BADOLBILZ

I will say this about Groot.......if the question is who has been the best Bills player the last 2 years who is not Josh Allen, the answer is Groot. He's really, really good. The standard for a DE for the franchise with the NFL's all-time sack leader is pretty high though.

Probably not, IMO. Because there is at least still a statistically legitimate argument to be made that they are too young to be "expected" to be a playoff team. By stacking young players instead of building a team properly they've created an abundance of young, dumb players and they seem to be at a point where they don't know what it takes and don't yet care enough about their legacies/careers to work hard enough to overcome their lack of know how. To me the most memorable aspect of the Bills "drought" was watching one GM after the next drafting another 20 year old underclassmen onto their rudderless ship and wondering why nothing ever changed despite some of those guys being great talents. When they finally made the playoffs it was with one of the oldest teams in the league. At some point you probably need a bunch of very good veteran leaders if you are going to break a losing culture.

I chose Benford. Rousseau next. Premium positions and both rank in the top 15. Spencer Brown is having a good year but is underrated because analytics don't take into account what having a bully like that does to help an offense. He could be a surprise All Pro. Brown is more likely than Rousseau or Benford where there are more generally accepted statistical measures. Dawkins would be next, IMO. Aside from Allen, Shakir has been their best offensive skill player, IMO. He's been as expected, IMO. There isn't a complete surprise breakout star like Bernard was last year when he had a splash play season for the ages.

I think it's pretty clear that the players don't have much(if any) respect for Terry Pegula. The fact that he thought a speech from HIM about anything would make a positive difference underscores how clueless he is about how they perceive him and his stewardship. He's literally the one constant in the 14 years of failure. These are young men. By nature they are just as prone to buying completely into narratives to explain their roles in failure as they are to being coaxed into playing better by charismatic leadership. Terry Pegula is the losingest owner in the history of the NHL. At a point it no longer matters if you are well intentioned or if the players think you are a pleasant old fart. No respect, no buy-in.

Oklahoma State hasn't had a team capable of winning a national championship since the 1940's when they beat that powerhouse St Mary and were retroactively awarded a title 70 years later.😂 The team you are talking about didn't beat a team that finished anywhere near the playoff field in the rankings. And they lost to Iowa State and Baylor in the same season! OK State and the teams that beat them were not programs that could realistically be expected to beat an SEC team in a playoff format. The fact that you are in denial about it underscores my point. That was a season where Georgia and Alabama totally embarrassed their opponents in the playoff. Which is kinda' how the 4 team playoff usually went pre-NIL. This is among the reasons why NIL and the transfer portal are good things. The elite programs are still very good but the talent has become better distributed. There are more teams with a chance now.........which makes a 12 team playoff possible. And the fact that the non-playoff teams have a little recruiting edge in the portal is what a pro league would call a "competitive balance" measure. The way it was before may have been easier for a billionaire funded Oklahoma State to finish with a top 10 ranking.........but it was irrelevant because they had no actual chance to win a national championship tournament. Alabama's 3rd string had far more NFL talent than OK State's starting 22. That was how college football actually was. As bad as Michigan got whooped that season you could double that for that OK State. You wouldn't be wishing for it back if you got to that playoff. You were saved a reality check, obviously.

Yeah who can forget that 2021 Oklahoma State defense. Sure the Cowboys lost almost half of their games..........and got beaten by a .500 Wisconsin team in their bowl game........but in your mind.......if only they'd have gotten to play Alabama and Georgia in the playoffs. You are clownishly delusional about the quality of your team's program, dude. 😂

I agree that putting Josh Allen in the Patriot system really helped evolve his game. I wanted him to be in more of a traditional under center system with true play action to allow him to stretch the field. Nowadays, that's a Shanahan tree thing. I think Allen would have made it in a Shanahan system too but what's been PROVEN is that the EP got him to where he is. But I don't give Daboll as much credit for that. That's the system he knows. I think he's proven at his other OC/HC jobs that he's not all that exceptional at what he does. McBeane probably deserve more of the credit for putting him in an EP system.

Hey, I'm not promising Brady is going to be a good HC. But he's likely to be one next season. If a team was really doing a DEEP dive into Brady........they'd be wise to look into his history in perceived McDermott mistakes at the end of big games. Brady's second and 9 call after the 2 minute warning of the divisional loss to the Chiefs last year was one of the most inexplicably stupid calls in a big moment that I've seen. And his decision to try to tush push with 1 minute left against the Rams last week was flat out stupid. And conversely, his decision to NOT tush push from the 1 on 3rd down before the half yesterday cost the team 7 points and kept Detroit in it. I think the first and third instances were both examples of an ambitious young HC trying to put a big play on his audition tape when it was NOT in the best interest of the team to do so. But regardless of why, all 3 were very bad decisions in key moments of big games. But the reality is that teams don't tend to dig that deep. Just watch the Giants offseason "Hard Knocks". They were literally looking up stats on pro-football reference to decide on free agents. We think teams do a lot more in-depth work than they usually do. It will be a surprise to them when he does something inexplicable in these situations the first time as a HC.

You still beating your wife? Or were you joking about that?

Brady has been an OC for about 40 games now, not 23. I'm guessing you thought he was only in Carolina for part of 1 season instead of a season and half. That's not an inconsequential amount of games as an NFL OC for a 35 year old HC candidate. Brady may well have his choice of multiple HC vacancies. I think it was pretty obvious that he had that Lions game circled all season as his own personal matchup against everyone's #1 HC candidate Ben Johnson. He proved he wasn't outclassed as a play caller, at least. Yesterday was a negative turn of events for New Orleans or anyone else who was looking at Brady but doesn't have a franchise QB or one of the top 2 picks in this draft.

Not sure? How about when you are whining about not having a competitive NIL budget.😂 So NOW you want to level the economic playing field? Wasn't bothering you when T.Boone was giving you out-sized facilities(among other things) to compete with the best programs. The on-field product in college football has never been more competitive. There are actually more than 1-2 teams that can win a national championship.......for the first time in forever. But your takeaway is that it's unfair to your fringe top 30 program because NIL isn't a strength.......at the moment. I'm sorry if it's temporarily gotten a little harder for your program to get into the top 10 more frequently. But the reality is that in those seasons when paper tiger OK State teams were highly ranked they would have been beaten down by a 50 point margin by the eventual champion. They were never as close as the ranking indicated because there was such a larger gap between the best and the rest. NIL and the portal are helping to close that gap and distribute talent better. You just need your 'boys to get on the NIL train.

Yeah I think this is lost on some fans. The refs were calling it like a playoff game. Wasn't a day to push the ball downfield and since they played the entire game with the lead it was never necessary the way it was in LA.

Looked like he found another cruising gear after they pulled his hair. I will never forget when Nigel Bradham brought down Chris Ivory by his lovely locks that sh!t was hilarious.

How many are left? At this point might as well just let them play it out and allow the new GM/HC to sort them out this summer. It's not a normal hockey situation where a HC move or a trade can change fortunes drastically.

Tailgating certainly helps but we had that for 50 years before the Bills Mafia thing kicked in. And like I said, Cubs fans made it work and they don't have the ability to tailgate in that neighborhood either. It's about the fan base separating itself from the losing while still supporting the team. It's not easy to do. That's why so few team's fans have such distinct identities like Bills Mafia.

It appeared to me that Brady has been building this game plan for a while. Maybe all season. This wasn't all drawn up on Monday/Tuesday. It was his HC showcase game. To that end I thought it's why he the didn't tush push at the goal line before the half. He wanted a clever play for his tape. He does some scary stupid things in some of the biggest moments. The ridiculous call on 2nd and 9 after the 2 minute warning against KC in the divisional round. The tush push with a minute left last week in LA. And that goofy decision today. Untimely, costly decisions in big moments.

You're clearly the one who is mad about how changes have impacted your football program. I'm just laughing at your child-like train of thought. 😂

Yeah like I mentioned in the other thread, the VAST majority of players are in this category. All most fans notice are the big money players who can get guaranteed starting roles/playing time.

Yeah fans of teams who feel they are negatively impacted by the current system want immediate changes but the reality is that this has to play itself out now. The NCAA and the big football factories let their greed get the best of them and lost control of it. Some of the plantations.....err "schools".....don't like it. But it's way better than the exploitation that was happening before. The product is some how just fine despite all of the portal movement and we are getting more meaningful games than ever. Win-win for college football fans.

An Oklahoma State fan complaining about money being used against them? You've got to be kidding me, T-Boone. Not a good recruiting state, not a destination for players from good recruiting states, not ideal TV exposure....... You just think you are a football school because that oil money made it work for a long time. All it takes is one big fish to come in and do it again. But talking about illegally capping what a player can earn off the field? That's not very USA of you. Once the amateur status was lifted......before the courts MADE them lift it........that horse was out of the barn and not coming back.

They looked at it. Nobody outside of the state of WV cares that Marshall opted out because of the disrupt related to the coaching change. It's highly unlikely to happen to a playoff team......especially to any of the ones who have a legitimate chance to win 3-4 playoff games. But if it ever does it's just more drama for the product. The only thing that REALLY harms a sport this popular is not playing the championship at all.

To make it impossible to double both edge rushers. Pass rush is second only to QB play in regard to impact on games. Ideally, everyone wants 2. It's why the Bills need a pass rusher opposite Rousseau even though Rousseau will get an extension or new contract well north of $20M aaa in the next 15 months. Additionally, the age gap between Crosby and Hutchinson is good because you don't need to overlap top of the market contracts to have a top DE combo for 5-6 years. Crosby will be getting the top dollar and then as his aav looks less than the best at the end of his deal, Hutchinson would be getting top aav. That is, if Hutchinson can prove to be as durable as Crosby or Garrett have been.

I hope Crosby doesn't end up available for trade because I think Detroit would have an inside track. Players of his quality and at this stage of career have a lot of say in where they get traded.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/42971713/sources-raiders-crosby-likely-season-ending-surgery As a team in re-build with a new coaching staff(most likely) I can see this first sign of wear being a tipping point for the Raiders to seriously consider trading Crosby. Bills will certainly be back in the market for a difference making RDE. But Crosby is also a Michigan native and I expect the storyline to be about the Lions trading for him. The back of round one has always been a sneaky good spot for good teams to trade for difference makers. Like when Philly fleeced Buffalo of future HoF LT Jason Peters. Myles Garrett will also most likely be having offseason foot surgery which could more incline Cleveland to move him as well. It's a deep draft for DL ........but that's about the only position that's deep........so wouldn't be surprised to see a record for DL selected in rounds 1 and 2.

IMO the primary issue on defense is that the Bills are not willing to commit to being very opponent specific. It's nice to be great at a few things. That will get you in the playoff mix. But pushing your defense to be able to do more week-in-week-out is why Spags and Belichick defense's have won so many SB's in recent times. The Bills run into too many games where their inability to make complex adjustments gets them dissected. And that makes the talent look worse than it is.