SoTier

Cherish the memory of the playoffs, dude, because you're not likely to have any new ones in the near future. Contrary to some fans' fantasies, 2019 doesn't look the year the Bills "put it all together" and dominate the AFCE ... or even 2020.

There is a serious talent issue. Except for Dawkins, Miller, and Teller, all the others have been around awhile, and the book on them is that they're not very good. Most are JAGs at best, but mostly career backups. The Bills have the lowest OL payroll in the NFL, and with the OL, you usually get what you pay for. Dawkins is a sophomore who played next to Incognito as a rookie. Miller was decent as a rookie (2016) but lost his starting job in 2017, and Teller is a rookie taken at the end of the fifth round. I'm not sure if better coaching would help but Castillo wasn't particularly good last season with more talent.

How about instead of trading up to 16 to take Edmunds, the Bills stay at #22 or #23 and take Isaiah Wynn, G, and use that extra pick on a LB prospect? If they traded up to 16, they could have taken Frank Ragnow or Billy Price (both centers). Maybe they could have gambled and wound up still getting Edmunds at #22 or #23 and used that extra pick on an OLer. Edmunds simply isn't that outstanding a prospect to merit trading up when the Bills had already given up so much to get Allen, and had so many needs on both sides of the ball. I thought that the Bills gave up too much to be sure that they got Allen, but the Edmunds pick really pee'd me off. IMO, it's going to haunt the Bills for years to come. A team can't win many games without a decent OL because even Brady can't throw TDs when he's on his back.

I have. The Bills OL back in 2008 and 2009 under Dick Jauron was about as bad at pass pro, and it couldn't run block at all. Whatever yards Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson got in those years came from them without any "help" from their OL.

0-8 won't surprise me ... I was thinking that was possible even before today. 1-7 seems most likely ... I think the Colts are most likely win ... any team with a good DL, the Bills QBs will be proverbial sitting ducks unless something changes drastically. 2-6 would surprise me ... I just can't see a scenario where the Bills get that lucky unless maybe their opponents wind up with half their team suffering from the flu on game day.

Between 2015-2017, the Bills generally had some good pieces to shore up the clunkers on the OL, namely Wood, Incognito, and Glenn. That's how most NFL teams operate: better OLers help the lesser OLers play better. The Bills problem is that they don't have ANY good OLers except perhaps Dion Dawkins, whose play has probably declined somewhat since he's no longer got Pro Bowler Richie Incognito playing inside him. McDermott was, however. Essentially, Whaley was a subservient to both Ryan and McDermott, especially in the draft. Just as Ryan dictated to Whaley, so McDermott dictated to Whaley. Maybe Beane is subservient to McDermott or maybe they're on the same wavelength. Obviously, the current Bills regime, however it's structured, doesn't care much, if at all, about the offensive side of the ball.

Does this regime lack the ability to assess offense talent or does it not value offense, so it puts offense at the very bottom of its priorities? Drafting a first round QB to placate the fan base but not providing him with protection (OL) or targets (WRs) -- a prescription for practically guaranteeing said first round QB to fail -- would fit with either scenario.

Last year's team was NOT "almost devoid of talent" when McDermott was hired. The Bills had an offense that was about average under Rex Ryan. Their defense wasn't all that good, but it certainly contained several talented individuals that McDermott and Beane sent packing one way or another. Most of the players from the 2016 team who walked as free agents or were traded went on to have at least some success with their new teams, including Stephon Gilmore, Robert Woods, Marquise Goodwin, Sammy Watkins, and Ronald Darby, all of whom were key players on 2017 playoff teams. Lie to yourself if it makes you feel better, but don't try to peddle your bull manure as the truth here.

How dare you criticize the McDermott/Beane regime! After breaking the playoff drought, they deserve to be properly worshipped for at least the next 5 years. You can't blame them for players who aren't interested in blocking or tackling in a preseason game. Probably Allen isn't ready to start yet anyways. Once the coaches get the OL to gel, and they start game planning, both the offense and defense will improve immensely. You have to believe in the process! //sarcasm off

Oh, like McDermott and Beane? That's who the OP is taking his cues from. The Bills had the best OL and WRs the team has had since the Glory Years when McDermott came aboard. Under his and Beane's direction, the Bills have reduced both units to liabilities. In his first year as GM, Beane demonstrated a pattern of trading away good vets with big contracts, especially on offense, for draft picks and replacing them with rookies and scrubs whose only positive qualities are that they signed for cheap. Already the Greek chorus on TWD made up of McDermott/Beane true believers is chanting "we won't be able to afford Benjamin" and "Clay's not worth the money" and busily reminding us that the Bills can't "afford" to pay players like other teams all around the league even though they are not paying for a veteran franchise QB or a premier edge rusher like Vonn Miller or a #1 WR like AJ Green ... Why are you dissing the OP for suggesting the Bills continue doing EXACTLY what McDermott and Beane have done in their short tenure here?

This is the most promising thing about Allen. Most QBs who hit the pros struggle to change/improve their mechanics/footwork, but there have been a few outstanding examples of QBs who did change and became pretty good: Tony Romo, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady.

Well, at least Darnold threw some passes more than 10 yards beyond the LOS in this game.

Williams has been a D coordinator for so long, teams pretty much "figured him out" years ago. When has "everyone" said the Browns were going to be "good" after preseason? Most predictions have been that they would win a few games and continue to live in the AFCN dungeon. Even this year, "everyone" is saying that the Browns are going to be better than before, with some of the most optimistic thinking that the Browns can win 6-8 games if things (like injuries) go right for them. The Browns have more than enough talent on the field to win 6 or 7 games, including at QB. They have 2 proven NFL coordinators. They haven't had either of those in the past. I agree on both points. Allen played effectively against the second team D which is what was impressive when both Foles and Sudfeld failed to do anything against the Browns' second D. Against the Browns first team D, Foles was just as bad as McCarron ... and the Browns' first D smoked the Eagles starting OL (minus Jason Peters) almost as badly as it did the Bills'. The Browns front 7 seems likely to terrorize QBs this season if they stay healthy. The Browns have added a number of good veterans on both sides of the ball, and those guys will be the same guys they've been previously when opposition coaching staffs game planned against them. ]

While Allen has grown a lot since the end of the college football seasons, there's no guarantee that he'll continue to improve. At some point, all QBs hit "the wall" where they fail to improve significantly if at all. Allen's impressive improvement might be that he's had more room to improve than most first round QB prospects, such as Mayfield. Moreover, improvement because of mastering fundamentals comes easier than improvements in more complex skills like reading defenses or making the right decisions required because the pro game is much faster and more complex than the collegiate game. It's not unusual to see a first year starter -- think Mark Sanchez, Colin Kaepernick, or EJ Manuel -- look pretty good in that first year starting and sometimes even early into his second season -- but then simply stop improving any more. The problem with that is that what's "acceptable" or "good" for a first year starter isn't "acceptable" or "good" for a guy who's been starting for 4 or 5 seasons. All QBs "hit a wall" at some point. The poorer ones hit it sooner. The great ones take much longer to do so, but with many QBs their performances aren't all that clear-cut. They seem to be much more dependent upon their teammates or coaching or various tangibles/intangibles. Think guys like Jay Cutler, Ryan Tannehill, Blake Bortles or Jameis Winston. Analytics can't predict when a QB is going to stop improving.

De-Nial isn't just a river in Egypt.

I am not surprised that Dawkins is struggling. He wouldn't be the first good looking rookie to suffer a "sophomore slump" by not being able to improve enough to keep pace with expectations. Moreover, with OLers, success often depends upon whom they're playing beside. Last year, Dawkins looked good playing beside Pro Bowler Richie Incognito. Now, he's playing besides a rookie or JAG at best ...

How is treating every opinion as if it were equally reasonable/plausible/correct etc or pretending that every poster offering one knows what he/she is talking about any different from giving out trophies for "participation" in T-ball or kiddie soccer?

Darnold looks to be a rich man's Trent Edwards, Captain Checkdown Part Deux.

Agree. Kizer's INTs cost them at least 2 or 3 wins last season, and maybe more. That's why they wanted Taylor, and why Jackson is unequivocal about Taylor being the starter. They want to win games, and I suspect that they'll win several more than many Bills fans think they will.

I picked 701-900 yards because I think the Bills' OL sucks only slightly less at run blocking than it sucks at pass protection.

Maybe Beane should ask AJ McCarron if "the status of the OL" will influence who will start at QB for the Bills.

There's a slight difference between a team that backed into the playoffs with 9 wins and lots of luck after missing them for 17 years, and a team that dominated its division and conference for most of a decade.

So, you think that just because the Bills got lucky and won 9 games last last year, cutting offensive talent and replacing them with JAGs and backups or players with well-known injury problems is a formula for success and should be repeated? Do you believe in the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny, too? In 2017, the Bills let Pro Bowl DB Stephon Gilmore and WRs Robert Woods and Marquise Goodwin walk in FA. They traded away Sammy Watkins in training camp, and then sent Ronald Darby to Philly for Jordan Matthews. They traded away former Pro Bowler Marcell Dareus during the season. So far in 2018, Eric Wood and Richie Incognito retired and Cordy Glenn was traded. DBs Leonard Johnson, EJ Gaines, and Shareece Wright as well as backup OT Seantrel Henderson left in free agency. Who have they replaced these players with?

I believe the stadium had a capacity of 80k back in the glory years. I also think it was just a couple of games over a span of time from about 1989 to about 1998.

IMO, the emperor's strutting around buck naked, and all the Bills believers refuse to admit to what they see. The Bills have been shedding expensive players via FA and trade and replacing them with cheaper, not as good players and rookies, especially on the offense, since McDermott was hired. Contrary to the storyline from the Bills true believers, that's pretty much SOP for the Bills for the last twenty years. Lie to yourself about the Bills if you want, but I'll continue to call them as I see them, and I see Beane as just another in a line of Bills GMs more interested in increasing team revenues than in winning games.