Our offensive depth is so good that players are playing in ideal positions

[Chandler#81]

10 hours ago, dwight in philly said:

Kromer is a difference maker..

Agreed, I hope we can keep him.

[GunnerBill]

5 hours ago, Mikie2times said:

So our inability to advance past a certain round for several years or the Patriots and Chiefs ability to consistently do so is just randomness? It shouldn’t matter how a team does in the playoffs when evaluating the best team? 

Maybe actual difference makers become more important come playoff time and maybe as nice as “The Process” sounds it doesn’t create difference makers? 

 

I mean it is both of those. There is more randomness than most fans like to admit. But you are absolutely right that the way to reduce the variance is to have as many elite difference makers as possible and the Bills haven't had enough of them around Allen. Some of that is on their talent evaluation and acquisition and on Beane and to an extent McDermott, some of it is bad luck. Lost their only elite defensive player (Tre White) in 2021 before the playoffs. Brought Von Miller in to be that difference maker in 2022 and lost him before the playoffs that year too. I do think their roster building plan has over emphasised depth and competition at the expense of difference makers though. I think they are trying to pivot on that but we will need to see this roster re-set go into years 2 and 3 to know whether it is successful.

Edited Wednesday at 10:20 AM by GunnerBill

[BuffaloBill]

14 hours ago, BearNorth said:

The best weapon we have is at QB.  He raises the level of everyone on the field with him, and he has reduced his giveaways by an order of magnitude.

 

 

This^^^^^^

[WotAGuy]

13 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

But the point is, we don't really understand what these guys can do and can't do; McDermott and his staff are good at that evaluation. 

 

How we all felt about Bernard going into 2023 is another example. Receiver by committee is another. 

I’m sorry, but we - the anonymous of a message board - clearly know more than the coaches.
Proof?  I read it here every day. We taunt McClappy and fart in his general direction. 

[Nephilim17]

4 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

I think they are trying to pivot on that but we will need to see this roster re-set go into years 2 and 3 to know whether it is successful.

Very interesting. What signs do you see that they want to change their strategy this way? And happy new year across the pond!

[SoonerBillsFan]

18 hours ago, BillsFan619 said:

Me and @NewEra started a good convo in the “Ty Johnson wife’s sign” thread that I thought would be a good thread on its own.

 

NewEra said, “Our depth at the (RB) position is fierce. As is WR, TE and OL…while we may be lacking top tier talent across the board, our offensive depth is impressive.  Beating KC without our last 2 1st rd picks,  both playmakers, is a testament to that.”

I said “We have such good to really good offensive players that it allows each player to play in the number role (ie- TE2, WR3, RB1) that they’ll do best in, be most effective in and be most dangerous in. We have it with Kincaid and Knox. We have it with our WRs, which was one reason I’m so glad we got Cooper. And, we have it with our RBs as well.”

 

Gabe Davis is a great example of this in a previous offense. He was a great WR3, but then struggled to become a great WR2 after (he wasn’t a bad WR2).

 

This year though, we have it at every weapon position: WR, TE and RB. This is one reason our offense is so dangerous and playoff ready.

 

Props to Beane and McD especially with what they had to work with cap-wise. Bring on the playoffs!

 

Go Bills!

I agree, but we are still lacking a stud pass rusher.  Maybe this offseason.

[finn]

4 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

 There is more randomness than most fans like to admit. 

Amen to this, although I think the word "realize" may be more accurate than "admit"; that's how deep goes our collective delusion goes, one amplified by the loudest commentators in the media. For example, it's more likely randomness more than some ineffable winning quality that contributed to KC's near-perfect record this year--and their playoff run last year, when the Ravens or Bills could just as easily gone to the Super Bowl instead. Once you winnow the field to the elite teams, it's pretty much a coin flip from there on. Yet some part of us wants to bestow superlatives on the winners and pejoratives on the losers, as if the outcome were inevitable from the start, the winner always being winners and the losers always losers, with randomness and plain old probability dismissed outright, if considered at all. 

[GunnerBill]

25 minutes ago, Nephilim17 said:

Very interesting. What signs do you see that they want to change their strategy this way? And happy new year across the pond!

 

Thanks. Happy New Year. I think the qay they approached the depth at OL this year. They kept all the potential high ceilings and let the safe, solid, vets go. Might have been cap driven but it was noteworthy I think given previously they have valued that experienced depth. 

[NewEra]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I mean it is both of those. There is more randomness than most fans like to admit. But you are absolutely right that the way to reduce the variance is to have as many elite difference makers as possible and the Bills haven't had enough of them around Allen. Some of that is on their talent evaluation and acquisition and on Beane and to an extent McDermott, some of it is bad luck. Lost their only elite defensive player (Tre White) in 2021 before the playoffs. Brought Von Miller in to be that difference maker in 2022 and lost him before the playoffs that year too. I do think their roster building plan has over emphasised depth and competition at the expense of difference makers though. I think they are trying to pivot on that but we will need to see this roster re-set go into years 2 and 3 to know whether it is successful.

We have a winner!

[Utah John]

This season has worked for the first time the way Beane wants the roster to be built.  Except for QB, I don't expect any Bills to get post-season honors, although Taron Johnson and maybe one of the OTs could make a case.  But like all the other top players on the team, he's not a superstar.  The Bills are built to have A to A minus starters (no A plus or better, except at QB) and a depth roster with younger players on their rookie contracts, who are learning and will be able to step in.  A plus players cost too much, and the delta between what an A player brings and what an A plus player brings, is not worth the delta in what they both cost.  Also all those A to A minus players bond together since no one has a prima dona mentality.  

 

Beane broke his system when he brought in Von Miller, and it might have worked out except for the injury.  Also trading for Amari Cooper was an unBeane move, but it was worth it because Cooper was cheap in terms of dollars, not bad for a rental.  We'll miss that 3rd rounder though.  Cooper isn't getting targeted because he's drawing defenders to him, and the other receivers and backs are the beneficiaries.

 

It was clear from the start of the McBeane tenure that these two are building a dynasty, a team that can win season after season even if players are injured or lost as FAs, or just let go when their rookie contracts expire.  (The players know what's going on and they're OK because they see how well former Bills get paid by other teams.)

[Since1981]

The two Jets “jump balls” for TD to Coleman and Cooper—these were 14 points. A year ago, one or both of those could/would have been dropped or even an INT in 2023

Edited Wednesday at 04:07 PM by Since1981

[kitchen sink]

I have been so confused on the Bills this year. 

 

I mean Coach McDermott and GM Brandon Bean actually know their team better than all the NFL talking heads?

 

How can this be? 🤣

[3rdand12]

4 hours ago, BuffaloBill said:

 

 

This^^^^^^

Well that was never in question !

 

[Since1981]

The only way to prevent 17 from running over people and killing himself— is to stop the temptation at the root with a better OL/TE. That’s the Beane/Allen/McD strategy is now in focus. 

[Don Otreply]

13 hours ago, klos63 said:

2nd best weapon is our oline. We have 3 RB's that are very effective and Allen has so much time to throw.  One big reason for the reduced giveaways is the time he has to find an open receiver. 

IMO, can’t say enough about our O-Line room, every play’s runs through that unit, outside of Allen at QB it is the most important room on the offense. 

[Utah John]

An O line is a unit of five men, and its success depends on all five working together.  The Bills O line doesn't have any players who are best in the league at their position, but they have an extremely strong combined unit.  And, all the backups have the opportunity to learn from the starters, and be ready to step in and be another link in the chain.  

 

Kromer gets and deserves a lot of credit, but so do Beane and McDermott, for finding and keeping the five guys who work together the best.  It's taken years to get here.   Think of all the players who've cycled through the Bills, and then been discarded before going on to good contracts elsewhere.  There must be a dozen former Bills starting on O lines around the league.  The only bad miss was trading away Wyatt Teller before the Bills realized his real potential.  You can tell McBeane are happy with the current roster by the lack of changes over the past two years.  They've got a very strong O line and have the luxury of grooming replacements.

 

Would you take Penei Sewell (and his contract) over Spencer Brown, and his contract?  Sewell might be a little better but I have no complaints at all about Brown, and the extra dollars that would be needed to have Sewell would detract from somewhere else.  The Bills have it figured out.

 

PFF says the Bills have the third best O line in the NFL.  I can live with that.

[Since1981]

7 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

Kromer is a difference maker..

His pay is not part of the salary cap. 
pegs can pay him more than market!

[Utah John]

11 hours ago, Mikie2times said:

So our inability to advance past a certain round for several years or the Patriots and Chiefs ability to consistently do so is just randomness? It shouldn’t matter how a team does in the playoffs when evaluating the best team? 

Maybe actual difference makers become more important come playoff time and maybe as nice as “The Process” sounds it doesn’t create difference makers? 

The "difference makers" get paid a ton more than the guys "the system" puts out across the board.  Nick Bosa is on a five year, $175,000,000 contract with most of that guaranteed.  Yeah, when he's healthy, he's better than anyone the Bills have.  But the dollars it would take to have someone like Bosa would mean less capability at other positions.  We now have really good depth at all offensive positions, and only really need to rebuild starters and depth in the defensive backfield.  Teams with a couple of difference makers have serious holes at other positions, and when the difference maker is injured, the entire team feels the impact.

[Dukestreetking]

14 hours ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

Is Doyle still actually on the team?? LOL  Thought he was let go with an injury settlement or something??  I noticed it on Allens X-Mas gift, first time I'd seen his name mentioned in months. 

 

Nice catch Ed; damn good eye. I believe he was put on PUP before season.

 

Anyway, I think it's pretty cool that the OL boys included him on the medallion. Maybe says something re team cohesiveness/culture...but what the hell do I know.

 

[Dan]

8 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I mean it is both of those. There is more randomness than most fans like to admit. But you are absolutely right that the way to reduce the variance is to have as many elite difference makers as possible and the Bills haven't had enough of them around Allen. Some of that is on their talent evaluation and acquisition and on Beane and to an extent McDermott, some of it is bad luck. Lost their only elite defensive player (Tre White) in 2021 before the playoffs. Brought Von Miller in to be that difference maker in 2022 and lost him before the playoffs that year too. I do think their roster building plan has over emphasised depth and competition at the expense of difference makers though. I think they are trying to pivot on that but we will need to see this roster re-set go into years 2 and 3 to know whether it is successful.

I love the way the’ve built the roster on offense. It's worked! I think they tried a similar approach on defense but keep missing that key player. They wanted it to be Von... He got injured. Then Milano... Injured. Ed Oliver? He's inconsistent and to easily neutralized.  Without that one key difference maker on defense, we end up with a very good defense with a lot of good players. But noone that can step up and take over a game when it 's needed.