THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - On Scapegoats and Five and Five

[CincyBillsFan]

8 hours ago, EasternOHBillsFan said:

 

The experts hammer these points home a LOT, so you are wrong.

-The Bills don't commit to the running game

-The Bills don't have an offensive identity

-The Bills don't consistently allow offensive flow

-The Bills have a problem with Gabe Davis continuously not getting any separation

 

Gabe Davis has been exposed and now many experts are wondering why the Bills didn't trade for a WR. It's a serious problem now because he was exposed on Monday night, and since McD will easily bench Cook but not Davis, alarm bells should be ringing.

 

STOP putting this primarily on Josh Allen and saying a majority of experts say so, it's really embarrassing.

And among the top teams that are viable SB contenders and have elite, franchise QB's in place the Bills have had and continue to have the worst Offensive Line of the lot of them.  Allen's play over the years has hid just how bad our O line has been. 

[Shaw66]

3 minutes ago, CincyBillsFan said:

 The Bills have refused to commit high end draft choices and FA signings to the O line and we're seeing the result.  The Bills have also failed to invest properly in high end skill position players. 

 

Just not true.  They signed a good free agent guard, and they spent a second-round pick on another.  They signed Morse.  They draft Kincaid in the first round and Cook in the second.  

 

All the more reason to believe that Dorsey WAS the primary problem.  There's talent up and down the offensive lineup, and it's talent that's produced in the past.  Over the past two years, there's been a steady increase in talent, and the offense has declined.  The one change that took place that accounts for this is the change in the offensive coordinator. 

[EasternOHBillsFan]

1 minute ago, CincyBillsFan said:

And among the top teams that are viable SB contenders and have elite, franchise QB's in place the Bills have had and continue to have the worst Offensive Line of the lot of them.  Allen's play over the years has hid just how bad our O line has been. 

 

I saw that this is the first time in YEARS that the Bills have had the same starting offensive line for 10 weeks in a row to start the season. I have been very impressed by the blocking as compared to what we have gotten before under Josh, and not seeing our full potential be realized is VERY disappointing... you can see it can be better, but Dorsey just was NOT the guy to make it happen.

[GoBills808]

7 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

...Reid and Mahomes connecting personally is more important than Reid calling plays for Mahomes.  

you cannot honestly believe this

[CincyBillsFan]

4 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

 

Just not true.  They signed a good free agent guard, and they spent a second-round pick on another.  They signed Morse.  They draft Kincaid in the first round and Cook in the second.  

 

All the more reason to believe that Dorsey WAS the primary problem.  There's talent up and down the offensive lineup, and it's talent that's produced in the past.  Over the past two years, there's been a steady increase in talent, and the offense has declined.  The one change that took place that accounts for this is the change in the offensive coordinator. 

I disagree.  Those were not high level FA signings:

 

*  Morse is probably the closest thing to an aggressive FA O line signing but he was not an elite center when they signed him and he had major concussion issues whch thankfully he has avoided since being with the Bills.  But yea, this was an attempt back in 2019 to shore up what may have been the worst O line in the NFL.

 

*  McGovern was a clever under the radar signing but again he was no where near being an elite Guard. He was a back up and continued the Bean/McD tradition of signing guys on a hope & prayer.  Last season Safold was a similar signing and was rated as the worst starting guard in the NFL. 

 

I agree that this season the Bills finally tried to correct their 5 year strategic mistake of prioritizing the D over the O and actually focus high end draft picks on the offense.  And while both Kincaid & Torrence look like they'll be top end players for years to come their impact this year is muted as they work through their rookie seasons.

 

But look at the Bills #1 picks over McD/Bean's time as coach.  From 2017 to 2022 the Bills had 7 #1 picks in 6 drafts.  They used 5 of those picks on defensive players and 2 (Allen & the trade for Diggs) on the offense.  Sure this last draft they seem to be changing direction but it's hard not to think that with respect to the 2023 season it was a little to late.

 

And I disagree about a steady increase in talent for the offense.  Last year's O line with the addition of Safold was one of the worst in the NFL.  Sure it's better this year but that's hardly a steady improvement.  It's more hit or miss. I like the fire in Spenser Brown but a 3rd round development project from Northern Iowa at RT?  Again a hope and prayer on the O line.

 

 I also think that the Bills WR's were better in 2020 & 2021 then they are today.  Brown & Beasley and to some extent Sanders complimented Diggs better then the current crop do.  Ditto for RB where it's hard to argue that Cook, Harris & Murry are really an upgrade to Moss & Motor.  And yes I think Cook is on the rise and could blossom into a great RB as long as McD doesn't snuff out the guys passion with his unprofessional benching of the man for a mistake.

 

I'll get off my soap box for now. I love your reviews and as always they stimulate excellent followup discussions.

 

 

 

 

[Shaw66]

1 hour ago, CincyBillsFan said:

I disagree.  Those were not high level FA signings:

 

*  Morse is probably the closest thing to an aggressive FA O line signing but he was not an elite center when they signed him and he had major concussion issues whch thankfully he has avoided since being with the Bills.  But yea, this was an attempt back in 2019 to shore up what may have been the worst O line in the NFL.

 

*  McGovern was a clever under the radar signing but again he was no where near being an elite Guard. He was a back up and continued the Bean/McD tradition of signing guys on a hope & prayer.  Last season Safold was a similar signing and was rated as the worst starting guard in the NFL. 

 

I agree that this season the Bills finally tried to correct their 5 year strategic mistake of prioritizing the D over the O and actually focus high end draft picks on the offense.  And while both Kincaid & Torrence look like they'll be top end players for years to come their impact this year is muted as they work through their rookie seasons.

 

But look at the Bills #1 picks over McD/Bean's time as coach.  From 2017 to 2022 the Bills had 7 #1 picks in 6 drafts.  They used 5 of those picks on defensive players and 2 (Allen & the trade for Diggs) on the offense.  Sure this last draft they seem to be changing direction but it's hard not to think that with respect to the 2023 season it was a little to late.

 

And I disagree about a steady increase in talent for the offense.  Last year's O line with the addition of Safold was one of the worst in the NFL.  Sure it's better this year but that's hardly a steady improvement.  It's more hit or miss. I like the fire in Spenser Brown but a 3rd round development project from Northern Iowa at RT?  Again a hope and prayer on the O line.

 

 I also think that the Bills WR's were better in 2020 & 2021 then they are today.  Brown & Beasley and to some extent Sanders complimented Diggs better then the current crop do.  Ditto for RB where it's hard to argue that Cook, Harris & Murry are really an upgrade to Moss & Motor.  And yes I think Cook is on the rise and could blossom into a great RB as long as McD doesn't snuff out the guys passion with his unprofessional benching of the man for a mistake.

 

I'll get off my soap box for now. I love your reviews and as always they stimulate excellent followup discussions.

 

 

 

 

Thanks.  I love the discussions.  

 

I want to respond only because we get this John Brown stuff all the time, and I think it's nonsense.  He played for 8 teams in 9 seasons, and he stuck with none of them because he was a lousy route runner and an inconsistent ball catcher.   Every team that ever had Brown decided they had to replace him.   

 

He had 1000 yards one season with the Bills, in Josh's early years when teams were letting Josh throw deep a lot.  This off-season a lot of posters were making a lot of noise about Gabe Davis's 50% catch rate.  Well, when Brown had a thousand yards, his catch rate was 63%, nothing to write home about.  

 

He made an occasional spectacular play, but in the end he wasn't any more valuable than Davis.  Davis has played half as many games, has half as many yards and receptions, much more than half as many touchdowns, and their catch percentages are identical.  

 

John Brown is a myth. 

[Saxum]

8 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

 

Just not true.  They signed a good free agent guard, and they spent a second-round pick on another.  They signed Morse.  They draft Kincaid in the first round and Cook in the second.  

 

All the more reason to believe that Dorsey WAS the primary problem.  There's talent up and down the offensive lineup, and it's talent that's produced in the past.  Over the past two years, there's been a steady increase in talent, and the offense has declined.  The one change that took place that accounts for this is the change in the offensive coordinator. 

 

Remember: discard facts which do not support your agenda.

[boater]

On 11/15/2023 at 6:51 PM, Shaw66 said:

...I'll take the future career of the fifth-winningest coach (%) among all active NFL coaches, behind, LaFleur, Belichick, Reid, and Tomlin and ahead of McCarthy, Harbaugh, Carroll, and McVay.  (Oh, and total wins among active coaches?  He's ninth, ahead of McVay, Shanahan, Vrabel, and Lafleur.)...

A nice balanced write up.

 

Though the quoted part won't win you a lot of friends amongst the legions of anti-McDermott bullies around here.

[EasternOHBillsFan]

9 hours ago, Limeaid said:

 

Remember: discard facts which do not support your agenda.

 

Sounds like you offer nothing in response and just want to hammer someone. Got some sort of intelligent response or just a hammer?