BillsVet

Talk is cheap this time of year and McD is adept at saying something that in reality means nothing. I will believe he's evolving when the organization devotes more to the offense than cheap 1 year UFA deals, more over-drafted RBs, and late round flyers on offensive line/skill talent. I've seen reports the Pegula's later regretted somewhat ceding so much control over the Bills to McBeane. And consider why...McD took the job after the Pegula's had witnessed so much dysfunction from the Rex/Whaley years. It's no surprise the HC used that opportunity to have so much authority. Besides, ownership had already been through 2 HC's in less than 3 years of ownership. That said, unless Beane is as big a fan of defense, I don't see how anyone can deduce 5 of 7 RD1 picks used there as anything but the HC shaping the draft board to his preference for that side of the ball.

I have never understood why OBD insists on this rotation, uses high picks to staff it, then uses those picks (Basham, Epenesa, Oliver, Rousseau) no more than on 50% of the snaps. It's disjointed, ineffective, and no better than equal cost to benefit. If your team needs this rotation, spreads snaps out evenly for DT's and DE's to keep them under 65%, but continues prioritizing this as their QB is inked long-term, something's gotta give eventually. It's not the same as what SF, PHI, CIN, or KC is doing.

Tipster's prowess throwing the message board hand grenade is still legendary. That's the only takeaway from this thread.

Easy with the language or I'll report you to a moderator! Will say this for McD...he's established from Day 1 he's in charge and carries himself that way. I imagine it's gotta be hard to connect/command in that environment with Millennials and Zoomers when you're a Gen X'er. Sounds like that's there, at least with the young players.

If we lose Maine, it'll be because the aliens took it. And that means we're in an inter-planetary war that Earth is bound to lose. Not encouraging, but the good news it'll mean there's no chance that any NFL team makes the playoffs. So we got that going for us, which is nice.

You are a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. "One of the problems with being a pessimist is that you can never celebrate when you are proven right." - Thomas Sowell

KC could do that when they unloaded Hill and his cap hit...which went toward additional receivers. https://www.nfl.com/news/chiefs-trading-wr-tyreek-hill-to-dolphins-for-multiple-draft-picks The opening line to this article is hilarious, considering less than 11 months later KC would win another SB without him. And KC parlayed that 1st (29th) from the Hill trade along with a 3rd and 4th into moving up, taking the CB McDuffie. And then took a DE with their own 1st. Not saying all these moves and players were perfect...but it shows a desire to improve even as a perennial contender. That type of continuous improvement and boldness has been there in Buffalo occasionally, but it's more of a risk averse culture there.

KC was ridiculed here trading Hill last off-season, but their plan to feature Kelce and a sum is greater than the parts WR group obviously was enough for Mahomes. No one flashy among that latter group, and their points scored even increased slightly. OBD will have a renewed emphasis on offense this off-season, but it's purely reactive. Another thread opined that it's not poor draft execution, but strategy and that should be expanded to all personnel acquisitions. Buffalo tends to fix issues in one off-season only after an issue has emerged in the previous year which in this case is a less than adequate investment on offense. One of the weaknesses of the structure at OBD is Buffalo is led by a coach who is a more pedestrian mind, particularly on offense. For all the criticism of Dorsey, the OC and QB did not have the WR/TE talent necessary to maximize offensive production. That should have been anticipated after 2021, but alas, here we are.

Price has to be correct for a team currently 20M above the cap. Still, Woods doesn't provide the deep option this team needs desperately. But he could play outside, which is something this team did not have depth at last year. Noticeable that his catch rate was down significantly from career norms, although the QB situation probably contributed to that. . None of that should diminish the need to draft and develop a WR...where Buffalo can only show Gabriel Davis between 2017 and 2021.

Buffalo's draft picks typically are reflective of the HC. As in, all too often OBD takes the safe approach that limits risk, but means the reward is typically smaller. The one time they abandoned that principle was taking Josh, who was physically the most gifted talent in that draft. Rousseau and Spencer Brown fit that concept, but then they went back to safe in 2022 taking Cook and Bernard along with another RD1 CB. They're just not bold very often and that's the price teams need to pay to remain competitive. These 6 off-seasons have been a slow grind of improving, over-paying or paying market value for talent, and struggling to keep up with the league's elite. In that regard, their strategy is safe and frequently decisions to support that are not executed well.

Just because a guy is on staff doesn't mean he's consulted in decision making: https://www.nfl.com/news/buffalo-bills-head-coach-doug-marrone-meets-the-press-0ap1000000123380 I never got the feeling Marrone embraced analytics, but they had a lead there. Then again, we could debate endlessly what it means to use analytics and get nowhere in the process. It is to drive decisions, like in game-planning or personnel? Or should it be supporting decision making? Perhaps it's used for the latter at OBD now, but definitely does not feature prominently particularly when it comes up against McD's vision of NFL football. I can't imagine their Analytics Director in the room during draft prep in a deep debate with McBeane about how drafting a RD2 RB or signing another DT is probably not a good idea.

Do you believe that McD embraces analytical data and uses that in his decision making process? Because most professional coaches aren't enamored with analytics or the prospect of of using data to shape game-plans or even personnel acquisition. I think more innovative HC's are looking for advantages and are moving toward this, but many are not. If anything, cap challenges are driving their decisions on special teams and what they do on the special teams unit.

But how do we really know that Tipster isn't really ChatGPT now?

Who was the Great Bambino... ...telling Charlie Root and the Cubs bench he'd hit the ball down their ***da** throats.

Gonna mean no more highly paid strong side LBs, core ST'ers (Matakevich), or 2-3 UFA DLinemen every year. In the Edmunds thread I saw someone say this is evidence McD is changing for the better. Nah, this is the HC finally up against a cap that they weren't facing pre-Josh's contract kicking in. This is when the personnel group lives up to their reputation or shows they were all hype. They have to get value out of the depth signings more than they've ever needed to since McBeane came in 6 years ago.

The heck you say...those ratings are for realz.

You could always go with raisins rather than be pro-sour grapes. Doesn't have to be a love or hate relationship though.

In the XFL or new USFL? The drama. Can't have a discussion without buckets full of it. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/rankings/2022/cap-hit/inside-linebacker/ ILB is not a highly paid position, and only 1 (Fred Warner) participated in a Championship game last year. They'll find a replacement, that player will provide similar production at a reduced rate, and within 1-2 seasons the fanboys clamoring for Edmunds will melt away to occasionally admit his new team made a mistake.

Tennessee hasn't won a playoff game since 2019 with Henry and the Giants have never won in the post-season with Barkley. Problem with BPA for people like you who think in absolutes is that it's not that simple. I mean it is if you see mock drafts like a fantasy football thing, but there's positional value to using a top-100 pick. And RB has almost zero compared to at least 6 other positions on the field. I had no issue with taking Rousseau in 2021 because he played a position of huge value (DE) and offered youth where Buffalo had little. A case could be made for Elam...but a RB is about the dumbest thing you can do with a RD1 pick. High probability for injury, takes away from your passing game featuring perhaps the best QB in the NFL and will get you no more than 5 yards per carry. I'd rather focus on players who Josh can increase his 7.4 yards per attempt average since 2020.

Sometimes?

People are just realizing McShay doesn't know anything? Maybe when it's realized that most draftniks want to generate clicks that it'll make sense why the RD1 RB narrative gains steam.

Only on TBD do fans believe that taking a RD1 RB will work. Somehow it's a value-added decision that will take the ball out of your franchise QB's hands, diverts resources from the OL and WR, and means your 2nd round pick from last year has fewer touches. Did taking Spiller with Marshawn and Fred on the roster not happen? That's be a straight-up Buddy Nix level duncery-type call.

Timeless.

McD went with Dorsey because, among other things, Josh would not need to learn an entirely new offense and approved the move. But that was a false sense of security for the HC, who ultimately thought this gave him room to improve the defense even more because the offense was now sustained. I've never thought McD has embraced the HC role and seems to abdicate offense over to the OC. I would compare the promotion from coordinator to HC to becoming a general officer in the Army or Marine Corps. You leave behind the branch you were commissioned into, become a "general" officer and thus need to see a greater picture beyond your specific background. McD just comes off as a super-DC with personnel authority who tolerates the offensive side and doesn't want to nor try to understand the other side of the ball. Oddly enough, it's like a reverse Chan Gailey who was de fact OC, but really had little clue what George Edwards or Wannstache were doing on defense.

Andre Reed went into his 2nd season 37 years ago. Appropriate comparisons have left the building.