Drunken Pygmy Goat

Lots of NFL and NCAA history in this illustration, as well as a couple movie references. Nice little trip down memory lane. Of the Bills ones, there's Wide Right, Bruce Smith SI cover photo, Don Beebe landing on his head (but not him chasing down Leon Lett), Sammy Watkins' premature TD celebration against NYJ, and a fan with a Brady sign. I didn't find the Music City forward pass, or any sex toys... Here's a link to the artists page: http://www.roundheadillustration.com/

Pretty sure Mike Mayock called him Super Freak at the draft. Rick James is from Buffalo...seems fitting. Didn't know this: his first name is Fa'Zahn

We lost a couple of good linemen, so its easy to assume they won't be as good as a unit. I guess we'll have to wait and see how their replacements do before coming to conclusions there, but I think what will be more of an issue early on will be the lack of chemistry between a lineman and the man next to him. Offensive lines always take a few games to gel, but Richie and Wood played many games next to each other. Dawkins is still young, but he'll have someone new next to him as well. There's been a few moving parts on the line from 2016 to 2017, and they did alright, so maybe that continues and improves over time, but losing those two guys will probably be evident for a while.

I don't think its necessarily "better" than other offenses, but there are certain advantages to it that factor in. Its "simple" in comparison to other styles, making the learning curve, or transition to the pros easier. Given the current state of the roster (youth/inexperience at QB, lack of WRs), it probably makes more sense to run an EP style of offense instead of more complicated West Coast or Air Coryell offenses. When it comes to roster decisions, my understanding is that players are a bit more interchangeable in EP, WRs specifically. In Air Coryell, it's very route tree dependent in order to maximize its effectiveness, but not many WRs excel in running every route in the tree perfectly, therefore finding the perfect WRs for the scheme is more difficult, to some extent. And after that offense is completely built, an injury to one or two of those top WRs has a major impact on your playbook. Obviously the same can be said for all offenses, but I assume that the impact of a WR injury or two wouldn't cripple the effectiveness of an EP offense quite as much as would an offense that truly depends so much on total utiliazation of the route tree. EP is very much "take what the defense gives you", while AC (with a properly built roster) is more "we're going to take what we want, try to stop us". With a WC offense, you probably want more shifty, elusive WRs, as opposed to taller, "slower" guys. All teams do run the "same plays", but not totally. Certain teams will run certain plays more than other teams, based on talent and scheme. An EP offense that runs more "ghost/tosser" concepts probably isn't running as many "689"s as AC offenses will. One of the advantages you get with EP is that you can run generally the same plays (concepts/reads) out of multiple formations. Its a way of making things complicated for defenses, without getting too complicated yourself as an offense. Its just window dressing, really, that keeps defenses on their toes, and doing more thinking than reacting. With all that said, this doesn't mean you can't make things work without the perfect personell at WR. I just think that, in order to fully maximize the potential of those schemes, you look for those types of players. Maybe that forces teams to reach just a bit in the draft at times??? Of course, there are so many other variables that come into play in football, and "success" isn't only dependent on scheme. I don't want it to sound like I think that's something more than it is, or that I'm thinking into it too much, just trying to explain myself with little time to do so. When I read posts here, I appreciate the open minded, football knowledge mixed with logic and common sense posts, and that's what you provide. I try to do the same, and hope that I don't come off as condescending. Rick Dennison has forgotten more football knowledge than I'll ever learn... I just try to be a solid contributor here. If I'm wrong or off, it wouldn't be the first time...

Same guy the Bills hired a few years back

Mismatches...That's why the ability to more efficiently run a no huddle/uptempo offense is so important in this offense. It allows you to take advantage of certain personell groupings that the defense trots out at times. Having simpler verbiage with play calls is the key. One or two word play calls make it possible. When the Bills went uptempo last year, it wasn't nearly as effective, because the play clock wasn't being properly utilized, partially due to the elongated play calls. Rather than snapping the ball with 20+ seconds on the play clock, it was usually within 10 seconds of expiring, which mitigates the main purposes of uptempo (taking advantage of defensive personell, and wearing them out). I brought this up in a thread I started a few days ago, as well as the flexibility EP creates (not just on the field, but in roster decisions as well). IMO, EP should help the offense progress faster than it otherwise might, with either AJ or Allen at QB. It may take some time be a well oiled machine, but maybe not as long as we think.

Do the Bills have a larger fan base in Syracuse than the Jets or Giants?

Super Freak A guy with that speed for his size is an atheletic freak. And Rick James was born in Buffalo.

What increases his chances of DROY is his versatility. He's a true 3 down LB, and should start from day one. And with Star clogging up the middle, our LBs should be freed up to make more stops. Also, the Bills were very "bend, don't break" in defense last year. If that continues, it will result on the defense seeing more runs against them, which inflates the number of tackles.

Yeah, I miss guys that ruin top 5 defenses, talk a big game, call plays late, blow play challenges, can't get personnel right, scapegoat OCs, run outdated schemes... For all the off-season and mid week gold he brought us, he left us with just as much in game coal. Maybe he had a fun personality, and repped the city well, but I'll take a quiet, calculated, winning coach over him. Football may be entertainment, but I enjoy wins far more than I do interviews.

Growing up in the '90s, the red helmets have a special place in my heart (if not for Fergy, the Bills glory years would have had white helmets). That said, I think they got it right with the current set up, including the end zones. The red and blue had some clash to it. Also, due to league rules, our throwbacks would be the '94 white grazing bison on red helmet...barf!

Thanks! Not just the offense, but the roster is in transition as well. EP offense seems to make that transition easier, and that trickles down to defensive roster decisions as well, as far as cap allocation goes. There was an article posted yesterday shortly after I posted this thread, giving reasons why Allen should start right away. One of the reasons brought up was the offensive scheme. For a rookie QB, one of the biggest transitions is grasping the playbook and terminology. That's on top of things like working on footwork, studying defenses, etc., as well as "little" things like getting familiar with living in a new place, getting to know your teammates, learning their strengths and weaknesses, building chemistry, etc. Having a simplified playbook probably helps a QB to be able to have more time to do those things, which, in theory, should help to speed up the overall learning curve and his development. Many people are dead set on the idea that Allen needs to "sit" and work on certain aspects and tendencies of his game before starting, but with this offense, and if the theory is correct, it might not take as long for him to improve as we think. I've always been of the belief that a QB either "has it" or he doesn't, and sitting him doesn't really "help" as much as people want to believe, and only prolongs the process of finding out if he's going to be the guy. IMO, sitting is far less valuable to a player's progression than learning from live game action is. I'm much more in favor of letting him start earlier, and taking his lumps now, and in a league where coaches and GMs have a window of only a couple years to prove that they deserve the job, perhaps Beane and McDermott share that same idea. They traded up for him in the top 10, so they obviously believe in him enough to think that he will be the guy. Let's start the process of finding out. Winning now isn't the goal. Its long term success.

Reading this reminded me of Tecmo Bowl when the other guy picks your play. I think there might be some struggles early in the year on the line. That's typical when you have multiple new faces there.

Thanks, and there's nothing wrong with that. There's a lot of unknowns and some head scratchers right now. So until they're proven right or wrong, it makes the board go 'round. This place would be rather boring if everyone agreed with everything, and just kept the rose colored glasses on. Any criticisms are welcomed.

It's not about high expectations. I just don't think the offense will be as bad as it might seem on paper. Good question. Honestly, I'm not the one to answer. But each situation is different, and I'm sure he's learned a lot since then.

Maybe I didn't do a great job of perfectly expressing my opinion in the OP; You make a good point about why all offenses aren't EP if it's so great (I get how my post was interpreted that way ). IMO, who a coach learned from while making his way up the ranks has a lot to do with the schem they run when they're in that position. Its why we often refer to certain coaches as "deciples" of certain coaches from the past. They tend to run the same type of offense that they were taught and know the most about. That said, all teams run plays from all different schemes at times. They're not totally married to one specific system, but generally operate out of one main system. I guess, in a way, it's really just a way for people to label a specific style of offense that was born out of past offenses and evolved over time. Don't get me wrong, I'm not necessarily saying that EP is superior to other offenses in all aspects or many. My post was more just my way of elaborating on it's advantages and how it gives teams flexibility in several aspects, and how that may translate into the team being built a certain way. I don't post all that often, especially longer posts. Most of my time is usually tied up with other tasks, so most of the time here is spent lurking. Maybe I'll throw out a short post or two. But it's hard to really keep up on many of these threads that are several pages long within an hour, so being part of conversations here is difficult. Actually, I'm guilty of slacking off at work today, just to try and keep up with this thread When I wrote that post, obviously I had some free time, but truly articulating all of my thoughts is tough. Not trying to back track or recant at all. To be honest, I don't really have a preference in scheme, or know one to be the best. But I do believe that this scheme seems to make things easier in some ways, be it the playbook, or managing a roster.

Good points. "Plug and play" certainly doesn't work all the time, but really the point was more about getting the most out of "marginal" players. They've done a good job of altering their attack based on the players. And, of course, having players like Moss and Gronk makes things much easier, and allows for other players to have more success due to teams focusing more on those great players. I don't think its as simple as "insert random player, and it works". But the scheme makes that more of a possibility, IMO.

Hey, Soda! Glad you're here! About adapting to player's strengths...the Erhardt-Perkins offense makes that ability much easier to do, IMO. Not saying that is why he's good at it, but I think It helps. The fact that you don't have to have certain skill sets to fill specific roles assists him there. You can really cater to a player's strength in the EP, but in AC offenses, you really cater your roster moves to the scheme, which limits a GM's flexibility in acquiring talent, and limits an OC's flexibility in making alterations to the scheme and style of offense from year to year. The Pats have been masters of this. Its why the team looks a bit different in style on offense from year to year, depending on talent, without changing scheme. Having a Randy Moss allowed them to change their strategy and air it out more, but without him, they still were still very potent because the scheme didn't change due to having different talent. It simply changed their attack strategy. Having Blount had the same effect. (for the run game, obviously). It altered their overall attack strategy, but they were still EP. It's part of the reason why we are always talking about the Pats making average players look much better. Hogan is a great example. Maybe a guy like Brandon Reilly will "break out" a bit this year because of this idea. This really is a make or break year for Zay, especially after the off field incident a while back. While I don't expect him to light it up in his 2nd year, he needs to show noticeable improvement in his route running and hands. One way or the other, he will have a significant impact on the success or struggles in the passing attack. As for Shady, he's certainly special, and it's been a joy to watch him make guys miss. I don't think he slows down just yet, but at the same time, I don't think he'll be as much of factor as a receiver as he was last year in the WC offense. JMO

Same here. I'm not saying that the scheme on offense is the main factor in how the team is being built, but that it makes your theory easier to do without taking major steps back on offense. McDermott's defense is based on being stout against the run, and disguising blitzes in a short zone defense. It was clear that there were issues on defense last year that seriously limited the effectiveness of that. The pass rush was pretty bad, and the LB group wasn't filled with the ideal talent for that scheme. Preston Brown is a solid player, but doesn't possess the speed at his position to help maximize the effectiveness of the scheme. And in this scheme, I think having an uber-atheletic, instictual Mike is imperative. Drafting Edmunds could be the most important move they've made on defense in the long run. They also addressed the run defense and pass rush in free agency. I think that they expect to to see growing pains on offense, since they have a new, rather inexperienced QB and drafted rookie, coupled with a rather weak WR group, so beefing up the defense was the best strategy for the team to be competitive in the short term. And I think you're right about seeing what Daboll can do with less talent. This staff does seem to get the most out of players that weren't initially viewed as being all that good. Guys like Hyde and Poyer were thought to be rather average to below average, and not the playmakers that they were last year. Milano as a rookie always seemed to be around the ball. As a team, I think the Bills overachieved last year, to the suprise of most people. They were supposedly "tanking"... If Daboll can make the most out of lesser talented players, it will allow the staff to focus more attention on really beefing up the defense and making that side of the ball even stronger. That way, they won't have to use as many draft picks on offense next year as they would otherwise have to, and can focus more on spending all that cap on retaining players, and maybe signing a WR that can help put the team "over the top". I think Beane would rather not have to allocate too many assets to help out a struggling offense, or possibly have more coaching turnover on offense. If it works, it will bring long term success. And if Allen pans out, he'll command big money when his deal is up, limiting the spending in other areas. We saw how that effected the Ravens when they gave Flacco all that money, so being able to have success with less talent if/when that times comes will hopefully eleviate that drop off in talent.

One of the things people say about Allen is that he's very smart and a quick study, so maybe that process won't be too slow, regardless of how much time and involvement Daboll has there. And while Cully may not be a QB whisperer or have the experience as a QB coach at the professional level, he's in this position for a reason. His job is very specific, and I'm sure he has a plan. If a guy like Joe Buscaglia can easily identify certain tendencies in Allen's game that need work, like opening his hips on throws to the left sideline, then I'm sure our staff has identified them as well, and will work on them. As far as Castillo and the line goes, I think we'll still see plenty of zone blocking concepts in the run game, but much more hat on hat down blocking as well. I didn't even bring up the run game in the OP, mainly because I really don't know exactly what to expect. What I do believe is that losing guys like Incognito and Wood may result in less pulling linemen, which is something that the Bills have done frequently over the last three years, regardless of who was coach or coordinator. It tailored to the strengths of those players, and Shady had many nice gains on those plays. I don't know enough about their replacements to know how well or fit they will be at pulling, so we'll just have to wait and see how often they do it in games to get an idea on that.

***Long Post*** I think most fans assume that the offensive production this season will see a noticeable drop off, based on what's transpired so far this off-season. The general idea is that the Bills will need their defense to keep them in games this year, and based on the additions made on that side of the ball, it's easy to assume that the D should be better this year and will do just that. It seems pretty clear what Beane and McDermott's short and long term plans are and has been (I know it's been discussed here recently): build up the defense with a good mix of youth and experience, while shedding dead cap, hopefully find a franchise QB, and lastly add offensive talent. But I don't think the Bills offense will be quite as bad this season as many people think, and that the advancement of this offense, and the development of young players in it, will be more rapid than we assume. Other than hopefully seeing a fully healthy Benjamin this year, most fans would say that the Bills have less overall talent on offense this season. They lost a couple veteran WRs, and drafted a couple late round replacements. Three total linemen gone, with those holes filled by free agents. And of course there's questions at QB, leading us to believe that the offense will not be as productive of a unit overall this season. But the biggest factor, IMO, has little to do with the players involved: * Brian Daboll hired to replace Rick Dennison There's obviously some uncertainty as to how well of a job he'll do, but at the very least, he knows what it takes to win, and has learned from some great football minds. You cannot ignore 5 Super Bowl rings and an NCAA championship ring, regardless of what his role was in earning them. And while he doesn't exactly have a great track record as an NFL OC, he does have experience there, and I'm sure he's learned a lot over the years from those experiences. The lack of experience really seemed to show at times last year with Dennison. Also keep in mind that Daboll has been a QB coach in the past. More important than experience will be the change in offensive scheme. Daboll will bring the Erhardt-Perkins offense to the Bills, and based on the strengths and advantages it brings, I think it fits perfectly with the type of team that Beane and McDermott are trying to build, and really sheds some light onto why they're going about building it the way they are. I also believe that it doesn't take as long for players to get up to speed in this offense, and doesn't require top talent in order to be successful. Let's review some of the advantages that the EP offense brings, and how they compare to West Coast and Air Coryell offenses: * Smaller, simpler playbook. Rather than having to rely on the route tree to call plays like you would in an AC offense, or long, drawn out play calls that describe each players' duties in a WC offense, plays in an EP offense are concept based and named accordingly. Many of the play calls consist of just a few words, many times only one or two. This makes it much easier for players to learn the playbook and their assignements. Then, they will only need to know the formation and where to line up on a given play. This helps an offense utilize the same plays and concepts, while using the same personnel, and allows them to do it out of multiple formations. Plays may look different to defenses due to formation, but it's really the same read from the QB, just a different player running the same route from a different look. Its a good way to make things complex for defenses, without really being complex yourself as an offense. It's really about taking what the defense gives you, something that Brady has done his entire career. Having simple verbiaged play calls also saves some precious time between plays, and being that it's easy for players to know their assignments with just one or two words from the QB, it allows you to more effectively operate an uptempo or no-huddle offense. I'm not saying we should expect to see the K-Gun, but uptempo/no-huddle really hasn't been utilized too much in Buffalo in recent years, and when it was utilized, we could easily see why it wasn't used more (other than out of necessity). In WC offenses, its more difficult to go uptempo or no-huddle as effectively due to the complex play calls. And play calls in AC offenses have become much more complex than they were 20 years ago due to the evolution and complexity of today's defenses, hindering the ability to effectively run an uptempo or no-huddle in that offense. * Ability to be "neutral" on offense. This is a big factor, IMO. It's similar in a strategic way to having a "hybrid" defense, only it relates more to how your coaches want to dictate a game on offense, or the "type" or "style" of game they want against a particular opponent, creating flexibility from week to week. You can go run heavy/slow ground and pound one week, air it out/high scoring attack the next, then maintain a nice balance a week later (whatever the coaches see fit depending on opponent). This makes an opponent's preparation and game planning strategies much more difficult. They won't "know which team" they're going to see come game day. It also allows for better in-game adjustments, based on what's transpiring during the game. This makes it harder for opponents to diagnose certain tendencies. * Easier to fill WR/skill positions. This is one of the best factors of the EP offense, IMO, since it gives the coaches and front office much more flexibility in several ways. One thing that we've seen over the years in New England is their ability to not miss a beat with roster turnover or injury at the WR position. Players come and go, yet their passing attack is always above average. Plug and play. Of course, Brady is a big part of that, but it's still up to the WRs to get open and make the play when their numbers are called. The simplistic EP play calls probably make things easier for them, and allows them to focus more on other aspects of their game and development as players. Its a natural advantage in the EP offense. It makes it easier to sustain production after injuries to skill players, whereas injuries to skill players in an AC offense would have a much greater impact on its effectiveness, because it's much more reliant on specific types of players and skill sets to fill the WR positions. EP allows flexibility in drafting and signing free agent WRs since you aren't as dependent on specific players and skill sets to fill those holes, making it easier to manage roster turnover at the WR position. This should make it easier to manage the cap at that position as well, adding more money to spend in other areas. Perhaps as a result, we won't see too many WRs drafted in early rounds under this regime, especially in the 1st. That really helps the team in drafting BPA, but I could see the Bills passing on a talented WR early, in favor of a top defensive player, and taking a lesser talented "process" type WR later in the draft, due to the flexibility that the EP offense affords you. We know how McDermott values character, and that may be especially true with players at that position, as opposed to higher priced "Dez" types. * Extra blocker factor. This might not be all that important to mention, but it certainly helps to have one more player helping to protect your QB. The only issue is that it's a RB that's doing it, and they aren't always the best at blocking. McCoy isn't terrible there, but it's not exactly what he's known for. Ivory is probably better suited for that, and could be one of the reasons why he was brought in, despite his age. I think he'll see a bit more playing time simply because of that. He'll get carries, some of them just to mask their intentions to pass on certain plays that he's on the field. Also, I think it's safe to say that McCoy will probably have less receptions in this offense. RBs in WC offenses are often asked to be another pass catching weapon, and not so much in the EP in comparison. Maybe also as a result of this, we'll see less emphasis on building the offensive line, to some extent. Not saying they can get away with not adding top talent there, but it's probably more imperative to have a good/great pass blocking O-line in a WC offense due to the lack of having an extra blocker as often. Possibly, our staff will have a similar approach to the O-line as they may have to the WR position, to a lesser extent. * Just need competence at the QB position. Maybe I'm not wording this right, and it's something that's not only relative to this offense, but you don't need to be the smartest QB in the league to operate this offense. This goes back to the idea of simplicity. A QB with "average NFL QB smarts" will do just fine in the EP. A really smart QB can make this offense nearly unstoppable, even without the best talent around him. This idea may shed light into why AJ and JA were brought in. In summary, I considered all these factors, and it helped me to make more sense of why the Bills put more focus and money on defense in free agency, while bringing in players on offense that were more JAG type players, and I feel a little more confident that the offense will be more competitive this year than we might think by just looking at it "on paper". They probably aren't going to look like a well oiled machine for some time, but I think they'll be varied enough on offense, giving them a bit of a competitive edge, or at least help to mask some talent deficiencies. This should allow the Bills to start AJ for as long as they see fit, until Allen is ready, without poor performance causing frustration and pressure from the fans to make the switch to JA too soon. This is assuming Allen is not "ready" to start week 1, and that the staff prefers to work on improving certain aspects of his game before playing him. Looking at the scheme and its details may also give insight into how the Bills will address the draft and free agency at certain positions as well. Maybe I'm over thinking things here, or I'm off in my assessment, but I'm interested to see how that plays out in the coming years, and how scheme plays a role there.

Wasn't it silver and blue? Here's the original Buffalo Bills: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Bills_(AAFC) Awesome post!

As he should. He's a rookie, AJ and NP are not. He'll have every opportunity to move up the chart in camp and preseason.

Excellent write up, with plenty of examples. Pretty much coincides with everything I've been saying about Allen.

Who said anything about getting excited? Should we expect Barner to supplant Shady or something? If he improves the roster, good. He'll be a 3rd/4th back that can return kicks, or at worst, a camp body. But people act like familiarity with a player is a bad thing. I don't see it as a GM doing a favor for a friend, but rather bringing in a player that he knows a lot about to try and improve the roster.