BillsVet

Except no one in the NFL does a complete tear-down when it's not required. This reminds me of a Bum Phillips quote about Bear Bryant: "Bryant can take his'n and beat your'n, aand then he can turn around and take your'n and beat his'n." Yet, in Buffalo McD couldn't win long term without eliminating all the difficult personalities from OBD. Most fans don't get that taking 2 years to get ready to compete is a waste as evidenced by the fact that solid organizations simply don't do it. They take what they've got and make the most of it, using roster tweaks and changing the roster over time. No one blows it up and then sells the fan base on how necessary it was to shed so much salary so quickly. Let us "complainers" know when you're going to have a decent take. 43k+ posts and I can't remember the last good one.

Billfrom NYC is correct. My point was that the two senior leaders of football ops - McBeane - are the same ones here for all 3 seasons. In short, the dudes who make final decisions and have charted a course for this organization remain in power. The one subject that's impossible to convince people about, hence this 80+ page thread, is a criticism of strategic decision making. I see people talking throughout who simply do not understand that, absent result, McBeane's decisions will be scrutinized and "trust the process" isn't sufficient.

The same guys who brought forth the 2017 and 2018 seasons are here for 2019. They have a lot to prove in 2019 and have only increased expectations with the UFA spending spree. Even minus those acquisitions, you expect to see a playoff run in year 3 if not earlier. That said, I see plenty of fans pulling back on expectations because the thought of being wrong is not anything they can contemplate. Easier to predict 8-8 and get 10 wins that risk one's ego and predict 10-6 only to witness a 7-9.

That's the crux of what's being debated here (at least in some cases). McBeane have made enough less than stellar decisions to cause concern that their "process" isn't all it's been advertised to be. Plenty of people seem willing to forget the bad moves in 2017-18 because they spent big dollars on UFAs in 2019. For all the plaudits McCoach receives for defense, his offensive decision making is at best suspect. And both he and Beane will be even more under the gun if Allen doesn't improve tremendously in year 2. The jury's out on McBeane. By no means have they proven anything in Buffalo as a HC and GM. They need to make the playoffs in year 3 or it's been a waste of time.

Is this supposed to be a rebuttal of someone responding to you? Because if it is, I'm thinking you did not perform well in Debate Class. I don't think McD takes the job without extracting a guarantee from the Pegula's about unprecedented personnel authority. That they gave it to him with his track record is still surprising. To go from hiring Rex to two years later going to the other end of the Spectrum in McD is amazing. And yet, record-wise they were the same after 2 seasons. And, this revolving door that is "the process" will proceed through more iterations before the season is over.

This thread deserves another mention of the '86 SNL sketch with William Shatner talking to Trekkies. .

Making a push for a starting role...in June? Camp cannot start soon enough.

At which point did it become acceptable to demand people with contrarian opinions be banned from speaking? It's akin to a toddler throwing a fit when their parent(s) say no to their demand for a cookie. Then again, maybe these are just grown up toddlers demanding silence, but I don't know for sure.

Amazing to think that TBN let go or had resign on them Sullivan, Gleason, Vogl, DiCesare, and Graham within a couple weeks this time last year. I'm sure a few of those moves were prompted by a certain two teams' ownership not liking the coverage received concerning their underperforming clubs. To that point, their ownership had resulted in 1 playoff appearance over 10 full seasons. But in the warped world we live in, negative attention to teams that don't win is not permitted.

This idea of building a good culture to win is pure pablum. It’s happy-talk for coaches and source material for more articles, but makes fans feel good about the state of their favorite team. That said, writers don’t really have much to offer this time of year aside from glowing pieces about individual players and coaches. Not surprisingly, this is Sal's specialty and I’m not sure he has ever written a critical word about the team. I tend to ignore what he says given his pro-team mindset that conveniently skims over the poor moves and game results. I have no issue with Barkley as backup, and loved that he befriended WWII Prisoner of War Louis Zamperini. But what else would you expect him to say after inking a 2 year deal late last season? And contrary to Cappacio's article, Barkley has played regular season games for 3 teams: Buffalo, Chicago, and Philadelphia. It would be prudent of the Bills’ beat writer to better research his articles before posting them.

Agreed. McD should be graded not only on W-L, but also for personnel strategy over the 2017 and 2018 off-seasons. He's running the show on personnel more than any previous Bills HC and the focus on defense before offense in 2017-18 demonstrates that. I want to see whether McD adapts to the modern game or remains a HC who plays it safe on offense and tries to keep games close with strong defense. He's into the 3rd off-season of running his defense and is now doing it with his guys. The question is whether he gives the offense more freedom, particularly after the spending spree this past off-season. Because if it's going to be a run oriented offense with a pedestrian passing game I think the ceiling for such a team is probably 9-7. McD has a lot to prove.

Over the years it's been clear that players (other than QBs perhaps) shouldn't be fully evaluated until their 3rd season in the league. This principle extends to HCs and we're entering year 3 of McD. He and Beane have almost completely overhauled this roster out of the RR/Whaley years. They've spent significant cap dollars on both sides of the ball. The HC has his coordinators who are both carryovers from last season. The QB is in year 2 and the unquestioned starter heading into the season. We're going to find out A LOT about McD and whether or not he's capable of taking this team into the playoffs. Expectations are high for the roster, but higher for the HC. It's his show now.

It's clear they've improved at individual positions, although to which degree remains to be seen. Yet, to go from 6-10 to a 10-6 or 11-5 is a big leap in the NFL requires an entire team playing well. The question is, how much have they improved and are the offensive improvements going to facilitate Josh Allen taking a big step toward becoming a top NFL QB.

Or it could mean Rudolph is negotiating with the Vikings and isn't taking the Bills calls. Or, Buffalo doesn't want to spend on a guy who doesn't average 10 yards per reception. It could mean a lot of things. What I'm confident is, they're not confident in their TE starting or depth with Kroft out. What, is the strength and conditioning coach being given a requirement that he get another 50 pounds on his bench press and add another 20 in muscle by August?

Injuries happen less for some players as opposed to others. Did you take the laptop with you?

Nix deferred on the decision to take a QB high in 3 drafts (2010-12) which represented the worst decision of his tenure. Sure, 2010 may not have been a good year either, but it was inexcusable in '11 and '12 to leave Day 1 or 2 without a top rated QB. Ryan Fitzpatrick, while a good story, had not demonstrated the caliber of play in 6-7 seasons to warrant being a long term option. Yet, Buddy paraded himself around as a good talent evaluator, never acknowledging he needed more at the position. It's amazing that Buffalo found themselves picking QBs in two of the worst years in the past 15 years to find a QB. It's why you don't delay picking one when the opportunity presents itself. This is one of the most carefully constructed and tightly held narratives I've ever seen on this board. I have no doubt Brandon had already decided Whaley (or Whales as ole' Russ called him) would succeed a 73 year old GM. And there's no way on God's green earth that the outgoing guy would pick his successor's QB for him. Anyone who's worked in the corporate world knows that doesn't happen.

Not to mention, Hackett was a rookie OC who (along with Marrone) eschewed hiring a QB coach for that raw 1st round rookie, who was backed up by journeyman Thad Lewis and UDFA rookie Jeff Tuel. The college game has a lot to do with players not being ready for the NFL. Someone mentioned above that EJ really only trusted himself on the field. It showed when he wouldn't throw receivers open and looked mainly for point targets. That works in the college game sometimes and with superior talent. Not so much in the NFL.

Amazing that people still think the 73 year old GM on the way out of the building made that pick. I remember EJM stating at 2013 rookie minicamp how the playbook was easier than FSU’s. One way or another that wasn’t good. In his mind, I always saw EJM as the guy who thought he was better than he actually was. Well, except for the GM who hung his hat on the pick...XFL Doug.

Lee Smith's penalty to snap count ratio was always around 1:2. I'd expect it'll remain the same on go-round #2 with the Bills. Signing him to that deal says a lot about how they feel about their TE group.

You think that's obnoxious? I tone it down on Mother's Day.

The people who brought us the Bills' 2018 offense are responsible for the 2019 version. It's likely going to be better, but when you're offensively bottom quarter of the league that should be expected given how much they spent. I'm sure their deep dive into UFA this year with what looks like 1-2 year deals is designed to get them good now while providing time to draft younger and cheaper replacements. That said, you've got plenty of teams in recent NFL history winning in the playoffs within 2-3 years of drafting their new QB. Philadelphia, Kansas City, Houston, Chicago, LA Rams come to mind. If Buffalo isn't competing for a division title this year it begs the questions: when will they? Too much changes each year and expecting anything to remain the same for long is absurd.

I take it you're one of those who thinks McD is telling Daboll to do whatever the heck he wants to do regardless of their defensive plan. Correct? McD is aligning what they're doing on offense with defense. He's not telling the OC go with a pass first attack that risks more 3 and outs which places the defense on the field more. How hard is it to understand both sides of the ball are related to HCs like McD? And, is it that difficult to understand McD isn't all of a sudden gonna be a pass first guy?

That quote comes across as basically out-execute your opponent, which is very Jauron-esque. I see far too much emphasis on the OC and his pedigree and not enough on the HC he works for. Sean McDermott creates the the game plan and the OC and DC implement that. It doesn't matter where Daboll or Frazier came from when it comes to what they want to do in a game. Nothing about McCoach screams to me that he's innovative or ready to throw the ball 35+ times each week. Sure, the offense may throw deep now and then, but the HC is a play it safe guy who's looking at field position, ball control, and the like. Former DCs turned HCs (cue the Belichick reference) typically tend to coach from their way of thinking and McD is no different. Dude isn't changing his spots in year 3. Maybe he does start the season throwing it all over the field, but the likelihood is he doesn't, and the offense remains predicated on the running game. The other factor is McD is in year 3 of his tenure. Think he's going to become a pass happy guy with more talent? Doubt it. He knows they need to show results and he'll go with what he knows - run the ball and get a strong defense.

Loved how the news, specifically Pergament, pointed out in that article that the Athletic's website does not have the exposure the BN has. Yet, they banked on the BN Blitz which has failed miserably. Either way, sports journalism is changing rapidly and some outlets are slow to accept it, the BN being a prime example.

I'm confident McBeane have been given assurances by ownership that their tenure will last at least 4 years. It's why they handled the cap in seasons 1 and 2 by shedding big contracts and taking the patient approach to rebuilding. They've identified their QB of the future, overhauled the roster, (save a few veterans) and spent big money on UFAs this off-season. McD has 3 1st round picks and multiple UFAs to staff his defense. He also has the same OC from 2018 to 2019. They need to show an ability to defeat good teams more regularly and beat up on the bad teams. One would think after 3 off-seasons of rebuilding they'd be ready for that.