JohnC

I agree with your general sentiment. However, where I have a little difference with you is that over time you can only do so much with qbs who are unique attribute qbs. As you well know teams adjust to what you do well and try to force you into doing what you don't do well. If Jackson wants to be a long-term franchise qb he is going to have to steadily add to his game. I also apply this standard to Josh Allen. The bottom line is that success for a qb is more predicated on the arm and mind talent, and less so on the leg talent. As like you I thought Roman did a good job with us after having to deal with the talent limitations he had to work with. Coaching is certainly an important ingredient for success in this league. On the other hand the most determinative factor for success is the overall talent that a coach has to work with. In general, we are both rowing in the same boat.

Lamar Jackson is Lamar Jackson as Tyrod Taylor is Tyrod Taylor. You work with what you got . If you don't have a conventional passer you can't devise a conventional offense. How do you have a coherent offense when from a conventional sense you can't have a coherent offense because the running and passing game don't work in tandem? So you do your best to magnify your strengths and minimize your gaping lack of a passing game. The issue/problem isn't who the coach is so much as how the offense is constructed. When a qb doesn't have an ability to play a well-rounded game then you as a OC is limited. Tyrod couldn't add enough to his (passing and vision) game to advance it. The issue is whether Lamar can add to his (passing and vision) game to advance it. Again, you work with what you got.

You are a shameless moocher!

The playoff quest is gong to the wire. If your nerves are jangled now you are going to be a neurotic mess as the season advances to its end. Try to be mellow and go with the turbulent flow. Don't get too excited when the inevitable up is up and the inevitable down is down. This message is offered in the spirit of keeping you stable and sane. You have a tendency to get zany when confronted with troubled waters.

They are certainly loaded with talent. Because there are so many elite players it is going to be difficult keeping all of them because of the cap constraints. Their organization realizes that because they have that short window to keep their players together they are aggressively going for the Cup. Toronto is also another team that has accumulated a lot of top tier players who are entering their big contract years. So they will also be aggressive in going for the Cup before they have to juggle contracts and shed talented players. It's the natural cap cycle of accumulating good young players, then paying them at their rich value, and then when the window closes you where have to start the cycle again. Chicago is going through the change of being a young elite team and then becoming a mature elite team that starts to decline. The key to successful organizations is having a smart GM who knows how to manage that cycle. I believe we have a good GM who knows how to work within the cycle and deal with complexity of understanding the relationship between talent and contracts. Because of that understanding I don't see him dealing young assets/talent for a short term gain. He is an astute big picture guy. We are fortunate to have him.

One of the reasons why I want to keep the top line in tack is that his elite scoring partners on that line are better able to convert his beautiful passes. I understand the logic of moving Reinhart to another less productive line in order to spread out the scoring but as you noted in your post his impressive passes get wasted when they are not converted. Other players such as Okposo need to step up and do the dirty in-front-of net work that Sampson does on the line they are on. By doing that the secondary lines should be more productive.

Where did you get that information that there was speculation that the Bills were going to lose a first round pick for tampering? Beane wasn't with the Bills when the draft took place. So he wasn't involved with our draft process. McDermott was already hired and empowered at the expense of Whaley. That was not a secret---it was public knowledge. Did McDermott have knowledge of the Panther scouting reports and draft rankings? Probably so because he was with that franchise when their draft evaluations were being formulated. There is nothing nefarious about that because so were the other members of their staff. Did you expect the new clapping HC to erase from his head the knowledge that he previously accrued? When McDermott was hired it was with the understanding that he was taking over the operation and making the decisions. Whaley knew before the draft that he lost his authority as a GM. And the scouts who are on a year to year contract knew that their contracts were not going to be renewed. That's how that segment of the business is run. No conspiracy and no nefarious business dealings occurred during that transition. It was one administration taking over for another. The replacing entity wanted to clean house and install their own staff. That's how it works in the NFL and that's what happened here.

That's also a possibility.

If you can muck in the corner you should be able to muck it up in front of the net. If what you are currently doing isn't working then you have to make an adjustment to become more productive. As I stated in a prior post Housley wants him more involved in front of the net.

Because of his situation I don't see him going to a program where he isn't (unofficially) assured that he is going to start. I'm not sure where that is going to be but I'm sure he is going to do his due diligence to make sure that is the situation he is going to.

If Okposo doesn't adjust his style of play in order to be more productive he is going to slide so far down the bench that he will be getting miniscule minutes and maybe periodically watching some games from the booth. Okposo plays hard and gives effort. No one can criticize him for being lackadaisical. But his production is so minimal that he could soon end up being an irrelevant player who doesn't even play. He needs to modify his game. I have heard Housley on more than a few occasions say that he wants Okposo to be more of a power forward type player who plays more in front of the net. He simply needs to reorient his game.

Locksley is plugged in to the local high school programs. But because of his late start he will need early on in his tenure to add some experienced players to his first recruiting class which is going to be thin because of his late start. At Maryland he would get a chance to start right away. Wherever he goes I will be rooting for him. In a very difficult situation he conducted himself with class and dignity.

The player who needs to alter his game and spend more time in front of the net is Okposo. He is a bull and very strong and would be difficult to move if he played more on the doorstep of the goal. He's not scoring much with his current offensive style of play. However, he is a tough and gritty player who if played more like a big forward could be much more productive on offense.

Is he considering Oklahoma? He would have an offensive minded coach and program. And a chance to be with a high profile program. His former OC, Mike Locksley, is the new coach at Maryland. That might make sense for him. The below link shows that he has plenty of options to consider. http://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-football/news/jalen-hurts-ncaa-transfer-portal-options-alabama-quarterback/26a4df1n5l8t187fqrktn4dlf

Your analysis and description of the game were spot on. As you noted they have to play this way to be successful. Your point about Rodriques and Sheary is accurate. They are not finishers. Both are fast skaters but have little to ability to finish, That is exactly a reflection of what they are as players. In the AHL they would be scoring machines but at the NHL they will never be proficient goal scorers. The best we can hope for is intermittent complementary scoring. I'm more than pleased with Buffalo's style of play in this game. But too much can't be made of it because the Devils were a jet lagged team after a Vegas game. And it showed in this game. They had tired legs and just wanted to get the game over. That's not a reflection of their effort as much as it is a product of the punishing schedule that can work against you. When I watch the Sabres I put a lot of emphasis on the play of the young players, such as Tage and Mittelstadt. (Dahlin is in a separate category.) In this game you can see their development and potential. It's going to take time but it is evident. The player that WGR's Rob Ray is often promoting is Mittelstadt. He believes that in time he is going to be a legitimate second line center in this league. He often points out that you have to let him play and just tolerate the lapses while he is developing his game.

At least you will have some utility that will serve the cause of community entertainment.

Plenz is prepared to give you a ride to wherever you want to go. He bought some plastic in bulk so that the seats will be covered. He calls it his prophylactic seat covers.

Attached is a WGR link of an interview of Botterill on the Shoop and Bulldog Show. He makes it clear that he is committed to developing the young players. I consider him a terrific GM. He is a smart guy and a strategic thinker. This is a 14 min. segment. https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/botterill-key-our-success-here-developing-our-young-players

He is a legend. There was talk that he only bought XL underwear because his package was so humongous.

The team finally supported Hutton with some goals. The Mittelstadt goal was pretty. He made a nifty move and then followed his shot. Tage Thompson played a good game. He shoots a lot, and that is what he needs to do. In the not too distant future he is really going to be not only very good but fun to watch. I said it before that Pilut is not going back to Rochester. He can skate and he can shoot. I'm not sure if Reinhart got any points but I thought he played really well, especially for someone who was recently sick. He made a lot of nifty passes that weren't converted. Jersey simply ran out of gas. Those long flights from out west can exhaust you. The Sabres won a game that they should have won. That's what they need to do to stay in the playoff hunt.

Only the disreputable would because their reputation is already permanently tarnished.

Shady didn't have holes to run through. But neither did the other backs. What they did differently is hit the hole hard or whatever miniscule gap that opened and get what they could get. Maybe they got two or three years, or got stonewalled at the line of scrimmage. But that was certainly better than dancing around and trying to manufacture something that usually ended in a loss. We both agree that our OL was atrocious. But what was also evident to me was that Shady was a diminished player. That shouldn't be surprising because he has outlived the usual lifespan of a back. At this late stage in his career I see him more of a change of pace back and a receiving back. Most everyone agrees that our line needs to be dramatically upgraded. What I would also like to see added is a hard-running between the tackles back i.e. a young Ivory type back. The priority this offseason is putting Josh Allen in a better position to succeed. Upgrading the OL and adding a featured tough running back will help to do that.

What makes him special is not how he handles success so much as how he handles mishaps and bad plays. A bad play by him or a teammate has little residual effect on his next play. He is like a battlefield surgeon who has a severely wounded patient die on his table. His response is who's next on the schedule to be opened up? That's a cold blooded trait that you naturally have and can't be taught. It's the same trait that Mafia hit man have. Cold-blooded workers who focus on the task at hand.

Philly, Dallas, NO and Indianapolis all have top tier OLs. All are contenders for the SB and all of them have put their qbs in a good position to succeed. The Bills are in a good draft position to upgrade its faltering line. You fix a problem by addressing it. This must be a priority this offseason.

He's a gem. There is no doubt about his physical talents but what makes him special is his instincts for the game. You can't teach that inherent point guard instinct on the football field. His preternatural composure as a freshman is a trait that is going to make him the type of pro qb (assuming he stays healthy) who will some day be at the podium at a HOF ceremony. He's simply special.