Ayjent

Torrence provided a huge upgrade at UF last yr and unlike many players at UF on the OL and DL that i think have been overvalued in drafts, Torrence was probably right on target with his 1st round grade. I think if healthy he'll be a pretty solid player if not exceptional and i think that the right side of the OL for Allen is most important to the success of the offense. If they hold their own this offense will be unstoppable.

A total POS person. There is a part of me that can only hope he picks the wrong person to f with and gets the other end of it. I dont wish ill on people but man this pushes the limits of that philosophy. The dude probably has some deep seated issues, but it doesnt excuse the behavior. Almost a caricature of an a-hole athlete.

And that isnt getting called unless it is blatant and egregious. To my knowledge that rule hasn't ever been enforced in a game. Keeping it "sticky" worked for Chiefs the year before. You do what you can to make yards and time your friend in that situation. Letting them get off two easy completions is the absolutely what you dont want. I will never understand thinking a team is going to go to the house on you with :13 so play way off and let them move at will when all they need is a fg.

They gave up a fg at end of half vs chiefs regular season and it was deja vu

You hold like hell on D at the end of the :13 seconds and you kick off just like they did bc field position is most likely further back w/o squib which gets you 3-4 seconds at best with potentially much better field position for kc. A 5 yd penalty that wasted 7 seconds on 1st puts them at 1st and 10 at 30. Much more difficult situation and basically game over. Like many Bills playoff loses it was a series of incompatible strategies that sunk them. That was the inexcusable error - no awareness of how to just take advantage of the situation. Sometimes a penalty is your friend and they should know that. Yet they repeated the error in the regular season last year.

Both sides of the ball have responsibility for the playoff losses, as well as coaching to put those players in best position to succeed. The lack of investment/successful investment in the offensive line was the weakness of the team last year as well as them getting away from precision timing offense that was working early in the year. They played to their weakness when it mattered most as the season progressed. The offense began to resemble a madden player that got bored and wanted to run around looking for big plays every series and the offense lacked consitent rhythm because it was more sandlot than design. Im not sure who is to blame but the effect was the same and it is up to the team to identify and rectify and they didnt last season. To me its on everyone and there is no need to point fingers. However, if Im a player pushing for it to be rectified and no one else is listening i might loose my s#!t. If teams are taking something away you should be built to make them pay bc something else is available and the Bills offense wasnt able to answer. Theyve done things to address deficiencies with personnel but they also need to better in utilizing their personnel, which they did not do last year. If your line sucks in pass protection focus on timing and attacking where teams are overaggressive on defense. We had a front seat to how that was done with Brady and Pats. Is this coaching? Yes, but...its also based on players preferences and honestly they were good but extremely vulnerable because they lost focus on their ability to dominate. It was talent overcoming approach until they met other talented teams where you cant hide deficiencies as well. On defense they stubbornly kept a philosophy over situational matchups. Same issue - not maximizing effectiveness to create an advantage. There were coaching issues last year, plain and simple. Not beating the crap out of Burrow with a gum and paper clip OL in front of him bc we were trying to play it safe with injuries on D was just stupid. That approach just let the Bengals suck the life out of the Stadium and team from Go. If Hamlin hadnt been injured in the regular season game I wonder if that similar ass beating that was in progress doesnt change the complexion of how the Bills approached the playoffs. But that is most likely wishful thinking, bc we've seen that story before where they repeat a flawed strategy.

I never said he was the only one that cared, but he was the only one visibly frustrated by the effort. And there certainly seemed to be a lot of accepting the result rather than fighting to win way too early in that game. And if you didn’t feel that watching the game then I’d like to jump to that alternate reality, because it was pitiful and painful to watch as a fan. I’m not saying Diggs was right or wrong bc I have no idea of the true context of what happened nor do any of us, but I damn sure appreciate the passion bc it seemed to be lacking and it wasn’t like his teammates were rising to meet that passion. So Diggs showed up teammates that were accepting loss too easily - good - that is not being a good teammate, either.

I get his frustration and love his passion to win. That performance against the Bengals was poop on a stick and the only player it looked like it bothered was Diggs. Instead of having a killer instinct the team wilted and that isnt okay. We're all frustrated by that bc that is not the identity of Buffalo nor the Bills we've known at their best. I get the criticism of Diggs being too public about his views, but accountability doesnt come easily when its not exposed. It is not uncommon for an immensely talented team that doesnt have the success it should to have this happen. The Bickering Bills. Warren Sapp calling out teammates publicly in Tampa before they won it. Trading Diggs would be a mistake. Everyone holding each other more accountable top to bottom is what you want and what is necessary to get that title. While the publicity may seem negative the result may be positive if the organization embraces it. I appreciate the fire and determination Diggs brings and honestly I think it could be a net positive at the end of the season. Getting rid of a guy like that is stupid and sets the organization back.

Yeah the Florida QBs the last 2 years were completely inconsistent and there weren’t many opportunities for big receiving games unless passes turned into big plays. That’s why it is so headscratching that Richardson was drafted so high. I watched every game and he just had no rhythm as a passer and was easily rattled to the point that they needed to count on running if they were going to have a chance. So I think Shorter with good QB play and good coaching will have an opportunity to show why he was ab5 star recruit because the only year he played with a decent QB was Trask and Pitts and Toney were the two main options back then.

Yeah that is insanely high for a team that no defense is losing sleep over facing. Metcalf and Lockett are good but it’s not like they are all world tandem. Tyreke Hill by himself is way scarier. The list is meaningless though bc the QB, line and other factors can make all the WR top talent useless or mediocre talent extremely serviceable. Bills probably more like 15-16 bc of Diggs alone.

I dont see Bates being traded. Too much uncertainty with Torrence as a rookie and Morse with concussions. His versatility to fill positions on the line makes him far too valuable as a solid contingency plan for any issues on the line. I know people are down on Brown and i get it. I was disappointed with his play last season too. However, I do think his potential is there but if it doesnt show this year its likely not the answer at RT. I do think the Bills are putting too much faith in his ability to step up, but I hope im wrong bc they dont have another good option at the position. Every tesm has to roll yhe dice somewhere but its an important position bc Josh likes to roll out right.

He wasn’t a bust. He played with crappy QBs at UF that couldn’t hit an intermediate route with accuracy or timing. Speaking of, I can’t believe Richardson went 4th overall. This guy has the physical talent and is a solid blocking WR and hasn’t ever played with a decent QB.

Richardson has way better athleticism and a stronger arm but also was way worse as a college passer, which isn’t to say a Manuel was a good passer. Manuel had better talent around him and a higher completion percentage and td to int ratio but throws were off target to wide open players that still made the catches. Richardson didn’t even give guys a chance to make catches on off target throws and just looked uncomfortable as a passer often.

He would get rattled and fall apart with his accuracy and decision-making against almost any team. Although he was explosive if he ran in the open field he wasn’t exactly an escape artist with his feet to extend drives and plays. You would see it from time to time but it wasn’t a consistent theme. I watched every game he played in and was hoping Mullen would start him over Emory Jones during his freshman year (where AR-15 also had a hamstring injury) and last year I saw why they didn’t. He played well against Utah and that was really about it. He was pretty awful for long stretches of games often sailing intermediate throws too high and often recognizing the open man too late. I’m not surprised teams are in love with his physical traits but his body of work as a QB was not even close to impressive. He has UDFA performance with 1st round physical traits. I thought he could’ve used another year or two in college but when you are getting a 1st round grade why would you stay, when your stock can’t improve much and your risk of falling is much greater.

Until you put that first lump of coal in them

Miller is a smart playmaker and sure tackler, but he isn’t the fastest guy. Seems like an odd choice for Bills D style. They seem to value speed more than anything. Good player though.

Impressive. Can’t say I watched much of Purdue in the past several years.

Two players on the Gators that I do like are Ventrell Miller and Justin Shorter who are in this year’s draft. Miller just made plays and had the instincts to diagnose and be in position, especially against the run. When the Gator D played with any momentum he was typically at the heart of it. He did struggle with injuries, however. I think he is a day 3 pick but definitely a solid player. Shorter is most likely destined for UDFA but is low risk, high reward guy with a big body, good speed, and good hands. He can be a bit stiff in his routes but he is a very capable blocker. He really played with terrible passing QBs the last two years, especially on intermediate routes. I think with good QB play there might be a lot more there.

That matches what I’ve seen from him throughout his time as a Gator. He was part of a secondary that was inconsistent but he would flash some really good plays and then some really poor ones. I don’t think the coaching has been great at UF defensively the past several years, so it’s hard to know how much it is the player vs what they’re being taught. Last year’s staff was an upgrade from Mullen’s but still a bit underwhelming. I can’t see McD giving him much playing time unless forced and even then they’ve shown a desire to pickup street vets instead of starting a young guy.

I am a UF fan and Richardson doesn’t have 1% of the want to win attitude of Josh Allen. He’s certainly comparable athletically but that’s where it begins and ends. I saw a kid that couldn’t put together a complete game and would get rattled as hell and not be able to rebound mentally. He could be electric but is a late round prospect at best that will get picked in the first. The team picking him that high will wish they hadn’t. I expect him to fall as teams evaluate him closer, but not too much. He’s terribly inconsistent passing and doesn’t have great pocket presence.

They need a reliable slot guy more than anything and McKenzie isn’t it. He missed his opportunity and was just too afraid of contact to be what the Bills need. I don’t blame him for that bc that takes being half nuts to play the position well, but the Bills need that more than anything in the passing game. I also think they need more physicality overall on offense with wrs and TEs that can block well in the screen and run game. There are a lot of easy plays they don’t have bc they really don’t have effective blocking outside and they don’t get playmakers any room to move in space for RAC. Some of the low RAC is also bc Josh is running around making time and the passes are just darts that aren’t timing or designed. Parker Washington might be a decent pick in 3rd Rd to fill that role of a good blocking, tough slot receiver.

I think what people are asking for is that McDermott actually be the Head Coach and hire a new DC with more autonomy to run a different D than Frazier or than he might run and bring something new to the table. But I think it’s also fair to say that maybe McD won’t fire Frazier bc he is doing what McD wants. Either way they can’t keep doing the same thing bc it’s not the answer Defensively. The culture and expectations that McDermott and Beane have brought are to their credit and most of us don’t want to throw it all away for the unknown. Especially given that this team mired itself in the most frustrating mediocrity for the better part of 2 decades, and the Pegulas first hire was a huge swing and miss. However, they do need to try to adapt bc this is clearly not on par with the teams that stand in the way and others are going to emerge.

I hear what you are saying and I agree, but I wonder if McD’s solution will be the right one. If I’m him and Beane, I’m thinking we flip the script on drafting and focus on offense to build the team. Interior line has got to improve and I’m looking for competition for Brown. I think another WR is a must, as is a physical back that they can use as a hybrid blocker/runner. I think there are gems for backs throughout the draft. Draft physical specimens in later rounds on D and see where it takes you because I’ve seen them hit on great picks later in the draft (Taron, Milano). This offense needs to be built to do whatever it wants and they’ve got the player at QB to make that easy if they put a great line in front of him. When a teams comes looking to harass Josh on the edge they need to be able to counter that with an ability to run at those ends and keep them home. They also need better play design but that’s a completely different conversation.

I like McDermott and don’t want to move on from him but I do want to see them adjust and learn from what has made them vulnerable on both sides of the ball, and invest where it will make the biggest impact on their ability to win a. I understand what you like about the defensive philosophy of how they’ve built the team but the reality is that the team on D doesn’t impose its will at any level and is particularly susceptible against physical teams and inclement conditions neutralizing them. It’s easy to beat the Bills D with talent and you needn’t be spectacular either, just have a rhythm passing game and it’s there more times than not, and if you have a running game to go with it, then it’s up to Josh and the offense to come through with more urgency in each possession. It’s what we saw the second half of the season, the Bills got the wins but none was particularly comfortable outside of an atrocious Bears team. I don’t even see the D play that multiple because when push comes to shove they play soft coverage and give too much respect to QBs that can get the ball out on time and on target trying to keep everything in front of them. They give yards. They give completions. They give you heartburn on 3rd down. Statistically it works out but that doesn’t mean it’s good nor dominant in any way. They really only play a front 6 and they can be dominated at the LOS. I get that it’s a passing league but the DL is not impactful in rushing the QB and yeah Von Miller going on IR hurt them but you’ve got to be better than one guy. The guys they have aren’t physical nor dominant enough to rush the QB even if they can run sideline to sideline to make tackles beyond the LOS. Pressure and penetration up front makes everything easier and they simply aren’t making that happen no matter what and soft coverage and passive schemes aren’t helping the pass rush either. They spent tons of salary and capital on their D and it’s not really that much more effective than year 1 under McD (other than at LB) and the offense is not talented enough as a result of over-investment in the D. I don’t know why they have not invested more in the OL to protect their franchise player and to impose a running game when Buffalo weather dictates they take a game over. I think skill players are a luxury that is not a wise investment if you don’t have the essentials (OL) and I think the Bills have enough talent, but not great talent beyond Diggs and Allen, on offense. They can be so much better on that side and they are already good, but defenses definitely figured something out with hemming Josh in so that he doesn’t escape moving up in the pocket and that neutralized the offense more and more as the late season progressed. I also think Josh was bearing more and more of burden of carrying the team and there was no confidence in his OL as he was looking to keep himself in position where he could get out of trouble bc he was expecting it.

This is the thing that I just can’t accept but will likely have to: the team with the biggest defensive investment, the defensive background HC and a constant HC candidate as DC was the softest least impressive defense in maybe the entire playoff field (at least bottom quartile). Every team has injuries and that is why coaching matters from scheming to your available personnel’s strengths and player development. The Bills seem to be falling short there - is it the organization’s inability to identify talent? is its inability to develop it that is the issue with a poor ROI on the DL? or is it what the players are asked to do that isn’t working out scheme wise? It’s probably some combination of all of those things but they are things that have to be true in one respect or the other. The defense is a paper tiger and we all know stats can be misleading because it’s how you play when it matters. Philosophically the Bills are simplistic on D and that makes it easy for good teams to attack and when the Bills don’t adjust the scheme with back ups the results are predictably going to be worse. That’s the story of playoffs this year and last was a different story but failed because of the same philosophy. They just had better players available and an offense hitting on all cylinders to give them a shot to win last year. I honestly think Frazier’s -layoff performances have closed the door on him getting another HC opportunity and I think the Bills would be very wise to move on and consider going in a different direction for the good of the team. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The scheme Frazier runs is not going to be much different results wise with uber talented players and mediocre players. It’s a great defense for mediocre talent vs mediocre opposition. It’s just not effective unless your front 4 are just wrecking balls and the Bills DL are not wrecking balls.