Ethan in Cleveland

Good take. I meant to include guard and C with IOL(interior o-line). I think you are probably right about CB especially if they play mostly a zone type scheme. Did Mayfield have leadership issues? Honest question. I dont recall hearing about that. Otherwise I agree. In Cleveland here they are struggling to find a leader. Watson was suspended for 11 games and their best player is a DE that is quiet and only makes the news for speeding tickets and crashing his sportscar.

Cmon man. You know that was the contract not the talent. Do better.

I don’t assume the worst. I just don't beleive he was that hands off the defense over the last several years. And you know as well as I those regular season defenses the last few years have faced one bottom feeder QB after another allowing them to pad their stats. It just makes no sense that after losing to the Chiefs in back to back AFC playoff games that now he is going to get more involved and there will be a radical difference. Add the Houston collapse and it just doesn't jive. That said the D won the Ravens and Colts playoff games. Which is interesting. If anything the Bills run D is what gets gashed from time to time in the regular season and then they play well against running teams in the playoffs only for the vaunted secondary to get picked apart by the Chiefs. But who doesn't get picked apart by the Chiefs. Add the regular season success against the Chiefs and it is all the more frustrating and perplexing. All of this is of course magnified by 13 seconds where defensive timeouts were called before each play and still they allowed the Chiefs to get into FG range. Anyhow, all this talk doesn't matter. McD owns it and let's see how it plays out.

Let's assume it is more aggressive which I doubt. Why the wait? Why would the HC allow the DC to run a less passive scheme than what the HC wants? Again, I want McD calling the plays so there is no doubt who is in charge of the defense. If he truly is more aggressive then great. Keep in mind arguably the greatest play in Bills history was a pick six by Taron Johnson paying zone coverage in the red zone with a four man rush.

Until proven otherwise it's the same as it had been for three years Allen is our greatest hope Coaching is our biggest question mark

Yeah he can do a cone drill ! Too bad blocking isn’t part of the score. 12 out of 1143 over 34 years and he still was considered a reach in the fifth round. Must be a reason. Watching him play do you think he is elite In explosion or agility? Hey if he earns a roster spot that’s great. He is cheap labor. Can’t wait for training camp

It will be interesting to see how they construct the final 53. If Kincaid can block even a little, they might go with two TE's. But I'm guessing they go with three because Kincaid is just a tall slot WR in this offense. And you are correct Bates played the extra OT when Feliciano was the back-up C. Regardless I still don't see Doyle making the roster.

That's when they carried only two TEs and one of them was Sweeney. They probably carry three TE's this year. Assuming Bates doesn't start (Two of these three McGovern, Edwards, and Torrence will be the OG starters) he will be the extra OT in the heavy formation. He did that in the past as well. Bates is the ultimate utility guy who can play all 5 spots in a pinch and will dress every game. Doyle was a bad draft pick and he probably wouldn't even make the team this year even if he hadn't gotten hurt.

Except the pass rush. Beane has not done much to address the DE rotation. I like Lawson as a #4. If they signed a guy like Justin Houston they could get rid of Epenesa and possibly try to convert Basham to a 3 tech DT for 2024.

Good move. Just cut Doyle now. He was awful before the injury. He has no hope of making this roster.

You chose my picks too. Really like Ford up front making a lot of plays. Also like Harris. He's the most physical runner they have had since Lynch. I dont think he will get more than 700 yards as the carries will be split quite a bit. He will get a number of short yardage TDs and will pick up some critical 3rd and shorts for us.

What is your point? Did Harbaugh not go to the Super Bowl and almost win? Did he not go to three consecutive NFC Championship games? His NFL regular season record is 44-19-1 or 0.695 win percentage. McDermott’s is 0.639. He did this with Alex Smith and Kaepernick at QB. Did he not make Stanford a nationally relevant college football team? Did he not get Michigan to the college football playoff?

Curious why you feel that way? Beane has done a real nice job addressing the OL. Not RT but the interior OL should be much better. They are betting on Brown getting better. I wish an OT had fallen to them in round 1, but it didn’t work out that way. Beane has added good players at WR, TE, and RB. White looks better in OTAs The pass rush is still a massive question mark, but DT depth is improved. If they can go 4-2 while Miller is on PUP they should be fine. I was always an Edmunds skeptic so I just don’t see losing him having that big of an impact. I wish they had brought in someone better and bigger than they have on the roster. But the NFL seems to disagree with me. Now if they get throttled by the Jets week 1, this place will be in full meltdown.

I think this is where most people are. It will take a two year cycle of coming up short of the SB to move on from McDermott. Barring some ridiculous collapse this year he will be around for 2024.

Good point. That’s why I said DE/edge. He was always a pass rusher first just like Miller. I think Dallas is moving him to DE full time this year

I dont disagree with anything you wrote. Define patience for us though please? How many seasons with the best QB in franchise history do you give McD? Do you keep him as long as he is making the playoffs but not a SB? If they go 10-7 and miss the playoffs is he still the HC in 2024? What if he goes 12-5 and loses in the first round at home? I've posted multiple times, I would trade him for Jim Harbaugh in an instant. Harbaugh took a far less talented QB to a NFC Championship and the SB and came within a few yards of winning it. Harbaugh would leave Michigan in an instant for a chance to lead the Bills roster.

The discussion is not whether he is a good coach. Of course McD is a good coach The question is, is he an exceptional coach that will give us a championship? We don't need good. We need a SuperBowl.

There are good LBs in round 1. But even the best ones don't make enough plays to make a difference. Corners and edge rushers are more critical pieces of your defense.

Yeah when last I bothered to look it was about 50% or a little more teams had some player that was considered a FB. So you can't say the position is extinct as many HCs seem to still value whatever skill set they bring. If you could dress all 53 I'd probably think otherwise. But I'd rather dress an extra TE, OL, or DL and use them to block.

I figured 3 Hopkins threads were enough so I thought a different thread might be fun. Is their an opinion that you have changed or evolved over a period of time? Mine involves positions worthy of a first round pick. I defended teams like the Colts taking a probable HOF guard with a top 10 pick in the past and at the time. Many others said it was crazy to take a guard that high. Same with TE when I wanted Hockenson over Oliver. In a relatively short period of time I've changed my thought. Even if a player ends up a ProBowl level talent there are just so many positions that don't matter enough to warrant a first round pick. For me its a combination of the true value they bring to winning and also the opportunity to get a player at the same position that can play at a high level much later in the draft. Positions I would take in the first round: 1. QB 2. LT 3. WR 4. DE/edge 5. CB Positions I might take in the first round: 1. DT 2. TE 3. RT Positions I would never take in the first round: 1. Obviously K and P 2. LB 3. S 4. RB 5. IOL

Fair take. I'd keep 4 RB and get rid of Gilliam. Never liked him on the roster and hated the contract they gave him. Harris could line up at FB in a pinch but heck I'd put a DT back there in short yardage if you really want a blocker. Gilliam offers nothing special. Case in point the team has been terrible in short yardage situations for multiple years now. Only the QB sneak has been consistently effective. He had a few nice blocks last season and I have nothing against him. I've been against a roster spot for a FB for years.

Agree with or without Hopkins I think Davis will have a great year.

Other way around. Diggs play is nearly flawless. Allen was careless with the ball last year. Allen is amazing but he needs to play cleaner this year even if that means taking the check down from time to time. Allen needs to trust his guys can make plays with the ball too.

No need to trade a WR. Get rid of Gilliam and just keep two TEs on the roster. That opens a space for an extra WR and an extra OL that can play TE3 when needed.

Are you seriously comparing Hopkins to OBJ???