Beck Water

Yes to all 3

I dunno about that. But one pattern that struck me, that I'm not sure how it will play out, is that Milano has clearly been making an effort not to get injured by being "superman" if he's a bit out of position to really close the deal. So his tackle would slow the guy down and then Edmunds would close the deal. I'm wondering how that will play this season. I would be less than enthusiastic to meet Billy Buffalo.

Ha. Ha. Ha. The man has 8 QB hits and 6 sacks. Oh and 18 TFL. I know you're being funny, but "C'mon Man". He's one of the best nickel corners in the league.

I can't disagree, obviously, but I do think context is a lot of how players react. You expect to see the QB and his red jersey in the backfield.

My point is just that the foolishness goes beyond Taron Johnson doing what football players are trained to do - they're trained not to hit the QB in practice, but when the QB takes on a downfield role, instinct can take over. It's (IMO, you can disagree) foolishness to put that play in there at this time.

Then on the first day of practice, don't put him out there on plays where (if Getzenberg is correct) accidental contact is a reasonable likelihood to occur.

So...anyone there? Was it "accidental contact" or Taron Johnson laying the lumber?

I'd be fine with them not practicing it, taking that page out of the playbook, and lighting it on fire. But if they're gonna practice it, then practice it.

And speaking of anxieties https://twitter.com/AjayCybulski/status/1686054719645466624?s=20 "I can live without the Philly Special. Allen had a slight limp, but looked to be in good spirits"

literally. Broken arm, 6 weeks - but can he keep up his strength in that arm while its healing?

Well, OK. But then when Josh runs or catches for-real and lets go for a drop or fumble, will you be in the crowd complaining about his fumbling tendencies? If he's gonna play it, he's gotta practice it

I don't think you see the Bengals practicing "Philly Special" on the first day of pads with Burrow

The good news is that unlike last training camp, Davis is experiencing this now. So hopefully he and his coaches/trainers can work to remedy.

You're right, of course. I'm just displaying my anxieties.

Ugh on this, is all I can say. C'mon Spencer, get those feet moving

They did not. And your theory is certainly as credible as any and more than some, but the bottom line is, we just don't know. Like I said, what I put out there was just my opinion on one possible motivation for stepping down.

I've done very detailed posts about this before. I'll try to recap below. And sorry, but I'm disinterested in PFF's offensive line rankings. People who actually play OL or have played OL in the NFL (like Eric Wood) roll their eyes at them. I wish I could find the interview Wood did about this - it's really a must-hear for anyone who is into this kind of analysis. I think a better way to look at it, is how the line enables the skill players to perform. My bottom line is this: the difference between spending adequate or good resources on OL, and insufficient effort - largely is a call made in hindsight depending upon whether or not those efforts actually succeed in producing a capable or good OL. If a player is performing at a high level, can we agree that it no longer matters where he was drafted? Example: today, Milano is not a measly 5th round draft expenditure; he's a top LB in the NFL. If we can't agree on that, there's nothing to talk about here, I'll just regretfully disagree with the logic and common sense of your analysis. But, if we can agree on that, then it follows that we can't just look at building an OL as an exercise in high draft picks and signing top FA. At times, Beane's efforts to field an OL have been wholly inadequate (2018). At other times, he has tried, and sometimes the results of his "try" have worked, but not been sustained - but he still tried, and with similar effort to expended elsewhere. Again, it's not just about high draft picks or big $$. Let's look at KC as a case in point. Pat Mahomes was handed the keys to a top-performing offense in 2018: #5 or 6 in the NFL in 2017 and very efficient. #9 for rush yards but 23 for rush attempts; #7 for passing yards but #17 for passing attempts. Their OL was: LT 4 yr Eric Fisher (1st round) LG 2nd yr Bryan Witzmann (UDFA) Center 4 yr Zach Fulton (6th round) RG 3rd yr Laurent Duvarnay-Tardif (6th round) RT 6th yr Mitchell Schwartz (2nd round) So here we have a good performing OL - 5th in the league for NY/A passing, 2nd in the league for rush Y/A, with a QB most recognize as above average (but not by much) in former #1 overall draft pick Alex Smith. What did they do next? They replaced the entire center of the line, but with whom? LG 4th year Cameron Erving (1st round Browns G/C/RT - but this guy was traded in training camp, he washed off his drafting team after 1 yr) C R Mitch Morse (2nd round) RG R Andrew Wylie (UDFA) I can hear it now - what an ABYSMAL expenditure of OL resources by GM Veach to put in front of their precious franchise 1st year starter - a guy who washed off his first team after a year for his struggling play and injury, a 2nd round rookie, and an UDFA. But the OL spearheaded the #1 offense and catapulted Mahomes to league MVP. It's an assessment of hindsight that the expenditure was adequate, it's not like Veach filled up the OL with 1st round picks and top FA. ---- Yes, Cincy drafted a C in the 1st in 2018. They moved him to LG the following year as part of the OL That Almost Wrecked Burrow, declined his 5th year option, and traded him to the NYG in his 4th year (2021) where he was credited with "a failure to protect the quarterback and establish any sort of efficient pass blocking" and replaced by former Bill and career journeyman Jon Feliciano in 2022. So I'm really not sure what your point is here - the Bengals "GM" gets credit for using a mid-1st round pick who doesn't work out, but Beane doen't get credit for signing a former 2nd round pick FA (Mitch Morse) who is one of the best players on our OL and has been a reliable C for us (knock wood) for 4 years now? Beane doesn't get credit for signing a journeyman in Jon Feliciano who plays well enough to replace Price at C for the playoff-team Giants, but the Bengals are somehow showing good effort by drafting the guy he replaced in their 1st, then trading him in his 4th year? Yes, Cincy drafted Jonah Williams in the 1st. He promptly missed all of his rookie season and half of his 2nd season. What would you say about that if it were the Beane and the Bills? "He drafted a player who can't stay healthy, he hasn't done enough", right? The Bengals did pick up his 5th year option, but he's playing RT not LT and they're rotating him at RT in training camp with....Cody Ford, drafted by the Bills in the 2nd round. C'mon Man. You can't just look at the draft pick, OK? That would almost be like saying the Bills built a great DL by drafting Aaron Maybin in the 1st in 2009 and Marcell Dareus in the 1st 2 years later. (Almost) You say they drafted a T in the 2nd in 2021, but Jackson Carman started 6 games at R. GUARD in 2021 and 0 games in 2022. Facts. The Bengals had the #8 Offense in the league last season. But it's not an effective run offense (despite how it looked against the Bills) - 29th in the league. Aren't you the one who pointed out that the Bills would be down around that territory if it weren't for Josh Allen, as a criticism? And it's very much built off the short passing game and YAC. 49% of Burrow's passing yards are YAC. And despite the focus on a quick-hit passing game, Burrows is still 6th in the league in sacks. It's a good offense, and the team has gone farther than we the last 2 years, but it's a very different offense that places different demands on the OL. And you know, I wouldn't exactly hold up the Bengals drafting as a great example of expending draft resources on OL to good effect or as a team that put great resources into building a stout OL in front of their precious franchise QB. Maybe that's just me. --------- OK so what has Beane done on OL? Well, in his own words for 2018, "I didn't do enough. We were limited by the cap, but I could have done more. I should have done more." So what did he do in 2019? He almost totally rebuilt the line between FA and draft. LT: Dion Dawkins (2nd round 2017). Only returning player. He's been overall Solid. (Picks made before the current regime count according to your examples) C : Mitch Morse was the big FA acquisition. He has also been Solid. RT: drafted Cody Ford in the 2nd round. He did not work out and is on his 3rd team, but apparently we're counting draft expenditures that didn't work out - and he's rotating at RT with the Bengals 1st round pick Jonah Williams, whom you name as an example of good high draft pick expenditure on OL LG: signed Quinton Spain, a 4 year starter for the Titans (who moved on to start 2 years for the Bengals - the team you extoll for their OL build?) RG: signed Jon Feliciano, correctly described as a 'journeyman' - but he was Bobby Johnson's "Guy". Every OL coach has a "Guy" they bring in to teach their techniques and be their wingman in the OL group when they're not around. It Is How It Is. And again - Feliciano isn't crap, he proved to be a capable backup C and started 15 games at C for the Giants last season. Depth/competition: Ty Nsekhe, a 6th year vet who had started 54 games for Washington The result was a much improved line that was able to give Allen some time to develop and #8 and rush yards. (Allen was the #3 rusher on the team) So what happened? For whatever reason, the Bills don't seem able to sustain good play from their acquisitions. Jon Feliciano tore his pec in 2020 and came to camp underweight and underperforming in 2021. I don't think those are things Beane could predict. Quinton Spain apparently had a beef when the team replaced him at LG with Cody Ford. Since Ford could barely lift his arm, and Spain moved on to start 2 years for the Bengals, he may have had a point. But game time roster and playing time decisions rest with the coaches, not Beane Daryl Williams was signed to replace Ford/Nsekhe at RT, and played very well at RT in 2020 - but then Something Happened and he looked like a mess in 2021. I'm not sure what's going on there. Maybe it was coaching? But it's always the intangible how a player will reeact once he "gets paid" as Spain and Williams did. I guess we'll see if Kromer is able to do a better job sustaining and building success on OL. Bottom line: while I would have liked Beane to do more (Boogie Basham instead of Creed Humphrey still chaps my grits), it's somewhat fictious to paint a picture where other teams have "done more" on OL because they used high draft picks (that actually didn't work out), while painting Beane has having done nothing or only scraps. Has he done enough this off season? Time Will Tell

It may have been, it may not have been. Both Beane and McDermott have said if he wanted to, he would be the DC this year. They haven't said that about the other coordinators and position coaches who "sought opportunities elsewhere". I'm certain Da Bears paid Tremaine Edmunds $50 million guaranteed on a 4 yr/$72M contract because 1) they agree with you 2) he had no other suitors. Decisions, Decisions. Who to believe, @eball and others on TBD? Or Matt Eberflus, Ryan Poles, and others who make a living doing football stuff? You got a super-cool avatar that I've loved for years, I'll give you that, but I'm gonna go with the football execs. The post I was responding to pointed out all the talent we have on D and all the talented additions except at MLB, so I don't know about Edmunds as "THE key". But an important part of that #1 or #2 defense, I don't think is arguable and last year was probably Edmunds best.

Who is that he's toasting in coverage? Dean Marlowe?

You make some good points. FWIW, McDermott took the team to playoffs his 1st year with Preston Brown at MLB and ….I’m trying to think who else, Ramon Humber? And Zo Alexander. We weren’t a top-5 or top 6 defense. Middle of the pack. But our secondary and DL weren’t as good. TBH I think one factor in Frazier “leave of absence” was that he was told we’re likely to lose Tremaine Edmunds, we can’t match what he’s gonna get, and we need to spend our high draft picks on offense. So you’re gonna need to look at the guys already on the roster, maybe 3rd round or later rookie, and figure out how to make that work at MLB Frazier concluded it wasn’t going to do his HC quest any good to drop from the #1 or #2 defense of the last two seasons back to 15 or 16, so he bowed out. That’s just my thinking though, who knows? Maybe the people who think it was a force out or a quiet firing are right and I’m wrong. It’s certainly stand-and-deliver time for McDermott as a defensive HC

LOL this is rich. You said, and I quote exactly, “Beane drafted Kincaid in a monkey-see-monkey-do attempt to replicate Kelce. We haven't seen much originality in the team/roster-building strategies on this team.” So you can slam Beane as using a “monkey see monkey do attempt to replicate Kelce” as a draft strategy (instead of, you know, having a team of scouts evaluate talent and building a draft board, then following it) and as lacking originality in team and roster building strategies. But then when called on a shallow approach without substance behind it, you turn around and say “I really don’t think it appropriate to bring Beane up at this point in time in the season” - when that’s EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, since we all know who is responsible for draft choices and for building the team. SMH.

The reviews of Spector from Day 3 of camp had him looking good. Players can improve in their 2nd year. Of course, looking good in a padless practice, or any practice, and looking good in a game….Two words “Nathan Peterman”

Thanks for the good wishes. We're down to about 25,000 customers without power. Unfortunately my mom's building is still among them, with no restart time estimate as of yet. But the building has emergency generators running some services - the kitchen, AC in the lobby and dining room, the elevators. So the residents can go down to the dining room for meals or the lobby to get cool - AND the fridge circuits are on emergency power so her fridge is apparently still good! The problem with the "probably eating good for a few days" is, hopefully you got a propane grill or charcoal or something 'cuz if you don't have a generator, more likely than not your stove isn't working. Modern gas stoves have a valve in each burner that won't open the gas flow unless there's power to the ignitor - as opposed to the older gas stoves where you could turn the knob and use a match. Safety first, but sometimes it does decrease some utility.

We musta been the lucky part of WNY