hondo in seattle

I'm going to disagree even though I agree. It does bother me that Beane tries to build the OL with jags. I think this is where Beane's head is at: It's a passing league. That's why McD runs a 4-2-5 defense. Both Beane and McD have embraced the current and future state of the NFL. For Beane, the prioritization of passing means he'll spend a bucketload of money on QB, WR, DE and DB. If there were no salary cap, I'm sure he'd spend a ton on an OL too. But with the reality of cap limitations, he tries to economize on the OL with cap-friendly jags. I can only guess that Beane thinks we can overcome our JAG OL with good coaching and scheming. But if that was the plan, it's a flawed one. Nonetheless, a GM who produces 4 consecutive 10+ winning seasons is, in fact, good at his job. Either that, or his Head Coach is a freaking genius.

I wouldn't call the Bills talent evaluation "questionable at best." The Bills have won 10+ games four consecutive years - a feat the franchise has accomplished only once before in its long history. Apparently Beane isn't fielding JUCO kids out there. And you can't discount Allen - Beane maneuvered and got the guy he wanted. He deserves credit for that. With an above average W-L record, the evidence indicates the Bills are above-average in talent evaluation and acquisition. You say they think Brown is good enough to be a starter on a Super Bowl team. I'm guessing you are not a board-certified mind-reader. What GMs and HCs say in public and what they think in private are two very different things. I personally have no idea of what they actually think of Brown. Clearly, Beane has made some mistakes - as all GMs do (I agree he's neglected the OL). And just as clearly, he hasn't been good enough (yet?) to build a SB-caliber roster. But suggesting that he'd be working for LL Beane now if not for Josh is a nice play on words but tremendously overblown. Beane is good at his job. The only question is he good enough?

I don't know if just any schmuck off the street could have OCed this team to a top five offensive finish. Some schmucks maybe, not just anyone. I was actually impressed with Dorsey at the beginning of the season. I had a lot of doubts about the offense: new OC, new OL coach, new #2 wideout, new slot receiver, mediocre RBs, bad OL. There was a lot to worry about. Yet for about half the season, we made the art of scoring look as easy as Bob Ross painting a landscape. I was starting to think our new OC was some kind of a genius, working around a weak offensive line as well as he was. And then Allen hurt his elbow and it seemed like Dorsey went into a funk too. Play-calling became predictable. Receivers weren't getting separation because defenses knew what we were doing. Touchdowns became hard to get. But I've heard OCs say they learn a lot in Year One and often come back better in Year Two. Fingers crossed; this happens for Dorsey. And it would be great if he had more and better weapons to work with - like DHop. But I don't if we can afford that. So I'd like to see him make better use of some of the weapons that were underutized last year like Hines and Cook. Hines had 63 receptions in 2020, just 5 last year - his career low. Why wouldn't we make use of a dynamic playmaker like that? It's puzzling.

Yikes, I'd completely forgotten about Specter! I had to go back and read his draft profile on NFL.com and was not excited to see that "range" was listed under weaknesses (though, at the same time, it was called "average"). LBs need to be rangy in McD's D. Strengths Instinctive and in position most of the time. Plays with excellent fundamentals. Rapid-fire diagnosis and reaction to play movement. Leverages his scrape with speed alterations in his slides. Quickness to flow and contain the outside run. Comes to balance and tackles with double leg wrap-ups. Former safety with smooth drops and weaves in zone. Target awareness allows for tighter squeeze of the route. Weaknesses Lean through his lower half. Won't be a disruptive defender. Gets jostled around by box traffic. Lacks ideal length/strength to stack and shed the block. Needs to become more comfortable playing downhill. Below-average tackler when it's not in front of him. Range in coverage is very average. Lacks twitch to burst and disrupt at the catch point. Spector's RAS score (9.12) is actually higher than Bernard's (8.85).

Yeah. McD's defense is designed the stop the pass first and the run second. That's why we mostly run a 4-2-5 defense. And that's why the MLB isn't a thumper. We called Edmunds a Middle Linebacker but that's a misnomer. There is no LB in the middle of a 4-2. Edmunds was a big, rangy coverage LB, not an old school Dick Butkus type. As much as he was unappreciated by many Bills fans, he'll be hard to replace. He's not cast from the same mold but I'd still like to see Klein signed just to have someone in that spot.

Where can we buy the Beane bobblehead?

That song is best forgotten.

I'm not sure he's a one-year rental. I think it's more like a one-year tryout.

PFF sometimes divides safeties like this: Coverage Free, Match Strong, Box Slot. They rank safeties in each category. But there's a fourth category they use: "All Around." Here's how they ranked the All Around safeties prior to last season: They went on to say: "Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer each fit into this category for the Buffalo Bills and together may form the best safety duo in the league. Each can line up anywhere they are needed within the scheme and playing next to one another is clearly a force multiplier for their success. Buffalo runs a scheme that puts them in position to succeed, but they take advantage of it extremely well on their own." With Hyde and Poyer showing some fragility, it makes sense to get another safety. Rapp seems like another All Around guy. He can play - and has played - Free, Strong, and Box in his career. If he needs to fill in for Hyde or Poyer, we don't need to change our defense nor do we become more predictable. www.pff.com/news/nfl-safety-rankings-tiers-2022

McD likes versatile safeties. Both Hyde and Power can play strong or weak. That makes it easier to disguise the defense. When either is off the field, our D becomes more predictable. Rapp isn't exactly in the Hyde or Poyer mold, but he is versatile.

Beane has done well in free agency. But you can't fill up a roster with free agents - it's too expensive. You need guys on rookie contracts. And some of the cheaper guys need to be more than just backups. They need to contribute.

Players who the Bills draft don't seem to contribute much according to Warren Sharp...

Wright is the right answer.

We will fail to make it to the Super Bowl again this year. The roster just isn't good enough.

McDermott is a very good coach. Too many people demand that he win a championship with a non-championship roster. As much as I like McD, I do blame him for the Cinci loss. The team was not psychologically, emotionally, or schematically ready for that game. Beane hit a homerun with Josh but has been mediocre outside of that. I like Von Miller but don't like his contract. We can't afford a good WR#2, MLB or OL because we've got too much cap space tied up in other players. Given the crushing reality of our cap situation, I'm not looking for Beane to sign another free agent WR (dhop) or RB. What we have is good enough under the circumstances. (Though if he could swing a deal for a good WR at a dollar store price, I'd be thrilled!). I'd be happy if we drafted offensive linemen with our first three picks. Or maybe 2 of the 3 - we still need a MLB.

I thought Crowder was going to be a good pickup last year.

I would have preferred a longer deal.

I know their stats aren't dissimilar but from what I've seen of Harris, he's bigger, faster, stronger. I think he's a significant upgrade if he stays healthy.

Well-spoken young man - seems to have his head screwed on right.

Agreed Given the reality of the cap, I'm content with those two position groups: WR and RB. Adding to either in the draft would be a nice bonus. What I'm really hoping for now is more help for the offensive line.

Like many here, I wasn't happy with Gabe this past season. Too many drops and too infrequently open. But with our cap situation, I didn't expect we'd sign Gabe's replacement. I'm glad, though, Beane got a couple of legit guys with speed. And I think/hope Sherfield has some upside. His actual talent and ability to contribute might be better than his resume suggests. Gabe is still #2 but Harty and Sherfield will see the field.

Beane has said in the past that - ideally - he goes into the draft with no gaping holes. He tries to fill out a competent roster before the draft so he can go BPA during the draft. Q is our backup tackle for now. He may yet be supplanted by further additions.

Yeah, I agree that KC has a "superior roster vision." I think they've proved that by winning two of the past four SBs. They're the current champions of roster building. And, yet, I'm thankful for Beane and McD. We win more than we lose with those two. They've transformed an irrelevant NFL franchise into contenders. And I've never heard them use Josh's salary as an excuse. They're pretty good at taking accountability and not making excuses. But I do think Beane needs to get better for us to starting winning Super Bowls. It's frustrating to have so many needs and so few resources.

If a member of the Bills Mafia invents a time machine, I'll ask them to bring us Thurman, Cookie, and Freddy to fill out our RB room. But given the harsh realities of science and spending caps, I'm happy with Harris. When I watched him play against, I remember thinking, "I wish we had a back like that." Now we do, at an affordable cost. For those comparing Motor's stats with Harris, let's remember Motor was running in a Josh Allen led offense while Harris was running in a Mac Jones led offense. Defenses playing against us play with one thought in mind: slow Allen. NE's offense is more balanced than our which means the defenses they face don't sell out to stop the pass.

With the cap situation being what it is, I had muted expectations for the offseason. Two speedy WRs, a RB, and a guard who can protect Josh if not run block... I'm reasonably happy. And there seems to be some upside with Sherfield.