Straight Hucklebuck

I don’t want to hear anymore about the calf. That happened in July. He’s got round the clock care, and has played 4 games now. If he threw for 300 yards and 3 TDs it would be story after story about what a warrior he is, what a leader he is. Like you said, the media gave Allen 0 pass last year with the elbow.

None. 1-3. You might be open but Princess Joe can’t get it to you. Teams have figured out, great you paid a LT, but we’ll just destroy your Guard-Center-Guard. And Joe can’t move. He took some shots today.

That’s a big win. There’s nothing flukey, no asterisk about that, there were no lucky bounces, no refs, no weather, no early injuries, no missed FGs. The Bills just housed the Darlings of the Week and there are no excuses for the media to give. Happy for the people of Buffalo, and for the team. Happy for McDermott and Dorsey.

Anybody but Hamlin.

Yes but let’s look beyond it’s a long season. This team doesn’t have a recent track record of developing offensive skill talent. Davis is still playing 95% of snaps, just like he was in 2022. That means that Shakir is stuck in an 11% snap count role and Sherfield can’t get on the field. Harty is thrown the ball right where McKenzie was - at or behind the LOS. These plays are never successful. So when you see Kincaid catching dump offs, I do think that Dorsey and this staff lack creativity, because this offense under Dorsey has shown that once you get put into a role, you can’t ever get out of it. Nyheim Hines showed this. Shakir has showed this. Cook sitting behind Singletary showed this and the idea as a pass catcher evaporating last year. Knox is $10M/year and not a prominent piece of this offense.

I’m in between on this. ”Quite a bit” - he had 4 catches. When the 2022 Bills struggled all season with finding a playmaker behind Diggs, and the answer to that was Kincaid in the 1st and turning over the bottom 3 WRs of your room, I think there should be a greater expectation than 11 catches for 76 yards. He’s not Nyheim Hines level of missing, but he’s quickly settling into this background role, and Sherfield, Harty and Shorter are nothing but afterthoughts in this offense. It’s back to Diggs and the usual 1/4 games with Davis. The only difference is more juice in the run game. I think fans are right here to look at Dorsey and say this isn’t enough production from a first round pick that Beane again traded up to get. 6.5 ypc, come on. The bar for a “Super Bowl contender” should be higher than that.

And this is the thing with first round running backs. The Dan Campbell Lions used Swift in the same kind of timeshare with a power back Jamal Williams last year. Has Gibbs shown much burst?

Well the other rookie Tight Ends outside of LaPorta aren’t killing it: Mayer has 1 catch for 2 yards and a two point conversion. Musgrave missed almost the entire game last night with a concussion, but he’s been the next best with 12 for 125 yards. Darnell Washington hasn’t caught a ball yet. Schoonmaker has 1 catch for a 1 yard TD Strange has 2 catches for 7 yards Kraft has 2 catches for 5 yards Latu is on IR Will Mallory has 2 catches for 49 yards But I agree, it’s time to get this going. Where is all this playmaking? 11 catches for 72 yards, 6.5 ypc. Again this offense has no dependable #2 option. Our $10M other TE is sitting at: 7 catches for 46 yards, 6.6 ypc, 1 TD. Can’t figure out what to do with Harty, don’t seem to know what to do with either Tight End. Feels like 2022 again, it’s Diggs and ???

It's more of a happiness for Detroit. Finally having a team to cheer for. I went to both Detroit games last year and I thought it was nice venue and a good time.

LaPorta is everywhere. Can the Bills study this tape?

No we're saying Gabe is inefficient as a WR because he's physically limited while eating up 95% of snaps.

If Gabe is Devin Singletary, Beane and his scouts should be able to find someone who potentially can do more on the field. What was the reason he was drafted? He's 6'2" and runs a good go-route. But as time has gone one, when is the last time Gabe won a real jump ball? Not the Raiders endzone TD where he came back for a perfect Allen pass. When has Gabe broke some tackles? Can Gabe go in the slot, or would that be like asking the Titanic to turn quicker before the iceberg?

It’s Year 4 now. It’s not a question of can we do better than Gabe Davis, it’s we need better than Gabe Davis. He’s reached his ceiling, and this offense is capped, in part, because of his limited skill set. There are 30 draft able WRs every year now and Beane trades up frequently. Move up in R1 and get a real playmaker. You're going to need it anyways with Diggs now at the 30 year old mark.

If he’s Devin Singletary it means we should be able to draft someone in R1-R3 that can do what Gabe does. Would this offense look better with Pickens at #2 instead of Gabe?

Not sure the team can do it with the salary cap, as 2024 is already projected to be the same amount over as 2023 was. But the debate that was going last year about the Bills lack of speed and lack of talent level, is still valid. Dalton Kincaid, Sherfield, Harty, Shorter didn't take those concerns away. To overcome the basic nature of Dorsey's offense, this team needs a better #2 WR (really another high end #1) to get over the hump. This is what I've said forever when WGR equates the Bills and Chiefs on the same level justified by betting odds and lines. We're not the same. Mahomes is better than Allen, so he can do things with a collection of JAGS at WR that Allen simply can't. Overcome that gap with an emphasis on talent. The 2023 Draft was a step in that direction with Kincaid and Torrence. But a big reason this team has plateaued is we added Diggs in 2020 and then stopped.

Isn't one of the options to rotate in Shakir or Sherfield? Is it Gabe at 0% snaps or 95% snaps only? The question to me is why he has to be on the field so much? I do think NoSaint is right, he's on the field all the time and is still a one trick pony. He can't change direction, he runs two routes, he drops the ball, he's not getting faster. Nice player for the 4th Round, but at minimum, not sure why we have to be beholden to Gabe.

The play with Hill where he motions across the formation left to right, Tua fakes the hand off to the left at snap, then runs across the formation in the same direction as Hill for an easy 13 yards. I rewatched that play 3 times to note the precision and creativity. So much space. For us, it catches your eye if Shakir motions in the backfield once (had one play like that against the Jets), or we get a standard reverse, or jet sweep. You see this roster stiffness in Elam having no role but to sit on the bench, Knox and Kincaid not doing anything across the middle of the field, and really with the Bills pursuit of the Hines/Harty/McKenzie role. Even with Cook, pretty quickly, the idea to have him catch the ball faded away early in 2022. Like I referenced, the Bengals are not a motion offense is either, it's a rhythm passing game. So getting a WR more instinctive, and nimble that Gabe, could help open up the offense. As KDIGGZ has mentioned, Allen's mobility behind this line gives the opportunity for unplanned throwing lanes. Gabe is just a stiff with little change of direction.

Probably not a coincidence that the two best offenses in the league are the 49ers and Dolphins. Todd Monkin in Baltimore will be an interesting case study in a modern passing game coming to an offense that had become stale (Roman).

Great post, I agree with all of it. The Bills offense is static. If you watched the Bengals offense against the Rams, it felt the same as what we do. Limited use of motion, some basic play action, 3-wides, a basic run game. Miami always utilizes the one player in motion, clean plays with multiple run fakes, players motioning across the formation that help block into toss sweeps, two running backs in the backfield (pony) formations, drawing the defenders with the fake handoff, and then actually handing off in the same direction as the fake coming from a player moving in the same direction. The play with Hill where he motions across the formation left to right, Tua fakes the hand off to the left at snap, then runs across the formation in the same direction as Hill for an easy 13 yards. I rewatched that play 3 times to note the precision and creativity. You’re right, Dorsey is not creative. That’s partially why a lot of people bang the get better skill than Gabe drum or why there was a WR train at draft time. The hope that improved talent overcomes the basic offense we run and makes us less reliant on Diggs. You’re 100% right to point out that we’re drifting to 2022 in the pass game, the only difference is Cooks speed and improved interior line play gives the Bills a possible change up in the run game. Still, against the Jets the run game was not efficient, and Harris/Murray were not utilized much. Last year Nyheim Hines was a red flag. The fact that the coaches could not figure out what to do with him was alarming to me. I’m not surprised Harty is McKenzie all over again (catching bubbles at or behind the LOS), or that the desired role for Kincaid is to be the drop-in replacement for Cole Beasley. And so his yards/catch won’t be any higher than 10. He has the same role. The entire philosophy of this team, from Beane’s approach to roster building/retainment, to McDermott now coaching the defense is to keep as much the same from 2020-2022 together as possible.

I feel I learned a lesson when Detroit had a chance to draft Ja’Marr Chase or draft Penei Sewell. There just aren’t many true difference makers at WR. Upgrade Gabe.

Dallas had no issues moving the ball on the Jets defense.

You're right to some degree here. The run on WR started right before the Bills pick, and out of those so far it looks like Flowers would have been the right pick. And no problem with the Bills investing in Torrence in Round 2. There was nothing in FA. There was no money for DeAndre Hopkins. Agree with this. WR, RT, S seem to be top of the list right now.

Well I walked you into this one. I live in Ohio (have since 2006), lived in 3 places around Cleveland, so I am very versed in the Browns. It's not a surprise to me that a 6'8" 379 pound OT with an 87" wingspan who played at Ohio State is already starting in the league. Jack Conklin was a ticking time bomb because his lower legs have accumulated numerous injuries. He lasted 1/2-quarter before tearing a ligament in Week One. Dawand lumbers against the run, but even against Watt, if he gets his hands on you (watch him verses Hendrickson in Week One) your momentum stops as a DE instantly. Yes, again, written generally that Bernard has already matched Edmunds best performance. FIFY - great, happy to accept the clarification.

His pass blocking grade is over 75.0. PFF dings him for run blocking, in Week 1 he was in the 30's.

That's fine oldman, the Dolphins just ran for over 300 yards. The Bills (and Bernard) shut them down, or hold them to reasonable yardage, I will readily admit I'm wrong. I think media, some fans, see the Commanders game: 2 sacks, a FR, and a Interception (great) and conclude we're all set. I do think the risk is there that he is small against the run. Can't have it all, and for sure he's been much better than I thought he'd be. His last game matched Edmunds best game ever and he had 5 years here.