Beck Water

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?

I would think Sean Payton's comments would put a little extra "***** in their whatever-it-is-NJ-dwellers-eat-instead-of-grits" .......fruit loops? Aaron Rodgers looks as though he ought to be coaching.

What 4th round pick did you want the Bills to use on this gamble?

Unfortunately I suspect that playing NFL OT is even more strenuous than picking up a wallet, and probably subjects the back to more unpredictable and undesireable forces than a carefully controlled gym workout Somehow I felt these two posts just complemented each other and went together. Like bread and butter. Ham and cheese. Wings and blue cheese

Does anyone else chant “you sick *****!” At the TV every time you see Watson’s face?

Just a little note that statement 2. “The Dolphins and the Bills both expect to win the AFCE” is not that same statement as “the Dolphins have closed the gap with the Bills. 2. Can be true (of course they think they’ve improved and expect to make a run this year). Add in the Jets for good measure - they expect to win it too. And I’m sure Belichick thinks he has a strategy. Closing the gap is different - it’s not about expectations, it’s about what you have done. Exactly.

(Pictures @Dablitzkrieg muting the TV and having at it)

No, he won't be playing. The game is between the NY Jets and the Cleveland Browns.

I could be mistaken, I often am...but I think Mike White may look better when throwing to Waddle and Hill in the Dolphins offense than he did passing to Garrett Wilson and Tyler Conklin in Mike LaFleur's offense. How have they "closed the gap" judging by games played last year? Their record was 9-8. 5 straight losses, including 4 with Tua.

They don't need to look at Klein. McDermott knows what Klein's strengths and limitations are in great detail.

In emergency. They are going to look at Brandon Shell first, I would guess. Gouraige might get a look, as might Edwards. It's not that Bates couldn't play RT in an emergency, but he's one snap away from going in at C and if he doesn't start the season at RG, one snap away from going in at G. They want to go into the season with an RT who isn't their backup C, is my guess. Shell has started 72 games at RT for NYJ, SEA, and MIA, including 11 last season and 10 the previous season. That makes him this year's "Daryl Williams/Ty Nsekhe Plan B" at RT IMHO.

I totally agree with that second part. I also agree that it's difficult to sort what eye-witnesses are reporting from camp, because they aren't reporting the whole thing. Case in point: On Tues, most people reporting from camp assess that the defense won the day with 6 "sacks" on 25 dropbacks. But Joe Buscaglia, who is nothing if not methodical, reported that despite the "sacks" and PBU, Josh was something like 19 of 25 for hitting the player he targeted in passing. And that gives a different impression of the day: yeah, the offense struggled but they were getting their shots in too.

I don't disagree that one play shouldn't define him. I think people are more reacting to the combination of that play, along with some reported struggles he seems to be having in camp. And I'm more reacting to the description in your previous post "he made the catch but on the impact the ball slightly moved and as he rolled after hitting the ground the tip of the ball touched the turf". It seems pretty clear in the replay that he never made a clean catch with both hands on the ball or a hand and his body demonstrating control - it was between his arms and his body which is why it was overturned, not because "he made the catch but on impact the ball slightly moved and the tip of the ball touched". If the receiver has control of the ball with his hands, it's not supposed to matter if the ball moves a little or part of it touches the ground.

I agree that I would have liked to see the team make more of an off-season move at WR, and I am uncertain about the ROI we'll get from Harty given his obvious talent, but also his obvious size and injury history. Honestly, though, it was not a great year for FA WR. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/all/wide-receiver/all/

It's worth noting that when Edwards arrived, he made a point that Kromer in LA tried the OLmen at every position but C. He played behind a very good RT in LA. But, a lot of G played RT in college and are IOL in the league. It will be "up to" Kromer to assess which of Edwards, Shell (who has started 72 games at RT in the league) or maybe Gouraige is 'next man up'. Tough circumstance for Brown, though. Back injuries in a big OLman are hard to return from and reach potential. Can we agree on the point that if it's ambiguous that different people see it differently, it's not a cold hard facts and logic thing?

Except if we're talking about that drop in the Miami game, from the replay it wasn't a clean catch. it was a difficult catch, but his hands weren't in the right place and it kind of seemed he wasn't "looking it in". So the cold hard facts and logic kinda go the other way.