Straight Hucklebuck

Who thinks Frazier offers cutting edge scheme? Hands up if you think that. The staff looks like it’s all staying minus the Safety’s coach, but Houston, 13-seconds, Bengals, does anyone think this is a lock down defense when in matters? Next year it will still be 8-15 yards off every WR, ill-timed blitzes, static coverages. Since we’re in love with McDermott’s leadership, there is no other change that is logical.

James Cook, Nyheim Hines, and an undrafted rookie free agent. No other investment. The Bills have 6 draft picks.

I disagree, the worst RB philosophy is what the Bills tried before Singletary. And that’s spent/worn out veterans like Mike Tolbert, Chris Ivory, Frank Gore being the lead back. The next line of my post was they have over valued the position relative to round. And Beane owns the horrid Moss evaluation. I do think you need a draftable traits running back on the team, meaning it can’t just be undrafted players, but it needs to be 5th, 6th and 7th rounders who play one contract out and then leave.

I like what he represents, leans into Josh's arm strength. But I agree, he's a go-route runner and there isn't much data on how he does against press coverage. Diggs runs every route, and is just fast enough to allow deep routes as well. A more polished WR underneath may be a "safer" path. Once Hyatt runs a 4.31, he might not be there anyways. The other interesting nuiance to this is outside WR verses the slot. Jaxson Smith-Njigba would take over the starting slot role immediately, but the potential ramifications are Gabe is still starting on the outside, and Kahlil Shakir doesn't factor in. The Bills tried Davis a full time starter on the outside and it was a failure. Simply entrusting Shakir to the starting slot role next year would be a risk, although he has looked capable in 30% - 40% playing time. It may come down to, just take the best WR on the board at 27 regardless of position. I kind of agree here. Oliver, Rousseau, Epenesa, Basham, Elam, there has been alot of defensive investment. Coaches need to get more out of those players. The offensive progress stopped because Diggs is the last A talent that has been added.

The Bills have the right philosophy on the running back position, simply drafting one, letting them play out their contract and leave. But the problem was the first time around, Singletary and Moss were just too slow, and Beane overvalued them in the 3rd Round. Cook needs to be the focal, but this staff obviously had the same concerns as the Georgia staff, because he never has carried the load as the primary back, he's always been in a timeshare, and there was was a stat that he was only on the field for 13 pass protection snaps over the year. Beane constantly brings up Nyheim Hines, but this coaching staff has not shown that they want him on the field. He had 3 carries in 2022 with the Bills. Singletary will need to be removed from the roster, otherwise these coaches will default back to him, and keep Cook in a secondary role, with no snaps given to Hines. But Joe Marino said something like the Bills should use a middle round pick on power running back and I just don't see any logic in that. The Bills have 6 draft picks and too many holes to burn another pick on a running back.

Head Coaches are supposed to have the pulse of the team. Push harder workouts when appropriate, back off when guys are fatigued. Come up with the correct ways to motivate. They are supposed to have the experience to know how to extract more out of the personnel they have, give direction to the offensive and defensive scheme. They should be able to sit in any positional group or coaches meeting and have meaningful insight, not Rex Ryan who continued to be the de facto Defensive Coordinator only and constantly pushed for premium assets on defense only. They take the feedback and ideas, list, prioritize, add their own, and create and present the overall plan. The Head Coach has final say on the assessment of the personnel on the roster in preparation for meetings with the GM and compensation departments and has a voice on the acquisition/departure/roster management personnel strategy. They lead staff in traveling to college All-Star and post season events and give their notes to the GM and Scouting Staff. They also should keep a file on how their own coaching staff is performing, does the QB need a new voice? Is the run game being coordinated in their vision? Why is the DT group not performing well enough. Is the meeting structure sufficient, does the routine need to be tweeked? Do you need to have extra time with the secondary staff? I’d say they need to spend time researching the league, visiting other coaches, speaking to other knowledgeable individuals about the game, and finding better ways to do things. Reviewing tape of the other teams in the league (Ben Johnson’s offensive design for instance) and be able to approach Dorsey about concepts and direction.

I like the Tight End idea. Either the top WR or TE on the board at #27 is where I am leaning. This team needs another elite pass catcher. Mike Mayer is an intriguing player, his projections are as high as Top 10, as low as mid-20's. But the offensive line was atrocious all year, and game after game Spencer Brown was noticeable as a liability. OT is a definite possibility.

Get in the gym and start tightening up that core.

Beane is a big part of this though. There has been a ton of investment - Rousseau, Basham, Epenesa with nothing to show for it.

Round 1, Pick 27 Round 2, Pick 59 Round 3, Pick 91 Round 4, Pick 128 Round 5, Pick 135 (from Arizona) Round 5, Pick 160 I think you could see something like: 1. Best available WR 2. Guard 3. Guard 4. Center/Tackle 5. Linebacker 6. Cornerback In FA, get veteran minimum Safety. It's up to the Bills coaches to get anything out of Rousseau, Basham and Epensa, but I do not want to see more investment there. As Beane said, Von was the big-ticket.

This is such a good discussion. This Bills team is stalled at the 3rd best team in the Conference now with back to back Divisional losses. I graded the Bills drafts since 2017 on the basis of simply did the pick work out on an A, B, C, D, F scale, with no weight on Round or Position. This is just one way to look at how the roster has evolved the way it has and here are the results: Offensive A - 3 (Dawkins, Allen, Diggs) Offensive B - 2 (Knox, Davis) Offensive C - 4 (Singletary, Brown, Cook, Shakir) Offensive D - 1 (McCloud) Offensive F - 13 (Zay Jones, Peterman, Teller, Proehl, Ford, Sweeney, Moss, Fromm, Hodgins, Doyle, Stevenson, Anderson, Tenuta) Gaps: OL, WR Total: 23 A's/B's: 22% Defensive A - 3 (White, Milano, Edmunds) Defensive B - 2 (Johnson, Jackson) Defensive C - 7 (Phillips, Neal, Oliver, Rousseau, Hamlin, Elam, Benford) Defensive D - 3 (Johnson, Epenesa, Basham) Defensive F - 6 (Vallejo, Joseph, Johnson, Wildgoose, Bernard, Spector) Gaps: DT, DE Total: 21 A's/B's: 24% The Bills average draft is balanced. Almost always the same number of players on Offense and Defense. I think it's clear where this team has fallen short. We have no organically developed good offensive lineman except Dawkins. The Bills haven't drafted one great WR outside of the Diggs trade. On defense, despite the massive investment, not one good DT selected, and not one good (not even great) DE. Preliminarly, I agree with others, the focus need to be on Allen. He needs a better Offensive Line, and there has to be another great WR added to this team somehow. I look through the Bills Free Agents, and outside of Edmunds, I don't see where the Bills should go out of their way to extend any but 2 of these 4: Edmunds, Phillips, Jackson, Lawson. I'd pick Edmunds and Phillips (he'll be cheap) and he's the only DT with size on the team. With this coaching staff, I have no faith that Hines will see the field unless Singletary is forcibly removed from the equation. Conclusions: Doing this means a significant overhaul on the offensive line: Quesenberry, Van Roten, Boettger, Safford, Hart. The defense looks like it is set to take a rather large step backwards, and that is okay, lean into Allen and the offense.

McDermott has the same thing to some degree as Doug Marrone did. He's seen it all, done it all, been in every situation, always gives a generic answer. I find him dismissive of real football questions. But then you see Sean out there in 2022 playing Pat Mahomes with a prevent defense like its 1983. Then we get to the Divisional in 2023 and it's Cincinnati, again it's soft zone, not challenging WRs. Today, you can get the All-22, there are ex-NFL QBs who break this film down now and explain scheme. So these generic answers by McDermott and Frazier don't hold weight. Do the Bills feel cutting edge?

The Poyer/Edmunds dilemma. Edmunds is going to be a gigantic hole in the middle of this defense.

My problem is Payton is going to want to run the entire operation. On top of the compensation which is $20M - $25M per year, the draft picks, is he going to want to be the GM, and play caller too? Or will he simply be the Head Coach? Because wherever he goes he’s going to be looked at as the savior. At the same time I would definitely support consultants or senior coaches being added to either coaching staff, I especially think the defense needs another voice, because that gameplan by Frazier and McDermott was pathetic.

Josh was a 2-4 week strain, Purdy is closer to a Grade 3 must be.

Yes but Allen isn’t Mahomes. Nobody is. He needs more help.

I too am souring on McDermott and can listen to the modern day Marty Schottenheimer. First drive of the game and nobody has Ja’Marr Chase? What was that gameplan? Sean and Leslie have 30+ NFL Coaching experience combined and that’s the defensive gameplan? Nothing innovative or new, just a static prevent defense the entire game it felt like.

What do you do here Jim? OOOOHHHHHH MMANNNNN.

DeAndre Hopkins would be a huge boost to this team. And the Bills could spend remaining draft capital on Offensive Line. But you're right, an OLine overhaul is coming with Morse getting older, Saffold is near the end of his career and was a 1-year deal anyways, RT is a problem.

Hopkins is the right idea. Cooks might be the second choice, but concussion history takes him off the list. Jeudy, is he really a #1 - not so far and it will be telling if Denver wants a first for him or takes anything lower than that. Mike Thomas - Injuries and age OBJ - Injuries and age Im not sure if the Raiders would move off Adams, or if we’ll ever get that kind of WR #1 movement again.

The Chiefs were out there with rookie corners on the Bengals, and they made plays because the Chiefs at least tried TRUE double coverage. The Bills played in their weak prevent-shell, and still lost track of Chase on the first touchdown, and Milano got stuck on Chase on the overturned touchdown. Our scheme was PATHETIC.

I think the solution is to get another top flight WR in here ASAP. Regardless if Diggs is mad or not, the fact is he is taken out of too many big games. It's an arms-race, and Diggs isn't enough.

There was a thread earlier in the year about resigning him, and I said no. I think he's okay. But at 6'1" 280 you have to be extremely disruptive in the pass game to earn that spot, and he just hasn't been the athletic mismatch that was promised. I just don't see any reason to hand over a 5 year, $75M dollar deal.

Can this fanbase stop with Isaiah Hodgins? He is 6'4". But he was a 6th Rounder because he runs a 4.64 40. He is a 700-yards per season possession WR. I'm talking about another #1 WR. Diggs can't be trusted in these big Playoff games. He disappeared last year at Arrowhead, and he disappeared at the Bengals.

This team desperately needs another WR. There is no size at WR and average speed.