MarlinTheMagician

If Milano was there vs Jacksonville Bortles doesn't run wild. And with Edmunds instead of Preston he wouldn't have had all those yards either, IMHO.

I disagree. Allen is almost a free spin of the wheel. We got the pick from KC for taking Tre White - no loss vs. Mahomes there. We moved up for Cordy, who we did not want. And one of the two seconds was for Sammy, who we did not want. He did what he had to do to take a shot at a franchise guy with almost zero loss of draft capital. Masterful. So I do not think Beane's career is dependent on Allen. Even taking a shot at our franchise QB, we had 7 other picks this year (including a #1), and all our picks next year. If Allen is terrible they can do it again. But I bet he is awesome.

It appears no team had Rosen higher. Won''t be any proof forthcoming. Rosen is going to fail in the league I am willing to bet. So were the teams that passed on him.

Will be there - will be cool!

Agree. Totally intrigued to see what Neal does in camp. Highlights he kills people. Could be a good "big nickel" -

Great stuff. Thanks.

Great post. I completely agree on liking "especially how he went after the QB he wanted." McDermott did the same moving up for Dawkins and Zay. And McDermott/Beane did it this year not only with Allen, but also with Edmunds. They are decisive. They know who they like. They have a plan. Could not be more impressed!

An interesting thing about Milano - all last year I was wondering why they thought he would be such a top coverage backer if his combine was 4.67. My eyes were telling me he was a top coverage linebacker. I did a little research and discovered he was hurt at combine and that he was consistently running 4.5 pre-combine. Aha! (said I), now it makes sense! Don't know if he can ever carry 235, but Davis's weight may be a bit inflated by Carolina? I think Milano can carry more weight without losing speed, but I don't know about 235.

This is very fair, IMHO

Kirby - like your posts, but I disagree on this one. I think they are very similar in a different way. Tre White, Zay (pre hotel incident), Dawkins, and Milano were all seen as hard-working character guys. You have the same this year - Allen, Edmunds, Harry, and Johnson all from the same mold. Team, character, work ethic. That is the McDermott type, as that is what he is himself. Hold Russ Brandon up next to Beane/McDermott. Can you believe Russ Brandon was GM! Think about that.

Interesting back at you - had no idea Davis was a converted safety too. Milano credits the switch to the coach at BC (forgot his name), says it made him eligible for an NFL career. Went from a big-ish but not too fast safety to a super-fast linebacker. A year of mass could make him even better. He is a workaholic.

Very fair point - but i don't think it is Beane alone here. I think we rise or fall with McDermott. Seems McDermott sets the vision for the building, Beane prices and orders the materials. Loved Preston, but he does not fit the scheme. Gaines would have been a mistake, IMHO. There is a reason he got $4m - he wanted much more. Plus Tre knew early he was out (if you remember their Twitter posts), so I don't think he wanted to be in Buffalo. Good move on Gaines in my view. Vontae is a beast if he can regain form - dude was All-Pro, not just Pro Bowl (and I don't see why he can't).

I am with you - fingers crossed.

Of course it is a new year and things can always go wrong. Last year, could only do so much when we had so many salary problems. So they fixed the back end last year, addressed the front 7 this year (while continuing to take care of the back-end by signing Davis rather than overpaying for EJ Fragile Gaines. I probably would have signed Gaines and it would have been a mistake. That's another reason why Beane and McDermott are so great. didn't get over-excited about last year's back-end and throw unwarranted money at Gaines. Vontae Davis a much better value.) The point is - there appears to be a plan that could work. Don't sleep on Hughes this year. With Murphy on the other side I think he could really have a fine year. He was all we had for pass rush.

I think this is very well said, and exactly how I feel.

Very fair. Jury is really out on both a bit, but the early returns are excellent. McDermott is the key I think - give me an intense, hard-working and principled coach all day long. I think Bean will support his vision and help its expression. And that is why I think they may be a top duo in the league.

Not giddy at all. The only one of that list that has not played for us is Vontae. The results on the field are in for last year's performances by Milano, Tre White, Poyer and Hyde, and they were damn good. I am - what did Rex say? Fully pregnant.

Take a look at our D - people are rightfully excited. Potentially top 10. Look at the way it was put together last year and before free agency this year (Vontae was pre-free agency cut from Colts). Tre White, Milano, Poyer, Hyde, Vontae Davis. That is well over 40% of our defense and it cost us almost nothing. What did it cost? A trade-down first, a compensatory fifth (from not signing Gillislee) and three modest free agent salaries. For 5/11ths of a D that has us jacked. That is amazing work in my view.

Couldn't agree more. And I am sure Beane and McDermott would agree too. But that is what is so great, there is a clear plan. We had a crap roster with lots of bloated salaries and egos. I have every confidence offense will get done. One of the things that makes me confident is Dabol. I thought Dennison was horrible - unimaginative, poor timing for exotic play calls, and on an on. Bills saw the same thing and BOOM - Dennison is gone. But I would like to pose my original question again (which was derailed with "let them win first"): 1. Is there any duo in the NFL at coach/GM you would rather have? 2. If so, is there any young duo you would rather have (recognizing it is hard to argue with the success of legend/fossil like Belichek);

I don't believe Whaley had much to do with last year's draft other than to pass Bills' scouting evaluations across the table to McDermott. Who then called Bean and said "here is what we think of this guy Brandon, what do you think?" It was a great draft I think, but I don't believe Whaley deserves one ounce of credit.

Horrible Harry of course

I think we did. Vontae Davis, Star, Horrible Harry, McCarron, Allen, Edmunds, even pieces like Kerley. Sarcasm is fine, but in my view we did win the offseason. But unlike that idiot Ryan you will never here these men say it. So I will say it for them. But Beane and McDermott never take a bow, they just say "we have a lot we need to do to get better still." One of the reasons I love them. So yeah, we won the offseason - just not "again."

The thing is, they did. They won a wild-card spot in year 1. When they had absolutely nothing. Almost an unbelievable achievement in my view. The cynics on this board thought it was a tank, 100%. The somewhat less cynical called it a modified tank. You can call it luck, you can trivialize the achievement any way you want, but they won the death of the drought when numerous coaches and GMs had failed to do so for 17 years. They also totally made over the roster and got us out of salary cap hell without even one year of unwatchable football. i would not trade them for any pair in the league. Pass the Kool-Aid please.

Agree, Pegulas are a class act. So thankful for them.

I have been so impressed by Beane and McDermott. What McDermott got out of the roster last year. Beane's gumption to try to go get a QB and many other things. Plus, one of the best things is they seem totally in-sync. It seems when GM and coach are not on the same page it is a formula for disaster even if, independently, the coach and the GM might not be on the same page. Our guys are. And I don't think they are just copying Carolina - they were buddies there, but not in charge. I think they look at Carolina and say "here are all the things Carolina did well, how can we do it better." I think they may be the best Coach/GM pairing in the league. And even if not the best now, perhaps the best YOUNG coach/GM combo - a band that could play together a long time. Adding people like Dan Morgan only helps (quality people giving us a real football infrastructure). Be interested in the board's thoughts. How do they rank overall as a pair? How about among young GM/Coach teams? I think these guys are awesome, full disclosure.