Logic

Thanks for the reply, Shaw. The bolded really worried me about his college tape, and it showed up against Green Bay last week. This week, however, against the Titans, he looked much more comfortable in the pocket and less quick to bail. That's what I keep hearing about him from teammates and coaches "He doesn't make the same mistake twice". I hope that's true. It's funny. I've seen QBs with A+ intangibles fail because they physically couldn't get the job done. I've also seen physical marvels fail at the position because they didn't have the intangibles. It's very rare to see a QB with all the intangibles AND A+ physical gifts. It will be fascinating to watch his progress as the season goes on. I don't really worry too much about his accuracy, by the way. What worries me most is whether or not he can learn to see the field and process coverages, pressures, etc, and respond accordingly. Thus far, he has struggled greatly with this. That is to be expected for a rookie who's only four games into his pro career. As much as I am rooting for him to succeed, I can honestly say I consider his turning into a franchise QB to be a 50-50 proposition at this point. It wouldn't surprise me too much if he succeeded and became a Flacco/Newton/Roethlisberger level starter at the position. It wouldn't surprise me at all, either, if he was out of the league in five years. Here's hoping for the former.

Thanks for the writeup, Shaw. Two things: First (and I know you've already talked a little bit about it, but...), what is it in Allen's game that you see that makes you think he's going to be great? I know you've been watching the Bills for a lot of years and have seen many QBs come and go, so I'm very curious to hear why specifically you think he's a keeper. Second, regarding Edmunds: I think it's IMPOSSIBLE to imagine how hard it would be to quarterback an NFL defense at age 20. I mean...it's mind boggling. It seems to me that he is improving each and every week. And being the QB of the defense, each time HE improves, the defense seems to improve with him. Lorenzo Alexander had mentioned that Edmunds was sometimes making incorrect checks and playcalls in preseason, but they were rolling with it, because they knew he'd get the hang of it and learn from his mistakes. He definitely seems to be doing that. As others have already said, he needs to work a bit on his run defense. He is, however, getting more comfortable each week in zone coverage. He is also not getting suckered by play-action quite so much. He does some things that you just can't teach -- they can only come from God-given gifts. In Tampa 2 coverage, for instance, he is routinely dropping 20 yards into coverage and running stride-for-stride with inside receivers, taking them completely out of the play. I have included a link to a quick video below illustrating this. He DID cause a fumble this week, too. That's a forced turnover in back-to-back weeks for him. And finally, did you see the play where he ran 10 yards straight ahead at Mariota , who was rolling out, and nearly walloped him, and caused an incomplete pass? The announcers even commented that Mariota seemed shocked that Edmunds closed on him so fast. Much like Allen, Edmunds is a physical marvel who just needs more mental seasoning. If BOTH the Bills' rookie stud athletes get the mental part down...look out, NFL!

I like that the Bills are asking for too much. They don't NEED to trade McCoy. It's Philly that wants him. If they want him bad enough, they'll overpay. If not, then no trade, and the Bills keep their best offensive player (who hasn't yet lost a step, by the way). Win-Win for Buffalo.

I'm inclined to agree. If he was disgruntled or something, then so be it. But he's not. He's happy, healthy, and was voted team captain.

Exactly this. When you talk about "building culture", I don't know how you get the team to play hard week in and week out when your coach/GM ship out your best offensive player and a team captain. It screams "we're punting on the season!".

I sincerely doubt the Eagles would give up even a 2nd, let alone a 2nd and a player. At McCoy's age, the Bills are looking at a 3rd round pick AT most, and more likely a 4th or 5th. If I'm right about that, Bills would be better served by hanging onto him.

I'm pretty torn about this. On the one hand, the Bills have already pretty much stripped the offense to the nubs. Getting one more good draft pick in exchange for a player who likely won't be around when the Bills are ready for prime time potentially makes sense. On the other hand, McCoy is a locker room leader, a team captain, and has a great relationship with Allen. Taking away the ONE good offensive player the Bills have -- and thus making life even HARDER on their rookie QB -- might be a foolhardy move. The question, of course, is what would the compensation be? Anything less than a 2nd rounder (which I doubt the Eagles would be willing to part with) probably isn't worth it. Why? Because, again, you don't want to make Allen's difficult development even MORE difficult by stripping him of another good offensive player and a mentor/leader in the locker room.

I'm just curious: What is it about this article that makes it seem biased? What about the article is unfair or inaccurate?

Bills fans any time anyone says ANYTHING bad about Allen, you mean?

Jesus Christ.

Bills fans seriously need to get thicker skin. It's embarrassing. No one said he's a bust. No one denied that he was already known to be raw. It's a simple article. It states that Allen hasn't played particularly well so far and lists some areas in which he can improve. Toughen. The. !@#$. Up.

Just wanted to pop in and say this is a reasonable, objective, fair analysis on Marino's part. He even acknowledged on Twitter that he was going to get ripped apart by sensitive Bills fans. He clearly states that he's not saying Allen won't improve, he's not calling him a bust, he's simply pointing out where he's currently lacking and what he needs to improve upon. If Bills fans STILL get upset over such a reasonable and fair analysis or find reasons to pick it apart or claim Allen is being persecuted, they really, REALLY need to get thicker skin.

You mean there are actually people out there who felt that what was here when Beane/McDermott arrived was a sustainable team model built for long term success? Yikes.

I did not read through the 18 pages of what I'm sure were RIVETING and well-composed responses, but I just wanted to say this: It was clarified later on that McDermott was referring to the strategy of player acquisition and releases, not gameday Xs and Os strategy. So...yeah. Chill.

Johnson started 16 games for SF in 2017 and was on his way to starting at OCB for the Seahawks this year before an injury derailed his chances. He has good size and athleticism, is young, and has a chance to start opposite Tre'davious White if the staff feels like Lewis isn't getting the job done. I like the signing. (I also DISlike most of the whiny, predictable "But why aren't we magically summoning any WRs out of thin air instead?! Wahhhh!!!!" replies to this thread)

It's funny. When McDermott/Beane came in, Bills fans universally agreed that a full rebuild was needed and welcomed. Whaley/Brandon/Rex had left behind a toxic dumpster fire from top to bottom, a salary cap mess, and an awful team culture. EVERYTHING needed to be flushed. The Bills needed to start from scratch and build from the ground up. No one disputed this. The fans -- supposedly ready for said rebuild to begin -- all said "we trust the process!". They all agreed that any rookie QB should get at least a couple years to prove himself. Most were fine with said rookie QB not even PLAYING this year. Everyone knew, also, that the team was taking their "salary cap medicine" this year, and likely wouldn't be competitive because of it. So the season starts, our raw rookie QB looks like a raw rookie QB, and at the FIRST SIGN OF ADVERSITY in the second year of a complete rebuild, fans are jumping ship and calling for the coach to be fired. I suppose the team making the playoffs in year 1 of McDermott's tenure accelerated the timeline in the minds of many fans. It shouldn't have. Anyone with a reasonable amount of sense could look at this roster and this astronomical amount of dead money and conclude that 2018 was all about building and growing. For the past 18 years, the Bills franchise put on band-aid after band-aid, refusing to ever tear it all down and go through a proper rebuild. Most fans screamed from the top of their lungs that a full rebuild was needed. Finally...FINALLY...the rebuild begins, and what happens? "Waaahhhh!!! FIRE McDERMOTT! FIRE BEANE! WAHHHHHH" Bills fans are the worst sometimes. Oh, and one more important thing to remember: Beane/McDermott are NOT responsible for anything that happened prior to last year. So for anyone saying "we've been rebuilding for 18 years!" or talking about how they've lost patience: Too bad for you. You obviously don't get it. These guys can only control what's happening NOW, and they're trying to build a TEAM (not just a collection of talent, Whaley-style), and build it the right way. If you can't be patient enough to stick with it, then again...that's too bad for you.

People will reply with memes and jokes and dismiss this, which makes sense... But yeah, I think the Bills have found themselves a legit punter. The fact that he's a lefty and that we stole him from the Pats* makes it even sweeter.

I knew from the moment the Pats signed him that he was a bad fit. Absolutely NOTHING about Corey Coleman says "Patriot Way". I would imagine this will be the last the football world ever heard from him.

With all due respect to your well-reasoned response, I disagree. It IS important that Daboll comes up with a good gameplan and gets Allen as prepared as possible. At the end of the day, though, It's on Allen to recognize what he's seeing in real time, adjust his protections and hot routes if needed, and then adjust again on the fly while the play is happening. No matter how well prepared Daboll has him, I expect Pettine to draw up some looks that absolutely confound Allen. In these instances, it's okay for him to take sacks or throw the ball away and live to fight another down. The only thing Allen absolutely, positively CANNOT do on Sunday if he wants to give the Bills a chance to win, is throw careless picks of the sort he threw against San Diego. In my opinion, this game will tell us a lot about the progress of Josh Allen.

Bills fans will enjoy their lives a lot more in the coming years if they learn to not care so much about what national pundits say. Let Allen's play do the talking. If he is as good as we all think he can be, the pundits will shut their mouths. If he's not, they'll all cackle and claim victory and we'll be talking draft again by 2020. Until one of those two things happen, it's all just opinions, clickbait, and hyperbole. Quit caring so much. Quit going off on Twitter on any analyst that dares voice a less-than-glowing opinion of Allen. Enough already.

Packers 20 Bills 13 Allen crashes back down to earth against a well drawn up and well disguised Pettine defense. Bills run the ball well all day but can't punch it into the end zone enough. Buffalo falls to 1-3, but win the next two games (TEN and HOU) to get to 3-3.

From Andy Benoit, via MMQB.com: BILLS AT PACKERS This is a tough road mission for Bills rookie quarterback Josh Allen. His receivers don’t match up well to Green Bay’s zealous man coverage, and many of those man coverages have hybrid elements that put zone defenders inside. When Allen’s reads are perfectly clear, he displays his awesome arm talent and even a little of the nuanced body language to manipulate zone defenders. But when the reads aren’t clear, Allen looks like a deer in headlights. With Green Bay’s scheme, a QB’s reads are often unclear. I have to agree with Mr Benoit here. I think this is going to be a "crashing back down to earth" week for Allen. He will struggle against Pettine's highly varied and cleverly disguised defense. I expect the Bills to lose this one, drop to 1-3, then win the next to games against TEN and HOU to reach 3-3.

Yep, Johnson's been balling. Quietly, the Bills have rebuilt their defense. It's not finished yet, but a core of Edmunds, Milano, Philips, White, Hyde, Poyer, and Johnson (with Murphy and Star as nice veteran additions through free agency) is very promising. I do agree that we're a CB away from a top 5 secondary, but best in the league? Peters, Talib, Joyner, Johnson for the Rams or Ramsey, Bouye, Gipson, Church from the Jags might have something to say about that.

This. I can't imagine anyone would sign either guy off our practice squad at this point.

Good one man. I'll bet Hyde, Poyer, Lewis, Lacey, Stanford, Trent Murphy, Yarbrough, Orchard, Ducasse, Marcus Murphy, Ivory, Holmes, Hauschka, and Bojorquez would think that's pretty funny!