All_Pro_Bills

This is just the opinion of a 'draft expert' and his assessment of the team's picks is more or less determined by looking at who they picked against his personal rankings. You pick a lot of players he ranked high you get a high grade. You pick players he ranked low you get a low grade. Take it for what its worth. But I recall many times the Bills drafts have been rated poor and there'd be lots of protests about 'what do they know'. And looking back most of those drafts were very bad. Last year most said the Bills did well and I think that was correct looking back at last season. So for me personally, if Mel gives us a 'A' for once in my lifetime I'll take it and be happy. Top this off with the Sabres actually winning the draft lottery and we could look back on this weekend as the turning point for Buffalo's major league franchises.

Very true. There's some anti-Bills bias in the media. By all indications Allen has the physical traits and intelligence to succeed. No doubt there's work to be done but the potential is sky-high and if reached this pick will transform the Bills into a dominant franchise for a decade. My take is wait and see until they get a couple rookie and mini-camp sessions complete when we'll get some pro level looks. Will he excell, struggle, look average?

As a Bills fan I don't really care what QB they pick. I'm sure the pundits will rave all night about whomever it is but if they didn't trade Garoppolo for a 2nd they'd be set. Major strategic blunder. I rest easy knowing that no matter who it is it's a 100% certainty it will be a downgrade from Brady. A once in a life time player. And the big edge they've had at QB for all these years will soon be gone. IMO, the odds of them stepping in crap again and lucking out with another late round steal like TB are slim to none.

Absolutely. EJ was aiming or guiding the ball like a guy learning to play darts. And given his resume I never understood why the Bills would ever consider him worthy of a 1st round selection. I get the Allen pick. Allen throws with velocity. Some like Allen, some don't, some would rather have Rosen. But the guy has talent and a lot more potential to be very good. The question is can he transform that potential to results on the field?

I think basic accuracy is a matter of hand-eye coordination. Pitching, archery, target shooting, billiards, horseshoes, quarterbacking. I also think its a genetic trait and not something that can be learned. Either you have it or you don't. But as you say there are other variables. Play selection, degree of difficultly, pressure/no pressure situations, quality of receivers, etc. Things that can be managed or controlled to some degree by play selection, coaching, the surrounding cast of players. In those situations maybe Allen is highly accurate or maybe he's not but we'll soon find out.

Opinions run the spectrum here and the only thing that will resolve the debate is going to be actual playing time under center in NFL game situations. We may or may not see a lot of that with Allen this year. But if Bills fans are upset at the pick what about Browns and Jets? Their GM's also passed on the "most NFL ready QB" at picks 1 and 3. All three front offices and coaching staffs put in countless hours of effort checking these guys inside-out. So what do fans see that 3 teams of professionals do not? Personally I would have taken Rosen too but my knowledge is limited to him passing the eye test. I watched a couple UCLA games and saw some highlight films. Never spoke to him, or his coaches, or anyone with direct knowledge about the guy.

I was thinking the same thing. If NE picks Rudolph everybody is go say they did a great job and made a smart pick, probably getting the best pocket passer available in the draft. If the Bills pick him its going to be a reach. I haven't heard a thing in the football world about what a strategic blunder it was to trade Garoppolo to SF for a 2nd rounder. They idea I guess was the pick would be at the top of the round and it would be like a late 1st rounder. The plan backfired when he started and ran up 5 straight wins to close out the season. They had their successor and outsmarted themselves. Whoever the Patriots pick I rest easy knowing its 100% certain that he's not going to be as productive as Brady and that team's dominance over the Bills because of the huge advantage behind center is no longer the big edge. As for the Bills, the problem is you just don't know how all these guys are going to translate to the NFL. I trust Beane knows his stuff, has done his homework, and is prepared for whatever scenarios unfold and will make the best pick given the circumstances. I'm no expert at college QB's and I've seen all these guys play a game or two and in my view they all have flaws. Its a question of what they are, can you live with them, and are they correctable?

The Jets deal was just the best scenario for the Colts. They don't need a QB assuming Luck returns and plays as he did previously. Taking the Jets offer gives them options that taking the Bills offer did not. If all 4 QB's go in the top 5 picks (Browns, Giants, Jet, Broncos) then the Colts potentially have their choice of Chub or Barkley or a top position player of their choosing and 3 2nd round picks (4,5, and 17 in rd 2). If 1 or more of the QB's falls to 6 they can still trade out of that pick with the Bills or some other team and acquire even more picks in 2018 or 2019. Taking the Bills offer of 3 for 12, 22, and some other picks would mean they were likely done gathering picks unless a specific player dropped and some team wanted to move up a couple slots on draft night. It didn't matter what Beane had to offer for #3 in rd 1 since it could not match any multiple trade back situation scenarios the Colts find themselves in going into the draft.

I feel pretty optimistic going into the free agency and draft period for the first time in a long time. I have faith in this management and coaching group to identify and address specific roster needs while managing the cap better than previous regimes. This time it just looks and feels different. Making the playoffs was the result of a series of fortunate events topped off by the Bengals stunning 4th down play. I'm glad the drought is over and its one piece of baggage we no longer have to carry around.

Maybe nobody else see's it this way but I'll offer a slightly different perspective on the hit that knocked Gronkowski out of the game. I think taking him out of the game actually aided their comeback. It required Brady to change his reads and progression and look elsewhere for a receiver. Jacksonville had the big TE more or less under control to that point. They practiced all week to focus on taking away Gronk. Now with him gone the defense needed to adjust their coverage to other receivers, alter their secondary calls, they didn't seem prepared, and they didn't do a good job. It's obvious the Patriots lead a charmed life. Hope I'm wrong and I hate to say it but I see no way the Eagles are going to win the SB. Throwing 38-21 out there.

I hope the moral of the story is nobody will be talking about the 'music city miracle illegal forward pass' any longer. Thank you Saints.

That was the longest 1 second ever. it was almost like time travel. Maybe the NFL needs to do what the NHL does with using off ice officials from other cities? As for the on-field officials there is certainly a bias at play and for some reason the officials seems to be intimidated or afraid to call the game straight with Brady/Belichik. After seeing this I decided the Saints are the only team that might beat them. I expect the Vikings would crap the bed as the 'home' SB teams and the Eagles w/o Wentz are not the same team. NE has had the Steelers number for quite some time, they don't match up well on defense against Brady, and why expect anything to change next Sunday? Jags have no offense. Brees might be the only QB left that can put up enough points and the Saints defense has been good lately too.

Absolutely spot on. I'd wager if the Bills 'hit' on the draft and free agency on the offensive side of the ball Dennison's play calling is going to look a lot better. But that won't necessarily mean he's a good OC. Not being in the room with management and the coaches I don't have a real good idea on that. All I see is what happens on Sunday. What I see is an offense that was mostly ineffective with a few bright spots throughout the season. Checking scoring I found it amazing the Bills offense did not score a 3rd quarter TD in the last 9 games and only 3 in the 4th (plus 1 in OT against the Colts) which came during garbage time in routs by the Saints and Chargers. To some extent systems and processes are overrated because you also need talent to make them work. There's a balance to be found and its not there right now. An infusion of talent is needed and then likely better use of them by the OC..

Absolutely to me the most critical mistake the Bills made all game given the time left, field position, and score. It took the Bills 27 seconds to snap the ball rather than having the situational awareness to hurry up, line up, and run a play. I thought it was over after that.

I guess it depends on how you define success. To me, making the playoffs and taking many steps in the right direction to put a competitive team on the field is success. Sure there's only ultimately one winner so I suppose by your definition the super bowl loser should be viewed the same as the Browns at 0 and 16. The Bills need an infusion of talent to go deep in the playoffs and still had opportunities in this game to move on. That says a lot for the effort and what could be a solid foundation. Upgrades on D in the front-7, O line, maybe another WR and RB, and of course QB. A lot of complaints about Dennision's play calls so we'll see on that.

Who is Colin Cowherd?

We get at least one playoff game, something only the most optimistic among us could have expected. They're playing with house money here. Let's just enjoy it and save the over-analyzing for later.

I actually feel pretty good at how the year went for the Bills on and off the field. The way I'm looking at it, win or lose today along with the outcome of the 3 other games impacting the AFC wild cards, the ending of this season is far and away better than last year. A playoff spot would be great and not getting it would be disappointing but for the first time in a long time entering the off season this team looks like its headed in the right direction. Now if the Sabres can turn it around the rest of winter/early spring might get more interesting.

I don't think its fixed but I do believe the officials are influenced in the way they call the game by certain teams and certain players. Star power. From what I see all sport leagues 'protect' their star players and headline franchises. Jordan never got called for traveling, Crosby gets away with anything, in baseball the size and location of the strike zone shifts depending on who is pitching, and in the NFL hit Brady a millisecond after the balls gone and its an automatic 15 along or you see Tom glaring at the ref from the ground or in his face if no call is made. PI, holding, possession calls, judged by shifting and different standards. Be honest, with the Benjamin play do you think if it was the Patriots that scored the very same way the replay process would have reversed that call? Absolutely no way! I can understand the argument that all's fair and equal and all this fixed and influenced discussion is just sour grapes and maybe a case of a sore loser. Maybe that's all there is to it. But the fair argument to me is like a parent who insists they treat all their kids fair and equal but the kids know better. Mom and dad refuse to believe it and say you are wrong that your sister gets away with everything and you don't.

There were two problems with this call. The replay office in NY overruled the officials on the field which called it a catch and TD. I thought replay showed it was a catch, control of the football and 2 feet down on the field of play and that evidence to reverse the call was inconclusive at best or non-existent. But they reversed the call. The second point is the real issue I have with the officiating. If the roles were reversed. the teams changed uniforms, all other things being equal, and the Patriots came down and scored a TD with 2 seconds in the half is there anyone alive watching NFL football right now that doesn't believe they would have confirmed the ruling and awarding NE the TD? I don't think the refs are paid off or told to officiate the games in favor of NE but there is definitely some serious level of intimidation and coercion going on here. Getting fortuitous calls, and non-calls like never, ever getting holding on the o-line, from the ref's time after time cannot just be a coincidence.

I really think PI needs to be changed from a spot foul to a 10 yard penalty. The current rule gives the officials too much power to decide the outcome of the game on what is obviously a judgment call that is applied in a totally inconsistent manner. With some teams mysteriously being on the right side of the calls all the time, getting the calls and not getting called. It seems lIke part of the playbook of some teams to 'draw' these fouls by chucking the ball downfield instead of something that happens as a result of the play, gaming the rules. Brady certainly does this and to their credit it works. As for plays that decided the game 15 yard sack, Clay's drop, bogus replay, and missed FG from 50 were it for me.

I'd say the Bengals game but you can balance that out by the win over Atlanta when that team was in a funk. I expect Baltimore to win this week, Tennessee to lose to the Rams, and the Jet to beat the Chargers at home. I hope the Bills put up a good fight against the Patriots but unless something unexpected happens, like Brady get carted off in the 1st quarter, they will likely come up short. That should set up a win and in against Miami.

The thing is its no secret what NE does on offense. They've been doing pretty much the same thing for 15 years with a few exceptions like the Ravens and the Giants in the SB games few teams have had any success. Certainly the Bills have not. You'd think after 15 years of watching your defense get run over twice a year one of the many regimes they've had would devise an effective defensive strategy and identify and acquire the necessary defensive personnel to run it. But nothing. From his first encounter with NE I get the feeling that McDermott has a pretty good handle on what it will take but at this point the Bills personnel doesn't match up well with that. Sure you need to get pressure up the middle on Brady. To me that means lining up big athletic DT's inside the guards over the center and having the DE's take an inside rush rather than get pushed around the pocket as you see all the time. And when bringing the blitz right up the middle. Force Brady off his spot, Of course since he reads 'D' well this leaves you exposed outside to run or pass action and in the middle of the field so you need fast and instinctive linebackers that can read and cover a lot of ground which the Bills don't have yet. My concern next week is the offense. The defense for its lack of match-up did a decent job against NE in the 1st game holding Brady to 3 1st half FG's and the 2 TD's in the 2nd half. It was the offense that did close to nothing.

Watching the play and the replay the blow to White's head was an obvious intent to injure. If that criteria doesn't warrant some kind of fine or suspension then what does? But through some warped logic from the officials the Bills were the team penalized for 15 yards on that play and he wasn't ejected. I'm pretty sure the league will take no action. Just amazing. Now when one of the Bills DB's blows out Gronk's knee with a low hit in the rematch you can bet it will be a different story from the league office.

A simple definition of a 'process' is a series of steps or actions that do something. In this case the process should be to build a championship caliber professional football team. So every action taken to this point by the organization should be part of the plan and not some one-off move. Ex., moving Darius should have been something on the checklist that was decided during the 'getting to know you' time before the season and when the opportunity came to make the trade with the Jags they executed that step. I expect that acquiring a QB to run the offensive should also be a step although its tough for me to see what it is at this point. As there are so few great QB's available I suspect they are in lock down mode when it comes to showing their hand. Professionally, I've worked on many large process changes and cultural transformations. Most of them make sense but very few are entirely successful. I think for a several reasons. The first is expectations and over-promising. These things take time but everyone gets impatient and wants instant results. Executives and stakeholders want to see those big cost savings and quality improvements. So they start measuring everything and driving behavior contrary to the plan. In the case of pro-ball it would be owner meddling to soon. And from a capability perspective either you know what your doing or you don't know what you are doing. A process doesn't make people smarter or more talented. Also most culture changes require a large turnover of personnel in an organization. In this case the 45 man roster. People know this and how motivated can they be expected to be knowing they are going to be replaced regardless of them 'buying in'? From my observations most cultural transformations fail because rather than adopting the new culture you get imitation of the culture and not the real thing. Based on what I've seen to this point I feel Beane and McDermott are going in the right direction while acknowledging a few gaffs along the way. Clearly we're in the turmoil phase of the transition. How they handle it is going to be important to adoption of the process. Admitting to the mistakes and doing some minor course corrections would be the best way to handle it now after 3 blowouts.