BillsVet

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.

Tyrod Taylor: Training Camp All-Star I can't wait for someone to cite training camp statistics as evidence he's turned a corner in now his 7th NFL training camp. Oh, wait. It should be alarming the OC has said what he has. Amazing the Bills find QB's who think it's still college and there will be wide open receivers. Yet, when they're not the offense breaks down quickly.

What is Reggie's dad doing posting here? To the point, your opinion is based on what? A youtube video? Or just the natural off-season fantasy that an unknown factor will work out. He's never played a NFL down, is learning a new scheme and one that requires LBs to cover and run well. He's not a Thomas Davis type and it's not a guarantee he fits in McD's defense. Not to mention, the new coaching staff owes him nothing, 2nd round pick or not.

I've always loved your methodology. Ask a loaded question, demand an answer to said question, receive no suitable answer, and declare victory. It's brilliant. Kouandjio's release occurred because 1. By all reports, to sign Streater. 2. They've drafted Dawkins and still have Mills with Glenn the starting LT. CK wasn't going to be in the mix at RT. 3. He offered cap savings(1M+ as a pre-June 1st cut). 4. His lack of versatility because it was likely he wouldn't start. Being a swing OT means playing both positions if called upon. CK can't do that. This has nothing to do with conflating the argument by citing "88 players" nonsense. Now, answer my question: Why are you on a never-ending crusade to defend all Whaley decisions? Why do you feign support of Whaley players now? What could possibly have happened to make your opinion moot?

Why do you so fervently defend a now former member of the team? Why do you deflect from the fact he wasn't good enough to play under two coaching staffs and has (EDIT:now) been cut by a third? And go figure, I'm defending the team's personnel decisions now. But you're not defending the team, only the player and, as an extension, the former GM who selected him. Agenda? Nah, couldn't be.

He was the swing tackle for the previous coaching staff. He isn't (now wasn't) that for the new coaching staff who clearly didn't see enough to retain him for even training camp. I don't know what happened to him last month, but it could very well be a mental health issue. And I highly doubt a capable player (in your opinion) would be released this early because of that. You've conveniently blamed this strange incident because you can't bear to believe the player wasn't good enough for the new coaching staff. The depths Whaley cheerleaders have to go to defend lil' Doug. He's gone and so are more of his players. Thank goodness.