The Bills Makeover: Under Beane and McDermott, “Playoff Caliber” team emerges (collection of deep dive articles)

[YoloinOhio]

How McBeane turned the Bills into winners

https://buffalonews.com/2020/01/02/buffalo-bills-sean-mcdermott-brandon-beane-terry-pegula-nfl-football/

And more than anything, over three years, what they've done is they have not deviated from their vision or from their direction. It's like, 'This is what we believe, this is the way we're going to go. We're not going to deviate for any reason. Ups and downs in the road, rocky seas, this is direction we're going.' And I think that's something to be commended and to be excited about."

Sean McDermott's message has resonated with Bills players from the start

https://buffalonews.com/2020/01/02/buffalo-bills-afc-playoffs-culture-change-sean-mcdermott-jerry-hughes-lorenzo-alexander/

From the top down, everything has changed,” defensive end Jerry Hughes said. “From the message we get from the coaches and the front office to the facility – how the owners have changed that around, investing time and money so we can go out there and play.”

 

 

Building the Bills: Inside key decisions that remade a franchise

 

https://buffalonews.com/2020/01/02/buffalo-bills-sean-mcdermott-brandon-beane-josh-allen-afc-playoffs/

The Bills enter their second playoff game in three years – their most successful stretch since back-to-back appearances in the 1998 and '99 seasons – and The News has dissected these 12 decisions that helped them get there, listed in chronological order.

 

For Bills leadership, a new era of crafting the team

https://buffalonews.com/2020/01/02/building-the-bills-brandon-beane-has-fistfull-of-money-players-to-keep/

The Buffalo Bills will enter a new era of team building starting in 2020.

They need to start keeping their own.

The Bills have not drafted well enough nor had enough head-coaching continuity to keep enough of their own players on second- or third contracts over the past decade.

No more. Locking up some of the team’s quality young players will be one of the top priorities for General Manager Brandon Beane in the coming year.

 

 

[Greg S]

It really can't be said enough but from the Pegula's down to Beane/McDermott they have done a great job in a short period of time. I have no doubt that McBeane will bring a Super Bowl championship to Buffalo.

[Don Otreply]

I think BB & SM are doing a very good job thus far, especially considering the Sh-t shows we have had previously. I sure do hope they can get the offense up to speed, otherwise what we see now is as good as its  going to be. That said, I do believe BB will secure the required talent. Would be nice to pretty much know the team on average is going to score three to four TDs and field goal or two per game. But that’s just me...

 

Go Bills!!!

Edited January 2, 2020 by Don Otreply

[Shaw66]

24 minutes ago, Don Otreply said:

 Would be nice to pretty much know the team on average is going to score three to four TDs and field goal or two per game. But that’s just me...

 

Go Bills!!!

28 points a game is elite offense territory. Of course we would like to have that. 

[billsfan_34]

36 minutes ago, Greg S said:

It really can't be said enough but from the Pegula's down to Beane/McDermott they have done a great job in a short period of time. I have no doubt that McBeane will bring a Super Bowl championship to Buffalo.

Not to go too off topic but they need to apply the same approach to the Sabres.

[Don Otreply]

1 minute ago, Shaw66 said:

28 points a game is elite offense territory. Of course we would like to have that. 

“Averaging” around 21 to 24 points per game, sometimes more, hopefully, and rarely less, is what I’m thinking, its a reasonable goal... ?

 

Go Bills!!!

[Buffalo Junction]

12 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

28 points a game is elite offense territory. Of course we would like to have that. 

I’d love to see 23-24. That would basically be an average differential of 7 points with the current defense. 

[Shaw66]

17 minutes ago, Buffalo Junction said:

I’d love to see 23-24. That would basically be an average differential of 7 points with the current defense. 

Right.  28 would be great, but somehow it's got to get over 21.  

[stevewin]

1 hour ago, YoloinOhio said:

How McBeane turned the Bills into winners

https://buffalonews.com/2020/01/02/buffalo-bills-sean-mcdermott-brandon-beane-terry-pegula-nfl-football/

Quote

"What Brandon and Sean shared with me right after they got the job, and really motivated me and really endeared themselves to me, was, 'Hey, this is our vision. This is the kind of football team we want. These are the kind of guys we want on our football team. And that's what we're going to pursue,'" Williams said. "They've got a plan. They don't do anything just to do it or to sell tickets or to make a splash. That's not what they do. Any decision, any move they make, is part of a greater plan and a greater vision that really inspired me, at 34-35, years old to come back and play a couple of more years

[Buffalo Junction]

1 hour ago, Shaw66 said:

Right.  28 would be great, but somehow it's got to get over 21.  

Yup. 28 would take more weapons, Allen improving, and a wide open scheme. I can’t see that with McD being a defense first HC. Now, Allen improving and adding more playmakers I can see. I just cannot fathom McD building this team to outscore everyone at the expense of defensive consistency. 

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, Shaw66 said:

Right.  28 would be great, but somehow it's got to get over 21.  

 

Yep. You can't only concede over 21 three times and of those only over 24 once and end up with 6 losses. Because that is asking too much of your defense. Just for comparison's sake... the 85 Bears also only gave up over 21 three times and of those two were over 24. They went 15-1.

 

Not saying our defense was as good as theirs... they kept multiple teams to 10 and below and pitched two shutouts. But I am saying to expect your defense to only go above 21 three times in a season every season it is not realistic. That is an outstanding level of consistency. Next year the offense will have to pull its weight more. 

[bigK14094]

This team got blown out once (Eagles)....played but lost to the big boys (Pats and Ravens)  As far as the playoffs go, all these teams wish they didn't have to meet Josh Allen and the Bills D.  I am in the camp that anything can happen, its playoff time.  So, I won't count the Bills out.

[stevewin]

This seems like as good a place as any to include an excellent article that just came out on the Athletic by one of the Browns writers "Browns should look to Buffalo for answers after latest house cleaning"

 

http://Browns should look to Buffalo for answers after latest house cleaning

 

Key points

 

Quote

- You don’t have to game the system to assemble a decent team.

...

The Bills took a different route. They amassed picks as well, using the currency to move up in the 2018 draft to select polarizing quarterback Josh Allen. (More on him later.) But as Beane and McDermott aggressively remade the roster, they never went into tank mode like the Browns.

 

- Don’t use a high draft pick on a quarterback if you can’t protect him within two seasons.

...

The Bills made retooling the offensive line a priority in the draft and free agency.   ... Meanwhile, the Browns’ pass protection fell apart during Mayfield’s second season, and his stats suffered because of it. His sacks climbed from 25 to 40, his interceptions jumped from 14 to 21, while his passer rating dropped from 93.7 to 78.8.

 

- Make sure your most important decision-makers and players are on the same page.

...

McDermott and Beane had a history together with the Carolina Panthers and they have worked in lockstep to overhaul the roster. ... Multiple players said how well McDermott and Beane meshed as a tandem and communicated their vision to the team.

 

- You can’t win without talent, but talent absent character and leadership is asking for trouble. 

...

In his rush to rejuvenate the talent base, which had eroded under the previous regime, Dorsey took a few too many risks and turned a blind eye to character issues. ...

It’s a different story in Buffalo, where many of their top players are low-wattage stars. ... McDermott relies on his locker room elders to set the culture and he tries to include one in each position group. 

 

Quote

After years of losing, the Bills are positioning themselves for sustained success. And they never had to tank a season or two to achieve it.

 

 

 

[Magox]

6 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

How McBeane turned the Bills into winners

https://buffalonews.com/2020/01/02/buffalo-bills-sean-mcdermott-brandon-beane-terry-pegula-nfl-football/

 

 

 

 

 

I love these sort of in-depth articles.  I remember reading one about Beane a few years back and after that I was convinced that he was the guy.  

 

This article has got lots of nice nuggets and for some of our fans on this board the concepts that are discussed here are too abstract for them to wrap their heads around.

 

 

Quote

 

Kyle Williams saw flimsy construction after flimsy construction that the architects always tried passing off as solid and sound. The structures would look nice on the outside, yet something was constantly missing. There was a lot of flash, plenty of eye-catching elements, but no real foundation. Nothing to serve as bonding to keep it upright for the long haul.

And it would collapse, again and again, through Williams' first 11 seasons as a defensive tackle with the Buffalo Bills.

Then, in 2017, came the change. New architects arrived, in the form of coach Sean McDermott and General Manager Brandon Beane. The philosophy shifted from haphazardly collecting recognizable names from free agency, trades and the draft to finding players who actually fit well together and understood the concept of team.

In his mid-30s and carrying his share of scars and scar tissue from the wicked world of interior-line play, Williams had accomplished enough individually to have no problem walking away rather than go through another leadership change on a perpetually floundering franchise. But he kept an open mind to what the new men in charge were selling.

"What Brandon and Sean shared with me right after they got the job, and really motivated me and really endeared themselves to me, was, 'Hey, this is our vision. This is the kind of football team we want. These are the kind of guys we want on our football team. And that's what we're going to pursue,'" Williams said. "They've got a plan. They don't do anything just to do it or to sell tickets or to make a splash. That's not what they do. Any decision, any move they make, is part of a greater plan and a greater vision that really inspired me, at 34-35, years old to come back and play a couple of more years.

 

"And more than anything, over three years, what they've done is they have not deviated from their vision or from their direction. It's like, 'This is what we believe, this is the way we're going to go. We're not going to deviate for any reason. Ups and downs in the road, rocky seas, this is direction we're going.' And I think that's something to be commended and to be excited about."

 

 

 

 

I thought this was insightful from Kyle Williams.

[Magox]

6 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

Building the Bills: Inside key decisions that remade a franchise

 

https://buffalonews.com/2020/01/02/buffalo-bills-sean-mcdermott-brandon-beane-josh-allen-afc-playoffs/

 

 

 

Here is something that was discussed ad nauseum, to this day I still don't get how people didn't view this as a shrewd move.

 

Quote

 

He probably never will make one as beneficial from a salary cap standpoint as his deal to send Marcell Dareus to the Jacksonville Jaguars in October 2017.

 

The big defensive tackle chosen with the No. 3 overall pick in 2011 was just two years into a six-year, $96 million contract. Dareus was due to count $10 million or more in cap space and earn $10 million or more in real cash every year through 2021.

“It’s incredible he was able to get that deal out of here in a trade,” says Michael Ginnitti, managing editor of the sports business website Spotrac.com.

 

“There were so many years left and there was so much dead cap available that they were able to get out from under because of the guaranteed salary, I’d have to say that it’s arguably the biggest ‘worst contract’ ever traded.”

Dealing Dareus was part of Beane’s plan to eat up as many bad contracts as possible through the 2018 season. The Bills led the NFL in 2018 in dead cap space — money allocated to players no longer on the roster — at $70.3 million.

 

But that allowed the Bills to emerge in 2019 among the top three in the NFL in available cap space, which they used to sign a slew of free agents. They remain among the league leaders in cap space for 2020 and 2021.

 

Dareus still counted $13.5 million against the Bills’ cap in 2018, but he would have counted $16.5 million had he been on the roster. He was due to get another $11.5 million in cash and cost $18 million against the cap in 2019.

 

Making the deal even better: The Bills didn’t have to give the Jaguars any draft picks to take on the huge contract. Consider, when Houston unloaded the giant contract of QB Brock Osweiler to Cleveland in March 2017, the Texans sweetened the deal with second- and sixth-round picks. (Houston got a late fourth-rounder in return.)

 

Buffalo got a 2018 conditional sixth-rounder that became a fifth-rounder in return. The Bills used the pick on guard Wyatt Teller.

“Even in the other leagues, with baseball especially, what you’re seeing is teams get out from under bad contracts, but they’re having to give up major draft picks to go with it,” Ginnitti said. “You take on Dareus, but we’ll give you a first-round draft pick, too. The Bills didn’t have to do that. They got this done before that generation of deals kicked in. I don’t think we’ll ever see it again.”

 

Beyond the salary cap implications, Dareus didn't fully embrace McDermott's culture change as evidenced by being sent home before a preseason game at Baltimore for violating a team rule. He also saw his snap counts reduced early in the regular season as McDermott cited the need for a rotation along the defensive line.

 

After the trade, Dareus played 10 games that season, including facing the Bills in the wild-card game, and started 15 games last season. He played in six games this season before being placed on injured reserve following core surgery in October. Dareus has 2.5 sacks and 45 tackles in 30 games with Jacksonville since leaving Buffalo.

 

 

[blacklabel]

5 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Right.  28 would be great, but somehow it's got to get over 21.  

 

20 is the magic number for this team. In the McBeane era they are 20-2 when scoring 20 or more points, including winning all seven games this season when they score 20 or more.