freddyjj Posted March 24, 2020 Posted March 24, 2020 Just now, BigBillsFan said: Or we go with the TE with the worst drops in the league and misses blocks as well. It's called hedging. Well we passed on Ebron in his draft year, 2 years ago and again this year. That tells me something. Kroft, Knox and Sweeney/Smith will be an improved group if they get preseason to practice. Same OLine, scheme and better WRs to pull coverage away 1
BigBillsFan Posted March 24, 2020 Posted March 24, 2020 1 minute ago, freddyjj said: Well we passed on Ebron in his draft year, 2 years ago and again this year. That tells me something. Kroft, Knox and Sweeney/Smith will be an improved group if they get preseason to practice. Same OLine, scheme and better WRs to pull coverage away I hope so, but Kroft is oft-injured and Smith is a waste of roster space. I prefer Croom. 2
PromoTheRobot Posted March 24, 2020 Posted March 24, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, RyanC883 said: what would we need to do to get an A. I'd give us an A so far. #1 WR, check. Keep O-line stable, check. Yeah, we lost Lawson and Phillips, but replaced them, as well as got a potential #2 CB. We also upgraded ST's significantly. Get Hopkins in trade for a used jock strap? Edited March 24, 2020 by PromoTheRobot
Chandler#81 Posted March 24, 2020 Posted March 24, 2020 39 minutes ago, ScottLaw said: Still need more playmakers on offense.... I'd give it a B- for now. Will see what they do in the draft and remaining FA. WhatTH & WhoTH are you talking about? WTF!?! 1
dma0034 Posted March 24, 2020 Posted March 24, 2020 4 hours ago, RyanC883 said: what would we need to do to get an A. I'd give us an A so far. #1 WR, check. Keep O-line stable, check. Yeah, we lost Lawson and Phillips, but replaced them, as well as got a potential #2 CB. We also upgraded ST's significantly. I think you have to rip off Houston in order to get an A. Pretty sure it's in the fine print Bills have done a fine job. People are mentioning they should just do BPA. I think it should be all Offensive players unless someone really stands out to them. Get some RB, TE, and O-Line depth
billsfan89 Posted March 24, 2020 Posted March 24, 2020 1 hour ago, matter2003 said: The Jets are no threat while Gase is their head coach. Dude is a human dumpster fire and his teams implode after a few years. If McDermott has the "it" factor, Gase has the "anti-it" factor as a head coach. I think Gase is a big impediment to their progress as a team but I like Darnold and I think that if you have a good QB it could take a mid-level roster and make it competitive. Although I think Robby Anderson leaving hurts they have been making more prudent moves this off-season than last off-season. They added a lot of depth and versatility along the O-line and added some pieces to their defense. I think they are a year away as outside of an aging Lev Bell their offensive skill positions are trash and their defense is lower mid-level. But a good draft filling a few hold and some improvement from Darnold could get them to 8 wins.
billsfan89 Posted March 24, 2020 Posted March 24, 2020 2 hours ago, freddyjj said: Well we passed on Ebron in his draft year, 2 years ago and again this year. That tells me something. Kroft, Knox and Sweeney/Smith will be an improved group if they get preseason to practice. Same OLine, scheme and better WRs to pull coverage away To be fair it was a different regime here when Ebron was drafted. Still I get what you are saying McBeane deserves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to talent evaluation.
billsfan89 Posted March 24, 2020 Posted March 24, 2020 5 minutes ago, ScottLaw said: TE, RB, depth at WR. They’ve added Diggs(a nice piece) but they need more IMO. This was a bottom of the league offense.... as good as Diggs is I don’t think he raises their offense to a top of the league unit. The offense was a lower mid-level unit (most had them ranked around 20) Diggs certainly raises them a few notches. I also think O-line continuity, Josh having more experience, and Singletary taking over at RB also could be positive factors. But I agree they need to find a WR in round 2 or 3 and a RB in round 4 or 5. They need a big early down RB and a young WR behind Diggs, Brown, and Beasley (Both for immediate depth and long term they need to get younger.) The offense doesn't need to be a top 10 unit to get this team to 11+ wins. I think they upgraded the special teams with 2 good role players there and kept the talent level of the defense as one of the best in the league. They need the offense to be better and more consistent, but if they can get the offense from a below average offense ranked around 18-22 to an offense ranked around 12-14 I think they can be a very successful football team. 1 2
billsfan89 Posted March 24, 2020 Posted March 24, 2020 1 minute ago, ScottLaw said: Defensively I’d agree... offensively why? They completely rebuilt the O-line with one FA signing over 6.5 million aav and only a 2nd round pick in terms of draft resources. They got WR1 and WR3 production from two contracts well under 10 million aav. They drafted Singletary in round 3 and he was super productive in his rookie year, Knox a late 3rd round pick flashed a lot of ability. It wasn't all perfect in the 2019 off-season (Kroft was a bust) but they rebuilt the O-line from a horrid unit into a solid one without major resources and found 2 quality receivers without getting locked into long term deals. I know a lot of people really knocked McBeane rightfully in the 2017 and 2018 off-seasons (my biggest knock was their horrid handling of the QB situation in 2018) but what cap space and resources did they have to improve the offense? They accrued draft capital and spent it on a QB, they were cap strapped in 2018 and couldn't make any other major moves on the offensive side of the ball. They did swing and miss on KB and Zay Jones but also drafted Dawkins and got rid of Sammy for good capital. Overall I think they proved their offensive talent acquisition ability in 2019 and again with a quality trade for Diggs.
Sherlock Holmes Posted March 24, 2020 Posted March 24, 2020 2 hours ago, Chandler#81 said: WhatTH & WhoTH are you talking about? WTF!?! Obviously McCaffrey
LB48 Posted March 24, 2020 Posted March 24, 2020 I agree with the A- which is a great grade while understanding how the AFC East is now structured.
Dr. Who Posted March 25, 2020 Posted March 25, 2020 8 minutes ago, ScottLaw said: Love the Diggs trade, their offensive line is OK. Nothing great, IMO. Their TE group basically rides on Knox taking a step forward and figuring out how to consistently catch the ball otherwise it’s a subpar group..... I like Singletary a lot, but they need another dynamic back to go with him... I don’t think he’s a work horse type of back. I think this is right. Have to hope continuity allows the o-line to play better than last year. Evidently they are counting on Ford developing into a competent RT. Let's hope. A much stronger rb room ought to be a priority. At minimum, two dangerous backs. I like Dobbins early, but you'd probably have to trade up for him, Cam Akers may be there at 54. A J Dillon later in the draft for a power back. Unfortunately, the WR4 I like are also round two players, Pittman and Claypool. Maybe Beane can pull off some witchery. 1
billsfan89 Posted March 25, 2020 Posted March 25, 2020 (edited) 39 minutes ago, ScottLaw said: The lack of cap space and ability to acquire or keep offensive talent was from their own decisions..... it’s a discussion that’s been beaten down but they were a pretty good offensive team when McDermott and have been anything but since. I like a lot of what they’ve done but the truth is their offenses have been below average to bad for 3 years straight. Why should we give them the benefit of the doubt they know what they are doing there based on that?... and they had plenty of cap in the 2018 offseason... they swung and missed on several offensive players.... well, FAs in general. Love the Diggs trade, their offensive line is OK. Nothing great, IMO. Their TE group basically rides on Knox taking a step forward and figuring out how to consistently catch the ball otherwise it’s a subpar group..... I like Singletary a lot, but they need another dynamic back to go with him... I don’t think he’s a work horse type of back. They didn't have a lot of cap space in 2018, they had some but not a lot. Star and Murphy who totaled 15 million (Star's contract was back loaded to years 2 and 3 his initial cap hit was 6 million) were their only major signings. Could they have spent that money on offense? Yes but would 15 million in contracts been the difference, I doubt it? Who were their major offensive free agents that year? Bodine? Semantics aside, McBeane had a long term vision of a proper rebuild. The team offensively in 2016 before McBeane arrived was a mid-level offense. Nothing special. Tyrod was a lower tier QB who was decent but nothing special, the right side of the O-line was a mess and Glenn a good tackle was starting to be injury prone, Clay was a decent but overpaid TE, and Shady was good but towards the back end of his productive run. They did have a good receiving core but Sammy was a injury prone Malcontent and they got good value for him. I think that they have made a lot of mistakes on offensive personnel in 2017 and 2018. But this narrative the team had a good offense in 2016 just before McD arrived is non-sense.The offense in 2015 was the best rushing attack in the league and a lower mid-level passing attack that gave them a top 10 offense. However by 2017 that offense was 2 years older and coming off of a season where they were middle of the pack. The best receiving option was a injury prone diva and their star running back was knocking on 30. The offense was going to decline in 2017 and beyond, McD tore it down justifiably. Did they make mistakes? Yes, but their philosophy got them to a younger 10 win team that has their draft assets and in a very good cap situation going forward the next 2 seasons. When they had to put in the most resources they found guards out of nothing, drafting a young tackle with potential, found great depth and a starting caliber RT, while finding 2 good professional caliber WR's and drafted two very tantalizing prospects in Knox and Singletary. I trust their judgement on offense because of how well they did in 2019, is that a bit of recency bias? Yes but I think that as Ford, Knox, Allen, and Singletary emerge in this offense they will only look more competent as an organization for offensive talent. Edited March 25, 2020 by billsfan89 1
Nihilarian Posted March 25, 2020 Posted March 25, 2020 7 hours ago, BigBillsFan said: I'd give this off-season a B+. Just needed a TE like Ebron or Hooper to give it an A. Yes I would have over-paid Hooper like the Browns to have a sure-handed guy to help with the offense. I really believe in investing in Allen's success. If you traded so much to get him, give him all the confidence in the world. Love our off-season and really I can't complain. I guess they see more in Knox than I do. Sometimes the greatest gift you can give to a young QB is confidence and having a huge target for those harder throws is worth every penny in his development. Hooper wasn't a 20 mil splurge. For a guy with 1 drop I would have paid it for Allen alone. The Bills chose to re sign Croom, they have 2nd year players in Dawson Knox, Tommy Sweeny. Along with Tyler Croft who was hurt a lot last season and lastly Lee Smith who is a tackle in disguise. Obviously the Bills FO must feel like they already have a decent TE corps in place over going after Hooper who the Cleveland Browns made the highest paid TE in the league. From Atlanta, they thought that while Hooper was one of Matt Ryan's main targets in that offense, he wasn't a "game changer". The Falcons reportedly want to get back to running more with a blocking TE and already have WRs Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley. Plus, they traded a 2nd round pick to the Ravens for TE Hyden Hurst, who is a former 1st round pick. As for Eric Ebron... bleh. They guy was shut down last season due to surgery on both ankles. The Steelers signed him somewhat cheap, but with his injury history he is a big risk. Not to mention he isn't all that great a blocker. My thoughts are that this FO thinks Knox will develop into a top TE. JMO
LSHMEAB Posted March 25, 2020 Posted March 25, 2020 9 hours ago, RyanC883 said: what would we need to do to get an A. I'd give us an A so far. #1 WR, check. Keep O-line stable, check. Yeah, we lost Lawson and Phillips, but replaced them, as well as got a potential #2 CB. We also upgraded ST's significantly. I'd have liked to see them add an athletic "edge," but very solid offseason overall. I still have concerns about our pass rush against elite QB's. 2 hours ago, Dr. Who said: I think this is right. Have to hope continuity allows the o-line to play better than last year. Evidently they are counting on Ford developing into a competent RT. Let's hope. A much stronger rb room ought to be a priority. At minimum, two dangerous backs. I like Dobbins early, but you'd probably have to trade up for him, Cam Akers may be there at 54. A J Dillon later in the draft for a power back. Unfortunately, the WR4 I like are also round two players, Pittman and Claypool. Maybe Beane can pull off some witchery. No doubt. Since it appears we're going to go with a run of the mill RUN BLOCKING OL, gotta improve the RB position. 1
John from Riverside Posted March 25, 2020 Posted March 25, 2020 I think the resignings are important namely poyer and spain
longtimebillsfan Posted March 25, 2020 Posted March 25, 2020 CBS Sportsline graded the Bills off season an A. Pats were graded D+. Jets C- and the Dolphins B+. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2020-nfl-free-agency-grades-for-afc-east-miami-dolphins-load-up-on-defense-patriots-watch-tom-brady-walk/ This off season has made the past couple of weeks bearable.
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