Beck Water

Are you suggesting that the Bills have been a primarily nickle team "because we don't have 3 starting caliber LBs"? I don't think that makes sense. Nothing has stopped McBeane from throwing resources (cap $$,high draft picks) at other positions on defense. It seems logical that if they wanted an upgrade at LB for a 3rd starter, they would have spared no effort to obtain one. Moreover, in Klein, the Bills have had a LB who started in New Orleans for 3 years and made 11 starts for the Bills his first year here (as a replacement for Milano, who was injured, and occasionally in a 4-3 base D). In Dobson, they have a LB who they regard as a potential MLB starter. A lot of teams play primarily nickel these days because of the primacy of the NFL passing game.

Um, Wat? 'Zo Alexander retired after 2019. So he didn't "not start" because he was slowing down, he was not on the team in any role. Who "starts" a game for McDermott with a heavy rotation, is often not a useful question, but by 2020, we were very strongly a nickel team and No, we did NOT start 3 LB well in to the 2020 season. Taron Johnson started the first 3 games of 2020 and played 72% of the 4th and 56% of the 5th (in which S Dean Marlowe actually took the starting snaps at NCB). In the games where Taron was healthy, he was starting and playing more like 85% of the snaps. We went into the 2020 season primarily playing a 2 LB set. So it makes no sense to say "we went to a 2 LB set because Klein has never been a reliable starter" when Klein not only actually started 11 games for the Bills that year, he played the overwhelming majority of snaps in 7 of those 11 starts (low of 69%, 88-100% in 5). "Klein has never been a reliable starter", riiiiiight, that's why he started 12, 15, and 15 games for NOR the 3 years before joining Buffalo in 2020 and why he won DPOW in 2020 Week 9. I think you might be confused by seeing Trent Murphy listed as a LB, and starting - but he was really playing a DE role, and listed as a LB in some services. But the Bills considered him as a DE and that's how he played, in a rotation with Jerry Hughes, Bam Johnson, and Quintin Jefferson. Although that really should be clear by looking at some box scores. So no, "how you laid it out" is not "exactly the circumstances", it has a lot of the details of how the Bills were playing defense in 2020 factually incorrect.

Factually, Wyatt Teller started 7 games (week 10 on) at LG his rookie season for the Bills. He replaced Vlad "the impaler" Ducasse. He didn't look like "all that" between Dawkins and Russell Bodine at C, but I'm not sure anyone would have looked like "all that" next do Russell Bodine at C in Juan Castillo's blocking scheme.

"we were wrong" is assuming two things: 1) that Teller would have been as good of a blocking scheme fit in Buffalo for Bobby Johnson and Aaron Kromer and developed the same way in B'lo as he did in Cleveland (which I think it more of a power gap team) 2) that the Bills didn't recognize Teller as a potentially talented G (but not a fit for the positional flexibility they demanded of backups) when they traded him I personally give those 0 for 2 but I also think drafting O'cyrus Torrence is somewhat of an admission that perhaps acquiring and developing 2 guys who are very talented guards is necessary, and that valuing positional flexibility over all has its limitations.

That's a strange way to look at it. -Poyer was signed in 2017 -Teller was drafted in 2018 and traded before the 2019 season -In team building, the team evaluates position groups against the other members of that position group. So, logically, Teller was traded because Bobby Johnson and the FO rated him as lower than the other IOL talent they had in 2019: Quinton Spain, Jon Feliciano, Mitch Morse, Spencer Long, Ike Boettger and Ryan Bates. Spain and Feliciano started, along with Morse. Long was the backup C with proven NFL starts. So fundamentally it came down to the Bills evaluating Ike Boettger and Ryan Bates as better prospects for their OL than Wyatt Teller. Both were felt to have more positional flexibility and to be a better scheme fit for Bobby Johnson. Maybe that evaluation was mistaken; mistakes happen.

Being multiple and matchup specific in personnel can become a "tell" if you let it But if we're playing Dodson for his superior run D....we gotta come up with another wrinkle in coverage, cuz that boy can't cover

Hopefully the Bills have learned their lesson about counting on a dark horse who "wins the preseason"

If the Ravens are doing everything they can to get Lamar up to the level of the "true superstar QBs" then why are they not letting the QBs wear wristbands? Brady. Brees. Mahomes. Rodgers. Allen. Burrows. They all wear wristbands. I was talking earlier to a friend about something I need to try to make. His advice was, watch a bunch of Youtube videos and if everyone else is doing it one way and that one guy is doing something completely different, consider very well if you want to pay attention to that guy.

Just a little note that the 51 man roster is a bizarro-world function of the NFL offseason. Why, no one seems to know. After the cutdown to the 53 man roster, all 53 AND the practice squad must be under the cap.

Well I'm not sure, but I think the Cliff Notes are "the plans for the new stadium suck because it isn't designed for MLS and rugby." Honorable mention to Ken and Barbie as apparent Bills fans, News to Me

You do know they both said that story was crap, right? Which Kelce?

That hasn't lasted, right? Maybe she'd like a change.

This is my biggest concern about Brandon Beane. I think he has a pattern of seeking to "hit big" on draft picks by choosing guys who have a higher than average ceiling, but a lower floor. These guys take a couple years to develop. Then, just when they're finally looking good, they hit FA and we have to choose who to extend.

Really? And how many business dealings did you have with Mr Raccuia? What a silly post Oh, OK. Never Mind

So this is one of the most interesting posts of the pre-season. When the Bills moved on from Jim Salgado (1 year at safeties coach, and yes there were a lot of backups playing but they were sometimes way out of position) and hired Joe Danna, at least some covering the Bills noted this was interesting for a couple of reasons. I'm still looking for an article I saw about it (I think in TBN) but Cover1 noted that Danna had a huge role in coaching new safeties AND in an approach that enabled Houston to be surprisingly successful towards the end of last season. They noted offenses were decoding our defenses, not by reading the safeties, but by reading the nickel defender, LB, or even DE: Frazier had stated in an interview that Milano, Edmunds, and Johnson played in a very interconnected way (when explaining why they had to re-define some responsibilities to make the offense work with Klein in for Milano). Cover1 noted that being able to mesh the roles of the nickel with the safeties could aid in disguise: And that this is something Danna implemented successfully in Houston: And conclude: Bills signed Taylor Rapp on March 27th. My understanding is that Rapp is looked at more favorably as a run and slot defender than a deep cover guy. I also could be wrong, but in the first couple years when Lorenzo Alexander was here, seems the Bills were more multiple in the defenders they put on the field. In 2017, Alexander played 60% of the defensive snaps. Preston Brown was always on the field and either Ramon Humber (early in the season) or Matt Milano (later). I know 'Zo talked about what the Bills called a "Buffalo" or "heavy nickel" package where he played slot corner. And Zo also played with his hand on the ground at times. That changed as Taron Johnson developed and then Zo retired..... But the point is, the Bills defense used to be more multiple, before it settled into a place where the two LB and the nickel corner we had were so talented Frazier never wanted to move them off the field. I think we may very well see more substitution and some innovative use of safeties and CB and LB....and I think that is one reason we moved on from Salgado and brought in Danna as the safeties coach. And it might well be interesting to study just how Houston was using their safeties.

I'm glad to hear Dion has shown how badly he wants it and been a leader to the OL But, wearing a sweatsuit during TC, doesn't that just help you lose water weight? OK for a guy trying to make weight and stop the daily fines, but not healthy or long term sustainable?

Knox has become an excellent in line blocking TE. Not Lee Smith grade, but solid. The Bills have also used an extra OL as a TE. Bobby Hart actually did well at this role last season! The problem with your "start turning over rocks" notion, is that there aren't a lot of players hiding under them right now. Most are on rosters. There will be players available after 53 man roster cutdown, but in contrast to prior years this won't take place until just before the season - there will not be intermediate cutdowns. I'm sure Beane and his team are keeping their eyes pealed around the league to see if they can sniff out training camp battles that could leave a better RT than Brandon Shell in the cutout bin.

Well, what are you trying to accomplish here? If you're trying to persuade some folks, me in particular, you kind of do. I fit that "not a rocket scientist" criteria just fine, but given the totality of the Bills decisions, I fail to see how drafting different players in the 2nd or 3rd was the "secret sauce" that would have pushed the Bills over the edge into Championshipland. There's a lot to unpack, and maybe you've studied it and see it differently, but I don't see that "game changer" available at the 2nd and 3rd from 2019 to 2022 that would have meant "Championship!" I would have liked to see Creed Humphrey instead of Boogie Basham, but since C is one of our OL strengths, it's a pig-in-the-poke to know if he would have really made a difference at G When you go to "may have", you're moving away from the definitive "He’s been really bad drafting rd 2-3 and that is what is keeping this team from being a champion" statement I first responded to. It's really hard to dispute with "MAY". A lot of things MAY have contributed, so I have no particular disagreement with that.

Brown was also later seen riding his e-bike or scooter to the dining hall - though I suppose a guy with a bad back can manage that The Bills have Brandon Shell on the roster. Shell has started 72 games at RT in the NFL Agree on Quessenbery, didn't like what I saw in his 3 starts last year, but, he has started 26 career games, most I believe at RT Both of these guys would be a better alternative to moving a strictly-guard OLman to RT or (for goodness sake) trying to pull Lee Smith, a TE and 6th lineman, out of retirement for a primary OL role (I know that's not your suggestion but I read it right here) Some sort of electric device - golf scooter I think actually.

zero chance Beane and McDermott keep 7 WR at the expense of only 2 TE (if they expect TE to be a significant part of the offense). Bad idea. Also zero chance Beane and McDermott keep only 4 DTs, given how strongly he believes in DL rotation.

Actually, no, it's not. We bring 90 players into camp each season. Every team drafts players who don't succeed. So you kind of need to explain a bit more to defend that as a realistic theory as responsible for "no championship". Or not - you can believe it, and I can chalk it up as "not defended, not proven" and it looks like it's spurred some interesting discussion.

F the Brownie Browning Browns. I used to feel empathy towards their fans, No More. But I mean - you redraft and overall, the #1 drafting team and the #2 drafting team pick the best two QB from that draft? What A Surprise.

That is also possible.

What were you expecting from a GM who is "average" or "good" drafting Rd 2 and 3 if you think Beane is "bad"? And what GMs exemplify this? Remember that overall, the odds of getting a football player (not a star, just a guy who can play solidly in the NFL) are something like 50% at best in the 2nd and 3rd round - and many of these may be the team's "lunch pail guys", guys they expect solid play from during their rookie contract but may not necessarily re-sign. Or guys who don't contribute for a year, or who get traded off their original team then play for their 2nd shot. Austin Corbett and Ronald Jones II would be examples of that from 2018. 2018 Round 3 Harrison Phillips. Injuries. NFL player, Bills use heavy rotation at his position, 55% of snaps his final season, played out his contract here Push. 2019 Round 2 Cody Ford. Injuries, then struggled period. Now playing for Bengals. Hope he's still a bust. Round 3 Devin Singletary. Solid back and pass protector here. Played out his contract here. Round 3 Dawson Knox Good player. Solid all-around TE. Has been resigned. Didn't contribute as much last season, but was that him or Dorsey? 2020 Round 2 AJ Epenesa. Asked to remodel himself. Has contributed but not as much as we need, looking like he took a step this off season. Jury still out. Round 3. Zach Moss. Injuries. Did not work out here at all. 2021 Round 2 Boogie Basham. Not looking good IMO. Round 3 Spencer Brown mixed bag. Has looked good at times, awful at others. Injury concerns. 2022 Round 2 James Cook. Contributed last season, looking good so far. Could be a great add. Round 3 Terrel Bernard. STer so far. Looked lost in space in the game he started for Milano last season. Competing at MLB this season. So for the first 3 years, we have "contributing NFL players": Phillips, Singletary, AJE. "sub-par": Ford, Moss. 60%. I don't think we can tell what we've gotten the last 2 years yet, and especially not last season, yet. It's an interesting contention that not drafting better in the 2nd and 3rd round has cost us a championship. Can you say more about this?