CookieG

Well you're missing a few guys...who may not be Anthony Munoz/Orlando Pace/Jason Peters class, but they are big pieces of some of the best offenses in the league. And the theory really sounds great...and its a great strategy...if it works. But Jason Peters was 15 years ago and that was the last middle to late part of the draft OL that was worth anything. 15 years is a long time to prove a theory, right or wrong. In this case, the theory is...pretty wrong. What you're advocating is basically what the Bills have been doing forever. Once in a while they'll take someone in the 1st or 2nd, most have worked, Mike Williams and CK didn't. But these middle to late rounders have been nonexistent. And the Bills O has spent most of the time in the bottom 3rd of the league and playoffs appearances are..well. Its time to go in another direction. A big "you never do" thing is let your OL get to this state of affairs...ever. Its difficult enough to find 1 or 2 starters, much less 4. Coaching did, not management. I was referring more of Russ "You're not a priority, Jason, Lee Evans is a priority" Brandon.

Well, the Bills don't have him, or anyone close in either the coaching or talent evaluation process. He's about as close to a bona fide "guru" as there is among position coaches in the NFL today. And he's a quasi scout for them as well. I remember when we brought in McNally. He basically said, "I can only do so much with what I'm given." He didn't hang around long. He did point out the potential of Jason Peters, which management really failed to understand.

I'll give a kinda shrug to all of this. In the not too distant past, the Bills paid a DE the highest defensive salary in the league. For 2 years, they led the league in sacks and probably had the best DL in the game. He himself had over 27 sacks in 2 years. And they were fun to watch. Pressure comes from the left, QB moves right just to be sacked on the right side. If the QB moves up in the pocket, he had one or two DT's waiting for him. If the DT's bring pressure up the middle...the QB gets nailed by one of the DE's. They complimented each other, they played well together. As I said, leading the league in sacks for 2 straight years, a top 5 pass D and a top 5 D overall in one of those years. Now, if these things are the end all that people profess they are...the Bills should not only have been in the playoffs, they should have been in the conference championship game, looking for a trip to the Dance. But there was no trip to the Dance, there wasn't even a playoff spot. Because the O sucked. And frankly, the O they had was better than what this team showed. And it definitely had less holes to fill, except at QB. Now giving up 2 number 1 picks and $25 million a year in cap space to bolster a D that already gave up the fewest pass yards in the NFL...idk...its a brainer to me. I see it as overkill when the other side of the ball has been severely neglected. I don't diminish the need for a pass rush...its an important part of the D, and an important part of a team, but it isn't the end all that people think it is. If it was, the players on the '13 and '14 teams and probably the '04 team, should at least be sporting conference championship rings. As it was, none of those teams even saw the playoffs.

That's my fear...on the offensive side of the ball. I actually like him as a defensive coach, a lot. He might be a base Cover 2/Tampa 2 guy, but he's not married to the scheme. He changes things up is more aggressive and blitzes more than the normal old Tampa 2 guy. On offense...I have concerns, to put it mildly. The talent brought in on offense, with few exceptions has been unimpressive. Im a believer that this should be his last chance. If the offense doesn't improve...substantially...its time for a change. The odd thing is, I'd stil lgive him the offer to stay as DC.

Well a great deal of that roster was Jauron's doing. It was very evident during the 1st draft, when 3 of the 1st 4 players chose were DB's. He had a vision for his Cover 2 and pigeon holed players to fit the scheme. Its why we had a 220 lb OLB...because Tampa had Robert Brooks. The problem was, Brooks ran around a 4.5 40, whereas our guy ran a 4.8. He wanted a smaller DT for 3 tech...because 3 techs like Warren Sapp were shorter and quicker. So we drafted John McCargo and signed Larry Tripplett as one of the first FA's. But neither was anything close to Warren Sapp. God... I can remember Tripplett being driven back 5-7 yards by some guards. The D that was inherited was one year and a Spikes injury from being 2nd in the league...but nearly all players were gone within a year. And for the most part, it was due to what Jauron saw in a defense. On offense..well, Jauron could have been here 20 years and the offense would have remained bottom 5. He was a guy that had no business getting involved in the offensive side of the ball. But as Turk Schonert revealed in his post-firing snit, Jauron was meddling in it. Jauron was a major player in how the roster looked, probably THE major player.

If its a late round sleeper you're talking about...Cody Thompson, Toledo. His first 3 years he was averaging about 20 ypc and had over 1200 yards his junior year. His senior year, he had over 500 yards before he he was hurt in game 5. His senior numbers are down, but their offense didn't look as good as its been. He gets separation deep, and contrary to what I read on Draftnetwork, I think his ball skills are good. He catches with his hands and brings it into his body in a quick fluid motion. He might not be in Hakeem Butler's league as far as the acrobatic catch, but he seems to make contested catches and one handed catches. He gets lots of YAC because he breaks tackles after the catch effortlessly. He seems to know which way he's going to go while the ball is in the air. He'll be a COmbine invite and I'll be curious to know what his numbers are.

Not sure I'd call a team that should win 3 games an endorsement of the GM. He's giving credit for coaching, not team building.

That was a strange year for wr's. The Bills weren't the only ones looking for the guy "who's open when he's not open". The big receivers were the highlighted ones pre-draft. Besides Hardy there was (some names I can't remember). Limas Sweed from Texas; The big WR from Oklahoma St. who was high on people's boards until he ran a 40 time...I think he ended up in the CFL; The one from Oklahoma who made such a spectacle of not running his 40. When he finally did, it looked like he was jogging through it; Devin Thomas, who had a great 40, but couldn't run anything but bubble screens: Jordy Nelson, who came out of nowhere to have something like 1800 yards his senior year. There were a few others in the 6'2" 210+ category who ended up washing out. I remember asking a few weeks before the draft..."with all of the focus on these big receivers, is a good WR being overlooked who's not so big". The one overlooked was Jackson. I wanted Jordy that year, and was disappointed when Green Bay swooped in about 5 spots before us, but admit I thought Hardy was going to be good. The only consolation was that we got Stevie Johnson towards the end of the draft. As to the original question..its Mahomes and it isn't close. The stars aligned for that draft..and we deferred.

and that's really the thing...neither of these teams even sniffs the dance without a potent office. For years, the Rams have had a pretty talented D. But they rarely had a winning record, much less a ticket to the dance. Without a potent offense capable of racking up points...the Pats don't get past the Chiefs, if they even get that far. It took an offense capable of putting up 37 against a team that put up 31..in a half. As it applies to the Bills...well, lol, it shouldn't have to be said..but you're getting nowhere with a 30th ranked offense. At best, even with a good D, you're looking at Jeff Fisherville. Or the Bills for the past 19 years. And if the "defense wins championships" war cry is going to be used to prioritize the D over the O in the talent collection department...well, you're not getting very far up from that number 30 ranking. What was witnessed Sunday was Belichick out coaching a far younger and less experienced coach, and shutting down a young, relatively inexperienced QB. He's never done THAT before. The title of this thread should probably be, "Belichick wins champions". As much as I hate it, he does.

Can he resist? IDK..but he can only play out this silly rebuild for so long. another bottom 5 offense might not cut it with the Pegula's in year three, and it shouldn't. BPA matters more in a few instances. First, where your team is already built. Second, where you have so many holes that it really doesn't matter where you start. But when one side of the ball is pretty good and the other is devoid of talent, and you continue to neglect that side because you're taking what you believe is the "BPA" in your mind, your career as a GM isn't going to be long...especially when you aren't winning. That doesn't mean you take a dud at an area at need. But "reaching" is a relative term. Taking an OL who might be 15th on your board at no. 9 isn't really a "reach". *****...Bill Walsh didn't even like scouts to talk about the round a player should be drafted. His canned response was, "if he works out, no one remembers the round he was chosen." He really wanted to know, how does this guy help our team? "BPA" is a half-subjective term in and of itself. Example. Take a Dalton Risner vs. Montez Sweat comparison. When they matched up twice this year...Sweat one 2-3 of the plays. Risner won the rest. Sweat might be able to get in the backfield 3-4 times a game. Risner might keep his guy out of the backfield on all but 2-3 plays per game. Who's the BPA? You can use the canned phrases like "you don't draft a RT at 9" or "you always need a pass rush" But I'll take the guy that wins 90% of the matchups.

I'm going to go off the board and say...draft 2 in the first two rounds. Preferably with a trade down for an extra pick or two. The tight FA market is one factor. Another...the bigger factor is that we're not in a situation where we need to plug a single hole, we need to plug 3-4. Add in that quality OL are becoming more scarce in the draft. 2 quality tackles...one of whom can play the interior...or move Dawkins to G. Or. 1 tackle and a C like Bradbury if he's still there. I might be the only one, but I'd be thrilled with a Risner/Bradbury 1-2, or a few other combinations. Possibilities open up. You can make a really positive step towards building a quality unit, rather than taking a patchwork or piecemeal approach...but only if the commitment is there. This is THE year to make that commitment. An edge rusher does nothing to improve a 30th ranked offense. Work the problem.

I acknowledged it in my first post...I just gave it a "so what"? 2 280 lb. guys who together didn't produce what Aaron Donald did in college. But you're basing similarities because they all weigh 280lbs? mmmkay To answer your second question, Donald was drafted around 12th in 2014 Again, so what? Is there a point here? If we draft either Gary or Oliver at 9, either one becomes Aaron Donald? Because whoever it is..he'd weigh about the same and would actually be drafted higher? I'm not seeing an actual point here.

Im not blinded by anything... https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/aaron-donald-1.html 2013 28 TFL 11 sacks. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000316422/article/pittsburghs-aaron-donald-looks-dominant-in-senior-bowl-drills

Aaron Donald also dominated in college. His last year at Pitt, he had over 2 dozen TFL's and about a dozen sacks. And afterward, he showed up at the Senior Bowl and proved impossible to block. There's a lot of 6' 2", 265 DE's...but that doesn't make them Bruce. As a final note, Donald played very well since he came in the league. He's been a PB;er, or All Pro, since his 2nd year. And he's played on some good D's. But they never had a winning record until they got their offense working. Fix the problem.

When Sweat lined up against him, Sweat did nothing. No one has gotten by Risner in pass pro yet. Dillard, the LT from Wash St. has looked really good, as has the LT from USC.

He's good, he's got long arms, a good power/speed combo and had a very good Senior Bowl week. He has a chance at redemption today against OT Dalton Risner of Kansas State. When they met earlier in the year, Risner won the fight by decision. They should face off today.

It'll be a rematch. They faced each other in September, if only for a dozen or so plays..there's a good write up on it. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/2019-nfl-draft-inside-the-battle-between-mississippi-states-montez-sweat-kansas-states-dalton-risner/ And..you did a great job on your report..many thanks!!

Some are better at judging a certain position or positions than they are judging others. Ozzie is considered one of the best GM's of his era, and is great at evaluating OL and D7, but not so good at evaluating WR's and in most cases, QB's. Based on their history with signing WR and OL ...I've always thought they needed to bring in talent evaluators for those positions. Because if they fail again, this could be their butts, and should be.

It depends on which board, I imagine. I kinda think many teams rate OL higher than many draft sites, for a number of reasons. I think most teams are realizing that you just can't get away with a good LT and some fill ins. The gap between LT and RT has diminished. And with the current buzz of how rare plug and play OL are now, they've become a hot commodity for the discerning GM. I'd bet most scouting depts. have him rated higher. If he solidifies the right side of the line...I don't see it as a reach at all. On the other hand, if you wait, there's a good chance that he..and others are gone by the second. Its how we ended up with CK. I have no problem using a first on a Kevlar vest for Allen. And most importantly, after a pancake block, it will be fun to say this... https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/0c004106-5f43-4123-8f26-ea70b404999d

Not to mention that they paid KJ $8 million this past year. It doesn't really matter how many fans thought it was a good trade. If there was any WR in the NFL that the McBeane Trust should have known about, it was KJ. There's no excuse for missing his lack of work ethic. From Holmes to Boldin to Holmes to Matthews to KJ to Kerley to Pryor to Coleman and so on down the line, this will basically be the 3rd WR corps in 3 years, assuming they try to upgrade it. Saying it is bad is being kind.

Some things you don't get over easily. As a kid, I grew up in the just post AFL Championship years. Every time the Raiders were on TV, which was often...my father, an older brother, a neighbor, an uncle, whoever happened to be in the room would say, "Damn...why did we trade Lamonica?" And then the discussion would begin. That was years after the trade and it didn't really stop until Stabler took over as the Raiders QB. How long can it go? The real reason the Bills could never trade up for Ben R didn't have much to do with Donahoe. It was Rooney. The staff was intending on drafting some OL until Rooney came in the room. He just said, "You know, I've never gotten over passing on Marino in the 1983 draft." Ben R was going to be the pick from that point on and they weren't trading down so the Bills could take him. That was 22 years after the fact. So yeah, when you watch your team end up 30th in offense and watch the guy you passed over set the league on fire and end up within an inch of the SB...I'm not sure how you can't say....damn.

Our roof could use replacing and I'm tempted to do it myself but don't trust my back. When it tightens up, my legs turn to jello, and that's not a good thing when you're on a roof. I suppose I could use a safety harness but I'd probably be up there a week before being rescued. I replaced our hot water heater a year ago. When the old one went 10 years ago, I had a client who owed me money install it. But this was New Year's day and I didn't want to ruin his New Year. I don't like messing with natural gas fittings and I'd never sweated a copper line before. If any plumber, contractor, service tech, handyman or anyone who has ever sweated a copper joint would look at it, they'd laugh. I probably used a half spool of solder on it. But it held and is still holding.

Our Walkerhound never did, but he would sleep in a chair or one side of a couch. He only moved to a bed on the coldest days. Our Jack-a-bee...pfft, the first thing he does it look for someone in bed. And he doesn't just lay on the bed, he burrows under a blanket and completely covers himself up. We got him at the shelter, they said he was a stray, and I've wondered if having to hide himself at night while he was on the streets doesn't have something to do with the burrowing.

Well, yeah..I'm not sure if people expect him to say something like, "sure, the guys I brought in weren't really very good". That would, um...reflect bad on the guy who brought them in or retained them... I'm not sure how many OL coaches Vlad or Newhouse had in their travels, or how many Bodine had while at Cincy, or Mills had between Chi and Buffalo...but its more than just one. These guys were never very good. He can claim its getting in sych, or some type of mesh, or w/e..if that gives him comfort. But it doesn't solve the problem. Actually, it makes it worse.

"You're conversating with everybody. You're not just having a one-on-one conversation with somebody. So, I think he understands that.” "did he really say "conversating"? conversating A word you use when trying to say you were talking to someone so as to come off as more cultured or intelligent. In reality, it does little more than make you look like an idiot who's trying too hard. If you must make yourself sound like a pompous ass, the correct term is "conversing." Pompous Ass: "...we just sat there conversating for a while and it turns out that..." Unimpressed Listener: "Cool story bro." https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=conversating