BillsVet

I've seen the "addition by subtraction" argument made numerous times after trades or players who hit UFA and it's never led to better teams. For McBean's sake they better go at least 9-7 in year one because not doing so might mean the house crashes in on them. Do fans have the patience to watch more young players be asked to play starting roles because their predecessors weren't motivated to play? Because with the loss of talent this year, they're going to need every single pick they've got. I get that there are some things from the past which aren't McBean's fault. Still, blowing everything up and winning simultaneously is a hard task to accomplish. If Buffalo takes a swan dive this year a la DJ 2008 and Chan 2011 it could get interesting.

Dick Jauron and Marv were trying to develop a culture as well. I recall the term "football character" frequently thrown around on this board like it was a guarantee to work. Only problem is culture needs to be balanced with talent. It should be concerning that Coach McD isn't motivating young wealthy men to play hard. Dareus had issues and we know he wasn't buying in. Good thing McBean is accumulating these draft picks. They're going to be using most of them now to fill needs at DT, LB, WR, RB, TE, and hopefully QB.

John Idzik says hello. So Billsy. Billy or Brandon? Because in Moneyball Billy doesn't watch all the games. Good opportunity for treadmill time.

Here's how I see this thread going with the two camps typically on this board: Non-homer: Belichick has 7 SB rings and his run with the Patriots is very impressive regardless of who you root for. Homer: Yeah, but he lucked into getting Brady and cheated to win the Super Bowls. Non-homer: He's a great coach and has made numerous solid personnel moves before this off-season. Homer: Yeah, but he lucked into getting Brady and cheated to win the Super Bowls. Non-homer: He won the Super Bowl last year and in 2014. Homer: Yeah, but he lucked into getting Brady and cheated to win the Super Bowls.

Aside from finding a QB, putting together a coherent team-building strategy, his relationships with HC's, and handing out bad contracts, he was a fine GM. Unfortunately he got fired.

Franchises more often than not miss at the QB position when your methodology consists of finding other team's unwanteds and not drafting anyone. Or, not taking a QB for years and then being desperate in a QB poor draft which forces you to take the best of a bad lot.

At this rate, Alan Branch will be in the league when Dareus is out. It's a lot easier being game ready at 22 not working hard. Doing so at 28 with 6 years in the league requires work.

Resource wise, DJ had a lot less to work with than Coach McD does now. Does anyone think Cordy Glenn, Jerry Hughes, and Marcell Dareus receive those contract extensions with Ralph/Littman/Smithers making decisions? To quote DJ, "it's hard to win in the NFL." And it's even harder now than it was 10 years ago when the Bills could go 7-9 with the low cost rosters they trotted out there. Back in 2006-09 no one was going to succeed with RW/Littman/Smithers hovering over football decisions. Coach McD has resources DJ never dreamed of. I'm not showing pity for DJ, only that the change in ownership means anyone post RW/Littman/Smithers should be winning with a decent strategic team-building plan.

No, Dennison is more like Jauron's OC, Steve Fairchild right now.

Yet, CJ needed a blow after a running out of bounds after a four yard gain.

I could care less about Simmons, but is it fair to say the Bills have been bad to mediocre for all of the last 15 years?

Good thing McCoy has been so durable over the past 2 seasons. I would hate to see Mike Tolbert being the primary ball carrier.

What, watching Jordan Palmer, Ma(x)tt Leinart, and Vince Young wasn't your thing? I frankly can't wait for Keith Wenning and a 5th round over-hyped rookie. It's going to be great.

It's kinda like a Twilight Zone version of fantasy football for Buffalo fans.

This now counts as the best news of the off-season for Buffalo.

It's beginning to look more like year zero of a rebuild than year 1. Cushioning the tear-down and not bottoming out is looking less likely now. At least the Bills are giving their fans plenty of other former Bills to watch this season: Gilmore, Gillislee, Watkins, Darby, Ragland, Woods, Goodwin, and others.

They'll be on the field a lot this season. Think the legs of 35 year old Lorenzo Alexander and 34 year old Kyle Williams will hold up?

The likelihood that McDermott starts a rookie 5th round pick over the QB he pushed for to retain this off-season is, well, extremely unlikely. Someone said it in another thread. HC's want to win now while personnel types are building for the future. The HC in this instance isn't about to put his reputation on the line with Peterman. Don't look at this like a fan, view this from the HC's perspective. The HC is all-in for 2017 with TT. Barring injury or a complete breakdown the rookie isn't playing.

I can still remember this refrain 9-10 years ago. When preseason games didn't go well, people retreated into this theme to explain why the team wasn't playing well. They assured everyone that by the regular season everything would come together. They may use vanilla schemes and not go with the full playbook. We get that. Yet, when you line up against the opponent, players aren't winning the 1 on 1 battles. Playbooks and schemes won't affect that a great deal. They are what they are: a team lacking talent with a new HC, staff, and trying to find the right players to fit their new schemes.

If the plan rebuilding plan is flawed, scouting does not make up for that shortcoming. I have no doubt the front office is better now than the DJ/Levy/Smithers years. I have no doubt ownership will spend more than the owner back then. Still, the league itself has changed and what might get you to 7-9 in 2006-07 won't work now. In one off-season they've let go of Watkins, Gilmore, Darby, Woods, and Gillislee. Tearing it down too far is something DJ/Levy/Smithers didn't manage well. They wanted their guys and that looks like it's happening again. If the goal is to get good fast, replacing both CB's, both starting WR's, and your primary backup QB while implementing a new defensive scheme is approaching too far back. At least Beane understands the onus is on him to find players in 2018 with those picks they've acquired. Whether his and McD's plan is sound for this era is another matter.

And, they've already used their first draft to replace departed UFA's. Gilmore replaced by Tre White. Woods ostensibly replaced by Zay Jones. Perhaps those two from the previous regime weren't their guys or deemed too expensive. BADOL's made the point for years that using the draft to replace departed veterans just makes everything worse in the long term. Yet, it's what the Bills continue to do across multiple front office groups.

I'd agree McD and Beane seem more in tune with current NFL trends and are trying to be ahead of the curve. Yet, in McD's first draft (minus Beane) they traded down in the first to acquire KC's first, but then traded up twice in the second to take Zay Jones and then Dawkins. If they're rebuilding, why do you trade up twice in your initial draft? Were those two guys that central to the plan? Because I know it wasn't Whaley, who was merely a placeholder by draft weekend. Conceptually, I see the similarities to the DJ/Marv year. Sure, the names and faces have changed. The HC and GM are obviously younger. But at the outset, McD and Beane's methodology seems eerily similar. Trade/cut/not re-sign veteran players from the previous regime (Spikes, Fletcher, McGahee, Vincent, Milloy) versus this year (Watkins, Gilmore, Darby, Woods, Gillislee). Sign a bunch of bargain bin UFA's and then use the draft to back fill for the departed veterans. Whether McD/Beane's decisions are better is to be seen. The main difference will be whether the current front office actually values and subsequently positions themselves to get a good QB. DJ/Marv just went with Losman and only drafted 1 guy, Trentative, in their years with the team.

Agreed...the absolute worst is winning 6-8 games again. The Bills ride the mediocrity express seemingly every year, and while I'm more confident there's a coherent plan now, being good enough to pick 15-20 gets this team nowhere. You don't accumulate 6 picks in the top 100 and NOT be rebuilding. I realize they're cushioning the fall, but trying to rebuild without bottoming out after these moves is a bridge too far.

I am shocked, just shocked, that reports of Darby not buying in and now these statements were made post-trade. Timed leaks of "information" seem to accompany these types of moves.

No one had a more ironic t-shirt on for day 2 of the draft. No one.