PBF81

Good point, but who knows, maybe he's not seeing Oliver do these things now and for OTAs and he's firing a bow shot as a wake-up call. Keep in mind, the coaches are going to be feeling some pressure this year, if not from our fanbase then from the national media. They obviously want to put their best foot forward. I don't see our defense being ranked among the top-10 this year with the vacancies at LB, a mediocre DL, and a much stronger slate of offensive opponents on our schedule than we've faced on McD's entire watch. The offense may be our best ever, it also may end up being merely a good top-5 offense again. I don't think we're going to get much help from our D during the regular season, which already struggles in the playoffs.

Probably should have consulted the cat instead. ... and I'm a dog person.

That's because when he did it in college he did most of his damage against a few siht schools and against substandard collegiate talent. We should have scouted that more accurately.

Consistency is how biggest issue. He'll pay two, maybe three fantastic games every season, then he plays mediocre ball for half of the rest and disappears altogether for the others. I would think that he would have to play an absolutely monster season for us to pay him what some other team will otherwise. Who's sees that happening. I guess Oliver becoming the next Aaron Donald has officially been put to bed.

We'll see. He was second in the team in yards-from-scrimmage and 1st-downs. I don't think that Harris will outperform him. I suppose together Cook and Harris may outperform what he and Cook did last season.

Yeah, well so do a lot of players now. Florida for the tax-free status, and us, well, because we're the Bills and have Allen. Did anyone tell him that we can only afford servers wages now, ... although he'd get tips too.

Agree generally, but in this case everything that Jackson's doing is largely because of who Patrick is, and his connection with his older brother paves the way for him to be in many of the situations that he ends up being in where he behaves like a jackass. For example, if I were Patrick at this point I'd A, tell my wife to distance herself from Jackson so that I wouldn't end up getting sued because she gets dragged into something stupid like Jackson's prone to getting himself into, and B, tell Jackson that he's too big of a distraction to have him come to the stadium for games anymore, home or away. Presumably that would get him to pull his head out of his ass. If not, oh well, then let him keep it in there. I don't think anyone would give a siht about Jackson, which is what he wants, the attention, if he wasn't in situations related to Patrick.

Roger That was more or less my point, and agreed, he sucked last season, but lest we forget, he only played a handful of games late in the season in the cold. My point was that even if he rebounds to 80% of what he was hell be decent. It's the rest of the secondary that we should be worried about first. ... and we need some of Beane's draftees to step up. More reason than ever offensively. Not so much defensively speaking.

There's definitely an element of enabling in there. Anytime I think of situations like this, the very first question that comes to mind is what they would be doing if they didn't have the publicity that they have from whatever they have it from. Take this dcikhead, I mean what would he be doing otherwise in life w/o Mahomes being a superstar. I can't imagine much.

What does the uncontrollable little twerp do for a living? I couldn't find anything on a quick Google.

White's only 28 and was arguably the best in the league. He should be fine, even if not the best, for several more seasons.

Arguably the most intriguing aspect of the team heading into the season. Seems like a very precarious situation to me.

We'll definitely need a little luck to reach that potential, #1 Offense that is, I do think that enough is there given Allen. I wouldn't put money on it, largely because of Dorsey. But hopefully he spent the offseason bettering himself. As to the OL, I've always been of the mindset that to have a top OL, as a unit that is, all that's necessary is five average-to-above-average starters that play well together. Contrasted with one or two great OL-men and below-average talent in the other spots. If Brown improves I think we have that. Chemistry on the OL is more important than at any other unit. While unpopular, I'm also expecting Davis to improve as well. As to Cook & Harris, IMO it's a downgrade from last season, but it should be adequate. Presumably Hines gets used more in the passing game like they said when they traded for him.

There's no reason why the OL should be worse. It's essentially the same minus Saffold who was terrible. McGovern would really have to stink for it to be worse. If he's what they're saying then the OL should be significantly improved. Then factor in Torrence. There should be a significant improvement there, but improved from on/about average, so it still likely won't be one of the top OLs in the league, but it should easily be better. Who knows, maybe it'll be a top-5. We'll see, time will tell. This is the first time we've had that much chemistry existing on the OL going into the season though, which in and of itself is reason for hope.

What also didn't help last season was dusting the Rams & Titans early on. Both teams were supposed to have been beasts, but they turned out to be the opposite. That created a whole lot of overconfidence amongst fans and possibly the team as well. If Dorsey did anything this offseason to improve his role I'm jacked to see our new O.

This team has the potential to be the #1 Offense in the league. Let's hope it pans out that way. That will likely befall Dorsey. Defensively, not mentioned is the enormous question mark for the LB unit. Also only grazed upon, in our good seasons we've had relatively easy schedules in a relatively easy division. The opposite is the case this season. If the D can finish in the top-10 this season I will be impressed.

I was just commenting on the running game in general. For some balance, particularly when the running game is working, it makes sense to use the RBs to run the ball. Our RBs have been underutilized the entire time that Allen's been here. I wouldn't harness his scrambling or improv abilities, but I would say I'd really love to see a '90s caliber OL giving him more time back there to convert some of the necessity for him to scramble into greater passing. He can lead the league in passing easily. I'm of the mind that this season's offense has the potential to be the Air Coryell of 2023. It's really going to depend upon whether the OL is really improved and then on Dorsey and McD. We'll see. Right now it's just potential.

Wrong about what in particular?

It would be refreshing to have a more balanced offense. Our RBs collectively ran fewer times than those on any other team. Why, particularly when they have among the highest YPC averages of any RB tandem in the league. Brady buttered his bread and made his living on the shorter higher-percentage stuff. He will, he's one of the brightest players in the league, he knows it already.

I was inquiring about his last statement, which seems to imply that he is beyond criticism. I know that when I point it out, namely the status of the OL and how it's been pretty bad throughout Beane's tenure, I get hammered. And then great, if he's not beyond criticism, then let's address that criticism then, which is pretty significant considering the biggest offensive issue on the team, namely Allen, and frankly, what this thread is implicitly all about. So then why are you deflecting that criticism now? What's also not difficult to understand, I don't think, at least not for some, is exactly what I said above. I'll repeat it ... Maybe you have some answers, seriously. Does Josh audible of most of the called running plays? Why do we have that distinction? I'm all ears.

Isn't that a little contradictory there? I mean Beane had 5 offseasons & drafts to see to it that the OL did do Josh some favors. But Beane's beyond criticism?

We run fewer designed running plays by RBs than any team in the league. That's a fact. Yet our RBs ranked 3rd in YPC avg. last season.

No mention of an affinity for wings?

Not addressing the OL effectively in order to protect the team's, and his, golden goose.

You seem to take these simple discussions incredibly seriously. Have a great weekend Quarter Pounder with Cheese.