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LOL, what?! Dude... I stated a simple fact. There's no deeper meaning behind it. 40% of the current Bills roster is made up of 1st or 2nd year players. The end.

Clearly they saw something in Kerley in practice that they didn't like, or they figured there was a cheaper option that was able to do what he does and they could save money. If Kerley was *that* good, he'd be on a team right now but he isn't. Coleman was a longshot from the start. The Pats cut him as well. He's currently on the Giants practice squad. Best UDFA is Foster? He flashed in pre-season a couple of times but didn't do anything once the season began. I like Cam Phillips a bit more.

The defense is a combination of things from both McDermott and Frazier... and it was only when McDermott took over play-calling did the defense turn it around, so... Yeah, and?

I guess I'm just not sure what people were expecting this season. I think the playoff run last year set the bar real high for 2018 when in fact, 2018 was always going to be a tough one as they worked through the rebuild. McDermott's answers don't bother me. It's coachspeak. Most coaches do it. He doesn't owe us or the media anything. And what would you like him to say? Do you want him to start calling out players? Start throwing some position groups under the bus? They've said it from the get-go, they handle everything internally and keep a tight lid on it. So his answers are always going to be bland because he's not going to make any comments in public that could disrupt things behind the scenes. And really, what can he say? It's football, all they can do is regroup and try again. Do you want him to place blame on people? He knows it starts with him, but he also knows that this season was all about growth for the youth movement. I believe their plan was the same as last season, lean on a strong defense to create turnovers and short fields, rely on a decent running game, take your shots where you can and keep it close. Unfortunately, they've had some bad breaks with injuries and unexpected departures (E. Wood) and things just haven't panned out how we all would've liked but what can you do? At the end of the day, I try to see the big picture. They're trying to build something that can sustain success. They had to tear it all down and start fresh. There were always going to be growing pains. I mean, how soon people forget that this dude took a team devoid of stars (aside from McCoy) to the playoffs last season. They finished 31st in passing last season. McDermott was able to get quite a lot with very little last year. Even now, he's getting mostly solid performances out of the defense. If that's a sign of things to come then, I'm psyched. In three out of four games against New England, that defense allowed exactly ZERO Tom Brady TD passes. We obviously saw how he can bring a team together as those guys really love playing for each other. You hear Thurman last night say one of the main reasons those 90s Bills teams were so successful was because they were a family. Sounds corny, but McDermott is trying to instill that family atmosphere. This organization has had talented rosters in the past but couldn't come together as a team. That's not to say "the process" is free from criticism. I think they overestimated what they had on offense but they did try to add some free agents in the off-season and got turned down. That's business, it happens. So many people act like it's a super easy process to sign a free agent. The player has to wanna be here as well. I think they tinkered with the OL for too long over the summer. I've said that before. OL's need time to gel so they can play fast and not have to think too much. Obviously losing Eric Wood has been a big detriment to them. He was a team leader and one of the smartest dudes out there and likely would've been super helpful with Allen in terms of calling out the right protections and identifying defensive alignments. Incognito, eh, he started to decline as the season went on last year and if he was as awesome as a lot of this board thinks, he'd be playing somewhere right now. It's a bummer, yeah, but this is what happens when an organization finally says, "Enough of the band-aids, enough of the quick fixes, enough of the 'we can win now if we just get this guy or that guy' mentality, let's tear it down and start over." And for years I've seen so many people calling for the rebuild. Now they finally go through with it and those same people want heads to roll in the middle of a season. You can't sustain any sort of success if you're constantly in turnover mode. It looks bad right now, but honestly, brighter days are coming. No one said it was gonna be easy. Just let these dudes do their work and see what happens. They're here through 2019 at the very least. I'm interested to see what they can do when they (McBeane) have a complete off-season to work together. Just stay the course. And if at the end of 2019 they finish 4-12 or something, then yeah, probably need to reset again. But if they make progress and hit 8-8 or 9-7 again, then they're on the right track. I dunno. I'm just gonna watch it play out. At the end of the day, it's a game and if they don't get it right this time, well, the team ain't going anywhere so they'll just take another crack at it with different personnel, wash, rinse, repeat. Go Bills.

40% of the roster is made up of 1st & 2nd year players.

Right? Yeesh. If Foles was as good as some people on this board think, he would've been signed to a team to be the starter. So he stays in Philly which is really the only place he's had any kind of success.

Foles isn't as amazing as people think. Doug Pederson and his staff last year are responsible for designing a scheme that Foles is very good at executing. But, when a defense figures out how to stop that, Foles isn't really able to adjust. He's not a well-rounded QB. He can do a few things really well, and the rest of it, he's either average or just not good.

On one hand, I think it's important for Allen to get as many reps as possible, but on the other... I can see how they're cautious about putting him back in the lineup with this OL. Don't wanna make the existing injury any worse or create any new ones. But there's really no replacement for on-field experience. And this being a lost season it makes it a good time for Allen to gain experience because there's really no pressure. If he makes a mistake, eh, big deal. Has to make mistakes in order to learn. I'd rather he make those mistakes in a season that's meant for mistakes and gaining experience rather than plug him in next year and expect more wins because (hopefully) they'll have added more pieces to the offense in 2019. I knew when they labeled it "week to week" it was worse than what they were letting on. Saying it's week to week allows them to avoid being held to a specific time table and if a setback occurs and they have to shut him down for the season, they won't have to face any questions like, "But I thought you said he'd be ready after the bye?" I dunno... I think if he's 100% recovered from the elbow with a few games left in the season, let him play. Needs the experience.

Nobody.

I think he meant Buffalo-style Robert Woods, you know, 45-50 catches for 600 yards and a couple TDs Robert Woods. Not LA Rams Robert Woods, who is currently on pace to catch 97 passes for around 1300 yards and 7 TDs.

And that wasn't the point I was trying to make, I just found it interesting that a fair amount of ex-Bills have ended up on Carolina's roster, that's all.

Dammit. I thought he did but I couldn't recall. Well, when you have to throw your entire offensive game-plan out the window by halftime because you're down by 14 or 21 points, nobody's gonna look like much of anything. There were a few plays last night he made, so we know when they involve him he can still get it done. It's just they have to abandon what they wanna do at a certain point because they have to throw it again and again as they're playing catch up.

I think it came out yesterday that McCoy was ready to go. Still good to hear it straight from the coach.

This was cool. Scott Chandler actually spoke up in the comments and said, "Agree with everything except the blitz, gotta get home on a 4-man rush." Which is true. Someone else posted Brady's numbers when he faces a 6-man blitz. He's thrown like 70 TDs in those situations. They'll have to get after him with four and get creative with some stunts and whatnot, I dunno. Just get back there and disrupt him. Yeah, 8:15 EST is correct, sir.

What's the over/under on egregious penalties called on the Bills tonight? Especially ones that involve any Bills players coming within a yard of Princess Timmy. "Sneezing near Mr. Brady, #55, defense, 200 yards, a free touchdown and #55 has been ejected, first down." "Trying to sack Mr. Brady, #95, defense, lifetime NFL ban, arrest and deportation possible. Patriots ball, infinite first down!"

Beane did a "firesale" in 2017 and is still getting ripped by fans for it. You would've rather been the Giants this season? The team that told their fan-base, "We can compete this year. We're a piece or two away. We're going to take this talented young RB and he's gonna be that missing link we need!" They went into "win now" mode with an all-new coaching staff, a QB who's been in decline for four or five years now, a slow, overpriced defense (aside from Landon Collins) and an OL on par with the Bills. Now that they're 1-6, it's firesale time. That's not really the best way to go about a rebuild. Once the season is over, they're gonna can Shurmur and have to go through hiring an all new coaching staff again, and maybe even new front office executives. The front office has referenced that they're mostly done trimming the roster. They'll make tweaks here and there but it seems they've laid the foundation and are ready to build the house.

Fair enough. I was focusing more on players still with the teams, though.

Players that won't make an immediate difference are traded for all the time. Bills traded Kevon Seymour and Marshall Newhouse... neither of those guys are making an immediate difference. Teams do trade to get depth players or players that can fill certain roles. "You don't trade for players you hope will be good." Well, then what kinda players are you going to be drafting, then? It's the same thing. You take guys in the draft and hope that your staff can coach 'em up and develop them into solid players. You can also trade for a player that's maybe buried on a depth chart due to the talent in front of him and is just in need of a better opportunity elsewhere, and you do the same thing you do with a draft pick, hope that your coaches can get him on the same page as the rest of the team and hope he can contribute. Front offices hope all their draft picks will be good, from round one to Mr. Irrelevant. They also hope that the players they may trade for will also come in and be good. It's pretty much the same thing.

Maybe? You're right, a trade doesn't always mean picks for players, we're just used to saying that because we want/expect the Bills to keep loading up on draft capital. If you're trading Shady for another player, it has to be a position of need for them and might even need to come with an extra draft pick. He's had a tough year but he hasn't really had much of an OL and when he's had his chances, he's shown he still has it. And I think it's just fine for the team. You mentioned how keeping Shady is "not good for the team and unfair for Shady." First off, they don't owe Shady or any other player anything. This is business. Yeah, sometimes a team will deal a player to a contender as a sign of respect or whatever but that's not something that's owed. And I don't see how it's "bad for the team" to keep a well-respected veteran, and now a captain, a player that other players look up to, can be seen as bad for the team. On top of that, this next draft does not have a deep class of running backs like the last few drafts have had. Maybe they intend to keep Shady for the duration of his contract with an eye on some 2020 RB prospects to eventually take over for him. Deal Shady and what are they left with? Chris Ivory, who is a decent player but doesn't have that "make something out of nothing" ability like Shady has. Marcus Murphy is OK but he's really overrated by some people on this board. He struggles with blocking and pick up blitzes, which is why he's been a scratch several times this season. Who do they have after that? Keith Ford? I understand the reasoning behind trading Shady... but why create another hole? They have enough of them and they're leaning on Shady to be a leader right now.

Who says they're trying to get players that will make an immediate difference? Just because a trade could happen at this current point in time doesn't mean they're looking to get players that are immediately going to contribute. There's a plan. They've said it a million times, not only are they always looking to improve for right now but also for the future as well. To your second point, you act as if pulling off a Taylor/Shady trade is just that easy. It takes two to tango. And it takes a respectable offer from other teams to even consider trading a player like Shady. Besides that, they've said several times that they intend to keep Shady through this season and beyond. I understand the idea behind trading him, I do, but at this point he's still the best player on offense. And many fans are already irritated with Beane that he didn't add enough pieces to the offense, therefore seeing Allen's position as the starter as unfair due to the lack of weapons. Well, how would anyone expect measurable progress from Allen when they continue to handicap him by removing any of the talent that's currently there? And the media would have a field day with that. Sure, right now there are a handful of them calling for them to trade Shady. If they go ahead and trade him, all those dudes will turn around and scream about how incompetent this front office is and how unfair to Allen they're being by trading away the only decent player on offense, etc. etc. Just seems like a lose-lose situation for them. And I don't see many teams offering more than a 4th round pick and I'd say "no thanks" to that all day. And I understand whatever front office people say has to be taken with a grain of salt but they've said before, guys like Shady, Hughes, etc. are firmly in place for their future plans. They've also said that they are now looking to build up the roster as opposed to tearing it down even more. They feel like they've laid a decent foundation, now they wanna build the house. They can start doing a little bit of that if they decide to add some players via trade and then continue the process in the off-season.

Contrary to popular belief on this here board, they do have a long-term plan in effect and could look to add some younger players that they can develop for the future.

It's not uncommon for new GMs to work with their former teams or other executives they may have worked with in the past. At this point, it's kind of a joke that whenever the Bills wanna strike a trade or sign a free agent, it's going to come from Carolina. Nothing groundbreaking, but I noticed that Carolina actually has a handful of ex-Bills on their roster and not all of them were acquired through Beane. They currently employ Da'Norris Searcy, Kevon Seymour, Ross Cockrell, Marshall Newhouse, Chris Manhertz (TE who was in a couple camps and on the PS for Buffalo a few years ago). Searcy, Seymour and Cockrell are all currently on IR. As for the Bills...Derek Anderson, Kelvin Benjamin and Star Lotulelei are all former Panthers. And as of this point in time, they are all starters. Just kind of interesting. Seems it's Carolina that likes former Bills players more than the Bills like former Panthers players. Also... does anyone feel like the Bills have drawn up some stuff to get KB involved early and often as a means to showcase him for a trade tonight? He at least has some chemistry built up with Anderson and seems to be the guy Anderson is looking for first on most plays. Perhaps they have an offer on the table and they wanna upgrade it. They see that brand new unopened pack of Twizzlers there but Beane is all, "Hey man, I like me some Snickers. Let's get KB going, I'm hearing 5 catches for 90 yards gets me a Snickers, and a touchdown gets me the Snickers PLUS a juice box. Let's get it done!"

Mack is still recovering from an ankle injury. Missed his first game yesterday. Not that I wish harm on anyone but uh, maybe it would be cool if he wasn't ready to go next week haha.

I hear what you're saying, but as far as I can tell, this next draft isn't loaded with RBs like the last few drafts have been. It's not exactly loaded with top-notch receivers either. It would figure, the year the Bills need to add offensive playmakers, it's kind of a down year in the draft. It's a ridiculously good year if you're in need of DL, but they seem to be pretty well set there. However, if they somehow ended up with a chance to take a guy like Ed Oliver, do it up. That's reflective of what they did in Carolina, too. I think it was the 2016 draft, they took Vernon Butler, a d-tackle when they already had Lotulelei, Kawann Short, Mario Addison, etc. Their DL was already one of the stronger units on the roster. But sometimes teams will add to a position group that's already pretty strong. Falcons did that this year, drafted Calvin Ridley while having Julio Jones, Mohammed Sanu and Taylor Gabriel. Should be a super interesting off-season. Reports say that a 200 lb. stash of Skittles was recently found on the OBD property. Had the initials of "M.L." on it. Word has it they plan to sell these... individually.

I think they might be buyers instead of sellers (aside from KB). I really don't see any reason to move Shady. Still the best player they have and is a good safety net for Allen when he needs to check down. A lot of people on here have lamented the fact that the organization has failed Allen by not surrounding him with enough talent yet those same people will be the first to say, "Trade Shady!" Kinda counter-intuitive, right?