thebandit27

Exactly In order to carry on this thought process, we need to ignore virtually all of the relevant data

I'll add that they've also gashed some VERY good run defenses this year. Seattle, Arizona, Jax, and NE all rank in the top 9 in the NFL in YPC allowed. If we're going to calibrate the performance of the run game for strength of opponent, let's be thorough about it.

The Bills lead the NFL in RB yards before contact per carry (chart posted in this very thread); there's no debating whether or not the OL can handle theIt business in the run game. I'm glad you brought up the Pittsburgh game, as it's a perfect microcosm of the team's offensive limitations. The reason that game unfolded as it did was that Pittsburgh opened the game by throwing for 150 passing yards in the first 18 minutes, forcing Buffalo to back off their front 7. They then gashed us repeatedly with the run. In that same time period, Buffalo amasses a whopping -14 passing yards. If you can't back 'em off, they'll stack the line. Simple as that. As to Taylor, his time to throw was 3.03 in 2015--last in the NFL. It's about a tenth second slower this season--still last in the NFL.

This is ridiculous. The Bills' rushing game leads the NFL in nearly every statistical category. To call it anything other than dominating is simply wrong. Remove Tyrod Taylor's rushing stats, and they still lead the NFL in yards/carry (and you can keep your stuffy comment about "yards/carry" vs "yards/attempt"...you knew exactly what Kirby meant--and it IS called yards/carry. Yards/attempt is a passing statistic if you want to get stuffy about it...NFL.com simply calls it "Avg"). The reason many people fault Tyrod Taylor for sacks is because--get this--we watch the games. He has plenty of time in the pocket on most occasions, and often bails the pocket before he needs to. He doesn't throw with anticipation, and instead allows the pass rush to bear down on him. Are there times when receivers aren't open? Sure. Is it the majority of the time? No. So sayeth the All-22 we watch on a weekly basis. I also find it ridiculous that you build a strawman out of the yards/carry in the 2nd half of games. Who cares? The point of the post to which you're replying is that the team's run game is dominant...does that mean it somehow isn't? It seems that what you really disagree with is not whether or not the run game is dominant, but rather whether or not a dominant run game leads to wins. N'es pas? I have a better idea: if you think that the team's run game isn't dominant, why don't you present data that contradict that assertion as opposed to building phony straw man arguments and asking nebulous questions that cannot be quantified? The rushing numbers are clear: highest YPC, most yards, most TDs, 2nd-most 1st downs, most rushes of 20+ yards, most rushes of 40+ yards, and highest percentage of 1st downs achieved via rushes. Your move. #logicalfallacy

I'm not quite as sold on Wood's longevity as you are Paatt; I think he's probably got 2 years left in him if this run scheme is kept in place. Glenn is a solid LT and is under contract, so I'm happy at LT. Miller has come along nicely, but I don't know that he's going to go much further. His career arc is right as I expected: first-year starter who makes a big jump in year 2, but is probably at his ceiling soon after. Not that that's a bad thing, since they have him for 2 more seasons after 2016. We all agree that RT needs to be upgraded, and I'm totally fine if the plan is to play Kouandjio at LT and Glenn at RT next year. Glenn won't complain since he's already been paid, and can easily move back to LT after 2017, which leaves time to upgrade the RT spot by investing a mid-round pick in a guy that can develop. The spot that needs some future planning is Richie. I think he's been their least-effective interior lineman this year, a significant step back from 2015. It happens sometimes, but I would really like to see a guy get groomed to take over in 2018, when Richie's contract can be dumped with very little dead money.

The run blocking is very good for what they're asked to do. The pass blocking is adequate most of the time. Tyrod Taylor is 44th among NFL QBs in time-to-throw: http://www.nfl.com/stats/ngs/timetothrow That's got a LOT to do with why the team ranks 31st in sacks allowed and 24th in QB hits per pass attempt. An upgrade at RT would help significantly, but so too would a QB that is willing and able to get rid of the ball in under 3 seconds (which all but 1 other QB in the NFL this season--Landry Jones--is able to do).

I'm sure that some national paper will run with this, but in the context of the article, he didn't really say anything all that inflammatory.

I'll say again: there are only 2 reasons that a guy wouldn't play RT--(1) he wants to get paid like a LT, or (2) he can't play on that side (whether it's a physical limitation like his drive leg or he simply doesn't see the field as well from that perspective). 1 is not an issue with Glenn--he's already been paid, so if he can play RT better than Kouandjio can, then this is a no-brainer. Move Cordy to RT, play Cyrus at LT, and find a RT to develop during the 2017 season so that you can move Glenn back to LT in 2018 and play the new RT when Kouandjio leaves in FA (hopefully for LT money, which will then bring a high compensatory pick).

Well, for where they picked/played him, he'd need to be Terrell Suggs, and anything short of that would be a disappointment. My personal expectation as a comparable was Adrian Clayborn--a guy that would be at his best playing at various spots between 3T and 9T as long as he wasn't the primary focus of an opponent's pass protection. That said, I maintain that my pick would've been Myles Jack, because his upside is that of a once-in-ten-years type of LB.

I actually don't disagree with you guys. I don't think, however, that it makes sense to pick a player that you don't like simply to optimize positional value. I never would've drafted lynch because I didn't like him as a prospect.

One of the reasons I was happy when we drafted Shaq Lawson is that he was not Paxton Lynch

He looks exactly like I expected him to look after missing an entire offseason. He's struggling to maintain discipline when asked to keep contain on the edge, and he clearly isn't quite in football shape. That said, he is flashing on certain plays, and when he keeps his hands active, he's able to be disruptive up front. He's a total incomplete to me at this point, and I'll be very interested to see what happens with him this offseason.

In which game that he's played at LT have you been disappointed with his play?

Yes, he was. In the last 4 weeks, he's basically shut down all of Allen Robinson, Amari Cooper (save for a DPI), Antonio Brown, and Terelle Pryor. He's been excellent since the NE game. Actually he's had two (very) bad games this year; he's been outstanding the rest of the time.

People are going to flame me, but for about the 5th game in a row, Stephon Gilmore was one of the two best players on the field.

There's no reason not to move Cordy to RT if he can handle it. The only reason he wouldn't move is because he wants to get paid like a LT, which he's already done. If it gets your best 5 on the field, do it.

Absolutely. Just the same as how we can prove--for certain--that Facebook cancels out the cholesterol-lowering effect of Justin Bieber: http://inutrifit.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/justinbeiber.jpg

C'mon Rico, know your Star Wars. Based on the way you've opined for some time, Russ would have to be Bib Fortuna.

I'd sign up for it right now solely based upon nabbing Malachi Dupree in the 3rd Seriously though, I'd really like to get guys that can compete to start at WR, RT, and safety in rounds 1-3, so I like the position targets. Ideally, I'd like Davis or Williams at WR in R1, Dante Barnett in R2, and a nasty like my boy Bisnowaty in R3.

You shouldn't be curious; I've stated my opinion ad nauseum. If you want to take issue with the job that Russ has done as President of the team, start with his decision to hire/promote Whaley--that's the biggest personnel-related impact that he's had on the team. And for the record, I'm on the fence with regard to Whaley.

That's kind of like saying "it is what it is"...totally meaningless.

Absolutely. If you don't think that Whaley has done a good enough job, that's on Russ. 100%. Myself, I'm on the fence right now. That's a really tough question to answer (which means it's a good one--well done). On one hand, I do think that--organizationally--the ideology should be that QB is the highest priority. That said, I also believe very strongly that someone in Russ's position should allow the personnel people to do their jobs. If forced to say one way or another, I would like to think that he'd pick his GM on the basis of a team-building philosophy that places the utmost importance on finding a QB. Agreed 100%. I think the decision to promote Whaley was an attempt to have their "welcome to today's NFL" moment--it hasn't exactly worked thus far.

And do you have any reason to suspect that Russ had anything to do with that, especially considering that Butler allowed Russ to tag along and taught him the business side of things?

Ah, so all you have to do is declare youself "the winner", purposely miss the point of the post, and it proves you correct? How about take a second and consider that correlation does not equal causation, or is that asking too much? It's really, really, really simple: 90% of the discussions that attempt to find out why the team hasn't made the playoffs in 17 years wouldn't happen if they had a QB. They don't have a QB because they have failed to identify the right prospects and/or invest the right assets to get them. That falls on the personnel dept. If you want to bash Russ, bash him for what he's actually done, like deferring personnel decisions to guys like Modrak and Guy when he was GM-in-title, or hiring Whaley, or promoting Whaley to GM. Those are tangible decisions that we don't have to speculate upon. Drawing abstract, baseless conclusions such as "well, he got here then, and we suddenly stopped making the playoffs permanently" is sloppy and incongruent with any of the tangible talking points.

Explain how a teeny bopper musician who doesn't have any medical training ends up being the sole solution to high cholesterol. Then please explain why the advent of social media then somehow renders his serum-controlling presence moot. There's no earthly explanation, so how does that happen? Answer the above, and you'll (hopefully) discover the answers to your own questions.