BillsVet

Al Davis won 3 Super Bowls in 8 years though. O'Brien strikes me as the guy who got a lot of power and thinks he knows what he's doing. But he doesn't and that team will end up hurting in the long term until someone wakes up and decides they need a different HC.

San Fran ranked second in yards allowed, first in passing yards allowed, and eighth in points allowed in the NFL. And this happened in the highly competitive NFC West. That said, it did not work out well come the 4th quarter against Mahomes. They still needed to score points (particularly in a 48-46 win over the Saints) to win against good teams. McBeane chose to build the defense first and perhaps they'll get around to finish the offense in year 4 of the rebuild. That will, more than defense, define how they will fare in 2020.

Gotta wonder where Ford plugs in provided Feliciano and Spain are the guards in 2020. He either wins the RT job or finds himself a primary backup because neither of those 2 should, barring injury, be pushed to depth roles. Buffalo needs an OL that can pass block because Josh has shown a tendency to hold on to the ball longer than his contemporaries. At the same time, if they use this draft to find better receiving talent and add a complementary back to Singletary that should help him be more comfortable in the pocket. It'll be interesting to see if the Bills take an OT or sign one in UFA. Doing so would indicate where they are on Ford's ability to play RT.

I have a hard time giving Beane a pass on the Benjamin deal because that was an organization he came from and had familiarity with the player. But that was 2+ years ago and no one had high expectations for that Bills team or the 2018 one. It's a sunk cost they've already paid. But now their offensive personnel decisions, overall team strategy, and in-game offensive decisions will be more highly scrutinized. Perhaps McBeane get it right, Allen improves, and Daboll schemes up presumably better talent on offense next season. Bottom line is this off-season is all about taking the next step and being a strong offense.

It comes back to how much this regime is willing to value the offensive skill positions because this coming season they absolutely need an out of the box weapon for Josh. Perhaps they'll just fall back on the depth of the class and use another 2nd or 3rd on a skill type. I don't think that's good enough if they're going to support the QB and help the offense improve from being a mid to bottom ranked unit. At this point, scoring points is more crucial to their long term success than finding another big dollar/high draft pick defensive player.

Born in Batavia, NY no less.

After the 3rd off-season of rebuilding, Buffalo's WR group was Brown, Beasley, then street FAs and UDFAs. You'd think there would be a better effort to surround your franchise QB with more talent because it would help assess where Allen is in his development. As to the former players...Zay Jones is on McD, who trusted his then WR coach's assessment of a former player. Andre Holmes and Kelvin Benjamin were bad acquisitions that McBeane made which miscalculated how NFL offenses were moving toward faster and shiftier types. Yes, Brown and Beasley have produced as veterans acquired in UFA, but it should speak volumes that they've allocated more high value resources to the DT and the secondary. Veterans acquired have been a mixed bag whereas the draft has been a combination of bad player evaluations, throwaway picks, and not really trying to upgrade the WR position.

McDermott's heard of him. So has Beane. LOL I'm sure there'll be competition for that job anyway.

Buffalo signs UFA WR Antonio Brown. They'd need to do their HW on whether he's got himself under control, but I can see them going this route and taking a WR in the 2nd round so they can improve the DL in round 1.

They have the right to sit there at 22 and see how the draft falls...but would hope that if someone is there at say 15 who can come in and help Allen they make the move. If they can trade up for a LB from 22 to 16 only 2 years ago they can for a WR. Being conservative is nice when you're early into rebuilding. You gotta be bold sometimes or else you end up like Jason Botterill who's scared of his own shadow. GM's don't keep their jobs by playing it safe all the time. I'll say this for Beane...he explored the Antonio Brown thing last year and I'm sure that wasn't McD's preference.

Buffalo hasn't been faced with re-signing a 1st Team All-Pro in a long time. And this is probably the first time that they've replaced a top CB (Gilmore) with another outstanding one. I'm interested to see how these negotiations progress given that they haven't had to re-sign one of their own yet. OBD has some big decisions coming up.

Two months since the WC game and some have forgotten what made the difference that day. Houston's not the top team in the league, but they erased a 16 point deficit rather quickly and much of it was via the passing game. Yeah, it's hard to find top WR's...it's even harder when you wait until the 2nd and 3rd round to do so. This off-season is about finishing their rebuild and rounding out the skill positions with top talent. Being average across the field with choir-boy types and loads of cap room doesn't get you far. Ask former NYJ GM John Idzik how beneficial it was to save cap room heading into a season.

I think the ability to conflate is a bad habit and it's what people do to deflect particularly when a decision is critically reviewed. And if it's absolved that the team trades up into the top half of the 2nd round for a player (non-QB) at a position that he doesn't win in camp that's concerning. Most NFL RT's need help in pass pro, so I'm not going to say he's gotta be a lock-down option on par with Orlando Pace in his prime. Still, the main issue isn't Ford, it's the personnel group who had a 1st round grade on him and moved up. Buffalo isn't in the position to take trade up for guards right now and you can find guards on the UFA market that can play. Positional value and where this team is in the rebuild mean using higher picks on more premium positions. And guard isn't one of them.

A better option at RT RN. Who is saying that most rookie tackles uneven seasons? There are plenty of guys who come in and play decent or better ball from the start, especially those picked near where Ford was. New Orleans' Ryan Ramczyk has played well out of the gate, as has Jawaan Taylor in Jacksonville and Dalton Risner in Denver last year. Those last 2 guys were picked just before and after Ford last year. I have reservations about how well this team prioritizes offense, their skill at identifying starters on that side of the ball, and then how they use their talent. It's pretty concerning they traded up for a guy who did not have the lateral movement skills in his rookie year to work on the right side. They don't get a pass because he kicks inside...that wasn't the idea behind trading up to 38.

I recognize there's a lot going on, but when people talk about HC's needing to evolve on game-day it makes no sense considering he's been in the NFL for 20 years. He's 3 for 15 on challenges. Some people think on their feet a lot better. Not saying the HC is slow or not smart, but I get the sense McD thinks he's prepared for every situation and it's not possible. Putting more people in the process may hinder and not improve the game-day management piece.

I think Brady wants to stay, but is angling for more money and thinks he can persuade Belicheck and Kraft. My money is on Belicheck having a plan...and interesting that Brady has people carrying water for him. Perhaps it's Dalton or someone who'll give them an experienced QB. I wish more people understood that everyone has an angle they're trying to exploit. And that's what Brady is doing here. Reminds me of Derek Jeter getting upset near the end of his career when the Yankees wanted to offer less than the ~20M per he'd been paid. That said, Brady's taken less for multiple years and sees QB pay exploding now.

Then why isn't Buffalo in on that conversation? They have the cap room and QB play is the single most important aspect to winning titles. Titles are the goal and sometimes that fact is lost when this franchise has been starting new rebuilds for nearly 2 decades now.

The versatility concept is nice in theory but not as practical even though NE is lauded for it. I'd like WR's who know how to run routes and aren't splitting their time at RB. On defense, sure, some DLinemen kick inside on passing downs, but a team isn't smarter because there's a player they can move around the field. And I think collectively this board would explode if they add another 1st round pick to their defense. It'd reek of a team that's talking about offense and only that.

McD has talked offense up, both at last year's combine but my issue is how he approaches it. It's nice to sign guys like Brown and Beasley and they're still good to decent options. My issue with the HC's perspective is I don't think he values offensive play-makers as much as he makes it seem. He's a defense first, process always guy that believes through sheer-will and his planning that he can win games. That dinosaur stuff right there. OTOH, I think Beane recognizes they need elite talent on offense and it's time to invest there more. Last year we saw that there were few play-maker types available as a reason to go defense in round 1. With some explosive types in this year's draft, I'd expect someone to tell McD his defense isn't getting them to the AFC Championship game. I also believe McBeane understand there's a sense of urgency in 2020 that wasn't there in 2017-18. They should be moving from rebuilding mode into competing for championships this year. They're not 1 guy away, but a top WR really escalates the process closer to going deep into the post-season. The time is now.

They need elite play-makers on offense and I would also note Beane's end of season presser about how one loses the final game of the season. The difference against Houston was they had a guy like DeAndre Hopkins and Buffalo didn't. Buffalo's passing game needs an elite receiver. This is the draft to get one, although it will cost them. Combine that with added urgency in year 4 of the rebuild and I can see them moving up, provided McD doesn't insist on a DE or CB, for someone to help Allen out. Besides, they're not going to find one in UFA/via trade nor would they spend the money. I really think this off-season comes down to how Buffalo gives Allen more weapons in the passing game. After all, they did get down the road with Pittsburgh on Antonio Brown last year. If they decide to (again) go defense in the first and try to fill the WR position with more depth types who'll take time to develop it's going to be no better than an average offense.

Miffed at why Matt Milano would be re-signed at 50M over 4 years. Nice player, but not someone I'm handing 12.5M AAV. Not even Star Lotulelei could garner a deal of that magnitude! ;)

Each time Botterill speaks publicly it sounds like a robot or doll with a string that talks. It's as if he's reading off a script or talking point memo he prepared in advance. Yet, he's been captured throwing a tantrum when the team underachieves. To me, he's replicated with the Sabres what Doug Whaley did with the Bills. He's made some decent trades (Skinner, Jokiharju) but spent big dollars and isolated Buffalo into a cap position that is untenable. And the results are completely mediocre. His record in the draft necessitates signing UFAs and there's little organizational depth. The organization needs an overhaul because what we're watching is the best Botterill can do. I would love to believe the Pegula's cut their losses, but their sense of urgency isn't there.

Nice explanation for the methodology behind your mock. I keep thinking McBeane recognize that they need immediate starters on offense and solid depth, especially at DE, on defense. This is their "go for it" year and it's why I see them going bold on draft day. You'd think it'd be in UFA, but they don't strike me as going for broke there and replicating mistakes made before their tenure. That said, I can't see them moving way up for Jeudy or Lamb, but I could see a modest trade up given their history for a Ruggs or whomever they see as a starter out of the gate.

One year has passed since Buffalo considered trading for Antonio Brown, who was and probably still is anything but a "process" guy. That attempt revealed that they see a distinct need and while John Brown is a nice supporting type, they can't just feature complementary WRs. McBeane are all-in on Josh Allen and not surrounding him with better receivers is doing a disservice to their highest draft pick in 3 off-seasons. I would not be surprised to see them go out of the box in either UFA or the draft in a big swing to get a top receiver. If they don't, the offense and their starting QB won't either make the leap they need.

Yes, this is good. But there's a lot of flexibility with regard to standards. As in, you get off to a 5-2 start and a pre-season prediction of 9-7 isn't sufficient anymore. Barring a major injury, Buffalo must be expected both right now and when the season starts to be in the playoffs and get a win there. Other teams are doing it in less time, so why shouldn't the Bills?