Reed83HOF

This correct^^ (Next comment is not directed at you personally kind sir - it just fits and should be clarified) The point of this thread was not to insinuate that we have brinks trucks of cash (we do, but we also have important players we want to resign and you have to fill out the entire roster) - it is that there is a lot of flexibility in reshaping the roster over the next 3 years due to expiring contracts and this creates a lot of salary cap room as the roster size (as of now) decreases as contracts expire. If you want to take money and invest in an Amari Cooper, Austin Hooper and Yannick - we can afford it and we will be letting contracts expire for some players as a result which will create a need to fill - just remember the value (in terms of cap hits and schemes) of all positions are not equal. This will provide us with an opportunity to look at positions that our offensive and defensive schemes require premium players and others where you can get by with so-so players. This is also why I posted the positional cap hit charts vs the league average and other teams. Here is an example: If you look at the Defensive side of the ball, CBs & LBs are cheaper than the league average, while Safety as of now is at the league average - are we willing to go above the league average to re-sign Poyer (and take money from other positions) or With Poyer; it is possible that his replacement will be drafted in the 2020 or 2021 draft or signed as an FA on a much cheaper deal. The rationale is that we play a lot of Zone Coverage and Zone DBs are cheaper than M2M, so you can get by paying a bit less than the league average at DB perhaps and reinvest that money in another position that we want to pay over the average in. This would allow us to fit McDs vision of generating pressure with 4 players, if we want a stout 4 man pass rush, you sign Yannick and take Poyer's raise and reallocate it to that premium position. In turn, this will lessen the need for a both #1 WR and #1 Edge in the draft, this will give us the flexibility to move around to grab the WR we are targeting and there is better positional value for Safety in RDs 2-3 vs Edge. Please don't turn this into another Poyer thread - it is just an example to show how our long-term roster building will start around the core we have drafted the last 3 years. As we go through this offseason, keep in mind not to just focus on what a current hole is, look at the BPA based on positional value in the draft round as well and understand what we value as a premium position to get a feel for where we may go, we have the cash and flexibility to reshape the roster around these players...

Depends on how free agency and the draft falls, but it would be hard to pass Yetur if we still have edge as a need. Out of curiosity since I haven't looked at the draft much yet - who are the WRs in RD2 we should be targeting if we don't grab one in RD1?

This is upcoming draft is a WR draft with very few OTs and keeping Josh upright was/is more important...

with 1 TD

I didn't check the math on Spotrac, just look at it this was we have 57 under contract for 2020, 27 for 2021 and 13 for 2022 as of now - regardless of cash - the expiring contracts allow us to fully reshape the roster in face of FA and BP in the draft and build around our core of Josh, Tre, Edmunds, Oliver etc... Granted we will sign our own along the way while comparing against upgrades via FA, trades and the draft - the flexibility is honestly tremendous over the next 3 seasons and beyond to shape our roster. You might be able to minimize the WR with a TE like Hooper. I am very curious to see how FA plays out, it will show our general direction and obviously give us a strong insight into what positions they are prioritizing in the draft

too costly to cut this year IMO

I might swing for Hooper; I am really becoming more comfortable with it - it buys Knox time to develop and lessen the pressure to produce right away and gives Josh a target who is ready to go. Can easily run some 2 TE sets as well and have even more fun on offense.

Just want to show that we have loads of cap space and are in a great position moving forward. We can be pretty aggressive in FA if we need, granted it is all dependent on who is tagged and who is out there. I expect us to look for Blue Chippers and we can be smart and front load contracts appropriately to lessen cap hits in later years. If you have a chance to get a player in FA and punt that position in the draft go for it. It also allows us the ability if Josh busts or isn't worth the $100+ million to fill out the orster with studs and take another shot at the end of year 5 for him - sets the new guy up with a potentially loaded roster....

It is as of today and that is the point, you can reshape the roster how we want this year next year and the years after, we have 0 long term commitments within the next 3 years. There is plenty of money in being able to chose who to extend and who to chase in FA (if we like) and even if Josh flops to be able to have a ton of space to reset and put money in other positions to allow a new QB to have a stacked roster

Beane and company have done a great job with our Cap and our position going forward, this roster can be chaped in so many ways going forward. Cap Space and roster size is: 2020 - 57 players = $89 million in cap space 2021 - 21 players = $189 million in cap space 2022 - 13 players = $374 million in cap space Here is the 2021 roster as of today: 2021 cap space 2022 cap space What this means is we will have the ability to drastically alter the entire team and add blue chip playmakers (Hooper, Cooper, Yannick) starting this offseason while having plenty of money to pay our core of Tre, Edmunds, Oliver, Milano, Josh (provided he develops) and whoever else we deem is key. I know Beane wants to pay our players and build through the draft, but you can take reasonable shots in FA on a team that is starting it's trend up, which is where we are headed and reshape the team via the draft and mid level FA signings. Our 2020 positional cap spending vs other teams based on positions:

I put a lot on them, the players simply didn't execute well either. Whether it is the 3 blockers on the run above, poor tackling on defense, poor pass blocking on the OL, some bad passes from Josh as well. Everyone had a hand in it. The personnel choices, the play concepts, gore being active, calling pass plays instead of runs, all on coaching

It's horrendous

don't disagree - just saying that Daboll and what he brings on for personnel plays a big role as well

see frank gore & our FB & lee smith

she is an IG ***** - what do you expect?

3 players could not block 1 guy

and she deleted it

Without looking it up, I think we go for it on 4th more than we used to, but that is all I got. I do understand that he wants to rely on the strength of the team and limit mistakes on the weaker area of the team, but even when the offense is moving the ball - he slows it down kills to offensive rhythm and we are unable to get going again when we need to - the offense is not allowed (or simply can't) put teams away.

Actually I had zero issues with STs yesterday

1) Allen’s in-game regression doomed the Bills ...once the Texans converted for a touchdown midway through the third quarter, Allen and the offense reverted to a form we hadn’t seen since the early part of the season. As the pressure mounted, Allen became reckless, inaccurate and much more like the rookie quarterback both he and the Bills thought they left behind. However, he needs to learn that allowing the game to take him prisoner is unacceptable moving forward. Allen made significant strides in protecting the ball since his Week 4, three-interception meltdown, but “Wyoming Josh” came roaring back with the game on the line. He held on to the ball too long and took sacks when the Bills couldn’t afford it, the accuracy of his passes dipped and he made several horrible decisions that nearly resulted in turnovers. It was the roller coaster ride that Allen and the Bills had worked so hard to put out of service. Of all his poor choices, his deep throw to his double-covered fullback and the mind-melting decision to lateral the ball to tight end Dawson Knox were the ones that will stand the test of time. Those two, in particular, elicited the reactions of “What is he doing?!” While he capitalized on some passes with some intermediate rocket throws that not many quarterbacks can make, Allen couldn’t help himself but to try and do too much. It’s a trait he picked up at Wyoming, carried with him in his rookie season and what, unfortunately for the Bills, followed him to Houston. Allen never seemed in control in the second half, and for an ordinarily unflappable player in late-game situations, the moment looked like it was too big for Allen. Me - This is a great point, granted you can only see what the broadcast showed, but from what we were able to in between the game and JJ Watt ball sucking, I didn't see any communication from the coaching staff trying to calm him down and get his focus back. I am sure the All -22 will show a bunch of plays Allen missed as well. Overall, as the pressure mounted, he became jittery and 'bad Josh' was playing the game for us. I would have liked to see the coaches or his teammates trying to refocus him and calm him down. Josh has to grow tremendously during the offseason in this area. 2) The infuriating Frank Gore infatuation ... The problem area with Gore’s involvement was when it occurred late in the fourth quarter. Needing a field goal to tie, the Bills — mostly thanks to Singletary — brought the ball down into Texans’ territory. Through the first four plays, Singletary gained 47 yards on only three touches, and it set the Bills up at the Houston 25. From there, rather than keeping Singletary in the game, offensive coordinator Brian Daboll decided it was a great time to go with heavy personnel. Gore came in along with the fullback Patrick DiMarco and blocking tight end Lee Smith, which allowed the Texans to attack. Allen voluntarily threw away the first down pass, but on second down, the Bills kept at it with the same group. This time, Daboll called a designed run to the left side for Gore, only for Houston to shoot the gaps and bring him down for a three-yard loss. That led to Allen’s combustion with an intentional grounding penalty and a 19-yard sack on fourth-and-27, but Gore’s inclusion made the offense hopelessly predictable. It was a decision by Daboll that seemed awful right away, and got even worse when they want through a run. That decision destroyed all the positive things Singletary did for the Bills on that drive, and instead, the Bills wound up with nothing to show for the offensive series. Gore’s inclusion in that big of a spot not only changed how the defense lined up, but it also impacted the Texans’ play-calling approach in a huge spot. It felt like it was over before it started, and it created a negative third-and-13 situation. As we know, the rest of the drive went haywire and almost cost the Bills the game right then and there. Daboll has hit the wrong notes in critical times with some of his personnel groupings — and the Gore, DiMarco, Smith trio is the shining example of the offensive coordinator overthinking things a bit. Me - No one disagrees with any of this, moving on... 3) Third-and-18 These are the defensive situations the Bills dream of, where they encourage an underneath throw while swarming to the ball carrier before they get to the first down marker. It was all set up for the Bills to get the ball back in overtime with another chance to win the game. As we now know, that third-and-18 misfire will haunt them for some time. The linebackers in coverage got a bit too over-zealous and dropped beyond the first down marker, which created all the space Duke Johnson needed to get precisely 18 yards for the first down. Third downs became a problem for the Bills after halftime, allowing the Texans to keep their drives alive on four of seven attempts. While many will look at the Watson pass to Jones, or the J.J. Watt sack to force a Bills field goal as the marquee plays that defined the game, the third-and-18 will be especially haunting for a defense that played so well this season in those exact situations. Me - again, aside from only seeing what is shown on the broadcast, the coaching staff has the responsibility to remind players of such things, such as positioning and keys - not one person on the defense was aware of the first down marker - that is something that should have been told to Edmunds to relay to the D - Poyer, Hyde and LorAx should all have been keenly aware of this as well. This was the ball game... 4) A curious personnel decision that sparked Houston’s first TD drive he Texans took over and they ran all over the Bills defense to set up their first touchdown drive of the game. Though it was partially their own doing based on the personnel they put on the field to begin the Texans’ offensive series. The Bills featured a defensive tackle pairing of three-technique defensive tackle Jordan Phillips and one-technique defensive tackle Corey Liuget — who were their two worst run-defending players at the position. Predictably, the Texans ran the ball on four of the five plays the Phillips-Liuget combination was on the field and gained 29 yards on four carries to help the Texans get to the Bills’ 32-yard line. Putting the Phillips and Liuget combination on the field at the same time was a questionable decision at best by defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier and head coach Sean McDermott. Once Ed Oliver and Star Lotulelei replaced them on the sixth play of the drive, they promptly got back-to-back one-yard stops on Houston. At that point in the game, the Bills’ willingness to feature a full four-person rotation was too much of a luxury and likely cost the Bills a lot of yards leading up to Houston’s first touchdown. Me - 100% on the coaching and couldn't agree more. McD's job is overall game management and interacting with his coordinators. In a playoff game, you can't get too cute and in critical situations, your best players need to be on the field. 5) The conservative end-of-first-half decision I’m not exactly sure what McDermott was thinking near the end of the first half. Well, I’m sure that it made logical sense in his mind — even if he might have cost his team a real opportunity for a touchdown. With 30 seconds remaining in the first half, the Bills called a timeout immediately after picking up a third-down attempt, while only 23 yards out of the end zone. At that time of the game, the Bills were only up by 10 points and wanted to assure themselves something on the scoreboard. However, while doing so, the Bills were far too conservative and appeared like they were content with only a field goal. Out of a timeout, the Bills ran the ball up the middle with Gore. They then raced up to the line of scrimmage and spiked the ball to stop the clock, and followed it up with an end zone target to wide receiver Duke Williams. The Bills were setting themselves up for failure with conservative logic that flies in the face of their usual aggressive nature. The thinking was probably to get the ball centered on first down for the field goal attempt, stop the clock on second down and then take one shot at the end zone without having to worry about time running out and coming away with zero points. The Bills defense had been playing really well to that point, but the team still had one timeout remaining in their pocket. They effectively wasted two downs to set up a field goal, and then to go after only one low-percentage touchdown attempt from 22 yards out. Especially with another timeout in their pocket that they never wound up using, the Bills should have played that far differently and allowed themselves one throw over the middle to try and get in the end zone. Instead, a conservative call reigned supreme — a disappointment considering their advancements in 2019 in their aggressiveness in those situations. It was another opportunity for a touchdown to put away the game, and like so many other instances, the Bills couldn’t get out of their way to do so. Me - We did a great job bleeding the clock down to the half and weren't able to punch it on for a TD. It has been a recurring theme all season (much like our inability to run a screen play or beat a Cover 0), not being able to overcome these types of issues falls on the coaching staff for not being able to correct them. I get that poor execution is to blame as well as player limitations, but a top tier coaching staff will find ways with the abilities you do have to overcome some of these issues. Frank Gore out there as time was running down was a poor personnel choice & if it was called by Daboll, McD should have again pushed the issue to have the best players on the field at this juncture of the game, simply saying it was his turn is not an option. McD also seems to get involved at the end of half/game decisions, we should not have been so conservative, but that seems to be who he is at times (but yet very aggressive on 4th and 27)... 6) The first half effort deserved better With the Texans trying to run out the clock, the job the Bills did to force a turnover on downs without any timeouts remaining was a next-level stop. They deserve a lot of credit for making those plays against the odds. It was the breakdowns in the mid-third and fourth quarters that were the problem areas for Buffalo. You also have to give credit to Daboll for his opening drive. The offensive coordinator was on fire, using several new personnel packages the Bills hadn’t used before, along with calling a gadget play with Allen as his receiver. From a game-planning perspective, Daboll has always been solid at understanding the weakness of the opponent — it’s just the occasional poor personnel choices and the execution that has been lacking. It got away from Daboll as the game continued, though those first three-plus minutes for the offense put on a show for all the fans watching. Past those two items, it’s hard to overlook all of the failings of the second half. Me - McD has to be better at reigning in Daboll when these instances occur, which has been just too frequent this season. Going with a heavy set with Lee Smith & our FB in the 4th, along with Gore's usage in critical situations handcuffs the offense and creates predictable tendencies for the D to play off of - they know what is coming and are able to stop it. McD needs to to a better job of coaching his coaches. Daboll needs to improve as well and I'm not sure he is going to be able to. He seems like one of those type of OCs or DCs who can't get out of their own ways at times. I think he has been good for Josh, but at times it feels like the offense doesn't fit our QB and I feel like it's due to the reason Joe stated above. 7) Why did the Bills abandon Cole Beasley? File this under another peculiar personnel switch for the Bills when they got to their first “win or go home” situation. Over the final two months of the season, the Bills started to turn to slot receiver Cole Beasley quite a bit. He became a safety blanket for Allen and started to find his way into the offense. However, the Bills astonishingly changed courses with their wide receiver usage against the Texans. Beasley went from being an almost every snap player to being outsnapped by Duke Williams. He was good enough, but you always have to wonder what Beasley could have done if he had a bigger opportunity. “I did what I could with what I was given today,” Beasley said. “As a competitor, you always want more opportunities. It is what it is.” Beasley has a right to be frustrated. He only had one reception in the entire second half and overtime, on only two targets. All of Beasley’s contributions and connection through the season with Allen deserved a bigger role in the playoffs. Me - This is the playoffs, you put your best players on the field (especially in critical junctures in the game), play to score TDs, tackle solidly and keep the offense in front of you. While I wished we used Duke more all season, he shouldn't have been in the game in place of Cole. During the preparation for the game and the coaching staff reviewing the game plan this should have been stressed by McD. If Daboll strayed too much, McDs job is to reign him back in. Final thoughts - all of this and we were still right in it and could have easily put the game away: 1.) JB toe tap or slightly earlier toss by Allen, we were right there for a TD 2.) Run the ball more with Devin 3.) Bad calls - the 3rd qtr kick off, the blind side block, Kroft penalty 4.) It's a long list and I won't bore you any longer...There is plenty of blame to go around. A few thoughts from YPP Missed blindside black call by the refs?

Aside from key situations and end of half/end of game I think McD lets Daboll call the game he wants and he needs to do a better job of coaching the coaches. I also think the coaches are still handcuffed with what they can and can't call based on player limitations and poor execution on offense. I also didn't see McD talking to Josh at any point trying to eliminate Wyoming Josh during the 4th after the flip to Knox etc.

they had 21 games this season to get this ironed out and still can't

I have this feeling that this coaching staff lived up to the billing to change the culture and reset the direction of the team, I am not convinced that this is the staff that will get us over the hump for the very reasons you state above. I'm confident in the FO, but the coaching staff needs to really look long and hard at themselves and evolve.