Rocky Landing

Sentimentalism.

Seriously, what kind of perspective is this? There's nothing complex about it. There's no problem being searched for. It's simply a moderator who runs the site trying to initiate something that he thinks would be enjoyable for other Bills fans. Why would you be "searching" for a reason to be against it?

This isn't anything groundbreaking, it's just an experiment to see if the mods can get the board moving in a better direction. Participation isn't required. You're not going to have to fill out a TPS form, or anything...

yuk...

It strikes me that a couple years after McDermott, and Beane arrived in Buffalo, the process by which they rebuilt the team became a blueprint that other teams tried to emulate, and intrinsic to that blueprint was the relationship between head coach, and general manager. Indeed, during the long drought years, the Bills floundered through pairings of coaches, and GMs who were clearly not on the same page.

This was a quality writeup, @Logic. Rational, and concise. This could have been featured in The Athletic, and I would have read it with equal interest. Here are some thoughts/responses of my own. 1. Keon Coleman - This draft was heralded for its depth at WR, but after the top three of Harrison/Nabers/Odunze (whom we did not have a chance of getting), I think you had a variety of talent that would perhaps go in the first round of a more typical draft class. On TBD, everyone seemed to have their favorite, be it Thomas, Mitchell, McConkey, Leggette, etc. And from the reports, it would seem they chose Josh Allen's favorite. I'm good with that. 2. Cole Bishop - 3. Dewayne Carter - Whenever I hear a pundit say things like, "a day-one starter," or "one of the most NFL ready..." I cringe. But a nice thing that happened in this draft, I think, is that between an enormous run on QBs from QB-needy teams, and the huge class of WRs, a lot of other skill positions got pushed down the board, especially on defense, where the Bills were most needy. In that regard, I think the Bills lucked out with these two picks. 4. Ray Davis - It's hard to ever get too excited about drafting a running back (Cook notwithstanding), but the more I look at this pick, the more I like it. He looks to be durable, and a culture fit. At 215lbs, and only 5'8", he'll play the role of short-yardage power-back, but still has reliable hands as a check-down option. It'll be nice to have such a player that isn't in his mid-30s for a change... 5. Sedrick Van Pran - Of all the offseason turnover, the one that makes me shake my head the most is the loss of Mitch Morse. For what the Jags paid him in cap money, we totally could have afforded him. Morse was good, and with his departure, I'm left hoping they have a good plan for the line. Van Pran certainly adds to that hope. 5. Edufuan Ulofoshio - With this pick, and also the recent addition of Deion Jones, I'm really left wondering what they know, or suspect about Milano's prognosis? 5. Javon Soloman - We've had other defensive players who were initially deemed "undersized," who have excelled in our defense-- Milano, and Bernard, being obvious examples. With his character, personality, and athleticism, this seems like the absolute, quintessential Beane/McDermott pick (in the best way). 6. Tylan Grable - When a lot of GMs gets to the sixth round of the draft, they're looking more at overall player value than actual positions of need. That's how we ended up with Jake Fromm. This was a wasted pick, IMO. 6. Daequan Hardy - This looks like one of those late round picks that Beane somehow seems to nail. He does seem to be better at assessing late-round talent than early-round talent. We do play a base nickel defense, and this guy could excel at NCB. With the departure of Siran Neal (who was too old for the position anyway), we were left with Cam Lewis as Taron Johnson's backup. That makes me queasy. 7. Travis Clayton - I attended the Bills at Chargers game in week 16, last season, and I lost track of the number of times I heard over the PA, "...number 76 reporting as an eligible receiver..." and then watched whomever Josh handed the ball to get stuffed at the LOS. It was infuriating, but the Bills seem addicted to that Jumbo package on short yardage situations. Clayton will almost certainly be put on the PS, but it is my great hope that he ends up on the 53 as that sixth Jumbo package OL. And who cares it that 6'7", 300+lb, fast, athletic-freak-rugby-monster can actually play OT??? I want to see him catch a pass from Allen, and flatten the first defender that dares tackle him. Travis Clayton could be to football what Happy Gilmore was to golf.

I predict that I will, once again, overpay to see the Bills @ Rams at SoFi.

You’ve listed Hardy twice, with very different assessments.

That’s a long list, I’m afraid. But I suppose you could start with me…

I did notice that they've brought in Matt Haack, who was not as good a punter for us as Martin has been, I believe. IIRC, there was some discussion after Bass's terrible miss at the end of the KC divisional round game, that part of the issue was Martin's hold, but it wasn't discussed much after that. And, of course, this FO is never going to point fingers publicly. I wonder if they feel that the issue lies, at least partially, with Martin's hold?

Nah. Former GM Bill Belichick* is long gone.

Sounds like Keon dodged a bullet!

I wish @DC Tom would start posting again. We could use his...umm... perspective around here, lately...

Considering how Bass finished the season, it's not an irrelevant question to be asking.

I nominate you for one of the QOD posters. See my post above.

I think it's a great idea. As far as who gets selected, and who gets denied, I would hope that some of our more contentious posters would get a day, or two, and I would also hope that different sides of the spectrum would be represented-- optimist vs. pessimist, if you will. Like maybe Wednesdays could be one of our "knowledgable jackasses" (we all know who they are), and then Thursdays could be the "hopelessly optimistic homers." (We know who they are, too...) Be that as it may, great idea, and I'm really looking forward to it. It may take a week, or three to catch on, and certainly some questions, and some posters will have varying degrees of popularity, but I suspect that with some tweaking, it's going to become very popular.

Regarding TE, it's not just Kincaid. The one-two punch of Kincaid, and Knox is one of the best (if not the best) TE duos in the league, and while Knox may not have the hands, or route ability of Kincaid, his YAC is damned good-- downright violent. He put the work in to clean up his drop issues, and he's a clutch player, who doesn't choke in the big moments.

Not that I'm a fan of Claypool, or this signing, but that is not an apples to apples comparison. Davis was #2 on the depth chart. But if Claypool had been in this offense last season, and given the same number of targets (and I am certainly ignoring Josh's comfort, and familiarity with Davis), he's probably going to deliver the same amount of production. To keep Davis here would have been expensive, and worked against the cap. Bringing in Claypool is low risk-- and who knows? Maybe this is the season he lives up to his reported "potential?" Probably not, but if he did, he wouldn't be the first WR to have career years with Allen throwing them the ball-- Diggs, Brown, Beasley, were all seasoned veterans, and all had their best seasons when they arrived in Buffalo. Taking a "flyer" on a vet who never lived up to their potential means something different when Josh Allen is your quarterback.

That's a fair point. (Although, an offensive scheme in which WRs getting separation isn't a significant plus doesn't exist) I think we could see the increased importance of YAC in Brady's scheme, after he took over from Dorsey. And YAC wasn't really a strength of most of our receivers, including Kincaid. It should be something to see the improvement in that element of the game this season.

Speed, and size in the WR room is not mutually exclusive. Shakir, Samuel, and Kamler are all fast. Coleman is faster than he's getting credit for. Slow 40, perhaps, but his top-end speed is up there. But the thing that hasn't, and likely won't be replaced from the departure of Diggs is separation. Diggs' ability to effortlessly separate, and get open (and then consistently catch the ball, of course) is what truly made him elite. Those crazy, athletic grabs he would make from time to time were icing on the cake, and made for super entertaining football-- but it was his ability to separate, regardless if it was on schedule, or extending a blown play that really won us some games. It's hard for me to get too excited about Claypool, or much of our WR room, to be honest. The well-earned knock on Claypool is that he can't separate off-schedule, and get himself open. He has all those strongman YAC traits, and can catch a contested ball, and competently run the route that's assigned to him. That might work for a team like the Dolphins, who butter their bread with timing routes, and quick reads-- but that's not Bills football.

Bills came due in Miami much the same way they did in Buffalo. And, just like us, a lot of talent walked out the door, especially on defense. And of course, they are stuck with Tua. The only team that might take the AFCE over the Bills are the Jets, who wisely spent a lot of resources in their draft and FA on improving their O-line, and protecting Aaron Rodger’s. And once again, their season hinges on Aaron Rodgers. That’s an even bigger gamble this season than it was the last. Frankly, I very much doubt this narrative being peddled in New Jersey that Rodger’s is some super-human with mutant healing powers. I haven’t looked at the Vedas odds recently, but I have to believe the Bills are the favorites to once again take the AFCE.

I'm currently on hiatus from my job, and so I've been re-watching a bunch of games from last season (condensed on NFL+), and I have to say-- the Bills are going to be a very different team without Stefon Diggs. It's unquestionable that he fell off at the end of the season. To my eyes it looked like he just wasn't trying as hard. But all that notwithstanding, there isn't anybody on this team to match his ability. But while Diggs fell off at the end of the season, as did Gabe Davis, quite frankly, others sure did step up. Shakir, Kincaid, Cook, and Ty Johnson all became markedly better as the season progressed. And not for nothing, the ascendence of those players (especially Johnson, and Shakir) did seem to coincide with Brady becoming OC. I think you mean 12 personnel? 1 RB, and 2 TEs.

No thanks to Drop-Zone Jones. His drafting was a cautionary tale on drafting players based on how "NFL ready" they are.

My hope is that Clayton makes the 53, and they use him in those Jumbo packages they love to run. I hated those plays last season. They were useless, and ineffectual. But, imagine Clayton, at 300lb+ with that speed, in a Jumbo package announced as an eligible receiver? That could be fun.

Rice and sausages. Detroit fare.