MrEpsYtown

My best guess based on no actual knowledge is that Steve Wilks is coming with Al Holcomb. I would be good with that. Yeah it's more Carolina guys, but they are far from yes men and they know what McDermott wants. Holcomb had a lot to do with the development of Jeremy Chinn as well as Luke Kuechly.

I'm out on tiny wide receivers who really aren't that fast to begin with, ie McKenzie, Marquez Stevenson. No thanks. This Tank dude looks like Calvin Austin to me. Got hurt did nothing. Dude's legs look like twigs. Find guys with elite ball skills, George Pickens guys, Drake London guys. Guys who are going to catch the football and make contested catches in traffic. That's what Josh needs. Guys who can win vertically down the field and go and get the thing. I know it's easier said than done, but enough with the ridiculous water bugs. Unless we are talking Tyreek Hill type build, strength and speed, these little guys don't get it done when it matters.

Yeah McKenzie has to go. No thanks. He's way past the expiration date. Shakir has to catch 200 balls a day.

Bernard can't cover anyone as a linebacker. So he is not the answer. Terrible draft pick. I like the Benford idea, but I do think they bring in a young vet for competition. Banking on Benford to make that transition after he only played in 9 games as a rookie at another position out of a FCS school is extremely poor planning.

I mean, they just played a game in which one of their biggest issues was getting to the qb (who they didn't touch). So for him to match us up with an edge guy is a response to that, which makes some semblance of sense. I figured he'd go O-line, but I also think he knows that this regime is not going to draft a guard in the first round. It just isn't happening. Right now we are probably looking at WR or defensive player in my opinion. I could see they taking the RB if he falls. Would not be my favorite move, but he is a game breaking player. I could also see them taking one of those left tackles if they fall. But I can tell you with confidence, it is not going to be a guard and very unlikely to be a RT.

Just too vanilla in both the passing and running game. Josh was rarely throwing to open receivers, that is a scheme issue. When the Bills were at their best in the run game, they were running gap scheme stuff. The offensive felt like entry level vanilla Nate Hackett garbage.

Just poor drafting. When you look back at the 2019, 2020 and 2021 draft classes and look at some of the players they passed on, they just whiffed in their analysis of players and identifying talent. For example, 2019 they wanted a D linemen and took Oliver over Christian Wilkins, Jeff Simmons, Dexter Lawrence. They just missed Josh Allen. They passed on edge guys like Brian Burns, Montez Sweat, Rashan Gary. Most of this board wanted freakin Andre Dillard. We all know what happened in round 2. Round 3 they draft Singletary two picks before Terry McLaurin. Missed out on Maxx Crosby, CJ Gardner Johnson. Took Vosean Joseph 1 pick before Dre Greenlaw. It’s poor analysis and development. Its not cherry picking. It’s a pattern of poor drafting.

My thing with Risner as I mentioned is that they passed on him when they could have easily grabbed him in 2019. They had an O-line need and they hosted pre draft visists with Risner, Nate Davis, Greg Little, Elgton Jenkins, Erik McCoy…they passed on all those guys and took Cody Ford. Now you have a different OL coach, so philosophies have changed, but Jenkins is the only guy in that group who meets their current athletic type and he already re-signed for big money. Perhaps they really liked Risner and those other guys, but believed that Cody Ford was a true right tackle. Side note, I really would love a do over on that draft. The only real hit is Knox. They grabbed the wrong OL, DT, DE, LB…I mean there are so many all pro dudes at those positions and they struck out despite having needs there. Huge whiff.

Another guy I would not mind is Vance Joseph. Wilks, Flores, Joseph in that order for me. I feel McDermott will never hire a 3-4 guy like Fangio. Those other guys have coached in multiple schemes. Issue with Joseph is that I do not think Von is a big fan. But Wilks should be the guy

Van Denmark has some potential as a swing tackle, though a move to guard helps him. His negatives coming out focused on his inability to handle speed rushers on the edge. Anderson is a very raw prospect, not too many starts in college. I think he is better suited as a guard. Both are interesting projects, but I don’t think make a dent in the rotation next year. To me Tommy Doyle is the much more interesting prospect. But i do hope those guys develop into functional depth.

Steve Wilks or Brian Flores. Wilks’ has shown versatility as a DC, players love him, and he worked for McDermott, so I think we will have better continuity. I am huge Flores fan and I think his attacking style and versatility would be a welcome change.

McDaniel, Stefanski, and Taylor are recent examples. Mike McDaniel was San Francisco's OC for one year (he did not call plays). So the argument can be made that Dorsey has more experience than McDaniel did when he got hired. Kevin Stefanski was only an OC for one year before in Minny the Browns hired him. (He was interim OC for a couple of weeks the previous year). Zac Taylor was a the OC in LA for one year (did not call plays) before being hired in Cincy. He did have some brief time as an interim OC in Miami when Bill Lazor got fired. Dan Campbell has never been an OC. Was a tight ends coach. Nick Sirianni was an and OC for three years before being hired by the Eagles. It is important to note that he did not call plays for Frank Reich. Arthur Smith was the Titans OC for two years before getting hired by the Falcons. Kliff Kingsbury was never an NFL OC before being hired as a HC, but he was a college HC. Defensively, Brandon Staley was DC for one year before getting hired as a head coach. Vance Joseph was a DC for one year before the Broncos hired him as HC. Steve Wilks was a DC for one year before being hired as a HC. Brian Flores was a never a DC before being hired as a HC.

I know the Benford conversion to safety is a hot topic. I ran him and Poyer side by side as safeties in RAS. Some numbers he exceeds Poyer and some he falls short.

Free agency: Re-sign Edmunds. Find an undervalued corner-safety convert to replace Poyer. Replace Saffold. Draft: Wide receivers, defensive linemen and OL.

This regime, and I think it is smart, is always going to draft a running back in the 2nd-4th round area. Grind them out and after 4 years let them go. 1st round running back isn't happening because you get stuck with the 5th year option situation and it isn't a great strategy unless a guy like Barkley falls to you. Giving huge money to a guy like Barkley while not reaping the benefits of his rookie contract just doesn't make sense in terms of asset management. I think they pursue depth there at the position in free agency, maybe a Samaje Perine who gave us issues last week and brings a different style than Cook/Hines and will be cheap. They are just not going to pay a RB 12-15 million a year. This will never be a RB centric team. Beane alluded to it. You can't pay a QB, a WR and other positions. They have big contracts in Allen, Diggs, Dawkins, White, Morse, Von Miller, Milano, with the eventual need for a couple of safeties and possibly a Mike backer, there is likely zero chance they would chase Barkley. I can tell you this, when it is time to extend Joe Burrow, the Bengals will be moving on from Joe Mixon. It just won't fit.

I appreciate it. Same here. Really great content on here. Thanks for starting the thread!

Every year!

How is it possible that people came away from that game the other day and arrived at the conclusion that we need a running back? Seriously?

Sorry for the length, just getting into the free agent guys...let me just preface that I do not like PFF grades for OL. I think it is a great resource, I think their grades for both OL and DL aren't truly indicative of how good a guy is. I do like the idea of Jawaan Taylor. I don't know if the Jags will let him leave, and he is Florida born and raised, college and pro. It is going to take a lot to pry him away and beat out people like the Bears in free agency. I don't think it will happen, but I like his upsaid and he has been solid. Athletic and huge. Kaleb McGary is the best RT on the market and I don't think he is a realistic target. Mike McGlinchey is another name. Niners fans hate him. His career has been exactly like Spencer Browns, and I am not sure if he is an upgrade. He is their weak link on the OL. A guy like Andrew Wylie from KC could make some sense. Also Billy Turner of the Broncos. I think Dion and Brown will start next year and the upgrades will come in the interior. That said... Dalton Risner is ok. But this regime had a chance to draft him and they passed. For Cody Ford. I think his game is ok, and would be an upgrade to Saffold. But I don't think they go down that road. They also passed on Elgton Jenkins and all those receivers. Huge botch there. Nate Davis is similar to me. Ok athlete, with ok size. I don't think he amazing, but still a solid upgrade. It would depend on cost. Ethan Pocic has developed into a pretty good center, but he is a center only and lacks versatility. I do think that he would be a good target if Morse is indeed cut or retires. He is an ok athlete, and it is hard to tell how good he is because he was flanked by two all pro guards. He had never been great previously. Ben Powers is a very unathletic gap scheme guard. similar to a Bradley Bozeman. You only bring Powers in if you are changing the run scheme. Personally, I like Conner McGovern, the Jets/Mizzou version. To me he is a guy you can sign who can play RG, LG, or center. You sign him and if Morse stays he goes to RG and Bates goes to LG. If Morse goes McGovern or Bates become your center and the other probably plays LG. McGovern is an elite RAS guy at 9.87 and a former college LT. What I love about him is that he brings some major nastiness with actual ability (Think Feliciano with talent). He has also been pretty durable. Like McGary is the big win in the RT spot, the guard spot offers Isaac Seumalo, who i would love to have, but again, he is going to get paid and I don't think we will be the ones to do it. Some lower budget guys who make sense: Max Scharping, a former left tackle who moved into guard and was a huge bust for Houston. I like his potential and he shut us down this week. High RAS guy. They also passed on him for Cody Ford. David Edwards, a former Kromer guy at LA for the Rams and former Wisconsin RT. He struggled with injuries this year, but if he is healthy, maybe reuniting with Kormer will help him. Never a high RAS guy, same as Powers. He is still very young and at least had success under our OL coach. Michael Deiter, another Wisconsin linemen former LT. I don't think he ever got a fair shake in Miami. I thought he was one of their best linemen two years ago and Miami went and signed Connor Williams to move him to center and push Deiter to the bench. Average athlete, but always passed the eye test for me. Can play guard or center. Nick Allegretti, formerly of KC. He gets stuck in the numbers game there, but when he has played he played well. Still young and very nasty. Above average RAS. I like his size and his game. Some old wiley veterans could make sense like Rodney Hudson, Justin Pugh. One other thing I will say is keep an eye on some of these teams who will hire new coaches. They have have players who no longer fit their scheme (Like Miami with McDaniel and Michael Deiter). Guys I think could hit the market int he right situation Carolina's Brady Christensen, Denver's Quinn Meinerz, or the Colts Braden Smith. That is where I am at with the OL right now.

Brown is Mike McGlinchey. He is an okay player for the Niners who will be a free agent who took a long time to get good. . I really don't see an upgrade to Brown on the FA list. Jawaan Taylor is very interesting guy in my world. Just 25 years old with some more upside to go. Kaleb McGary is probably by far the best guy on teh market. Same deal. long athletic guy who took awhile to put it together. He is going to cost a lot. Outside of McGary or Taylor, I would stick with Brown and let him grow into McGlinchey. Just to add, with all the cap space the Bears have and just a few good linemen in FA, how do you get them to come here?

It was Van Roten at first, but he had some snap issues, so the next time Morse was hurt they put Bates at C and Van Roten at RG.

Dawkins and Bates stay because there is too much dead cap when you cut them. I think they will have to cut Morse to open something like 8 million in Cap Space. If that is the case you move Bates to center. They probably stick with Brown, then you have to find two guards.

At the end of the day you have to find guys who fit. I mean the Bengals went out and got a bit time player in L'ael Collins, meh guys like Ted Karras, Alex Cappa, and Cordell Volson in the 4th round and it totally changed their line. It is not about investment, it is about finding good players who fit your scheme. Jackson Carman, the second round pick a few years ago dominated our team yesterday. The Bills have invested money and some draft picks. They really have not found great players.

At the end of the day I have to put that on McDermott. They have dealt with a ton of adversity and he has held it together, but in the end it wasn't enough. Is the roster too old? too young? IDK, it did seem like they were sleepwalking, but these guys are supposed to be professionals. They need to be held accountable. Bengals dealt with ridiculous injuries and it was next man up. Hubbard and Hendrickson have been playing hurt most of the year and the Oline was in shambles. Scrap heap OL dudes playing and making it happen. McDermott always talked about humble and hungry. I did not see that with the Bills, I saw it with the Bengals. They were hungry and had something to prove. (not so humble)

I loved their Philly Cheese steak when I was a kid.