Beck Water

This is just my personal opinion. I think McDermott is a fine defensive coach. However, I don't think he wants to have a "stars and guys" build on D. I think McDermott's defensive philosophy is primarily "guys and guys", and "Everyone Do Your Job", making the whole greater than the sum of its parts. It's how McDermott was able to achieve 9 wins his first season here with Preston Brown and and Ramon Humber at LB, with Shaq Lawson at LDE, and with EJ Gaines across from rookie Tre at CB. Think about it - why have the Bills have spent boatloads on DL up until 2022, without one real star to show for it, because McDermott insists on dividing the dollars between so much depth on his DL rotation? Guys and Guys. And in the secondary, we had Tre White until he tore his ACL, that's it. Levi Wallace and Dane Jackson across from him were JAGs. Hyde and Poyer had a synergy which made them greater as a pairing than they were individually. Year after year, the Bills have a top D during the regular season and win a lot, but have no or very few pro-bowlers and all-pros, because the D is really built of "guys and guys". It's how McDermott was able to have a 6th round CB jump a 1st round pick on the depth chart, lose Tre' White, Da'Quan Jones, and Matt Milano and still have an 11-6 season playing their backups plus a mid-season trade. Here's the problem with that philosophy - it's great at shutting down lesser offenses so it wins in the regular season. But when it comes up against the Best of the Best, another championship team, then all it takes is one guy losing focus and not doing his proper check and the opposing offense will see and exploit it. I think the Bills "Brain Trust" is aware of this, which is why we saw Beane "shoot his shot" at bringing in a top-drawer pass rushing talent in Von Miller after the 2021 "13 seconds" debacle. Von had contributed 50 tackles, 17 QB hits, 9.5 sacks in 2021, so I see the logic. The problem is, Miller has only appeared in 23 out of 34 games since arriving in Buffalo, and was relatively ineffective in the 12 games, 32% of defensive snaps he played this season (3 tackles, 3 QB hits, 0 sacks). It's also why the Bills drafted Kaiir Elam in the 1st round, to bookend with another 1st rounder in Tre - only for whatever reason, Elam hasn't worked out. I think Beane and McDermott have ideas what they need as answers, but those ideas need players. When you go from scheming a backup ST LBer and a 32 yr old safety as a replacement for an all-pro grade LB to starting a MLB literally off the sofa and a one-armed ST LBer in a brace next to him plus a backup CB for your best secondary man, you're just out of players. There's a saying "it's better to be lucky than good". There's some of that. There's a saying "people make their own luck sometimes", and when the shot you shoot is 32 years old, there's some of that too.

No, not at all. It's where you go to tackle a player and get some extra force to bring him down by dropping YOUR hips and kicking your legs up. resulting in the defender's body weight landing on the offensive player's legs and feet, with a high potential to cause injury. I understand the intent behind the rule, my problem is that I believe it will become Yet Another Rule referees misinterpret or enforce inequitably. Here is a Rugby video I found about what is or isn't a hip-drop tackle

Not a Sam Monson fan but I think he nails it this time!

Drinking and golfing buddy of Josh, Check. As far as "not legit NFL QB", uncertain there's that much to choose between him and Trubisky, for all Trubisky has 3x the starts that Allen has. 24 more ypg for Mitch and 2% higher completion %. Did you see him play for Pittsburgh? The WR must have been pulling out their hair, he would simply NOT pull the trigger and throw downfield. TL;DR I lack confidence in either of them as potential backup QBs. We're in Tom Moore "fellas, if 17 goes down we're *****, and we don't practice *****" territory. Fun fact: Did you know Trubisky has a "winning record" as an NFL QB? Until I looked it up, I did not.

With respect, I'm not sure the message is so much "heartfelt support" for McD, as 1) impatience with the OP for his campaign 2) finding the McDermott/Jauron comparison inapt

If we're talking about the plan to go into the season with Peterman and Allen as the QB....that was a horrible, horrible plan.

I'm pretty sure it's because of the injury....at the time Dion Dawkins spoke somewhat sympathetically about what it must be like to be expecting your first child, a son, and suddenly have legit concern you might never be able to hold him It doesn't surprise me at all. During the season McDermott said something to the effect of 'his head not being anywhere near ready to return'. To be truthful, I kind of think Micah Hyde should retire due to repeated neck stinger issues last season, despite his 2022 surgery.

Now that is legitimately funny.

Curious....What do you mean by "enabler" in this context? Kyle Allen's fiancee Summer Juraszyk and Josh Allen's former girlfriend Britt were apparently close friends.... I had the thought when the Bills signed him, "AWKward... do the QB and girlfriends, still take the same limo to the Halloween party?" Even if a good Polish name like Juraszyk does fit in fine with Buffalo

ohkay...but you responded to my post (in which I said that) All good....

I think the context in which that was said might be relevant to whether or not it's unreasonable

I'm sure he does "feel the heat". I think every HC "feels the heat", including HC who have just won the Superbowl. Consider Kubiak with Denver. 2015: not only gets to the Superbowl with The Ghost of Peyton Manning plus Brock Osweiler starting 7 games, he wins! 2016: 9-7. 2017: Out the door. As "Son of Bum" quipped, "2 years from the Superbowl to the Unemployment Line" (and he had a #4 ranked defense that year, too).

It would be helpful if you would link to the video you're talking about, so that we can all be sure we're watching the same thing. Can you document the bolded "gave McDermott praise many times last year"? With regard to your comment "He also stated its hard to win in the NFL. I recall a prior HC pilloried on this site for saying the exact same words. ": Jauron's record as HC of the Bills was .421 as follows : 24 wins and 33 losses, 3 consecutive 7-9 seasons followed by 3-6 at the time he was fired. No playoff appearances with those records, of course. McDermott's record as HC of the Bills is 0.64 as follows: 73 wins and 41 losses, 9-7, 6-10, 10-6, 13-3, 11-6, 13-3, 11-6 Do you think perhaps reaction to any "it's hard to win in this league" comments might be legitimately viewed differently if McDermott said that 73 wins and the 5 consecutive years in the playoffs? What I think is that you ought to consider taking up a hobby. Crochet is interesting, I hear**, or Philately. **disclaimer: I do not, myself, know how to crochet, so can not personally verify the interest or lack of interest

Who is their offensive line again?

Did he look good in shorts? Meanwhile, of course, Mahomes does nothing every minute of every day but try to get better at football....that would explain how Mahomes has a golf handicap of 7.7 or 7.5 or whatever it is...never works on his golf stroke at all, just holds WR camps <==Sar Chasm I've actually never heard this. Factually, Josh has had 3 OCs: - -one through his first 4 seasons -one through the next 1.5 seasons -now a third

So here's my take and maybe I'm all wrong. The problem I see with not being able to blow by corners, is in some games, notably playoff games, if the refs aren't calling DH and DPI, corners just muscle and hinder our guys and they can't get open. A couple years ago, the Bills almost never saw man during the regular season, because Brown could burn man deep (unless there was a lot of uncalled mugging), Diggs could break their ankles, and there was usually a good outlet in Beasley unless they bracketed him. In 2022, McKenzie could KILL man. But last year, IIRC the Bills saw a huge amount of man coverage, because we lacked guys who could blow by corners or kill them short. No one could get open against man. We need that element back in our game. We didn't have a problem, but possibly we should have had one?

Seriously? YIKES! https://www.nfl.com/prospects/ladd-mcconkey/32004d43-4351-2833-c30c-76941288e843 Now, I will say that Diggs was projected as a slot in the NFL with comments like these: "Doesn't possess the strength or long speed to make a living as an outside receiver, but he can be an extremely effective weapon from the slot as a pro.....Must prove he can win as route runner against quality cornerbacks. Play strength is below par. Gets muscled around by physical defenders. Very aware of oncoming traffic and will stop routes to avoid big hits. Gives moderate effort as a blocker, but rarely ends up getting his man blocked." Diggs can certainly win as a route runner against top CBs, but he does get muscled around by physical defenders still.

Here is the actual transcript from the video you linked at the time stamp you quoted. Steve Tasker: "Jordan, in Josh's work with you this off season, did he have to change his regimen in any way at the outset, knowing that he played through the UCL injury?" JP: "Guys who are starters, who are playing in January - not everyone plays football in January - and guys who have ownership of their stroke, not working on throwing a consistent spiral....those guys start a lot later. Those guys don't need to throw year-round, recovery is as valuable as getting extra work in used to be" (conversation then switches to discussion of Josh's UCL injury, what Palmer talks about during the season, etc). Palmer never said he doesn't work with Josh any more during the off season (which stretches until end of July, please recall) or Josh doesn't work on mechanics during the off season. What he said is Josh didn't need to start as early as he used to and that recovery is as valuable as extra work used to be. And especially since Josh has played through injuries to his throwing elbow and platform the past two seasons, that is almost certainly true. You are truly making stuff up with some of what you post, and the interviews you share as justification actually don't support your statements. Starting to work in February or early March (or not) is not the same thing as "not working as hard in the off season". It's not doing the same work, at the same time, as he used to. I understand that distinction is lost on you. t's OK, not everyone can master nuance and pay attention to details. (Though really, you'll have a better life, calmer, more peaceful, if you try) As far as what would or wouldn't upset me, I thought I laid it out very clearly in a post up-thread: I really don't GAF if Josh is throwing or lifting weights in February or March. To the extent that I would care, I think he should rest and rehab. Where it's clear to me that Josh needs to take the next step, where McDermott has said he needs to take the next step, is with his on-field decision making. I don't know how you work on that in shorts in April or May or June or July. But that's the work that needs to be done for Josh to level-up.

You're right, it's not that complicated. You aren't saying "does Josh do all the work in the off season that he used to do?" You're saying "does Josh still work as hard in the off season?" and throwing in statements like "he doesn't work with Jordan Palmer" "he doesn't work on mechanics" "he doesn't watch film" - none of which are supported by the actual words said in actual interviews. Those are different statements. That's why you're being called out You're welcome.

Exactly. What Josh actually said is that he doesn't start working immediately after the season any more - that he used to start "working out like OTAs" immediately after the season ended, and now he wants to rest. Jordan Palmer also said in an interview, Josh doesn't need to start working immediately because he is "master of his stroke" but sounded as though he did work with Josh, just later on in the off-season. Judging from other things Josh has said, like "I feel like I didn't do anything on a group project and got an A" after the Dallas game where he had 15 pass attempts but scored two (2) TD, I don't know but could also see Josh not feeling that working on "stretch and strengthen" flexibility or water rehab or stuff is real "working out" It's notable Josh has had injuries to his throwing arm and shoulder the last 2 seasons, which likely required an off-season program of PT and rehab. Others have pointed out that it would be surprising if the team didn't actually lay out activity restrictions on him in the initial off-season to permit full healing. The team starts Phase I of OTAs in mid-April. Training camp starts at the end of July. Josh can not be working out until he's "back in Buffalo" for Phase I OTAs and still be working out and throwing for 3 1/2 months before training camp - we don't know that, from anything Josh has said. Thanks for the link. No, you did not. Show the actual quote. My point is we don't know what Josh is or is not working on.

Except none of that is what Josh has actually said. But we've been over the details of what was actually said vs how you're interpreting it multiple times, including (when it was originally brought up) pretty careful transcripts along with an explanation of what the Bills off-season schedule actually is. So I think it's a pretty good inference that you're unconcerned with the facts of what was actually said. You've got your viewpoint, and You're Sticking To It.

The real problem IMHO isn't the rules, it's the lack of consistency in refereeing and enforcing them. One game it's a false start or an illegal formation, the next game it isn't Or maybe it's not an illegal formation until most of the way through the game, then at the end of the game suddenly it is It's DPI and the announcers declaim "they're going to call that every time", except, no, they don't. The NFL could fix this if they chose, the don't choose.

I don't understand your question in the context of my post. I said "But you don't hit the shot you don't take. Time for the Bills to shoot their shot at WR." and "In my mind, we're not trying to replace Diggs, we're trying to draft a guy who can give us a 1-2 punch WITH Diggs, and who has the potential to develop as a future #1 (not to walk in the door and hit it)."

I guess I'd summarize my feelings as "cautiously optimistic", but I really won't know what to think until after the draft. Given how far over the cap we were heading into the season, I've been cautiously by the moves that have been made. I was afraid loyalty would win over Cold Hard Football Facts with regard to Poyer and to choosing between Rasul Douglas and Tre White. I like Curtis Samuel as a FA signing far more than Deonte Harty, which was a big dice-roll to me last season. I expected "OMG Swiss Cheese Everywhere on Defense", and I think Beane has done a good strategic job at filling holes. Speaking of Harty, I was also pleased that Beane acknowledged the failure of the Harty and Nyheim Hines moves and cut line. (Sometimes GMs fall in love with their own work and lobby for more chances and time) Assuming Milano comes back somewhere near himself and Von Miller at least improves to decent, the front 7 on our defense looks OK. The biggest gap is at DE, where we lost the team leader on sacks in Floyd (10.5). Are we counting on Epenesa and Rousseau to step up? And, we definitely need depth at DE. As far as DB, we have Johnson, Douglas, and Benford back which were our best DB, but Elam is still a big question mark. Speaking of questionmark, I think Edwards looks like the sort of signing they made when they acquired Poyer and Hyde in 2017, but I don't trust Rapp as the other pairing there, and again, we need depth. But I don't think a lot of fans appreciate how far Hyde and Poyer had declined last season. They still had all the smarts, but not the range. So on defense: questions at DE, need depth at DT; questions at safety and need depth at DB. On offense, I consider center a giant (6'6", see what I did there?) questionmark. McGovern really hasn't played center on the regular in the NFL and acknowledges where he did, it was with a different blocking technique. And, if the coaches thought Edwards was a better LG than McGovern, it follows they would have started him at LG last season - so I feel that we've downgraded at LG, potentially at LG and C (we'll see). We definitely need depth at IOL and tackle, and IMHO we need a RT to develop behind Brown. I still feel we cover for him in pass plays with a TE or 6th OLman. I am under-impressed by the Clapp signing, other than it does give us a guy who has actually taken substantial Center snaps in the NFL as an option but that 3.75 RAS score has me SMH. I like the Curtis Samuel signing, but I still feel we need a boundary receiver. On ST, wtf was wrong with Bass and can he recover? And it's concerning that we signed Haack, while Martin's salary is guaranteed. As far as ST goes, I was actually surprised at how solid the core was. I felt it was kind of a global reset, losing Neal, Dodson, Matekavich, and Sherfield and with Rapp possibly playing more defensive snaps and fewer ST. But when I looked at the ST snaps, Gilliam, Cam Lewis, Q Morris, and Dorian Williams are all still here, and we've signed good ST contributors in Mack Hollins and Nick Morrow. So I feel better about the ST core than I thought I would at this point. I understand the people who feel the current team is weaker, but I wonder how they felt in 2021, when the Bills were basically trying to "run it back" with the same cast? Sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn't, and in 2021 it fell short. I think that Beane has overall done a good job dealing the cards he had, but we are going into the draft Needing a couple picks to step up and pan out, and Needing a couple guys currently on the roster to level-up for the Bills to be more competitive. And of course, the biggest unknown on the Bills, is Joe Brady and his QB coach acolyte Ronald Curry. It *looked* as though Allen was more comfortable with Brady last season, but how well Curry will work with him is a big unknown

Good point on "when only week 8 on count...." Yes, Josh overthrew Diggs....there was also that bomb in the playoffs that it really looked as though Diggs could have caught, and he's stated "that's one I wish I had back". Diggs also has 8 scored drops. Diggs is undoubtedly a very good WR still