THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - Taking a Look at 2021

[Shaw66]

8 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

Shaw, it's still too early to know about Oliver. Plenty of guys who became great had not showed much by the end of their 2nd year.

 

Chris Doleman ended up with 150.5 sacks, including 21 in one year and by the end of his 2nd year he'd managed 3.5. Strahan is another guy who took a while to get going. Jim Marshall.

 

Fletcher Cox at the end of two years was still promising. Cameron Heyward is another. Chris Jones' first two years looked an awful lot like Oliver's.

 

Especially at DT, it takes a while for some guys.

I know what you're saying, and I'm no saying he's a bust.  Yes, he still could emerge as special, but I think the chances of that are shrinking.  Why? Because a guy who's special usually at least shows some signs of greatness in his first couple of years, and u haven't seen any of those signs in Oliver.  

 

Oliver was a top 10 pick and he's played more like a guy taken at the back end of the first.

 

He could play ten seasons in Buffalo and be a solid player throughout, he could be a Jerry Hughes.  All I mean is that I think that people expecting him to break through and become a guy who draws a lot of double teams probably will be disappointed.  He hasn't shown that kind of ability yet, and that's what people expected of him when he was drafted.  

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

On 7/19/2021 at 5:49 AM, Doc Brown said:

Good write up but what do you think of special teams?  I think Andre Roberts will be missed more than fans realize and not resigning Bojo was disappointing after a pretty good year.

Never understood why they got rid of Bojo. The punt against Miami at the one inch line is among the best I’ve ever seen + plus the guy could BOOM it. As far as Roberts goes, I think he is easily replaced by McKenzie. Cole Beasley is the biggest factor in all of this. If he is lost then the offense will be missing a huge piece. 

[sherpa]

12 minutes ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Never understood why they got rid of Bojo. 

 

The comment made was that they only "wanted guys who wanted to be here."

I think Bojorquez wanted to get back to the west coast.

See ya.

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

2 minutes ago, sherpa said:

 

The comment made was that they only "wanted guys who wanted to be here."

I think Bojorquez wanted to get back to the west coast.

See ya.

Sorry, but punters shouldn’t hold that kind of leverage.

[sherpa]

10 minutes ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Sorry, but punters shouldn’t hold that kind of leverage.

 

He had no leverage.

It appears that he wanted to be somewhere else and it was in the Bills' interest to let that happen.

They aren't indentured servants, and it is worth getting someone out who doesn't want to be with the org.

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

5 minutes ago, sherpa said:

 

He had no leverage.

It appears that he wanted to be somewhere else and it was in the Bills' interest to let that happen.

They aren't indentured servants, and it is worth getting someone out who doesn't want to be with the org.

Nobody said he was a servant. The Bills gave him a chance and the fans embraced him. I just feel like it was a selfish move by him. He can go play for the Chargers then.

[sherpa]

7 minutes ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Nobody said he was a servant. The Bills gave him a chance and the fans embraced him. I just feel like it was a selfish move by him. He can go play for the Chargers then.

 

He signed with the Rams.

People have no idea of family situations or other factors that cause career decisions, but in the long term, it is in the organization's interest to accommodate a player/coach friendly posture.

Lures free agents and coaches.

 

No problem.

We'll find another.

Edited July 23, 2021 by sherpa

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

Just now, sherpa said:

 

He signed with the Rams.

Good. I hope he has a great year unless it’s against us. I have no ill will towards the guy, just a bit upset we lost him. With the progression of the Bills offense, a directional punter makes more sense due to the shorter fields they will be facing at the end of failed drives. 

[Shaw66]

2 hours ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

 a directional punter makes more sense due 

Bojo wasn't good enough.  Every player on the team has specific role designed to contribute to the team's success.  Moreso than almost any player on the team, the punter has only way to contribute to the team, and that is to kick the ball where the special teams coach wants the ball to be kicked.   Sometimes long, sometimes shorter, sometimes to one sideline or the other, sometimes low with roll, sometimes with a reverse bounce.   

 

Punters have gotten very good at those skills, and that was not Bojo's strength.   Bojo had the ability to kick the ball high and long fairly consistently.   He isn't erratic like long punters used to be.   But Bojo wasn't very good at doing all those other things consistently.   

 

I think last season was Bojo's opportunity to show real development toward being a good control punter while continuing to be able to tap into the power he has.   In my opinion, he didn't make very much progress in that direction, so when Bojo said he'd prefer to be on the west coast, the Bills said "okay with us" and began looking for another punter.  

 

In the end, I don't think Bojo did consistently enough those things he was asked to do. If he did, the Bills would have worked harder to keep him. 

[scuba guy]

3 hours ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Never understood why they got rid of Bojo. The punt against Miami at the one inch line is among the best I’ve ever seen + plus the guy could BOOM it. As far as Roberts goes, I think he is easily replaced by McKenzie. Cole Beasley is the biggest factor in all of this. If he is lost then the offense will be missing a huge piece. 

They did not get rid of bojo he did not want to sign here or be in Buffalo wanted to go out west also he turned down the contract that we gave him. We will see if he even makes the Rams team he is the #2 punter there.

Also bojo  out kicked the coverage teams often when it was set up to bin the returner for no gain. Which did hurt us on occasion.

But yes he did have a big leg and the 69 yard punt was nice.

[Doc Brown]

4 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Bojo wasn't good enough.  Every player on the team has specific role designed to contribute to the team's success.  Moreso than almost any player on the team, the punter has only way to contribute to the team, and that is to kick the ball where the special teams coach wants the ball to be kicked.   Sometimes long, sometimes shorter, sometimes to one sideline or the other, sometimes low with roll, sometimes with a reverse bounce.   

 

Punters have gotten very good at those skills, and that was not Bojo's strength.   Bojo had the ability to kick the ball high and long fairly consistently.   He isn't erratic like long punters used to be.   But Bojo wasn't very good at doing all those other things consistently.   

 

I think last season was Bojo's opportunity to show real development toward being a good control punter while continuing to be able to tap into the power he has.   In my opinion, he didn't make very much progress in that direction, so when Bojo said he'd prefer to be on the west coast, the Bills said "okay with us" and began looking for another punter.  

 

In the end, I don't think Bojo did consistently enough those things he was asked to do. If he did, the Bills would have worked harder to keep him. 

The only flaw in that logic is the way our offense is built. I don't expect our offense to get stuck between the 40's a lot where we're trying to pin them within the 10 yard line.  Fourth and five from the opponents 41 we should be going for it most of the time.  I'd rather have a kicker if we go three and out at our 25 can boom the ball to flip the field as much as possible.  Haack is just average in leg strength.