Mango

We’ve spent a lot over the last few years with a top paid OL, DE, and LB Corp. to never be too 3 at either position group. I think it starts there then add on 3 RB’s and DE in the top 100 over the last few drafts that didn’t quite pan out. Just a culmination of a few things.

Certainly. I’ve just been involved in the Allen conversation so I found myself relevant to the topic and wanted to explain myself. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

On the recent Allen conversation I’d probably be considered to be a hater on this one. I am a bit of a fixer. It’s just sort of part of who I am. The intent isn’t negative. It’s actually positive (for me). How can I/We be better? Fix the things I’m capable of fixing. Just like any personally it has its downside. But it’s also served me well in my professional career as well as my athletic career. (12 National Championships between coaching and competing). I understand it comes across as negative at times which is why I try and re-explain myself at points in certain threads. Love the Bills. Love Allen. My default is to identify points of improvement.

I cut the cord on a ton but not everything this summer. I use Kodi with a VPN and a scraper on my firestick. For movies, shows, etc. it works just as well as any other streaming service. I have run into issues in past attempts but for the most part for some of the later game stuff I wanted to watch out of market it was pretty solid. I got through the recent World Cup with almost zero issues. The feed was great with minimal/no buffering. It is getting a lot better. I would be curious how a Bills game goes these days, but I don't want to chance it.

It isn't even a loss, right? Like sports leagues are not in the red because of it, they are just not making an additional $28B split between networks, streamers, advertisers, teams, and salary caps, right? I would think once you break down all the parties that that $28B goes to, the loss in profit is fairly negligible. The cost for consumption is getting way too high. We have gone from basically free with an antenna, to heading to the bowling ally for $2 beers during blackout games, to needing to spend $100 per month on a streaming service on top of the $100 a month I spend on other streaming services in order to watch my football team. It is bonkers. The model is reaching its breaking point.

Sorry, paraphrasing, I saw the interview as well. I certainly think he watches film. Might have been fast fingers, but what I meant was something along the lines of "not a huge film guy". Which I think is a fair characterization of the conversation.

I have a buddy who just bench pressed 500 lbs without a suit/shirt and he looks super fat. Mostly cause he kind is. I think Josh lifts and works out. QB's outside of late career Brady and Cam Newton tend to be doughy. Josh is farm boy strong. Corn fed baby!

Matt Barkley was a grade A human here. Wish you the best my man!

That clearly isn't what is being said man. I think the fact that Allen has admitted multiple times that he isn't a big film guy is worthy of discussion. Especially for the QB position, who are generally considered the most avid videophiles in the sport. It doesn't mean he sucks. It doesn't mean he doesn't work hard. it doesn't mean he sucks. But he is an anomaly. Just like a lot of things in life, a lot of things can be true at the same time.

On a number of occasions Josh has mentioned that he doesn't watch film. It is weird. I have mentioned a few times that I think this is part of the reason he is late to throw, doesn't even look at open guys on occasion, or holds the ball a long time. We may be a high low read offense. But in a game built on inches and fractions of seconds, this isn't helping. There are guys like LT who got by without it. But pass rusher is a much different position than QB. I don't know if I have ever heard a single QB ever say they were anything other than videophiles. Always locked into film. Even a noted partiers like Dennis Rodman was wholly committed to watching film and taking notes on every shooters spin. EDIT: I don't think he ended the conversation because he lost. I think he ended it because he didn't want to keep talking publicly about being smashed.

The Bills are in the conversation until they take themselves out. It is that simple. The Bills fatigue from the nation makes sense. The world can only keep you on a pedestal without a championship for so long. I think part of the prediction is a little early and that next year may be pretty lean for us. Without derailing the thread we are $31M over the cap next year with 5 starters going into UFA and some larger holes at MLB, OL on top of it. Having 2 DE under contract for 2024 is a good example too.

I think a huge part of Josh' skill set is his moxy. I think he works on himself. As his mechanics get better, I think he double downs on his moxy. I don't think he has ever been a big nutrition, body maintenance, or film guy compared to his peers. Based on his success the definition for peers is different than others in the league. The expectation is to be Mahomes or Brady-esque. I think this is an area of his game that needs to improve to help himself and this team take the next jump, and for him to stick around the league long term (to protect his body). EDIT: I don't think that this is a contract, payment, lazy issue by any means. I just think its an area Josh has to put more focus on in terms of next steps.

Ive consistently belabored the fact that we have missed too often in the top 100, only to redraft those positions over and over again. We don’t pay Allen yet ($18M this year)keep redrafting the same positions, and covering it up in FA. It’s why we are negative space with for next year with only 2 DE under contract after drafting 3 in the top 100 in recent years. Which means we’ll draft at least one high again next year. The Bills aren’t broken. Beane doesn’t need to be fired. But he absolutely has to be better in this aspect or we might be.

I don't think the shift is a strength to offense. I think there is more pressure on Allen now that he has arrived, and more pressure on the team to get to the SB after being favorites, getting close, and falling short so many years in a row. When that happens the expectation league wide is that a guy the caliber of Josh Allen carry the weight of expectations. Nobody seems to like our OL or its depth. At least as an entire unit. I think the preseason expectation is for Allen to be under pressure fairly regularly. Even though I like Gabe Davis, he has issues with the dropsies, and the for whatever reason (some right, some wrong) the Diggs unhappiness saga will not go away after what feels like nearly an entire year. The truth is somewhere between "The sky is falling" and "I am not sure what's not to be excited about".

I will try not to derail this after this one. You may be onto something with Kelce. I don't totally disagree. I don't think about Hill often because they found just as much success without him. Mahomes is much more equitable with the football. I think some of it is Andy Reid. Some of it is talent of the WR room. But I also think Mahomes does a better job of making you cover everybody more often. I don't mean this as a knock on Allen. I just don't think there is any more 1a/1b at QB anymore. It is Mahomes first with some discussion between Burrow/Allen as to 2a/2b.

I think Mahomes is the better QB by a some margin, can do more with less at WR, is much more slippery in the pocket, and has a quicker release which protects his OL a bit more. I think the set up in KC is closer to Brady and NE. The Bills are closer to Rodgers/GB or Brees/NO. There will be a lot more ups and downs, but we will always have a chance vs. being the favorite.

I think there is a difference between always having a chance because you have a good QB, and operating in a window as a/the SB favorites. Green Bay, Pittsburgh, and New Orleans always had a chance with Ben, Brees, Rodgers but they weren't necessarily always in their SB window. And they weren't always good teams (especially GB and NO). I think the window is being the favorite, or having the expectation to win the SB. To keep the window wide open both Allen and McD will have to do more less at WR and defensive allocation as we actually start paying Allen real QB money. We need a constant pipeline of young OL and WR to rotate when we can't afford everybody.

Our offensive line is meh at the moment, its pipeline is totally nonexistent, and we have some combination of system/progressions plus a QB with a penchant to hold the ball for a long time. Pair that with pushing the roster salary cap close to and above the max with a still fairly cheap QB ($18M for 2023) and a poor hit rate at the top of the draft, the Bills window is likely smaller than it should be. The Bills will likely have to do a bit of retooling with a step back in the next couple of seasons. That said, we have Josh Allen, so anything can happen, and there is always a chance.

Outside of the Beane stuff I think that Basham was a versatile player who started to come into his own as the season progressed last year. I think I would have rolled the dice on Basham than AJE. He definitely was not living up to his draft status, but he seemed to start contributing. I wish him the best, but if the Giants get good production out of him and Hodgins I will be salty. So to that extent, a small part of me hopes he doesn't work out for them.

I will likely bow out over this because it feels like we are spinning in circles. I don't think the Sabres are suffering from Lafontaine's resignation. I think that is a minor blip in a string of blips, one right after another. PL is no more significant than any other. They have suffered for 12 years because their ownership sucks. The owners sucked before Patty. And they sucked after. I agree there is a pattern. It started before Patty and kept going after. Lafontaine feels significant to the community, I get it. But he hasn't done much of anything since. Not defending Pegula here, but Lafontaine has yet to prove any stickiness with any NHL franchise. He worked for the Islanders for less time than he worked in Buffalo before also leaving in a huff. I would be very quick to point the finger at Pat here had the Sabres done anything over the following decade. But I still think he likely deserves some blame. Comparing a guy who has never managed a professional sports roster for any significant amount of time to Bill Polian is so far out there.

I don't know how the Sabres could possibly be reeling from a guy who worked for them for 90 days 10 years ago. The Sabres have been struggling due to bad ownership pre and post LaFontaine. Terry treated Pat the same way he treated Ted Black/Regier.

TY. I will edit. I forgot Knox. I know about the other players. But drafting those guys don't absolve redrafting RB 3 times in 4 years because you keep missing. Or only re-signing 2 players from the top of your first 3 drafts.

Sort of on topic with the PSE thread. I am frustrated with Beane for his poor drafting overall in the top 100. But honestly, the Pegula's have been maybe the worst owners in NHL history with the longest playoff drought by nearly 2x the length in a league where over half the teams make the playoffs every year. Until the wheels absolutely fall off and the car is in flames I am terrified of what could happen to this team if we have to build out a staff again.

Top 100 picks/prospects is fairly common nomenclature in the NFL. Including their 3rd round picks don't help. 2018-Allen - Great, big QB contract but for all the cap woes that bill has not come due Edmunds - Pretty good, could not afford to keep Philips - Quality DT. Also no longer on the roster do to cost. ($6.8M this season) 2019 - Oliver - I like Ed. But probably over paid. I think part of keeping him is the lack of keeping our top 100 picks Ford - Sucks. Gone. Singletary - Meh. Gone Knox - He has been very good for us. Re-signed. 2020- Diggs. Great. But the Bills get zero rookie contract value. He gets very expensive very soon. AJE - Meh on his best day. I suspect he gets re-signed though. Moss -Not great here. Gone already 2021- Rousseau- Really hoping this one pans out better given our investment at DE. Basham - Gone Spencer Brown - TBD whipping boy. We need to upgrade RT still. 2022- Elam: TBD, but is trending towards a really bad fit at best, and not a great player at worst. Cook: TBD , has flashed. Our 3rd RB taken in the top 100 in 4 years. Bernard: TBD is fairly generous here. But this class is still finding its footing.

I don't think we are saying anything terribly different here. I agree. I don't hate any of them. They have certainly invested a lot. But they have been really bad owners in the NHL. I find myself constantly frustrated by it the longer it drags on. I don't want them gone. I want them to stay but to also to stop sucking.