blacklabel

Seventeen years. Seventeen lowly, lame, crappy, miserable years. In those 17 years: -Seven different head coaches -Five different general managers -Fifteen different starting quarterbacks -Two winning seasons (barely, 9-7 in 2004 and 2014) -Zero playoff appearances The McBeane Era -Five total seasons -One head coach -One GM -Four different starting quarterbacks, but only one starting QB from Week 12 of 2018, and he's the franchise guy the other seven coaches and five GMs could never find. -Four winning seasons -Four playoff appearances -Three playoff victories -Have built one of, if not the best overall roster in the league. To answer the poll: no, there's no situation where I'd find any reason to move on from McBeane after this season. The Pegulas giving each guy a five (or was it six?) year contract extension tells me they feel the same. Go Bills.

Dawkins was still shaking off the ‘Rona virus at the time too. I remember a few “sHoULd wE Be cOncErNeD wiTh daWkiNS?!” posts early on. He got better as the season went on.

Haha, this could get spicy. That’d be funny. I’ve always taken PFF not that seriously. They come up with all the metrics, they created their own grading system and they can sit there and fiddle with the numbers until they spit out whatever they want. They just create these metrics with such small areas where it’s like, oh when Player A has Cheerios at 8 AM on gameday he picks up .09264 extra yards per carry. But on game days where he ate Frosty Flakes his extra YPC was a paltry .71263 therefore we must conclude that the science says this kid is a bust. The whole thing has always just seemed like a buncha arbitrary BS they could skew however they want. There might be some usefulness to it in some areas as teams have picked up on it but yeah overall I’d be wary of it if I was a GM or something. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if what has some truth to it. How long before PFF starts saying their analytics are for entertainment only or some crap lol.

He left to go buy a new lunch pail and hasn’t been back since.

I really wonder how Tua would do as a righty and not the lefty his whackadoodle father forced him to be.

How the heck do I keep forgetting that this team has Von Miller?! Awesome.

My favorites are the 75 yarder to Foster in 2018. I still don’t know how he was able to throw that with half the DL hanging off of him. And I can’t believe Robert Foster didn’t amount to anything after that standout rookie year. I mean, not even a WR4 or 5 anywhere. Weird. The other throw I love is the absolute laser to Kumerow against the Broncos in 2020. Jake clamped down on that thing and the ball still moved and nearly went through his hands. That thing was like 30 yards on a frozen rope. I’ve said it before, after 17 years of the drought and all that it’s so weird to be on the other side now.

I kinda always felt bad for Marcell. Growing up he literally lost everyone that was close to him and anyone that could be considered family. Even his high school coach who took him in passed away. He had the talent he just never had any real guidance. I know he had plenty of chances and always seemed to shoot himself in the foot. I know Kyle Williams worked a lot with him but even Kyle eventually said there’s only so much he could do. I genuinely hope Marcell is in a good place and that he can revive his career.

Rich is good people. He was the guy they trusted to carry the NFL Network when it debuted and he’s always nailed whatever he’s done. I dig his show and I like how he brings in guests from all walks of life. He’s been pretty optimistic ever since they hired McDermott and Beane, and he’s been pretty high on Allen from the jump. I think it was after the Broncos game in 2020, he talked at length about how impressive Josh had been that season and how as Bills fans we can finally sit back and say, “finally, we’ve got our guy.” I think Cook gets the “sneaky” tag because until his final year at Georgia he kinda flew under the radar there and didn’t have a real big role in the offense. But, he must’ve done something right because the dude he played behind, Zamir White, who was seen as the bell cow didn’t go until the fourth (pick 122 overall by Raiders). I’m eager to see how things shake out with the running backs. Based on Beane’s recent comments they’re still in on Zack Moss. Beane mentioned that Moss had ankle surgery before the ‘21 season and couldn’t cut off his left side as effectively as usual. I thought Moss was gonna be the guy based on his play early in the season. He had like four TDs and was starting, had that gnarly goal line TD against Miami where he absorbed a monster hit and then ran over the defender for the score. But then he fizzled, and as the season went on it was clear that Singletary was more effective. I wonder if they keep the three of them and have Singletary and Moss handle a bulk of the carries while having plays drawn up for Cook where they can get him in space.

I recall looking at reports on Shakir a week or two before the draft. There are a ton of things to like about him. As I’m reading the list of his positive traits I’m like, how the hell is this dude not rated higher? The only real knocks on him seem to be he’s got short arms, he has a focus drop now and then, and he doesn’t always seem to play up the speed he tested at. He seems to make up for the short arms by having insane body control and solid hands. The play speed thing can be corrected with coaching. Oh and it said he has some flaws at the top of his routes. I imagine maybe less than stellar competition and not so great QB play may have been some other factors that played into him ranking lower than other guys. I know that was the case with Diggs, that and he dealt with some injuries in college. Lot of draft nerds seem to love Shakir, though, he’s an exciting pick. In a draft that didn’t have any real elite prospects it seems like Beane and his crew did a heck of a job filtering through everything and finding their kind of players, guys they can work with and coach up and help them elevate their game.

The Athletic article from Tim Graham on the whole “can he hold?!” thing did a really good job of breaking things down. He spoke with legendary punter guy Brian Moorman who provided some good insight. The backup QBs no longer do it because teams don’t wanna remove a QB from offensive reps to go onto the other side of the field and work on holds. Hapless pointed this out earlier. This is the same reason it’s not a “best guy for the job” type thing. Also, it’s a lot more difficult than it looks. Moorman talked about how other players on the team would try it and see it wasn’t so easy. He said when he played he and his teammates had the whole snap to hold thing down in like 1.26 seconds and how you’ve gotta turn the ball as you’re putting it down and making sure it’s in line with how the kicker wants it held. It was also mentioned that Araiza has been practicing holds and is said to be doing great with it. A pro kicker who’s name escapes me commented something like, “He’s doing great. I’d trust him.” Myers from Seattle was it? Anywho, so long as he shows consistency with it there’s no reason he shouldn’t win the job. Bojo was also discussed in Graham’s article and he’s bounced around four different teams because he’s so inconsistent as a holder. I think Zierlein from NFL.com put Bojo as the pro comparison for Araiza. They can both boom it and we’ll see how Punt Gord does not only with holds but also directional punting and all that jazz. Good read, check it oot if you can.

Tough to say they haven’t improved, at least on paper. Miller is a huge addition, I think Rousseau is gonna take another step forward, Ed should be good, Settle is probably better than Butler and Jones is just as good as Phillips. Contract year for Tremaine, maybe it finally all falls into place for him and he has a monster run. Tre will be back, Hyde and Poyer are still one of the best safety duos in the league, Milano is solid, etc. I’ve no idea if the numbers will line up like they did last season but we should hopefully see an uptick in sacks and better against the run. Not that they technically need to but Josh and the offense should still score 80 points a game. Just to be sure. 😄

Ohh, that explains it. I remember catching that on Friday night. The first time they cut to him and his family it came off super awkward, almost seemed like James was annoyed or even pissed off with someone. Everyone around him was super quiet and it was like, huh, that’s awkward. But the next time they cut to him he was putting on the hat and the family was celebrating. I know there have been a lot of jokes about him looking stoned and he may very well be a Stoney Baloney, whatever that’s fine, or he might just be a real laid back kinda subdued person. Kinda reminded me of Gilmore, lol, both dudes just kinda stoic, I guess. Since he’s been drafted he’s been talking about how much he loved his visit with the Bills and how excited he was to hear how’d they’d utilize his skill set. Seems like a good kid all around, the scouting reports I saw on him said he’s super competitive and a good teammate that can get his team fired up.

I wish, man, but Teller is one of them freak athletes with crazy strength and agility, just happens to be a big dude. He switched to OL from DL after his first year at VTech (I think, not 100%) so he had only played OL for a couple of seasons before Beane drafted him. The dude also had some major ADD that went unaddressed until like his final year in school. Supposedly it was impacting his play on the field, but he’s since sorted it out. The Bills must’ve done a decent job coaching him up given the pick they got in return for him. Put all that together and that’s how the dude has turned into an all pro. Teller had all the physical tools and just needed to sharpen his skill set and now he’s a top OL in the league. I think Tenuta has been playing OL for a while now and he’s just pretty average with what seems like below average athleticism right now. I’m not trying to knock your opinion or anything, I just think Teller and Tenuta are completely different players. They could certainly coach up Tenuta into a spot starter and a decent backup, anything’s possible. But just from reading and comparing the scouting reports on these guys shows that they’re on different levels in a lot of categories.

I’ll be real surprised if Luke Tenuta makes this team. Nothing against the kid but aside from his size, I have not read very many positives about the guy. They don’t like giving up on their draft picks too early so I’ll say he might end up on the practice squad but he’s got a tough road ahead if he’s making this team. In line with holding out on their picks, I’ll say Zack Moss makes the cut over Duke Johnson. He might be the gameday scratch more often than not because we know Singletary is RB1 and they’re gonna get James Cook involved right off the bat, I think. And of course McDermott gots to have his special teams guys so Taiwan Jones will be RB3 over Moss, unless Moss suddenly morphs into a special teams all star or something. Much to the chagrin of some posters here, Tremaine Edmunds and Cody Ford will make this team. Ford actually showed some real improvement late last season when he played. The Washington DL (Daron Payne, mainly) mugged that kid for his lunch money every down during Week Four last season. That was brutal. But later in the year, he was better. And with Tremaine, I can *kind of* understand the criticism he gets here. I’m sure with his elite size and athleticism we’d all like to see more game changing and impactful plays, however, he’s more so just been a steady eddie in the middle there with the occasional big play and the occasional lapse. His size and range still makes it tough for opponents to attack the middle of the field with the passing game. Does he have a misstep here and there? Sure. He gets caught on blocks as well but overall he’s a solid player. The grass isn’t always greener. Remember last year when he missed the game against Indy and Jonathan Taylor ran all over AJ Klein, I think Klein still has cleat marks in his face all these months later. So before you go clamoring for someone to be replaced, consider who could possibly replace him and how they’d do wearing the green dot and leading a complex defensive scheme. You gonna have Milano play the middle? Then y’all gonna scream he’s too small for it. Dodson? Andre Smith? Marquel Lee? Matakevitch? Shoot, even the MLB some of y’all thought would be a better pick than Edmunds (Vander Esch) has been all sorts of injured and is pretty much second fiddle to Parsons now. It’s always a crapshoot with the draft and even signing players from the lower tiers in free agency. All told, Edmunds is one of the better LBs in the league but because he went 16th overall he needs to be picking off nine passes, forcing a dozen fumbles along with ten sacks and fourteen tackles for loss per game otherwise he’s a bust.

I honestly think they ask these guys to look a little animated for the cameras. All about that production value and trying to make things exciting or important or dramatic as possible.

I’m with ya, I’m excited for the pick. I was just reiterating some of the quotes I’ve seen. Compared to what he’s shown he can do, I wouldn’t look at the short arms as a barrier. They’re a little under the prototypical length or whatever but the dude more than makes up for it with his versatility. Lots of ways Dorsey can get him involved. I expect we won’t see much of him early on as is customary with McDermott rookies, but if he performs well when his number is called we should see him featured more and more as the season goes on. I like Cook too, and OJ Howard to go along with the group of Diggs, Davis, Crowder, McKenzie, Knox, and Singletary. Lot of options.

I would imagine most of the medical reports from team doctors are not good. Perhaps he’s on super limited time before his condition keeps him from playing anymore? If that’s the case then teams aren’t going to waste the time and energy, sounds harsh but that’s how they’d see it.

I actually thought the Chiefs and Packers had really average drafts. In all, it’s kind of a mostly average group of prospects this year. Reminds me a lot of the 2013 draft, no real elite players and not very many consensus round one grades. I’m sure some players will turn out pretty good but I really wouldn’t expect this class to turn into a bunch of perennial all-pros and pro bowlers. I could be wrong.

According to some of the ol’ anonymous scout quotes I read, the big knocks on Shakir are the 29” arms (too short for a lot of teams, apparently) and the sense that he’s mainly just average at everything with no real elite skills or traits. Also, that some teams wouldn’t know how to best utilize his skill set.

They certainly have a theme with the type of players they prefer to pick. High character, hard workers, humble, team first, smart, etc. And they’re not afraid to look at a player not only for what he is now but what he can be with their training and coaching. I’m pretty psyched for Shakir. Like a lot of their other picks, I’m sure they’ll work him in slowly. Everything I’ve read about him sounds super positive. I saw scout quotes that thought he could go as high as mid-second round, but I also saw scout quotes that said he was completely average at everything and the scout wouldn’t even consider him for a UDFA signing. Whatever, opinions are all over the place this year. The main knocks I saw on him were the short arms and teams being unsure of how to best utilize his skill set. I mean, if those are really the only two things keeping you from adding this guy to your team then, I dunno, you’re kind of a dummy. It certainly appears he has enough positive traits to compensate for the areas he lacks in. Bernard is also intriguing. Super under the radar pick but he’s super smart, productive, if a little undersized. Beane will go for a player who has all the traits you want except elite size. I remember when they drafted Milano, he was like 6’0” 219 coming out of college and had played safety early on at BC. I thought he was too small to play linebacker but he’s been nothing but a perfect fit in this system and a solid player. Heck, the most athletically gifted player with elite physical tools (Edmunds) is the one that gets dragged non-stop by a lot of the online Bills fan community. Basically, if you’ve got the desire to get better along with the other traits I named above plus at least average athleticism, then you’ve got a chance to make it on the Bills roster. They’re gonna maximize what they already do well and do as much as they can to improve in the areas that most need it.

One big ol’ poopershootin’s

I read some scout quotes on this pick. Unfortunately, a really mean quote stuck out. A scout said, “I love his dad, he’s been a defensive coach for 30 some years. Luke ain’t *****, though, he’s nothing.” Swell, lol. I know it’s “how the old scouts talk” and all that, I’ve just never been a fan of describing another human so poorly. There are better ways to word “I don’t think he has what it takes” ya know?

Rankings are absolutely all over the board this year. I’d imagine in most years it’s like that except there are typically 5-10 consensus elite players plus a good 15-20 consensus first round guys. That wasn’t the case this year. No real elite players. Opinions are everywhere. Bob McGinn, a football writer for like 30 years does some real insightful draft pieces over on Tyler Dunne’s GoLong website. McGinn has a ton of sources he speaks with and he uses scout quotes in his draft profiles. I just looked at the feedback he got for the Bills picks this year. A guy like Shakir was all over the place with the scouts. One said he loved the kid and thought he could go as high as mid-second round. Another scout said the dude was too slow with short arms, won’t make it at all and wouldn’t even consider him as a undrafted free agent. It’s just kinda whacky there can be such differing opinions. On one board I saw, Elam was their top rated corner and rated the 14th best prospect overall. On another board they had him rated 49th overall. It really is a crapshoot and a lot of times it comes down to how teams see these players and how they think they can utilize them in their systems.

Dude certainly checks a lot of the boxes for them, experience, character, leadership, productive, etc. It doesn’t appear to be the most popular pick but I’m gonna wait and see how they utilize the guy and how they coach him up and all that. Again, BBB gets the benefit of the doubt from me, way more hits than misses. It ain’t exactly the Cadillac of prospect groups for this year either so…