

It would be cool to see how this falls for other teams, head coaches, and GMs. For example, there are only so many TEs on any roster, right? It is also a position that has become difficult to develop in the NFL. GM’s might prefer a vet over a cost controlled rookie at such a position. So what is a reasonable percent to allocate to that position? Is Buffalo an outlier? Very neat analysis and would be great to see it set in a broader context.

I completely agree that the Bills should be thinking about their future WR1. Currently, I am not sold on any of the draft-eligible WRs as being capable of dominating in the way a WR1 should. There are some intriguing guys. Like Addison, for example, who has shown the ability to fit into multiple offensive schemes and to have great seasons with minimal “learning curves”. That is very attractive. He also appears to have an excellent feel for off-schedule plays, making him a great match for Josh. He has a very smooth way of running. So smooth is his running, that I find a nagging suspicion in my mind that he may lack the suddenness and/or speed to win consistently at the next level (same feel as JSN). Really want to see the measurements and speed / agility times from a whole host of these receivers. I guess what I am saying is that, if the Bills are to use their first round draft choice on the best player available (hopefully best offensive player available), it may not be a WR. It may very well be an RB, should Bijan still be there. He may be the best shot at a talent projected to be truly elite. I have come to grips with the idea of yet another premium pick used on a now non-premium position because the dude could very well be the real deal.

There is only one team each year that doesn’t “fizzle out”.

Coach McD is currently ranked 52nd among NFL head coaches in number of playoff wins all time. Coach McD is currently ranked 65th all time in playoff win percentage. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/ Let’s say the Bills have a great year next year and win it all. (3-0 in next season’s playoffs). That would put him top 31 in both categories - ahead of multiple hall of famers. The Bills and coach McD are literally one great season from such lofty heights. That’s what we have here, folks. Making a change and expecting something better is ‘pie in the sky’ thinking.

This is the possibility that has me concerned. Lateral move of a well-regarded coach. There are a handful of possible reasons behind the move and Dorsey discontent is certainly one of the possibilities.

Holcomb has been a DC before - on two different teams. This is the exact opposite of desperation. It is forward thinking/contingency planning. Frazier won’t be here for forever. I don’t see how folks think this is a bad hiring.

Houston had good safety play this past season. Jalen Pitre had himself a great rookie season. I think Houston also ran a lot of nickel defense… though I think they started going more true Tampa 2 later in the season (if memory serves) Mixing threads… I’m still trying to figure out the Bernard pick! Maybe the Bills go bigger at the nickel spot and this defense starts to look more like a traditional Tampa 2? Put Taron at safety and pair him with Micah in 2023? That could get Bernard on the field. Maybe a similar transition occurred in Houston this season? Pitre definitely started more as a nickel safety but ended up deeper as the year wore on. Anyways, just speculation. This hire fits the current system or some minor variation of it. Bills are definitely running it back.

Campbell really is a stud. It is not an overstatement to say that he could replace Tremaine.

That Iowa defense was fantastic this past season. Almost made it to the B1G championship game with a historically bad offense. And by historically bad, I mean that offensive unit was one of the worst offenses in over 100 years of B1G football. At one point in the season, I believe Iowa had the #1 scoring defense combined with the last place scoring offense. If not, it was very close to being the case. Unreal. Van Ness was definitely a solid contributor to that defense. It was a surprise to most Hawkeye fans that he went ahead and declared for the NFL draft. He just finished his redshirt sophomore season so most folks figured they’d have him around for at least one more season. Seeing him projected to the first round, however, makes it a little less surprising. Even as a Hawkeye fan, I am not sure I understand how pundits are so high on Van Ness. For my eyes, I saw AJE as a more dominant defensive lineman during his Iowa days. Perhaps Van Ness projects better to the NFL? I don’t know.

“Painted themselves into a corner” LOL… good way to describe the first round of the ‘22 Draft.

So for offensive linemen picked in the first five rounds, 3/4 have started a meaningful number of games. Keep taking shots.

Have to hang onto Morse. Don’t create any new holes. He’s the perfect guy to have in the O-line room when the Bills (hopefully) invest multiple draft picks into the O-line.

Ha! And we can certainly speculate something that isn’t the worst case scenario.

First, I 100% agree. However, my mind goes back to things we heard frequently when players like P Manning and A Rodgers were in their prime. We always heard about how they “wanted” to add the running game as a larger component to their offense. I’m not sure that ever materialized for any of them - at least not in the way that fans interpreted those statements. We have heard McD comment on having the “threat” of a running game. There were a few games this season where we saw this. The Bills will still drop back and throw as many times as anyone else in the league. When they run - however seldom - they hit it for 7, 8, 10+ yards. The Bills actually had decent rushing performances this season (thank you Josh Allen). I guess what I am trying to say is that, while I would love a dedicated rushing attack, I am not going to hold my breath. I think the shortest path is to improve the Bills’ interior O-line. At the end of the season, teams were able to take away a massive chunk of the Bills’ run game by simply speed rushing the edges and then shedding interior blocks as Allen tried to escape. Lots and lots of yards and first downs were left on the field - especially during the Bengals game. There were several times when the Bengals LBs and DBs immediately dropped, Allen started to run (good decision), but the DT was easily able to shed his block and get contact on Josh (bad execution). Those runs would have been back breakers for the Bengals’ approach.

Lots of speculation in this thread about some sort of a “blame game” going on behind the scenes between the various coaches. The truth is that we don’t really know the interpersonal dynamics among the various coaches. We could speculate about other ways this shook out… For example, maybe Jim Salgado wanted to do something other than coach safeties? Or perhaps the Bills determined that a major shift in approach to their defensive backfield was warranted and they felt coach Salgado wasn’t the right person to aid that transition? Everything doesn’t always have to be the worst case scenario!

My expectation is that the Bills will be slightly worse next season than they were this season. Both the fish and the Jests are already competitive. Both teams might become ultra competitive with the addition of a good QB (Brady / Rodgers). At the end of the 2021-2022 season, it was clear that the Bills were the favorites to win the East in 2022. At the end of the 2022-2023 season, I think the Bills are still the favorites, but that the rest of the off-season is going to muddy that picture. The Bills are likely to go into the 2023-2024 season as a very questionable favorite.

I am about 60/40… 60% thinking an improved O-line will make the current set of receivers much more palatable… 40% thinking the Bills should always prioritize a WR over an interior O-lineman.

Yep!

The folks asking questions kept referring to Cincinnati’s WRs, which I thought was the wrong approach. It was the questioning that elicited such responses from Beane. Given the line of questioning, I think folks are making a mountain out of this molehill. More focus should have been placed on the performance of Cincinnati’s offensive line. That, to me, gets to the heart of what is wrong. All of McBeane have ALWAYS stated that they build from the lines out. For the backup O-line of Cincinnati to perform so well is a devastating indictment of the Bills’ approach both offensively and defensively. The questions should have centered around how do the Bills implement a system where any version of their O-line can perform like Cincinnati’s did in that game. Beane could not assign “lean years” as a reason in his answer. Cincinnati’s O-line was a mess last off-season. They have improved greatly in that area. They invested in their O-line, yes. However, their play after so many injuries suggests that there is something more to that unit’s turnaround. I don’t know what it is, but I hope the Bills can get it.

Thanks for sharing. Always fun to read. I have a suspicion that Allen is not necessarily “healthy”. The little nicks are already starting to add up, IMO. I wonder how healthy his throwing elbow is and whether it is the type of thing that will ever truly be “right” again. I think he will be a great QB for the Bills for years to come, but that his dynamism will begin to diminish. I hope he can compensate with better mental play. A much improved O-line with additional receiving weapons would be a major game changer in this regard. They are both absolutely worth investing in given that Allen could make the most of the investment. Second - something that has been sitting in the back of my mind all season - didn’t Saffold get into a bad car wreck during the preseason? He was awful this year and I wonder whether: 1) he never quite recovered from that incident or 2) he is just washed or 3) both.

Couldn’t agree more. It was a terrible, terrible time out. Burrow had been nicked and that time out gave him enough time to regroup.

The Bills - regardless of what decisions are made - are likely to have more hiccups next season. This needed to be THE year. Future years are going to require more luck.

Elam should have gotten more play this season. Full stop. That’s not on Beane. It all works together.