Report: Bills interested in UFA TE Jesse James

[Kirby Jackson]

14 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

A TE that can exploit matchups on a team with a big arm QB where the safeties have to fear the deep ball can be lethal.  

 

Its why Kelce went from very good to nearly unstoppable this year.  He was wide open everywhere because they had to contend with the serious threat of the deep ball on every play.  

Sure, but that’s not Jesse James. 

[Kirby Jackson]

14 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

I think ball control and taking the easy throw is going to be a huge focus for Daboll and Allen this year. There was an interview with Phoebe Schecter the other day on the locked on Bills podcast, she's the female coaching intern that joined the team last year. It was actually a great interview if you get a chance to listen to it, it endeared me to McDermott a lot. But Joe Marino asked her about Allen and she basically said he always wants to take the big throw even when the RB is running wide open, and once he learns to take that throw he will be special. I was surprised to hear her say it like that but it made me think that's the coaching staff's goal with Allen. She said the messaging to the team and to the coaches is always very clear, and the messaging about Allen appears to be "take the easy throw."

I actually LOVE this approach but it scares me some. I am a huge believer in the Strengthfinders model (if you guys haven’t read the book you should). The general philosophy is “maximize your strengths” and don’t worry so much about trying to make your weaknesses functioning. If anyone is going to flourish it’s because of their elite traits. That’s where I am with Allen. I am not too concerned about how he throws a swing pass. I want him to be an elite big play QB. That’s what he does well. I would much rather Josh improves his accuracy down the field than on swing passes. 

14 hours ago, Kmart128 said:

 

If you read my post I said that I'd rank him 15th-20th so your sarcasm makes zero sense in this situation. James is not a prolific reciever... He is the old school classic TE that still make solid starters. You can't just look at recieving numbers... But whole body of work.   Especially with a player who had to compete for touches with guys like Leveon Bell and Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith Schuster.  

 

He is also only 24 and has improved. He increased his yard per catch from 8 to 14 this year which is huge sign of improvement. And a reason to be optimistic that he can still develop into a good receiving TE.

The sarcasm came from you asking if I realized that blocking was important. Of course I do, but that isn’t a trait that I am paying for.

 

James is a guy that I’d be glad to add to this team. The entire premise of my posts on the topic are that he’s just okay. He makes the Bills better. He doesn’t make the Bills good at TE. Both of those things can be (and would be) true. There is nothing wrong with that. 

[Shaw66]

9 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

You can listen to it here:

 

https://player.fm/series/locked-on-bills/locked-on-bills-22119-phoebe-schecter-interview

 

There's a lot of fluff about how she got into the NFL, but the nuggets she offers about McDermott, Allen, and Edmunds are very interesting.

Interesting that when asked who are the young leaders she went immediately to Allen, Edmunds and Dawkins. I didn't know Dawkins had locker room respect.  And how perfect that the qb and m l b have become leaders already. 

[Alphadawg7]

12 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Sure, but that’s not Jesse James. 

 

I wasn’t saying it was, I was responding to people downplaying the TE position in general

[JohnC]

14 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

I think ball control and taking the easy throw is going to be a huge focus for Daboll and Allen this year. There was an interview with Phoebe Schecter the other day on the locked on Bills podcast, she's the female coaching intern that joined the team last year. It was actually a great interview if you get a chance to listen to it, it endeared me to McDermott a lot. But Joe Marino asked her about Allen and she basically said he always wants to take the big throw even when the RB is running wide open, and once he learns to take that throw he will be special. I was surprised to hear her say it like that but it made me think that's the coaching staff's goal with Allen. She said the messaging to the team and to the coaches is always very clear, and the messaging about Allen appears to be "take the easy throw."

The bigger issue with Allen is not only the aversion to checking down but actually making the shorter and second and third option throws. His mechanics seem more off-kilter with those types of throws than with the downfield throws. I'm sure part of the problem has to do with recognition because of his inexperience. However,  because he is smart and coachable he should get better at that part of the game. This offseason he should watch a lot of Brady game tapes and observe how Brady masterfully keeps those first down chains moving.  

[JohnC]

20 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

I actually LOVE this approach but it scares me some. I am a huge believer in the Strengthfinders model (if you guys haven’t read the book you should). The general philosophy is “maximize your strengths” and don’t worry so much about trying to make your weaknesses functioning. If anyone is going to flourish it’s because of their elite traits. That’s where I am with Allen. I am not too concerned about how he throws a swing pass. I want him to be an elite big play QB. That’s what he does well. I would much rather Josh improves his accuracy down the field than on swing passes. 

Few people would disagree with the notion of exploiting your strengths at the personal level. But when looking at an issue at a competitive level you have to seize opportunities as they exist. It's about matchups. When the opposition knows you have a strength then and adjusts to take it away then you have to adjust. Bill Belichick is the greatest coach in the game. His strategy is basically take away what you do best. More often than not the most appropriate response is to not force the issue but get out of your comfort zone and adjust to the what the opposition is doing. 

 

In chess you have to react and think ahead. If you become too mechanical and force what you are going to do because that's what you are accustomed to doing you will eventually succumb to your own stubbornness. The point I'm making is that Allen has to add to his tool kit so that he is better equipped to go to his options. 

 

Don't misunderstand what I am saying. I understand the personal growth and playing to your strengths. But working on your weaknesses so that they are not weaknesses gives you more options to respond when needed. 

[Kirby Jackson]

29 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

I wasn’t saying it was, I was responding to people downplaying the TE position in general

I’d love to have the right guy. I just don’t see it in the “top 5 offseason priorities.” I say that because, imo, that isn’t Allen’s strength. They need OL, WR, RB, pass rush and Kyle’s replacement more than a TE.  

 

Now, if they draft Hockensen (or someone like that) he will make them better. Devin White makes them better too but LB isn’t a huge need. I am ALL for adding talent though. If Hockensen is the top player on their board at 9 I hope that they draft him. I feel the same way about Devin White (who I LOVE as a prospect). The Bills need an I fusion of talent everywhere. I don’t really care where they decide to address it, just upgrade the talent. 

[Kirby Jackson]

6 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Few people would disagree with the notion of exploiting your strengths at the personal level. But when looking at an issue at a competitive level you have to seize opportunities as they exist. It's about matchups. When the opposition knows you have a strength then and adjusts to take it away then you have to adjust. Bill Belichick is the greatest coach in the game. His strategy is basically take away what you do best. More often than not the most appropriate response is to not force the issue but get out of your comfort zone and adjust to the what the opposition is doing. 

 

In chess you have to react and think ahead. If you become too mechanical and force what you are going to do because that's what you are accustomed to doing you will eventually succumb to your own stubbornness. The point I'm making is that Allen has to add to his tool kit so that he is better equipped to go to his options. 

 

Don't misunderstand what I am saying. I understand the personal growth and playing to your strengths. But working on your weaknesses so that they are not weaknesses gives you more options to respond when needed. 

I agree with what you’re saying. Ideally, he gets better at everything. At the same time, if you are “better” at your strengths it should have a similar impact to getting better at your weaknesses. If BB is focused on the deep ball, and you are the best deep ball thrower in the game, you are still going to make some plays. If he’s focused on that and you become average at throwing in the flat, you’ll make some plays there. 

 

The point is that it doesn’t really matter where Josh takes steps forward. The team will improve regardless of it. I just happen to fall in the group that believes “strengthening your strengths” is more important than raising your weaknesses. Ideally, you get better at everything.

[JohnC]

16 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

I agree with what you’re saying. Ideally, he gets better at everything. At the same time, if you are “better” at your strengths it should have a similar impact to getting better at your weaknesses. If BB is focused on the deep ball, and you are the best deep ball thrower in the game, you are still going to make some plays. If he’s focused on that and you become average at throwing in the flat, you’ll make some plays there. 

 

The point is that it doesn’t really matter where Josh takes steps forward. The team will improve regardless of it. I just happen to fall in the group that believes “strengthening your strengths” is more important than raising your weaknesses. Ideally, you get better at everything.

side issue: Why was Isaiah Reese suspended from Canisius basketball? Academics or attitude? They seem to be playing better. 

[Shaw66]

55 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

I actually LOVE this approach but it scares me some. I am a huge believer in the Strengthfinders model (if you guys haven’t read the book you should). The general philosophy is “maximize your strengths” and don’t worry so much about trying to make your weaknesses functioning. If anyone is going to flourish it’s because of their elite traits. That’s where I am with Allen. I am not too concerned about how he throws a swing pass. I want him to be an elite big play QB. That’s what he does well. I would much rather Josh improves his accuracy down the field than on swing passes. 

The sarcasm came from you asking if I realized that blocking was important. Of course I do, but that isn’t a trait that I am paying for.

 

James is a guy that I’d be glad to add to this team. The entire premise of my posts on the topic are that he’s just okay. He makes the Bills better. He doesn’t make the Bills good at TE. Both of those things can be (and would be) true. There is nothing wrong with that. 

WOW.  I've been wondering you say thoughtful things but come out in a really different place than I, and then you explain about Strengthfinders.   I'll have to look at it.  Reading your explanation of why you think Allen has to bomb away based on the strengthfinders philosophy makes a lot of sense and explains your views on Jesse James. 

 

I'm absolutely certain that McDermott would disagree with the Strengthfinders approach.   If he believed Strenthfinders, he never would have drafted Allen, because he's always known he wants a more conservative offense.   He would have drafted Josh Rosen instead.  

 

I suspect there's a whole dialog in the business management world about whether Strengthfinders is a better approach than the philosophy that teaches that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.   That philosophy says build your entire team to be strong, rather than build your strengths and don't worry so much about your weaknesses.  (That philosophy didn't work so well for the French in World War II.  They build the strongest imaginable World I defensive line to keep the Germans out.  The Germans looked at it, so how strong the defense was, and concluded that it might be strong against foot soldiers but it could be overrun by tanks.)

 

Belichick is definitely anti-Strengthfinders.   His philosophy is that he's going to beat you by stopping your greatest strength.  So against the Rams (and against a Josh -Allen-deep-ball offense), he's going to take away the deep ball and force the QB to find short passes in the seams.  He's going to force you to win using what you're not so good at.   His offense is also anti-Strengthfinders.   His offense rarely has been truly dominating in one aspect of the game, except perhaps the couple of years when Brady, with Moss's help one year, was throwing the ball all over the place.  Most years, Belichick beats you with the run until you stop iit, then he beats you with the short pass until you stop it, then he beats you with the long pass.  Belichick's teams have no weak links.   

 

Of course, Belichick, great as he is, doesn't have a monopoly on how to do things.  However, I think the evidence is pretty clear that McDermott's approach is similar to Bill's and the opposite of Strengthfinders.   You can argue that McDermott's approach is wrong, and the fact that you have a book that explains and promotes a contrary philosophy makes me think you've got some good arguments on your side, but I think that until the Bills change head coaches, you're not going to get a Strenthfinders approach.  McDermott's philosophy is that a true team, with everyone working to do his job on relying on everyone else to do his, will outperform a team that wins because of one or a few superstars.  In the NBA, a few superstars can dominate, but in the NFL it's more or less impossible to get enough superstars on one team to dominate.  

 

I think if McDermott were frank with us on this subject, he'd say that they drafted Allen because of his competitiveness, his team-orientation and his brains, and that they viewed his throwing ability as an additional plus.   (My wildest dreams for Allen are that he will be the kind of QB like Manning and QB, a coach-on-the-field who can outthink the defenses AND with perhaps the best arm the NFL has ever seen.  I'd like to think that's the vision McD had when they drafted him.)  You'd say take him because of his arm and make the rest of it work.  

 

Bringing it back to James and a phrase that I think you used, James is just a guy.   In the Strengthfinders approach, you're not looking for just a guy.  In McDermott's approach (except for QB and MLB), he thinks he can win with a bunch of just-a-guys, each of whom is desperately determined not to be the weakest link.   It's not that he doesn't want guys with special talent, he does.   Special talent gives you the opportunity once in a while on the field to take advantage of those talents to help the team.   Gronk's a special talent, but the Pats don't run their offense through him.  They use his talents to hurt you every once in a while, but most of the time they're telling Gronk to be just a guy, blocking, running routes, etc.  I think McDermott would say that, other than QB and MLB, it doesn't matter so much where the extra talent is.  He'd say it doesn't have to be tight end.  So I'd think the Bills' view on James probably is he's good as just-a-guy, and he can contribute until we happen to get a Strengthfinders-kind-of-guy.  

 

And I think that approach explains why Beane says so adamantly that his approach in the draft is strictly best player available.   Especially because they seem to have their QB and MLB, McBeane don't really doesn't care which positions are manned with special talent.  (Belichick has shown that lock down corner is the one position where he will chase special talent.)  I think McDermott tells Beane (and I think they've told us this) to get guys with the right character traits.  When you have a chance to get special talent with those traits, do it, and McD doesn't really care all that much what position the guy plays.  If he has a guy with special talent at LG, fine, he'll figure out how to take advantage of it.  If it's at DT, fine.  Safety, fine.   Whoever the guy is, and whatever his talent his, he has to be willing to play within the scheme.   That's why Gronk has been so valuable - he's a superstar at his position, playing completely within a team concept.

 

Thanks for explaining where your thinking is coming from.  It makes it easier to understand your point of view.   

[Shaw66]

21 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

I agree with what you’re saying. Ideally, he gets better at everything. At the same time, if you are “better” at your strengths it should have a similar impact to getting better at your weaknesses. If BB is focused on the deep ball, and you are the best deep ball thrower in the game, you are still going to make some plays. If he’s focused on that and you become average at throwing in the flat, you’ll make some plays there. 

 

The point is that it doesn’t really matter where Josh takes steps forward. The team will improve regardless of it. I just happen to fall in the group that believes “strengthening your strengths” is more important than raising your weaknesses. Ideally, you get better at everything.

I was typing while your were posting this.   This is a really clear statement of what your thinking, and it makes sense.   I think Beliichick and McB still would disagree with you and stay raising your weaknesses is more important, but they'd definitely agree that their goal is to get better at everything.   

 

If you haven't listened to the podcast that HappyDays linked to, I'd recommend it.   It does have only nuggets, and this woman is kind of young and starry-eyed, but it's very interesting to hear her talk, briefly, about McD's approach.   It is ALL about the team.  She says that everything that goes on around him is about everyone getting better.  

8 minutes ago, JohnC said:

side issue: Why was Isaiah Reese suspended from Canisius basketball? Academics or attitude? They seem to be playing better. 

What is Canisius?

9 minutes ago, JohnC said:

side issue: Why was Isaiah Reese suspended from Canisius basketball? Academics or attitude? They seem to be playing better. 

Sorry.  I couldn't resist.  I've been gone from WNY for a LONG time, so long that Canisius is starting to look like a word out of some foreign language.  

[JohnC]

2 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

 

What is Canisius?

It's a secret society of eccentrics who don't feel comfortable being exposed to the public. Membership is only allowed to the oddball few. You don't qualify. 

[Bangarang]

Scott Chandler 2.0

[Shaw66]

2 minutes ago, JohnC said:

It's a secret society of eccentrics who don't feel comfortable being exposed to the public. Membership is only allowed to the oddball few. You don't qualify. 

I have a truly warm spot in my heart for Canisius.  Not that it meant much to me as a kid - I went to public school in the suburbs, the Catholic schools didn't play in the public school leagues (I don't think they played in the Sectionals, either), so I never got into the Catholic High School scene.  Don't know if I even knew anyone who went there.   My lasting memory of Canisius College basketball (and how irrelevant it was), was going to a Canisius-St. Bonaventure doubleheader at the Aud.  It was sold out.  First game was the Bonnies (with Lanier) and somebody.  When the game ended, 2/3 of the fans got up and left and filled the bars in downtown Buffalo to watch Niagara (with Calvin) playing at the Palestra.  Nobody except you secret society members stayed for the Canisius game.

 

But as I've been away, and as I've seen resumes from different people in Buffalo and gotten to know people there through various connections, I've been impressed at how Canisius has built a significant part of the backbone of Buffalo.  Secret society or not, Canisius has for generations graduated people whose strength and character have been an important part, for all the right reasons, of the survival and rebirth of Buffalo.  It's pretty impressive.  

[Kirby Jackson]

29 minutes ago, JohnC said:

side issue: Why was Isaiah Reese suspended from Canisius basketball? Academics or attitude? They seem to be playing better. 

I think that he and Reggie are on different pages. I’m not sure what the exact issue was but they better get it figured out. They are leading the conference without the preseason player of the year. If they get Reese back they have a real chance to be in the tournament. 

[Kirby Jackson]

32 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

WOW.  I've been wondering you say thoughtful things but come out in a really different place than I, and then you explain about Strengthfinders.   I'll have to look at it.  Reading your explanation of why you think Allen has to bomb away based on the strengthfinders philosophy makes a lot of sense and explains your views on Jesse James. 

 

I'm absolutely certain that McDermott would disagree with the Strengthfinders approach.   If he believed Strenthfinders, he never would have drafted Allen, because he's always known he wants a more conservative offense.   He would have drafted Josh Rosen instead.  

 

I suspect there's a whole dialog in the business management world about whether Strengthfinders is a better approach than the philosophy that teaches that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.   That philosophy says build your entire team to be strong, rather than build your strengths and don't worry so much about your weaknesses.  (That philosophy didn't work so well for the French in World War II.  They build the strongest imaginable World I defensive line to keep the Germans out.  The Germans looked at it, so how strong the defense was, and concluded that it might be strong against foot soldiers but it could be overrun by tanks.)

 

Belichick is definitely anti-Strengthfinders.   His philosophy is that he's going to beat you by stopping your greatest strength.  So against the Rams (and against a Josh -Allen-deep-ball offense), he's going to take away the deep ball and force the QB to find short passes in the seams.  He's going to force you to win using what you're not so good at.   His offense is also anti-Strengthfinders.   His offense rarely has been truly dominating in one aspect of the game, except perhaps the couple of years when Brady, with Moss's help one year, was throwing the ball all over the place.  Most years, Belichick beats you with the run until you stop iit, then he beats you with the short pass until you stop it, then he beats you with the long pass.  Belichick's teams have no weak links.   

 

Of course, Belichick, great as he is, doesn't have a monopoly on how to do things.  However, I think the evidence is pretty clear that McDermott's approach is similar to Bill's and the opposite of Strengthfinders.   You can argue that McDermott's approach is wrong, and the fact that you have a book that explains and promotes a contrary philosophy makes me think you've got some good arguments on your side, but I think that until the Bills change head coaches, you're not going to get a Strenthfinders approach.  McDermott's philosophy is that a true team, with everyone working to do his job on relying on everyone else to do his, will outperform a team that wins because of one or a few superstars.  In the NBA, a few superstars can dominate, but in the NFL it's more or less impossible to get enough superstars on one team to dominate.  

 

I think if McDermott were frank with us on this subject, he'd say that they drafted Allen because of his competitiveness, his team-orientation and his brains, and that they viewed his throwing ability as an additional plus.   (My wildest dreams for Allen are that he will be the kind of QB like Manning and QB, a coach-on-the-field who can outthink the defenses AND with perhaps the best arm the NFL has ever seen.  I'd like to think that's the vision McD had when they drafted him.)  You'd say take him because of his arm and make the rest of it work.  

 

Bringing it back to James and a phrase that I think you used, James is just a guy.   In the Strengthfinders approach, you're not looking for just a guy.  In McDermott's approach (except for QB and MLB), he thinks he can win with a bunch of just-a-guys, each of whom is desperately determined not to be the weakest link.   It's not that he doesn't want guys with special talent, he does.   Special talent gives you the opportunity once in a while on the field to take advantage of those talents to help the team.   Gronk's a special talent, but the Pats don't run their offense through him.  They use his talents to hurt you every once in a while, but most of the time they're telling Gronk to be just a guy, blocking, running routes, etc.  I think McDermott would say that, other than QB and MLB, it doesn't matter so much where the extra talent is.  He'd say it doesn't have to be tight end.  So I'd think the Bills' view on James probably is he's good as just-a-guy, and he can contribute until we happen to get a Strengthfinders-kind-of-guy.  

 

And I think that approach explains why Beane says so adamantly that his approach in the draft is strictly best player available.   Especially because they seem to have their QB and MLB, McBeane don't really doesn't care which positions are manned with special talent.  (Belichick has shown that lock down corner is the one position where he will chase special talent.)  I think McDermott tells Beane (and I think they've told us this) to get guys with the right character traits.  When you have a chance to get special talent with those traits, do it, and McD doesn't really care all that much what position the guy plays.  If he has a guy with special talent at LG, fine, he'll figure out how to take advantage of it.  If it's at DT, fine.  Safety, fine.   Whoever the guy is, and whatever his talent his, he has to be willing to play within the scheme.   That's why Gronk has been so valuable - he's a superstar at his position, playing completely within a team concept.

 

Thanks for explaining where your thinking is coming from.  It makes it easier to understand your point of view.   

FWIW, strengthfinders 2.0 was one of the best books that we ever did in our group. We did it as a management team. There is a test that you take online (kind of a survey) to reveal your 5 best strengths. You get a report on how those strengths manifest themselves. We did it to learn how we need to approach different situations and communicate with one another in addition to our teams. Basically, we tried to quantify how we need to communicate to the staff. Certain people are wired to do different things and fill different roles. It really is an incredible concept and quite interesting. 

 

Not that you (or anyone else cares) but my top 5 strengths were: ideation, competition, strategic thinker, includer and futuristic. In a nutshell, I am an empathetic problem-solver. I am a big picture person, driven by people, that sucks at details. I’m not good in conflict because I don’t like to let people down. 

 

So, we had other people whose skills plugged those gaps and vice versa. We would try to loom at the task and decide the person best equipped to handle it. 

 

I know that’s a bit of a tangent but it something that I buy into. That’s part of the reason that I am so high on Josh (and I didn’t like the pick at the time). He has a few MASSIVE strengths. He’s not “pretty good at everything” like Alex Smith for example. Allen has a few elite talents. He needs to harness them and improve but he can be a great player because of it. Alex Smith can never be great because he doesn’t do anything to differentiate himself. He is just, good at a bunch of different things. 

[Shaw66]

10 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

FWIW, strengthfinders 2.0 was one of the best books that we ever did in our group. We did it as a management team. There is a test that you take online (kind of a survey) to reveal your 5 best strengths. You get a report on how those strengths manifest themselves. We did it to learn how we need to approach different situations and communicate with one another in addition to our teams. Basically, we tried to quantify how we need to communicate to the staff. Certain people are wired to do different things and fill different roles. It really is an incredible concept and quite interesting. 

 

Not that you (or anyone else cares) but my top 5 strengths were: ideation, competition, strategic thinker, includer and futuristic. In a nutshell, I am an empathetic problem-solver. I am a big picture person, driven by people, that sucks at details. I’m not good in conflict because I don’t like to let people down. 

 

So, we had other people whose skills plugged those gaps and vice versa. We would try to loom at the task and decide the person best equipped to handle it. 

 

I know that’s a bit of a tangent but it something that I buy into. That’s part of the reason that I am so high on Josh (and I didn’t like the pick at the time). He has a few MASSIVE strengths. He’s not “pretty good at everything” like Alex Smith for example. Allen has a few elite talents. He needs to harness them and improve but he can be a great player because of it. Alex Smith can never be great because he doesn’t do anything to differentiate himself. He is just, good at a bunch of different things. 

Thanks.  Now I'm really interested in it.  I'll take a look. 

[Alphadawg7]

1 hour ago, Kirby Jackson said:

I’d love to have the right guy. I just don’t see it in the “top 5 offseason priorities.” I say that because, imo, that isn’t Allen’s strength. They need OL, WR, RB, pass rush and Kyle’s replacement more than a TE.  

 

Now, if they draft Hockensen (or someone like that) he will make them better. Devin White makes them better too but LB isn’t a huge need. I am ALL for adding talent though. If Hockensen is the top player on their board at 9 I hope that they draft him. I feel the same way about Devin White (who I LOVE as a prospect). The Bills need an I fusion of talent everywhere. I don’t really care where they decide to address it, just upgrade the talent. 

 

Agree with most of this, however one counter point I would add regarding not being part of Allen’s strength.

 

Allen is a threat throw a 75 yard TD strike every single second he is on the field.  We already have deep threat Foster.  Adding another deep threat on the outside this offseason (FA, trade, or draft) is going to put a lot of pressure on the defense to cover the outside guys and especially protect the deep ball.  That means extra attention from the Safeties and the middle of the field is left to be exploited by a TE who is a receiving threat.  

 

So I actually think the TE is going to be a lethal weapon like Kelce was for Mahomes.  They had to cover guys like Hill and Sammy, play watch the RB out of the backfield allowing Kelce so mismatches and open areas in the zone.

 

But like you said it takes the right TE.  I do like Jesse upside potential, but like you, the guy I most covet is Hockenson.  I would also love to find a way to get Cameron Brate who could be had according to rumors with OJ Howard being the starter if we don’t draft Hockenson.  

[Shaw66]

16 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Agree with most of this, however one counter point I would add regarding not being part of Allen’s strength.

 

Allen is a threat throw a 75 yard TD strike every single second he is on the field.  We already have deep threat Foster.  Adding another deep threat on the outside this offseason (FA, trade, or draft) is going to put a lot of pressure on the defense to cover the outside guys and especially protect the deep ball.  That means extra attention from the Safeties and the middle of the field is left to be exploited by a TE who is a receiving threat.  

 

So I actually think the TE is going to be a lethal weapon like Kelce was for Mahomes.  They had to cover guys like Hill and Sammy, play watch the RB out of the backfield allowing Kelce so mismatches and open areas in the zone.

 

But like you said it takes the right TE.  I do like Jesse upside potential, but like you, the guy I most covet is Hockenson.  I would also love to find a way to get Cameron Brate who could be had according to rumors with OJ Howard being the starter if we don’t draft Hockenson.  

I think you and Kirby and I all have the same vision for the offense, given Allen's greatest strengths.   Or at least a similar vision.

 

I think ideally the offense needs two deep threats.  Or at least one really good deep threats and a couple of guys with enough speed to get deep when the scheme creates the opportunity. Clearly, the first deep threat is a wideout (whether Foster is that guy remains to be seen - it isn't enough to have deep speed, you have to be able to run disciplined routes and catch the ball.  I'm hopeful, but let's wait and see).  Ideally, the second guy is also a wideout - a deep threat on either flank is what really tests the safeties and opens the middle as you describe.  The second guy who can "get deep" can be a tight end or even a versatile running back.    

 

I think you're correct that if the Bills had two good deep threat wideouts, James  may not have the foot speed to take advantage of the opportunities the wideouts would create.  He clearly would be good enough to get you 5 to 12 yard completions all day long against a stretched out defense, but he's not going to get the chunk plays that Kelce gets.  

 

But I'm squarely in the camp that says such a player, a premier tight end, is more a luxury than a necessity.   If you have one, fine, and he takes some pressure off the wideouts to produce and loosens up the defense in other areas, but he isn't a necessity.  And I think, but I don't know, that featuring the tight end tends to draw the defense toward the middle, which may help your wideouts but it doesn't do any favors for your running backs.  Just ask ThurmanThomas what it meant to play with two burners and a third receiver in the slot, each of whom was a headache for the defense.   I'm sure he'd tell you that Lofton, Beebe and Reed created those monster years for him by clearing defenders out of the middle.  

[Elite Poster]

A lot of people seem to think he is way, way, way, better than he actually is. There is a reason old man Vance McDonald relegated this guy to the bench later in the season with Pittsburgh.