Steps taken to solve last year's problems

[TheBeaneBandit]

I'm hoping the June 1st cuts provides a CB or other position of need and Beane swoops in.

[Shaw66]

20 hours ago, Arm of Harm said:

 

4) You are very knowledgeable about football, and your analysis of Edmunds is more likely to be correct than mine.

 

Thanks for the compliment, I don't think I'm all that knowledgeable.  For example, it may be the case that McDermott would tell us, if he were speaking frankly, that Edmunds screwed up a lot in pass coverage last season.  

 

Mostly what I do is try to infer things from what McBeane do and say.   I watch them, ask myself why they'd be doing or not doing things (like exercising the option on Edmunds, or not chasing a running back other than Breida), and try to draw conclusions.  Following that approach, I conclude that they are satisfied with the job Edmunds is doing, because (1) the Bills exercised the option and (2) the Bills seem to be doing absolutely nothing to create serious competition for the job.   I combine that with plays from the championship game where Mahomes clearly was reading Edmunds, and I conclude that the problem people think they see is in the scheme, not the player.   Maybe I'm wrong. 

Edited May 19, 2021 by Shaw66

[Shaw66]

6 hours ago, BigAl2526 said:

The Bills are counting on low level additions (Rachad Wildgoose, Nick McCloud and Olaijah Griffin) and development of one young player (Dane Jackson) to add competition to the cornerback position.  I think most of us as fans were hoping for a bit more commitment from the Bills to upgrading the spot across from Tre White.  They could also get some help from more pressure from the D-line, but a QB like Tom Brady (whom the Bills will play) that gets rid of the ball in only a couple seconds or a Pat Mahomes (whom the Bills will play ) who makes unscripted plays all over the lot while moving around will likely still give the Bills' secondary fits. 

 

I do like Dane Jackson, and I think he may have more upside than Levi Wallace, a good technician who's always going to be athletically limited.

I agree with this, but I also think the fans think there's more of a need at #2 corner than McBeane think.  First, the opponents last season weren't attacking Wallace like he was a liability.   Teams couldn't go after him repeatedly and have success.  They threw to his side more than White's side, I suppose, but that's because of how good White is, not because Wallace is a liability. 

 

Second, I think Wallace plays the total position the way McDermott wants, including run support and the complex zone and zone/man schemes McDermott prefers.  I don't think it's easy to find someone who plays the total position a lot better, except for players who are generally too pricey - free agents or top-of-the-draft rookies.  

 

As long as White is on the other side, I think the Bills will be satisfied with a solid, if not spectacular performer.  If a stud corner falls to them in the first round of the draft, the Bills will take him with great pleasure, but I don't think the Bills think they have a need or a hole there.  

[Eastport bills]

On 5/10/2021 at 11:39 PM, Arm of Harm said:

The Bills had a historic season last year, making it to the AFC Championship Game for the first time in decades. While the team was very good overall, there was still room for improvement.

 

Problem: The OL did not run block well during the regular season. During the postseason it neither run blocked nor pass protected well. The decline during the postseason was caused in large part because some guys were playing hurt. To me that says either a) the backups were hurt also, or b) the coaches thought an injured starter would be better than a healthy backup.

 

Solution: The Bills worked to improve the depth of their OL, using 3rd and 5th round picks on offensive tackles. They also signed Lamp, and took an OG in the 7th. These steps should hopefully improve the depth on the OL, making it less likely they'll be forced to play injured starters. If the light bulb comes on for Lamp, he could challenge for a starting position.

 

Evaluation: the Bills have addressed their depth on the OL, but it's not clear how much they've done to address their problems with run blocking.

 

Problem: Defenses didn't respect the running game.

 

Solution: the Bills brought in Breida to be a home run threat.

 

Evaluation: The problems with the running game were caused in large part by play design, blocking schemes, or the offensive linemen themselves, more so than the RBs. Breida's presence should help, but adding him needs to be part of a larger solution.

 

Problem: lack of pass rush. To the best of my knowledge none of the Bills defensive linemen had 5 or more sacks last season. As usual Jerry Hughes did much better achieving pressures than sacks.

 

Solution: The Bills signed Obada (5.5 sacks last season), a young international player who may not yet have reached his ceiling. They used their first and second round picks on defensive linemen. Star is coming back, and Harrison Phillips will should be healthy, so in theory you'll have guys to play the 1 tech.

 

Evaluation: At least on paper, the Bills have done a rock solid job of upgrading their pass rush.

 

Problem: Lack of pass coverage, especially in the KC playoff game. One of the problems in that game was Edmunds getting fooled too often. Tre White also did not play well that game.

 

Solution: The Bills did not necessarily add any new starters to their linebacker corps or defensive secondary. Maybe the solution lies in more effectively using the players they already have? If Edmunds has great physical tools but gets fooled too easily, maybe the defensive scheme could be modified to simplify his role. 

 

Evaluation: TBD

 

Overall

 

This team has seemingly taken a step forward this year, especially on the defensive line/pass rush. Some of the team's problems are with coaching/scheme, especially the problems involving running plays and pass coverage. It will be interesting to see what solutions the coaching staff will come up with.

Pretty solid analysis but you gave too much credit to our backs. Moss was serviceable as a change of pace inside runner until the injury. Singletary regressed and seemed soft and didn't hit the holes with conviction. Our offense was designed to maximize our strengths with empty sets and quick release passes to great receivers with designed QB runs by the freakish athlete that is Josh. The pass protection was solid not great. With a more explosive running game and anything from the TE position, our offense should be scary with the addition of Sanders. Plenty of high scoring Ws with better run defense and a breakout season from Edmunds in his contract year.

 

[John from Riverside]

17 minutes ago, Eastport bills said:

Pretty solid analysis but you gave too much credit to our backs. Moss was serviceable as a change of pace inside runner until the injury. Singletary regressed and seemed soft and didn't hit the holes with conviction. Our offense was designed to maximize our strengths with empty sets and quick release passes to great receivers with designed QB runs by the freakish athlete that is Josh. The pass protection was solid not great. With a more explosive running game and anything from the TE position, our offense should be scary with the addition of Sanders. Plenty of high scoring Ws with better run defense and a breakout season from Edmunds in his contract year.

 

You could’ve put Levon bell behind that line we had last year and he would’ve looked the same

[Eastport bills]

2 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

You could’ve put Levon bell behind that line we had last year and he would’ve looked the same

Leveon of 4 years ago maybe but he looked shot last year. I disagree with the premise though. Did you see the running of Antonio Williams in the Miami game?  Moss had some succes salting games away during the 7game win streak. I thought the left side of the O-line opened some holes. Cody was not too good, but Mongo and Dawkins were serviceable. Bottom line is the backs had little speed and Devin broke zero tackles. The game plan for Devin was to get him into space with bubble screens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

7 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

...I combine that with plays from the championship game where Mahomes clearly was reading Edmunds, and I conclude that the problem people think they see is in the scheme, not the player.   Maybe I'm wrong. 

 

Mahomes was doing more than "reading" Edmunds.  He was using his eyes to manipulate Edmunds and Milano, then throwing the ball into the gaps where they weren't. 

 

This may be one of the places McDermott means when he said they were "outcoached" during the AFCCG - that Bienemy and Mahomes were able to decode the Bills defense so well that they knew just what to do to manipulate the coverage.  But he was able to do it, in large part, because he had time and was not under particular duress.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

7 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

I agree with this, but I also think the fans think there's more of a need at #2 corner than McBeane think.  First, the opponents last season weren't attacking Wallace like he was a liability.   Teams couldn't go after him repeatedly and have success.  They threw to his side more than White's side, I suppose, but that's because of how good White is, not because Wallace is a liability.

 

I think Wallace improved.  But after the first few games (I think it may have been Miami), I remember a press question about the opposing QB "picking on" Wallace, and Frazier responding essentially that Levi needs to make a play, and then they'll stop picking on him.  He kind of looked like a liability at that point.  After the Rams game, he only played 6 snaps then went on IR.

 

The last 4 games and the 3 playoff games, they platooned him quite a bit which doesn't argue happiness with his contributions.  I thought he played better when he was sharing snaps, actually.

[White Linen]

2 hours ago, John from Riverside said:

You could’ve put Levon bell behind that line we had last year and he would’ve looked the same

 

I think there's more to it than that.   The top 3 rushers (Singletary,  Moss and Allen) had very respectable YPA at 4.4, 4.3 and 4.1.  So I think that would suggest the line is capable. 

 

However, I think we would agree, the rushing game didn't pass the eye test.  I think some of that had to do with predictable runs, unsuccessful runs when we needed them and an overall lack of commitment to running. 

[Shaw66]

8 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Mahomes was doing more than "reading" Edmunds.  He was using his eyes to manipulate Edmunds and Milano, then throwing the ball into the gaps where they weren't. 

 

This may be one of the places McDermott means when he said they were "outcoached" during the AFCCG - that Bienemy and Mahomes were able to decode the Bills defense so well that they knew just what to do to manipulate the coverage.  But he was able to do it, in large part, because he had time and was not under particular duress.

Well, at least if you believe the announcers, defenders are influenced all the time by the QB's eyes.  

 

But I didn't see Mahomes moving Edmunds into empty space.  I saw Edmunds with two guys in his zone moving in different directions.  

 

Thanks for this comment, and the one about Levi.  Maybe we'll see Jackson platooning there this season. 

 

Still, the Bills aren't showing any great urgency in getting a better corner onto the roster.  Compare the aggressiveness with which Beane pursued wideouts, offensive linemen, and defensive lineman in the past two seasons with what he's done about corner backs.   That says to me that they don't see it as a position of need.  

[SoCal Deek]

You aren’t beating either Brady or Mahomes without a consistent pass rush. I’m hoping they’ve done something (scheme or personnel) to fix that. 

[oldmanfan]

8 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

You aren’t beating either Brady or Mahomes without a consistent pass rush. I’m hoping they’ve done something (scheme or personnel) to fix that. 

They drafted two DE's that can also move inside on passing downs, and got the kid from Carolina in free agency that had 5.5 sacks last year.  Not sure how much more they could have done.

[SoCal Deek]

2 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

They drafted two DE's that can also move inside on passing downs, and got the kid from Carolina in free agency that had 5.5 sacks last year.  Not sure how much more they could have done.

They’ve drafted Oliver, Epinesa and now TWO rookies, and if you add in Star ....it’s sad that we’re still all depending on poor old Jerry Hughes year after year to be our pressure guy. It’s time somebody else steps it up! 

[oldmanfan]

8 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

They’ve drafted Oliver, Epinesa and now TWO rookies, and if you add in Star ....it’s sad that we’re still all depending on poor old Jerry Hughes year after year to be our pressure guy. It’s time somebody else steps it up! 

I'm optimistic about the guy they got from Carolina.  

[SoCal Deek]

10 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

I'm optimistic about the guy they got from Carolina.  

I’m always optimistic but Beane can’t spend this much draft capital on the defensive line without getting some major production soon. If it was any other Unit on either offense or defense, this Board would be going nuts. The four young guys I listed above represent the top picks we’ve had now for the THREE drafts. That’s a major investment.

[oldmanfan]

8 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

I’m always optimistic but Beane can’t spend this much draft capital on the defensive line without getting some major production soon. If it was any other Unit on either offense or defense, this Board would be going nuts. The four young guys I listed above represent the top picks we’ve had now for the THREE drafts. That’s a major investment.

I agree.  I think Oliver will be good, but the problem is he came in being compared to Donald which is an unfair comparison.  But he'll be a force I think.  I think Epinesa will continue to improve year 2.  And rumor is that Bruce is going to be personally tutoring Rousseau.   

[BarleyNY]

4 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

I agree.  I think Oliver will be good, but the problem is he came in being compared to Donald which is an unfair comparison.  But he'll be a force I think.  I think Epinesa will continue to improve year 2.  And rumor is that Bruce is going to be personally tutoring Rousseau.   

I was a very big fan of the Oliver pick.  He was literally the best prospect that I thought might fall to us and I was ecstatic when he did.  But he hasn’t consistently performed well enough yet.  The biggest reason I can point to is not unrealistic expectations from fans.  I sure didn’t have those.  It’s that he had to play a lot of 1 tech last season.  He needs to be at 3 tech.  He should spend the majority of his time there this season so we should be able to see what we really have in him.  🤞

[oldmanfan]

Just now, BarleyNY said:

I was a very big fan of the Oliver pick.  He was literally the best prospect that I thought might fall to us and I was ecstatic when he did.  But he hasn’t consistently performed well enough yet.  The biggest reason I can point to is not unrealistic expectations from fans.  I sure didn’t have those.  It’s that he had to play a lot of 1 tech last season.  He needs to be at 3 tech.  He should spend the majority of his time there this season so we should be able to see what we really have in him.  🤞

I agree completely, which is why I was hoping we'd draft a big fat tub of goo as another 1 technique.  Getting Star back will help.  Maybe Phillips will be better as he should be fully recovered from his ACL.  I still anticipate a tub of goo veteran signed before the season starts.

[BarleyNY]

2 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

I agree completely, which is why I was hoping we'd draft a big fat tub of goo as another 1 technique.  Getting Star back will help.  Maybe Phillips will be better as he should be fully recovered from his ACL.  I still anticipate a tub of goo veteran signed before the season starts.

I agree with that too.  I was really surprised we didn’t draft a 1T.  Who knows what we’ll get out of Star after a year off?  Or Phillips off of injury?   Hopefully both are back to full strength, but I expect little from Star except to take snaps a 1T.  His play since he’s gotten here has been poor IMO.  Maybe Phillips can do the job.

[oldmanfan]

Just now, BarleyNY said:

I agree with that too.  I was really surprised we didn’t draft a 1T.  Who knows what we’ll get out of Star after a year off?  Or Phillips off of injury?   Hopefully both are back to full strength, but I expect little from Star except to take snaps a 1T.  His play since he’s gotten here has been poor IMO.  Maybe Phillips can do the job.

I think Star does what Start gets paid to do, he mucks things up in the middle.  At least McD seems to think he serves a valuable purpose.